Today is my day off work this week. So, why did I get up a 5 am? Long story short, the oldest child didn’t finish her homework before bed, so I need to make sure she gets it done. But, it did remind me that I had not written in my blog for far too long and I really needed to do that. So, here I am.
As I’ve stated in the past, we’ve found that I have an extreme intolerance to soy products. Over the past few months, we’ve found that soy is in things we never imagined. Since I’ve started making all our food from scratch, I decided, why not make some of out household stuff from scratch. Natural jump, right? I started with toothpaste. I made the first batch a little too salty. Lesson learned, don’t put salt. But it really works nice. Our teeth feel so clean and they are getting whiter naturally. It was an interesting observation.
Next, I tried making my own shampoo. Here’s where I saw a huge difference. Over the years, and it started in 1997/1998, I noticed I would get these stress bumps in my scalp. I always called them stress bumps because they would be worse the more stressed I was. I would change shampoo and they would go away for about a week or so and come back. A few years ago, I had a sudden case of Eczema that the non-dermatologist doctors though was just a basic allergic reaction. Dermatologist diagnosed as Eczema, gave me medicine to clear it up and told me to use special soap. (I’ve always had sensitive skin, but even Dove and Ivory would make me break out.) I didn’t think too much of it, until recently.
On my new quest to save money and try to use as many natural products as I can, I braved the “No ‘poo” shampoo and conditioner. Seemed simple enough for the trial size:
No ‘poo shampoo
1 Tablespoon baking soda
1 cup warm water
Mix ingredients in a squirt bottle, shake it up, use.
Conditioner to go with it:
2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar (I’ve been told regular white vinegar works too)
1 cup water
Mix ingredients in a spray bottle, shake it up, use.
Ok, so how do you use this stuff? Well, the ‘shampoo’ does not lather like commercial shampoo, so that takes a bit to get used to. You squirt it onto your scalp and rub it in. You don’t have to get all of your hair, just the scalp. I have a lot of hair, so I like the squirt bottle to get to the roots. Because of that, I happen to also have to use a lot of it. Let it sit for a minute, massage your scalp again, and rinse clean. Next, the conditioner. This is where I like using the spray bottle. Again, I have a lot of hair, so I have to think of coverage. You do not spray your scalp and massage it in. Spray the ‘ends’. I’ll go almost to the roots, but not quite on some showers. But the spray bottle helps me get a more even coverage on my hair. Rub it in to the ends. Let it sit for a minute or so, rinse it thoroughly.
If you rinse it thoroughly, you won’t smell the vinegar at all. If you miss a spot, it’s ok, when your hair dries the vinegar small goes away. The first thing I noticed was how easily my hair brushed out. Where before it would take me 15 minutes to just brush the tangles out of my hair, it now only takes 2-3 minutes. I was very pleased by that. This past weekend, I also noticed something else. No stress bumps. It couldn’t possibly be because I haven’t had stress, anyone that knows my family knows that I’m far from stress free. I made the comment to hubby and he was amazed that he also didn’t have the stress bumps, something he’d been dealing with for years too. Hmmmm, 2 for 2, that’s has to count for something, right?
I’m still going through the transition phase with my experience however. Because I have such thick hair, it’s taking a long time to get all the old chemicals out AND have my hair adjust. But I knew this would be a long process. So far, hubby has loved it. I’m going to keep at it, to see if I can really get the balance correct with my hair. It’s not greasy and disgusting, but it isn’t quite as clean as I would like. I may have to resort to the Castille soap shampoo, but I’ll try this other for a bit longer.
Next time, I’ll post more about other items I’ve started making.
tukwutramblings 