Water Only
Printed From: HairBoutique.com
Category: Long Hair Happenings
Forum Name: Long Hair Support
Forum Description: Growing it long takes commitment and support.
URL: /forum_posts.php?TID=43128
Printed Date: Jan 12, 2025 at 9:40pm
Topic: Water Only
Posted By: LadyFrog
Subject: Water Only
Date Posted: May 8, 2006 at 11:22am
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Is anyone here interested in trying Water Only with me? I have been
interested in this for a while and have started. I'm only using water
to rinse my hair and am using my fingers to move the oil down the
length. I rinsed on saturday (a week from last wash) and have been
fingercombing. It looks pretty clean and non piecy. If you want more
info about it there's a massive long thread http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=19345 - here Some people have tried using ACV etc. but it drags out the transition period so I'm not going to use them, but that is a personal decision. The general idea with WO as far as I can see is that you move the sebum down the length and your scalp will produce very little sebum as it is not being stripped. This means that your hair may be quite piecy etc. in the first few weeks but after that (depending on your washing schedule before) it should start producing very little oil, whilst your length receives conditioning from your natural oils. Some people have been doing this for over a year so I can testify that this does work as a long term method and my parents also knew someone in real life who did this and he apparently had gorgeous, shiny hair. ------------- 
28.02.06 34 inches http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=43733 - Photos Lifes a grave. Dig it. -Wednesday 13 |
Replies: 61
Posted By: LadyFrog
Date Posted: May 8, 2006 at 11:22am
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Is anyone here interested in trying Water Only with me? I have been
interested in this for a while and have started. I'm only using water
to rinse my hair and am using my fingers to move the oil down the
length. I rinsed on saturday (a week from last wash) and have been
fingercombing. It looks pretty clean and non piecy. If you want more
info about it there's a massive long thread http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=19345 - here Some people have tried using ACV etc. but it drags out the transition period so I'm not going to use them, but that is a personal decision. The general idea with WO as far as I can see is that you move the sebum down the length and your scalp will produce very little sebum as it is not being stripped. This means that your hair may be quite piecy etc. in the first few weeks but after that (depending on your washing schedule before) it should start producing very little oil, whilst your length receives conditioning from your natural oils. Some people have been doing this for over a year so I can testify that this does work as a long term method and my parents also knew someone in real life who did this and he apparently had gorgeous, shiny hair. |
Posted By: Hellfrozeover
Date Posted: May 8, 2006 at 1:06pm
I might try it now that school is over and I'm allowed to look a bit "college hobo" since there's a transitional period !
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Posted By: SpecialKitty
Date Posted: May 8, 2006 at 2:12pm
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Hi LadyFrog and HFO - I think I'd like to try this as well. I have had mixed results with CO and herbal rinses. I will start at the close of this week - maybe over the weekend for my first water-only wash. Does that long thread address the sweat issue from exercising? That's my only major concern.....
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Posted By: missrini
Date Posted: May 9, 2006 at 5:10am
I am closely watching a journal of one "guineapig" who is trying WO....I am living vicariously through her hair!! hehehe I am not ready to try WO yet as I'm still experimenting with CO, but I am still VERY interested in this washing method. Ladyfrog...please post your progress  |
Posted By: always_alone
Date Posted: May 9, 2006 at 8:38am
I wanted to try WO...but I'm afraid that is one of those things I will
never be able to do. Why? Because I have VERY hard water where I live.
Going to stick with CO. 
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Posted By: LadyFrog
Date Posted: May 9, 2006 at 12:11pm
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I think the sweat issue is OK with WO-because you're not cleansing the
scalp as such, you can rinse as often as you like and I know some
people on the thread have coped with swimming as well. So far I have discovered that my fingers are my friends. My hair tends to get piecy rather than separated when I need a wash but a good fingercomb and it looks fine again. I am supposed to be going to my cousins wedding in a fortnight so if my hair is manky I will shampoo it for that but after that i will be hopping firmly back on the band wagon. I hope I won't have to shampoo it. |
Posted By: LadyFrog
Date Posted: May 12, 2006 at 12:40pm
| Just checking in...my hair looks fine. A little bit piecy/sebumy at the top but not as bad as it was with CO. Have been preening/massaging daily. The ends of my hair feel fine but I don't think I've ever had particularly dry ends. This is day...6 but if you count from the day I last washed with anything but water it's another week so I've been WOing for aprox. 13 days. I'm going to wash it tonight as I've been running. |
Posted By: Suers
Date Posted: May 12, 2006 at 3:12pm
| Well I was working in this historical house. We learned that women 200 years ago maybe washed their hair once a month on average. They sometimes oiled and perfumed it, and thought that brushing and combing it was really important. They tried not to expose their hair to too much sunlight either. They wore bonnets outside and cloth bonnets inside and at night. |
Posted By: Longhairdreams
Date Posted: May 13, 2006 at 6:16pm
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I've been watching people's progress on here and another long hair site.since my hair is shaved and going to be covered most of the time,I thought I'd give it a go.
Are any of you using any kind of special rinse in place of S&C? Plus I go natural on my body as well,have for years.Guess I didnt realize that was weird.My skin is just too sensitive for even natural soap.Sounds gross,but I feel just as clean as when I washed my skin raw.I saw it mentioned on the other long hair forum. |
Posted By: LadyFrog
Date Posted: May 14, 2006 at 5:13am
No, I'm just using water. Is that what you mean LHD? Suers- I was
always taught that they wore bonnets to protect their skin as pale skin
was considered very important. I suppose you live and learn 
Also, isn't it true that they hardly ever washed, seeing as there
wasn't exactly central heating or running water! They just wore perfume
to cover it up. I washed my hair last night (with water of course!) and it seems very clean. I even wore it down and it looked fine. I'm just waiting for the nasty bit to come along. Where is it! It's trying to lull me in to a false sense of security... |
Posted By: SpecialKitty
Date Posted: May 14, 2006 at 11:23am
| I am ready to try WO! I am going to run today, and this evening will wash with water. I'll try to go all week with just water and check in to let you know how it's going. Thanks for the info on your progress, LadyFrog! It is encouraging.... |
Posted By: DaveDecker
Date Posted: May 14, 2006 at 3:39pm
It's just getting to be summer here (hot and humid) and I will not be trying WO any time soon (  ) but I wish you well in your endeavor, LadyFrog. Sounds like it's going well, so far! 
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Posted By: LadyFrog
Date Posted: May 14, 2006 at 3:51pm
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Yeah. grr. I was happy with my hair until my mum told me that it really
did need a wash. Mind you she was stroking it at the time Wooh! Go SK! I go running too and it's rather nice standing under cool water for ages and having an excuse!  |
Posted By: SpecialKitty
Date Posted: May 15, 2006 at 10:02am
| Yah, I chickened out and did a CO - but water today I promise!!! |
Posted By: LadyFrog
Date Posted: May 15, 2006 at 10:56am
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tut tut
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Posted By: Carie
Date Posted: May 15, 2006 at 11:13pm
I've been reading this message board, and all of yourp progress have encouraged me to shampoo less frequently. My mother shampoos once a week and me twice. I let my scalp get sebumy and distribute the sebum with my fingers down the length. The 'natural oil' works great for my hair. I was thinking of cleaning my hair today, but now I've decided to do with WO.
To tell the truth, in-between shampooing, I don't even water wash my hair. Coz I feel it makes my hair sticky. Perhaps this is bcoz of the weaher and air pollution in here. But most of my friends have long hair and they use WO regularly, and their hair is great! So I was thinking of trying WO too.(
 )My hair is now just below BSL, and it requires so much patience! And I'm afraid that as my hair grows longer it will be tougher.
 Detangling it each time I wash and fingercombing is so much time consuming.. I don't know if I'll be able to give so much time to my hair.. I have the toughmost exam in front of me. So any advice to save time in this field will really b appreciated. Thanx LadyFrog for posting your progress so nicely, and others for your opinions.
[btw, LadyFrog, as u said, due to WO your scalp produces less oil, and u wash your hair regularly, - the doesn't this wash away the little sebum on your hair and make it dry? And I wonder what is 'piecy' or 'non-piecy' hair?]
...Lets see what happens to My hair.. Hopepully I'll b reporting my progress regularly. Hear from u soon! Bye. |
Posted By: Carie
Date Posted: May 16, 2006 at 2:45am
| Hey LadyFrog, How frequently do u rise with water only, everyday?? |
Posted By: LadyFrog
Date Posted: May 16, 2006 at 12:00pm
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Hi Carie
By piecy hair I mean when the strands separate, giving a slightly
clumpy appearance. Sorry for any misunderstanding. Some of the long
term WOers say that their ends got a little dry as no sebum was
reaching them so most of them oiled them but no one has reported the
actual body of the hair becoming dry. I doubt that it would become a
problem but I've never thought about that aspect of it! I don't rinse my hair between proper washes either  I have been WOing once a week although I think that I might wash it twice this week, depending on how it looks. |
Posted By: Carie
Date Posted: May 16, 2006 at 11:32pm
Yesterday I WOed. Instead of being heavy and smooth it was lighter, and I was really missing its sleek look.. but today it's back to its original again  . In fact the hair at the roots isn't as heavy as it'd have been (if I hadn't WOed) and so it's not looking too much oily & flattened either. The advantage of WOing is that u won't feel the need of S, and it's looking fine. So I'd better keep it like this and let the natural oils do its magic! Best of luck 
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Posted By: SpecialKitty
Date Posted: May 18, 2006 at 12:46am
| Oooooh, I'm two days into WO and my hair feels and looks awful. Very sticky, dull, and heavy. I'm using my fingers a lot as LadyFrog suggests, but it doesn't seem to help. The other thing I noticed is that my hair took forever to dry. I'm wondering if it will turn around at all. Anyway, I'm going to try to finish out the week with WO, but I may give in and do an ACV rinse. Maybe it is one of those things that takes the hair and scalp a few weeks to adjust to? |
Posted By: Carie
Date Posted: May 18, 2006 at 1:27am
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My hair is also a bit sticky, and dull and heavy of course (as it always, asp when oily). It's not looking fresh/clean at all. In fact shampooing less is godd for hair, esp long ones, coz they need some rest, and nurturing from oils. So I'd WO today and see if it works. If it doesn't then usual S&C tomorrow. |
Posted By: missrini
Date Posted: May 18, 2006 at 1:28am
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Special Kitty...from what I have read, WO can take a couple of months to adjust to. Some people adapt more quickly than that, but I think it's something you have to be committed to longterm.
It's a very brave thing and I would think it'd be excellent for overall health in the long run, so you would have to weigh up the pros and cons I guess :)
If it's any consolation, my hair would be doing exactly what yours is right now!  |
Posted By: Carie
Date Posted: May 18, 2006 at 1:39am
Missrini, then what would u have done if u were in SpacialKitty's or my place? Any suggestions?
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Posted By: missrini
Date Posted: May 18, 2006 at 2:10am
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Well having never tried WO myself, I can only go on what I've read about other people's exeperiences. Using fingers to distribute oils, rinsing with cold water, wearing lots of upstyles are all good ideas. As I said, WO is something that needs a good deal of commitment and hair is really bad for the first few weeks by all accounts. Photos of ppls hair that have been WO for a long time all look beautiful, so there IS a light at the end of the tunnel. Hang in there :D |
Posted By: Carie
Date Posted: May 18, 2006 at 2:40am
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So u mean to say u would have WOed.-? Right, "patience is virtue", and "a rolling stone gathers no moss" supports what you say. What I want to say is, ppl says not to let the hair get too dirty, and hair which is sticky is of-course dirty. Should we not get rig of that dirt so tht it causes no harm? Anyway, I'd also continue this experiment. I confess I'm a bit confused if we should continue WOing without any S&C in between. It's been... 1 week since I last S&Ced. Never mind. Sorry for any misunderstanding.  |
Posted By: SpecialKitty
Date Posted: May 18, 2006 at 10:37am
Thanks Rini . I guess I'll have to decide if I want to forego vanity and looking good for healthier hair. Hmmmm. I could just wear lots of upstyles. One downside (other than my hair taking a long time to dry, and looking like _ _ _ _) is that with WO, my hair is very coarse and tangly, which leads to more breakage and shedding. Add that to my every other day current wash routine (due to exercise), and that is a lot of untangling and broken/shedding hairs. At least with CO, that tangly thing didn't happen. |
Posted By: LadyFrog
Date Posted: May 18, 2006 at 12:47pm
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Keep on in there SK! I think I was very lucky with the initial phase as
I was sio used to washing once a week anyway. The tangling is probably
because your hair is entirely sebumed up yet and is missing the slip
from conditioners. It will improve Carie-getting hair dirty doesn't harm it and letting it become greasy doesn't harm it either. Some people say that if you let it become greasy then it can infect the hair roots, causing a shorter terminal, however I believe this is a specific condition (is it sebborhaic dermatitus or something?) and won't affect you. You shouldn't S&C whilst WOing as the whole point of WO is to have your natural oils on your hair. If you shampoo, you stimulate your scalp to produce more oil and strip away the conditioning oils so in effect, every time you shampoo you would have to start the whole acclimatisation process again. One thing-are you washing in cold water? I can't remember if this has been mentioned but it's generally found that cold water is more effective than warm. My hair was rather oily at the top last night but after a good fingercomb, last night it feels fine again. I'm rather disapointed that I'm going to have to shampoo it! Although it's looking good, it's not wedding occasion standard so... I'll be straight back on to WO afterwards though as I think I definitely prefer it to CO and I like the way that my hair is 'self sufficent'  |
Posted By: Carie
Date Posted: May 18, 2006 at 1:52pm
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Thanx LadyFrog
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Posted By: SpecialKitty
Date Posted: May 18, 2006 at 3:09pm
| Lots to think about, LadyFrog.....I did cave last night and washed with some mild diluted shampoo. I'll try to do WO again given your encouragement. I'm wondering if it works better if you have longer hair, and more length to distribute the existing sebum onto....? |
Posted By: LadyFrog
Date Posted: May 19, 2006 at 10:22am
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Hmm. You might be right there SK. Another thought though if you were
going along those lines would be that those with damaged hair (i.e.
from colour) would work it better as their hair is more porous and
would absorb it. Your hair isn't too short though as the guy my parents knew who did WO had standard boy short hair and yours is definitely longer than that! No problem Carie :) |
Posted By: Longhairdreams
Date Posted: May 19, 2006 at 6:51pm
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yeah,I agree ladyfrog about damaged hair soaking up the oils.
Mine on the other hand is feeling very oily.Its also pretty itchy.Is anyone else having that problem? I'm about to try a rinse. Maybe I'm not WO enough.i know others were doing it every day.I only do it every other if that.I guess I've only been doing it for a couple of weeks. |
Posted By: Carie
Date Posted: May 19, 2006 at 9:17pm
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Mine's very oily too, but I'm lucky it's not itchy this time. Do u have danruff? I usually do if I don't S for a long time, and tht's why it itches. But my hair is fine, no itching, smooth & heavy, but oily/sebumy at the top. It's always been since I WOed. Seems i'll have to WO more often.[]
Today, I don't have time to. I need to go to college and can't think of what to do with my hair. Whatever I do, it looks greasy/oily. Anyone have any idea what to do?
[NB: I have an exam, don't want to waste time drying my hair, or else I have 4 more hours to go. My mom'll kill me if I go SK or even WO now
] |
Posted By: Longhairdreams
Date Posted: May 19, 2006 at 11:58pm
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No i luckily dont have dandruff.But My scalp does feel thick like it has a buildup.I'm gonna stick with it for awhile longer.If it still feels like this after a month I'm definitely going back to diluted shampoo.But from other people's results I'm expecting good things.
As far as the greasies go my hair is short enough I dont have to worry about that. |
Posted By: AnaisSatin
Date Posted: May 20, 2006 at 6:13pm
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For a few weeks this year, I did WO because I didn't have time to wash... it ended up giving my hair a "plastic" feel after awhile. I love my ACV. Anais $$ )'```ara $).,`` %*,`r !,,!-- ,,)-% ! " $4
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Posted By: Longhairdreams
Date Posted: May 21, 2006 at 9:32pm
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I buckled last night.my hair was sooo itchy I couldnt take it anymore.So I did a ACV rinse.After a good scalp massage as well everything feels and looks great again.Maybe I should have waited before trying WO since I'm still learning what works best for my hair in its virgin state. |
Posted By: Carie
Date Posted: May 21, 2006 at 11:45pm
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WOed yesterday, About 5 days from my last WO. Did scalp message while in the shower to move the oils down the length (it was VERY oily/greasy at the roots). Now the whole leng of my hair feels gresy and is static, shine moderate - not too dull. Anyway it doesn't look as bad as it feels! ..I'm thinking of wht to do next with the whole lot of greasyness. Should I keep it like this? Any suggestions?
By the way, is anyone reading The Long Hair Community's WO for A Month? according to them, WO means less hair fall. But I had so much of hair fall yesterday - as if I had shampooed. Was the message too vigorous? I don't tkink so. I don't know. My mother'd say it's bcoz of the stickyness.
 Oh, is updoing the wet hair while bathing harmful? Like making a bun by twisting, actually looping the hair roung a hand and using a stick to keep it in place...? Tht's sth like wht I did |
Posted By: LadyFrog
Date Posted: Jun 10, 2006 at 5:20pm
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I thought I'd replied but obviously didn't. Yes, I'm reading the LHC WO
thread as well Carie. Wet bunning hair isn't bad for it but the hair 's
more delicate so you've got to be more careful that you don't break any
hair. After my shampoo I hated the way my hair felt compared to WO. It felt dry and stripped (looked fine though). I'm WOing again and I'm convinced that freshly washed is when it looks worst. It's almost as if it needs a bit of time to absorb the oils. |
Posted By: DaveDecker
Date Posted: Jun 11, 2006 at 1:18pm
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Hi LadyFrog,
My hair used to feel the same way (probably 7-8 years ago) after I'd wash it using shampoo full-strength -- frizzy, dried-out, and unmanageable. Once I switched to very diluted shampoo, these negative are gone. So I can imagine that since your scalp and hair were fully accustomed to WO, using shampoo again wouldn't be well-tolerated.
I'm happy for you that you can use WO. How have you invested your S&C savings?
 |
Posted By: LadyFrog
Date Posted: Jun 18, 2006 at 4:49am
 That is my hair on WO (yes, just an excuse to post a picture ). I think I'm practically there with full adjustment. |
Posted By: Kirea
Date Posted: Jun 18, 2006 at 5:43am
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I think your hair looks beautiful, congrats on making it through adjustment and keep it up.
I've personally been WO for about 3 weeks now (with 2 very weak vinegar rinses). I find my hair looks fine as long as I rinse it daily. In the shower it feels kinda nasty and greasy, I swear my hands are coated with oil after running my hands through/massaging my head. It's pretty icky.
After I get out my hair is a little snarlier than usual, missing it's cones. Once dry though, my hair is just fine and healthy. !() A`h`$U`a $
< b .0 B /()
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Posted By: missrini
Date Posted: Jun 18, 2006 at 6:07am
| Ladyfrog.....you NEVER need an excuse to post a pic!!! Wow...your hair is looking sooooooo stunning!!! |
Posted By: LadyFrog
Date Posted: Jun 18, 2006 at 7:50am
Thank you rini
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Posted By: DaveDecker
Date Posted: Jun 18, 2006 at 12:25pm
Gorgeous LadyFrog, just gorgeous! WO seems to suit your hair very well!  And I agree with Rini, no excuses are ever needed to post new photos. (I would post something different myself, but I am temporarily "new-photo-challenged").
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Posted By: Carie
Date Posted: Jun 19, 2006 at 11:34pm
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Wow LadyFrog, your hair's gorgeous! How did u get so much oils down the whole length? Your hair's looking so thick and healthy too! I usually go 1 week/6 days between WOs and it continues for two weeks or more. Can't complete the third week, it gets dirty. OOh btw, what do u do when it's dirty?
Contgrats LadyFrog. On your hair success
Edit: Sorry I forgot u SK, right? But I don't have SK, it's not available here. What do i do?? |
Posted By: SpecialKitty
Date Posted: Jun 20, 2006 at 10:42am
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Wow, LadyFrog, that is some great WO hair you've got there!!! |
Posted By: LadyFrog
Date Posted: Jun 20, 2006 at 11:44am
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Thanks everyone Carie- I don't think my hair really gets dirty for some reason. At the worst phase it was a bit oily and piecy but I never get really greasy. Or do you mean actual dirt, like earth and stuff (there have been more random things than that found in my hair before now...lol) Sorry if I confused you, reading back through my posts, when I said SK I was referring in short to Special Kitty. |
Posted By: Longhairdreams
Date Posted: Jun 20, 2006 at 12:49pm
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My hair loves WO.I tried to go back to shampoo with awful results. One shampoo was a natural shampoo bar,and it left the worst results.
Your hair is looking gorgeous Ladyfrog. I cant wait til mine is that long. |
Posted By: SpecialKitty
Date Posted: Jul 3, 2006 at 4:34pm
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I'm going to give WO a try again. I'm down to washing hair only once or twice a week with CO. I've been practicing distributing the sebum onto the length with fingers only. And I've got a great and easy new updo (sock bun) that will help with the transition. And last, but not least, I just invested in a chlorine filter for my shower. I think the residual chlorine in my water was not helping my hair one bit, and the filter makes my water more like rain water. So I'm ready to go on WO. |
Posted By: Hellfrozeover
Date Posted: Jul 4, 2006 at 8:48am
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Wow! Your hair looks amazing! The waves are really defined these days. |
Posted By: anne6000
Date Posted: Jul 4, 2006 at 11:18am
Posted By: Hellfrozeover Date Posted: Jul 4, 2006 at 12:51pm
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``"($$@ ,!`` ``"