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Man shows the health of his hair and scalp after not using any shampoo for 7 years
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this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2025
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So admittedly I haven't watched the video.
But it sounds like this guy has a sensitivity to SLS - Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. It's a cleaning agent in a lot of shampoos that can lead to skin dryness and irritation - aka it can cause dandruff.
Cutting out that chemical by not shampooing anymore would help... but also these days most (more expensive) shampoos have dropped SLS as an ingredient because it's a skin irritant for most people. So he probably could have just switched to a different shampoo.
If I remember correctly, SLS contributes to a good lather: the shampoo getting foamy so it's easy to spread around your whole head/all your hair if it's long. So SLS-free shampoos are a bit less foamy. My hairdresser recommended that, on wash days, I shampoo twice with my SLS-free shampoo to get a more thorough clean. However, I do not wash daily; I wash my hair every 3-5 days depending on how much I've exercised and whether I'm home or in the office on days 4/5.
SLS also makes toothpaste foam, but gives dinner people canker sores. It's in most toothpastes.
He says he was using Head & Shoulders prior to going water-only. I'm not sure if H&S has SLS or not, but I've not known H&S to lather up that well, so I would assume it probably doesn't.
Google tells me yes H&S does use SLS in the US, confirmed here On their US website
I did see a Reddit thread as a search result that says H&S dropped SLS as an ingredient in Europe - the thread was from 11 months ago, but I also didn't open it to check the details. And I haven't watched the video so I don't know what region this guy is in.
Edit: rechecked the post and it looks like this guy stopped shampooing 7 years ago (so before H&S dropped SLS in Europe.) From my memory as a long-haired woman/regular consumer of haircare products, I would say concern over SLS started within the last 10 years. So potentially this guy in the video was making his decision to stop washing right around the time the industry was becoming aware of the risks of this ingredient. But again, that's all conjecture based on my experience as a mildly informed consumer of haircare products lol