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View Full Version : Please Help Me Out...High Alkaline Shampoo



Red_Wednesday
March 12th, 2011, 12:25 PM
I've found a shampoo that I really, really like. It's called Alaffia Coffee&Shea Revitalizing Shampoo :love:. Here's my problem: It's got a ph of about 10.4 :shocked:.

I took the pH reading with DH's digital pH device, so I'm pretty confident about the "score". At any rate, I know that that is a pretty high pH, and I'm concerned about the long term effects.

To try to counter it's high alkaline pH, I've been doing my SMT's after every wash with banana, aloe vera juice, and glycerin. I'm not sure about the banana and veggie glycerin, but I think aloe vera juice has a pH in the 3 range, which would make it more acidic.

Do you think that applying the aloe vera juice after the Alaffia would be sufficient to bring down the pH of the Alaffia, so that I don't have to worry about it? Any long term effects you think I should consider?

TIA

enfys
March 12th, 2011, 12:29 PM
Have you tried acid rinses after shampooing? ACV or similar?

In all honesty, I have no idea what the ph of my shampoo is and unless my hair was getting worse for wear i wouldn't be concerned either. But I'm no chemist/alchemist.

Aliped
March 12th, 2011, 12:30 PM
Or you could try rinsing with a dilute vinegar solution, or a diluted lemon juice rinse.

jaine
March 12th, 2011, 12:34 PM
Wow that is really high. My hair doesn't like alkaline stuff but if your hair likes it I don't see anything wrong with it. What if you dilute it in a bottle and fill the rest of the bottle with water ... what's the pH of that? Probably much lower.

My shampoo's pH is 4.5 when it's mixed about half and half with water (I didn't even have to leave the sofa for that because I measured it weeks ago ... have pH test strips which I regularly use ... I'm a geek, yep...)

Red_Wednesday
March 12th, 2011, 12:38 PM
I've actually done ACV rinses in the past, but I haven't recently. I've gotten into the habit of the SMT's, so I thought it might kill two birds with one stone, if you know what I mean.

Most of the shampoos marketed nowadays, are (I think) in the 5 to 6 range. Water is at 7, so I think most shampoos are trying to keep the hair in the more neutral range or slightly more acidic (I think). I'm certainly no expert, but that's what I've read. Somehow, though I thought I read some place that you could counter high ph shampoos with a more acidic product, but I'm not 100% sure if that's true:confused:.

jaine
March 12th, 2011, 12:43 PM
You could also mix it in a handful of conditioner ... that would bring down the pH significantly ... that's what I do with my shampoo too because it's easier to distribute a small amount of it through all of my hair. I like to mix a quarter-sized amount of shampoo with 2 big handfuls of conditioner.

Red_Wednesday
March 12th, 2011, 12:44 PM
Wow that is really high. My hair doesn't like alkaline stuff but if your hair likes it I don't see anything wrong with it. What if you dilute it in a bottle and fill the rest of the bottle with water ... what's the pH of that? Probably much lower.

My shampoo's pH is 4.5 when it's mixed about half and half with water (I didn't even have to leave the sofa for that because I measured it weeks ago ... have pH test strips which I regularly use ... I'm a geek, yep...)

Yeah, that is really high,huh? See, that's why I got so concerned. Wouldn't you know it - the one shampoo I love has to be "hair-eating" range:p. My hair and scalp really do seem to like it though, so I'm not really sure what to do.

I like the idea of diluting it in water, but them I'm thinking, wouldn't it technically be diluted as my shampooing my hair? I always get confused with that.

jaine
March 12th, 2011, 12:46 PM
That's what I was thinking too ... as it's mixed with shower water it would be more diluted, so if you measure it in a bottle of water you might get a more realistic idea of what your hair will be exposed to. It's probably not that bad!

Red_Wednesday
March 12th, 2011, 01:15 PM
Ok, so I did a couple tests. I did the alaffia diluted with water: 1 part alaffia to 5 parts water, and the pH reading came out to 8.8. Whew! Still kind of high.

So, then I did the alaffia diluted in water with a splash of ACV.: 1 part alaffia, 5 parts water, splash of acv, and pH reading came of 5.0. So that's much better. My only issue with it is the smell...I'm not too fond of vinegar:(.

If only I hadn't run out of AVJ, then I could test it and see what pH that would give.

I still wonder though if I need to combine all these things together first before using them in order to have "healthy" results or will doing it in steps be ok.

Like I know high alkaline products supposedly raise the hair cuticle, so is it ok to just allow that to happen by shampooing first and then closing the cuticle by ACV or AVJ (if it works). Or is it better to have them all mixed together so that the cuticle never raises in the first place. Gah, I know I'm making this more difficult than it should be LOL:o.