New Yorker Sarah Theeboom was inspired to give up using products on her hair after she ran into an old friend whose once dry, frizzy locks were smooth and shiny. When Sarah asked for her secret, her friend explained that she had simply stopped shampooing, opting³ to partake in the apparently-popular 'no poo' movement, which Sarah had never heard of until that moment.

 

'I wasn't in love with it, and I just didn't really know what to do,' she told Seventeen. 'I wanted to try my friend's trick and stop shampooing.'

 

Although her friend warned her that her scalp and hair would go through a nasty adjustment period, Sarah wasn't prepared for the dandruff and excessive amounts of grease that she first experienced after she first started shunning⁴ shampoo during a three-week vacation to Thailand.

 

Sarah recalled that during those first few weeks her hair was the 'greasiest⁵' it had ever been.

 

'I was so embarrassed that I didn't want to show my head to anyone,' she explained.

 

Despite the fact that she 'almost cracked' and went back to shampoo, she forged on with her mission.

 

After vacation she started wrapping her hair with headbands every day. When she showered she would wet her hair and scrub her scalp with her fingers. And even though her boyfriend was critical of the idea, Sarah explained that, by this point, she 'felt committed' to her cause. 

 

It took six weeks for her hair to feel somewhat normal again and then another six weeks of her hair looking 'so-so' before the 'magic happened'.

 

'I started to see what my natural hair was like when I wasn't constantly doing stuff to manipulate it,' Sarah explained. 'It was silky and wavier⁶ and totally frizz-free.'

 

The 'no poo' movement has gained popularity over recent years because of celebrities⁷ such as Kim Kardashian, Shailene Woodley, Adele and Jessica Simpson who have revealed that that they avoid washing their hair for days - and sometimes months - on end.

 

Because it is no longer considered a ludicrous concept, Sarah said that she typically doesn't have a problem sharing her hair secret, but she did note that sometimes she will come across someone who just doesn't get it - including one hair stylist who didn't understand why she couldn't shampoo her hair.

 

Sarah explained that her although her current regimen sounds like a 'beauty philosophy', she was really just experimenting to see what worked for her.

 

'I don't think shampoo is evil or bad for your hair...' she said. 'I still have good hair days and bad hair days, but overall, my hair looks and feels so much healthier.'

点击收听单词发音