what is it about natural products that my hair simply hates?

[juliaxena]

I'm still in search for my favorite conditioner. I have tryed AO Honeysuckle Rose the other day and it was horrible-just as other natural conditoners. They either make my hair into a greasy mess and give it no shine or they are just not nourishing enough. On the other hand I don't want my hair to rely solely on cones. I don't mind them at all, but I'd like my conditioner to have other humecants too. Are organic, natural products somehow different?

[RancheroTheBee]

I'm personally just not fond of Avalon Organics.

If you want to just try 'cone free, why not Suave? Or Mane N' Tail? Or VO5? Or... actually, there's a whole cone-free conditioner list in the VIT threads sticky.

[juliaxena]

Well for one I am Croatian. It is really strange how natural products behave in my hair. I was wondering if it was any particular ingredient.

[Aditi]

I agree with RancheroTheBee you have to keep on experimenting until you find the best for your hair. Many members on this site uses VO5 and Suave :)

[Quixii]

Just throwing this out there: did you make sure to clarify first? I've heard if you use 'cones and then go instantly to no-cones (like many natural products), then the results can be disastrous.

[Flynn]

No shine: no cones. Cones can give a lot of shine in a lot of people's hair.

Greasy mess: yeeeah, that's quite common in "natural" conditioners, in my experience.

Keep looking! Look for the shortest ingredient list possible. (I like Melrose and Grahams, but they're both Australian brands.)

[juliaxena]

It's not that I'm trying to go cone free, not at all. i love cones. But my conditioner has to have more than cones. I don't see the need to clarify because I use SLS shampoo every time I wash my hair. I tryed CO and it was a disaster-yet again greasy mess.

[templeofvenus]

I think do what siuts your hair, I tried sls free and cone free for a few weeks but I have fine hair prone to being oily, I had to go back to sulfate shampoo and cones my old favourite as it just wasn't suiting my hair, it made it far too flyaway and it just felt odd.

[sorraia]

I think once one is use to using cones going the natural route is hard to
do. The cones basically shellac your hair with shine so to speak. After using cones your hair may be shiny and look healthy but at what price is always a question in my mind.
On the other hand I use to use Aubrey and Avalon for years. I had the same experience w Aubrey as you, dull and greasy looking......no shine.
I am in the process of finding the perfect combination for my hair as well.
However it is my goal to go the least chemical route as possible. I just recently switched to Bronner's All in One Shikakai Lime to use every now and then in addition to using soap nuts and Indian Herbs. So far I am happy with the results.

[spidermom]

Lucky me; my hair and scalp are so non-fussy that I can use just about anything to wash and condition. I didn't get along well with Avalon products, though; my hair looked dull and the tangling was awful.

[heidi w.]

Part of the issue with purchased products with 'natural' ingredients is that often they still contain other ingredients you might not want.

If you want totally natural, then you need to look into the possibilities in your kitchen.

Egg, mayonnaise (has egg in it--you can make your own mayo--not that hard), hot oil treatment (with Jojoba), even yogurt, apple cider vinegar or white vinegar, lemon or lime juice (both do the same as a vinegar since they are acidic....).

Then you can examine the uses of shea butter, and LHC recipes section has plenty of info on that. If you can find it, I recommend Fox' Shea Butter recipe and Snowymoon's Moisture Treatment (SMT). There's a tutorial here on OILING that I wrote -- and lots and lots of people have contributed to this article over the years under the ARTICLES section here on LHC. A very worthy read if you can access that area of this site.

Then there's the carrier oils, and if blended with a small drop or two of essential oil, can be quite lovely as leave-in, at minimum usage. I believe someone, perhaps Teacherbear?, did an article on oils. Carrier oil is generally unscented; essential oil is scented and is 'carried' in a dilution of 'carrier' oil, such as Jojoba, the most common. The best Jojoba I ever encountered is made by Hobacare--on the internet. I personally still use coconut oil, which is pressed by Spectrum Naturals, for use on hair and skin (as opposed to the coconut oil made for salad dressing and cooking).

ETA: And don't forget herbs such as rosemary and french lavender--even spearmint and peppermint.

There are books on the subject, such as NATURALLY HEALTHY HAIR by Mary Beth Janssen, which is filled with recipes for creating your own shampoo and conditioner and rinses, and has lists of ingredients in shampoo and conditioners explaining and why not so great, and lists of good stuff. Not sure if you can purchase in Croatia, but maybe via Amazon.com?

http://greenliving.suite101.com/article.cfm/diy_natural_hair_conditioners

http://www.longlocks.com/hair-care-recipes-cookbook.htm

http://www.ultimate-cosmetics.com/beauty/homemade-recipes/natural-hair-conditioner.htm


As you can see, there's info on the subject out on the internet as well.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=natural+hair+conditioners&aq=f&oq=&aqi=g1
the google results from searching natural hair conditioner?

I have personally done mayonnaise deep conditioning sessions, hot oil treatments, clarifying with Baking Soda and shampoo of choice, ACV rinses, lemon rinses, used a variety of oils as a leave-in over the years.

Have fun experimenting!

ETA: Ah! I will say that in endeavoring to use sources in your kitchen for hair and/or skin care it's important to spend some time finding out what different ingredients offer - acidity, alkalinity (pH scale), binding the cuticle, that kind of thing. AND don't overlook the importance of water quality!

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

Later this evening, after work today, I will come in and spend some time offering a few more links to specific recipes and posting what I know about a few basic 'natural' ingredients one finds in most average kitchens.

This topic of using natural ingredients from the kitchen is an important and little understood topic. History reveals that humans have always used such products with some measure of success, apparently. The art of all this is fairly lost in the average 'civilized' world, however.

I find that using such food sources often has the side effect of positively affecting the bank account. I DO, myself, still use store purchased shampoo and conditioner, but I buy around 2-3 times a year, in bulk, and complement all this at intervals with the products mentioned above from my kitchen. I rarely do the mayo hair wash anymore, but am still using oil.

heidi w.