Is it time 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 agree. Trichologist 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 ‘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.