Medically reviewed by Cynthia Cobb, DNP, APRN, WHNP-BC, FAANP — Written by Taylor Norris — Updated on September 18, 2018

What is no poo?

In the broadest sense, “no poo” means no shampoo. It’s a philosophy and method of cleaning your hair without traditional shampoo. People are attracted to the no-poo method for a number of reasons.

Some want to avoid overly stripping their hair of good and natural oils produced by the scalp. Others want to use fewer unnatural chemicals in their daily routines. And for some people, no poo means rejecting the commercial pressure to spend more money on hygiene than may actually be necessary.

Shampoo contains detergent that cleans your hair and chemicals that make it lather up in suds. “Chemical” doesn’t automatically mean something is unnatural or unhealthy. There’s growing interest among many people to better understand all of the chemicals we use every day, and how they affect our health and well-being.

Giving up shampoo doesn’t mean you have to give up showers or washing your hair.

Instead of shampoo, people who’ve adopted this hair care technique use baking soda followed by apple cider vinegar, or only use conditioner. You can even buy products off the shelf that cleanse your hair but are technically not shampoo.

No poo is such a phenomenon that online support forums exist to help you learn more and experiment with your preferred way to wash your hair.

What are the benefits of no poo?

The potential benefits of skipping shampoo include:

  • healthier hair and scalp that produces a balanced amount of oil
  • more voluminous hair
  • better textured hair and less need for styling products
  • less exposure to potentially irritating chemicals
  • less plastic packaging waste
  • breaking an artificial cycle of shampooing, which dries out the hair, causing you to use products to add moisture back, and then shampoo again to remove product