If you’re using homemade shampoo bars to wash your hair, an acidic rinse isn’t really optional—it’s a must. Because the high pH of true soap raises the scales that make up your hair, you’ll need to smooth them back down with something acidic or you’ll find your hair is quite coarse and tangly. That’s where this lovely rinse comes in. Infused with all kinds of good-for-the-hair ingredients, it comes together in a flash and leaves your hair silky smooth and shiny.
The base of this rinse is really quite simple—apple cider vinegar diluted in some water. If you’re feeling a touch fancy, feel free to infuse the water with some herbs or some tea. I love horsetail/shavegrass and marshmallow root for taming tangles and adding shine, and I’ve heard great things about using different teas to add shine and enhance colour, so feel free to have some fun there 🙂
Want to watch this project instead of read it?
I’ve added a hint of luxury with a touch of silk and some phytokeratin. Silk proteins are very close to the proteins that make up our skin and hair. Silk is also a wonderful moisture manager, and helps add a lovely, silky sheen to the hair.
Phytokeratin is keratin (the protein that makes up our hair), but derived from plants. Keratin is the main ingredient in many popular (and pricey) hair treatments for its ability to strengthen the hair and add bounce and sparkle. With phytokeratin and some DIYing we’ll get the bounce and sparkle without the spa-style price tag.
Last but not least, a few essential oils. I chose calming lavender, healing eucalyptus, and stimulating frankincense because they smell lovely together, but you can feel free to swap them out for whatever essential oils you like, or go essential oil free.
Silk Apple Cider Vinegar Hair Rinse
100mL | 3.3 fl oz apple cider vinegar
400mL | 13.5 fl oz water, cooled tea, or water-based herb infusion
½ tsp silk peptides, amino acids, or powder
½ tsp phytokeratin¼ tsp guar gum
½ tsp turkey red oil10 drops lavender essential oil
10 drops eucalyptus radiata essential oil
4 drops frankincense essential oilMeasure the apple cider vinegar into the bottom of your bottle. I used glass here ’cause it’s pretty, but seriously, do not use glass and then take glass into the shower with you! Use a plastic bottle, pour some into an old yoghurt container, whatever. No glass in the shower, please.
In a small dish, sprinkle the guar gum over about a quarter cup (60mL) of water. Whisk in the guar gum, and then whisk in the turkey red oil. Yes, it absolutely has to be turkey red oil as it is an emulsifier, and no other oil I know of is. This guar gum/turkey red oil combination works as well as Polysorbate 20, but gets a better safety rating on Skin Deep (0/10, aka as safe as it gets). If you don’t have GG & TRO you can use Polysorbate 20 (about 1 tsp) or use neither and resign yourself to vigorously shaking the bottle before using.
Whisk the essential oils into the guar gum/turkey red oil mixture, and they’ll emulsify. Woo! If you notice them floating on top of the water, whisk in a bit more turkey red oil and they will fully emulsify.Pour the essential oils mixture into the bottle with the apple cider vinegar, and top off with the rest of the water. Shake to combine.
To use, pour some of the mixture over the lower part of your hair (avoid your roots or you’ll look greasy faster), and then rinse out again. You should notice your hair immediately feels smoother if you’re washing your hair with homemade shampoo.
I’ve always wondered about the cider rinse. I’ve been using my bars for over a year now – almost, and I don’t really notice any issues. Mind you, I’m a guy and have very short hair.
Happy to have cleared that up for you 🙂 You do generally want to avoid ACV rinses near the scalp as they definitely accelerate the greasies, so you can probably continue to go without 😉
This sounds great! Can’t wait to try it. Thanks!
Enjoy!
Where did you get the glass bottle? It’s so pretty ^_^
I picked it up at a local antique shop—it’s an old milk bottle 🙂
I recently made my first batch of ‘luxury’ cold process shampoo and was disappointed with the results – my hair felt coarse and it seemed as if there was a residue. So now I may have my reason :-). I’m looking forward to giving it another go after I rustle up some of your hair rinse recipe. Thank you Marie!
I hope the ACV rinse “clears” things up for you 🙂 Thanks for reading!
I wonder if lecithin would work as an emulsifier?
From my experiences with lecithin it needs an oil part to be dissolved in, and is not a complete emusilfier, so it would not be suitable here. I do use it in upcoming recipes, thoguh!
Would this work as a leave-in? Perhaps with added shea butter and additional hair penetrating oils? Though I imagine that would change the amount of emulsifier used?
Thanks for this! Would adding some castile soap in place of the water work against the ph/clarifying benefits of the vinegar??
Hi Alex—soap is basic and ACV is acidic, so you’d be cancelling out both of them 😛 Not recommended 😉
Hey there!!!
Does this need a preservative? Thinking about adding something like this to my line of products.
Hi Monique! Anything with water in it will eventually spoil, but I make this in small amounts and use it quickly, so that’s not an issue for me.
If you sell products made from my recipes, please give me and my blog full credit on all your labels and send a percentage of the proceeds my way—developing all these recipes is not cheap and if you’re going to profit off my efforts, I think it’s only fair that you share 🙂
This is true!!!
🙂
This an oddly passive aggressive response. You make a ton of money off of sponsorships, youtube, patreon, your book, and the excess of ads on your page…
my hair gets quite coarse with acv rinse what can i add? i have frizzy dry hair.Thanks
What are you using to wash your hair? How much are you diluting your ACV? All that said, this rinse should help smooth out and moisturize dry, frizzy hair.
Hi Maire,
My hair is coloured and highlighted, I’ve used a natural shampoo & conditioner on my hair for years. The oils have made my hair very soft, it lacks lust and has no shine and it’s difficult for my hair to hold a style. I only put a small amount of conditioner on the ends to calm fizzing. I was wondering if this rinse might work better for my hair instead of the conditioner? The only thing is that I don’t want to use something like Red Turkey Oil because it derived from animal. Can you help?
Hi Caroline! What do you mean by “natural” shampoo and conditioner? That’s a very broad term 🙂 Your hair shouldn’t lack lustre and shine, though, nor should it be too slippery to hold a style—I’ve noticed exactly the opposite from using natural hair care. If you are using a soap-style shampoo an acidic rinse like this one would definitely be a good addition to your hair care routine, though it will serve a different purpose from the conditioner you’re applying to your ends.
Also, Turkey Red oil is not made from turkeys 😛 It’s made from the seeds of Ricinus communis.
Hi Maire,
By “natural”, I mean a product without sodium laurel sulphate and No Parabens. The oils in my shampoo are Geranium, Lavender & Sandalwood. When I said my hair does not hold a style, I meant the oils make it soft so its limp, difficult to hold a style. Thank you for enlightening me about the red turkey oil, so would i use this rinse before or after conditioning or instead?
Hmm… do you have a brand or a recipe? I’d love to take a look at the full ingredient list and see what’s going on 🙂
It’s just a local home natural product business, The shampoo ingredients listed are; Sodium Sarcosinate, Cocamidopropl Betaine, Distearate, glycerol Cocoate (conditioner) palm kernal & vegetable derivatives, & pure essential oils as mentioned. Thanks for going to all this trouble.
Ok, from my research:
I’m not in love with these ingredients—especially the Cocamidopropyl Betaine. Most of these ingredients double as a conditioning agent, so I could see how you might be overloading on conditioning agents, but you’d usually notice oily hair along with that, so nothing really pops out at me. Perhaps try something else for a month and see if that helps? I have heard that your hair can develop a build up of any specific brand of shampoo or conditioner, but I have no evidence of any kind for that statement. Hope that helps!
Thanks Maire, very interesting information, I think I will have to make time to make my own. Do you have a natural shampoo & conditioner recipe?
I have lots! Just look to the right side bar or the top menu bar—there’s a “hair” section with lots of recipes 🙂
Hi Marie!
There are quite a number of ingredients I cannot get here in China, so I’m looking at thoughts! What about adding a few more hair yummy oils, adding in some e-wax then the ACV solution? My thought on this is the e-wax wouldn’t work too well as I think I would get a clumpy solution.
Do you think it might work? I wish there were other people around here who made their own stuff to bounce ideas off of!
Hi Penny! Unfortunately the ratios (and likely the pH as well) really wouldn’t work here. I’ve made hair serums using emulsifying wax before, but they require so much oil that they’d never make a good hair rinse. Even a dime sized amount can leave your hair so greasy looking you’d have to wash it again 🙁 Why not just leave out the emulsifiers? You’ll have to give the bottle a really good shake before using, but it’s better than trying to make hair lotion 🙂
I have trouble getting a lot of your ingredients too here in Australia, even though we have a New Directions – do you have a list of substitute products that might be helpful? Many many thanks.
Hi Agnes! I have two—one for essential oils and one for carrier oils 🙂 I have a more “miscellaneous” one planned for some time in the future.
On the same subject of ‘difficult’ ingredients, is the red turkey oil just an emulsifier here? Do I leave out and shake? Replace with regular castor oil and shake? Leave out and add polysorbate? Thanks!
Yes, the TRO is the emulsifier (when paired with guar gum). You can replace the two with polysorbate 20, just a volume equal to that of the volume of essential oils.
thanks Marie! I love how many things I learn from you! 🙂
🙂
In regards to you stating that apple cider vinegar rinses are a must for shampoo bars, what are your thoughts about adding acv to shampoo bars? I’ve seen some hot process shampoo bar recipes that add acv after the cook when the lye is neutralized. Do you think it’s as effective as doing a rinse after a shampoo bar?
Here are the URL’s (sorry I don’t know how to link them) to the recipes:
http://annalogy.net/soaping-experiments-shampoo-bars-with-acv/
http://leestrachan.hubpages.com/hub/Shampoo-Bar-Tutorial-Fresh-Aloe-Vera-Apple-Cider-Vinegar
http://www.skincarenaturals.com/recipes/crockpot-shampoo-bar-recipe.shtml
And here’s some that use citric acid for lowering the ph (also sorry for the long comment):
http://milkofparadisesoap.com/2014/02/17/hair-shampoo-take-2-and-a-recipe-for-baby-hair-and-body-soap/
http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/sudsy-shampoo-bars/
Hi Ana! I generally don’t recommend adding acid simply for the sake of adding acid to CP soap, but adding it post-cook to HP is obviously a bit different. I haven’t tried it, but I am a bit curious. Chemically, I wonder how this is different from simply using less lye. If the end result is an end product with a lower pH, the acid is obviously still reacting with the basic soap. Hmm. Sounds like some experimenting fun 🙂
Omg I love this. I love ACV rinses and this seems to be the king of kings!! I just finally ordered lye. I thought I got potassium, but ended up with the other lol. So waiting on lard now and the potassium. Can’t wait to try out shampoo bars, and use this!!! I was wondering if this benefitted other methods too? I usually just use tea or baking soda for hair. Come to think of it I must be doing a lot of water rinses as I can’t think of what I’ve used lately besides dr. Bronners haha. Im sure it’d def help for that though. And a,so, can I use TRO and guar gun in place of solubilizer in all or most of your recipes? I hate the idea of solubizer, though I think I’ve found some natural ones online, and guar gum is a little less unsettling for me, at least if I’m not eating it. Thanks much!!
Hi Colie! I just used this rinse again today and I love it 🙂
Congrats on getting started with some homemade soap! How very exciting 😀 This rinse will work well for anybody who is using something quite basic to wash their hair—Dr. Bronners and baking soda included 🙂 Dr. Bronners is basically just rather expensive homemade liquid soap/shampoo (the two don’t generally vary too much), so I would definitely recommend doing an acidic rinse after using that to wash your hair.
And yes, you can use TRO & GG to replace solubilizer pretty much anywhere 🙂 Do be sparing with the GG in any recipe that is intended to be a mist, though—if you thicken it up too much it will blast out of the mister instead of lightly spraying!
Thanks for reading & DIYing with me!
…so, does that mean homemade rinses, specifically your recipes, Marie, won’t work / can’t be used with (after?) commercially mass-produced shampoos?
Thanks!
I would think it would still work better than most commercial conditioners. Most shampoos are a pH of 7 or higher. Your hair, skin, and scalp prefer a pH of 4. 5 – 5. Most commercial conditioners have silicones in them that do make the hair look pretty but coats the hair and scalp which actually causes damage by clogging pores. And it can only be washed out by harsh detergents or sulphate. Silk peptides not only give a similar effect but it nourishes the hair and scalp. It’s protein. It can also be easily be washed out. The vinegar brings your scalp to your natural ph. All in all that means that you get the beauty of the peptides and with time also makes your hair healthier.
Thanks so much for the clarification, Dawn k! Now, if only silk peptides, and bamboo bioferment, were easy to come by here in the Philippines.
🙂
Thanks, Dawn—bang on!
No, not at all! You can definitely use this rinse after a commercial shampoo and I’d recommend it (yay for silk in the hair, it’s wonderful), but you don’t need it in the same way. A basic shampoo bar raises the scales that make up the hair, and the acidic rinse smooths them back down. Without the acidic rinse you’ll find your hair becomes a coarse, tangled mess really quickly.
How would you substitute solubilizer for GG and TRO in your other recipes?
You’ll need to use a volume of solubilizer (polysorbate 20) that is equal or greater than the volume of oils/oil soluble ingredients in the recipe. So, if there’s about 1 tsp of oils, you’ll need 1 tsp (or more) polysorbate 20. I’d recommend 1:2 to ensure a better mix 🙂
Hey Marie,
I have been doing the ACV/bicarb soda thing for a few months now (totally gonna try this!) and in the last three weeks, my hair has gone way static-y. Like crazy. It looks like I’ve spent an hour in a balloon pit each time I brush my hair. I use a boar bristle brush and everything, and I just want to ask if you had anything similar with your hair? I seem to remember you talking about static in a former post, but i’m buggered if I can find it.
Thanks muchly!
Hi Fleur! I never had a big static problem, but I also never tried washing my hair with baking soda. Have you thought about switching to a homemade shampoo bar instead? That could help.
I do also have this anti-frizz/anti-static hair mist 🙂
I made this last night and used it this morning and my hair has never felt this good. Though I may have gotten a little overexcited with the essential oils (used tea tree, rosemary and lavender which smell surprisingly good together!). Thanks for the awesome recipe!! 🙂
I’m so thrilled you love it! Tea tree, rosemary, and lavender is one of my favourite EO combinations as well 🙂 Thanks for reading & DIYing with me!
Oh My Gosh! Made this Friday evening and used it yesterday. My long, thick, curly hair loved it. I attended a family event last night and received so many compliments on my hair. I added dried shavegrass, marshmallow root, calendula, and chamomile flowers to my water. My hair is so soft and shiny. LOVE IT
I’m so thrilled your hair is in love, Bronwyn 😀
Wondering if there is any way to thicken this up a bit? And what could be used as a preservative?
Hi Colly! For this your easiest thickening options would be more guar gum or xantham gum as other solutions will be oil based an make your hair dirty again. I don’t really have any broad spectrum preservatives I like to recommend at this point as most are dodgy in some way or another, but if it helps I haven’t ever had an ACV rinse spoil on me—I suspect it has something to do with using them quickly, making them in relatively small amounts, and the lower pH.
I just got my silk peptides, but neglected to order phytokeratin, so I’m going to make this recipe without that. Hopefully it will live up to everyone else’s rave reviews, despite that lack.
Enjoy! I look forward to hearing what you think 🙂
Yes, it works wonderfully. Amazing the difference 1/2 tsp of silk makes. I used camomile tea in place of water, and swapped the frankincense for rosemary. Because I have lots of solubolizer, I used that instead of GG and turkey red. Anyway, as I said, it works wonderfully.
Fantastic! I’m so thrilled 🙂
This recipe sounds amazing! Do you sell any of what you make? I couldn’t find a link anywhere, but I’d really like to try a few of your creations before investing in the ingredients.
Hi Sarah! I don’t sell anything I make, sorry.
Thank you for the recipe. I was hoping you would know if there is a build up of silk protein or it is easy to wash out. I use soap nuts to wash my hair. It doesn’t wash oils out of my hair but cleans well. I haven’t tried your recipe yet.
Hi Dawn! I have never experienced a silk build up—it’s water soluble and washes out easily 🙂
Thank you so much. I really like your site and I look forward to going through It in the weekend
Thanks, Dawn! Enjoy 🙂
Hi Marie!
You’re so amazing. I washed my hair with the gingerbread soap for the first time this morning and rinsed with this recipe. Holy cow! I love how my hair feels. I have a lot of curly hair that goes down nearly to my bra band. It dryed really quickly and is bouncy as heck.
It really is a testament to the quality of EVERYTHING else I’ve tried on this site that I would try something different to wash and care for my hair. I have cried in salon chairs. Hair is a big deal. But I don’t like palm oil products, and sulfates and parabens. I don’t trust corporations, and I’m cheap. So those are my reasons. Plus, again, every thing else I use on my face and body and hair is homemade. Why not this (and the hair color request I put in?)?
It seems like all the non-poo people are trying to make the time between washing their hair go longer. I don’t understand why? I don’t relish the idea of having my hair greasy for a day. Why would I not just wash my hair to prevent that? Maybe these are dumb questions, but I”m truly not getting it.
Thanks again!
Hi Kathie! I’m so thrilled that you’re loving your first steps into natural hair care 😀 I stretched out my washes for a few reasons; the convenience of washing my hair less, and to let my scalp calm down its oil production. I’m not as rigorous about it as I used to be, but I still won’t wash my hair two days in a row (and, more importantly, I don’t ever need to).
Thank you for this!
A couple of questions.
1st. Do I need to do a Water+ACV rinse if I am using this? Or does this replace the ‘need’ for a basic rinse? If I still need the basic water/acv rinse, do I use this product before or after? … Like: Shampoo Bar, then Silk ACV Rinse, then water/acv rinse ?
2nd. I want to send this to a friend. How long will it last with no preservatives? If I were to add a preservative, how would I do that? What would I use? Vit E?
3rd. Do you think this would last okay in a plastic bottle?
4th. How much should a person use if they have medium thickness, and medium length. Just a palm full?
Thank you!
Hi Monica! This rinse is your water + ACV rinse, it just has a few extra goodies in it 🙂 All we’re really concerned with is the pH of the rinse, and it’s still acidic.
I’d give this about 2–3 weeks before spoilage, but that’s very hard to say for sure as there are a lot of variables. Vitamin E is not a preservative (it’s an antioxidant), so you’d want to use a real broad spectrum preservative. I write more about this in my FAQ.
I store all my rinses in a squeezy plastic bottle and it’s totally fine. I don’t recommend anything that could shatter in your shower, so plastic is really the best option.
I probably use 3–4 tbsp through my hair. Just pour it over your hair—you’ll go nuts trying to apply a palm full of water to your hair 🙂
I have tussah silk – do you think this will work if I heat some of the water to dissolve it?
It should, just pull it apart as well to help it dissolve 🙂
I just did some research and it looks like phytokeratin and silk peptides are both water soluble but I wanted to double check with you. Is the emulsifier necessary for the essential oils but not the phytokeratin and silk? Or do you need the emulsifier for the whole mix?
I already use a vinegar/water mix and I’d like to keep it to as few ingredients as possible, but it would be nice to add just a bit more silkiness to my hair.
Thank you! And I love your blog, thanks for doing all the science-y bits so I can be lazy ^-^
You are correct about the solubility 🙂
Do you have a recommendation on where to purchase the ingredients? I’ve tried a water-acv rinse twice now and my hair feels like straw and I’d love to add something to make it feel luxurious. Thanks!
Check out my giant “Where to Buy Ingredients” resource list 🙂
You hair shouldn’t feel like straw, though :/ What are you washing your hair with? How strong is your ACV rinse?
Sorry if these questions have already been answered, I just didn’t have time to read through all the comments. U mentioned that if u use a shampo bar u need a ACV rinse,what if ur using home made liquid shampo? What could be different (if anything) between LS and bar soaps? Also I’m really excited about the red turkey oil! I’m assuming about 109 people have already asked u about the stuff but if not I’d love some info on it. Is if possible to somehow swap out something like polawax or E- wax for it? I’m assuming no but a girl can dream right! TIA!
Hey Maggie! The answers to both of your questions are in the FAQ—here and here 🙂 As an extension on answer 1; the reason you need an acidic rinse with homemade soap/shampoo is because of the high pH. Liquid soap also has a high pH, so nothing changes about needing an acidic rinse.
This is a beautiful rinse. You can also switch it up by using lemon juice with water.
Yup, definitely! I did a rinse with lemon juice here 🙂 As long as your rinse is mildly acidic that’s all that matters, which is great for people who hate the smell of ACV.
Hi Marie,
How about the sharp smell of vinegar? Do the EOs cover it enough?
In our shops I see simply “apple vinegar” (5%), I wonder if it’s the same as “Apple cider vinegar”, any ideas?
Thanks!
Hi Jevgeni! I find the EOs cover it enough for me, but honestly, the vinegar scent lasts for all of three seconds when I’m rinsing it through my hair, so it really doesn’t bother me.
I’m not sure of apple vinegar is the same thing as apple cider vinegar, but as long as it’s acidic (and it would be, of course), it’ll work 🙂
Thanks, Marie!
I wonder if there’s an Eo or amix that can complement apple vunegar’s smell. Something fruity, perhaps?
You could try citrus essential oils (those are the only fruity essential oils), but I honestly don’t find apple cider vinegar to smell fruity… it just smells vinegar-y haha.
If I wanted to mix the water-liquids with more oil (argan or jojoba) to make an acidic conditioner-type-thing, how much emulsifier and oil would I need for 100g of liquid? Is it a 50/50 type split or a 75/25? I noticed the body lotions are closer to 75/25. Would I just be making a lotion for hair instead of body?
Check out this recipe for pretty much exactly what you’re looking for 🙂
Hey Marie,
Where do you buy phytokeratin? I can’t find it anywhere.. :'(
Unfortunately NDA has discontinued phytokeratin (boo), but you can purchase VegKeratin from Lotion Crafter that looks to be the same thing. I haven’t tried it as the shipping to Canada is appalling, but from the description it is plant derived keratin, which is exactly what phytokeratin is. Hope that helps and happy making!
Hi all,
I’m not sure if this is exactly the same (due to the “PF” in the name, which I don’t know stands for what) but Saffire Blue has phytokeratin, and it is very affordable. Hope that helps!
http://www.saffireblue.ca/shop/botanical-extracts/phytokeratin-pf
That looks like the same thing! Thank you 🙂
Lotion Crafter do not ship to my country, but I found another source on your “Where to Buy Ingredients” list! 🙂 Thanks!
Awesome!
Hi Marie,
Would this guar gum/turkey red oil combo work as an emulsifier in other recipes, such as a cleansing oil like this one?
https://www.bustle.com/articles/107372-a-diy-oil-cleanser-that-rinses-totally-clean-with-water
Super excited about a safer emulsifier.
Thanks!
Laura
It’ll work in theory, though I’m not sure if the amounts listed in that recipe will work with TRO; you may need more or less. And remember, despite TRO seeming more “natural” than Polysorbate 80, it is quite irritating to the skin when used in high concentrations, so it may not be a safer alternative in this project. Remember, natural does not mean safe! Also, don’t use GG in a 100% oil based recipe; it won’t dissolve!
Marie we love this rinse! My husband and I are both using it. I took your suggestion and made a tea with horsetail, calendula, chamomile and lavender. I also added a few drops of argan oil. My question is whether or not I can substitute citric acid for the vinegar and in what quantity elative to this recipe. Hubby disliked the vinegar smell. Thanks for converting us both to poo bars and rinse. I find a huge difference in the amount of hair in my tub and hair brush! Thank you for your excellent job of educating and the awesome recipes! I have used several as a jumping off point and have learned so much from you!
Yay! I’m so glad. You can use citric acid instead, but I’m not really sure how much you’d want to use off the top of my head; if you have some pH strips I’d check the pH of this rinse, and then use that as a guide to figure out how much citric acid to use 🙂
Hi Marie! Can I substitute, or just ommit the fitokeratin?
Yup, you can just leave it out 🙂
Hi Marie,
I have curly type 3B hair. Frim what I have been reading I think my hair haslow porosity, so I star using the low porosity shampoo and conditioner from Shea Moisture. My dry and frizzy hair improved and then I started making my own conditioner (like your recipe for monoi de tahiti hair conditioner but with jojoba, argan and hemp oils and without silk and keratin). For the first months it was really good but know my hair it’s becoming a lit bit dry. Should I use an acidic rinse?
Hey Anabela! I don’t think an acidic rinse is the solution to your drier feeling hair—acidic rinses help counteract the effects of high pH hair products, and from the sounds of it you aren’t using any. You might just need a heavier conditioner with more oils and humectants—something like this. My hair is type 1B, so you can imagine most of the conditioner recipes I develop will be a lot lighter than what might work best for your hair! Good luck and happy making!
Hi Marie, I made your silk apple cider vinegar hair rinse!Should it be watery? Also, I see yours is a nice white creamy color and mine is kind of an ugly yellowish off white. Also, it took a long time for the guar gum to finally dissolve into the rest of the liquid… I wonder why? I mixed it til the vows came home, it did, however, finally incorporate, I shook it up every time I walked by.
I have been using it, the first two times I didn’t use enough and rinsed it out too thoroughly because I didn’t seem to notice any difference, the 3rd time I used lots and didn’t rinse real thoroughly, my hair was not too fluffy or frizzy, or oily or anything undesirable. The 4th and 5th time I washed as usual with shampoo bar , rinsed with abc rinse, rinsed with water, towel dried and then used about 2 tblsps spreading evenly and left it in my hair, it is very soft and manageable! I have short grey coarse curly hair.
A quick up date on leaving the rinse on: while it did make my hair soft and manageable, my scalp started to feel a bit itchy, so as a leave on I would keep it off my scalp.
I’m still waiting for a report from an African friend who I gave the other bottle to, to try it, I will update when she lets me know.
Otherwise, it does, overall, keep my hair tamed down from getting the huge fluff ball look it usually gives me using bar shampoo without this rinse!
Hi Marie! Would PEG40 Castor work as a sub for the Turkey Red in this recipe? If so, how much? 1:1?
It should! I’d start with a 1:1 swap and go from there—if it splits, you’ll need to add more.
Awesome. I’m going to try this. I made this back in February and mixed some clay into it. I had it in a 16 oz bottle & used it between shampoos and my hair LOVED it. It smoothed, softened & cleaned my hair beautifully.
Hooray! I’m thrilled to hear it 🙂
Hi! I just made this and noticed that the phytokeratin and silk peptides are not in the instructions. After I noticed this I just added them into the bottle and shook it all up again. I hope this is right.