As some of you may recall, I am currently working on liquid soap formulations, which include regular soap, shower gel and shampoos. When creating the shampoo recipes to test I began looking back over my previous hair care posts and essential oils and herbs that would benefit the hair. Of course yucca came right to mind, but what else? And what about the problems with hair? Just like the skin, many people have hair issues that need addressed. So....as I continue to work on great formulations, I thought I'd share some of my ideas and findings for this "What's Up Wednesday" post.
Rather than write a whole Teaching Tuesday post, here are some tips and information that I have found helpful to me. Hopefully some will benefit you too!
First and foremost, great hair comes from the inside out. So, for the basics of great hair care, you may want to visit/revisit this previous post.
Hair grows about one half of an inch a month.
Scientific studies show that hair grows faster in warm weather.
Clay is both a deep cleanser and a great hair conditioner. It will remove dirt and hair care product residue from the hair shaft while it nourishes the scalp. You need to use a white clay, such as kaolin because other types and colors may be too harsh.
Coconut oil preserves the hair (as it does the skin), by covering it with a thin, sealing layer, one that holds, seals, in the moisture that is present.
If hair has been over-exposed to the sun and/or wind, use a deep conditioning treatment once a week, preferably one with lavender and olive oil. Lavender has many nourishing and healing properties, and when its combined with olive oil, which improves the elasticity of the hair shaft, you get nice, soft, and less likely to break hair. Plus, the lavender will also help decrease tension and alleviate headaches.
Don't have a desire to buy chemical products? Simple, just make yourself a mayo and avocado hair pack to deeply condition dry hair. The eggs and the oil in the mayo, as well as the avocado are highly conditioning and make this a very simple, yet highly effective hair treatment. For a recipe, look here!
For gray hair, split ends, and/or thinning hair, use sage leaves. Just crush 8 sage leaves and place in a small jar. Add 1/2 cup of boiling water and leave it sit for 30 minutes. Once time is up, strain it and reserve the liquid. Add 1 tablespoon of wheat germ and grapeseed oils to the liquid and mix well. Pour this into a dark colored bottle (to prevent light from reaching it and breaking it down). Rub a small amount into your hair and scalp, or onto split ends, then wrap in a towel and leave on hair for an hour, then shampoo as normal. It is preferable to apply the treatment to damp hair.
Light colored hair benefits from a mild shampoo. Calendula, Lemon peel, or Roman Chamomile are wonderful additives to castile soap for the perfect light colored hair shampoo.
Rosemary is a good additive for a shampoo intended for Dark hair.
Tea Tree is of benefit to those with dry and/or flaky scalps.
Dandruff is a common scalp condition that occurs when dead skin is shed, producing white skin flakes. It is frequently recommended to add a B-complex vitamin to your health care regimen. You can also use specially formulated shampoos or after shampoo rinses to help condition and heal the scalp. Visit or revisit this post for a recipe from guest author, Alyssa, and check back next Make it Yourself Monday, when I will be offering a few more!
For shampoo and conditioning recipes, look here.
For a detangler and a rinse recipe check out this post.
No comments:
Post a Comment