10 Reasons To Ditch Shampoo

31 May 2018

As Product Developer for one of the hottest hair brands to hit the UK, Hairstory, Jackie Bauer knows a thing or two about haircare. Having suffered with extreme scalp psoriasis, she ditched shampoo almost a decade ago and is encouraging you to do the same…

Jackie Bauer

It was 2009, I was working in the hair industry and I found myself so desperate to cure my extreme scalp psoriasis, that I was undergoing painful steroid injections in my head. I didn’t know what was causing the problem, but after much research, it became apparent that detergent (found in 95% of shampoos in the market) was to blame.

Simply put, we shouldn’t be washing our hair with the same ingredients we use to wash our cars or our floors – they might be brilliant at cleaning, but they do this far too aggressively to be good for our hair and our scalp. Living proof right here.

I decided to formulate a product that could cleanse without harsh ingredients at the same time as conditioning the hair, leaving the wondrous oil barrier to do what it’s meant to and not disrupt this clever biology. Thankfully, my trusted lab was on hand to help me and I provided them with a list of ingredient no-no’s. Together we worked on different formulations and eventually created Hairstory’s New Wash, the product that, after 6 months of use has cured my psoriasis, leaving not one flake, scale or dry patch. Hallelujah!

Here are my ten reasons to ditch detergent and try New Wash…

To respect your biology

We’re all born with a protective oil barrier on our scalps and it’s supposed to remain intact, yet detergent ravages that barrier causing your hair and scalp to feel dry, stripped and irritated, often leading to the over production of oil. A vicious cycle of daily hair washing ensues, with ‘greasy hair’ formulating quicker than it should.

Because foam is the foe

Those nasty foam-inducing detergents mentioned above love oil and they also love water. When we wash our hair with shampoo, the oil-loving part firmly grabs impurities AND natural oils and when rinsed, the water-loving part firmly grabs water, so everything goes down the drain. In New Wash, the naturally-derived oil-loving part is strong enough to grab loosely attached impurities, like excess oil, products or dirt, but the water-loving part is too weak to disrupt the natural protective barrier when rinsed.

To care for your colour

There are so many colour-care products on the market, but the truth is that anything with detergent strips the hair, which strips the colour. With New Wash, which is so gentle that only loose impurities are lifted, your colour lasts longer

To use just one product

Hooray for streamlining our wash bags! Because New Wash doesn’t take away the hair’s natural oils and also because its packed with nourishing and strengthening ingredients like Keratin and Lavender Flower extracts, it’s an all-in-one product that doesn’t require a conditioner. After all, conditioners only exist to repair the damage shampoo causes and New Wash causes no damage.

To love the environment

At Hairstory, we believe that ‘biodegradable’ is a much more meaningful label than ‘natural’ or ‘organic’ so we’ve ensured that New Wash is biodegradable. This means that when it’s washed down the drain, its not harming our water or the inhabitants of our water.

To help treat scalp conditions

You heard my Hairstory, but many of our customers have reported a total improvement in their scalp conditions, thanks to better scalp health after ditching detergent. You can check out their reviews on our website review section and even search by key term such as ‘psoriasis’.

To Never Shop for Shampoo Again

Once you discover New Wash, you’ll never want to run out. For this reason, we’ve created our New Wash Club which means you can subscribe to receive a top up automatically, at a frequency of your choosing. We’ll charge your account for each delivery of a 20-ounce New Wash pouch which saves 10% in comparison to the regular size.

To Reuse and Recycle

As part of our New Wash Club, you’ll be gifted with a Hairstory aluminum dispenser which you can use to refill as and when you need with our 20-ounce pouches. This means less waste, less money, more convenience and no hassle.

Because there’s a New Wash for everyone

First, we launched New Wash and this was compatible for most people but there were some customers who needed a little more conditioning, or a little more cleansing. For this reason, we adhjusted the formulations to create New Wash (Rich) and New Wash (Deep). You can find out which of the three is best for you via our Wizard tool: www.product-wizard.hairstory.com/#/washing

To improve your Hairstory

We hope you know by now that shampoo is NOT the best way to wash hair. New Wash allows you to rediscover the true nature of your hair, and for many it’s been life-changing. Even those with good hair don’t realize how much better it can actually be!