That's the point...the shampoos remove more of the oil than is healthy, resulting in over production to catch up, and more shampoo being necessary to remove the oil...it's a cycle.

I'll report back, either way. :D

I get my hair cut once a year, whether I need it or not. I have 2 modes, long in the winter, short in the summer. Summers in MD + my hair equals MAJOR frizz, do you know how hard it is to make clients take you seriously when you have a redish 6/7 inch afro, and are pale force to the core? I look like Ronald McDonald seriously. I also suffer from seborrhea, however...Nizoral keeps it WELL in check, expensive, probably giving me cancer...but no flakes. If I lived in a place with 0 humidity most of the time, my hair would probably ponytail length, but alas...I'm in MD.

I used to use Dr. Bronner's soap, good for washing dreads, and white boy fros. I go for the heavy conditioners, right now it is "Yes to Carrots". I usually style with John Freida frizz ease wind down cream, or gel if it is REALLY sticky. Dr. Bronner's soap is VERY cheap, and only leaves your hair smelling like...hair. I'm a person VERY sensitive to smells, I smell EVERYTHING. I can tell what kind of perfume a woman is wearing if I've smelled it on someone close to me, and what kind of a shampoo a girl uses if my wife or an x-gf used the same. I think hair smells good when it is clean or even a little dirty, dirty never really bothers me.

I shampoo my hair a minimum of once a day. If I don't, the oil sits on my head and makes me break out.

Granted, I have short hair now, so it's not a huge deal. But I feel really dirty when I don't shampoo.

In fact, on days when I'm running really late to school I will just wash my hair. I'm a very clean person, and shampooing the hair just finishes of the "fresh" look.

I know this is largely talking about alternatives to shampoo, but the notion of not washing or not using detergents usually crops up with the comment that after 6 weeks your oils get back into balance.

Think about hairy non-humans you come across.

It's a rare dog owner that washes their dog's hair every day but still that dog needs washing from time to time because otherwise they stink.

I've no reason to suspect that humans wouldn't be the same.

I think I'll try this no-shampoo idea on my next trip out to the field, since it can be a pain to pack the several bottles of shampoo/conditioner I'd need for several months with me.

I don't wash my hair every day, and it keeps it super nice and soft. I have super duper hard water and live in a super dry area, so washing my hair every day leaves my feeling so dry it's not fun.

Sometimes, I like to use half a beer as a conditioner. I think it makes my hair softer and nicer than any conditioner or alternative out there. I'd use it all of the time, but I don't want to waste beer so I just use any leftover from the night before.

I have the same kind of hair as you. I only wash my hair once every couple of weeks (unless I get into something really dirty), but I do give it a good rinse and conditioning once or twice a day. This seems to take out any of the products I use, but I admittedly use few. The no shampoo thing seems to actually cut down on the crazy amount of frizz.

The idea is to use baking soda made into a paste or dissolved in water, followed with a cider apple vinegar rinse. Baking soda absorbs odors, vinegar counteracts the baseness of the baking soda. So...Should work to prevent any sort of smell. And, oddly enough, this is what I wash my dog with. He gets smelling to 'doggy' and he gets soaked, scrubbed with baking soda, rinsed, rinsed with vinegar, and then rinsed again.

just tried maven's "no poo" suggestion for the first time ... not sure what to think of it yet. i have chronic oily/greasy hair; it slicks up within a couple days after a shampoo. if maven's website is right, then the baking soda trick should do a better job at keeping my hair grease-free than the crap shampoo i had been using.

(i know maven didn't actually invent "no poo," and i know she probably had nothing to do with the website she linked to, so don't correct me on that.)

edit: it was late last night that i showered, and i didn't blow dry my hair before going to bed. i like sleeping with damp hair on warm nights. now its OH MY GAWD MY HAIR. it's so silky and soft, it's crazy. i've rarely gotten it this silky with the detergents. it's almost crazy to think i got this with just baking soda water. i'll keep this up for a few weeks, to see if this isn't a one-hit wonder.

So, I'm going to try this today. My hair is in desperate need of a cut so the ends are very dry and yet the roots get oily. I have no apple-cider vinegar for a rinse though and I do need conditioning. We shall see how this turns out.

i think any vinegar could do the job fine (my sister before suggested i rinse with white vinegar); just the no-poo website pushed apple cider vinegar. i think it was some chemical from the apple fermenting process did something good to hair.

Vinegar of any kind will work. I thought they suggested the apple cider because it smells a bit less, but that could be just me.

I tried this last night and it works great! I am going to get some apple coder vinegar tonight too :D

That's some endorsement! I'd love to try this, especially for the hot weather. I just have to follow the directions mentioned for color treated hair.

Oh...and following my trip to Puerto Rico, even wearing a hat I am so freakin' blonde.
*dials hairdresser for a fix appointment*