Beyond "No Poo and MSG"

After my success with the "no poo" and MSG-free hair washing, the next logical step was conditioning it.

This was much more complicated than I thought it would be.  There is literally post upon post about different ways of doing this.  I still wanted to KISS, so I decided that since the baking soda/water worked, I would try the other common recipe that people seemed to love: apple cider vinegar and water.  ACV closes the hair shaft helping seal the water in which, in turn, softens it.

Some people think, "Ew, gross!  Just buy shampoo.", but those of us who react just can't do it. Apple cider vinegar hair rinses, along with the baking soda shampoo, have been around for years. How do you think women did their hair before commercial shampoos were invented?

I used the 1 tablespoon and filling the 8oz spray bottle method.  I prefer the spray bottle method just for controlling how much comes out.  I did up my "conditioner" and jumped in the shower.  I discovered one thing:  it smells.  My family will tell you I have a very sensitive nose.  Even one tablespoon almost gassed me during my shower.  The smell was so strong, but I was determined to try it.

Afterwards, I couldn't detangle my hair - at all.  My hair looked like rats had gotten into it and made a nest.  The cat began stalking me, waiting for the critters he knew lived in the mass on my head.   It was terrible.  I couldn't believe people had success with this recipe.  I honestly thought I had damaged my hair, and expected a huge lecture from my stylist when I went to have her shave my head.  Yes, it was that bad.  I spent a long time carefully sword fighting the tangles with my comb and wore it clipped or in a ponytail until my next cleaning due to the "Einstein effect" I mention in the previous post .

Reminding myself that any recipe can be tweaked, I increased the ratio: 1/4 cup of ACV and about 3/4 cup of water.  Better, but it was still bad enough to make my children stop in their tracks and had me wanting the closest hat (BTW, I don't like wearing hats).  My hair was slowly becoming worse.  I was becoming a bit worried by now.  I had to condition my hair.  But I couldn't use commercial conditioners.

 In the end what works best for me is a minimum ratio of 1/2 and 1/2.   I flip my head over upside down in the shower, spray from just below the scalp down to the tips and comb it through.   Flip my head back up, comb again, then rinse.  Once the hair dries, it no longer smells like you're wearing a salad on your head.

* People have said only straight ACV works for their hair.  Others say nothing they do with it works.   As
   always - your mileage may vary.
* Essential oils like Lavender (10-20 drops) can be used to scent it.  I, personally, prefer Vanilla.
* It can be left in your hair if rinsing it doesn't work well for you.
* Putting ACV on your scalp can cause it to become oily.  Great if you have dry scalp.  Bad if you have an
   oily scalp to begin with.
* If you decide you hate it, you can use what solution you have left over to clean with.

I still wasn't quite happy with it, though.  More research gave me another idea to try: aloe vera gel.  After a lot of researching brands and ingredients, I found one that I liked.  It works as a leave-in condition and styling product.  After using the ACV, I gave it a shot and love it!  At my last "deskunking", my hair dresser asked me what I was using on my hair, because it was so soft.  I had a winner!  My stylist leans towards more natural products and encouraged me to keep doing what I was doing and experiment more.  She and I are investigated more gentler coloring options for me as well.

My hair still tends to poof a bit at the ends if it's messed with, so I am looking at hair butters for winter use.