Extreme Makeover - Shampoo Edition

Shampoo Experiment - First 2 Weeks

Well I have made it through the first two weeks of using a shampoo of my own creation. I must say it has been a rather interesting. At first, I wondered if I had bitten off just a bit more than I could chew. I'll be honest, the first week I really wasn't sure because my hair had a weird sort of texture to it and I wasn't quite sure that this whole create my own shampoo thing was my best idea. However, I was determined to stick to it. Everything I have read does say there is an adjustment period as your scalp gets used to not having its natural oils stripped from it everyday. That adjustment period can be a week to as long 3, even 4, weeks from some of the articles I read.

A Few Setbacks
There have been a few errors in judgement along the way. After the first week I decided I need to get my hair cut because I had let the layers grow out only to discover that there was a reason I had them cut into my hair in the first place. (Definitely not one of my better ideas letting those layers grown out!) The people at the salon were really good about me not letting them shampoo my hair but I did let them condition it and put product on it and what a freaking disaster, if I do say so myself. By the end of the day my hair was one big oily mess!! I hated the way my hair felt.

My second error in judgement came this past Wednesday night when I decided my hair was in need of a deep conditioning treatment so I decided to use coconut oil. It took me washing my hair 3 days in a row to get that mess out of my hair completely.  I have been wanting to  shampoo my hair less not more so needless to say this was a few steps back in the plan. Talk about bad hair days. Thankfully my hair is long enough that I can just pull it back but still. Not a great choice. I think if you have really thick coarse hair, that method could work but it certainly is not the best choice for my hair. Next time I might try olive oil or jojoba. 

A Few Tweaks

Half way through the first week it occurred to me that I probably needed to come up with a formula specific to my specific situation, oily scalp. The recipe suggested olive oil could be left out if you have oily scalp but I found I needed to add a small amount of olive oil to my shampoo because my hair was feeling a bit dry and it did help. I doubled the recipe and it lasted me roughly two weeks. I also just used herbs I had on hand. Yesterday I had to make a new batch so I was more deliberate in choosing the herbs. I chose herbs specifically for dark hair and oily hair. This blend has calendula, nettle, rosemary, lavender, horsetail, marshmallow root and burdock root. I did use this mix to shampoo my hair this morning and I have to say I am liking it much more than the first mix

I will say that I am noticing my hair changing for the better, one is that it is thicker with more body. Another is that even though it still does get oily within 24 hours, that seems to be improving as time goes on. Who knows, maybe in time I will be able to wash my hair every other day instead of every day. If anything I am happy to know what is in my shampoo and there is great satisfaction in being able to create it with my own hands.


Next blog: my thoughts on hair color and a little bit more about why I am creating my own shampoo among other things.

The Shampoo Experiment

I don't know any female who isn't on the hunt for the perfect shampoo. They keys to a good shampoo for most of us is it has to smell good, work up a good lather and make your hair feel fabulous. The downside to shampoo is that if you read the ingredients it can often seem to be the product of a mad scientist's experiment. You kind of need a chemical textbook to understand. It can also be worrisome to think about what exactly those chemicals are and what they do to the body.

In our overly saturated chemical environment it can seem an uphill battle to avoid chemicals completely. However, you can find ways to cut down on that chemical load and making your own shampoo is one way to do just that! It is surprisingly easy to create and the benefits endless. There is an initial cost to obtaining ingredients but they are easily found at the store and online. A few ingredients and you have a shampoo that is chemical free and cheaper than what you buy in the store.

This is a link to the recipe I followed:  http://mountainroseblog.com/herbal-hair-care/. Read through the comments too, I found it really helpful to read others suggestions, questions and answers. I used a combination of dried calendula flowers, dried lavender and some fresh rosemary from the bush in our backyard. I used lavender essential oil as a preservative for it's anti-bacterial properties and I had it easily on  hand. Remember there are no preservatives in this so you probably don't want to make a huge batch unless you are going to add an essential oil with anti-bacterial properties or keep in the fridge.

My next blog I will go into how I my own experience is going using my homemade shampoo and other thoughts about going chemical free!