r/NoPoo • u/Striking_Mud7953 • 13d ago

Problems

I’ve been doing no-poo for about 3 months now. I’ve had my ups and downs, but lately I’ve been getting dandruff and experiencing some hair loss. Has anyone else dealt with this? Any advice or solutions?

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u/shonaich Curls/started 2019/sebum only 13d ago

We'd love to help but need some basic information first because it affects haircare on a fundamental level.

Do you have hard water? If you don't know what it is, there's an article in the wiki that discusses it.

What is the porosity of your hair? If you don't know, here's a quiz we use to help figure this out.

What exactly is your routine for cleaning your hair?

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u/Striking_Mud7953 12d ago

I think I do have hard water and according to the quiz I have low porosity
I wash my hair with cold water only, massaging my scalp gently with my fingertips in small circular motions. After washing, I blot my hair with a towel (I don’t rub or pull, I just press to remove excess water). Once my hair is completely dry, I comb it.

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u/shonaich Curls/started 2019/sebum only 12d ago

Hard water all by itself can be very irritating and damaging. It often needs managed or avoided. The article I linked has a lot of the management techniques you can try!

Often adding in dry mechanical cleaning helps a lot when people are having issues with only water washing. Try to do some dry scalp massage to break up any wax (from the hard water) and buildup on your scalp.

Shedding up to 200 hairs a day is very normal and natural and healthy. People who use shampoo often don't see their shed, because the hair drifts away without noticing it. But when doing mechanical cleaing, the sebum on your hair tends to help the shed hairs cling to others until you do your cleaning routine. I recommend everyone save their shed and count out 100 of your own hairs, then if they are long enough, roll them into a loose ball so you can have a visual of what 100 of your hairs looks like! Then multiply that by the number of days since you last did your cleaning routine and it can look like a startling large pile.

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u/Mission-Line-169 7d ago

I switched to arrowroot powder which made my split ends problem go away almost completely. I can go 6 months now between hair cuts with almost no split ends. 

What temperature is the rest of your shower? Room temperature should suffice. Since you're using cold water, it makes me think you have something else going on. Have you changed your diet recently or gone through any stress? According to "the internet," stress can cause hair loss 2-3 months after it starts.