hair care?

[ORChick]

Everything that is old is new again.

My mother rinsed my hair with vinegar when I was a child, in the 1950's. And her mother rinsed her girls' hair with vinegar (my red headed aunt), and lemon juice (my blonde mother) when they were little, in the 1920's/30's. Grandmother must have felt that there was a difference (maybe because of the color), and felt that lemon juice was better for blondes. I was a red head, so I got vinegar Rinsing with vinegar, or lemon juice, and then sitting out in the sun to air dry gives nice highlights - though I seldom have time to do that anymore ... and I'm not sure if my graying hair needs, or would take, highlights

 

[nachoqtpie]

Well, I have a couple of empty spice containers, they hold 1 cup of water. Is that big enough or do I need to go bigger?

 

[Leta]

My hair is bra strap length, and tremendously thick- I have actually had more than one hairstylist tell me I have the thickest hair they've ever seen. I made the switch a couple of years ago to shampoo bars, after fiddling with baking soda for a while, and while baking soda was not for me, the shampoo bars are wonderful. I resisted, because I couldn't imagine a bar getting to my scalp through all my thick hair, but they work great. I do use 50% apple cider vinegar and 50% green tea as a rinse. If my ends are raggedy, I put coconut oil on them for a conditioner before I wash my hair.

For styling, I use aloe vera and homemade hair gel made from two ingredients: flaxseed and water.

I have European-type hair, but I have found message boards and instructions for African-American women who wear natural hair styles to be really, really beneficial and informative. The methods and recipes shared there got me to kick bottled shampoo and conditioner to the curb once and for all, and my hair has never looked or felt better. I also need to wash much less now- 2 or 3 times per week rather than every day.

 

[nachoqtpie]

*I* consider my hair to be medium length, but everyone else doesn't. I think anything shorter than touching your shoulders as short, anything from your middle back to your shoulders to be medium, and anything longer than your middle back to be long. My hair is almost to the middle of my back. I've had my hair to my waist before. THAT was long! It was all one length and I would just tuck it behind my ears and be done with it. I would put it in a pony tail or a braid sometimes, but usually it was just down. I never really had to do much to it because it was so heavy that it was just straight all on it's own!

I told the hair stylist yesterday that I was trying to grow it out... she looked at me like I'd lost my mind. My daughter just told me the other day that she wants to cut some bangs... I was so sad.

I told my husband I was starting no poo and he said "If that's what you want to do dear"

 

[hqueen13]

Well, I have a couple of empty spice containers, they hold 1 cup of water. Is that big enough or do I need to go bigger?

Sure, that is gracious plenty. The bottle I use for the vinegar is one of those refillable soap containers, probably 8 oz. or so.

It isn't for everyone, that is for sure, but it is so much better than shampoo! There are other alternatives if this doesn't work, so keep searching to find what works.

And my sister used to always put lemon juice on her dark brown hair to bring out the red highlights. I guess you wouldn't want a redhead to be any more red! LOL

 

[bambi]

I really want to give a heads up on the baking soda and vinegar rinse for those whom have color treated and fine hair.BE CAREFUL it might not be a good thing. I tried it and WOW what a mess it made of my hair. It changed the color and made it very,very dyr. My sister laughed at me and reminded me that is what you use to clear out your drains.

 

[Marianne]

I really want to give a heads up on the baking soda and vinegar rinse for those whom have color treated and fine hair.BE CAREFUL it might not be a good thing. I tried it and WOW what a mess it made of my hair. It changed the color and made it very,very dyr. My sister laughed at me and reminded me that is what you use to clear out your drains.

Ditto! I actually used baking soda paste to help strip the dye from my hair. I just slathered it on, tied a grocery bag on my head (I looked lovely) and sat here reading for half an hour. Rinsed it out of my then matted hair, washed with borax water and ACV rinse so it'd be managable again. It took several go arounds, but it did the trick.

My natural color is white-ish gray...after I got the senior discount at the store, it bugged me enough that I colored it again. Duh.

 

[bambi]

Oh Marianne I had to laugh I decided that I was tired of coloring my hair and it took over a year to finally get all the color out of my hair. After going that long looking just awful I was proud of my gray hair until I started hearing people calling me honey, dear and talking childish to me. This was enough for me I went back to coloring it again . Learned a lesson though, now I make sure I do not call anyone older than me honey, or dear and I speak to them like the adult that they are

 

[nachoqtpie]

I found a couple more hair care "recipes".. lemme know what you think

Deep conditioning mask- Using 1 small jar of mayonnaise and 1/2 avocado. Mix all ingredients, smooth into head being careful to work it to the ends, Use shower cap or plastic wrap to seal body heat in and leave on for 20 minutes. (I wonder what they consider small???)

Olive Oil hair mask- Combine 2 tablespoon honey and 3 tablespoon olive oil together. Apply thoroughly and then cover with plastic wrap and set for 15 minutes.

 

[Marianne]

I kind of had an urge to go get some corn chips.

I think either would be really good, but pricey in this area. Made me think of years ago when I had the absolute worst perm in my life. My hair was fried to a crisp. A friend who also permed her hair suggested I rub a bit of Vaseline on my hands, then rub my hands all through my hair a little bit before I went to bed. That really helped! Easy to do, cheap and my hair seemed to soak it up, but not to the point of being greasy unless I used too much.

If you didn't want to use Vaseline, what about a bit of olive oil or coconut oil, etc?