It isn’t often that I create something that immediately becomes part of my regular hair or body care routines. That’s partly because I am rather, err, prolific (i.e. my counters, cupboards, and pantries are loaded with tons of options to choose from every day), and partly because I love experimenting, so I’m always trying something new in the quest for awesomeness. This hair rinse, however, instantly earned itself a permanent place in my shower. It’s fantastic.
Ever since I discovered Saffire Blue, my herb cupboard has increased in size significantly. They’ve got a great selection of dried and powdered herbs and roots for delightfully low prices—herbs I’ve been reading about but have been unable to source. No more! After they all arrived the ones I was most excited about were the ones for hair, and of this excitement was born this fabulous hair rinse.
The two herbs that are the focus of this rinse are marshmallow root and horsetail. I’ve seen marshmallow root used in natural detangling recipes, and it’s said to soften hair, help reduce tangles, add shine, impart moisture, and stimulate the scalp.
Horsetail is naturally high in silica, which helps strengthen the hair and make it smooth and shiny.
For essential oils I choose lemon, clary sage, and geranium, all said to be good for the hair (plus, they smell lovely together).
The result? I love it. Ever since all the slippery silicone peeled out of my hair after I ditched store bought haircare products, I’ve had more tangles. No more. I washed my hair in the morning, and was able to pull it into a braid easily after getting out of the shower. During the day I could easily finger comb it, and once I got home a quick combing was all it took—no heavy one-on-one time with my detangling comb. Later that week I put my hair into one of my favourite updos, that, in the past, has been a recipe for tangles. No more! Even after hours! Fewer tangles means less breakage, and that’s awesome. Plus, so much shine and glimmer! And, my hair smells fantastic.
Shine & Detangle ACV Hair Rinse
3 tbsp dried marshmallow root
2 tbsp dried horsetail/shavegrass
Just-boiled water50 drops lemon essential oil
20 drops clary sage essential oil
10 drops geranium essential oil
10 mL | 2 tsp polysorbate 20 (USA / Canada) or Polysorbate 80 (USA / Canada)Apple cider vinegar, as needed
2.5g | 0.08oz Liquid Germall Plus™ (USA / Canada) (or other broad spectrum preservative of choice at recommended usage rate [why?])
Place the dried herbs in a 1L (32 fl oz) glass measuring cup and fill with boiling water to the 500mL (16 fl oz) mark. Let the mixture steep for 1 hour.
In a 500mL (16 fl oz) squeeze bottle, mix the essential oils with an equal amount of polysorbate.
Using a coffee filter and a fine sieve, strain the herbs out of the herb mixture. Discard the herbs. You will have ~400mL (~13.5 fl oz) of herb infused water. Pour a bit of the herb water into the squeeze bottle with the essential oils and polysorbate, and swish to combine. Add the rest of the herb water.
Top off with apple cider vinegar. Add your preservative, and shake to combine. To use, rinse the hair with it.
Wooohooo. First comment. Do i get a prize? Thats all i wanted to say lol
No, not really. I do have a question. Just curious about how much ACV equates to “top off with ACV”. Is there a magic number or is it not important?
Cheerzzzz
Jen 🙂
The bottle in this recipe is stated as 400ml ,so that would be whatever it takes to fill the 400ml bottle, once the infusion is put into the bottle.
whoops…..500ml bottle.
Thanks, Dawn!
I couldn’t see how to send a comment but I wanted to let you know that the marshmallow root link goes to an Amazon page that doesn’t exist. I love your recipes and your work! Thanks.
Hey Bev!
I’ll be sure to let Marie know! Thanks!
Barb
Well… with a 500mL bottle, ~400mL of herb water, ~8mL of essential oils and solubilizer… that’s about 92mL of ACV 🙂 I never really measure it out, I’m usually aiming for around 1/4 of the mixture.
How much do you apply please. Is it all over the head, & do you rinse off afterwards. Thank you
From the ears down, and rinse it out after. No need to completely douse yourself, just pour some over… it’s hard to do wrong!
Thank you for replying. I wasn’t sure if you applied this to the scalp too.
Application to the scalp makes your hair look greasy mucho faster so…. not recommended 🙂
What is the pH of this recipe? With 25% ACV it seems the pH would be so low, and don’t we want it at least 4.5 for our hair? Thanks!
This project is over 9 years old, so I’m sorry, but I have no clue—I don’t have any around anymore to check 🙂 It’ll definitely be acidic, but without making more and testing it I can’t get much more precise than that.
I can’t wait to try this. I have long, curly hair, and my tangles are awful. That’s one of the reasons I have avoided nixing the commercial products.
On a side note, I would love to see some posts about updos. I can’t do much more than a ponytail.
Do it! I am so thrilled with the results, I feel like I have my updos back 🙂 And I am definitely planning on writing about more updos—I’m currently developing an entire series of historically inspired ones, so stay tuned!
Historical updos, you say? Where can I find this?
I think most of them are in this category 🙂
This is fabulous and thanks for sharing. I too have gone the natural hair route and massively struggle with a tangly mess. I have naturally curly hair and I’ve really had a hard time getting the tangles out since going natural. I am definitely going to try this. I already use ACV. I am scared to even look at the website you mentioned for herbs because I know I’ll go overboard. There are so many herbs that I’m dying to try out!
You’re very welcome, Toni—this one was too good not to, I even knocked something else further down the line so I could make room for it 🙂 I can’t imagine the tangle troubles you must have with curls, my pin-straight hair can be bad enough as it is! And don’t be afraid of the herbs website… they’re all pretty cheap… until you buy 20 different kinds 😛 But the 50g bag is HEAPS—I’m so glad I pared my order back, I nearly got the 100g bags and that would have been NUTS!
Yay, I made this today and can’t wait to try it out! 🙂
Awesome! How is it working for you?
what do you mean when you say “solubilizer” what is ‘it’ and how much of ‘it’ do you use
Agreed, I’m curious what a solubilizer is as well…I LOVE a good ACV rinse, and am ecstatic at the prospect of adding essential oils and tea! Thanks Humblebee!! xxoo
Solubilizer is a oil-in-water emulsifier that allows you to emulsify small amounts of oils in large amounts of water. I buy mine from New Directions Aromatics.
Solubilizer is a oil-in-water emulsifier that allows you to emulsify small amounts of oils in large amounts of water. I buy mine from New Directions Aromatics.
I would also like to know about solubilizer. I liked that you recommended Polawax in another recipe. Did a little investigating and it constantly comes up as a very reliable and highly rated product What do you like to use for a solubilizer? As I am a newbie, all of this searching can be overwhelming. Seeing that you have been at this for awhile, I would love to glean from your experience.
Solubilizer is a oil-in-water emulsifier that allows you to emulsify small amounts of oils in large amounts of water. It differs from emulsifying wax in several ways:
Those are the big ones, at least. Solubilizer is really inexpensive and has lots of uses (toner, masks, sprays, and more)! It is made of Polysorbate 20, which Skin Deep rates a 3/10. The majority of their concerns are related to contamination, so assuming you have a reputable supplier, it is quite safe to use, especially in the low concentrations I work with.
Hope that helps! Feel free to get in touch with any other questions 🙂
Thank you! Your insight has been ever so helpful. I’m making a list of the ingredients that I still need and will place an order with the suppliers you use. Therefore, I will eliminate any worry of disfavor. I’m so excited to venture beyond simple body creams and lip balms.
I’m glad to hear it, Suzette—have fun! There’s few things more exciting than getting a box of new DIY goodies in the mail 🙂 Let me know how it goes and feel free to get in touch with any questions you might have.
I just got the solubilizer and essential oils today in the mail and did my “I got my stuff!” dance before I realized I forgot what I was going to do with them. Thank goodness your site has a search function! I’m still waiting on the herbs but I can’t wait to make this! Thank you so much!
I love that happy dance! According to the UPS tracker I’ll be doing it again on Thursday 😀 Can’t wait! I got all kinds of groovy packaging this time 🙂 YAY! Let me know what you make, I can’t wait to hear how it turns out.
So true! Happens to me too . I used this recipe for the first time tonight after shampooing with the all in one soap bar! Marie your recipes are awesome. I’m a first time no pooh user!
Wow, just tried this yesterday for the first time and I am impressed with how great my hair feels and looks. And it really does reduce the tangles. Thank you so much for sharing this idea!
Awesome! I’m always thrilled to hear my recipes work for other people 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Is this rinsed out with water afterwards? Can it be sprayed on?
Thanks so much,
Lynne
I’ve always rinsed it out after use—I tried not rinsing it out once, and I didn’t like the texture of my hair as much afterwards. If you’re going to spritz it, I’d recommend just steeping the herbs and leaving out the ACV 🙂
Enjoy & thanks for reading!
So then it would also work to have just the steeped/strained herbal water, spritzed on hair, then rinsed out? I have natural curls also and the most awful tangles at the bottom half of my hair from simply lying on my hair at night, not to mention after motorcycle rides. This looks great, I would love to try it.
If you’re going to do that, leave out the ACV—it’s to help balance the pH of the hair after shampooing, so if you aren’t shampooing, there’s no point. I can’t attest to the effectiveness of this rinse as a spritz-and-rinse, though I can’t see why it wouldn’t work.
Have you tried sleeping with your hair in a braid? I don’t have curly hair, but I do have very long hair, and I’ve had to resort to having my hair in a braid more often than not (it’s either that or spend 30+ minutes combing my hair out every day).
I don’t really think my hair is long enough for a full braid, but will try it. I wanted to shampoo in the mornings, and then use this rinse particularly on the bottom half of the hair that is tangled. It tangles even during the day, mostly underneath at the ends.
The whole formula looks great but I simply don’t have time to do the whole thing, thinking I could save time with half of it. It’s not going to hurt anything to do a batch of herbal water and ACV to spritz and rinse. Anything to help the tangles. Thanks much.
Bummer—braids are super helpful! Anyhow, it sounds like we basically do the same thing—shower, shampoo, and rinse the lower half of the hair.
A tip for speeding this up is to keep a big jar of the herbs steeping in your fridge. That way you’ll have an extra concentrated infusion on hand whenever you need it, so you can just dilute and go.
I found something that might be useful in helping measure out your acv. http://www.containerandpackaging.com/catalog/twin-neck-bottles/53/#1,0&0&0&0&0&0&0&53&0&8&list&0&0,1
Interesting… but I must say, those look to be for mixing two parts after sale, so I don’t think they’d be of much use to me.
Have you ever tried making hair dye? I love to do new things worth my hair but I’ve always steered clear of commercial dyes. My roommate always dyes her hair, and it smells so toxic, I feel high! I like henna dye but it only lasts a few weeks. Any ideas?
So far I’ve tried one dye, and one natural hair lightening, and neither have worked. I’m planning on trying the dye again with the same ingredients & a slightly different procedure, but I don’t have overly high hopes. I am always on the lookout for new ingredients that might work for projects like this, though, so I will definitely keep looking and trying 🙂
I’m totally with you on commercial hair dye—it smells awful! It’s the kind of thing that has you wishing their was a “purge” button on your lungs. Ugh. I have seen henna dyes last longer than a few weeks, though. I had a friend in high school who used them, and she always had to wait until they grew out. So… perhaps you could try a different brand?
So after a quick binge read on no poo hair care, inspiration from your pics and a friend who went natural 6 months ago, I took a head dive into my claw-foot tub at midnight two weeks ago and haven’t looked back. It was only after I burned my eyes and heard vinegar bubbling on my not so washed baking soda scalp (as I pictured it eating my roots away only to leave a shiny bald spot) I realized I’m in need of guidance 😉
This is where your site came it. I have yet to delve into soap making (although it’s next on my list), but my main question is, how long do the herbs keep in the fridge? Are they just in the water or the whole avc mixture & you add the eo’s later? I have a friend who’s daughter has wonderfully awesome curls but can’t stand the tangles so as parents we decided she’d be the best guinea pig 🙂 I have to make this before hand, but wasn’t sure if I can let the eo’s sit in the fridge steeping with the herbs or if I add them later.
Ha! I love your description of your baking soda/vinegar mishaps, haha. For this shine & detangle rinse I have herbs that have been steeping in the fridge for at least 3 months now, and they’re fine (strangely enough). What I do is make a super strong herb mixture, and then dilute it with water and add the ACV & essential oils. A 750mL bottle of the rinse lasts me close to a month (washing every fifth to sixth day), so that really helps cut back on the time investment for this rinse.
If you’re new to natural hair care, you should check out my as-I-go updates:
could you infuse the Vinegar with the herbs?
Yeah, definitely!
Hi Marie,
You mentioned that you only shampoo your hair every 5-6 days – me too. So, you only use your rinse when you shampoo, right? On the other days, do you get your hair wet in the shower, and do you use anything else on your hair?
I find that, with my curly hair, I have to get it wet in the shower on the days I don’t shampoo, or it goes poof. And because curly hair is dry hair, I use a conditioner on those days as well – but I have never found or created a successful recipe for a homemade conditioner, so I buy the most natural one I can find in a store. (Usually Nature’s Gate here in the states.) Was just wondering what you do on “the other days.”
Hi Tammy! Yes, I only wash my hair every 4/5/6 days (depending on the time of year, activity level, etc.), and I only rinse my hair when I wash it. It’s very dry here, and my hair is pin straight, so I have no need to get my hair wet on other days—I’ll just put my hair up and keep it out of the shower stream.
For your dry hair you might like to take a look at my hair mist, hair balm, hair serum, and DIY conditioner 🙂
Had an idea. What if you made your herbs into a glycerin tincture and just added that to your acv/water mix. It would save you the hassle of making up the tea water and the glycerin is supposed to be good for hair as well.I think I would start off with like a dropperful added to the acv rinse. Let me know your thoughts.
This is a really good idea! I’d just be worried that you might not get enough of the herbs in such a small amount of tincture to reap their detangling benefits. As it is, I just mix up a big, strong jar of the herbs & water and leave it in my fridge. So far it’s kept for 3+ months with no signs of spoilage 🙂
This sounds great and effective! I am wanting to transition over to natural hair products, but have 2 main concerns.
#1. I simply detest the smell of vinegar, although I know so many people use it. Do the essential oils cover the smell very well?
#2. I have colored, blonde highlighted hair. What do you know of using homemade soap for hair and vinegar rinses, and whether they change the color?
Any advice would be appreciated! Love you blog. 🙂
Hi Bekah! You will be able to smell the vinegar, EOs or not, but only for about 30 seconds. Once you rinse it off and get out of the shower, you totally forget about it. As for coloured hair, I don’t have any personal experience with that. The ACV rinse is safe from what I’ve read, and I’d imagine that as long as you stick with light-coloured shampoo bars, the shampoo should be fine as well as it is more gentle than any store bought “shampoo” (detergent, really). Thanks for reading!
Hi Marie, I was wondering about using a bit of the red turkey oil as the solubilizer. Castor oil has a great reputation for being really good for hair and aiding in hair growth, too, though I don’t know if it would retain that quality once it’s gone through the process of becoming red turkey oil.
I’ve used marshmallow root for a sore throat tea, and made horsetail infusion to drink as well for all it’s healthful and hair aiding properties. This will be a first as topical use on my hair. Been no poo for a long time now and fighting the frizzies with long wavy/curly hair has me using a tad of pure Argan oil rubbed between my palms and then lightly on my hair to help. But it seems to also need to be cleaned again sooner.
So… Still looking for better ways other than cutting it all off.
I haven’t tried it yet for applications like this, but it seems to work nicely in bath oils, bringing the essential oils along with it rather than leaving them floating on top. It’s definitely worth a try, I’d just be wary of using very much as it doesn’t take much oil to make hair look quite greasy (which I’m sure you’ve found out 🙂 ). I’ve found this rinse to be a game changer for my natural hair care, whenever I take a break from it I come running back in no time!
Something else that has worked really well for me is keeping my hair in a braid more often than not, especially when sleeping.
I have been braiding my hair at night for ages.. It helps keep it off my neck and cooler for hot flashes these days too. Yes, I was thinking maybe just a couple of drops of the red turkey oil… I used too much Argan oil the first few times and found out very quickly how fast the hair looks greasy! (Enough to send me running for cookies
I find my love of braids (especially French) has helped improve my arm strength and flexibility as I try and braid all my hair 😛
Now I use 3 drops of the Argan oil rubbed between my hands and on my face before running my fingers through my hair.
I have some red turkey oil coming in the mail soon, and am thinking I may give it a try.
Another thing I do is add honey to my ACV rinse, as it is good for attracting moisture and also good for the scalp.
The squirrels in my brain are running now!
OOoh, I must try adding some honey to my ACV… or perhaps some maple syrup in order to be as Canadian as possible 😉
LOL, not sure maple syrup has quite the same properties as honey, but you would smell yummy!
I found when my hair got longer than my arms would reach, doing one French braid in back, that I’d be bent over upside down so it would dangle above my head and be easier. Except for the standing back up part. Dizzying. Strong arms, maybe. Speed braiding, definitely!
Right now it’s just a sloppy single plain braid for the night.
Not quite the same, but since sugar is the main humectant in honey, maple syrup should function somewhat similarly 😛
Sometimes I like to lay on my bed with my hair hanging off, and do my French braid like that (which does result in leaden arms, but less dizzyness). Unfortunately I am going to need a bunk bed pretty soon, with how long my hair is getting 😛
Hi Marie,
I really want to try this rinse but can’t seem to find horsetail at either Sapphire blue or NDA. Did you purchase it from another source? Thanks for your help. Loving your site. Have tried a few recipes and all have been absolutely wonderful.
Saffire Blue sells it (that’s where I got mine), but they call it Shavegrass Root. It would be nice if we could agree on names for things, eh? Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me!
I received my order today from Saffire Blue, found everything thanks to your tip about Shavegrass aka horsetail (my herbs are steeping as I type this) and I realized I forgot to order the solubilizer! After reading your many tips I suppose I can go ahead and leave it out but will have to shake the mixture extremely well before each use to disburse the oils? Aghhhh, I can’t believe I forgot it, I made a very lengthy list of ingredients to purchase to make all the basics (soap, dream cream, deodorant, lip balm, hair rinse) I had to keep away from your blog as my list kept growing!
Whoops! Next time you order you can also get Turkey Red Oil and guar gum instead—stay tuned for recipes that pair the two as a swap 🙂 And I’ve definitely done the same thing as used it as an excuse to order more stuff, haha. ‘Tis very dangerous 😛
For now you can definitely shake and go—it’ll work well enough 🙂
I made this today…well a slightly different version. I didn’t have any horsetail, so I substituted it for rosemary (good for flaky skin/dandruff) in the steeping decoction. For the essential oils I used lemon, sweet orange and lavender (all good for your hair in different ways).
OMG its amazing! Ive been using shampoo bars, whilst my hair feels so much better, I been having issues with tangles. So I decided to try the acv rinse and its left my hair so soft and less tangly (I may still have a slight dreadlock hiding under my hair at the back 😉 ). Definitely a permanent addition to my shower shelf!
Did you use regular dried rosemary like what you would use in cooking? I really want to make this and can’t find Horsetail.
Yup, that’ll work wonderfully, Cindy 🙂 I got my horsetail from Saffire Blue—it’s also called Shavegrass, so you might have more luck looking under that name as well. Have fun!
Hi Cindy,
I actually just steeped fresh rosemary as it was all I had on hand [*cough* pinched from my neighbour’s front garden *cough*] but dried would work just as well, and probably not leave a nice layer of dirt in the bottom of the steeped liquid!
Ha! I used to do this all the time when I was living in Australia, lol 😛 It seems to be everybody’s favourite yard shrub, and why buy dry when you can locally forage some fresh stuff? 😛
Thanks for the suggestions. Will give it a try on my next batch, sounds fantastic.
Fantastic! I’m so thrilled you love it 🙂 This is one of my hair/shower must-haves as well, I always regret taking a break from it for other experiments. That marshmallow root is amazing stuff!
my update: I used just about 4 drops of the turkey red oil as my solubilizer, and thinl next time I’ll ad a couple more. I have to shake a bit to combine but the EOs floating on top before shaking are just a few little drops.
second, I love how easily it combs through, even needing a trim really badly!! Its great!! I may play with different herbs and essential oils, like adding chamomile, but its definitely a keeper, I love it! Thanks so much!
OOh, fantastic! I’m so glad this is helping your tangles 🙂 I have similarly un-trimmed ends, and this rinse is a total comb-saver 😉 Also, I had AWESOME success this past weekend pairing TRO & guar gum as a solublizer—it works even better than Polysorbate-20! So try that next time & stay tuned for recipes using that combo 😉
Cool on the TRO-guar gum combo! I would not have thought to use guar gum in a hair product, having been introduced to it as an ingredient in baking gluten free items! But hey, if it works in eyeliner, why not other stuff?! (I made the eyeliner today, had to try it before it dried. It’s great!)
Looking forward to more good stuff to learn and try!
I’ve been fiddling with guar gum as a natural emulsifier/thickener for the last year or more, but until I had the TRO it never really “took”. I’m pretty thrilled 🙂 And yay for homemade eyeliner!
Re: above update, that 4 drops was for half the recipe.
Now I know it works, next time I’ll be making the full batch.
Danke 😉
Hello Marie!
I I started recently to do some of your recepies of your blog, but I have been lurking for a while, but I decided around 15 days to start some recepies. This is one that I first try. =)
I tried and I loooved how clean the hair after cleared with water!
I have a question:
1. Is it normal that make lather? I was a little surprised of the quantity of foam that I got, to be a rinse, not a shampoo.. So, is it a strange reaction between the solubilizer and the vinager? Bc with the EO, solubilizer and EO didnt have any bubbles. I followed the instructions (well j, i just added a tablespoon of chamomile, but was pretty much the same).
Thanks in advance for your response and amazing blog!
Cristina
Hi Cristina! I’m so thrilled you’ve decided to dive in and start DIYing up a storm with me 🙂 Yes, you will get a lather because of the Polysorbate 20. It’s a mild surfactant (lather-maker) along with being an emuslfier. I have found that all emulsifiers will create some amount of lather when agitated enough. It’s nothing to worry about 🙂 Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me!
Thanks for your response Marie!
I will keep using the rinse, may be I will complement with a conditioner once a week =)
Another question not related with the ACV rinse.. Where do you get your labels (is it paper with glue)..? I love the color =)
Thanks!
Cristina
No worries 🙂 I got the labels off Amazon, they’re kraft paper printer labels.
As I prefer to use fresh over dried and both horsetail and mallow are at their peak at the moment thought I’d give this a try…..wonderful! Thank you so much.
Awesome! I’m so glad you like it 🙂
Can you post the link where you got the bottle and the cap? Also, do you think a disc cap will work well or the black treatment pump from Saffire Blue?
I got the bottle years ago with something else in it, so I have no source—sorry. The rinse is really thin, though (basically water), so a disc cap would be my first choice—even moreso if the bottle is a bit soft and can be squeezed.
Hi, I have always seen where one would take about 1 tablespoon of Vinegar and mix it with 1/2 cup of water…I would do this amount for every tablespoon. So, for me, having long hair, I would use 3 Tablespoons and about 1 1/2 cups to about 2 cups of water. I just take my shower and place the 3 tablespoons into a plastic large cup. When its time to rinse my hair I add hot shower water to it first. Then I pour the whole thing all over my hair.
I normally see this as the directions for herbal vinegar as well…but yours seems to be different. Unless I read your directions wrong. Please correct me if I did. It seems like your directions specify to pour it on straight, with no dilution of water. is that right? Isnt that too strong for ones hair, hence everywhere else states to dilute first with water? I just want to make sure I am doing it right, and if you do say pour it on straight, can you please tell me why I would pour it on straight as to apposed to diluting it first? Thanks so much. I dont normally comment, but your directions are different then every vinegar rinse I have ever ever seen, so, I just want to know if I am doing things right…and why? Thanks
Hi Sara! If you read the directions carefully you’ll see that the vast majority of the rinse is herb-infused water 🙂
I have naturally platinum hair, will this rinse change the color? Thanks
I’m afraid I can’t say, sorry.
I’ve been reading your blog for quite some time and I love it. I just received my horsetail and marshmallow root today. I made the rinse and used it…so far so good! Once my mop of curly hair dries, I will know for sure! Thank you and I look forward to getting a copy of your book!
Thank you! I look forward to hearing how the rinse works out for you 🙂
My mop of hair is dry and it’s wonderful and shiny! I use a shampoo bar and adding the herbs to the rinse works great! Thank you!
Woohoo! Yay hair herbs 😀
Where is the button to print
I’ve removed it while I try to figure out what is causing massive overages on my server—I got a $350 overage bill last month o_O
Ok, it’s back! I think I figured something out… fingers crossed.
My very long hair is naturally curly/frizzy and tangles ever so much and ever so easily. I noticed some years back that commercial products, even so-called “natural” ones, often have silicons as the main detangler/defrizzer ingredient and I also noticed that these products don’t absorb well into my hair texture and simply weigh my hair down. Your recipe here is very interesting and I would like to try it, but was wondering which emulsifier you would most recommend for this recipe. Thanks so much!
The solubilizer listed in the ingredients is the recommended emulsifier—also known as Polysorbate 20 🙂
Hi Marie
I have been trying to find horsetail/shaveroot, but can’t find it anywhere, Saffire blue does not carry it anymore, do you think powdered bamboo leaf would work, as well I only have powdered marshmallow root, i was wondering if I steeped/dissolved the two powders in ACV, if that might work, and then because I’m using powders do I now need to add a preservative or will the vinegar suffice. I don’t want to have to make this up every time I shampoo.
Thanks,
Debbie
Hey Debbie! I see that you mentioned you’re outside of Toronto—if you ever go into Toronto I’m sure you could find it there. Check with The Big Carrot and the shops in Kensington Market 🙂 As an alternative powdered bamboo leaf does contain lots of silica as well, so that is a great alternative!
You can definitely infuse everything as powders instead of plant bits, I just find the straining bit to be more irksome/time consuming. Adding them straight to ACV should work well (infused vinegars are very popular and shelf stable, and they’re essentially just vinegar + herbs) for a quick dilute-and-go mix up. You might want to pop the powders into a sealable tea bag and leave that in the vinegar so you don’t have to strain the mixture every time 🙂
Thanks Marie
Will have to stop in Kensington on my way to St Lawrence Market next trip into Toronto.
Ooh, say hello to the St. Lawrence for me 🙂 I love that market!
Mountain Rose Herbs carries bulk horsetail/shave root. They are an awesome company.
Thank you Lily Rose,
Actually I did see that, but am trying to source it in Canada. Between the cross border shipping and dollar exchange it’s fairly expensive. I may just have to “bite the bullet” and order it any way if I can’t find it up here in the frozen north.
Cheers,
Debbie
I live in Canada and I buy with a co-op group from Mountain Rose. We always get the 25lbs -25% discount too by sharing the lbs. Everyone shares the shipping. Start a group on Facebook, that is where ours is. It is for the Lower Mainland in BC though.
Hi Lynne
Great idea if I had a facebook account, yup one of the last remaining few not on facbook.
Anyhoo, decided to forge ahead with marshmallow root powder and bamboo leaf powder…the filtering is taking forever, so frustrated.
I think I’m just going to order from Mountain Rose for the “roots”
and be done with it. Really want to try this rinse!
BTW I live in Ontario outside of Toronto
The 2-in-1 conditioner worked great for two days, then blah. I still use it on my ends for added oomph. But the rest of my hair doesn’t like it too much.
I was rinsing out my hair today with my new soft water filter and thinking, what about using horsetail and marshmallow in bar soap? Or bamboo tea soap? Have you tried it? I’m thinking about giving it a go, but not sure if I want to try the horsetail/marshmallow/bamboo as teas for the liquid or as a powder. Or both. My concern is when I made the tea infusion for this recipe, the tea got a wee bit thick and wondering how that would be in the soap. My thoughts are, the soap would be awesome for skin and hair.
What do you think?
I say go for it! A slightly thick soap liquid shouldn’t be a problem.
Another thought… how is your hair generally, health-wise. Has it been heat treated and dyed a lot? Is there a chance that this is how your hair feels without silicones? I hope not, but it’s a theory.
I gave in and returned to a commercial product I bought in Mexico. I couldn’t stand the weighted down dull hair I was having even after a month of homemade soap and acv rinses. It was the same as when I tried the baking soda method ages ago.
I’d wash my hair, rinse, then take a wide tooth freshly cleaned comb through the hair so I’d had some shape to my hair. For maybe three hours, my hair would look and feel great. The crown of my head was still damp. After about three hours, my hair would feel greasy. Not the store bought day after wash dirty greasy, the greasy oily after applying olive oil to clean hair. I still had a shine, but it was a dull shine too.
My hair overall is very healthy, just wickedly thin and poker straight. I think I’ll try again after summer is over here. It seems that this is one of the hottest summers in a long while. My hair might be nicer to work with in the cooler weather! I’m sad it didn’t work for me this time!
Aww, bummer. It’s so odd that you had such poor results, and so different from most experiences I hear about. I’m sorry 🙁 At least you’re getting some heat? It’s been miserable and rainy here for months… we got more rain in July than we usually get in a year, and that doesn’t look to be stopping any time soon, sadly.
I’d happily take Canadian rain of any kind over China’s summer heat rain. It’s horrible. Imagine +40 and then warm rain. It’s gross.
My hair is weird. Perms don’t work in my hair, styling products have to be layered for any sort of affect. I do have to say, that I wore my hair pinned up but by the end of the day, it didn’t look too bad. It still felt kind of gross but didn’t look too bad.
I’ve got a kilo of hair soap curing in the storage room that is begging to be tried out in the cooler weather!
Sounds like an outdoor shower! Not so bad haha. Especially when we had frost this morning 🙁 Hair care is so darn weird, there seem to be way more kinds of hair than skin, and it’s hard for me to offer much advice on hair that isn’t similar to mine since I’m no hair expert :/
No worries! I vent a lot about my hair and was hoping to finally get rid of the shampoo and conditioner from the store. Then all I’d have left that I buy is perfume.
L’sigh.
Hi Marie,
I just found this recipe and am excited to try it for myself. My question/concern is about my 3yr old daughter. She has long, lovely hair but hates me combing out the tangles every day. I saw in the comments above about not putting in the ACV for a spritz idea and was wondering if you or any other readers have tried that with success? We only wash her hair once a week but need something in between for tangles (I tried pulling her hair into a bun or braid for bedtime and she doesn’t like it). In the meantime, I will be ordering the herbs to make this for my own hair.
Thanks for all your great recipes. I learn so much with each one I try.
Jenni
Hey Jenni! So, this rinse does two things—it pH balances AND detangles. You only need to pH balance directly after washing with a high pH shampoo bar (hence why a spray bottle for regular use isn’t a great idea), but detangling can definitely be a daily thing, so it sounds like you may need a straight-up detangling spray as well as one that does both. Try just the herbal infusion (no vinegar) and see how that works—and don’t forget your broad spectrum preservative! Without one that concoction will mould FAST, and even with one it’ll spoil fairly quickly because of all the plant matter, so make it in small batches and use it quickly 🙂
Also… something my mom used on me was basically “If you want long hair, you have to take care of it, or we’re taking you to have it cut off.” A bit harsh, perhaps, but I took excellent care of my hair! I was probably 4 or 5, and I’ve never stopped taking good care of it.
Hey Marie,
I really want to try this recipe.
Since I’ve switched to natural bar shampoo, my hair tangles A LOT. I’m also struggling with A LOT of dandruff and a constantly itching scalp. Though from some reading on the subject, it might be just silicone build-up from all the commercial products I used to use. I’ve also used to dye my hair before the “natural” turn over, so I bet this took a toll on my hair as well.
Anyway, I find that regular ACV/water rinses after I wash my hair with the shampoo bar aren’t working that well for my hair. My wet hair tangles into 2-3 huge knots and I kinda wait for it to air dry a bit before I start to detangle it with my fingers. I don’t use a comb, because I’m afraid to tear the hair. I do try to comb my hair with a natural boar bristles hairbrush before the shower (I’ve read somewhere that it suppose to help), but I don’t really see a big difference if I don’t.
I hope that these herbs will provide my hair with a more “silky” texture and make it less tangled, but I have a bit of a problem regarding the other ingredients.
I can’t seem to find even one online store that ships to my country and have a solubilizer or a preservative (or silk peptides, or phytokeratine, which I found in your other great recipes). Local stores are out of the question, this DIY beauty care products is a very new and rare topic in my country, so you really have to order everything online. I did find an online store, which sells the herbs though, so the situation here is not that bad lol
My question is therefore how do I make this rinse in a much smaller batch, that I can keep in a fridge without a preservative? Or should I make a one-time batch (I guess about 100ml) each week? And as for the solubilizer, I guess that I’ll have to shake it hard before each use..
Also, you’ve mentioned in the comments that you make one very concentrated batch of infused water with the herbs, and then you use a specific amount of it in the rinse and keep the rest in the fridge. Do you put a preservative in this concentrated stock solution? And how big is your stock solution?
Hey Tesh! Honestly, CP shampoo bars may not be for you if you are having this many problems. They aren’t for everybody; some people need surfacants, and that’s fine! I’ve been working on some syndet bars (nothing share worthy yet); Susan has tons of guidance there! These herbs will help with detangling a bit, to be sure, but the majority of the detangling of any ACV rinse is the pH correction, which smooths the scales of your hair back down. If you don’t really notice a difference from an ACV rinse, I am suspecting the added herbs are not going to be your lynchpin, though it is worth a try!
I would recommend infusing the herbs in your ACV and storing that in the fridge; vinegar lasts ages thanks to its high pH, even with added temptations like herbs. Mix that master infusion with water (~1 vinegar: 4 water). I’d start with 500mL for the infusion, and mix up about 100mL for each use, less if your hair is on the shorter side 🙂
Hope that helps!
Thank you for the reference to “Point of Interest”, it looks like an interesting and insightful blog. I do think though that my hair behaves like this because I’ve ruined it with all the dye. I guess I just have to wait and see… and make CP bars in a meanwhile.. you got me hooked on the idea of making CP bars, so it’s made to happen anyway 😛 They’ll age and wait for me
And thank you for the ACV/herbs infusion tip!! Will do.
I think one could read Point of Interest for years on end and never read everything! It’s an incredible resource. And yes, dive into CP soaping regardless of what your hair thinks—it is far too fun not to! 😀 Happy soaping!
Hi Marie! I was wondering about the preservative portion of your recipe. Did you need it because you were infusing herbs? If I stuck to just essentials oils/extracts, would I still need a preservative?
Hey Pam! You need it because there is water in here—there’s no way around that!
Is it possible to substitute polysorbate for BTMS-50 for its conditioning properties? And if so, would you change the amounts?
If you want conditioning properties in this I would recommend adding a liquid cationic like honeyquat or polyquat rather than trying to make this work with a radically different emulsifier 🙂
Have you ever tried a clay mask treatment for your hair? I was thinking of making something with kaolin clay, aloe powder, horsetail powder and marshmallow root powder. Mix a scoop with some ACV & water and apply to hair as a prewash treatment!
Yup! 🙂 I must admit I don’t love ’em as I hate cleaning up after them haha.
Oh my, you’re right! And I bet it’s a trip to wash out. Oh well♀️
I do worry about my pipes, too… the occasional face mask is one thing, but I know people who regularly wash their hair with mud and that sounds like a recipe for a larrrrrge plumber’s bill.
So, um…I accidentally* used powdered marshmallow root, and made hair gravy
Does anybody know what the powdered:dried whole herb equivalent is?
Really enjoying the book!
I found this:
“1 teaspoon dried leaf herb = 1/2 teaspoon ground dried herb”
https://www.reluctantgourmet.com/converting-fresh-herbs-to-dried-ratios/
for cooking, but I don’t know if it is relevant for potency in this type of recipe.
Whoops! In cooking it’s usually 3:1 fresh:dry, but for DIY I usually start with 2:1 and adjust from there 🙂 Happy making and enjoy your hair gravy 😛
thanks, that you replied made my day
I can’t bring myself to throw away my infusion, so it should be interesting. It makes my hair very shiny.
Side note: I’ve added powdered arnica to carrier oils and used it around my eyes. Everything I’ve found so far has indicated it’s safe (at the right dose). Arnica ability to increase circulation, clear up bruising, and so on make my and my mothers’ circles pretty much vanish.
I’m not confident enough in its safety (yet) to make it for other people, although they’ve noticed and asked. There are gel and cream formulas already made, but I’m thinking about using it in an emulsion since the tablets are water soluble.
Anyway! Thought I’d share
http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/716776/ARNICA_MONTANA_POWDER/#.Wb13I1QpChA
Rated as a 1
https://intothegloss.com/2014/07/arnica-gel-uses/
https://www.realself.com/question/can-use-arnica-cream-dark-circles-under-eyes
I’m glad your hair likes it, gravy or not 😉
Personally, I’d probably stick to oil based arnica products if you’re doing the herbal infusion yourself as herbal infusions in water are very prone to spoilage, and since it’s going near your eyes I’d recommend extra-super-care. If you have a professionally prepared arnica infusion or extract that can be brilliant for an oil-based, thing, though—just be sure to follow recommended usage rates 🙂
I hear you I’m using the tablets rather than the herb, which powder and are water soluble. Cheers on the 6th birthday of HB&M!
Thank you! 🙂
Hi Marie :)!
This might be a silly question.. but I ask it anyway ;)!
Since we need to do an acidic rinse for our hair to restore the PH balance, and even if we do not have “scales” on our body, should we still rinse with an acidic rinse on our skin if we use the same bar of soap to wash from head to toe?
That honestly isn’t a silly question at all! From all the reading I’ve been doing it would seem the scientific consensus would be that it is best to not use highly basic cleansers on our hair or skin (hair, skin). However, if you’re going to, following up with an acidic rinse will likely help the process of repairing the acid mantle along… but you are still damaging it with the basic cleanser in the first place. How much that damage is noticeable varies a lot from person to person, though.