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Qadupae
January 18th, 2010, 03:55 AM
Ok, I know many on this forum community already have done the switch from conventional hair shampoos into the realm of homemade, organic, naturals, and no shampoos at all. It has been inspiring for me to read through all the possibilities of what I can do for my hair care routine and I have begun my first jump into this world of homemade.

So normally when I would shower, it would be shampoo and conditioner every day without fail, usually Suave Professionals series. When I made the choice to grow my hair out, I stopped using conditioner since it only made my hair more oily, but I waited to see what my hair did with this change before doing anything with my shampoo. My hair felt like straw with only shampoo, but after it dried, my hair was still as soft as it was with conditioner, so no more synthetic conditioner for me ^_^

Now the jump into shampoos. I think the reason why my shampoo made my hair feel like straw was the "-ones" it contained. I can't remember what the correct name was for this family of chemicals, but if I remember right, all they did was strip the hair of everything, both previous chemicals and the hair's own natural oils. So I decided the easiest would be for me to make my own liquid shampoo using Castile soap, which we already have some in the house. So I used Peppermint scented Castile soap in my old shampoo bottle today, added a few drops of lavender, rosemary, and sage oil (5 drops each?) and voila! My very own shampoo :D

Man, does it smell fantastic! I find myself having troubles with minor headaches and other body issues with other synthetic shampoos, probably because of their weird fragrances, but this mixture I made is so soft and doesn't agitate my headaches at all.

I'm sorry if many of you members have heard this all before, but I am just really excited about making this switch and wanted to share with all of you my own personal blend. Maybe someday, I will try shampoo bars too, but I am soooo loving this lavender and peppermint blend. Just the thing to wake up my senses in the morning!

Dani
January 18th, 2010, 08:14 AM
That's awesome! Welcome to the wonderful world of unconventional hair washings. :D I can't believe I never thought of using peppermint oil in my concoctions! I get headaches easily too, especially from fragrances (along with sneezes too!). I usually do 1 tsp baking soda + cup of water + lavender eo to wash my scalp, and ACV + water + lavender + vanilla eo rinse. I always use lavender and peppermint oil together in my water/vinegar spray for cleaning the house and it smells great and fresh. I'm going to bust out the peppermint in the shower in a minute. Thanks for waking me up! :D :p

Qadupae
January 18th, 2010, 08:57 PM
You are most welcome Dani! Probably in a month I will test out the baking soda method as well. I'm curious to see if between that and a vinegar rinse that I can get rid of the remainder of buildup from my old shampoo :D

Vino.Vino
January 18th, 2010, 11:07 PM
Sounds great! I may have to steal your shampoo formula and try it myself! :D

I'm currently weaning myself from conventional shampoos and conditioners...currently using Burt's Bees and considering shampoo bars. But making my own shampoo is so appealing!

Qadupae
January 19th, 2010, 04:07 AM
Vino: It is really fun because when people can smell it and think your hair smells awesome, you can totally take pride in it and be like "Yeah, its my own recipe." ^_^ I'm thinking I should have just done the lavender and peppermint as the only scents because you kind of lose the sage and rosemary under those other two more powerful scents, but as long as they give my hair the health benefits, I will go on using them. Something I am really interested in trying since I see it in a lot of recipes is nettles, but I am not sure what kind they mean, so that is an experiment for a later time.

If anyone does try the peppermint castile soap, be warned that it feels cool like peppermint is wont to do. Its nice to have that cooling effect in a hot shower in the morning for me though ^_^

Madame J
January 19th, 2010, 08:57 AM
Nettles are stinging nettles. They are considered a weed and grow throughout the US and Europe. They are sold dried for teas, and the dried leaves don't sting. I drink nettle tea in the morning, and have used it in a hair rinse. Nettles have a lot of minerals and are supposed to be very beneficial for the hair, used internally or externally. I believe there is a nettle thread on the Herbal Haircare forum.

Qadupae
January 19th, 2010, 08:57 PM
Ah, thank you Madame J for reassuring me. When I first read about nettles, I was pretty sure they meant stinging nettles and I just went "o_O Really?" I'm glad that effect is lost in the drying process though and if it is used for teas, then more than likely I can find it at my bulk organic store. I think I will give it a shot then later on, but I will let my hair adjust to the new shampoo first.

Qadupae
January 21st, 2010, 04:47 AM
So I'm having a few issues with my hair feeling waxy from the Castile soap. I'm not sure if this is just a side effect of changing to such a different type fo shampoo or just my hair saying "Heck no!" to this type. I will try it for probably 1-2 more weeks, but if I don't see any improvement in this waxiness (it does carry over into my hair looking dull through the day), I will switch to perhaps the baking soda with vinegar rinse earlier.

If anyone has any suggestions for a different type of shampooing method for my short and oily hair, please feel free to pipe up! I love getting suggestions

Side note, if an admin sees this post, I think it might need to be moved to the hair products thread instead since this is a post on shampoo, not just hair alone. I'm not sure though :confused:

tiare_petal
January 21st, 2010, 05:08 AM
"the wonderful world of unconventional hair washings" :rolling:

GlassEyes
January 21st, 2010, 05:13 AM
Uh, the -ones family are preservatives; nothing more that I can recall. -Cones can dry out hair, but only when they build up...usually, anyway.

Qadupae
January 21st, 2010, 06:08 AM
GlassEyes: Thank you for clarifying that -one for me ^_^ I'm so terrible about puns some days.

:cheese: For anybody still following this thread, I will be starting a new one as a challenge for myself to find the best treatment for my oil and thin short hair. If anyone has suggestions for me, please go to the new post and leave suggestions there so it will be easier for me to find ^_^ Thanks bunches!