This blog, it sits out here unused… something began and forgotten. Sort of like a Christmas letter or knitting project. I have been toying with renewing my blog and using it as not only a pathway to my craft ~ spinning and knitting, but also for my interests in discovering natural beauty, products or absence of products, if you will.
Let’s see how it goes!
I have been doing a ton of research over the last couple of years on HAIR. Yes, hair. I have that hair. You know, hair that without product and heat is a curly frizz ball. When I find the right combination of products and diffuse it just so, I have pretty, natural curl that lasts, hmmmm, a few hours before a nice halo of frizz develops and then I decide to just throw it up. With the added health hazards being identified surrounding personal care products I have been trying to stay away from certain chemicals in products, more frizz.
About a month ago I made the jump to “water only washing”. I have read a bunch about this method of cleaning hair. There is a ton of information out there and I will site my favorite two blogs, Minimalist Beauty and Almost Exactly Blog, on the matter and not regurgitate the information those smart ladies have provided. One mistake I believe I have been making, however, is continuing to use styling products while I go through transition. I have been selective choosing products that are of natural ingredients and that will rinse out with water only washing. I started to wonder though, if I am coating my hair shaft with product, how successful will I be at coating my hair shaft with the natural sebum my hair is to eventually produce and over the course of a month or so?
Today I decided to jump again to truly “water only washing” and completely cut out the use of styling products – except natural butters/oils to condition my ends and help with MINOR frizz control. The butters/oils I have chosen are recommended for “water only washing” and I have created a mixture of shea butter, jojoba oil and fractionated coconut oil. I added a little rosemary and lavender essential oil. Hopefully this “balm” will help keep my ends moisturized as my scalp produces it’s natural sebum and I work on the distribution of that down my hair shaft. Because my hair is naturally curly I anticipate needing to wet my hair in the morning and hopefully that will aid in the sebum moving down my hair shaft.
Over the course of the next month my only hair products will consist of:
Wooden hair brush – brushing daily, before shower in the morning and before bed to stimulate the scalp and pull the sebum down my hair shaft. I am choosing a wooden brush as opposed to a boar bristle brush because of my curls. I may use my boar bristle brush occasionally.
Wooden hair comb – for detangling in the shower
Apple cider vinegar hair rinse – I make this with Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar and essential oils of rosemary and lavender. I combine this with water and rinse my hair with it a couple of times a week. This helps with shine and conditioning.
Hair balm – I made this myself and it contains 3 teaspoons of shea butter, 1 teaspoon of jojoba oil, 1 teaspoon of fractionated coconut oil, combined using a double boiler. I add to the melted mixture 4 drops each of rosemary and lavender essential oil. Just a tiny bit of this is used on my ends and to control frizz. This is a new mixture and may need tweaking.
Turby Twist towel – or bar towel to get excess moisture out of hair.
Diffuser – if I need to dry my hair.
Satin pillow case – this really works. I didn’t believe it until I tried it.
To kick of the NEW month of water only washing I decided to do a hair detox. I did a bit of research on this and decided to make sure I have all product build up off of my hair to make the transition a bit easier.
Hair detox – 1/2 cup of aloe vera gel, 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar, 1/2 cup of bentonite clay. I wet my hair and then put this mixture on my hair and left it for 30 minutes under a plastic cap. I rinsed my hair in the shower and did a final apple cider vinegar rinse (as mentioned above) for shine and conditioning. So far my hair is drying with really defined curl pattern and very little frizz.
Hopefully I have inspired you to look at your hair routine and see if maybe there are some things you can do to chose a simpler and healthier way to take care of your mane. I will keep you updated on how this month is going…
jeaniefarleyknits 