After thinking about it, I realized it made sense. After all, to find diary and egg free recipes for my allergic grandson I had to venture into vegan territory. Honestly, some of them scared me. I felt as if I so much as dared look at an egg, I was going to Hell. That feeling lasted about 10 seconds. I grabbed the recipes I needed, cooked myself some meat, and I haven't been back.
I did everything in my power to find store bought items that I could use without a reaction. No way was I making my own stuff! Who has time for that? Forget it! Not happening.
Famous last words, eh?
If I can think about a problem, I will think about it for a while (some say I over think it), then try to solve it more logically and systematically. First, I identified my hair type. Yes, I am in my 40s and I realized I didn't know what type of hair I had. All I knew is that if I combed it after it dried, I looked like I lost a round with the electrical outlet. If I flat-ironed it, It had bumps that had nothing to do with a flat iron (incorrectly flat-ironing your hair can cause "bumps"). This is a sign of a "curly girl" which incorporates all girls who do not have straight hair.
During research I stumbled across Naturallycurly.com and discovered I am a Type 2 curly/wavy girl. Using a comb after drying causes our hair to do an Einstein impersonation.
For you visual people:
I realized that my stylist only used her hands after she had cut my hair. No comb or brush touches my head once my hair enters the "drying" phase. A few days ago, during a skunk stripe removal visit, I watched her carefully and confirmed that she only uses her fingers. Upon leaving, I check my hair with my own hands and found no tangles. Since it was colored, it had been deep conditioned, so I decided to check this out later.
After searching through tons, and I do mean tons, of websites and recipes I decided KISS is the key. No not the rock band. Keep It Simple, Stupid. I decided to go with the ever popular baking soda and water route.
Due to my mind being enslaved by years of beauty commercials and articles, I had serious doubts about the effectiveness of this. However, the idea that it could be "tweaked" (not something you can do to store bought) appealed to me along with the cost. After over a month of experimenting, I stuck with the original recipe.
Put 1 tablespoon of baking soda (I used cheap store bought since we weren't ingesting it) in an 8 oz. spray bottle.
Fill with water making about 8oz of "shampoo". Spray around hairline and massage throughout the scalp. (I put another little spray at the crown of my scalp as well, because it likes to be a pain.) Use as much as you need to make sure you get the whole scalp - not your hair - your scalp, but don't over spray! RINSE WELL!
Seriously, don't short this part. If you don't rinse well, your hair will be dry and grainy. You will look like a scarecrow used your head as a toilet. Ask me how I know. You will also need to give your hair adjustment time, because this doesn't strip the oils to the extent commercial shampoos do. Your hair will be wondering what the heck just happened and may throw a tantrum until it adjusts. It took mine about two weeks to settle down.
That's it. A 16 oz. box of store brand baking soda (nothing else in it) costs me $.58. There are 16 tablespoons in it. My cost is about $.04 per 8 oz. made. I have a well, so no water costs to me. And guess what? Since I only need to wash my hair every few days, that 8 oz. will last me 3-4 weeks or more. If I assign that one box to only my hair, it will last me over a year. $.58 for a year of hair cleaning. Beat that. For you diehards, I can throw in a few cents for the electricity that runs the well pump. It's still a heck of a lot cheaper than buying shampoo and, more importantly, I don't react to it.
My hair is very thick and this recipe gets it clean. Your mileage may vary. It's all trial and error.
No comments:
Post a Comment