An update on my no-hair washing experiment! Since the beginning of December of 2010 I stopped using both shampoo and conditioner in my hair. Instead I scrub my scalp with my nails in the shower and simply "wash" my hair with just warm/hot water.

Benefits:

*No cost for shampoo/conditioner!

*Hair feels and looks "healthy" and thick, despite having colored and bleached it multiple times in the past year.

*Hair retains moisture long after shower. It is now 1:30pm and my hair is still damp from a shower 3 hours ago.

*Fewer harsh chemicals against my scalp

Drawbacks:

*Hair still has a heavy look, meaning oils are probably not yet perfectly distributed. This can be temporarily overcome by blow-drying hair, which I try to do infrequently.

*Seemingly more scalp waxy buildup. Trying to combat this with thorough scrubbing in shower and brushing hair daily, especially scalp.

I've read it can take months for natural oil production to stabilize itself after years of adaptation to harsh stripping by chemical shampoos. I should probably stop dyeing my hair every month to really get the full effect, since each dye job is like a pretty harsh shampoo.

Since I am growing my hair pixie short to bra-line, it will be interesting to see how this will play out with longer and longer hair.