Eco Friendly Hair Advice Needed!

[rhysiana]

Help me help my friend, LHC! I have two friends who are getting married soon, and they have dedicated their lives and their wedding to being as eco-friendly as possible. The bride in this case works for a natural food co-op, eats only locally grown food, modified her car to run on vegetable oil, brews her own soda, and so on. She also never does anything with her straight, fine, APL hair. For the wedding, though, she thought it'd be good to get someone to do something with it. She says:


I found a woman I really like who has tons of neat ideas and is happy to work without hairspray or mousse but she is a big fan of pomade. You know, like Dapper Dan’s in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” It is pretty good for smoothing out hair and adding a little shine without being crispy or sticky like mousse and hairspray can be. And it smells nice.

But I looked at the can and the ingredients are all ethyl-methyl-bromo-poly-5-gylcol kinds of things so I’m wondering if anyone out there can recommend a natural formula of pomade.


I've suggested using light oil for smoothing down frizzies and aloe vera gel for smoothing/very light hold, but I haven't used AVG on my own hair, so I'm not sure how much hold it offers. Please give me insight into AVG and any other natural ways to hold hairdos!

(Don't know yet how she plans to have it done, sleek vs. more free, etc.)

[Magdalene]

I don't have any suggestions for the pomade, but I was intrigued by "brews her own soda"

[florenonite]

I actually like rubbing approximately equal amounts of coconut oil and AVG between my hands and using that rather than the two separately; however it isn't a rock-solid hold by any means.

Also, she modified her car to run on vegetable oil? That's even better than the car at the University of Waterloo that runs on beer!

[Torsornin]

http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=9924 this works great really soft and almost slippery though...no friz and it is safe and environmentally friendly... I use t on me and my horses :)

[rhysiana]

Magdalene, here's the blog entry (http://greencouple.com/2008/08/26/make-soda-at-home/) she wrote about brewing soda at home.

florenonite, she first wrote about her car here (http://greencouple.com/2008/02/16/greased-lightning-driving-on-vegetable-oil/), and then more about the vegetable oil filtering here (http://greencouple.com/2008/03/04/filtering-used-vegetable-oil-or-how-i-spent-my-saturday/). Also, thank you for the advice! I will relay it on.

[rhysiana]

http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=9924 this works great really soft and almost slippery though...no friz and it is safe and environmentally friendly... I use t on me and my horses :)

Interesting. I'm a little confused by the product description, though. Is it a conditioner, or will it provide hair hold for an updo?

[rhysiana]

Okay, I've done some more searching around the site, and I came up with this review (http://reviews.longhaircommunity.com/showproduct.php/product/46/cat/14) of a natural styling gel from Nightshade. Anybody else got any ideas?

(Sorry if I seem impatient, I just know that my friend will be in town for next 2 weeks, and I figured we could go find the suggested stuff together if possible while she's here, since I can't do any of her other pre-wedding stuff.)

[ilovelonghair]

I have very good results with hairdo's and aloe vera, it stays in perfect shape!

[rhysiana]

I have very good results with hairdo's and aloe vera, it stays in perfect shape!

Thank you!

[Indigo Girl]

Also, fresh lemon juice mixed with water is a great "hairspray". ;)

[Steph0087]

dude a car that runs on beer? for real? haha wow

[musicmomma]

hi! i just bought this today... http://www.cantusheasoft.com/products-sh-hair-dressing-pomade.htm only 3 ingredients: petrolatum, butyrospemum parkii (shea butter), fragrance. i haven't used it yet but will try it next time i wet my hair. :D

[mira-chan]

Pure shea butter or cocoa butter can be used as pomade. I use a shea butter and oil mix to hold down frizzies (tough coarse frizzies) when I preform.

[ladyshannonanne]

I think MOP might have a pomade. Check out some of the bigger organic brand personal care stuff. I bet you could find a vegan, green, eco-happy product that would be a good substitute.

[VanillaTresses]

If you boil flax seeds in water and then strain and cool it creates a nice hair gel with good hold. :) It is a "harder" hold IMO than aloe vera gel, which is also nice if she is looking for a softer hold. However, if "Dapper Dan" style pomade was the intended *prawduct* of choice maybe something like a dab of shea butter or cocoa butter rubbed in-between the hands would be a better replication! :)

[Gemma]

I'm not sure if this is exactly what she is looking for but Oyin (http://oyinhandmade.com/oyin/) uses natural ingredients (in recyclable packaging). Their hair pomade will give the best hold, and their styling serum will give shine and definition, but a weaker hold. They're both sweet smelling; like honey (which is one of the main ingredients).

[burns_erin]

I have been using vegetable glycerin, which smooths and adds shine, and on very fine hair a bit of hold on up do's.