Shampoo Survey Results and a New Poll!

I'm off for a conference tomorrow but I could not leave without giving you the latest poll results! As a recap, I asked how often do you shampoo with a commercial shampoo (see previous post here). A whopping 367 of you responded which is a huge number...thank you for voting!

The results are fascinating! First 90% of you do use what can be defined as a commercial shampoo. This was surprising to me because I often read about people trying to cope without using shampoo or soap because they feel these products are drying to hair. I have tried the no poo method myself and abandoned it after a while because it just didn't work in terms of cleansing the scalp.


The second result which I had to very scientifically place as a graph shows that the majority of people use some type of shampoo at least once a week. I do like this graph, if you are super geeky and want to look something up, it looks like a poisson's distribution. Roughly translated this means if you use a commercial shampoo you are likely to use it quite often (that is according to this survey anywhere between more than once a week to at least once a month).


So all the fact that majority of us appear to be using some type of shampoo or soap, brings me to the next poll question, have you tried the no-poo method and did it work for you? The no poo method means conditioner washing your hair. If you do a non-strict no poo which means you will occassionally use some shampoo, please pick the yes and it sort of works button.

Thanks all again for participating. I will try and make a post in the middle of the week depending on what the hotel is charging for wifi! If not, it will be at the weekend. Happy hair days all!

Comments

  1. No poo works well for me when I am wearing my hair curly. But, if I straighten my hair (with 320 F heat and a silicone serum or hair spray as a heat protectant), my hair gets sticky and unmanageable unless I wash it with shampoo. I chose, "Yes and it sort of works" in the no poo poll.

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  2. I haven't used a commercial shampoo or anything that has detergent agents in it since 1999. I haven't had a day of dry itchy scalp since either. I don't know why it works for me but co-washing has been the saving Grace to being natural and staying natural. I just could do it any other way. Shampoo caused a lot of tangled matted hair even when I shampooed in small sections. I would always have a dry flaky scalp before the week ended. Co washing changed all that and I have a cleaner healthier scalp. I wish I had done this sooner!

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  3. I tried doing the no-poo method and just co-washing. Co-washing for my hair strands themselves was great. However primary objective in a wash is to clean my scalp and the conditioner always made me have dandruff. Even when I used conditioners without cones and tried to rinse them out well it always seem to give me soft hair but a flaky scalp within a day or two. Nowadays I'm using a shampoo without any of the SLS type ingredients that isn't exactly MOISTURIZING but not harsh either. I only use a LITTLE bit on my finger tips and massage it directly into a scalp so my hair never feels stripped but my scalp gets cleaned. Washing my hair 2x per week also allows me to get away with using such a small amount of shampoo because my hair doesn't have enough time to get really dirty.

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  4. My experience with no pooo was exactly the same experience as Tracyata's, the hair could handle it but the scalp couldn't. I did even try taking silicones and oils out of the conditioner but then my hair then rebelled and scalp issues were still there.

    I'm always fascinated by people like tgirl and the anon commenter where co-washing works. I just never had a good scalp experience with cowashing.

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  5. I really wanted to nopoo, but my scalp couldn't take it, even with co-washing. It felt like it was on fire!

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  6. Traycee at Keep It Simple Sista uses co-washing during the week, but will wash with shampoo once a week and with a clarifying shampoo once a month. I think you can adapt co-washing into a shampooing schedule. It doesn't have to be either other.

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  7. Enjoyed reading your poll results and graph, thanks!

    I tried the no poo method but it did not work. I have a fairly oily scalp and by day 4 I have some build up even if I didnt use a lot of product. For me, conditioner on a dirty scalp just equals more build up. So in order to reduce damage to my hair, I will often hold off until the end of the week to shampoo with a natural shampoo. Sometimes, I will do a light shampoo during the week (occasionally diluted) if I feel like it.

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  8. Just to clarify, the poll is asking if we co-wash and not if we no-poo using other methods such as ayurvedic herbs or acv rinses, right? I'm not a huge fan of co-washing now that my hair is longer (it worked from the twa to mid-length stages), because I no longer wash with my entire head completely loose, which prevents me from effectively co-washing. Instead, I mostly use bentonite clay masks, occasionally washing with black or castille soap to clarify.

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  9. When I cowash I usually add a few drops of Tea Tree oil to assist in mainiating a healthy scalp...but I'm not exactly a nopoo girl I use diluted Castile soap once a week...

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  10. i tried the no poo method but it doesn't really clean my scalp. i use a very light moisturizing shampoo called always. it really cleans my scalp and hair. i can sometimes get away with doing the no poo method if i co-wash my hair with a clarifying conditioner. v05 makes a really good one.

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  11. Okay, here's are a list of my questions... So far *blushes*

    1.) Mustard oil. What's up with it? I've heard women with 4c hair's have turn to mush. What could have made it do that? (Maybe you can do a series on ayurvedic powers?)

    http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=437246

    2.) Silk amino acids. I've heard it works great for women with relaxed hair but what about natural afro-textured hair?

    3.) Cerimades. I know you've touched on it breifly before I was wondering if you could do more research on it. Some women are saying that the benifits are that you don't need as much protien.

    http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=442532

    4.) What's you take on Steam (ie. steam flat iron and hair steaming)? For the flat iron would you said it safer than a other flat irons? And regarding hair steaming is it safer than dry heat?

    5.) Speaking of heat. I've heard (from relaxed and natrual) that air drying can do more damage than using dry heat. What the best why to dry one's hair?
    ***

    Thanks for letting my post questions. I hope I not overwhelming/abusing you. ^-^

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  12. what do you mean by works? Your survey results might be a bit skewed because as you mentioned, for many of us, it's great for our strands but bad for our scalps. does this mean it doesn't work? should i mark "it sort of works" since it works for my strands or "it doesn't work at all" since i had to stop the method since it was bad for my scalp?

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  13. I've never had a problem doing no-poo but I do wash with Dr. Bronner's approximately once every 2-3 weeks, or I'll do a baking soda rinse followed by an ACV rinse. I can see how it might be problematic for certain people but in general I think no-poo is a great invention for women with curly to kinky hair.

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  14. My scalp gets car-razy! But it doesn't seem to be any better when I use shampoo - I just get an itchy scalp with dry hair. Now I focus on cleaning/disinfecting my scalp with sugar scrubs and natural anti-microbials (witch hazel, tea tree, lavendar, etc.). Skin soothers like sea vegetables too.

    For my hair, it's oils, spritzes, and lots of butters.

    Seems to maintain the proper balance for me, though I've yet to reach perfection...

    Thanks again for the amazing site!

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  15. Very nice post I have been using Acacia Concinna and Citrus Limon containing shampoo for my hair loss and itchy scalp and I can see difference in reducing hair fall and dandruff after every wash.

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  16. Sorry for the delay in posting your comments! Just to clarify, I am talking about using conditioner to wash your hair and this means conditioner only. If you wash in between with shampoo, acv etc, then I don't regard this as strict co-washing. I would say tick the it sort of works button if for majority of the time you use conditioner only and occassionally use some shampoo

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  17. This is obviously veeery late! :-D I just recently discovered your site and I'm loving it! I think this is an interesting poll since you had a decent size pool...I wish you had polled individuals who voted, on the length of their hair as well. It would be nice to see if there is some correlation between either using (or not using) commercial shampoos and hair length, or a correlation between the frequency of washes and hair length. Obviously, i realize that there are other factors to consider, and long doesn't necessarily mean healthy, but it would have pretty cool.

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