Aug 29

Aug 29 I Haven't Used Shampoo or Conditioner for 18 Months!

Cruelty-Free Beauty, Sustainable Lifestyle

Just a quick update as its been over a year now since I switched from Apple Soda (bicarb + apple cider vinegar) to Ryepoo (rye flour & vinegar) to wash my hair, and a year and a half since I quit shampoo.

IT'S BEEN AMAZING. I've washed my hair on average around once a week even though I work out quite a lot with an active job. When I was travelling for 2 months in Southeast Asia I used purely water and got along happily with no gross consequences, but when I got back to the UK and continued, it started to get greasy so I went back to Ryepoo as my standard routine, using arrowroot powder in between washes as a dry shampoo.

I've used straighteners on a total of two occasions in 18 months and have air-dried my hair almost the whole time, using the cold setting on my hairdryer if in a rush and the hot setting maybe three or four times if *really* in a rush.

Pictures speak louder than words with this one so here are a few in chronological order from the day I first tried Ryepoo up until today.

Other than Ryepoo the only product I use regularly is coconut oil as a hair mask the night before washing it, and on the ends sometimes for extra beachiness. I've given away all my other hair products including all my beloved Aussie stuff and L'Oreal Ultimate Blends oil that I used to swear by. The only product specifically for hair that I've kept is a non-aerosol hair spray for times few and far between when I need my hair to be done up neatly.

The method is the same now as it was last year, but a little lazier: I have a small glass Petri dish that I put the flour in, which gets topped up with water and mixed with my fingers in the shower. Then there's a glass bottle of apple cider vinegar mixed with water at a ratio somewhere between 1:2-1:3. The rye mix goes on first, massaged in and washed out. Then the vinegar mix that rinses out any clumps, followed by a rinse of water.

I can definitely class this as a life-change now rather than just an experiment and I'm really glad I stumbled across this method all those months ago. Let me know if you have any questions about the Ryepoo method and if you try it yourself!

Thanks for reading.