The ‘no poo’ or no shampoo method is a trend that has emerged in recent years and Bet on not using shampoo to wash your hairand instead use only water or substances, such as baking soda or vinegar.
“They defend that by not using shampoo the hair will produce less fat, will stay clean longer and thus the chemical components that commercial shampoos may contain are not used”, explains Anaya Fernández Díez, dermatologist. We spoke with two scalp experts to understand if this technique is well used and how it can affect our hair health.
Helena Rodero, director of the pharmacist that bears her name and specialist in skin and hair, confesses that the needs of the scalp are basically cleanliness: “We have to keep a clean hair, just as we keep a clean face and body. Although it is true that all the skin of our entire body does not have the same needs and that is why we have to adapt them”.
“From a medical point of view, it’s a dangerous trend. The shampoo is essential for the hygiene of the hair and scalp, and also on many occasions we use shampoos with specific components to treat pathologies of the scalp, such as seborrheic dermatitis or psoriasis”, collects Fernandez Diezmedical director at Bojanini Experts Clinic in Madrid.
The expert tells us that our scalp produces oil daily through the sebaceous glands that are attached to the Hair follicles. For this reason, it details this grease must be cleaned regularly: “If we don’t do it, the risk of microorganisms growing and thus causing infections increases.”
Most people cannot achieve oil control with water alone, or try to do it with baking soda, for example, which can irritate the scalp and even produce color changes in our hair: “Not washing our hair at all does not prevent us from producing any oil, each person produces a different amount of oil depending on their individual characteristics and not just the number of times we wash our hair,” says Fernández Díez.
Helena Rodero recognizes that our face, being the most exposed by pollution, sun protection or makeup, we must clean it twice a day. “The scalp, however, is not as exposed because it is protected by hair and therefore external dirt is not as important as it can be on our face,” she notes.
pick up same as this one it gets dirty more from the fat we produce us, because the scalp has many hair follicles and will have many sebaceous glands that will produce a certain oil depending, above all, on hormones.
There are people who produce a lot of oil, others who do not need such frequent washing… In any case, both agree that it is important to clean the scalp to avoid long-term problems, such as infections such as seborrheic dermatitis and dandruff, which arise when we do not wash with the right product or as often as we should.
How many times do I have to wash my hair a week?
The expert Fernández Díez determines that there is no set number of times to wash hair per week. “That depends on each person, on their hormonal conditions, if they get dirty frequently because they touch it or play sports, if they use products that make it dirty, such as lacquers, gels… or if they are exposed to environmental contamination, pollution, etc. Depending on all this, we will need to wash it on a greater or lesser number of occasions”.
It also reminds us that the irritating components that some shampoos may contain can also be found in any cosmetic, and that does not stop us from use moisturizing creams, photoprotectors or facial cleansers. Moreover, we must do it if we also want to take care of our skin. “In addition, the European Union periodically regulates the composition and percentage of each component present in cosmetics, to avoid precisely this, products that irritate, cause allergies or any other problems to patients“Fernández Díez details.
In short, it states that we should wash our hair regularly, for hygiene, to prevent infections and to maintain healthy hair and scalp. “Each person will need to wash it a different number of times depending on their individual characteristics, using a shampoo suitable for their hair type and the characteristics of their scalp, in fact, sometimes we recommend alternating two shampoosone softer and/or neutral, along with another that contains special characteristics to clean and treat the scalp”, concludes the medical director of this clinic in Almagro 44, Madrid.
In conclusion, both experts who the ideal would be between alternate days or two days a week. In external cases, it could be possible to wash the hair every day, if our scalp is very oily, and once a week if it is very dry.
What products should we use?
Helena Rodero assures that when it comes to washing products, we always talk about shampoo because it is a product intended to produce a detergency and a cleaning, but always personalizing according to our scalp. “That is, according to the needs of our scalp we select the shampoo, not selecting it with the type of hair. And therein lies the problem. People normally clean their hair poorly. Shampoo is used to clean the scalp because people he rubs it through his hair.”
And he adds that when we use a shampoo on the rest of the fiber, what we do is damage it because we rub excessively and that causes the cuticle to rise and when it rises, frizz and hair loss, therefore there is damage to the hair fiber. “The living part of the hair is below the scalp and therefore have a healthy scalp“, determines.
As a conclusion, with ‘no poo’ or no shampoo method what is done is to clean the scalp with baking soda, which acts as a physical exfoliant. This, in the most sensitive or dry, can cause irritation and alterations in it. What’s more, bicarbonate has a very high pH which causes the cuticle to open with irritation problems and damage the root part. “They also make baths with vinegar, but this is playing experiments as if they were chemicals because this product also has a high pH,” says Rodero.
In any case, if we used the shampoo correctly we would not have so much hair damage and these extremes based on considering not washing our hair would not exist. “It is because we misuse the products. If we have a normal scalp, we have to wash it with a mild, neutral shampoo about two days a week. With a fatty one, we will alternate oily scalp shampoo with a mild shampoo so as not to degrease excessively and therefore produce more oil, “he clarifies.
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