NO ‘Poo, some ‘poo, bar ‘poo, refillable ‘poo, dry ‘poo – this is starting to sound like a conversation with my four-year-old. (Any other households suffering through the poo song? I’m missing the sharks!!)

How you shampoo has become a hot topic. There are dozens of beauty blogs on whether you’re washing your hair ‘properly’? We are frequently asked, “but, how?” with our shampoo bars at markets. And there’s everywhere in between.

So, if you want to start your day a lil more, well, Lil, then here are a few ideas for you:

1. At the simpler end, start by washing your hair less frequently. If you shampoo every day, see what happens if you stretch this out to every other day. Then see if it needs it - maybe drop to once/twice a week? Try using a Lil less shampoo/conditioner too.  Let it dry naturally and cut that energy use out too.

2. Go refillable. Lil can do refills of lovely shampoo, conditioner and more, with natural ingredients. Or buy in bulk yourself – costs more for the initial outlay but saves money overall, as well as cutting freight and plastic. There’s good reason beyond binning the plastic bottles to switch your hair products - the chemical content of some products have been linked to health issues. Check the ingredients for nasties such as formaldehyde (labelled as doazolidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea, and quarternium-15) and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) - very drying, uses palm oil in production, and parabens (preservative - oestrogen mimic linked to breast cancer and early onset puberty).

3. The “Proper ‘Poo”. My mum and a bestie both independently had their hairdressers show them how to properly wash their hair - they now shampoo less frequently, and barely use conditioner. And their hair shines.  There are plenty of beauty blogs on this too. Essentially, the method is to rinse your hair with water really well; then get a little bit of shampoo and vertically stroke it from the roots out, then rinse. Use less than a 20p coin of shampoo, don’t expect a huge lather. Then do the ends if you have really long hair and feel it needs a bit more. If it works for you skip the shampoo altogether and just give it a good rinse - try alternating between shampoo and just water.

4. Go to the Poo Bar. Lil has shampoo bars and we love them. Lou rubs the shampoo bar directly on her head, trying to remember not to scrub too hard (as per beauty blogs above) but usually failing as she’s meant to be out the door five minutes ago. Saves time and eliminates plastic altogether. Sarah, who has thicker, lovely hair, (guess who’s writing this?! Don’t cut it out, S!) builds a lather between her hands before applying to her hair. This is the recommended way. Don’t expect a lather, that might mean you’ve got too much soap.

5. For conditioner? Lil has a few options available – Superfly conditioner bars, Argan oil based elixr, ayurvedic botanic hair oil or the hair mask Wild Thing – but we also use a rinse with Apple Cider Vinegar, leaving in for a few minutes as you would a regular conditioner and then thoroughly rinsing, does the job for de-tangling. Our supplier Bianca has written a great piece on how to shampoo bar your hair, get yours here

6 - No Poo. I tried to give this a go during the Beast from the East in early 2018. It helped that the house was without hot water and so there was no inclination to get hair wet! Possibly I caved too early, or went too cold turkey too fast, or simply had woolly hats on too much, but it wasn’t for me. There are great tips out there if you want to give this a go. My hairdresser said she had a client who was a No Poo girl, with long luscious locks, and that no one would ever know. Another Lil friend is No Poo, so are her kids, and she has such enviable hair that it almost makes me willing to give it another go. Almost.

7 - Dry Poo. For dark hair, cocoa powder can do the trick and you get to smell chocolate all day long! For lighter hair, arrowroot powder or cornflour. We’ve found this recipe for you:

• 1/4 cup of flour, with some essential oil, stir well, put in a jar and use an old make up brush to apply, starting at the roots.

• For darker hair, use a mix of cocoa powder and your choice of arrowroot/ cornflour.

Sarah has road tested this in an emergency so gets the Lil seal of approval.

Remember your hair is like your skin, any change in regime may take time to get used to. Some folk have found the right shampoo bar straight off, others stick with liquid refills. Do what works for you, just make a Lil change.