How to make a simple no poo shampoo for curly hair

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Are you smitten with the natural hair care bug? Well, I am an avid natural beauty enthusiast. 

More than 2 years ago. I threw all that I knew as cosmetics with harmful ingredients down the trash. 

The list of products that I parted ways with is long. It includes all colored cosmetics, eyeliners, and mascaras. 

Even the body lotions, sunscreens, anti-aging creams went the same route. I did the same with the toiletries.

I let go off the various shampoos, conditioners, hair serums, and styling gels. 

Hair oils that had mineral oil also saw the same trash down fate. Well, a lot of people consider me crazy for doing this.

But if you understand the havoc that the ingredients in these products bring. Then, you too would do the same. 

If you ever spend time reading the labels of your favorite cosmetics. You will end up reading the chemical synonyms of petroleum by-products. 

Mineral oils and SLS are the ingredients of most of the commercial beauty care products. 

Even if the products carry certifications from governing bodies. I do not feel good about using products akin to kerosene on my body. 

So, I made the slow but progressive transition towards replacing them. 

I began with shampoo. From then on. I transitioned to soaps, body lotions, and sunscreen. Today, I do not use a single commercial product on my body. Not even a toothpaste. 

I make everything from scratch. I source raw ingredients and come up with my own recipe for each product.

My no poo shampoo recipe

With time I have experimented various no poo shampoo recipe. From an assortment of clays. To sour curds. A well-beaten egg. And even plain water. 

Some time back I also made my own shampoo bar with a compendium of oils. The oils were castor, mustard, and coconut. The bar did not contain any parabens or mineral oil. It did not even have the nasty palm oil. 

Due to the presence of lye for saponification. The shampoo bar was not no poo. Rather it was low poo. 

I use the bars sometimes. But my all-time favorite recipe for a hair wash remains the baking soda method one. 

I love that recipe. The alkaline powder scrubs away dirt and oil off my scalp and hair. It also disinfects both in the process.

The addition of essential oils further heightens the experience. Rosemary helps with hair loss. Tea tree fights dandruff or any other scalp infections. While lavender calms with its soothing aroma.

Does no poo work

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The moment I open up to people about my beauty care routine. It surprises them. Rather it is the lack of beauty care routine that raises eyebrows. 

Anyone who is alien to the no poo world wonders does the no poo shampoo method works? 

Well, the answer is maybe. 

The logic that it works for me is not a barometer for everybody. It may or may not work for someone depending upon a lot of external factors. 

At times it could be the type of water in your locality. Hard water does not let baking soda work. In fact, because of the hard water. Using baking soda to wash hair might turn hair more greasy. 

The same is the case with soaps. Their cleansing powers halt in the presence of hard water. 

Hard water is the reason why detergents came into existence. Detergents cut through the elements that deter the cleansing activity. Thus, they perform their cleaning duties well. 

But in the process. They end up disrupting the water tables, thereby harming the environment. 

That makes me realize a hard fact. That the lesser cleansing powers of mild soaps are better than the harm of detergents. 

For this reason. Instead of switching from soaps to detergents. I prefer to change the source of water. 

A water filter serves that purpose well. It does not let the toxins to pass through in the hard water. The common ones include lead, aluminum, fluoride. 

I use a water filter made with natural materials. It has coconut fiber charcoal as the filter. I insert it into my faucet to convert hard water to soft. Thus, it makes sure that the impurities in water do not block my scalp cells. 

Though it did not fit in well on my faucet. So, I added a nozzle and a pipe to make it functional. 

It is one of the best investments I made for my hair.

Does No poo shampoo for curly hair works?

Installing a filter decreased my no poo worries. Else my hair would end up in knots. 

Hard water is a menace. The dissolved toxins and impurities in it stick to the hair strands. Thus, causing harm to the strands and the scalp. 

My hair is wavy. Thus, they tend to get frizzy. Dryness, humidity, and chemicals alleviate the tangles. 

This makes me wonder how difficult it must be for people with curly hair. No poo method gone wrong can play havoc on them. 

So, instead of a clean mane with no poo. They might get no poo waxy hair. 

Curly hair strands have open hair shafts. That is why they look fluffy. If no poo goes wrong on them. They might end up more frizzy and tangled. 

This might make people will curly hair to abandon no poo. But it does not have to be that way. 

Because using baking soda is not the only way to go no poo. One can use plant sources as alternative shampoo sources for curly hair.

A simple no poo shampoo for curly hair

When I look for a change to my usual no poo routine. I whip up a recipe from my kitchen to wash my hair. 

The recipe has 3 ingredients – Aloe Vera, Honey, and Coconut milk. 

I source aloe vera from my backyard. Though I make coconut milk from fresh coconut meat. You can also use the processed sources of both. Though, the more rustic. The better it is. 

The instructions to make the shampoo are as below: 

1. Scoop out the flesh of an aloe vera leaf. About a quarter cup is fine.
2. Add about a quarter cup of coconut milk to the aloe.
3. Then, add 1 tbsp of organic honey to the aloe and milk mixture.
4. Give the mix of 3 a good whip in a blender so as to combine them.
5. The resultant creamy mixture is your shampoo. Use it to wash your hair.

Aloe vera and coconut milk nourish the hair strands. They wash the hair without causing damage to the hair shafts. Also, honey cleans both the scalp and hair well. 

Thereby, the curly hair gets a good wash. Minus the worries of no poo issues. 

With the prolonged use of this shampoo. The curly hair gets a tamed look. 

Moreover, frizz vanishes. The hair gets a sheen. And no build up adds to the scalp. 

While this shampoo will work on most of the hair types. But fine hair may look thin with this shampoo’s application. That is due to the oils in the coconut milk. 

The natural oils of coconut will weigh down fine hair. So, people with less density of hair should not use this shampoo often. For them, the usual baking soda shampoo is ideal.  

In Conclusion

No poo shampoo movement has caught on big. The concept to have beauty without pouring chemicals is finally making sense. 

But some issues in the process deter many. For instance, baking soda does not work on hard water. Hard water has dissolved salts and toxins. These dissolved impurities interfere with the alkaline cleaning action of NaHCO3. 

This makes the cleansing of hair difficult. Though it is cumbersome for people with curly hair. 

Curly hair gets difficult to wash with no poo method in hard water. It adds more gunk on their surface. Thus, they land in tangles and unmanageable knots. 

This may cause people with curly hair to give up on no poo. And rather turn towards low poo. 

But instead, if they turn to natural ingredients sourced from plants. Then, they can enjoy going no poo with ease. The recipe in this article makes no poo shampoo for curly hair possible.

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