Men, heads up, this is a beauty post. You’ve been warned. 
For the past two years, during the winter I have been experiencing a new phenomenon for me. Dry and itchy scalp (sorry if this is gross). The thing is, with my hair, in trying to keep it healthy and long, I cannot use traditional shampoos without looking like this:
So I got online and made an interesting discovery. Our skin is slightly acidic, as is our hair. I use apple cider vinegar everyday on my skin as a toner, but it never occurred to me it would be good for my hair and scalp.
I have poured it on my scalp twice now and it has helped quite a bit. I think it will take a few more times to really help things, but so far it is wonderful and it is cheap! I would also recommend mixing some brown sugar into your conditioner and rubbing it gently on your scalp after you do the apple cider vinegar. This feels wonderful and it helps to open the hair follicles as well. This will help with hair loss (which is an unfortunate side affect of aging, even for women. We don’t tend to notice it as much in other women as we lose it everywhere, not just in certain spots like men do). Take a look at the whole link I posted as there are recommendations for more than just scalp treatments, but conditioning as well. I can’t wait to try some more of their recipes.
I get Braggs Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (this link is the cheapest I have ever seen it. Bulk is even better) and I always try to get it from the grocery store. I have seen it at GNC, though it is $3-4 more there. If your hair (and/or nails) still need some extra help, I recommend a biotin supplement. You can purchase straight biotin, and while it is much cheaper, it did not work as well for me as the Hair and Nail formula that one can buy from GNC (my hair falls out much less and my nails are amazingly strong now, while before they were very weak and flakey.)
Try argan oil. It’s obscenely expensive (like 4-6 $per ounce) but it absorbs into the hair shaft instead of just coating it. I use it on my face, hair and hands; I shower and shampoo at night and rub a few drops of argan oil into my hair. By morning it has completely absorbed INTO the hair – no heavy greasiness. Incidentally I also dump about a pint of water + a half-ish teaspoon of glycerine on my hair, let it sit for a minute or two and then rinse, after shampoo before conditioner. Most conditioner does not “nourish” hair; it smoothes the cuticle and coats the hair shaft. (Cold water also makes the cuticle lay smooth.) Vinegar removes residue from hard water and hair products, and I use it once a week; it makes healthy hair soft and smooth, but it doesn’t moisturize dry hair.
(Avocado oil also absorbs into the hair shaft, but not as well, and it does end up looking greasy.)
I tried baking soda + apple cider vinegar, but I couldn’t get all the baking soda out so it was kinda gross. But some people swear by that instead of shampoo.
I’ve found that using Chi Silk Infusion + a straight iron does wonders for my poofy hair. That Chi stuff is like magic.
I’ve never tried apple cider vinegar in my hair before, that stuff smells nasty, I’m not sure my husband would go to bed with me if I used it regularly. Is this just a joke to see what we will try, I think this is a joke and I’m not falling for it. Hahahaha!
Suz,
I’ve heard of argan oil but have to try it. Having curly hair, the ends always get dry and I would’t have to get it cut as often if I could keep them hydrated better. I will have to try that.
Also, if you hair gets very dry, you can put the glycerine straight on it, though I’m not sure of all the steps off the top of my head. Aloe vera is quite good as well and I plan on steeping it with Witch Hazel and using that as a rinse. It also helps to keep ones hair from falling out and keeps the follicles clean.
RPW,
I use a shampoo called Deva Curls. While it is quite expensive, I only *wash* my hair about once a month. Usually, I use conditioner and rub my scalp very well with my hands. It keeps my hair much more hydrated and keeps the frizz down. Shampoo, even the so called good shampoo, kills my hair.
I don’t straighten my hair at all. I had a stylist do it once shortly after I got married and it was awful. An afghan hound had more body than my hair. In the last couple of years, I finally found out how to take care of my curly hair and it’s so much easier to care for now. Now, I just like to see how well I can care for it as the healthier it is the longer I can go between cuttings. I have it down to about 4 cuts a year. Still not nearly as long as I wish it was. I just keeps getting curlier!
Sis,
Nope. No joke. I usually pour it on in the morning and wrap it in a towel for 30 minutes. Then I condition as usual (Scrubbing my scalp then a regular condition). After that, you can’t smell it at all. Some people dilute it and spray it on before they style, but once it’s dry you can’t small it at all.
Regular intake of raw milk and bone broth has made my nails insanely long and hard and my hair now grows faster and has gotten way curlier.
Oh, you have curly hair too! Why do you cut it at all? I see the one blessing of curly hair being that cutting it is totally unnecessary since it dries differently every time and unevenness/shape is irrelevant. I haven’t been to the hairdresser in 14 years, and had gone only twice before that.
Phedre,
I need to start making my own broth more often. I make chicken broth every time I have a chicken, but I’ve never made beef. Do you have a good recipe?
You are lucky on the raw milk front. It is illegal where I am unless I buy a cow, seriously (Farmers actually sell *parts* of cows so people can buy it. It amounts to a market share but it is obscenely expensive)
You are very lucky you don’t have to cut it! I don’t cut it for shape, rather for health. My ends get dry and scraggly if I don’t. Then it frizzes horribly.
I found this book and it has helped my hair a ton.
For beef broth you ideally want some nice big marrow bones as well as a piece of something more gelatinous, like a joint or the foot of some animal (chicken feet work too). But if all you can get is marrow bones, that’s ok too. These should be wide marrow bones, not the thin ones you would roast to eat the marrow out of. Anyway, stick them in a pot with some carrot, bring to a simmer, skim, add spices (I just use bay leaf and peppercorns, sometimes coriander seeds). Add a couple spoonfuls of vinegar. You should ALWAYS do this when you make broth from any animal because it helps draw the nutrients from the bones.
Then cook away. I pressure cook for 2.5-3.5 hours which is roughly equivalent to 10 hours’ regular simmering.
If you’re lucky and there’s meat on the bones make sure to pick it off. It’s really delicious and highly digestible. If any cartilage has gelatinised you can mince it really finely and put it into soup as well. Extra nutrition, totally undetectable.
For raw milk it’s the same thing here. I bought an 1/8th share of a cow. It was $250 for the duration of the cow’s life (6 years) so it only works out to about $40 a year.
I can’t be bothered about my ends (I don’t know if they’re just not too bad or if other people care more than me) but I know that women who are really dedicated to growing their hair long do what’s called Search&Destroy, where you just sit there with some scissors and snip off your split hairs one by one. If you do it once a week or so it tends to keep things at a consistently good level and you can avoid trips to the hairdresser’s.
I might have to try that search and destroy method.
Thank you very much for the broth recipe as well. It sounds wonderful!