Talk to me about "egg shampoo"...

[piratejenny]

... or point me to threads that do :D. I tried searching but can't find much even though I feel that there should be information somewhere...

Anyway, I've been trying to transition to WO for about 5 months now and was in such a rut this morning that I simply cracked an egg, took the yolk, mixed it with one tablespoon of vinegar, put it on for thirty minutes, rinsed and my hair has not been as perfect in a long, long time...

That said, my hair has been, well, less than perfect for the past months to put it mildly, so maybe I'm just excited about having clean hair - haha - but now I'm wondering

* what would be a "proper" recipe? (I just did this because I dimly remembered from somewhere deep in the back of my brain that you only should use the yolk and vinegar seemed a good addition)

* is it really just the yolk that should be used?

* how often can this be done? What could be the pitfalls? Like could I do this once a week?

* Does anybody do this on a regular basis? maybe in combination with other washing methods?

Any pointers are very welcome :)

[Maktub]

All I know is that some people do this often, there is no risk I think. In some French forums, it's the most used washing method.
People who's hair do not like protein should not do it, since egg has both proteins and lipids
Always rinse with COLD water, and A LOT, because the egg yolk can cook and be solid and make a mess if warm water is used...

Have fun experimenting and tell us how it goes (:

[piratejenny]

Hi Maktub, could you point me to some threads on the French forum? I speak French but don't frequent any French forum :cool:. I do read the Dutch forum occasionally and I find it quite interesting how there is sometimes a very different focus in the different countries on how things are done or what people are doing. While there is quite some activity in the WO thread here for instance, on the Dutch forum the mere thought seems to gross out people :D. Thanks!!

[Gulbahar]

I used to do this quite often years ago. I simply used the whole egg and a teaspoon of some oil, because otherwise it would have been too drying for my hair. Sometimes I even added a bit of yoghurt and/or honey. I left the mixture on about 20 minutes, often longer, and then rinsed with lukewarm water. That's it.

[Mirsha]

...
Always rinse with COLD water, and A LOT, because the egg yolk can cook and be solid and make a mess if warm water is used...

Where does this come from? :confused: Egg yolk solidifies at 68 degrees Celcius, egg white at 63 degrees celcius. A scorching hot shower is somewhere around 50 degrees Celcius.

The part I can think of that 'solidifies' is the stringy bit that binds the egg with the shell.. which is better to take out for that reason.

I've never had an egg solidify in my hair in a hot shower.

[piratejenny]

I used to do this quite often years ago. I simply used the whole egg and a teaspoon of some oil, because otherwise it would have been too drying for my hair. Sometimes I even added a bit of yoghurt and/or honey. I left the mixture on about 20 minutes, often longer, and then rinsed with lukewarm water. That's it.

Was there a particular reason why you stopped doing it? Did you use it exclusively or did you mix with other cleaning methods? And how frequently did you have to wash your hair?

[Sweet Beat]

I had eggs in my hair once, and started to rinse with hot water when I thought the eggs were gone. Hehe, I was wrong xP

[Gulbahar]

Where does this come from? :confused: Egg yolk solidifies at 68 degrees Celcius, egg white at 63 degrees celcius. A scorching hot shower is somewhere around 50 degrees Celcius
I don't HOW it works but believe me - I had scrambled egg hair more than once in my life. :p

Was there a particular reason why you stopped doing it? Did you use it exclusively or did you mix with other cleaning methods? And how frequently did you have to wash your hair?
No particular reason. I love experimenting with different washing methods and might even go back to eggs again. I liked the results. But then I started to make my own soaps and did that for a while. Now it's a mix of Indian herbs and CO/SMT.
May be one reason for me to stop the egg routine was that I started working as a tourist guide a few years ago. It's definitely more comfortable to take a bar soap on a trip than finding an egg when it's washing day. :D Ah yes, I have to wash about once a week with all of the natural methods I've tried so far, sometimes even less often.

[BlndeInDisguise]

I believe if you mix some type of acid, such as vinegar, the eggs won't cook in warm water. I don't think I was ever brave enough to try it in very warm water when I did it, though. :D

I'll see if I can find the recipe that I used a long time ago.....

[ladonna]

I mixed a whole egg with some oil and blended it, my hair felt very clean but dry so I only did this 1x.

[Plume]

I also mix a whole egg with 1 tbs of rum (yesss! because the sugar in it can help mosturize the hair so...), put the mixture on the roots only, keep it on for 1-2 minutes and rince off with cold water.
My hair are thicker and got good volume and shine after it and I don't need to use a conditionner. I do this method every now and then only as I like to experiment other "recipes" as far as hair are concerned, although I think it could be a regular usual shampoo routine.
It's a tip a friend of mine from India gave me, she never uses shampoo and she's got really gorgeous hair. The only thing: she uses 1 coffee spoon of oli instead of rum.
I tried it with the oil instead but my hair prefers the egg+rum cocktail, ...don't know why ;))

As for the French forum on long hair, henna and so forth, I suggest : www.leschevelus.com, great place!

[piratejenny]

It's definitely more comfortable to take a bar soap on a trip than finding an egg when it's washing day. :D

LOL - I was just picturing myself at the airport security check with a raw egg in my hand luggage. I wonder if that would cause problems these days. It's kind of fluid, right? A few weeks ago I wasn't allowed to take yoghurt for my kids... (sorry for the digression)


I also mix a whole egg with 1 tbs of rum (yesss! because the sugar in it can help mosturize the hair so...), put the mixture on the roots only, keep it on for 1-2 minutes and rince off with cold water.
My hair are thicker and got good volume and shine after it and I don't need to use a conditionner. I do this method every now and then only as I like to experiment other "recipes" as far as hair are concerned, although I think it could be a regular usual shampoo routine.
It's a tip a friend of mine from India gave me, she never uses shampoo and she's got really gorgeous hair. The only thing: she uses 1 coffee spoon of oli instead of rum.
I tried it with the oil instead but my hair prefers the egg+rum cocktail, ...don't know why ;))

As for the French forum on long hair, henna and so forth, I suggest : www.leschevelus.com (http://www.leschevelus.com), great place!

I'm amazed at how many people seem to have tried this with great results and yet you hear so little about it! Thanks so much for the link. One more forum to obsess about :D.

This is day 1 after my egg wash and my hair is still clean and incredibly soft and shiny. I'll try to wait as long as I can with my next one and I will experiment a bit with the length of time I leave it on before I move to adding more ingredients I think...

* loves experimenting * :stirpot:

[PraiseCheeses]

I washed with an egg for a couple weeks a while ago and really liked it! It made my hair feel stronger and a bit more substantial. I beat one whole egg, and added some fresh lemon juice and honey, and then beat again until the mixture was frothy. The next few times, I added some essential oils for their scents.

The good: As mentioned, hair felt stronger and just a bit thicker. It cleaned without stripping or drying. (I still followed up with conditioner and oiling though.) It was nice to clean with mild, natural products. I could still easily go my usual four or five days between washings without getting too greasy. I rinsed with tepid but not cold water and had no problems getting it out.

The bad: A hassle to mix, and dishes to wash afterward. It was runny and difficult to effectively apply. (An applicator bottle may have made this easier though.) There was a lingering smell (not rotten, but still a bit... eggy...) starting immediately after the wash and intensifying until the next wash, even with the essential oils. Also, it was getting expensive, at least compared to other wash methods.

In spite of this, I loved the egg wash and its benefits. But as far as the combined score for ease, effectiveness, gentleness, and cost, very dilute baking soda in warm water has still been my favorite. It's been relegated to an every-once-in-a-while treat.

Have fun experimenting! Isn't it fun?! :D

[Yozhik]

I did these for a while, but stopped because I didn't have a plethora of eggs around (I'd rather eat them than put them in my hair :D).

My recipe, if I remember correctly, was

one whole egg, beaten
1/2-1 tbs ACV
2 tbs oil (sunflower/coconut/olive)

I really liked how it made my hair feel, but the extra work in whipping it up, using eggs, and thorough rinsing process made me stop.

[piratejenny]

I did these for a while, but stopped because I didn't have a plethora of eggs around (I'd rather eat them than put them in my hair :D).

I'm not so much into eating eggs, so putting them on my hair seems like a perfectly viable alternative to me :D.

Thanks everybody for sharing their experiences. I found a couple more egg wash threads and the vast majority of posters seems to really like them:
http://www.longhaircommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40386
http://www.longhaircommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14703&page=2 (Alternative shampoo thread, really interesting post by Finoriel on page 2 abou egg washing, though).

The biggest issue seems to be the smell. I had that as well for a couple of hours after the wash but it dissipated pretty quickly. I might add some EO next time.

I'm on day 3 now and my hair still looks surprisingly good (normally it looks greasy on day 2) and is sooooooo soft.

A lot of recipes seem to have honey. Does anybody know what this is doing exactly?