Before we start talking about how I am cleaning my hair I want you to know what kind of hair I have.  So, here are the points that I think impact how I care for my hair.

• Length: 24″ (when pulled straight, ouch!)
• Curly – think Shirley Temple, only more so.
• Dry, dry, dry.
• No product.
• No color treatment.  (naturally graying)
• No tools, like a blow dryer or a flat iron.

Ever try to take a picture of your own hair?  Nearly impossible.

My old routine consisted of using Pantene 2 in1 (long and strong) shampoo about every other day.  After every shampoo I used the Garnier Fructise serum called Sleek & Shine.  That enabled me to get the super wide toothed comb through.  The problem with that routine was that it made my scalp break out in a horrible, itchy mess.  Very uncomfortable and  very unhealthy.

So, starting Saturday, I embarked on a quest for a natural, homemade method of caring for my scalp and hair.  There are a wealth of blogs with posts about natural, homemade shampoo and the no-poo methods.  I mean, a lot!  If you haven’t seen any of ‘em then I commend your self-control regarding your time on the internet.

I think the first time I ever heard about it I was sitting here clicking on the StumbleUpon button until I was too bleary-eyed to continue.  Y’all do that too, don’t you?

This is the site where I have read the most info.

I tried the homemade shampoo from my favorite blog, Little House in the Suburbs.  Made it wrong. Killed the blender (through no fault of the recipe).  Messed up some Princess hair with the ridiculous mess I made.  Maybe I will make that recipe again and do it right, sometime.  Calico Zak seems to like it on his hair, but I’m afraid all that olive oil in it might spark up some acne.  Any of y’all know the comedogenic quotient of olive oil?

The Cap’n tried the raw egg method.  Eh?  We weren’t terribly impressed.  And the egg was cold.  His hair looked and felt kinda dry.

I, also tried the egg method.  Not only was that egg cold, my hair was horrible.  It was a tangly, dry, gunky, icky mess.  I had to put coconut oil on it after I got out of the shower so I could comb it.  Lots of coconut oil.  Then I had an oily mess.

Today I used the simplest, cheapest, easiest of the methods.  The one I had originally read about at Babyslime.  (Wonder what that name means?)  Any way, I used about 3 tablespoons of baking soda mixed with about 2 cups of really warm water.  I just mixed it up in an old 1qt. plastic yogurt container.  Then I put about a ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar in an old, plastic mustard bottle.

I “shampooed” with the baking soda/water mix.  That’s gonna take some getting used to.  It’s very different than regular shampooing.  I just distributed the stuff throughout my scalp and hair as well as I could.  Then left it there for about a minute and rinsed really, really thoroughly.

Then I added about 2/3 cup of water to the vinegar and poured that on my head.  I’m pretty sure it would hurt to get vinegar in my eyes, so I was very diligent to just get it on the scalp and hair.  I felt silly doin’ it, but I kinda scrunched my hair around, a bit.  Then left it alone for about 3 minutes, letting the vinegar sit. Then rinsed very thoroughly.

These amounts are way more than is recommended on most of the blogs I read.  I used extra because of all the coconut oil I had to combat from last time.

The verdict:

This is it!  My hair is super normal (for me).  I was able to comb it without adding oil.  My scalp feels … like… nothing!  Yipee!  No itching!  How nice!

I am completely blown away by this.  This method sounds very illogical.  To me, anyway.  But it’s working.  My hair looks nice.  Feels nice.  All is good.

Now, I’m no fool.  I realize that after a few days of this my hair may behave differently.  And maybe the coconut oil that was on my hair before I started played an important role.   But, for now, I am really happy with this.

And there is a side benefit.  I can leave the empty yogurt and mustard containers and the plastic spoon on the edge of the tub and The Princess can have something to play with during her bath.  TA-DA!

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