The Random Hair Thoughts Megathread

[Tinyponies]

Hmm, this is interesting. I used Dr Bronner’s soap before, and my hair looked a lot worse - frizzy and dry. When I use regular shampoo, my hair looks better, but I get a lot more shedding - as in, the bathtub is covered in my hair afterwards. When I tried CO washing or WO washing, I had crazy itching and a greasy head. Is there some way to prevent baking soda from damaging the hair? It seems to be the thing that keeps my scalp happiest, of all the things I’ve tried so far.

I would put the question to the lovely people here on the board, maybe add to your thread.
What kinds of shampoo did you try exactly? All are not equal. Silicones? Sulphates? Sulphate free? Maybe there was something in that particular one that you were sensitive to (coming as someone who has been there).

I’m sure someone can answer more clearly than me on the baking soda but as far as I understand, it opens *roughs up* the cuticle (scales) that lie along the hair shaft. And that’s not great - damage from it could be cumulative. I think the idea behind the acv is meant to get them to lie down again.

[MusicalSpoons]

Hmm, this is interesting. I used Dr Bronner’s soap before, and my hair looked a lot worse - frizzy and dry. When I use regular shampoo, my hair looks better, but I get a lot more shedding - as in, the bathtub is covered in my hair afterwards. When I tried CO washing or WO washing, I had crazy itching and a greasy head. Is there some way to prevent baking soda from damaging the hair? It seems to be the thing that keeps my scalp happiest, of all the things I’ve tried so far.

Ooh, Dr Bronner's isn't good for hair either - too alkaline as well. The thing about baking soda is it's the pH; there have been lots of threads about it and there's good info over at Science-y Hair Blog, but basically in water hair expands and pushes the cuticles open slightly. In a solution that is too acidic or alkaline, the hair shaft swells a lot so there are bigger gaps between the cuticles so more of the solution with the wrong pH can get into the middle of the hair shaft and damage it from the inside. In that pushed-open state the cuticles are raised in a way too, which puts them at greater risk of being mechanically damaged (e.g. from friction from washing). In water they are slightly raised but in the wrong pH they're much more raised.

There is no way of diluting baking soda enough for it to be a low enough pH to be okay for hair. The ideal pH for hair (and scalp) is 5.5 but a range of 4-6 is fine for rinse-out products that aren't going to sit for long. [I would venture that the acid rinse is the thing making your scalp happier, not the baking soda.]
http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.co...x-to-make.html

[blackgothicdoll]

I'm not actively seeing breakage, but my hair definitely appears to be getting shorter when I stretch it to check the length. I'm going to need to figure out protective styling. :/

[meepster]

Ooh, Dr Bronner's isn't good for hair either - too alkaline as well. The thing about baking soda is it's the pH; there have been lots of threads about it and there's good info over at Science-y Hair Blog, but basically in water hair expands and pushes the cuticles open slightly. In a solution that is too acidic or alkaline, the hair shaft swells a lot so there are bigger gaps between the cuticles so more of the solution with the wrong pH can get into the middle of the hair shaft and damage it from the inside. In that pushed-open state the cuticles are raised in a way too, which puts them at greater risk of being mechanically damaged (e.g. from friction from washing). In water they are slightly raised but in the wrong pH they're much more raised.

There is no way of diluting baking soda enough for it to be a low enough pH to be okay for hair. The ideal pH for hair (and scalp) is 5.5 but a range of 4-6 is fine for rinse-out products that aren't going to sit for long. [I would venture that the acid rinse is the thing making your scalp happier, not the baking soda.]
http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.co...x-to-make.html

What about diluting Dr Bronner's? Is there a way to do that to not damage hair? I'm trying to avoid conventional shampoos for various reasons (including the crazy shedding rate), and ordering stuff is complicated during the pandemic, so there's not much I can experiment with, but we do have plenty of Dr Bronner's around the house. I'd been using it straight, but I guess diluting it would be better?

So I'm kinda putting things together that I have extremely tough hair and a very sensitive scalp - which makes life interesting as I try to grow out this mop.

[meepster]

I would put the question to the lovely people here on the board, maybe add to your thread.
What kinds of shampoo did you try exactly? All are not equal. Silicones? Sulphates? Sulphate free? Maybe there was something in that particular one that you were sensitive to (coming as someone who has been there).

I’m sure someone can answer more clearly than me on the baking soda but as far as I understand, it opens *roughs up* the cuticle (scales) that lie along the hair shaft. And that’s not great - damage from it could be cumulative. I think the idea behind the acv is meant to get them to lie down again.

I can't even remember anymore, quite honestly. I switched over to Dr Bronner's when I got pregnant, to avoid fragrance ingredients and other things I didn't want in my body. That was 5 years ago. I'd used all sorts of shampoos prior to that (with silicones, without, plain, fancy, all sorts of stuff), and always had crazy shedding. My whole life, I had hair everywhere and clumps of hair coming out every time I washed my hair. Never had any hair loss that was noticeable, but always had crazy shedding. My mother is the same way.

Dr. Bronner's didn't fix the shedding problem (and honestly, I didn't know it was a problem - I just thought it was normal for me). But just recently, after switching over to fairly infrequent BS/ACV, I noticed that I'm not shedding like that anymore. I wash my hair and maybe a couple of hairs come out. I don't know what happened, and it may not be the BS/ACV, but whatever it is, I kinda want to keep not shedding.

Is there some sort of gentle way of washing the hair that doesn't involve conventional shampoos and still involves some sort of un-greasing? I can't do WO - tried that and didn't work.

[Ylva]

Is there some sort of gentle way of washing the hair that doesn't involve conventional shampoos and still involves some sort of un-greasing? I can't do WO - tried that and didn't work.

There's co-washing where you do the cleaning with conditioner. I've never done it myself because I simply prefer shampoo, but you basically massage conditioner into your scalp and let it sit for a while, allowing it to get rid of the oils (it contains ingredients that allow oil and water to mix together).

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I can't even remember anymore, quite honestly. I switched over to Dr Bronner's when I got pregnant, to avoid fragrance ingredients and other things I didn't want in my body. That was 5 years ago. I'd used all sorts of shampoos prior to that (with silicones, without, plain, fancy, all sorts of stuff), and always had crazy shedding. My whole life, I had hair everywhere and clumps of hair coming out every time I washed my hair. Never had any hair loss that was noticeable, but always had crazy shedding. My mother is the same way.

Dr. Bronner's didn't fix the shedding problem (and honestly, I didn't know it was a problem - I just thought it was normal for me). But just recently, after switching over to fairly infrequent BS/ACV, I noticed that I'm not shedding like that anymore. I wash my hair and maybe a couple of hairs come out. I don't know what happened, and it may not be the BS/ACV, but whatever it is, I kinda want to keep not shedding.

Is there some sort of gentle way of washing the hair that doesn't involve conventional shampoos and still involves some sort of un-greasing? I can't do WO - tried that and didn't work.

Have you tried washing your hair with raw eggs diluted in water? They make a very gentle shampoo. There are You Tube tutorials on how to do it, you just have to make sure you only use room temperature, ie: cold water, or you will have cooked eggs in your hair But they do make a good, gentle shampoo which doesn't strip your hair.

[Aerya]

I hardly ever swim in chlorine, but I have a fair amount of sun lightened ends, and it doesn't seem to be harmful to my hair's health.

That's good! It's mostly the chlorine I'm worried about, and on my length that is fairly damaged already. But I'll just see how it goes.

[vpatt]

What about diluting Dr Bronner's? Is there a way to do that to not damage hair? I'm trying to avoid conventional shampoos for various reasons (including the crazy shedding rate), and ordering stuff is complicated during the pandemic, so there's not much I can experiment with, but we do have plenty of Dr Bronner's around the house. I'd been using it straight, but I guess diluting it would be better?

So I'm kinda putting things together that I have extremely tough hair and a very sensitive scalp - which makes life interesting as I try to grow out this mop.

I used to mix coconut milk with Dr. Bronners. I think there is an actual recipe on the Wellness Mama site or possibly Crunchy Betty has one.

[Bri-Chan]

Ok i just tried cowash for the first time in almost 2 years. It's still damp but I can say is that it's a lot less mild than I remembered. I can notice more dandruff.