No Soap or Poo Update

Even though I haven’t mentioned it for a few months, I’m still not using soap or shampoo in my daily shower. I haven’t received any complaints about smell, or made any about feeling dirty. However, I have received some feedback because of my earlier post about the no soap or poo experiment and wanted to share.

(Note: Names have been omitted for privacy reasons.)

Gave it a try

One of my loyal readers decided to try a no ‘poo experiment for herself. After about a week, though, she decided to return to her beloved shampoo. There seem to have been two reasons for this return:

  • She didn’t try long enough to get past the normalization period. The more chemicals you use in your hair, the longer it will take for it to return to feeling normal without them.
  • She likes how the shampoo smells and wanted that back. I can certainly appreciate this, and see no other way to achieve the same results.

Hair stylist gives compliments

Another friend decided to test the no ‘poo experiment as well. After about a month, she thought that her hair still hadn’t normalized but was willing to continue on. A month later, she was still going. When she went to her stylist for a trim she received compliments on her hair. After explaining the experiment, the stylist remarked that the reader had exactly the results that so many people pay a lot of money to achieve.

Loves the results!

After reading about my experiment, a friend of mine decided to give it a try. I didn’t hear about it until after a few weeks of no soap. Like me, he hadn’t received any complaints and decided that he liked it just as well, if not better, than having to use soap. Since no soap seemed to be working for him, he decided to try no ‘poo as well.

He waited until after he got his hair trimmed (which is still about twice as long as mine) and gave it a go. A week later he told me that he loved the results! He didn’t need to use any gel in his hair any longer, which he had been doing for years.

Deodorant makes you stink?

A couple of friends read about the experiment and both decided to test it out. He had never given such an experiment any consideration and was quite pleased with the results. She has always had sensitive skin and struggled to find soap and shampoo that wouldn’t irritate her. No soap has proven to work out wonderfully for her! She isn’t quite comfortable testing out no ‘poo, though, and was still looking for a shampoo that works for her the last I heard.

The most interesting thing that I learned from their experiences came from testing out no deodorant as well. He hasn’t ever been a huge user and skipping that daily step didn’t bother him in the least. She was a heavy user, however, and was amazed to find that she smelled better when she quit using it. Needless to say, she was quite annoyed to find out that Dove had been making her stink!

What about you?

Have you tested out either no soap or no ‘poo? I’d love to hear how it went, either in the comments or via email.

7 thoughts on “No Soap or Poo Update

  1. Delisa says:

    interesting experiment. I make my own soap from scratch and use it to wash my hair too. Once your hair normalizes it works wonderfully and I can enjoy washing with scents I like. I only use essential oils. It also cuts down on the amount of lotion I need to use and I can go with out deodorant.

    • Matthew says:

      I’ve looked into making soap before, but for some reason it just doesn’t appeal to me. I might have to give it a try, though, and see if it is something that my wife would like. Those sound like some pretty good benefits.

  2. givejonadollar says:

    I don’t think I can manage it.

    When my armpits stink, or my crotch area, I don’t think water alone will do the trick.

    Good luck to everyone else on your experiment, however. 🙂 🙂

    • Matthew says:

      Jon, you might be surprised. That’s exactly what I thought, but I figured that if I still stunk after my shower, I could hop back in and use soap. Still haven’t needed to! 😀

    • Matthew says:

      As a SAHM you might be able to hide for a week. However, I think that the vast majority of your fears will be all in your head. The second friend I mentioned got compliments from a stylist!

      I think that it’s definitely worth a try. If you don’t like it and switch back, what have you lost?

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