Z’s answer below is absolutely correct. A low poo shampoo is one that does not contain Sodium LAURYL Sulfate or Sodium LAURETH Sulfate. People avoid these harsh chemicals as they cause people irritation and are speculated to cause longterm damage to the hair. (Just think – they use SLS and SLES in detergents too!).

Low poo shampoos are available at most organic and health food stores – check out Aubrey Organics at Whole Foods, they have a pretty good line!

As for how your hair will look if you shampoo at night: Hair tends to get matted down when you sleep on it just after washing even if it’s been dried because it’s freshly styled. If you have superthick hair that you want to tame, washing at night may be a good option for you. If you feel your hair loses it’s body, then wash after waking up – just remember to use a serum while damp if you use a hairdryer!

Thank you so much for sharing this information with us. I have a friend who recently went sulfate and silicon free and his hair has been looking amazing! You have inspired a future post on the danger of sulfates

P.S. The t-shirt instead of towel method is a great one. Again, thanks for your tips!

Unfortunately, putting mousse in dry hair results in that dreaded crunchy feeling and it also makes your hair stay “wet” looking. My hair actually looks better when I sleep on it, but instead of drying and then sleeping, I personally put in the mousse and then head to bed with damp hair and I have amazing beach waves the next morning. This method may or may not work for you so I would suggest you try this out on a weekend just in case it doesn’t work for you and you don’t have to go to school with bedhead!

then you can start going shampoo-free or use a “low-poo” that is silicone-free

low poos contain mild cleansers for your hair. im not exactly sure what ingredients qualify as harsh cleansers but Sodium Laureth Sulfate is considered to be one of them..and its in almost everything! so you definitely want to avoid SLS.

i personally dont really know what specific ingredients to avoid in a shampoo/conditioner (and i can’t even remember the long chemical names) so i just go by what products are recommended on the naturallycurly boards and save myself the trouble

hope that helps

more info:
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curly-q-a/curlchemist-surfactants-sulfates-and-you

Now, my question is, how do you know if it is “low-poo”? Also, I shower in the evening or at night because my hair takes HOURS to dry, it’s super thick, does that affect how my hair is going to look?

i’ve struggled with the furball look my whole life. then i discovered the “curly girl” method. you basically wean off of sulfate and silicone products.

this means no shampoo. (yeh i know, NO SHAMPOO??????????!!!!!!!!!)

you use a light, sulfate+silicone-free conditioner to wash your scalp instead. and then a very moisturizing sulfate+silicone-free conditioner for the rest of your hair.

more info is available at http://www.wikihow.com/Follow-the-Curly-Girl-Method-for-Curly-Hair

naturallycurly.com has a great forum with wonderful ladies that can help too.
i’ve been doing this since march and i love my hair!!! the products are not hard to find and are affordable. i use suave and sally’s gvp conditioning balm.

if you dont want to take such a drastic step then consider the following:
-use a t-shirt instead of a towel to dry your hair
-comb your hair out with a wide-tooth comb in the shower..not when it is dry
-use a “low-poo” shampoo that has less harsh cleansers. Trader Joe’s has some affordable ones. Giovanni’s line is “low-poo” too. this will help keep the moisture in that our hair desperately needs!

but i URGE you guys to look into this method

I had never tried the hair spray on wet hair that Jabs mentioned above, but when I did it actually worked! I first used mousse and then sprayed on top of it while my hair was still damp. My hair was still soft even though I had used hairspray (I guess using it on wet hair really made a difference) and the spray/mousse combo controlled the frizzies!

Thanks all!