I’ll admit: I was very skeptical of this “bite.” Quit washing my hair? Um… yeah, that’s going to simplify my life because all my hair will fall out and I’ll look so terrible I’ll never leave the house! But as some of you know, Tsh Oxenreider swears by her simple baking soda and vinegar hair treatment, so I figured I’d give it a shot.
I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised.
Now again, I don’t think “to shampoo or not to shampoo” is a moral issue. But, if you’re wanting to save some money and rid your household of chemicals, this might just be a great step for you. Tsh explains her reasoning:
Since we try to avoid food that has unpronounceable ingredients, we thought it only made sense to adhere to the same standards for the stuff we slather on our skin. Which includes shampoo. Most shampoos also contain mineral oil, which is a
byproduct when gasoline is distilled from crude oil. It’s added to shampoo (along with hundreds of other products) to thickly coat the strands, giving hair an artificial shine. And since it can’t absorb into skin, like the other ingredients, it acts as a barrier on our scalp, preventing oil from being released—thus requiring more shampoo to strip away the grease. …
… So because shampoo isn’t really necessary, using it creates this cycle that requires a dependence on the stuff, along with dependence on other hair products. In order to combat the stripping of protective oils, we need an artificial protectant called conditioner. And once hair is coated with more unnatural substances, it requires more unnatural substances to keep it styled, strong, and workable.
So all this is well and good but what is it actually like? Tsh has very short, wavy, brown hair. I have long, straight, fine, very blond hair and I really figured this would be a disaster.
It wasn’t. It actually worked. And since my hair can tend to be flat and lifeless, I think the less-is-more routine actually gave it more life and body. Here’s what I did:
Ketchup & Mustard squeeze bottles from the Dollar Store $1 (any squeeze bottles will do)
“Shampoo”: 1 TB baking soda + 1 cup water. Shake, apply to roots to wash.
“Conditioner”: 1 TB apple cider vinegar + 1 cup water. Shake, apply to ends (or whole head) after washing.
Cons: No luxurious shampoo scent. No pleasureful sensation of massaging thick suds all over your head.
Pros: Cost a fraction of a penny. An entire bottle of apple cider vinegar cost $.97 at Winco. That’s enough for a whole year of conditioning. That’s a big savings. Also, no more chemicals. This routine is all natural.
Are you willing to try it? Just give it a shot. You might be pleasantly surprised.
{Have you tried this method? What was your experience? What hair-care tips can you share for a simple, frugal, beautiful routine? Thanks for reading, happy Friday!}
7 thoughts on “#29 Switch to gentle, eco-friendly hair care {52 bites}”
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Does the vinegar leave a vinegar smell in your hair?? I may be up for trying this after I see your hair on Sunday! 🙂
One thing I read is to not get discouraged if your roots are oily for a while. There is a 4-6 week adjustment phase. You inspired me, I’ll have to try now.
Very interesting! I have long, unruly, curly brown hair, so I’m interested in how this would work… I’ll have to try it… eventually… 🙂
I have been doing this for months now & love it…although I do miss the lather on occassion. I noticed that my semi-wavy, semi-straight hair now holds a curl like you wouldn’t believe! I had the adjustment period when my hair produced more oil as I was getting use to it, and I just wore my hair up for a while. I had to tone down the apple cider vinegar and just put in on the tips of my ends because my hair was getting too greasy, but it works perfectly now that I adjusted it a bit. Your hair wont smell like vinegar once you rinse it out, only when you apply it 🙂 Also, there are several natural treatments you can apply to your hair to give it more shine…I did notice without all the chemicals, my hair became dull. One tip I found was doing a protein rinse after baking soda and before cider with the water you rinse your quinoa with before you cook it….gonna try that soon. I just made my own natural hair gel with flac seeds (you boil flac seeds-youtube can explain more) Sorry for blowing up your blog Kari haha!
I’ve been planning to make my own shampoo/conditioner for a while actually! Just waiting on the current one to run out. But this sounds even easier! I wonder if the baking soda is ever too harsh by itself? My husband and I have both been using plain ole baking soda as deodorant for months now and love it, except the rare occasion when it seems to cause a mild irritation. Haven’t figured that out yet!
I’ve been doing this for a while now and here is a trick. The ACV makes your roots greasy, but you must put it on your roots to neutralize the BS. I put it on my ends first, then splash it on my roots and rinse asap.
So I thought to myself I would try this, but my husband would never go for it. Then this morning he informed me he wants to try it! So as soon as we run out of our current stuff, we’re going to try it!