Is it time to to ditch shampoo?
HE’S an unlikely beauty guru, but radio presenter John Humphrys has entered the great shampoo debate, revealing he hasn’t used it for years. The 74-year-old is in the unlikely company of Kim Kardashian, Adele and Gary Barlow. But what are they thinking? The rationale is that shampoo strips natural oils from your follicles — leaving hair dull and damaged. So, should YOU ditch shampoo?
WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY
FRANKLY, they can’t an t agree. Trichologist gist Anabel Kingsley says: ‘Your scalp is skin. Just like your face, it needs to be cleansed.’ Hairdresser Neil Moddie counsels restraint: ‘Shampoo less, to keep your natural oils.’ Then there’s the e ‘no poo’ (short for ‘no shampoo’, thankfully) community. They say shampoo dries hair out so much that your oil glands go into overdrive, leaving you dry and greasy — caught in a ‘vicious cycle’ of shampooing.
WON’T IT BE REALLY... OILY?
THERE’S no doubt you’ll have a greasy couple of weeks if you go cold turkey. But ‘no poo’ devotees insist that eventually, your hair — and oil glands — will adjust and hair will start to look clean again. They recommend washing with just warm water, or a little baking soda. After all, if it can get a grease spot off a frying pan, surely it can get your scalp squeaky clean! There’s only one problem: baking soda will dry your hair out too, so you may need to use a moisturising conditioner. Another option is rinsing it in apple cider vinegar — as long as you don’t mind smelling like a portion of chips.
SHOW ME ANOTHER WAY!
IT HASN’T taken brands long to cotton on to this trend. Many tout the haircare equivalent of clean eating: shampoos made without the usual chemicals. Those chemicals are cleansing agents known as sulphates, containing molecules which are really good at removing dirt and oil — they also create that lovely lather. But they can do their job too well, drying hair out and dulling colour. You can now buy sulphate-free shampoos that makers claim are easier on your hair — although they tend to be more expensive and don’t lather so well. (Try Aveda Damage Remedy Restructuring Shampoo, £19.98.) One U.S. brand, Hairstory, claims to have reinvented haircare altogether with its New Wash (an eye-watering £44) made from essential oils, apple cider vinegar and argan oil. It does the job of shampoo and conditioner and is ‘for a world where the old rules don’t apply’, says the website.