Au Naturale Shampoo

At the risk of sounding like a totally crazy health nut, I am writing about saving on beauty products.  It is interesting to me that some of the more healthy and "green" products as a bonus are also much more cost effective.  It is also good to know that many of the products we buy can easily be substituted by combining a few ingredients that we have in our pantry.  I have been researching what ingredients are in commercial shampoo.  I'm skeptical of any products that most of the big companies put out as they tend to add ingredients to their products and food which are not good for the consumer.  It turns out shampoo is no exception.  While none of the ingredients are life threatening, they certainly are not helpful and supportive of the way our body is designed.  It seems that they basically coat your hair and scalp in many cases with mineral oil while stripping your hair and scalp of the natural oils which nourish the hair.  This coating of oil also prevents your body from getting rid of toxins as it was designed to do.  Because of the damaging effect on our hair, it becomes necessary to use conditioner with every wash.  There are other ingredients in shampoo that are questionable at best.  If interested, you can read more at:  http://www.natural-forces.com/essays/poofree.htm

The following are a couple of different recipes for making your own all natural shampoo solutions.  I have not made the big switch yet but I intend to experiment with both of these recipes in the next few weeks and will report back.  If you are brave enough, join me!

Shampoo: 
1T baking soda
1c of warm water
Shake up, pour over hair and wash as usual.  For longer hair you may need slightly more soda but not more than 3T. 

Conditioner:
1-2T apple cider vinegar mixed with 1c of warm water.  Apply to wet hair and rinse with cold water.

Your hair may go through "detox" for the first few washes but stick to it.

Herbal Shampoo: (http://www.methodsofhealing.com/how-do-you-make-your-own-shampoo/)
4 oz. of castile soap any scent that is available
About half an ounce of rosemary
About half an ounce of lavender
About half an ounce of sage
About half an ounce of nettles
2000 mg of what is known as Organic sulphur or MSM
An empty plastic bottle of around 8 ounces

Put all the herbs in a jar which has a lid. In the mean time take around 2 cups of distilled water and bring it to a boil. Add around 3 heaped tablespoons of the mixture of herbs into the boiling water. Let it rest for around half an hour or more. Add the organic sulphur to this mixture, after it has cooled down. When the organic sulphur has melted, which should be around 30 to 40 minutes later, use a strainer and strain the herb mixture. Put this into a bowl and add around two to two and a half cups of herb tea that has been strained. Add this into the plastic bottle. The 4 ounce of castile soap needs to be added into this bottle as well. Put the cap on and shake well. And Voila your shampoo is ready to be used.