You Put WHAT In Your Hair?!

Everyone always seems to have SOMETHING to say about your hair. Whether you’ve got long hair, short hair, straight hair, curly hair, or anything in between, there are always ways to improve on the way you take care of your hair. And, as a girl with long, thick, curly hair, I love trying different tactics to make my mane feel and look better.

While experimenting with different shampoos and conditioners can be fun, I’ve found it less and less thrilling over the years as I’ve started to find my favorites (and least favorites too!). There are only so many different types of shampoo and conditioner out there, and finding a shampoo or conditioner that you really dislike is disappointing and expensive! So, to avoid costly experimentation, here are a couple of bizarre things that you can put in your hair to change up your routine and keep looking flawless!

It’s Fall: Apple Cider {vinegar}

Apple cider vinegar is pretty much a miracle substance in the health and beauty worlds. It’s good to eat and good to apply almost anywhere, and this includes your hair. It’s particularly good to mix into shampoos, since it can help with scalp itchiness or dryness. Apple cider vinegar is also a powerful anti-bacterial agent, so it helps keep you scalp clear of infections.

It also helps regulate the pH level of your scalp. I didn’t even know scalps had their own pH’s! But, it makes sense that if this pH is regulated, your hair texture changes to be smoother and softer, which is another benefit to apple cider vinegar shampoos.

There are also lots of ways to get apple cider vinegar incorporated into your hair-care routine. I know I like to mix it with my normal shampoo, just to give it a little extra kick! But there are also lots of options to buy apple cider vinegar based shampoos and lots of fantastic recipes that will allow you to make your own!

Honey Honey, How It Thrills Me

I know it sounds crazy, because honey is mad sticky and WHY would anyone want sticky hair?! Hear me out. Honey is fantastic for your hair, especially if you’re looking to grow some seriously luscious locks. For starters, honey is an emollient, which means it seals moisture into your hair and keeps breakages from happening. These hair breakages tend to be a main component in slowed hair growth, and are especially prominent in individuals who chemically treat or dye their hair often!

Honey also keeps your hair from falling out by strengthening your hair follicles (cough cough, gentlemen). It cleans out your hair follicles by removing impurities, allowing for unhindered hair growth and a lowered risk for infections. And – get this – honey can even re-stimulate hair follicles that are dormant, and encourage new growth (cough cough, GENTLEMEN!).

Again, there are lots of ways to use honey in your routine without ending up with a head full of sticky hair! Honey and sage makes for a great combination in deep conditioners, and honey can be combined with lots of other hair-helpers in ways that let you personalize hair masks just for you!

Oil-It-Up!

There are approximately a million different types of oils that are great to supplement the natural oils your hair produces, but I’ve chosen a few to talk about here. For starters, did anyone know that you can get essential oils from tress? I definitely didn’t until I started reading about cypress essential oil, and how crazy good it is for hair growth. So good, it got it’s own whole paper on NCBI, and that’s really how you know that’s what you want if you’re trying to grow some crazy long hair!

Cedarwood oil is another tree-based essential oil that will help soothe your scalp and get your hair growing. It also helps if you’re anything like I was when I was a kid: long tangled hair and a super sensitive scalp. Cedarwood oil has been used for a long time as a pain-reliever, and this applied to sensitive-scalped-people too!

This is also a great essential oil to use during the summer since its strong woodsy scent is a natural insect repellent. Gorgeous hair and no mosquito bites? Sign me up!

Finally, we’ve been talking a lot about the tops of our heads as if thats the only important part of having gorgeous hair. The ends of hair can be so easily damaged, yet our hair-ends make a huge difference in the look and structural integrity of our hair! Sandalwood oil has been found to help remedy dead ends, and has been the buzz of natural beauty circles lately to be a possible “cure for baldness”? Sounds a little crazy to me, but I’ll support gorgeous hair no matter where it comes from! Check out some of the articles about it, and you can decide what you think.

While I wouldn’t go so far to call it a “cure for baldness”, I would say its a fabulous little extra to work into a weekly or monthly hair routine for everyone, bald or otherwise!

Coo-Coo for Coconuts

Coconuts are currently my favorite food for a variety of reasons. They taste good, they smell good, AND it turns out you can put pretty much any type of coconut-liquid you want into your hair!

To start, coconut oil is great for your hair, skin and body. In your hair particularly, is can function great as a deep conditioner, detangler, or a dandruff-defeater! Whether you mix it into a shampoo, conditioner, or just apply it to your hair after a good washing, it’ll undoubtably leave your hair soft, shiny, and looking like new.

Next, you can use coconut water in your hair as a method of detangling and minimizing frizz. This can be especially useful for people with wild curly hair, or anyone that lives somewhere constantly humid. Plus, coconut water is a lighter alternative to coconut oil. The oil can feel a little heavy, especially on thinner or more fragile hair. Coconut water is a lighter version with all the same benefits and then some! Just make sure the coconut water you choose to put in your hair is free of flavoring or sugars that sometimes get added to coconut drinking water.

Finally, you can use coconut milk as a pre-hair-washing scalp massager. Coconut milk has the power to replenish your hairs’ nutrients that might have been lost throughout the day, and all it takes is a little scalp massage and a 20 minute rest with it in your hair before a shower to get your hair back to looking flouncy and flirty again!