Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Shine & Detangle ACV Hair Rinse





Shine & Detangle ACV Hair Rinse 




by: Marie 




3 tbsp dried marshmallow root
1 tbsp powdered horsetail/shavegrass
Just-boiled water


50 drops lemon essential oil
20 drops clary sage essential oil
10 drops geranium essential oil
Solubilizer


Apple cider vinegar


Place the dried herbs in a 1L glass measuring cup and fill with boiling water to 500mL. Let steep for 1 hour.


In a 500mL squeeze bottle, mix the essential oils with an equal amount of solubilizer.


Using a coffee filter and a fine sieve, strain the herbs out of the herb mixture. Discard the herbs. You will have ~400mL of herb infused water. Pour a bit of the herb water into the bottle, and swish to combine. Add the rest of the herb water.


Top off with apple cider vinegar. Shake to combine. To use, rinse the hair with it.





Baking Soda Trouble...?


Interesting huh...


That “Slippery” Feeling

Below is quoted directly from Zombies4Breakfast post on Washing in Hard Water - a great read!

I started my No Poo experiment around my birthday in February, and this is the post on Pinterest that spurred me to try No Poo again. (I tried once before several years ago, but was trying to “co-wash” with conditioner instead of shampoo….NOT a good look for me!)
It’s a really great post for No Poo beginners, and if you’re just starting to figure out your No Poo routine, I recommend reading it. HOWEVER, one of the things that is under explained is a phenomenon that post’s author calls “that Slippery feeling.”
When you’re using your No Poo baking soda solution on your hair, if the baking soda to water ratio is correct, the solution should feel VERY DIFFERENT from just putting plain old water on your hair. The baking soda-laced water will feel, as the other post’s author described, “slippery.”
Unfortunately for me, when I first started No Poo, I would pour the solution on my head and think, “Water is wet and slippery, and this solution feels like water. Success!”
NO NO NO NO NO! I was totally wrong. The No Poo solution feels VERY DIFFERENT from regular water. I wouldn’t call it slippery so much as slimey, but not in a gross way. The slippery, slimey feeling of the solution is actually something I look forward to feeling when I wash my hair (in the same way I looked forward to the lathery feeling of bubbles when I used shampoo). The sensation makes me feel like my hair is really getting clean.
The importance of the slippery, slimey feeling is KEY because it lets you know that you’ve reached the right ratio of water to baking soda in your solution. When I used the original No Poo recipe (1 Tablespoon baking soda to 1 cup water), I never achieved the slippery feeling because the minerals in hard water affect the way the baking soda solution combines.
Boiling your hard water can get rid of some of the minerals, and I also believe that putting your baking soda in hot water helps it dissolve more quickly and efficiently, which helps you achieve that slimey, slippery effect.

What is that Slippery Feeling When You No Poo?

Below is Quoted directly from CodeRedHat

Before I started to wash my hair No Poo style I must have read a million articles and comments all over the web. Then, when I actually went No Poo I read more. My hair looked and felt like, well – poo! I was not happy. This was not the holy hair grail I was promised. WTF No Poo people? Then I learned about “that slippery feeling”. I don’t remember which blog I was on, but I do remember it was in a long thread of comments that I read something about your baking soda solution feeling slippery in your hair when you apply it. Slippery? My baking soda solution had always felt dry and cottony on my hair. So I researched some more and found that baking soda acts as a natural water softener. I increased the amount of baking soda in my solution until I achieved the slippery feeling mentioned – VOILA – success! NOTE: If you are blessed with soft water your No Poo hair success will come faster than those of us with hard water. If you have hard water plan on having to increase your baking soda till you achieve “slippery”.
Quoted directly from: http://coderedhat.com/no-poo-method/

Homemade Hair Gel - Part 1




So ... I paid 30 cents for flax seed??? 
Let's try this!!

Flax Seeds are also called Linseeds;
the brown seeds were 10 cents cheaper!


Naturally Curly Recipe: DIY Hair Gel

(1 part flax seeds: 4 parts distilled water)

2 cups water
1/2 cup flax seed

Yield: 4-5 uses
  • Use a high heat and stir with a wooden spoon
  • When it comes to a boil, stir vigorously
  • Watch that the seeds start bubbling up and foaming, when they look like they want to sink to the bottom of the pot, keep stirring and you should get a second foam then turn off the heat
  • Use a mesh strainer, pour the mixture through the strainer 
  • Reusing the seeds don't seem to give the same consistency
  • Put into an air tight container and be careful to let it cool before putting it into glass or plastic
  • The consistency is not gel like, it's like egg whites and smells like honey.  
This is the recipe above is the one I'll follow.  
See Homemade Hair Gel - Part 2 
for the process of me actually making it (and screwing it up!)

And another video... this shows her actually cooking up the batch, great to see the texture, and the application although I'm not really loving the curls, I would use much smaller sections and tease out the curl definition by plopping it to dry to get more volume.

Note: She does add a second coat when dry, and she refrigerates it.



And another option is to add coconut oil right into the gel.

Lulastic's Hair Gel - click here

Flax Seed/Linseed and Coconut Oil Hair Gel
(1 part flax seeds: 3 parts distilled water)
  • A tablespoon of Linseeds aka Flax seeds
  • 3 x table spoons of water
  • Boil them together for 7ish minutes, until the water turns thick and slimey, sieve the linseeds out and pop the gel in a container.
  • Melt a bit of coconut oil until runny and add half a teaspoon to the mixture.  Mix it really well. Add more oil if you want it more waxy/ soft, and less if you want it to remain crisper!
And finally... this lady turns her frizz hair day into a fabulous hair day overnight.  It was very interesting for styling tips and DIY product.


And if you've reached this far, here's a bonus treasure trove of recipes for you: http://hairrecipes.homestead.com/stylingrecipes.html

My updates posted here -http://curlygirlgoesnopoo.blogspot.ca

Less is more...


So back to the braids and buns, I must say, even my sunshine frizz at the hairline seems to be lying more flat. There's no frizzy dryness and my WO rinse helped me to detangle my hand twirled curly do.

I don't think I'm going to count days until wash day anymore, because I'm not itchy, and don't look horrible and I'm only smelly when wet, and by smelly, I just mean "natural smelling", not bad, just not strawberries and cream shampooey smell ;)

So I wait.

  • I wait for my SoapNuts which are on their way...

  • I wait until my hair needs a good wash...

  • I continue rinsing with WO and perhaps ACV occasionally....

  • I keep brushing....

  • I take it easy on the CO....

And...


  • I experiment on DIY natural, WO rinsable styling products... Stay tuned :)

Monday, July 29, 2013

Yay! Greese Lightening!!

No, not the movie... My beautiful curly mane is a greeseball!! I have never, ever as a curly girl had this problem!! Ever!!!!!! Not in the hot humid rainforest, not on camping in the wilderness vacations, not after a wicked hot day in the sun, never!!!!

I must be doing something right ;)

It's an even greeseball, more at the crown, but even. That means my scalp is responding and my sebum factory is in high gear! I've been adding coconut oil to the ends and the middle part of my hair but not at the scalp!

Wooooopppppiieee!!! And it didn't come from a bottle, ... nutty ole me is excited! (Unless the wet oiled hair dripped onto my scalp as I slept plunked last night - sigh)

But yes! I'm a nut ball and Amazon sent me a message that my Soap Nuts shipped - yayy!!! No more too high pH baking soda for me!

You'll have to scroll down to the videos on pH to understand where I'm coming from and why I'm venturing low poo rather than no poo.

So my hand twisted styled hair, it looks great!! The curls held up and I got an indirect compliment... "Does your gel have aloe in it, your ringlets look so pretty!" If she only knew!! Sigh. It didn't last, the sunshine hairline frizzies got to me and I ended up scooping all those ringlets into a cute high "waterfall" ponytail and used water to tame the hairline until I got home. So back to brushing with the BBB for a day or three, then a wash of some sort....

Stay tuned.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Getting Great Curls!!

So, I've been thinking about why plunking or plopping works.  For us curlies, it's because we are helping a natural curl to take shape and dry undisturbed.  So, I was trying to figure out how I could ensure my hair style is more predictable... I literally I had to do a mental shift back to the basics.

Most of the posts of great curly hair days on the Support Group I frequent have somewhat stringy curls and are simply happy they are having a better than normal hair day, but I want GREAT hair, and predictable hair without the product (and expense)... so I got thinking.....

The holy grail for my, is the Curl Keeper product, it acts like a serum or setting lotion and helps curls to find their way into what I'll call clumps (for lack of a prettier word).  Also, it's applied wet, which is when curls take shape soooo.....

Why not use the same principal (without product) and hand form my curls and let it dry in the plunking/plop style of a t-shirt wrap?

Here's some inspiration...



First, here's the un "product-styled" wet hair.  To the left is combed out with a wide tooth comb, (stringy) and to the right is my hand spiralled curls, all wet of course.

stringy vs curly


Next is a better view of what they looked like.  This was taken just before I did that last section to the left of my phone.  Notice my twirling finger has hair wrapped around it, and my wide tooth shower comb on the counter and also my white/black bristle root brush (simply an amazing brush to comb the hair before twirling it).    I'll try to remember to take a dry "after pic" tomorrow and post it below.


And in the morning.... all dry, ta daa!  Now I need to figure out how to get more volume at the crown.  This is a GREAT realization.  Woot! Woot!  I'm thinking I better start sleeping with a silk or satin sleeping cap like they did in the old days, and wear my hand-styled hair out on day 1, half up on day 2, ponytail on day 3 and in a bun until I can't stand it and need to wash it. As well, I'm going to need to try some of those natural hair gels for when I do get it into a bun or pony tail to tame the sunshine ;)

6am: hand styled & punked to dry overnight worked!
As well, here's a great post on how to apply a moisturizing oil which I thought was wonnnnderfulllll!!! Dipping the comb... sigh, why didn't I think of that!!  Still, it may be too much, we'll try that another time.

 


Create Your Own Conditioning Hair Mask

For occasional deep conditioning, purchase a conditioning mask or make your own with oils from the body-care department at Whole Foods Market®.Rosemary Oil
  • 1/4 cup jojoba oil
  • 1 tablespoon argan oil
  • 5 drops rosemary 100% essential oil
  • 5 drops 365 Everyday Value® 100% Lavender Essential Oil
Start with dry hair. Brush scalp with a rubber bristle brush to exfoliate. Combine all ingredients in a clean glass or ceramic bowl. Apply with a comb to the driest parts of your hair, the middle and ends. Work the oils into the tips, and then apply the remainder to your scalp and massage. Next, arrange hair into a braid or bun and leave in for 15 minutes to overnight. (Be sure to protect your pillowcase.) Shampoo and style.

And find more great tips on the Whole Foods website.  Also, after such a great testament to how wonderful jojoba oil is, here's 10 other great uses for Jojoba Oil.

Update:  I didn't have to wash my hair today, on day 4 because I think the egg wash 2 days ago did a really great job, but I did do a vinegar wash WITH a bit of coconut oil and lime EO and shook it up really well because I need my hair to look great tomorrow!!  This rinse was all about styling!


So far...
July 7 - last shampoo wash
July 14 - first BSV (baking soda and vinegar) wash
... WO washes almost daily, dry hair and scalp.
July 21 - second BSV wash
July 23 - 50/50 vinegar water rinse - happy hair!
July 26 - egg rinse
July 28 - Water wash and 20% vinegar and 5 drops Lime EO rinse.

Saturday, July 27, 2013

A SoapNuts Wash???

My hair takes forever to dry and my daily water rinses for easier hair styling are probably what's making my hair smell very "natural".  It's not a dirty, stinky smell, just very natural, as I guess it should, sigh.  I've added my lime EO to the vinegar wash but perhaps I shoudl be spraying it with water onto my brush as well.  After all, it IS summer and hot so going no poo and with the heat means my sebum producing factory is on overdrive and the water doesn't help with any of that! Brushing with the BBB does though ;)

I fell asleep last night with my beautiful (almost normal) curly hair all out, and today I'm just going to take a break from the water and put it up in a loose bun - without combing out the tangles because other than a little frizz, my curls still look great!!!  Yesterday was the lovely egg wash and a fabulous naturally curly - great all-out hair day - my mane looked fabulous and full and healthy!!

Tomorrow is a day 4 and my expected BSV wash day, but after watching the videos on the pH of BS in my last post, (and my scalp and hair look and feel fabulous), I'm having serious second thoughts, so I'm going to hold out longer!  GASP!  Just rinses for me... but not today.

So... I've just ordered Soap Nuts from Amazon with very reasonable shipping and they'll be here in about a week.  It looks like a very reasonable alternative to BSV :) SNV (soapnut wash with a vinegar rinse).

SoapNuts Wash Recipe


And another from


Friday, July 26, 2013

pH Balance Basics - VIDEOs

This is a must watch!!




:emon Juice 1:100 water -  pH 3.0
Apple Cider Vinegar - pH 3.0
ACV (1/4 tsp) 1:100 water -  pH 4.0 (acceptable for hair)
Distilled White Vinegar - pH 2.5
(Assume similarly would be okay for a hair rinse based on the starting pH)
Baking soda with water - pH 9.0
1:100 water -  pH 8.3
Dr. Bronner's Castille soap - pH 10.0
1:100 water -  pH 9.5

When you mix an acid with an alkali, (V + BS) you create water and a PH 7.0 which is neutral.

Human hair (sebum) has a 4.5 - 5.5 pH; our hair is more acidic than water.  This pH helps close the cuticle, helps to hold moisture in our hair and also prevents bacteria and fungi from going on our scalp. A higher pH opens the cuticle and can be damaging to the hair, disrupting the hair.

Baking Soda is NOT healthier for our hair than shampoo because it takes the hair out of its normal pH balance range to clean it; see the second video starting around the 4 minute mark for details.


I've obviously got to do some more reading... no more Baking Soda!




Baking soda absorbs excess sebum... and oil, and it is not a natural product, it is man made and manufactured!!  It is an unnecessary step, and not good for your hair.
- it decomposes the hair's acid mantle and begins eating away at the hair's outer cuticle laye
- lemon juice is highly acidic 2.0 pH and can eat through hair, it will fry it.
- Dr. Bronners Castille soap has a pH of 10 !!

Great Take Aways:

- ACV diluted to 4.0 pH or higher is great for rinsing wet hair, it closes the cuticle.
- Aloe Vera Juice is a great hair acidifier at 4.0 pH to 4.5 pH and is a good leave in conditioner even if not diluted with water.


Rinse: With Egg









So I did it, I tried doing an egg wash.


The egg is supposed to add protein to the hair, thus strengthening it.


Thanks to my new Guru, Clare I tried it.  She advised that :


"The whole egg is good at both moisturizing and eliminating oil. Some people say you should use just the white for oily hair and just the yolk for dry hair and the whole egg for normal hair."


I just used 3 whole eggs and an equal about of water since my hair is longer.    I left it in for 5 minutes which forced me to have a VERY long shower, I should time this with shaving day next time, sheesh, that was a much longer than normal (coolish) shower!!!   And then I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed, and rinsed some more.  I used a very wide tooth comb to detangle which was actually a little harder to do than it is with the vinegar rinse.  I'm guessing the PH of the vinegar or the acidity or something closes the cuticles but the egg doesn't.  I used the very wide toothed comb with the egg a little then after I was all rinsed out because I didn't want to separate my curls too much. (see the pic above)


Then I plunked, or plopped or whatever you want to call it.  I used a Tshirt but I think a thicker tshirt perhaps with a more sturdy/thicker bottom edge may work better since I found in my inexperience, I didn't properly get the hair around my ears in the wrap very well.  I may end up with flat curls around my ears, oh well.  Once it's dry, I'll update this post and show you a pic of the dried, egg-protein rinse no poo curly girl glory :)
Note:
The BBB does not work on wet curly hair.  I realize I can only use it when my hair is dry and flat , for example dried in a ponytail or braid, then bushed.  There's no way to keep curls with a BBB.  But I appreciate it's the best way to move the sebum.  I'm learning :)

And it's just about dry, out of the tshirt and looks fabulous! Let's see if it can last until tonight all out in its curly glory? I won't be touching it because that's likely to disrupt the curls without product so I'll BBB and braid it later if it lasts. So far, I'm pleased. It's shiny too ;).

Looks fabby! This may be the best way to style my hair when I go back to work. BBB at night, add coconut oil and water, scrunch, plunk and sleep on it. It'll be good to go in the morning!!

My scalp still feels like I should scratch it though - understandable, I'll just continue to massage it and try to hold out for two more days before using BS and V again :)

Not happy with the "natural" smell though... I may need to make up an EO spray or add EO to the coconut oil I'm adding daily?? We'll see. I know it's scalp related, sebum transition related and the BS wash in two more days will help I'm sure.

After a whole day on the road! I've still got defined curls but the top layer is of course frizzy. I think that's a huge accomplishment because getting this kind of curl definition without product is something to be desired in the curly community now isn't it ;)

Signing off with my most defined and protected curl...

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Transition & Oil - Yuck!

The BBB (boar bristle brush):
I've realized that I need to brush and massage the scalp when dry, which is nutzo for us curlies - to dry brush the hair that is.  But then I have to wet the hair to get back my curls so of course, I do a WO (water only) rinse every time I shower.  Then I brush out the tangles and braid or style it.

So far...

July 7 - last shampoo wash
July 14 - first BSV (baking soda and vinegar) wash
... WO washes almost daily, dry hair and scalp.
July 21 - second BSV wash
July 23 - 50/50 vinegar water rinse - happy hair!
July 25 - itchy scritchy oily scalp, looks like my hair length is happy but my scalp is oily right on the crown.  Can I last 3 more days until a BS wash to help out, or should I buy and try cocoa as a dry shampoo on the scalp?

I guess this is my transition ;)


A Water Only CURLY Success Story

This Written For Our Learning blog post is VERY informative!!


Here are her no poo speific posts.   
See her tags at the bottom of the post before the comments for more :)




Coconut Oil Treatment

Once you're truly going no poo, I personally would avoid adding coconut oil directly to the scalp, (unless you're super itchy or dry in a section) but the principal of massaging the scalp with fingertips so your OWN sebum can nourish your hair strands I think is very valuable.




Thanks Sarah!



Cutting your own curly hair



Thanks Sarah!

Curl Care: Parting Hair Zig-Zag or Straight



Thanks Sarah!

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Brushing Out Curly Hair....

We all know that when you brush out the curl it ends up being a frizz ball, but when I woke up this morning I was surprised that my scalp wasn't itchy, and my hair didn't feel like straw.  It actually feels like it does in the winter (dry) months but it is SUPER soft!  No, not a little soft, like oh, how lovely but more like little 2 year old children's hair kinda soft!!


So off I trotted to the bathroom, and took the braid out.  OOhhhh, I smell a hint of lime EO, niiiceee... this is what my hair must smell like to other people.  I'm good with that.  Yesterday I rinsed with 50/50% vinegar and water and 5 drops lime EO in between washings and put my wet hair in a braid to dry.  I did not add oil because I wanted to see what the 50/50 vinegar rinse effect would be ;)


So, I thought I'd have a little fun.  I took out the 100% boar bristle brush I recently found in my hair treasure chest from a million years ago and I brushed out the wave created from drying in a braid.







Hilarious, right!  Ya, my hair is almost twice as long when not curly!  But I was amazed at how light and soft it is!  As you can see, this is my bedhead (frizzy hairline sunshine and all) but I just
had
to share.


I've since brushed out all of my hair and added coconut oil all over and put it back in a braid.  I'm sure glad it's summer and I'm on summer break until September!!  I did realize though that the boar bristles as short as they are, did reach my scalp!!!!  That's amazing because with poo and product, it doesn't even make it half way down to my scalp and could never be used to brush out my hair for example, it really only smoothed my already in a ponytail hair.  Interesting what I'm discovering, eh!






So... WO (water only) rinses for the rest of the week.  I'm going to try to stretch my BS washes out as long as I can and just WO rinse, perhaps vinegar rinse if I need to and adding coconut oil and brushing with the boar bristle brush as needed while keeping this mane in a braid!!!

Update: very little itch today after CO on the ends and middle and a WO rinse, brushed with the BBB and let it dry in a braid. Progress!!!

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

PH levels - a MUST read!


I have a question burning in the back of my head, and its about the PH level of the baking soda and vinegar.

Here's one answer: Add parts togeter then divide by the number of parts.

1 part water to 1 part vinegar
={7.06 + 2.14}/2 assuming parts are equal
=9.22/2
=4.61 PH

9 parts water to 1 part vinegar
={63.54 + 2.14}/10 (since ten parts)
=65.68/10
=6.5 PH

And another source says baking soda is a base with a PH of 8.3 and vinegar is an acid with a PH of 2.2

What this means, I don't really know yet. However, I did get this information from a source that I know and trust...

The curl expert at Gossip Curls says:

"Thanks for sharing your experimenting with washing or not washing curly hair. The vinegar wash method is an old myth that can have benefits for a one time use but long term use can cause your hair to become too acidic thus damaging the condition of your hair. The acidic content is not controlled and is too harsh to be applied daily. It doesn’t hurt to experiment with different methods for washing or not washing your hair however its important to do lots of research because without knowing you may be causing damage to your curls that could take awhile for you to bounce back to healthy locks. I would suggest using a shampoo, such as Curly Hair Solutions Shampoo, that is controlled and has an acid pH level of 4.5, ensuring that you will not strip away any natural essential oils."
So the trick may be water rinsing daily and washing once a week... or a bit longer??? Us Curly Girls have dryyy hair and need to pay attention to these things.

Theoretically (and ignorantly I might add, the PH of 50% water to 50% vinegar is 4.61 and the "Curly Hair Solutions Shampoo has an acid pH level of 4.5, ensuring that you will not strip away any natural essential oils."
Let's continue on the journey because I know for a fact that my hair is wayyyyy happier after two weeks of no washing WITH shampoo during my winter re-moisturizing efforts, only my scalp was unhappy, so I hope I'm onto something here going "no poo".

Rinse: Upping the Vinegar Factor...

In between cleansing, I've been rinsing with only water, daily pretty much. Today I took some advice I read online, I tried 50% vinegar with 50% water with my 5 drops of lime essential oil (No baking soda) for an in between rinse.
Did a writeup on her one week experiment, it's hilarious!  Her recipe was different enough that it's worth a try for me.  Dissolve 1 Tbs of soda into 8oz of water ...  and a 50/50 vinegar mix.  
I took her up on the 50/50% vinegar rinse idea.

Brushing it out wet was pretty easy, that tells me that the hair cuticle is smooth (vinegar % perhaps?)

I've been taking it easy on my scalp in the last two days since I was brushing 50 strokes each day (wet with my plastic bristle brush) to try moving the natural oils down the hair but that started making my scalp tender so for the last two days I've only been finger massaging it and my scalp is way happier. I even let the vinegar run over my scalp and it felt fine.

I went digging through my mountain of hair stuff in my bathroom cabinet and found my 100% boar bristle brush. The bristles are too short for detangling but the bristles will surely help spread natural oils once my hair has been detangled.

Note - I'm skipping the coconut oil on my wet hair today to see what the 50/50 vinegar effect is. Also, I'm rinsing wayyyy longer to make sure nothing is left on my hair.

Finally, this week will be the true test of my transition since normally this is the longest I've ever gone without shampoo and normally my head is itchy, oily in the crown area and I can't stand it, so... So far, its great!

How do we get our curls looking fabulous?

I'm a believer in embracing your natural hair.  I always have been, so I guess I'm going to have to live up to that now :)  Here's an idea that might work, apparently it's called plopping...  I used to do this with my favourite curly hair product and I don't see why it wouldn't work now.  Stay tuned, I'm going to try this after my next water wash.  Try looking for "plopping" or "plunking" on YouTube if you'd like to see more video demos.


And I couldn't resist this sweet lady's demo.  I don't understand anything she's saying but she's wonderfully infectious!




Wash #2

Recipe: 2 parts baking soda : 3 parts water, a drop of tea tree oil, shake very well
1 part vinegar : 8 parts water + 5 drops of lime essential oil

The top of my scalp feels a little tender, not itchy and dry, and not truly sore,  I think my tender scalp may be from so much brushing.  It makes me keep touching and rubbing it so I added one drop of tea tree oil (I really hate the smell) to water.  As for the slippery baking soda and hard versus soft water, I added more BS and more water, so I mixed the BS with water in a little container and put the lid and shook it really well immediately before my shower and then added water until I had a full squeezie bottle of it and it really did feel less grainy and I got more overall coverage on my scalp and it washed out really easily.  I'm onto something there...

There's also a lot less frizzies straight out of the shower, so something is working and my hair feels light even though it's wet and normally with product it's heavy.  It's also drying super fast!!

Here's a look at my wet hair on the left, and then dry on the right.  Note, it only took an hour to dry - unheard of!!! I still have frizzies, so I've worked in a bit of coconut oil on the ends and put it up in a bun - man, my scalp hurt by the end of the day,  it looks like everything is adjusting!

I'm going to do a little less brushing and a little more finger massaging.


Monday, July 22, 2013

What about Hair products?





I am going to a party tonight and feel like my boring old braid isn't quite enough.  So it's going up in a sleek bun and I'm using a touch of gel today.  It's one that claims to be mostly aloe vera for around my hairline / face because I've always had some fly away frizzies. (My sunshine lol)  I've used this gel many times on my 5 year old and I hope since it claims to be water soluble that it's going to rinse out tomorrow morning.  It has to, right!  It's an emergency!  This is supposed to be a chemical free zone, going "no-poo" and all, but us curlies have loooots of things to say about hair care products, I on the other hand have only have one thing to say ...


End of story.

Essential Oil - Lime EO in Vinegar


Lime essential oil:

I'm loving the lime essential oil I'm adding to my vinegar rinse, especially since lime essential oil is both antibacterial and antiseptic and a bonus is it's got an uplifting quality to it.  Here's some info, but pay particular attention to the suggested lime oil uses mid-way down the page (I am not recommending this brand, I just thought the webpage was very informative)



My Hair Feels Like Straw - Yuck!

Dealing with the straw-like texture

Here are a few ideas to help you get through those first few days or weeks…
  • deep-condition your hair with a non-oil conditioner. You could try fresh aloe-vera gel mix with honey, or how about using a beaten egg, maybe you’d prefer mashed banana… the possibilities are endless.
  • apply a tiny (I mean teensy–tiny) amount of coconut or jojoba oil to your hair after it has been washed and is dry. Simply add a few drops to your palms, rub your hands together until there is just a light sheen on your hands, and then run your hands through your hair, avoiding the roots. NOTE: Coconut oil has a fatty acid that penetrates the hair shaft the deepest and provides the greatest benefit. Jojoba oil is most like our natural sebum and is great for hair and skin, but does not penetrate as deeply as coconut oil.
  • allow your hair to dry naturally – using heated styling products will dry the hair out even more.
  • wear your hair up, pull it back, or try wearing a hat or scarf.
What if my hair goes oily?
It’s possible that you might end up with oily hair rather than the straw-like texture during your transition phase. Here are a few tips to dealing with it…
  • between no-poo washes, try a hot-water wash. It’s as easy as it sounds – simply wash your hair with the hottest water you can stand (don’t burn yourself!), then dry.
  • increase the amount of baking soda you use when you wash your hair by 1/4.
  • decrease the amount of vinegar in your conditioning solution by 1/2.
  • switch from apple cider vinegar, if using, to plain white vinegar.
  • remember, don’t apply your vinegar solution to the roots of your hair.
  • remember to rinse, rinse, rinse.
  • try using a dry shampoo, and I don’t mean any of that spray-can rubbish! Blondes and red-heads, use corn starch or arrowroot powder on your roots and brush through. This will absorb the excess oil. Brunettes, use coco-powder as you might find that corn starch or arrowroot leave your hair looking “grey”.
My scalp’s all itchy and flaky!
If you find that your scalp starts to get itchy and flaky, try the following…
  • decrease the amount of baking soda you are using
  • be sure you are rinsing the baking soda completely from your hair
  • do a scalp rinse with your vinegar solution to condition your scalp