A clean break from shampoo

Elice Turnbull joined the ranks of the “no ’poo” movement when she stopped using shampoo. She said her curly hair is more manageable. (Zachary Kaufman/The Columbian)

(Camille Weber/Lexington Herald-Leader)

Elice Turnbull grew tired of spending $9 a bottle for organic shampoo, only to have her naturally curly hair turn frizzy when she washed it.

So she ditched shampoo.

That's right. Turnbull, 30, doesn't wash her hair. At least not in the way most of us think of as "washing hair."

Before showering, she brushes her hair to spread the oils. Then in the shower, she rinses with water and scrubs with her fingernails. No, her hair doesn't stink, and it's soft to the touch.

"I don't have grape-smelling hair or strawberry-smelling hair, but it's clean," said Turnbull, a Vancouver stay-at-home mother of two. "I wanted to stop having to buy stuff all the time. It's really hard to find decent shampoo without yucky stuff in it."

Turnbull is part of the growing "no 'poo" movement — people who believe the crown of bubbles that has become integral to American hygiene is unnecessary and potentially harmful.

The movement hasn't reached Rapunzel proportions locally. A hair-cutter at one of Vancouver's edgier salons, Moe's Hair Styling on Main Street, hadn't heard of it, and said most of her clients use shampoo. But Monique Dupre of Vancouver spreads the message as part of her "Sustainable Living on a Budget" classes.

"At first people are kind of shocked and go, 'What?!' Then I start talking about the history of shampoo and conditioner and how it's such a new invention in the scheme of things," Dupre, 30, said. "I've had so many people say their scalp has cleared up, that their curly hair was not frizzy anymore. A lot of great things have come of it — even from skeptics."

Her message flies in the face of Americans' strong belief that it takes bubbles to get clean.

"I think a lot of people overuse shampoo," said Janice Cox, of Medford, Ore., author of "Natural Beauty at Home." "It's a habit: Go in the shower, pour a ton. People like that full head of foam. That's what you're used to as a young child."

Giving up the bubbles is a struggle for those who try to forgo shampoo. The online discussion group Dupre set up for people who take her classes includes hundreds of posts on no-shampoo methods. Some like washing their hair with a tablespoon of baking soda dissolved in water, followed by a rinse of a tablespoon of apple-cider vinegar diluted in water. Others opt for only a vinegar rinse. Others, like Turnbull, use water only.

Still others cling to shampoo, but in the form of biodegradable bars like the ones from JR Liggett's or Burt's Bees. (They call their approach a "low 'poo" regimen.)

All camps agree that finding a method that works takes some experimentation.

Dupre, who has long, straight hair, has settled on a vinegar rinse every few days, and a baking-soda wash perhaps once a week.

"Brushing with a boar-hair brush is absolutely critical, especially for me with straight hair," Dupre said. "When I really brush it, it doesn't look oily at all. It feels nice and shiny and clean."

The vinegar rinse didn't work for Turnbull, whose husband told her she smelled like a pickle. She arrived at her water-only approach, which keeps her hair from looking like "a big ball of fuzz," as it did when she used shampoo.

From a dermatolgist's perspective, diluted baking soda and vinegar are safe to use on the scalp, although any substance could be potentially irritating.

Whatever the method, most people probably do not need to wash their hair daily, said Dr. Andrea Kalus, an assistant professor of dermatology at the University of Washington.

"I think people who wash less frequently than once per week start to notice oil and scale building up on the scalp," Kalus said in e-mail. "The optimum frequency to shampoo the hair is dependent on the individual, their age and condition of the scalp."

As people age, their scalp produces less oil and they can wash less frequently, while people with dandruff or psoriasis should wash every day or every other day, Kalus said.

People who use shampoo should choose their product carefully, said Sean Gray, a senior analyst for the Environmental Working Group, based in Washington, D.C.

The group has developed a database called "Skin Deep" of potentially hazardous ingredients in personal-care products.

"Your shampoo ends up covering your whole body, and if you have scalp condition, things get into your body, so it's pretty important," Gray said.

John Bailey, chief scientist for the Washington, D.C.-based Personal Products Care Council, said chemicals the Environmental Working Group labels as hazards pose minimal risk in the low levels found in any given bottle.

"The reality is, we know a huge amount about these ingredients. We know they do work, and we know they can be used safely," Bailey said.

For those who remain suspicious of such chemicals, but aren't ready to give up shampoo altogether, homemade solutions are an option.

"You're in control, you know what's in it, and you'll save a ton of money, too," said Janice Cox of Medford, Ore., and the author of "Natural Beauty at Home." "You're not going to get the big sudsing action, but your hair will get clean."