Poco Mountain Girl

Ever since we moved west to the mountains, I’ve struggled with my hair.  It used to be bouncy and curly, but here it’s either flat, dry, and static, or, with conditioner, it’s flat, greasy, and heavy.  I think it’s due to a combination of the dry air and the type of very hard water we have.

This year I decided to try the no poo method.  The reasoning behind “no poo” goes something like this: shampoo has chemicals and detergents in it that strip the natural oils from your hair, with other unhealthy side effects.  To compensate, your hair overproduces oils to try to battle the stripping effect.  When you quit using it and use things like baking soda, vinegar, or even just water, your hair has a chance to re-balance its own oils.  But first, there is an extremely greasy time period (of weeks or months) where your hair is still way overproducing oils.

I started in January, using baking soda to wash it, and apple cider vinegar to condition.  It was super greasy–which I was okay with, since I knew it would eventually balance out.  The baking soda also broke off a lot of hair every time I used it, which I was not okay with.  After a month I decided to make my own shampoo.

I tried a few recipes.  One popular homemade shampoo uses liquid castile soap and coconut milk.  Castile (like Dr. Bronner’s) has always made made my hair feel sticky and coated.  I gave it another few tries with coconut milk, and sure enough, sticky and coated.  I tried coconut milk alone, and it didn’t clean well enough and seemed greasy.  Then I heard of someone using bentonite clay (which I keep on hand) so I tried that.  It seemed to clean well, but didn’t leave my hair very soft.

Through trial and error, I eventually came up with my own recipe.  I’ve been using it for about 3 months, and I really like it.  My hair isn’t as full and buoyant as it was in the humid Midwest or on the East Coast, but it’s better than it was out here with regular shampoo.  And I like it much better than the baking soda/no poo method.

I only wash it every couple of days, and it seems to be regulating itself well.  Sometimes I rinse a little apple cider vinegar into it afterwards, and sometimes I treat it to a store-bought natural conditioner.  I also use it on Zia and Cash, and I’ve noticed their hair looks more shiny and healthy than before.

Here is the recipe:

1 cup water

3 tablespoons coconut milk (I use homemade)

3 tablespoons bentonite clay

3 drops aloe vera gel

3 drops vitamin e oil

Put all ingredients into blender and blend until combined (the bentonite generates a lot of heat, so don’t blend too long).  It should be a smooth, pudding-like consistency.  Spoon into a container and store in the fridge–it will keep a week or more.

What homemade or natural products do you like to use on your hair?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 15th, 2013 at 2:22 pm and is filed under Making Stuff, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.