I have been borderline obsessed with my hair for about 8 months now and last week I finally had a breakthrough. Let me tell you about my adventures in no-poo hell.
I finally broke down last week. I couldn’t take it anymore. After 8 months without using a commercial shampoo or conditioner product on my hair, I finally gave in and bought some no-poo safe conditioner that didn’t smell too much like death to me. My hair has been some form of greasy or another since I stopped using commercial shampoos in November 2015. The photo above is a collection of all of the things I’ve tried since then.
I started with the standard baking soda and apple cider vinegar before my scalp told me something was wrong. Once I learned about the pH factor I switched to honey which my hair and scalp both love!
Unfortunately, it makes my hair permanently wet to the point where it looks unbearably greasy.
I have thin, fine hair that I needed to wash daily because my scalp was so overstimulated by detergents. Once I retrained my scalp I just needed to find something that would make my hair look clean, if even for one day. No luck. I mixed clays with vinegar and wondered why I was rubbing dirt in my hair to clean it. I tested and tried recipes from all over the web and none of them gave me what I wanted; clean looking hair. It was actually clean, really. It just looked like I hadn’t showered in a month – for 6 straight months. My self-esteem took a hit. I never felt confident or attractive. Just icky.
So, as I said, I broke down and picked up a bottle of health food store conditioner and brought it home determined to look like I cared about my basic hygiene for the first time in months. That’s when I had a breakthrough – after I gave up.
I ran one last search and found a suggestion for dark rye flour for hair like mine; fine, thin and prone to be greasy. So I put down the fancy bottle of chemicals and bought a bag of flour.
ingredients, complete.
On a whim, I decided to use the orange blossom water to mix with the flour. Genius!! This stuff cleans and smells divine.
I use just a Tablespoon of the flour (which has a pH of 5, so my scalp and hair are happy) and mix it with enough orange blossom water to turn it into a thick pudding or pancake batter. I can’t wait to try it with rose water!
The first time I used this I just washed with the flour, let it set on my head for 3 or 4 minutes, then rinsed it out. I was left with a slightly dry scalp and more particles of flour on my scalp than I liked so the second time I used an ACV rinse after the wash and rinse. That has been wonderful! It cuts down on the delightful orange blossom smell when my hair is dry, but I have no problems with dryness or flour anymore.
It’s not a miracle, I still have hair that looks greasy within 24 hours, but at least now I get the 24 hours.
So now I adjust, but the worst of the adventure is over and I feel human again. Yay!