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whiteisle
April 24th, 2009, 05:51 AM
I was wondering what your "products" of choice were if you are able to completely avoid using any conventional commercial products (all poos, condish, style products, etc.) and how it works for you.

How do you cleanse? How do you condition/moisturize? How do you control frizz and/or enhance curls?


Thanks!

Calista
April 24th, 2009, 06:06 AM
I shampoo with Chagrin Valley shampoo bars and follow with a white vinegar rinse. I oil with coconut and camellia oil, and I do the occasional deep treatment with cassia or coconut milk. I have followed this routine for about 2 1/2 years, but very recently I re-introduced some cheap conditioner to my routine. I don´t use it regularly, though.

marialena
April 24th, 2009, 06:16 AM
I shampoo with Chagrin Valley shampoo bars and follow with a white vinegar rinse. I oil with coconut and camellia oil, and I do the occasional deep treatment with cassia or coconut milk. I have followed this routine for about 2 1/2 years, but very recently I re-introduced some cheap conditioner to my routine. I donīt use it regularly, though.

I checked their page and they have quite interesting products. Which shampoo bar do you use? ( have you ever used their soaps too for your hair? ) :)

mellie
April 24th, 2009, 06:17 AM
I just use whole soapnuts with lemon or lime juice squeezed in. That's it, nothing else - no acid rinses or conditioner or oils or styling products or anything!

marialena
April 24th, 2009, 06:18 AM
I was wondering what your "products" of choice were if you are able to completely avoid using any conventional commercial products (all poos, condish, style products, etc.) and how it works for you.

How do you cleanse? How do you condition/moisturize? How do you control frizz and/or enhance curls?


Thanks!

I use only olive oil soap and I use a vinegar or honey rinse after washing. Sometimes I oil my hair with coconut oil ( light oiling because I have very fine hair) and sometimes I use olive oil. I don't use any kind of commercial products.

Leneveu
April 24th, 2009, 06:19 AM
I use only natural products for my hair, and also for make-up, skin care, perfume...everything! I think there's a wider selection of such things here in Germany.

Runzel
April 24th, 2009, 06:23 AM
Me!

If I want to, I can get by with a plain old white vinegar rinse and nothing else. To enhance curls I recently tried the aloe/glycerin/jojoba recipe here and it works great! (However the ingredients may be giving me headaches so I'll have to experiment more.) For clarifying I use a little baking soda. For deep treatment: coconut oil. I've also ordered some silk protein amino acids to test and see how my hair likes it.

I went non-commercial out of necessity when I couldn't handle the chemicals or the plastic packaging. It's definitely do-able, and I now I appreciate the freedom of managing my hair without relying on a certain company to keep their ingredients the same.

effe
April 24th, 2009, 09:48 AM
I use shikakai to wash my hair and optionally followed by ACV/hibiscus rinse. I oil my hair pre-wash with castor oil/sesame oil combo. Recently I prepared a herbal hair oil using herbs, I used it last time before my hair wash.

Chromis
April 24th, 2009, 10:00 AM
I use Chagrin Valley shampoo bars with an ACV /citric acid rinse, coconut oil and aloe vera gel. The only time I use a "mainstream" product is after I do my henna and indigo. Conditioner really seems to work the best for getting all the mud back out of my hair. I only do that a few times a year though (just two or three times last year and the year before).

Suldrun
April 24th, 2009, 11:26 AM
I went to homemade stuff years ago. I started with baking soda and vinegar for my hair but went to Jason brand when it got too drying. Now I use CV bars with a vinegar rinse and then catnip.

Pixna
April 24th, 2009, 11:57 AM
I use only Aubrey Organics products -- shampoo, condish, and occasionally a leave-in. I never, ever, ever use conventional commercial products. I am strongly opposed to using chemicals (for health and environmental reasons, among others). I have used AO for many, many years. I've tried a few other natural products on an off, but I always return to AO, as nothing compares to them (IMHO).

Anje
April 24th, 2009, 12:36 PM
I've gone non-commercial for periods, first with CV bars (does grocery store vinegar count as commercial?), and later with WO. I've since decided that my hair likes a little conditioner, and while I could probably formulate my own from water, oil, and a few other ingredients, I haven't tried yet.

Melisande
April 24th, 2009, 12:46 PM
I use a highly diluted natural non-sulfate shampoo for my hair, catnip rinse and citric acid as rinses, and have switched to my own recipes for face and body (oils and sheabutter, mainly). I make my own deodorant (coconut oil, shea butter, baking soda) and my own foot cream (sheabutter, olive oil, ground urea). I haven't used drugstore cosmetics for quite some time now ;-) and I feel all the better for it.

I don't know about the states, but in Germany gentle cosmetics and alternative stores are quite a big thing and have been for many years. We're comparably "green", separate garbage and care about the environment. So anything marketed as "green" has an advantage, even though this is sometimes only a marketing ploy. But once you know to check the certificates and check (there are special organisations that check such claims), you can be sure that you use cleaning materials or cosmetics that were made with the least possible impact on the environment, without wasted package material etc.

I think it's important for our bodies today and for our children in the future to jump off the commercial merry-go-round where possible.

It's ridiculous when you compare how much you pay for a drop of sheabutter in a cream by L'Occitane, and how wonderful and cheap a box full of pure sheabutter is!

princess
April 24th, 2009, 01:24 PM
I use shikakai, areetha, amla, chickpea paste combination a tablespoon of each made into a paste with water.

For oiling I use plain coconut oil or boil the oil with a cup of coconut milk/cream either homemade or store bought and a tablespoon of fenugreek seeds added to the oil and heated through.

I warm up the oil a bit in the stove every time I use it and massage into the hair.

Amla/shikakai/areetha and chickpea flour are store bought.

These can be bought from the shop in whole and ground to make the hairwash powder back home.

It is possible to go totally non commercial this way.

The amla can be bought fresh and dried at home. Shikakai can be bought and dried in the sun. Areetha can be crushed and ground too as well as the chickpea flour. They can be ground together.

It is possible to make coconut oil infused with amla and hibiscus flowers by boiling ground dried amla and fresh hibiscus flowers in coconut oil till they lose moisture. Strain the oil and use it for prewash massaging.

Leneveu
April 24th, 2009, 04:03 PM
Melisande: where do you buy your shea butter?!

Calista
April 25th, 2009, 03:13 AM
Leneveu, I am not Melisande, but I also use sheabutter as my facial moisturizer, and I buy the Spinnrad brand. You can check their website for retailers near you; I can get it in an Apotheke here. It is refined sheabutter, though, but it works very well for me.

Melisande
April 25th, 2009, 04:46 AM
Very true, you can also order it via Internet. There are sellers on German Ebay, some of them directly from Burkina Faso or other African countries. I also had good experiences with Behawe (for refined shea butter).

It is definitely a worthwhile investment, even if you end up using it only for your hands and feet. Or for your red nose, like I do now *sniffe*

freznow
April 25th, 2009, 12:01 PM
Catnip, oil (jojoba, grapeseed, shea butter, cocoa butter), soap (shampoo bars), various herbs (haven't tried Indian yet; mostly stuff like soapwort and horsetail and yucca.)

Ndnlady
April 25th, 2009, 02:27 PM
Yes, for washing my whole family uses the cv soap bars. To wash my hair I use a rhassoul clay and arrowroot powder mix.

lynnala
April 25th, 2009, 03:41 PM
I'm very happily product free. Indian herb wash for my hair, and coconut oil for my skin. Baking soda for my teeth. The only thing close to a 'product' that I use is Dr. Bronner's liquid soap in the shower. Aloe vera gel if I need anything to tame my hair. Boy, do I save a lot of money now!! I was with a friend yesterday in a store and she was obsessed with finding a new conditioner, I felt so free!

ratgirldjh
April 25th, 2009, 06:25 PM
I use mainly J. R. Liggett's shampoo bars with an ACV rinse. I have tried and used many other methods over the last few years including lime juice, indian herbs, chickpea and other bean flours, and this shampoo bar is my favorite thing to use. I tried CV bars and for some reason my hair was waxy with the first one I tried - and I didn't relish having to keep trying different things when I already love the way the J. R. Liggetts bar works.

royalscorpio
April 25th, 2009, 10:16 PM
A baking soda rinse, followed by an ACV rinse.

Finoriel
April 26th, 2009, 01:22 AM
Lately Iīm very non-commercial with my haircare products of choice.
I clean my hair with an egg-honey-acid mixture (eggs are from our own chickens, honey is from our neighbor :wink: traded for eggs and ascorbic acid powder) or a herbal tea made from soapwort and birch leafs (both herbs harvested in my garden) for the times during the year when our hens do not lay eggs.
For conditioning I use a rinse with ascorbic acid or acidic herb teas. My shampoo already is acidic so a rinse is not really a must, I tend to skip that step lately and it did not hurt my hair at all.
As a leave in oil for the length below tailbone I use olive oil on a as_needed_basis from time to time (not daily).
Deeptreatment with colour-enhancement is yogurt (homemade with milk from the other neighbor) with a teaspoon of honey and henna.
Thatīs it :cool: works for me since more than a year.

Leneveu
April 26th, 2009, 03:12 AM
Calista and Melisande: thanks very much for the tips about Spinnrad and Behawe - useful resources to have!

HotRag
April 26th, 2009, 06:19 AM
I use Indian herbs mostly.

Sometimes eggs (same as Finoriel who I learned from) and sometimes home made decyl glucose schampo.

For moisturizing and conditioning I add honey, yogurt, oil my hair and scalp. Sometimes methi in my herbs.

enfys
April 26th, 2009, 03:56 PM
I mostly use Indian herbs now, ACV and citnip. All are shop bought, but it's the best I can do.

My Boots advantage card is crying (it's like a store loyalty card, you collect points on your shopping).

If I use anything commercial I still don't feel guilty, since I'm doing better than the vast majority of people.

All my supplementy things are shop bought since I'm now a chemist/alchemist!

Isilme
April 26th, 2009, 04:10 PM
well, I use Urtekram shampoo and I use natural things in almost all my skincare except the sun lotion. The sun lotion and the conditioner I use (moisture maniac by tigi) are the two only "commercial" things I use and I don't feel guilty at all, the sun lotion is nescessary and the conditioner is the only one that works for me, and I have tried many conditioners. But if I would have it my way we were bringing in our old bottles for refilling:) Of course new bottles with a product would cost more to encourage recyckling!