Conditioner Only in the USA

Ya'll, I refuse to call it "no poo". Plus, I'm not really sure it's still "no poo" if you use traditional conditioner. Whatevs.

I'm not out to shock anyone when I say I haven't used shampoo in years. That's just a fact. I wash my hair just like everyone else, I just use conditioner only. If you're my mom, you will think this is ruining my hair forever. If you're not my mom, hear me out.

You know how some people have "combination" skin? Well, I have "combination" hair. Lots of people have it. My hair is thick but not super thick, wavy but not super wavy, and most importantly it is oily at the roots and dry at the ends. You know how you're not supposed to use a bunch of harsh shit on your face because it will dry it out and cause it to overproduce oil and just generally be frustrating? Same goes for my hair. Shampoo dries it the fuck out, and then I have to slather a bunch of moisturizing stuff on it to fix it.

Or, I used to. I heard about this method about 6 years ago, when I was browsing some long hair forums on LiveJournal. I know, LiveJournal? True experts, I'm sure, but IT WORKED. It CHANGED MY [hair's] LIFE.

Now, obviously, this might not be the magic bullet for everyone. Every head of hair is different, BUT! If you suspect that your hair may be similar to mine in some way, I highly recommend giving it a try. The key, I think, is using a pretty "cheap" conditioner. You don't necessarily want a super rich conditioner, because they tend to be really hard to work into the hair, and don't rinse out all the way. I started off using Suave Naturals in Coconut. All the Suave Naturals conditioners work pretty well for this job, but I think the coconut one is just slightly creamier and more moisturizing. I found VO5 to be too runny for my liking, but if you have thinner hair it might be perfect for you. I also use to be in love with the Target brand sunflower conditioner but they BROKE MY HEART and discontinued it about a year ago. No lie, I had one bottle left and I rationed that shit for months and months. I went through a lot of other conditioners looking for a dupe, and ultimately came up short. However, I did discover this Yes To Carrots conditioner that has a really similar consistency and I love it even more than my deceased Target conditioner.

Now, yes, it is several times more expensive than the conditioners I was using before, but it still clocks in well under $10 and I haven't even gotten to the best part:
I don't have to wash my hair as often anymore.

I had always heard fairy tales about women who were able to skip washing their hair for a few days and still look amazing, but I was definitely not one of them. Even for the first few years of doing Conditioner Only, I was still getting oily roots, I just wasn't shredding the rest of my hair with shampoo anymore. Now that I've been at this for awhile I've learned a little more about what my hair likes and it's balanced out to the point that I can get a couple of days out of one hair-washing and another by just spraying some dry shampoo at my roots. One bottle of conditioner lasts me forever, and I'm not even shelling out that much to begin with. And, I'm not shelling out at all for leave-ins, hair masques, or oil treatments to re-moisturize my hair. I do have dyed hair, so I do use a heat protectant to preserve the hue, but because I don't have to wash it every day and my hair is healthier, it retains color pretty well.

Seriously, if you have color-treated, dry, or damaged hair it's worth a shot! Try it on your day off! Go crazy!

Oh herro.

So, here's my deal: I love beauty junk.

  I love conditioners, creams, serums, sprays, glosses, polishes, gels, brushes, and powders.I do not love l otions or shampoos, but I'll get to that later.

  Despite browsing the makeup aisles for an inordinate amount of time, and being a sucker for shiny new products, I consider myself a pretty simple lady. I enjoy painting my face, but I don't like it to take longer than 15 minutes, and I balk at the idea of having to put on more than 3 layers [including topcoat] of nail polish.

  My goal is to find those elusive Holy Grail items [the perfect mascara, the perfect conditioner, a lotion that doesn't make me feel claustrophobic...] so that I can have my routine down to a science. Then, perhaps, I'll have to take up a hobby that doesn't include wandering Target for hours reading the backs of packaging. Maybe knitting?