Curly Hair The Natural Way

I used to hate my curly hair and envy people who could shower and go and have beautiful straight shiny hair. This book helped me embrace my own hair and how to care for it to bring out the natural curl inside :)

Today, I don't use shampoo or conditioner or any products, just things you would find in your kitchen to care for my hair :) Try it if you hate your frizz, it may work just as well for you! This blog entry will tell you my whole process of learning what to do and not to do.

Now, I embrace my hair and have managed to manage it quite nicely. My husband is always telling me how much he loves my hair! Something he didn't say so much before I began this process...

My journey began as I said by reading "Curly girl" as a friend from work had read it and thought I would like it. I always used to wear my hair in a tight bun to contain the frizz.
I recommend the book as it teaches you ALOT about curly hair but I don't follow alot of the things in there any more. It only began my journey... Here is a summary of SOME things in the book on Wikihow

The key things to learn are that there are many products in shampoo and conditioner that are HARMFUL to our hair!

Shampoo almost always contains SLS (sodium laureth sulfate) which create the nice sudsy bubbles we like but also strips our hair of all natural oils. It is also found in dish detergents and many other harsh cleaners - start reading labels!!! It also causes our scalp to create more oils to replace the ones just stripped away. That's why when you first stop using shampoo I recommend slowly weaning yourself off (using less and less often). It takes awhile for your head to stop/slowing the production of so much grease. If you stop right away it takes a few greasy scalp days of your head to figure out it doesn't need to produce any more (or at least a whole lot less!!). :)
That's shampoo. Its not just SLS that are bad ingredients, thats just the most common one.

Almost all conditioners contain ingredients ending in "cone". These are all silicone-based things and attach to your hair to create a nice shine & soft feel. If you don't use shampoo these products will stay in your hair forever. You MUST use shampoo to get these off. Curly girl recommends using conditioner only and never shampoo. I did this for awhile but found that pretty much everything in the drugstores contain some kind of cones and it was building up in my hair making it gross. I had to shampoo again to get it out.
So, I decided to look beyond the conditioner only method...

THE ALL NATURAL, FOUND-IN-YOUR-KITCHEN METHOD:

I googled a lot about alternatives for shampoo. I found a few similar ideas about being "poo free" - shampoo free that is. This site helped: http://simplemom.net/how-to-clean-your-hair-without-shampoo/ and I've been following that routine for almost 2 years now.
Love it.

You need apple cider vinegar, baking soda, a measuring cup, measuring spoons and two spray bottles.

I labeled mine with a sharpie so I wont get them mixed up... I did that once!

Measure one cup tap water & add 1 TBSP Baking soda to it.

Stir it up well to make sure its dissolved as well as possible then pour it into your spray bottle. WA-LA Shampoo! I double it to fill my spray bottle and last longer.

 Do the same for your apple-cider-vinegar with 1 cup water mixed with 1TBSP.

 There you have your new shampoo & conditioner.

 It is the cheapest thing in the world, and your kids can drink it if they want to

without any fear from you :)

Safe, environmentally friendly and biodegradable. All-around great stuff.

I keep my spray bottles right in the shower ready to go.

TIPS FROM CURLY GIRL I USE WHEN I GET OUT OF SHOWER:

Don't rub your hair with your towel, just "scrunch" it with the towel.

Don't brush your curls out! When your hair is wet, it curls up naturally. Leave it that way. If you feel the need to brush or comb re-wet your hair after. (I use a wide-tooth comb in the shower.)

Dry your hair in a towel turban (I do this) or with the plopping technique found here on WikiHow
 

I leave my hair up in the towel sometimes for an hour, but on days I rush in the morning for work I take it off just before I walk out the door. It keeps your curls from being weighted down, so you get more curls closer to the scalp and bigger curls all together. It can even cut down on frizz. Brilliant.

This is what it looks like after I take my towel off my head. Still wet but well on its way to drying how I want it to :)

Here I am in the locker room at work with beautiful soft shiny curls and very clean feeling hair :)

I hope someone else can be inspired by this. It works for me! I am a STRONG ADVOCATE of never buying shampoo and conditioner!

 The only product I would buy is this. Giovanni Mousse. I have only used it a few times this year. Its so natural I don't even wash it out, only get my hair wet the next day and it does its magic all over again. I only use this very occasionally.

Also, If you absolutely MUST shampoo and condition which I have on occasion and always regretted it til I found: Down Under Naturals with no "cones" in the conditioner!!!!! and cheap.

DON'T BUY IT.
We used to use Kiss My Face shampoo but it is pretty much the most expensive crap you'll ever buy - and you need TONS to feel like you actually cleaned you hair with it.
The body wash is good though. I do like "Kiss my Face" just not the shampoo.



Update: I don't use my soda and vinegar method any more as I found my scalp was too dry and flakey - only reason - I tried other natural shampoos and nothing got rid of the flakes til using head and shoulders for awhile. I'll be going back to natural again now :) I'd like to have found a natural moisture alternative to head and shoulders but too much stress and busyness with my first new baby. Which is why I took the easy way out.

I had read that if your scalp gets dry with this vinegar and soda method to use less soda but it didn't seem to make a difference for me, it may for you, so it's worth a try! I will likely try it again. I loved it for about a year with no problems!

Have fun and curl away!!