If you've spent ten seconds on Google looking for natural beauty recipes, chances are you've heard of the "no poo" movement. The most popular of substitutes for shampoo is the baking soda and ACV method. Now, I'm super open to weird things like this, so I tried it. It was awesome at first, my hair felt soft, clean and shiny. Then the frizzy, dried, breakage happened. I was so upset! I'd never has a split end, then all of a sudden I had a ton, massive ten splits in one strand kind. Come to find out, baking soda is really bad for your hair, it opens the hair shaft, making it super soft but then, even with the ACV, it doesn't close the shaft. Leaving you with brittle damaged hair. Yikes!
So then I switched to sulfate free shampoo, till it stopped cleaning my hair a short time ago. Currently I'm using a bentonite clay hair "mud" shampoo. I've used it for the past four washings (so 10ish days) and I'm pleased with the results so far. These photos were taken post "mud" shampoo.
Here's the link to the recipe I used:
I used nettle leaf, ACV, Rosemary, lemon and orange essential oils.
Quite a few of you have asked how I keep my hair healthy, so here's my top five tips for healthy hair:
1. What goes in, makes (or breaks!) the health of your hair. Nutrition is especially important for skin, nail and hair health. Eat plenty of protein, good fats like coconut oil and butter. I've been incorporating gelatin lately (I'll update on that as time goes on) which is supposed to be super healthy for skin, hair and nails. And DRINK PLENTY of water! (Yes, you may call me the water Gestapo...)
2. Outside counts too. Your skin absorbs 60% of what you put on topically, so be careful what products you use. The more natural, the better.
3. Don't brush your hair. Seriously! Brushing with conventional brushes is damaging to hair. Instead, use a wide tooth comb (or better yet, your fingers)
Never ever ever ever ever EVER brush your hair wet! Ever!
4. Don't wear your hair in tight hairstyles, essentially the elastic band is your enemy. Scrunchies are good, as they're not nearly as tight. My favorite way to style my hair is simply twisting into a bun and my hair's so long I shove the ends in, sort if "knotting" it. Another great style is a loose braid.
5. Don't use heat! I don't ever use a hair dryer, curling iron, or any such thing.
I let my hair air dry, and if I want curly hair I braid my hair while wet, or use the headband curling technique (here's a video tutorial I did: http://natashaatkerson.blogspot.com/2014/08/headband-curls-tutorial-how-to.html?m=1
How about you? Any tips for happy, healthy hair?
Thanks for that post! I was contemplating using baking soda... now I know to avoid!
ReplyDeleteThe exact same thing happened to me when I tried the "no-poo" baking soda + ACV method. :P
ReplyDeletedance a real
A lot of dreadheads use the baking soda / ACV thing. But only when we really need to clean our heads. It's used more as a once in awhile kind of thing, to clean off soap residue. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm really struggling with dry damaged hair right now. I've colored my hair in the past and it has really changed the texture. I haven't colored in almost a year but the damage remains. I tried this argan oil spray but found that it seemed to actually make my hair worse after it was washed out! Do you use a conditioner? Have you tried olive or coconut oil? I'm a bit scared to try another oil now. My other problem is that I have prematurely gray hair and need to cover some of the root area with color but I don't want to recolor the part that was colored before and that is what most hair salons do. I thank you for putting the info on the baking soda as I wouldn't want to make it worse. Your hair looks very soft and healthy. I will have to try the "mud" recipe.
ReplyDeleteI tried the baking soda thing once, then read all the stuff about it and hastily quit, right now I've just tried to shampoo only once a week with sulfate free shampoo. My hair does seem to be better off for it, and I've been looking around for a homemade shampoo to switch to, so thank you!
ReplyDeleteI have definitely heard of the "no-poo" movement, but never tried it myself. I was super worried it would frizz up my hair even more than it is now. Thanks for sharing your experience and tips! I love your outfit too...
ReplyDeleteHi Natasha, me again. seems we have a lot in common! THM and now the "no-poo" hair method.
ReplyDeleteI do have to ask though, how long did you do no-poo before you quit? I have been doing the BS and ACV method for 7 months now and I have to say I love the way my hair looks now. Disclaimer though, If you are going to give it a try, You really need to stick with it for about 3 weeks before you like the results. I started in May, and I have to be honest, I hated it for the first 2 weeks. My scalp was super yucky and greasy, and my ends were all split and dry. I could almost never wear my hair down, I hated it! But I was told by people in blog land that you need to stick with it for 3 weeks and slowly stretch out the length of the time between when you wash your hair. If you use the Baking Soda and ACV 3 to 4 times a week, yes, it probably is really bad for your hair. I only wash my hair once a week now. I am not saying this is for everyone. God made everyone unique, and not everybody's body is made the same. But after that 3 week period, my hair started to produce it's own oils, enough that my hair looks great. I did use an alternative product in the first 3-4 months. It Is Dr. Bronners Organic Shikakai Conditioning Hair Rinse instead of the Vinegar. The rinse has lemon juice, coconut oil, and a couple of other safe and clean oils and ingredients. It really helped with the dry/split ends, and I only use this instead of the vinegar once a month now. Just to replenish my hair. The only other thing that I did was put coconut oil on the ends of my hair once in a while when it looked bad.
Baking soda, really isn't that bad for your head and hair. Here is a link to an article that was very instrumental in putting aside my doubts.
http://almostexactlyblog.wordpress.com/2013/06/13/to-those-who-claim-no-poo-is-damaging-to-hair/
Please read it, I think it was really good.
Also, here is a link for troubleshooting the no-poo method, so if you are having problems, here is a great place to get the answer. http://almostexactlyblog.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/no-poo-troubleshooting-and-common-questions/
Thank you for the post. The bulletin points were spot on and that is basically what I do with my hair.
Blessings to you Natasha!
By His Grace,
Victoria
Thanks for commenting!
DeleteI actually technically am "no poo" in that I'm using the bentonite clay instead of baking soda.
Also, thanks for the link. Unfortunantely, I'm one of those people she mentioned who needs to "use my head" (in her words).
My hair is loving this new routine-I've noticed my hair is less staticky-which is awesome. I didn't mean to offend, but I still stand by what I said, I think baking soda is too harsh (based on my experience)
But, if it's working for you, great! Whatever works for you.
Thanks for reading! I love receiving comments. Till next time,
Natasha
Oh Natasha, I hope I was not at all harsh. I do not think in any way that this way of doing hair is at all for everyone. No way that I think that. And I was not at all offended. I am so glad that you have found something that works for you! I just wanted other people to know that it can work for some people.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your reply!
Blessings!
Victoria
I've been no poo for maybe almost a year now! I don't use heat either, but I would very rarely color my ends (far away from the roots). I don't use any product whatsoever on my hair. Once in a blue moon, I'd use coconut oil, but that's it :) I swear by it.
ReplyDeleteI don't shower daily. I probably shower 1-2x a week and then wash hair maybe 1x a week! With diet changes, there is absolutely no BO :)
Love your hair!
Rachel
http://alamodest.com
This was a great post Natasha! Thank you for sharing it with me on our blog! This was very informative.
ReplyDeleteLove to you,
Jessica
The eldest sister & singer