Fashion “no poo” comes to our country with strength, but is it really beneficial?
Do you remember when a few years ago we decided to buy horse shampoo to wash our hair because it seemed to grow stronger and more vigorous? Well we present the new fashion among celebrities: the “NO POO” or how to wash your hair without shampoo. The argument is based on the fact that shampoo spoils our hair and instead uses vinegar or bicarbonate.
Let’s see what the doctors say and if all this makes any sense.
Meaning of NO POO
NO POO comes from NO shamPOO, and as we have mentioned, it encourages hair washing without using shampoos since, they say, it can damage our hair and eventually cause hair loss.
Such is the rejection, that if you put in the translator “poo” its result is “poop” and is that this fashion has made a lot of emphasis on many people who believe faithfully in their results.
Arguments NO POO
The reasoning of the addicts to this technique of NO POO is that shampoos have solvents (weaken the skin), alcohol and mineral oils (original oil). The latter obstruct the hair follicles which weakens the hair.
Its advocates advocate a hair wash with water, without any product that contains chemicals and that are 100% natural. In the process they spend several days with dirty hair, but the secretion of fats is balanced and they go on to have a clean hair. Only in hair with a great tendency to grease if they accept the bicarbonate dissolved in water, applied to damp hair. In certain cases, the bicarbonate can dry the scalp excessively, in this case they recommend the use of a natural moisturizer such as cider vinegar, which was formerly used as a conditioner.
The result? A hair with less fat, more natural and healthier
What do doctors say?
Shampoos are part of the cosmetology used to clean the hair. They contain different chemical compounds that help to improve the texture of the hair, but they do not penetrate the root, which does not confirm the belief that shampoos can destroy hair growth and this causes it to fall. What can be modified is the hair shaft, if the shampoo contains aggressive chemical compounds or a neutral pH.
The shampoo recommended by specialists should be with a neutral pH (between 4.5 and 5.5) so that it does not damage hair or scalp. However, in the NO POO fashion, bicarbonate (pH 8) or vinegar (acidic pH of 3.5) is recommended as natural products.
The one responsible for the hair having a high fat secretion is not the shampoo, since it depends on the hormonal stimuli of the sebaceous glands. It is for this reason that we begin to see fat in the hair, from puberty, because it is a hormonal problem rather than the shampoo we use. What’s more, dermatologists recommend using shampoo assiduously to clean excess grease.
Es importante saber de qué el exceso de grasa no sólo se debe de eliminar por razones estéticas, ya que tales cantidades de grasa puede suponer una gran fuente de microorganismos que favorecen las infecciones.
Portrait of the ideal shampoo
We do not doubt that there are many chemical products that damage and break the hair shaft, as well as the scalp and can even cause allergies. These compounds are alcohol, preservatives (like Kathon) or fragrances. The perfect shampoo should avoid these elements. In addition you should use a neutral shampoo, which is softer for our hair.
The frequency with which we wash our hair is something more personal, depending on the level of fat in your hair. As if we want to wash it daily, there is no problem as long as we use a shampoo with neutral pH.
Conclusions of the specialists in the matter
According to medical knowledge about the NO POO trend, we rely on:
- Using shampoo to wash the hair does not harm it and does not deteriorate the growth or growth of the hair follicle. But they recommend that the shampoo does not contain alcohol, fragrances, certain preservatives and that it be with neutral pH.
- To wash the hair with the NO POO technique, that is, without shampoo, only with water, does not produce an improvement of the fat.
- Dermatologically speaking, the use of shampoos serve a dual purpose: cleaning the hair and treating possible problems in the scalp such as dandruff. Shampoos neither improve nor worsen hair loss, nor does it cause alopecia by washing hair frequently.
- The NO POO washing technique (cleaning the hair with only water, baking soda or vinegar) is not a healthier alternative for our hair, and can also cause irritation on the scalp and this favors the proliferation of infections.
CONCLUSION: we do not find any argument to believe that fashion NO POO is efficient and it consoles us to know what we can continue using our shampoos with ease and wash them daily with certain guidelines.
And for the most ecologists
There are brands that are very committed to the environment and produce natural shampoos made from plants with a very mild pH for our hair, so they do not irritate our scalp in addition to enhancing the beauty of our hair.