Avocado seed shampoo update

It has been over four months, since I started making, my avocado seed shampoo. For those that are new, you can read my first post plus the recipe I used to make it by clicking here.

Right off the bat, I can say that it has been great. Like, really, really great. For the first time, in I don’t know how long, my scalp never became irritated when I did not wash it. If I did not wash my hair after four days, I used to get irritation, accompanied by itching on the back of my scalp.

I always thought this was my scalps telling me that it needed to be washed. But this stopped once I started using avocado seed shampoo. I don’t know if it was because of the seed or reducing the amount of soap.

Avocado seed shampoo update

Avocado seed shampoo update

My hair feels thicker with the added bonus of becoming more manageable. I have wavy hair something akin to a lions mane when I brush it. It became less lion maneish, if that makes sense. Overall, there my hair doesn't feel as dry when I'm using the avocado seed shampoo. I do style my hair most days...usually it is in a bun though.

I even went on national TV a couple of times with hair washed in this concoction and no one knew…except you. Photo evidence below from The Project.


I've been able to use this experiment as a way to try moving away from using shampoo and conditioner. 

In between October and December, I made up three batches of the recipe, decreasing the shampoo each time. The last batch affected my hair a little different. I could start to see a result of using less shampoo, with more oil production than normal but not to the point of it looking overly greasy.

By the time January rolled around I had run out of liquid shampoo and there was an avocado shortage across the State. All other avocados were being shipped from overseas. Since I try to only buy food from my region, I figured it was a good time to try washing my hair with water only.


I expected the oiliness to increase, but it didn’t. It stayed the same, and now it is slowly moving down my hair. I brush my hair more, to help the oil move down. I did fear that it would be a matted oily mess, but it's not. 

Will I go back to using avocado seed shampoo?

Yes, I would – but at the moment, I am going to stick with water only. If I get to my wedding and my hair is looking not so great, then I will knock together another batch. I have read a couple of blog posts about people that use only water too (here and here, to name a couple). There is even an eBook called HAPPY HAIR: THE NO POO BOOK! by the fabulous Lucy AitkenRead.

I have been water only for about five weeks and so far the results are nothing to complain about. Over the weekend I applied a vinegar, egg and oil mask, massaged it in the rinsed after 30 mins. It is the only thing I have put on my hair other than water.

Part of this plastic free and zero waste journey has not just been about the waste, but also questioning what I need and don’t need. Maybe shampoo is one of them.

Update 10.01.2019: My zero-waste hair care routine, still shampoo free

16 comments:

  1. This is awesome! I am curious to try something similar, as I currently use Bi-carb and ACV, and I do get a bit of an itch at about a week (haha I only wash it every 2 weeks).

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    1. I'd know how you go with it :) I really do love it.

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  2. Anonymous2/14/2016

    I used bicarb and ACV and found it was good provided I used very, very little bicarb. With so little bicarb needed to wash my hair, I thought why do I need bicarb at all? So I went water only. I have been water only now for almost 2 years. On very rare occasions when my hair looks a bit stringy I do a quick bicarb and ACV and then back to water only. I don't allow commercial hair shampoos to come near my scalp. Hairdressers are initially stunned when I refuse a wash. I tell them I have an allergy to shampoo. They seem to understand that.

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    1. I am meeting so many people who use only water to wash their hair. It's fantastic!! I also make sure to ask hairdressers not to use shampoo or any of their products either.

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  3. Your hair looks so bouncy on shiny on national TV, love it! I will have to check out that book. Can't wait to hear how water only is going for you. I am washing only two weeks now because my hairdresser says that's all my hair can handle, and it's never grown so fast in my life.

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    1. I will admit that some of that shine is due to the awesome lighting they had rigged up! But it is very bouncy and not as dry anymore. I used to slather my hair in conditioner because it was so dry. Are you only washing with water every two weeks?

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  4. I've tried this method now and it's working really well. I was already only washing my hair once every 10 days or so ('poo-free since 2012), and have been able to continue this with the avocado. My experience is a little different from yours though: I have had the avo mixture in a glass bottle for 2 months and have had no problems with fungus. When I want to wash my hair, I mix a bit of avo with a small dash of castile soap in a measuring cup and put it on. If I mix the castile soap in avocado beforehand and leave it, it turns blood red! Seriously, it looks like I'm about to perform a satanic ritual rather than washing my hair. So I keep them separated ;)

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    1. Hmmmm, where do your avocado's come from? Maybe there are different varieties that have different reactions to soap?

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    2. Do you think the color of the shampoo from the avocados will change my hair color? I am blonde.

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    3. I would do a patch test, just in case.

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  5. Anonymous3/20/2016

    I've just made a batch so I will let you know how it worked for me!

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  6. I've been making a transition to water-only washing. I have to say-- I had no idea shampoo was responsible for everything I didn't like about my hair. It was always limp and flat, and I wanted it to have a bit of oomph, but the best I could do was create a kind of whispy cloud. Since stopping all shampoo & substitutes (after about six months of only washing with conditioner, and two months of washing with rye flour about twice a week), it's like I suddenly have a completely different hair type. It looks twice as thick, and it's positively bouncy. I am getting compliments on my hair left and right, which never, never happened before.

    I do have to do a lot of brushing/preening to keep it from getting too oily, but, seriously-- it's like I got a different head of hair altogether!

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    1. I agree - my hair changed so much too. And like you I do have to brush/preen too keep it from becoming too oily. But i feel like the extra massaging has helped change it too.

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  7. I stopped using shampoo and conditioner almost a year ago due to a skin condition. I was using white vinegar only for a while, which worked well but hurt like blazes at first when my scalp was still raw and scabby! Within 2 weeks I could see a dramatic improvement in my scalp but my hair was a bit dry, so I added a goats milk soap wash before the vinegar rinse and havent looked back! My hair and scalp are now in the best condition ever, and I will never use commercial shampoo again.

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    1. I've been amazed by how many people have suffered with scalp issues thinking it was them not the products they were using. They keep going from product to product. I'm glad everything has worked out and you found a solution that worked well for you. Thanks for sharing your story :)

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