I have been waiting for this landmark moment for a long time and it's finally arrived: I've not used any commercially made hair products on my hair for an entire year! No shampoo, no conditioner, no hairspray, no gel, mousse, smoothing serum, hot oil treatment, no nothing has touched my hair. I made it and I'm so proud of myself. And the icing on that cake is that I don't miss it. So sweet. So what exactly have I been doing instead? Well here it is, today I'm posting my hair-washing routine.
Where did I get this routine? From lots and lots of internet research. Many websites and even some You-Tube videos. I ended up going with a baking soda scrub and an acid rinse, those acids being apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. I needed a routine that was a simple, quick, and as natural as it gets and once I got accustomed to the concept, it is all of those things. One of the better sites I ran across explains how it all works very well, so credit where that's due: Simplemom.net.
(Disclaimer: Everyone's hair is different so what works for my hair (medium length blond hair, formerly fine, flat, and straight, yet frizzy, now thicker, fuller and wavy) may need to be tweaked for yours: more or less baking soda or vinegar to water ratios. Also, when going off shampoo, it's helpful to wean off slowly so your scalp doesn't over-react and go into grease overload to compensate for the oil stripping the shampoo is no longer providing. Your scalp will balance out so try shampooing every other day, for a while, followed by every third day, etc. until you are ready to make the jump.)
What works for me, proportion-wise, is I use 1 teaspoon baking soda in a 4 ounce squeezey bottle and fill it to the top. Shake it up so the the baking soda dissolves. I squeeze it near the roots, massage my scalp and let it rest for a couple minutes before rinsing it out. To get fancy, you can add 1-2 drops of an essential oil to the baking soda for fragrance. I've been using rosemary or peppermint.
For conditioning, I use 1-2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar in 1 cup of water. Also a drizzle of honey for extra moisturizing. I pour it over my head, saturating the hair and let that sit 1-2 minutes before rinsing it out. It's a bit fragrant at first, but the odor disappears completely when dry. I found the vinegar made my hair a little deeper/redder after a while so I eventually started alternating with the juice of 1/2 a lemon which lightens it up.
I wash my hair like this every 2-3 days. The other days I just scrub my scalp to loosen up any grime. I keep a cute little basket in the bathroom with my stuff, pre-measure the ingredients into the containers and add warm shower water to the bottles when I'm ready for them.
And since I've made it a year now, I've started getting fancy and experimenting with herbal hair rinses which I'll pour over my hair after my shower, not rinsing it out. I'd heard great things (online, at least) about them so I brewed up a few different batches and use a cup's worth poured over my hair for a few weeks to see how I like it. I'd tried yarrow and oregano and wasn't blown away. That is, until I tried lemon verbena (which I just happen to grow in my garden for up until this point no other reason than the fact that I adore the scent). The lemon verbena is fabulous. I also want to try chamomile (waiting for it to flower) and sage.
And that's it. I comb it out, let it air-dry and go. I have a great lady that cuts my hair and she works with my hair to shape it into a nice, care-free style that I don't have to blow-dry and style and fight with.
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