~All-Natural Hair Care~

By foodiva

Ingredients

• BAKING SODA CLEANSING
• 1 1 1 quart boiling water
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 c. baking soda
• to to to to the water and mix or shake in a bottle until dissolved. (I use this bottle.) Cool prior to use. Apply liberally to hair and scalp, shaking first if necessary. Massage into scalp and hair then rinse well. (credit)
• apples
• APPLE CIDER VINEGAR RINSE
• 3/4 3/4 3/4 c. water
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
• 2 2 2 T. aloe vera gel
• 1 1 1 T. honey
• 8 8 8 drops peppermint oil
• 8 8 8 drops tea tree oil
• citrus
• CITRUS HAIRSPRAY
• 1 1 1 orange, peel removed and chopped in pieces
• 1 1 1 lemon, peel removed and chopped in pieces
• 2 2 2 c. water
• to to to a small saucepan and boil until reduced by half. Strain and add to a bottle outfitted with a spray pump. Use as you would hairspray, but keep refrigerated or it will begin to smell badly after a few days!
• to not done experimenting with different recipes. I have a few deep conditioners that I’d like to try and also a recipe for a natural gel. I’ll post them if I have any success, of course.
• to to your turn to chime in. Please, please, please if you “no-‘poo” join me in confession. What tips and tricks do you have to share?

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from reformationacres.com

Preparation

Step 1

Please excuse the excessive use of fill light in order to make the curls visible on my dark ole head of hair, but this is pretty much how they look once dried after washing. I think the most noticeable difference between three and nine weeks is the improvement of wave around the crown.

After experimenting with various recipes, I have settled on a plain baking soda wash made by just boiling a quart of water and adding a 1/4 cup of baking soda. I started by rotating between that and using a a castile soap based shampoo and it stripped my hair mightily and left it feeling

1 quart boiling water

Add the soda to the water and mix or shake in a bottle until dissolved. (

Combine all ingredients in a bottle and shake well. (

Our hairstyles are low maintenance around here, requiring very little product and we’ve discovered a satisfactory substitute for hairspray as well. A simple spray is made by reducing chopped chunks of citrus in boiling water. It smells

and even acts as a potpourri while you’re preparing it.

Add all to a small saucepan and boil until reduced by half. Strain and add to a bottle outfitted with a spray pump. Use as you would hairspray, but keep refrigerated or it will begin to smell badly after a few days!

I adjusted the recipes a bit- I mix in a dab of Honey and Aloe Vera gel with a little more Apple Cider Vinegar than recommended, and I think that’s my magic combination.

I’m so glad you’ve met with such success Sheryl! That’s wonderful! Thanks so much for coming back, updating, and sharing your adaptations! I’m excited right now about a leave-in conditioner that I’ve been trying- 1/4tsp. coconut oil mixed with 1/4 tsp. castor oil, massaged into the roots and ends, then just rubbing the excess oil on my hands over the rest (kind of like how you would a sleek n shine product) Doing this the night before I wash and boy is my hair soft and shiny!

Anon says: ” My daughter has super curly hair and I do not shampoo it much. I have found olive oil to be a good deep conditioner. It has never left her hair greasy. Another good sub for hair spray is an epsome salt water spray. I cant remember the exact mixture have seen it online. Thanks for your tips!”

I have curly hair just like the hair posted above. I went to baking soda and vinegar 3 months ago and love it!! My hair is curly and looks just like the bloggers did. Just wavy in the beginning and quite curly now. For $1 I purchased a set of ketchup and mustard bottles to use for my “shampoo and conditioner”. I put 1/8 cup baking soda in the yellow bottle and fill with water. I shake before each use. I fill the red bottle half full with white vinegar and then add water. I leave them in the shower and fill as needed. My hair used be greasy and course requiring daily washing. Now I’m able to wash every three days. I no longer have frizzy, dry, unmanageable hair. I still use gel when I leave my hair down (mostly out of habit than necessity) but my hair is the best its ever been. I have to color my hair every 4 weeks to cover my grey and haven’t noticed any problems with the vinegar. It’s a great detangler. I’ll NEVER go back to commercial products. I, too, used WEN before this. My son no longer has dandruff since using vinegar, and we tried every antidandruff product on the market with out success before finding vinegar! It took about 3 weeks for my hair to adjust. The end of the third week was the worst, then it was like magic. Perfectly managable hair!! Good luck

Hi Marie, The only suggestions I can think to offer are to maybe try aloe vera gel as a hair gel. It would probably be a lot less drying than something from the store. Second, I have been trying out a leave-in conditioner once a week- the day prior to washing or overnight (depending on whether you’ll be going out) It’s just 1/4 tsp. melted coconut oil mixed with 1/4 tsp. castor oil. (It doesn’t seem like a lot, but a little goes a long way.) I massage it into my scalp and the work it into my ends and then run my fingers through my hair to distribute it throughout then put it up in a bun. It’s been a few weeks and has help a lot of moisture back into my hair. And finally, it could just be that your adjustment period is a little longer. I would encourage you not to give up yet if this is something you’re really interested in doing! Blessings

Jennifer S. asks, “How often do you use the baking soda cleansing rinse? Can you make a bunch of both rinses in advance? Looking forward to trying this! “

I use it once a week and I usually make enough at a time to last a month.

I have been “trying” to go poo free for a week. Meaning, I have not used shampoo and have been using baking soda and apple cider vinegar rinse. Since Day 1, my hair has felt TERRIBLE!! I have tried different measurements of soda to water ratio as well as the cider to water ratio. I have boiled the water before adding the soda and my hair feels dirty, gritty, brittle and it’s starting to smell like I haven’t washed it in a week. Is there hope for me?? I have read that your hair will go through changes as it “detoxes” but oh my goodness, even when I feel my hair it leaves a yucky feeling on my fingers….H E L P!!!

I’ve read where some take weeks to detox, so if this is something you really want to do, I would certainly encourage you to persevere. If your hair is feeling greasy, I would start by taking the honey out of the ACV and if that doesn’t work, cut back on the baking soda. On a couple occasions I decided to just wing it and guess the amount of B/S and too much definitely causes my otherwise very dry hair to feel dirty and greasy and to start clumping up. Our normal reaction to something good is- if this much is good, more must be better. Not so in this case. Also, I haven’t tried this, but I stumbled across it this morning while looking to make a toothpaste recipe on the same site:

Beatrice

Lastly, I know most people have said that once your hair is dry, the ACV smell disappears but I am still a little concerned and self conscious and know I’ll miss my nice smelling hair so I was wondering if anyone can recommend an essential oil smell that I can add to the ACV. I know some people have added the tea tree oil or I think lavender oil, neither of which I am a huge fan so if anyone has any other suggestions I would really appreciate it.

I add Lily and Lilacs oil to my ACV rinse.

Beatrice

I made my own serum using camila oil, avocado oil, rosemary essential oil, and castor oil. Combined with this cleansing method, I have never loved my hair like I love it now. I love my new home made products. But the serum is a little funky smelling so I spray some perfume on my hair to cover that up lol.

Beatrice

Thats the website I found the serum from. It gives measurements and how to make it. I also found some more on pintrest that I’m going to try.

Wow…nobody might believe but I have the same weird problem after pregnancy. My beautifull jet black long straight strands became brittly boring wavy faded black with a disgustingly itchy dandruffy sculp. Ahhh its a bit reliefe that I successfully could describe that. So I started no poo. Tried what you are doing…no success. Tried castile poo…no luck. Then I started mixing conditioner directly with castile soap and also tea tree oil for dandruff. It took care a little…but hair doesnt grow any more like before and obviously no question of being straight. The waves are not even pretty looking so I naturally curl them (socks method) the days I get mad at them. My husband is more miserable than I am…because he is bald (shaves his head) and used to be proud of his wifes hair.bleh…

What is the purpose of boiling the water? Can you use distilled water?

What sort of bottles do you put the solutions in? A plastic squeeze bottle? Something that pours? Can you describe or share a photo?

I would try using less baking soda. It’s hard to believe, but less is more. Every time I add to much to the mix, it ends up feeling almost greasy and tangles up a bunch. Glad your not so scratchy! ;D

You can put 1 part almond oil and 3 parts water into a spray bottle and shake before spraying use as a leave in conditioner.

My hair is still a bit dry too- I’ve been able to make a difference using an overnight leave in conditioner made of 1 part each coconut oil, argon oil, & castor oil (for growth- it WORKS!) Maybe ⅛ tsp. each massaged into the scalp and then worked through to the ends. If it’s a on the frizzy side after styling I’ll take a dab of the argon oil and use it like a hair serum and smooth it over.

Heather Z

Beatrice

Did you try adding in essential oils? My hair usually smells a little minty…

Alright, I love the idea of the no poo method. But I have to admit after 8 months that I can’t make the baking soda cleanse work for me. My hair, beautiful, shiny, thick, awesome. I even took samples of hair and compared them to a control under microscope and had to admit, after BS and ACV, it looked shinier and smoother than a control hair. Scalp: CANNOT DEAL WITH THE AMOUNT OF GREASY DANDRUFF I GET. I tried everything. Greater concentrations of baking soda, lesser concentrations of baking soda, making sure the ACV rinse doesn’t touch my scalp, bathing my scalp in ACV, going longer between washings, washing more frequently, roughly scrubbing my scalp with salt/BS mixed together, gently massaging my scalp, leaving my scalp alone and just pouring the cleanse over it. 8 months is a good amount of time to try something out and now I know that this doesn’t work for me. I’m going to try yogurt shampoo next. Tried the honey shampoo thing and that just makes my face break out and my hair feel even greasier. I love the ACV rinse. Love it. Will continue with it forever. Till I die. Just some info pf what happened to me with this method. (Also another friend who tried with me. Same dandruffy issue, hair great)

I used to have very curly hair when I was a little girl, but recently in the past eight years it’s slowly gone away and has been just wavy. I tried everything from scrunching to curling irons but couldn’t get it back. I thought maybe it was teenage hormones and later the stress of college. I never would have guessed my shampoo was weighing it down so much. Just this past year, I decided to cut out all things that were bad for my hair, especially heating products, and had begun to simply french braid it at night to give it a curly texture the next day. This still dried it out pretty bad though. Mostly the ends.

So I have decided to make the switch. I do have a question though. I reticently had highlights and color, will this pull the color out?

I have been very committed to this and I haven’t been able to wear my hair down yet, and it’s been two months. I have thick wavy hair. My ends seem brittle and dry, but over all it seems stiff. Not soft and flowy like I had hoped. The underneath in the back is the only place that seems oily. Help!!!

This is so cool Quinn!! I used the baking soda, ACV method for a long time but I couldn’t stand how I always smelled like I’d been dyeing Easter Eggs all day. I love that you added mint to the ACV, maybe I should try that. I have super curly hair as well and dealt with frizz forever. I finally figured out that I needed to use shampoo and conditioner without parabens and sulfates and nasty stuff in them, so I got a curl-specific product without garbage in it and it helped tremendously. Anyway, I’m glad you found something that works for you. Your hair is gorgeous!

All this is very interesting and useful. My hair is like your hair, they are curly, wave and frizzy, are lighter and blond and partly white, so difficult to treat and manage. My solution has been the soap of Aleppo, I also like the scent. is a very healthy choice, it made my hair more robust, strong and defined in curls, but do not use conditioner. I like the balm vinegar and lacquer ecological orange, I’ll try to make it at home, thank you for sharing these your natural experiments !!!