I love my hair—mostly because my hair loves me. It’s long, shiny, and very cooperative. It generally avoids tying itself in knots and is usually painfully straight, but will cooperate with curls if coerced enough (for a few hours, at least). To keep my hair loving me, I take care of it. Happy hair makes happy me, and really easy mornings.
1. Boar Bristle Brushes
I’ve got a couple pure boar bristle brushes from Goody. They’re brilliant for smoothing out my hair and re-distributing oils—especially great for when I’m stretching out washes or feeling a bit lazy. Because they’re a natural, softer bristle, they won’t de-tangle your hair, so don’t try or you’ll just make things worse. Also, the natural bristles do get dirty, so along with pulling any loose hairs out of the brush you’ll need to soap it up every now and then to keep it clean.
2. Wooden combs
Wooden combs don’t snag your hair like the seams in a plastic comb or brush can. I got mine from The Body Shop. I had one from Goody, but it snapped while I was combing my hair—not exactly a desired characteristic in a comb. The Body Shop one does a great job and feels nice and sturdy in my hands and against my scalp.
3. Camellia Seed oil
I love doing a hot oil treatment with this one. I’ll rub a tablespoon or so of the oil through my hair (perhaps with some essential oils), wrap my hair in a towel hot from the dryer, and let it soak in for an hour or so before shampooing. The shampooing takes some doing, but afterwards my hair is wonderfully soft and shiny.
4. Jojoba oil
When my ends are feeling a bit dry and straggly, I find a drop or two of jojoba rubbed into the ends brings them right back to life. I like jojoba because it absorbs faster than most of the other oils I’ve tried, reducing the oil slick look.
5. Hair Balm
When I’m looking for some intensive moisturizing, I love to brush in (with a boar bristle brush) some hair balm. Learn to make your own here.
6. Phytokeratin
Keratin is the main structural element in hair and fingernails. Treatments like the Brazilian Blowout use it to make hair super straight and shiny. Keratin is derived from animals, much like gelatin. Phytokeratin is derived from plants. I like to mix it with some rose water and a broad spectrum preservative and spritz my hair with it. It adds volume and makes my hair feel silky smooth.
7. Apple Cider Vinegar
After shampooing, I rinse my hair with a mixture of about 1 part apple cider vinegar to 3 parts water. An acidic rinse corrects the pH of the hair after washing with a basic cleanser. You’ll feel an incredible change in texture after you rinse your hair. It’ll be so smooth you’ll think it’s soapy again, but it isn’t.
8. Double-duty updos
I’ll wash my hair in the morning, and then pin it up to the back of my head in a rather stylish messy updo. I’ll leave it in all day and then sleep on it. The next morning, I’ve got wavy/curly hair that’s full of body. Awesome.
I’ve removed two points as they’re not good ideas!
What does your hair love? Remember, every post you comment on is an entry in the monthly draw!
Do you know where I could buy some phytokeratin and jojoba oil in Toronto? Or perhaps you could just suggest a few places that you might know of (online or brick & mortar) that sell a bunch of natural beauty and hair products? That would be super helpful!
Your website is amazing, if I had the patience, I’d totally make all the beauty products myself, but you should set up a store or something where people can buy this stuff online, on your website. I know of a lot of people who would buy it from you!
Thanks!
I buy almost all of my ingredients from NewDirectionsAromatics.ca; they’re based out of Mississauga. They have the best prices I’ve ever seen in Canada, and the best selection; I wouldn’t even consider a brick and mortar as they are generally grossly overpriced. You can pick up your order at their Mississauga warehouse, or they’ll UPS it to you.
Thanks for visiting and enjoying my site! I don’t think I’ll be opening a store, though… I barely have enough time to make all my own body products, let alone everyone else’s!
Hi
Thank you so much for sharing what ou know. I am so desperate for a shampoo bar recipe. My hair just doesn’t get on with so many products and to have a recipe to make my own would mean the world. Thanks so much.
Amanda—two of my favourites are my Shea Butter & Citrus Shampoo Bar and my Gingerbread Shampoo Bar!
Thank you for these. Do you know how to adapt these for a melt and pour glycerine? I have not way of making a lye soap her. Appreciate your thoughts 😉
As I understand it, trying to adapt melt and pour soap into something like a homemade lye soap is like trying to turn WonderBread into an artisan loaf of foccaccia. You can put some nice olive oil and fresh herbs on top, but in the end, it’s still WonderBread. You could try adding the poppyseeds and some citrus essential oils, but you won’t get any of the benefits of the great oils and butters in the recipe, and those oils are the best part of the bar.
I just discovered your website and I love it so much! I’ve made a stand to use up the last of my shampoos and conditioners and then move to all natural hair treatments since soon I’ll be traveling so much that I’ll need to fit everything I need on my back. I really loved the pin curl tutorial (I tried something similar and liked the result but your technique gives better curls) but I’d like to see a tutorial on the double-duty updos you’ve mentioned here.
Pretty please? *-*
Krys—Great resolution! Be prepared for the silicone coming out of your hair, it’s rather disgusting, but worth it. For your travels, you can make amazing all-in-one bars by adding some clay to your shampoo bars; then you can use it as soap, shaving soap, and shampoo! Also, I have added double-duty updos to my upcoming blog list, so stay tuned 🙂
I have red hair, any suggestions for dry shampoo? i like the cocoa powder idea but afraid it will darken my hair, also love the idea of your shampoo bars but am a little afraid of lye. Thanks for your site, love it!
Check out my Deluxe All-Natural Dry Shampoo! You can make it with one of the redder clays (like Australian red) if your hair is darker red, or use a white clay (like kaolin) and colour it with red and yellow oxides to get a more orangey colour.
And don’t be afraid of lye! Yeah, you don’t want it in your eyes, but just treat it with respect (and wear goggles) and you’ll be fine.
Thank you so much, what great ideas. Happy valentines day
Thanks for reading, Kate! Be sure to let me know if your hair likes any of these things, or what it likes that I haven’t listed!
I do most of these, but hadn’t heard about using Blackstrap before. Might have to try that!
Do! Just know that you will have little brown puddles in your shower 😛
thank u giving such ideas differently i will try in this week as my hair is very ruff and dry so oils treatment will try s.
Good luck & have fun with it 🙂
My hair has become increasingly thin, weak, dry and just awful looking by comparison with most of my life except the last few years…any suggestions of the non-pharmaceutical-evil-empire sort would be most warmly and happily accepted and very likely attempted and reported on!
love your work, love your humor. I think it’d be just great to hang out with you in the kitchen with some tea, cooking up some new ideas and talking about the universe…or dogs.
Hi Ava! I’m happy to make any recommendations I can 🙂 What are you currently doing with your hair? Dying it? Perms? The first thing I’d suggest would be ditching commercial shampoos for homemade shampoo bars and ACV rinses, and working on stretching out your hair washes so you aren’t washing your hair as frequently.
Thanks so much for reading! Maybe we can grab a cuppa if you’re ever in Calgary 🙂