Indi-Curl wonders…I have just started a No-Poo hair care routine for my ultra-curly hair and I have a question about leave-in products that are compatible with the system. I know to avoid silicone, and I do, but I was wondering about products with Mineral oil in them. My favorite leave-in treatment contains Mineral oil. Is a conditioner like VO5 strong enough to cleanse hair when this type product is used? I couldn’t find any real information online about it. Everyone just says not to use Mineral oil at all, but it works great on my hair! My hair has never looked better, but I want to make sure I don’t have any buildup problems down the road. Thanks!
Left Brain explains
For the people who don’t know it, the No-Poo hair care routine is basically washing your hair with conditioner instead of shampoo. People also call it Co-washing as in Conditioner Washing. Some say it originated with a stylist in Australia but it’s tough to know where these things actually start. The reason people do it is because they want to avoid the harsh effects of shampoo surfactants on their hair. Another strategy is to use Dry Shampoo but we’ll save that for another post.
How can conditioner wash hair?
There is some science and logic behind this hair care regime. Shampoos are typically composed of about 10-15% detergent. They use anionic surfactants like Sodium Laureth Sulfate of Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate which do an excellent job of cleaning and removing oil from hair.
Conditioners also have detergents in them but a different kind. They use cationic surfactants (or quats) which have the tendency to stick to the hair where they provide conditioning. Common ingredients are Cetrimonium Chloride or Distearyldimonium Chloride and are used at 1-5%. Although they do stick to the hair, these ingredients also have the ability to cleanse the hair. This is why the No-Poo washing system can work.
Avoid Mineral Oil?
The reason people say to avoid silicones and mineral oil is because the amount of detergent used in conditioners may not be enough. This may or may not be true. It really depends on your hair and the way it is left feeling to you. The VO5 conditioner should be enough to remove mineral oil, but you have to try it to know for sure. It may even be good enough to remove silicone!
If you are unsatisfied with the way your hair feels after trying the No-Poo method, you should consider occasionally washing your hair or trying a VO5 Hot Oil treatment. I know this might sound odd, but the Hot Oil treatment does not actually have oil in it! It is composed of a quat (like the VO5 conditioner) called Cocotrimonium Chloride. You can use this product and it will give your hair a good cleaning without using the harsh surfactants of shampoo. It even foams.
Beauty Brains bottom line
There is no scientific reason to avoid using Mineral Oil or Silicone if you are using the No-poo method of cleansing. It just depends on whether you like the way your hair feels or not.
No-poo or Co-washing is not for everyone, but some people like the way it makes their hair feel. It will be less damaging, less exposure to chemicals, and may even do a better job of protecting your hair color & shape. However, I doubt the shampoo companies are too worried about everyone switching. While it may be less damaging, it also leaves your hair feeling a bit “dirty”…and it is.
Have you tried the No-poo washing method or even the dry shampoo option? Leave a comment below and let the rest of the Beauty Brains community know what you thought.
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
“For the people who don’t know it, the No-Poo hair care routine is basically washing your hair with conditioner instead of shampoo.”
Really? That’s news to me and I’m looked into the no-poo method quite a bit. All the no-poo info I recall seeing was about washing your hair with baking soda in water and occasionally using apple cider vinegar as a conditioning rinse.
I don’t see why there couldn’t be multiple no-poo methods, but I certainly wouldn’t characterize it as “basically washing your hair with conditioner”.
Be careful when trying the no poo method, baking soda turnes the hair lighter, isnt that causing damage? besides vinegar is drying.
My hair is wavy and dry and used to be without washing it for a week without problems (i travel for work to places where theres no water). I started no pooing with baking soda once a week and the rest with conditioner (free of silicons and oils).
The first two weeks it was ok and then started to get smelly, i followed the usual instruction that it will take two months for the hair to “get used to” but after that time it turned worst, besides the odor i felt my scalp had higher temperature, was itchy and with a weird dandruff, my brother kissed my head and told me it was smelly, what a shame!!.
I started washing with shampoo everyday and after five months of horrible stinky hair nothing was working, not even anti dandruff shampoo (with clobetazol or zinc pyrithione).
I went to the derm, she told me that my scalp suffered some kind of unbalance that left the bacteria reproducing without control, besides a medicated shampoo (with ketoconazole) – it didnt really help- there was no more answers.
After a year my hair is not the same, i wash it every other day and even is less smelly i can notice it. Now i prefer to protect the tips with conditioner and use shampoo only for the scalp…
I was wondering what The Beauty Brains has to say about all this.
@ Alejandra, OMG that sounds horrible, poor you! Did you read the Natural Haven? She is a curly scientist on blogspot. She just tested the baking soda method the other day, and if I’m correct, her conclusion was that all baking soda did was change the ph dramatically. Maybe that’s why your scalp went out of balance? Anyway, I hope you get well again soon!
I’m in the early stages of using the no-poo method. I’ve been co-washing for a week and have seen a good response in my hairs’ condition.
I have dry, wavy to curly hair and with the co-washing, my hair has become softer and more wavy than curly.
However, since it’s only been a week, I’m not sure how permanent this will be.
As someone who’s scalp is so greasy within 24 hours that I absolutely HAVE to wash every single day, I can’t imagine giving up shampoo. (Not to mention my mom was a professional hairdresser for YEARS and says that conditioner cannot clean completely. I trust her more then some stranger on the internet.) I’ll never understand why anyone would do this. To me there’s absolutely nothing wrong and if your hair is dry you’re just using the wrong products for your hair.
I think shampoo is the only way to really get your hair clean.
I have done several different products for “no poo” — one of which was the Morrocco Method, Wen, Sally’s Nature One, and others. They all work if I do them right. The trick has been to use a lot — and I mean a lot — of water. Lots of rinsing, starting with just wetting my hair down — that’s almost 5 minutes right there…. My hair tended to be a LITTLE greasy, but not that much. Frankly, just shampooing with a good organic shampoo is much faster and easier for me!
I sometimes condition-only wash. It suits my hair at times. As for why anyone would do this, well, hair is different all over the world and just because the norm is one way in one place, doesn’t mean everyone has to or should practice the same norm elsewhere. Some people don’t even use shampoo or conditioner. Oh my!
Different types of hair have different needs. Why anyone would get obnoxious over that is beyond me.
I really like Creme of Nature’s Conditioning and Detangling Shampoo. It is sulfate-free, so is it like a co-wash then anyway?
I have heard people raving about co-washing with the herbal essences conditioners, and I guess I will try that too. I use all these extra mild shampoos, and still I need a ton of conditioner afterwards (except with Creme of Nature). My scalp is not oily, I don’t use any styling products, and I protect my hair from weather and kitchen steam, so I guess all dirt that gets in my hair during the week might be some dust anyway.
Thanks Kamikatze, i read Natural Haven but not this about pH changes, i agree that could be the reason for bacterias to proliferate, no poo is really not for everybody…..
I dont think a sulfate free shampoo can be considered as co washing since it should have another kind of cleansing agent, milder i guess. About the shampoo ive read many people use Suave (and was recommended here in the last post about no poo) cause its not too “heavy” and silicon free.
I’m Black and have let my hair go back to being natural over the last couple of years because it forces me to take better care of my hair.
Anywho, once I really made the decision to “go natural” (versus just kinda letting it happen) I really started paying attention to what my hair was and wasn’t doing. It was clean, but it was getting dry and stick like and just…awful. The exact opposite of why I’d stopped perming my hair in the first place! So I looked up natural-hair care and came across co-washing, along with alternate leave-in hair products to use. It took me a while to wrap my head around co-washing, but I’ve doing it for a few months now, and it’s amazing how much better my hair is!
I switched my hair products first then moved to co-washing, and certainly the combo has been made of win. My hair is softer and *much* more manageable. Every now and then, maybe once a month, I feel the need to do a regular shampoo b/c I tend to use a lot of product during the week, but then I use a mild shampoo. Otherwise the only products I use are a cheap conditioner (like White Mist) and coconut oil.
Do you mean that these conditioning agents like cetrimonium chloride dries out the hair especially when used as a leave-in because it is a surfactant?
No, cetrimonium chloride does not dry out hair. The problem with it in a leave-in product is that it can be irritating to the scalp. Many surfactants are irritating if left in contact with the skin for an extended period of time.
Hi LB. I have thick, wavy/curly out of control hair that gad a life and mind of it’s own. After reading this entry the other day I bought some VO5 and tried 2 of them on my hair. Awesome. I’ve tried for years to control my hair, straighten it and get it to do what it won’t! So I’m going down the natural road from here and going to give ‘no poo’ a go with sulphate free, organic conditioner. The salesgirl at my local health food market said that it might be the salon bought products that are drying out my hair. Already there’s an improvement, but I sweat a lot when I exercise so it should be interesting!! Thankyou