Healthier hair with Home made shampoo recipe

Many of you may of heard of the 'no poo' method of washing your hair, which consists of a mixture of baking soda and water to wash your hair followed by a apple cider vinegar rinse. This works for many people, however it did not work for me even though i tweaked the recipe for hard water areas. No matter how much I used the baking soda mixture, i would still have a patch of greasy hair that simply wouldn't shift. I still  use this method about once a week for deep cleanse and as a clarifying treatment. Although I do not use hairspray, gel, mouse ,serum or anything like that I still do a clarifying wash with baking soda  as I take the tube everyday and living in London isn't really like living in the countryside where fresh air is plentiful.

But I have found a miracle shampoo not only is it great value for money, but it lathers like a synthetic shampoo without all the nasties (parabens,silicone's etc). The home made shampoo consists of Dr Bronners Castile Soap i use the unscented version as the soap can be used for many things, so i can add my own different scents. 

In the beginning the castille soap made my hair literally like a birds nest, it felt and looked like fine hay because of the soap residue. I was going to give it up and switch to my baby shampoo, but then i thought, apart form the soap scum it was pretty good, I only needed about 30ml of the shampoo and it would lather so nicely, gave a nice shine apart from the hay feeling and powdery texture. 

I googled and did some research and I added herbal tea to my mixture along with glycerin, i also reduced the soap content, and now its pretty much perfect. This is the recipe below;

Home made Castile soap recipe

Dr Bronners Castille Soap 1/2 cup
Distilled Water  1 cup ( Boil water for 5 minutes, and leave behind a little water with the white minerally powder that makes the water hard)
1/4 CUP glycerin (makes the shampoo have a smooth soft feeling, keeps hair hydrated as it is a natural humectant)
2 tsp  baking soda ( for very greasy hair, 1tsp for dry hair or 1/2 . You can omit this, but i think its good as it makes water soft too as well as cleaning)
1 cup herbal tea ( chamomile,green tea,white tea. ( mostly anything goes!) Some are better for hair e.g chamomile, rosemary,sage etc. Remember the colour of your hair may be affected by some teas, e.g if your blonde i wouldn't use a red fruit tea, or blackcurrant tea, it may tint your hair , especially if its dyed already)
A few drops essential oil of your choice
1tbsp Oil (olive,jojoba,argon, etc)

Mix it up  and store in a bottle. You only need a little and it lathers up pretty good, I have alot of water in my recipe you can reduce this either by omitting some water from the tea or just less water.

I found that this has helped with my transition phase of trying to stretch my washes from once a day to every other day. I think next week i will try to wash my hair every 3rd day, and slowly increase.

I'm going to dye my hair soon with henna so i shall be putting a post up about that too.

Tips on how to grow long healthy hair

TIP1: HAIR CUTTING

When deciding to grow long hair you might think it would be easier and faster to grow without trimming it regularly,but not trimming it is one of the most worst things you can do, and may even hinder growth. Just think would you rather have long, scraggly, frizzed up dry hair, or hair that takes a little longer to grow, but is healthy,manageable and split end free.
The general advice is to cut hair every 4-6 week's, but taking into account hair grow's at maximum rate of 0.5 inches a month, you wont be growing your hair at all, but cutting whatever did grow in the last month. So I would say get it cut about 6-8 weeks, and trim about half an inch off, providing that you treat your hair well this should be sufficient.

TIP2: HEAT
What I mean by treating your hair well, is that you refrain from using heat tools or use them to a minimum. I try not to use heat tools at all, but well right now its winter and im in England so its friggin FREEZING! hence I occasionaly succumb to using the hairdryer :(, Its probably not great for your hair, but most of the time I just go to sleep with it wet and it tends to be okay. Heat will fry your hair! its best to omit all heat, then again what the point of having long luscious hair if your not going to style it occasionaly!! so, post styling do treatments( ill come on to that later). In the shower, try not blasting your hair with scalding water, keep it at a reasonably mild temperature, and if you can handle it , blast with cold water for your final rinse, to flatten the hair cuticles for a smoother shinier hair shaft.

Tip 3: TREATMENTS

To grow hair, you need to minimize the risk of getting split ends, as once you get them , theres no such thing as 'repairing' a split end. The amount of times products claim to repair hair is just unbelievable. Oil treatments, protein treatments, moisturing masks etc, are all so nourishing for hair, so try do one atleast once a week. Make it apart of your routine before you shower, or as a weekly pampering session if you got time. You dont need expensive lotions an potions from your drug store, the greatest things for your hair are probably in your fridge or kitchen cupboard! Here are a few recipes, i have used, and swear by;

The most recent ive tried, and can no longer live without; Egg Protein Treatment;

1. Whisk 1 Egg till yellow and whtie bits mixed together, (2 if youve got exceptionally long or thick hair) I have waist length thin hair, and 1 egg was fine.
2. Add 2 tbsp oil of your choice( olive, sweet almond, coconut,vegetable oil, amla, gooseberry, you get the jist, mostly anything goes, if your unsure, google!)
3. Add 1tbsp mayonnaise, 1tbsp conditioner.
4. Mix it all up, and slap on your head from roots to tips, and keep the gunk on for an hour, or pretty much as long as you can stand it
5. NB- important to not let your head get to direct heat, or any kind of heat that you think woudl end up cooking an egg, as if this happens, eb prepared to get tiny bits of cooked egg out of your hair!

2: Oil treatment,basically most oils go. The best are coconut oil,In the short term, this is will give you uber-smooth hair, shiny, amazing silkiness, when its washed obviously. But I dont know how this works in the long run, but my grandma swore by coconut oil , she literally had this on everyday, and till 78 she did not have a single pure white hair, her hair was pitch black, smooth, no frizz, no hair loss, nothing. So this is abit of a miracle oil!

Olive oil, almond oil, essential oils mixed in to your oils are great. Alot of oils basically

3: Yoghurt. I know it sounds crazy but using yoghurt in your hair does makes it smooth, and shiny. Not sure how but it does, and it doesnt smell as bad as eggs and feels as cloggy as oil. Apply it in the shower in the beginning and shampoo out at the end of your shower

4: BEER!!! lol. Hey if it works for catherine zeta jones, its good enough for me! Beer has properties that thicken the hair shaft by coating it. Make hair shinier, smoother, silkier, and more manageable. I was amazed at what it did to my thin hair!! Mix with water, and use as a rinse after shampooing, But make sure to rinse the beer out. Or people are gonna give you some funny looks on your commute to work!!!. Seriously they will.... Sadly i speak from experience!