No Poo For You is an ongoing series about my journey to finding the best hair care for my hair type. So far, so weird, but we’ll get there. Read Part 1 and Part 2. This post may contain affiliate links.
Here is the update you’ve all been waiting for. How am I managing my hair now, how do I wash it, and how did that crazy bone broth experiment turn out?
To be perfectly frank, I haven’t been very happy with my hair lately. It hasn’t been falling out like it was before I started my no poo journey and it hasn’t been rough/impossible to deal with during the second part of my no poo journey. I believe I may have found a rhythm with the washing methods of it.
I barely ever wash my hair now. I wash my hair anywhere from every 2 weeks to once a month, depending on how it feels. My impossible mother claims my hair smells because she knows my routine (it doesn’t), but otherwise no one ever asks or comments about my hair. It’s rarely greasy, my hair has literally gotten thicker (I used to have major problems with extremely fine, easily breakable hair follicles), and it usually shines.
As for the washing method, I mostly use very hot water every time I shower (every 2 days or so) and I brush my hair with a bamboo brush every day when I wake up. The brush looks great, it detangles well, it stimulates my scalp, and it uses less plastic than your average detangling brush (although these work well, too).
Sometimes I “reset” my hair with a baking soda and white vinegar rinse, but usually I notice this can throw off the balance of the natural oils in my hair. It also dries it out a lot, so I keep these rinses to a minimum. I’ve noticed that the next day I shower after this rinse is when my hair looks the best (but I can’t do that every day).
I also use a peroxiding honey water rinse in order to liven up the color in my hair during/after a harsh winter. I can make a post on this with my recipe if you all are interested (tell me in the comments below).
That bone broth experiment went very well. I’ve heard of many people using coconut and olive oil to soak their scalp and stimulate hair growth as a deep conditioning treatment, but it has never worked for me. I’m not sure if a bone broth soak would have the same effect (mind you, I did not soak it. I just rinsed with it).
The broth made my hair a little greasy for the first two days. It did not smell, but remember that I rinsed it with white vinegar afterwards. I also used lavender essential oil in my hair, which I recommend. After the grease wore off, the photo above is the result. My hair felt very healthy, bouncy, and soft. It was a strange experiment, but I will likely do it again if I can’t drink my broth for whatever reason.
For the past 3-5 years or so, my hair hasn’t grown much at all. The bone broth I drank when I got sick created new hair growth and my new diet helped strengthen my hair, but it has stayed at shoulder length for multiple years. I rarely ever cut it.
When I turned 21, I was in an unfortunate accident that burned my entire face and my hairline. It took at least a year for the hair around my forehead and at the nape of my neck to grow back and match the rest. It looked awful for the longest time, so my college roommates convinced me to cut it my senior year. What follows is a montage of my hair transformation
You guys… It hurts to look at these photos. This was my hair at Disney Land in 2014… 6 months post-accident. I must reiterate that I am very grateful the scars on my face healed completely, but my hair has not been that long in the 4 years since… and I haven’t cut it…
Recently, I have been trimming my hair ever so slightly. I am still fearful that it will never grow back, so every time I take scissors to it, I have a mini panic attack. However, split ends don’t look great on shoulder-length hair. I am grateful my hair is healthy, thicker, and that it’s not growing in patches. However, I long for the day when my hair reaches my nipples again. COME ON!
I’ve tried everything: biotin supplements, the paleo diet (which kinda worked), bone broth (which kinda worked), and eating more fish and avocados (it’s basically the main part of my diet). Currently, I’m trying to stimulate my scalp more and I’ve considered dyeing my hair just to change things up a bit. Pray for me, I guess.
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All photos by/of me / are owned by me.
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