You may recall in this post on January 1st, I wrote about my plans for beauty use and simplification. I thought I would update everyone here on what has been happening.
Sad to say I neglected my skin a tad and didn't use Pond's quite nearly like I should have been and boy can I tell! Being that I wear little to no makeup anymore, sometimes it was just easier to wash with soap and water or breeze with witch hazel on a cotton ball. It's actually getting cold and dry here in the land of Kenosha and my skin is horrible. Dry, tight, and flaky. Pond's today for sure!!
As for my hair, I am happy that I stuck with lemons! I even tried the baking powder wash! I am in love with the combination of the two! However I believe I will only be able to use this combination once a month. As you'll read in a bit. The combination kept my hair and scalp perfectly clean! Sure my hair wasn't fragrantly fresh as with a regular scented smooth, but it didn't stink! It didn't smell at all. My sets benefited from this combination as well! My hair stayed curled for a week and looked amazing with just a brush out! I only had to reset my front pin curls every other day and I was good to go!
I did, however, notice that after the 3rd lemon rinse (1 in Dec, 2 in Jan) that my hair did feel a tad dry. Not dried out... not even fried... just a bit too clean (if that is possible). In the original post, dear reader, Sissy mentioned using coconut oil and that reminded me... I HAD COCONUT OIL! So on my 3rd wash of January (first 2 washes of January being 2 baking soda washes and 2 lemon rinses) I decided to do a baking soda wash and a coconut oil condition. For this I washed as normal and then heavily coated my hair in coconut oil. I put on a plastic shower cap and sat under my bonnet dryer for an hour before I rinsed out the oil with just water.* The next day my hair was... eh. I was hoping for softness that only the most lavish conditioner commercials seem to have, but my hair was just eh. So I waited one more day and it somehow turned into a grease ball. Maybe that is a good thing? However the next day I couldn't take the greasy roots and the dry ends and hopped in the shower and did a baking soda wash. No rinse. The day after that my hair was dry and crunchy! Perhaps I didn't wash the baking soda out enough, so later that night I tried to wash out more with just water. It wasn't crunchy any more, but you can feel that there is still baking soda there. What the heck? Is this stuff glue? Hahahaha Looks like it is a lemon rinse for me again. My last two washes of the month, I ditched the baking soda all together. This definitely helped. My last wash I did use a regular shampoo with the lemon rinse. The shampoo fluffs and poofs and frizzes my hair far too much for my liking. So as I enter February, I will be on the hunt for a better "shampoo". I will baking soda wash it once and keep the lemon rinses for each time, but will still experiment with finding the right combination for me and my hair. In the end I am surprised what a difference the way I cleanse my hair makes with the way my styles come out.
The hardest task for me was simplification! I did end up tossing 2 bottles of lotion that I knew I would never use, but kept forever and just told myself to use up. In the trash they went. The back of my toilet looks less crowded already! I am also using up my body sprays to get them the hell out, but I always lag on lotions! I completely forget to use them! I didn't buy anything else as far as beauty/health products were concerned but my sister did give me some LUSH soap for Christmas, so I can't be too mad. :) It is LUSH afterall!
So how boring was this post? I didn't even think to take photos of my hair cleansing journey. But not wanting to be a complete blog sinner... here is a picture of Marilyn. She is much prettier to look at than I am at the moment.
*This will make your tub SLIPPERY! Please be careful and clean shower or tub thoroughly after.
Sad to say I neglected my skin a tad and didn't use Pond's quite nearly like I should have been and boy can I tell! Being that I wear little to no makeup anymore, sometimes it was just easier to wash with soap and water or breeze with witch hazel on a cotton ball. It's actually getting cold and dry here in the land of Kenosha and my skin is horrible. Dry, tight, and flaky. Pond's today for sure!!
As for my hair, I am happy that I stuck with lemons! I even tried the baking powder wash! I am in love with the combination of the two! However I believe I will only be able to use this combination once a month. As you'll read in a bit. The combination kept my hair and scalp perfectly clean! Sure my hair wasn't fragrantly fresh as with a regular scented smooth, but it didn't stink! It didn't smell at all. My sets benefited from this combination as well! My hair stayed curled for a week and looked amazing with just a brush out! I only had to reset my front pin curls every other day and I was good to go!
I did, however, notice that after the 3rd lemon rinse (1 in Dec, 2 in Jan) that my hair did feel a tad dry. Not dried out... not even fried... just a bit too clean (if that is possible). In the original post, dear reader, Sissy mentioned using coconut oil and that reminded me... I HAD COCONUT OIL! So on my 3rd wash of January (first 2 washes of January being 2 baking soda washes and 2 lemon rinses) I decided to do a baking soda wash and a coconut oil condition. For this I washed as normal and then heavily coated my hair in coconut oil. I put on a plastic shower cap and sat under my bonnet dryer for an hour before I rinsed out the oil with just water.* The next day my hair was... eh. I was hoping for softness that only the most lavish conditioner commercials seem to have, but my hair was just eh. So I waited one more day and it somehow turned into a grease ball. Maybe that is a good thing? However the next day I couldn't take the greasy roots and the dry ends and hopped in the shower and did a baking soda wash. No rinse. The day after that my hair was dry and crunchy! Perhaps I didn't wash the baking soda out enough, so later that night I tried to wash out more with just water. It wasn't crunchy any more, but you can feel that there is still baking soda there. What the heck? Is this stuff glue? Hahahaha Looks like it is a lemon rinse for me again. My last two washes of the month, I ditched the baking soda all together. This definitely helped. My last wash I did use a regular shampoo with the lemon rinse. The shampoo fluffs and poofs and frizzes my hair far too much for my liking. So as I enter February, I will be on the hunt for a better "shampoo". I will baking soda wash it once and keep the lemon rinses for each time, but will still experiment with finding the right combination for me and my hair. In the end I am surprised what a difference the way I cleanse my hair makes with the way my styles come out.
The hardest task for me was simplification! I did end up tossing 2 bottles of lotion that I knew I would never use, but kept forever and just told myself to use up. In the trash they went. The back of my toilet looks less crowded already! I am also using up my body sprays to get them the hell out, but I always lag on lotions! I completely forget to use them! I didn't buy anything else as far as beauty/health products were concerned but my sister did give me some LUSH soap for Christmas, so I can't be too mad. :) It is LUSH afterall!
So how boring was this post? I didn't even think to take photos of my hair cleansing journey. But not wanting to be a complete blog sinner... here is a picture of Marilyn. She is much prettier to look at than I am at the moment.
I personally love coconut oil, but I find that if I mix it with some olive oil I get a smoother/shinier more conditioned feel. Some people do find it makes their hair crunchy. If I really want a good conditioning treatment I mix condition and olive/coconut oil. There is also some great info out there on mixing coconut oil into your shampoo (something about it being able to penetrate the hair shaft) which gives the hair all the goodness, without it feeling all lanky and oily. I ran out of coconut oil over Christmas, but was using the oil shampoo method for a few months before and my hair was crazy shiny and soft! Apparently the oil shampoo method was used by Veronica Lake. I follow it with a rinse of apple cider vinegar.
ReplyDeleteps - post is not boring at all and you are GORGEOUS! I also need to message you back about the hat on etsy (too much going on for my brain to cope).
ReplyDeleteI have switched to using a handmade shampoo bar from etsy, I LOVE it. Rinse with apple cider vinegar/water solution as recommended by the soap maker. www.etsy.com/shop/FreshAsaDaisySoaps
ReplyDeleteI LOVE that you are testing out natural hair products. The beauty industry adds so much nonsense to our everyday products - what's a girl to do?
ReplyDelete