I can’t believe it’s already been 4 months since I quit shampoo and started “no poo,” and 3.5 months since I went water-only! I am definitely out of the oily transitional phase and still going strong on water-only, so figured it was time to post an update to my Ultimate Water-Only Hair Washing Routine.
These pictures were all taken in the same lighting, room, and with the same camera as the pictures from the Ultimate Water-Only Hair Washing Routine post for an accurate assessment of progress.
Water Only Hair Washing Progress
How often do I wash my hair now? Once every 7-10 days with just water.
How long can I go between water-only hair washes before my hair looks oily now? My hair actually doesn’t get oily anymore, not even after 10 days of not washing it! :D
How long did the oily transitional phase last? / How did I get out of it? It took me approximately 2 weeks to stop looking excessively oily and about 2 months to get completely out of the initial oily phase to the point where my hair just doesn’t get oily anymore. I followed these tips from my other post to get through the oily transition as quickly as possible.
What does it feel like? My hair feels different… definitely softer and more hydrated, slightly heavier, and it’s a little harder to run my fingers through my roots than if I used shampoo. But I really don’t mind the new texture! It gives my hair more body, thickness, and volume at the roots!
Do I still get split ends? I got my hair trimmed right before going no shampoo (~ 4 months before these pictures). With shampoo, my ends would definitely be split, dry, brittle, rough, scraggly, and in need of another trim at this point, but with water-only, they are just as hydrated as the rest of my hair. They are soft, shiny (I’ve never had shiny ends), and I have very few split ends. (Pictured Below)
Growth? It has definitely grown ~2 inches over the past 4 months. This is a good rate of growth, but I also eat a lot of fruits/veggies/nuts and a daily multi-vitamin so this much growth is normal for me. :) The difference here is that my ends didn’t dry out so I can keep growing it without having to trim off the new progress.
Does it smell? Okay so I’ve been doing routine smell checks since I started no shampoo (for science), :) because I’m paranoid about smelling bad. For the first 5-7 days after a water-wash without any fragrances added, my hair doesn’t smell like anything. That’s a decently long time! After that, I’ll sometimes notice my scalp (not my hair) smells like… well hair. It doesn’t really smell bad, but it doesn’t smell like flowers and dandelions or what I’m used to. So if it doesn’t smell that nice, then I’ll add a drop of a blend of really fragrant shea butter/coconut butter (that smells like french vanilla mixed with chocolate… mmm) to my scalp and hair and it completely refreshes the scent. No more scalp smell. Dry shampoo also deodorizes it very well, and this DIY recipe makes my scalp & hair smell like chocolate. Boar-bristle brushing also helps keep any scalp smells from building up at the roots. There are actually loads of ways to make your hair smell like flowers and dandelions or whatever you want while on No Poo / water-only, so I made a separate post for that.
How is my scalp acting? Great! No issues here.
Do I still have to boar-bristle brush it in sections every day? Nope! Spending time each day to section my hair and brush the natural oils through it was the one time-consuming side to water-only, but I really don’t have to do it anymore. Right before I wash my hair, I’ll still scritch & brush it to make washing easier, and I’ll probably scritch/brush once more during the 7-10 days between washes. But I don’t have to do it daily anymore since my hair no longer gets excessively oily. I do brush my hair every day for a minute just to soften the look and style it for the day. Most importantly, I keep my brush really clean between uses as to not add last week’s oils back onto this week’s hair.
How has my hair dye lasted? I got my hair dyed a semi-permanent dark color the day I switched to no-poo (4 months ago). With shampoo, the color would typically last me ~6 weeks and then start to fade. However, this time the color was strong for ~3 months, and only during this past month has it faded a bit. Pictured above on the left is what my hair color looks like when my camera isn’t beefing up the contrast to solar flare status. You can see my blondeish-brownish roots coming in. Pretty good for 4 months after a semi-permanent dye! Pictured right is a contrast-y shot.
Manageability? Styling? My hair is very manageable now. My natural hair oils act like a styling product. I can make my hair super voluminous with the flick of my hand fluffing it up, or flat to my head if I wanted. It’s like there’s a natural hairspray in it. I really don’t need to do anything to my hair anymore. It’s weird standing in front of the mirror expecting to have to do something to my hair, but there’s just nothing to do. Hallelujah.
Do I use any styling products? The only things I put on my hair now are shea butter (for added hydration on the ends of my hair or for heat protection) and the rare usage of homemade dry shampoo (like once per month maybe) just to make my style fluffier.
Do I use heat to style my hair? I don’t have to! And that’s certainly an improvement since going no poo. With shampoo, I had to use heat to tame my dry/damaged hair every time I styled it, but now I can let my hair air dry which used to be out of the question before. Now around 1-2 times per month I’ll use a flat iron, and I use shea butter as a natural heat protectant during those times. Check this post for natural heat protectants for No Poo.
Do I still use coconut oil to hydrate the ends of my hair? I actually switched from straight coconut oil to using a shea butter/cocoa butter blend that has some coconut oil in it. I prefer using the shea butter blend as it dries less greasy and works excellently to hydrate the ends of my hair in winter. I literally just slathered the shea butter all over the bottom 2/3 of my hair right before taking the Day 4 pictures so I could flat iron it a little bit to assess the length. It definitely dries much less greasy than straight coconut oil, and completely absorbs into my “low porosity” hair within a few hours.
Will I continue to use only water to wash my hair? YES. I am very happy with my hair!
Would I recommend others try water-only? YES.
How is water-only going for you? Post your update in the comments!
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Hi Margot, Thank you for the kind words! I am glad you find my posts helpful.
In terms of silicones, your hair shouldn’t have silicone buildup on it unless you are still using products that contain silicones, or if you never clarified your hair with a sulfate-shampoo prior to starting no poo and there are silicones still leftover on your hair from previous product applications. If you ever have questions about whether or not the products you are using contain silicones, you can always check the back of the bottle or google the ingredients and use this guide as a reference to determine whether or not there are silicones in the product. Water-soluble silicones should be okay since they will dissolve in water without needing sulfates to do the job.
I looked up the “North American Hemp & Co” product you said you are using, and as long as I have the correct product, it contains Cyclomethicone, which is a silicone you want to avoid. It’s highly recommended that you use a sulfate-shampoo one last time to clarify your hair. If you leave the silicones on your hair, you risk locking moisture out from ever reaching your hair shaft, leaving you with dry, brittle hair over time. It’s not what you want to hear, but it will be worth it in the long run. The sooner you clarify your hair, the sooner you can get back on track.
If you don’t want to use a BBB, I recommend using a wooden bristled brush, which are usually wide-toothed, to distribute oils on your head. They won’t distribute them AS well as a BBB will, but if you aren’t dealing with super oily hair, it should do the job. You can also try just using a wide-toothed wooden comb while your hair is still sopping wet, scruch up your hair back into the waves you like, and then “plop” it up in a t-shirt while you allow it to dry. That will get out all the tangles without pulling out your curls.
Textured hair is better at hiding oily hair, but if your scalp oil production is quite out of control and you can’t use a BBB, you may want to use a silicone-free cowash for a while instead. The “Curly Girl Method” works very well for many people, and I highly recommend checking it out. Once your scalp oil production calms down, you can start weaning away from the cowash, and start following water-only, without the need of a BBB or distributing your oils.
Hope this helps!
Hi!
Thank you so much for your reply. I have looked it up on Amazon online and it says indeed Cyclomethicone but on my bottle no silicones or Cyclomethicone are found and all other products are curly approved. Maybe they have updated it! :)
One last question, if I would follow the Curly Girl Method. Do you have some suggestions for conditioners? It is so difficult to find one without bad ingredients.
Thank you so much!
I can direct you to the Curly Hair subreddit. There’s a Holy Grail Product List in the sidebar.
Hi! Will you do a new update on water only? Im so curious about how your hair is now!
I have been wo for 2 months and my hair have been good lately so I think the transition period is over! It took a while but its absolutely worth it! The only problem I have is dry scalp and dry ends (i think its damaged).
I will definitely do a new update post. It’s almost 12 months since I started! Congrats on getting through the oily transition! If your hair and scalp are dry, and you aren’t producing many oils, you can always apply a small amount of a natural oil (like one or two drops) to your fingertips and gently massage it into your scalp and ends of your hair. Don’t use too much though!! or you could add too many oils to your hair which makes it look oily and won’t be able to wash it out with just water. I recommend coconut oil on your ends (since it’s deeply hydrating) and either jojoba oil or almond oil for your scalp (since they are a little lighter).
Is there any diference between bamboo hairbrush (like Olivia Garden’s) or a normal wooden hairbrush?
The biggest difference I am aware of is that bamboo is a sustainable resource as it grows faster than wood and can grow in nutrient depleted soil. I have a bamboo brush and haven’t noticed a difference between it and other wooden brushes in terms of distributing hair oils.
Hi Just Primal Things!
I was wondering if you have dyed your hair since this post, or are planning to dye it? I have been wash only for a bit but my color is growing out and it’s definitely noticeable.
Hi Lynette, I have dyed my hair one other time since this post (in March or April). You can dye your hair on no-poo, but keep in mind 1) your hair stylist will almost certainly HAVE to use shampoo to wash it out. It’s just part of the hair dye process. You can call ahead and ask about if your stylist can skip the sulfate-shampooing or if they have sulfate-free products (mine did), but I’m pretty sure they are required to wash it out with something. and 2) I felt like my semi-permanent hair dye didn’t “stick” to my hair as well when it was covered in my natural oils. You may want to co-wash it or low-poo your oils out right before getting it dyed. Then just scritch, preen, and BBB your hair for the week after to re-distribute the oils through your hair. But that was just my experience, maybe you will be fine.
For boxed at-home hair dye…. I think they come with a tube of conditioner and some of those brands just ask you to wash your hair out with the conditioner. Not sure if those conditioners are silicone-free, but what I’m saying is you might be able to dye your hair at home and just co-wash the dye out with your own silicone-free conditioner. I haven’t tried this method, but it might be worth looking into if you were planning to use a box dye at home anyway.
Hi, I have been no poo for 6 months and water only for 2 months and generally it is going ok. I think I am still going through the oily transitional stage as having to use dry shampoo after day 3. However, my scalp seems to be quite smelly a lot of the time. I have read that a vinegar mix on the scalp after washing and then rinsed out can help but I am worried about affecting my water only progress so far. I BBB and scratch every day. Would the vinegar work/affect the water only routine, is there anything else that might work. Your blog has been such a great point of reference on this journey, thanks
Hi Deb, Keep in mind that dry shampoo counts as a “wash” in that it soaks up a lot of the oils on your head and can encourage your scalp to produce more to get rid of the dryness dry shampoo creates. Use it sparingly and only apply it to your part / hairline / where people notice oiliness. Keep scritching and brushing daily (with a clean brush) to distribute your natural oils to keep them from building up and sitting on your scalp (this will help with odor). You can try vinegar to see if it helps, it shouldn’t affect your water-routine negatively.