Siobhan and the No Poo Challenge

Hi, I'm Siobhan, and I'm an obsessive compulsive hair abuser.

It all started when I was 14. I got some shitty drug store box dye (because who would've believed that I liked the Misfits and Avenged Sevenfold if I didn't douse myself in Hot Topic clothes and dye my hair black? There's something to be said for authenticity here, folks). After that, I was hooked. Except unlike my mall goth wardrobe, my knack for dyeing my hair never went away.


One summer night right after I graduated high school, I got bored and decided to dye my hair blonde.

Another night, about a year ago, I decided to dye my hair red. 

Then, I decided to jump on the Ombré bandwagon last summer. 

The result, after I realized how much upkeep it was and dyed it all back to brunette? 

Dead, lifeless, ambiguously colored, split-ended hair that had to be chopped off to my chin. And while I'm enjoying the short hair for the most part, I miss my locks. Which is why I'm trying to ensure that when they do make their comeback, they'll be as healthy as humanly possible. Not only am I not going to dye my hair anymore, but I'm trying to revitalize it from the inside out by using less hair products in general. After doing some reading up about the least malevolent products, I kept bumping into the "No Poo method," which involves abstaining from the use of any shampoo or conditioner in order to restore the natural oils and nutrients from your scalp to your hair. You can read the specifics here. 

Basically, you use baking soda and vinegar to clean your hair. And bitches go nuts for this shit. They say it makes your hair amazingly soft and voluminous. So, I'm gonna try it for a month. No Poo February! 

"But, Shiv! How will you go a month without shampooing your hair?! Isn't the vinegar going to smell like shit?! You have so many handsome suitors just dying to take you out on dates, how are you going to juggle that?!"

       Actually, since you put the baking soda and the vinegar on your hair in the shower while it's still wet, there's no smell at all once it dries. So I'm fairly confident that George Clooney won't notice a thing while we're out to dinner. 

"But, Shiv! You workout all the time and have like the best bod ever and are just generally awesome, isn't your hair gonna get all gross after that?"

       Well, as much as I love excuses, (and I would so, so use this as an excuse not to exercise if I weren't already ankle deep in an exercise regimen) it really doesn't affect my workout schedule. You can just use the baking soda and vinegar method as much as you want, although it's suggested to do it about once every four days. Still, you can rinse with water on the off days. (remember that actual shampoo doesn't have any antibacterial properties, it's just loaded with perfumes) so your hair isn't getting any cleaner with shampoo, it's just masking your hair with pretty smells and stripping away the natural oil. 

SO, Day One. 

The initial experience was a little weird. As expected, the baking soda solution doesn't lather, so kiss your ability to run your fingers through your wet hair goodbye. The vinegar had absolutely no smell once my hair was dry, which was good. The many, many blogs that I read about the No Poo Method were basically all the same in that they warned rookies of the first day, and for good reason: my hair feels like shit.

This is apparently completely natural, since my hair is having a little identity crisis whilst rekindling the flame with it's naturally produced oils. And since my scalp's oil glands are just yawning during their wake up from an eight year nap and conversing amongst themselves about how much oil they should be letting out, it takes a little time to get used to. To clarify, my hair just feels a little starchy. Kind of like when you hairspray the shit out of it and then brush it the next day. It feels like its got texture, and its crazy voluminous already. 

That's day one, with just a tiny hair clip in. No teasing, no hairspray, no product. and my hair is only shoulder-length! Hopefully this volume sticks around! A lot of what I've read about No Poo suggests just keeping your hair back in a bun or under a hat for the first week or two, so thank heaven its beanie season. I'll be updating this every few days for progress updates, so if this is some internet troll that doesn't actually do anything beneficial for your hair at all, get your arsenal of jokes ready now. 

Until next time, friends.