A few months ago I stopped shampooing my hair. Before you question my personal hygiene, consider a few things.
I have dry, curly hair, beginning to thin because I’m a woman in my forties. It occurred to me that those of us with dry hair put things in it to make it soft and manageable, and then strip all those things out again when we shampoo. So once, when I was in a hurry to go someplace, I gave my hair a thorough rinse, skipped the shampoo and used just conditioner.
The world kept spinning and my hair looked fine. Think about it: we wash our hands frequently because they are constantly touching dirty things and then constantly touching us. It’s a matter of hygiene. The same is not the case with hair. It hangs there looking lovely. It’s been provided with oil glands to keep it healthy, oils we scrub out when we shampoo. Oils we then try to put back with conditioners and hair creams. Does that make sense?
I mentioned this to my hairdresser, who recommended it and told me she knew someone else who was doing the same thing. I’ve been off shampoo for a few months now and my hair is in much better shape. And what began as an experiment for vanity I’ve come to see has other advantages too.
I use conditioner and mousse every time I shower, colour my own hair every couple of months and use hairspray once in a while, all of which eventually ends up down the drain. Think of all the things people put on their hair: dye, shampoo, conditioner, mousse, styling cream, defrizzer, hairspray. One less hair product is one less chemical going down the drain into the ocean.
And let’s face it: all this stuff can get expensive! Not using shampoo saves me money, about $70 to $80 a year. That doesn’t sound like much, but I used fairly inexpensive shampoo, about six dollars a bottle. If you use a salon brand, which can cost two or three times as much, you’ll save that much more. And $70 will buy my husband and me dinner and a movie, or make an excellent charitable donation.
Shampoo is basically liquid soap. Soap dries skin out. It’s definitely in the best interest of hair product companies to keep you drying out your hair and scalp with shampoo so you have to buy more stuff to put in it. It’s how they make their living. I suspect, however, that for some of us it’s an unnecessary strain on our budgets, our environment and our hair.
So if you, like me, have dry hair that tends to frizz and flyaway, try a week shampoo-free and see if it works for you. You may find it’s something you can do without.
