It seems like an incredible act of mind-over-body magic, but I'm beginning to be convinced that believing your hair doesn't need a frequent shampoo-and-wash makes it so. Just recently,
W Magazine
profiled writer Christa D'Souza's foray into six weeks of not washing her hair, and Into the Gloss ran a feature on Proenza Schouler CEO, Shirley Cook, who last washed her hair six weeks ago, and has a better-looking mane than I can even dream of having myself. With some in-office digging, I discovered that our front-end developer, Jenn Scheer, adopted the no-shampoo lifestyle years ago, and only washes her hair once every three months. And after sitting next to her for nine months, I can attest that she's able to rock her layered, wavy haircut (with bangs!) sans weird smells, obvious grease, or scalp freakouts. If you can get past the comfort factor, the benefits are obvious: You save quite a bit of money on product, it's an incredible time saver, and—best of all—your hair becomes healthier, shinier, and smoother, thanks to the return of follicle-protecting oils. Jenn's tips to getting it right: "The first key ingredient is water. Rinsing every week or so will allow you to do this indefinitely, I swear. The other key ingredient is a good powder to shake in your hair that will soak up oils, and can easily be brushed out (we recommend a boar's bristle brush). Corn starch is my favorite (it's baby powder minus the icky perfume), but rice flour and a good dry shampoo do wonders as well." My only grievance with this lifestyle? Apparently, it's called "no-poo," which is a horrifying name for something with already gross connotations. So far, the perceived pluses are outweighing the negatives, and I'm game to give it a whirl. But tell me—am I alone? Anyone else willing to try out no-poo?