Category: Beauty

2 Weeks In: Water Only Hair Washing

VLeave a comment

We’re currently in the middle of COVID-19, so I’m trying to embrace the minimalist side of myself again, along with that has come trying out no poo/water only for my hair care. I actually learn that no-poo and water only are different techniques/methods. For those doing no-poo they may still use natural products like baking soda or apple cider vinegar to rinse their hair.

For me, I was more attracted to the water only method since the idea is to rebalance your scalp (which is supposed to be capable of taking care of itself). I am however sceptical as I love my skincare, although your skin is able to clean and manage itself, what’s the harm in giving it some extra self-care to speed up exfoliation, give it protection or help balance it?

So all of that in mind, I embarked once again on the water-only trial.

I have done a version of no-poo in the past, twice, ranging from 2 weeks to 2 months. The first time I gave up, my hair was a disgusting greasy smelly mess after 2 months and I saw no end to the “transition period”. This time I have done minimal reading up on it, but liked the idea of cutting down in one area of my life.

I can say – things are looking up! 2 weeks in and my hair is feeling good, good enough to head out without wondering if everyone is giving me a bit of a sniff or feeling like a up-do is the only-do I can trek outside with.

I think a few things made a difference this time,

  1. I’ve been giving myself regular scalp massages, 2-3 times a day for a few minutes I massage my scalp all over. This seems to really shake up the dead skin cells and speed up the balancing part.
  2. Mason Pearson brush – I am a mason pearson brush devotee. Love love love it. Crazy expensive, but crazy worth it. Funny when this whole experiment is supposed to be about pairing back, being at one, being simple and here I go tote-ing around a 60+ euro hair brush (pocket-sized, not even full sized, omg)
  3. I’m washing with water. Previously I thought you had to let your hair soak in all its goodness to allow it to turnover, however I realised I probably got it wrong before. Washing with water not too frequently, but maybe once or twice a week is goood for your scalp. With the two steps above it really seems to distribute the oils well and not make me feel like a jelly pot with a sticky top and a jiggly fluffy end.

I will be continuing on for another week to see if there is improvement and seeing from there how long I decide to keep up this experiment (if whether permanently or I go back to my beloved beauty products!)

My only other concern is how to keep up with my coloured hair, however I think if my scalp has transitioned that a every 6 week hairwash and colour might not undo all that good work.

Sitting possibly better than it was pre-water only! I did give it a water wash yesterday so this is “day 1” of fresh water only hair
You can see that the top of my head is not pinned down (where normally it usually is after a few days, the oil naturally is much fuller at the top vs the bleached bottoms)
A visual of how it sits
Close up of the scalp. It seems like it’s starting to turn that nice “white” they refer to for healthy scalps. Prior to water only I was facing a little bit of buildup, not sure if due to the dry shampoo or dandruff. Regardless it seemed my scalp was a little itchy and irritated. I was expecting the itchiness to get worse with WO, but it hasn’t!
You can see a bit of that scalp build up I was talking about, but it’s fairly minimal compared to how it was pre-WO.
You can see it’s not looking like a greaseball but sitting fluffy. Excuse the colour, COVID-19 has had me not able to visit the hairdresser.