new thread
First off, I had a good time chatting with some of the guys in the chat room yesterday. Mr. Bill Choisser was in there and had a chance to pick his brain alittle about washing in water only.
He really got me intrigued about this. For those of you who swear by water only, I'd like to hear your side the story about it. Tips, information, techniques etc... whatever you want to spill out, this is the thread for it. Meantime, I'll be putting google to work :)
I am also interested in how you water washers manage your hair without shampoo or conditioner. Hopefully this thread can shed some light on the matter.
I am going to start a WO washing method, if anyone would like to join me they would be welcome, apparently your hair wont adjust until after 6-8 weeks so make sure you are dedicated.
The following is what I will due to my hair in my routine
Day a: fingercomb hair in morning (6:30 am ish) to get tangles out and brush with boar bristle brush afterwards to distribute oils along the length.
Day b: fingercomb hair in morning to get tangles out. After school (roughly 3:30 pm) wash hair, starting out with cool water, then going to warm, then back to cool, running my fingers through my hair from the hairline to the ends over the course of (oh i dont know?) roughly 3 minutes.
Day a
Day b
etc
Hopefully it works out, if any of you go for it I wish you the best of luck, and if some of us manage to make it to the 8 week mark we can compare results.
Forgot to add in the boar bristle brush cleaning routine:
After every session of boar bristle brushing clean the brush by turning it bristle side face down suspended over a sink and running the back and front of a regular comb rapidly through the bristles to get collected dust, hairs and the like out.
Every 2 sessions massage a little shampoo through the bristles of the brush, run hot water over the bristles until shampoo is thoroughly cleaned out.
Hope this helps.
This is a thread from The Long Hair Community on the subject.
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=3412
But I would like to hear more insight as well.
--D
Water only works great for me personally. I just simulate the same motions that one would use with shampoo in their hair in the shower, massaging the scalp and running fingers through the hair as well as a wide toothed detangling comb for good measure followed (gently) with a comb which isn't as wide toothed. This is usually enough to get any buildup out of the hair with out stripping too much serum, for me anyways, my curly hair easily ends up dry and frizzy if I shampoo.
If I find that I must shampoo my hair to get out more than what should be in there, (like what can end up there when one has the flu) I find that it behaves best by putting a meager amount of VO5 Hair Dressing in after the shower so that it doesn't frizz. (Only a very very little amount, it is easy to put too much in and make it look greasy)
I just cant do it. I need to shampoo. I do it on Monday and Friday. My hair is pretty thick, but when it gets oily, it looks really oily. So I have to shampoo. I only shampoo the scalp and not the ends. If I don't I get wierd crystals that form (Sebum Im sure) and it's not for me.
Usually I just condition every day but use it like shampoo.
Then finger comb and thats all. I dont even comb or brush my hair anymore.
I usually wash every other day, sometimes everyday, if its really hot or I get something in it. I just wash normally as if I was using shampoo, massaging my scalp, working out any tangles with a wide tooth comb or with my fingers. To dry it I gently squeeze most of the water out with my hands, then do the same with a towel, and go through it again with a wide tooth comb. If my ends were a little dry I oil them with a little Jojoba oil while my hair is still damp. After it dries I go through again with a wide tooth comb and give it a good brushing with my boar bristle brush to work the oils out along the length of my hair. IMO, a boar bristle brush is a neccesity if your going to try water-only, not only for spreading the oils, but also to get things out of your hair that would normally come out with shampooing. Mine collects lots of fuzz that I find is the cause of most knots and tangles in my hair.
I WO about 4-5 days of the week. On other days I will apply a little bit of leave in conditioner after showering only. Occasionally, I will shampoo lightly if I get build-up or dirt on the scalp. So I'm not a WOW purist but I do practice it most of the time, with exemptions of course. I don't think I could nourish my hair on scalp oil alone!
I tried this out about a year and a half ago, last time I was here. Personally for me, it just didn't work. I tried WO for a couple of months [long enough so that my bodies oil's would get use to it] but my scalp was just itchy, and my hair got greasier faster. Nonetheless, a lot of people here swear by it so I think its worth a try [hell, thats why I did it :P].