There are some topics on which the beauty world is divided—and how often you should wash your hair is one of them. There are those who argue that it is necessary to wash your hair every day and those who think that once a week is more than enough. And then there are those, like me, who entered the controversial world of giving up shampooing their hair completely.
It’s true, I stopped washing my hair for 30 days. After months of dry, frizzy hair, I wanted to go for a total reset, and was inspired to remove all products from my hair and let both my strands and scalp naturally rebalance. But before you give it a try, some warnings: Although it didn’t happen to me, forgoing cleansing can cause some side effects like dandruff, an overly-sensitive scalp, and even hair loss (things that are reversible and often related to the hair’s need to regain balance after giving up shampoo).
Read on for my diary of day one to day 30.
How often should you wash your hair?
This is a personal choice and there are factors to consider like how often you exercise, your hair type, products you use, and when you feel most confident. Dry shampoo can be a great in-between-washes option, but remember the effects and build-up of pollution and sweat brings its own scalp health issues, so keeping your scalp healthy and clean is important.
How to survive 30 days without shampoo? It’s all in the routine.
Washing your hair with just water is not enough. In fact, to keep your hair healthy, you need to structure your haircare routine to give your hair everything it needs to keep it clean, soft, and easy to comb. One way to solve this is to try natural remedies, such as rinsing with rice water–the starchy water left after rinsing rice–which has seen TikTok fame in recent years. It can help give hair important antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins B and E, which help hair stay soft, shiny and easier to detangle. Another popular technique that might help ditch the shampoo is co-washing or co-cleansing, a gentle, low-aggressive wash with conditioner, which nourishes the lengths and protects the color. However, if you’e looking for an all-natural routine, co-washing isn’t suitable.
My experience of washing my hair without shampoo
Giving up hair products has been a journey of ups and downs–moments when I’ve felt deeply satisfied and other times when all I wanted to do was grab my shampoo and give my hair a good wash. Finding the balance hasn’t been easy, but the transformation as the weeks passed has been amazing, especially for my straight, thin hair, which usually lacks volume. Here’s what happened:
Days 1 to 5
The excitement of starting the challenge led me to choose to wash my hair only with water–immediately a bad idea. Although I combed the lengths carefully–trying to distribute the natural oils on the scalp down to the ends–using only water really dried out my hair, which then appeared dull and dehydrated.
Days 6 to 10
I started trying some of the most popular natural remedies online, such as water and vinegar and baking soda. A combination that allowed me to keep my hair shiny and was light on my roots. The baking soda gives a gentle exfoliation to the scalp and helps with any excess of sebum.
Days 11 to 20
I particularly lacked any softness in my hair, which was down to the lack of conditioner, so I decided to try one of the most talked-about natural remedies online–eggs. I used them in the shower instead of shampoo, but also as a base for a natural mask with yogurt and aloe vera, which I applied once every three days. I found this helped me have more of a routine. There wasn’t an immediate effect visibly but over time, my hair felt softer and stronger.
Days 20 to 25
TikTok helped me find the absolute best hair mask: combine flaxseeds and oil, then boil until it turns into a gel. Let it cool, then apply onto hair and leave on for an hour. I found it very moisturizing and left my hair shiny–a restorative treatment.
Days 26 to 30
The appearance of my hair has changed. It is voluminous and full-bodied and despite not using shampoo, it doesn’t smell. I learnt one very important daily step, which was to make sure I combed my hair in the morning and the evening and especially before washing (without shampoo) to evenly distribute my natural scalp oils.
Would I do it again? Maybe, but probably just as an annual hair and scalp detox treatment. I must admit that on day 31, my shampoo hair wash was the best smelling of my life.
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