Honey as shampoo??

[Guest Katia]

I really want to go natural with all my products, and want to get rid of the SLS in shampoos as well.....but I've tried the baking soda shampoo thing several times and I really don't like the results.

 

Ok. I have to qualify that. I tried 1 TBS baking soda mixed with water last night and just rubbed it into my scalp. Rinsed well.

 

Then dipped/soaked the ends of my hair in a mixture of 4 cups water/3 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar/2 drops Rosemary Essential Oils/4 drops Lavender Essential Oil. Then I slowly poured this over my head, working in it well with my finger tips. Rinsed well. The oils got rid of the unpleasant vinegar smell.

 

Lastly, I poured a small amount of Sweet Almond Oil with Lavender Essential Oil mixed in into the palms of my hands and worked it gently into the ends of my hair (ears down). I tied it up and let it soak in good while I showered/shaved. Then I rinsed it well.

 

Today, my hair is lovely! I'm really surprised. Every time I have tried the baking soda shampoo/vinegar rinse my hair has been nasty. So....maybe I've hit on something?

 

ANYhow......all that to say; today I was reading a site that said honey is not only good for washing/cleansing your skin, but also for cleansing your hair! Really? Has anyone tried this? Wouldn't it give you greasy/sticky hair? Or not?

 

The site said 1 TBS honey mixed into 4 cups warm water and a few drops of lemon juice. Pour over head, gently work into hair with finger-tips and then do NOT rinse out (???) Will cleanse your hair/scalp.

 

I think I would rinse it. No?

 

Anyone?

[Parrothead]

I don't imagine it would be any worse than milk and honey shampoo (2TBS in 1/4 cup whole milk blended in a blender. Wash as normal, and rinse.)

[Heidi7Sue]

Bees like me enough as it is. I'd rinse.

 

As for what you did yesterday with your hair...all that oil...do you have dry skin? I bet it smelled heavenly, but I'm not sure I could get away with it.

[Peela]

I have gone back to baking soda, with a lemon juice rinse, because my scalp was itching with any shampoo, even SLS free. It really seems to be good for my hair, but sometimes my hair gets a bit dry so I am using a small amount of conditioner on the ends after using the baking soda and lemon juice. However, now you have me thinking that honey might make a good conditioner- althought I would probabyl rinse, and use the lemon juice rinse afterwards.

Worth a try!

[LaxMom]

Honey is a great conditioner, but a drop will do. My hair is naturally dry and frizzy and I've made the mistake of adding more than a drop of honey to the baking soda paste... whew! Even with lots of rinsing, my hair turned out heavy and dirty feeling. Generally, I just use it on the ends instead.

 

In general, I use the baking soda paste, rinse with a little apple cider vinegar in water, rinse under the shower, then do a final rinse with a cool herb tea (chamomile, mint, rose, whatever I care to concoct). Coconut oil is great as a leave-in conditioner/styling product for me.

 

It depends on your hair type, though. If you have straight hair that tends to go limp, coconut oil might be too heavy, and you would want to play with the amount of acv you use, as that can weigh down the hair, as well.

[Firefly]

I think honey is better suited to conditioning. Once in a while I do a deep conditioning with it (saturate the head with honey, wrap in a shower cap and leave on for a few hours before thoroughly rinsing) and my hair is always soooo soft afterward. YMMV!

[forty-two]

I use honey as a face wash - love it! Leaves my face feeling smooth and hydrated.

 

I've experimented with honey for washing my hair, but not hit on the perfect technique yet (I'll have to try the ways mentioned here :)). The fact that it is more of a conditioner is a plus to me - I've been shampoo-free for several years. I'd rinse, though.

 

ETA: honey mixed with aloe and conditioner makes an *awesome* deep conditioner, one that actually works well for conditioner-only washing, as well (here is an informative link).

Edited July 22, 2010 by forty-two

[Guest Katia]

Wow. Thanks for all the ideas and advice! I am going to experiment and see what I can come up with. This is so much fun!!

[ChrisOR]

I have naturally curly hair, and honey doesn't really do much for it. I think honey attracts more moisture to the hair shaft, increasing the chance for frizz in a curly girl. I wish I could remember more about how that works. I read about it once upon a time on a blog for curly girls and didn't save the info.

[LostSurprise]

Generally with curly you want all the internal moisture you can get. Honey doesn't create moisture, it just protects and conserves what's already there.

 

Honey is a humectant and so makes a good conditioner. I've used it many times along with my conditioner. Of course my hair is straight and fine so that means I never use it on the scalp and rinse well.

 

I wouldn't use honey with oils. That would overwhelm your hair.

 

thelonghaircommunity.com has a lot of information on their forum. Some people there are interested in natural hair care.

Edited July 22, 2010 by LostSurprise
forget something

[smrtmama]

I don't know what color your hair is, but I sometimes use coffee as a rinse instead of vinegar. It still balances out the baking soda, but adds a beautiful sheen to my natural hair color.

[ChrisOR]

Yay, I had time to go searching for that article. I think haircare is like homeschooling ... what works for one might not work for another. The website I linked to has an active forum where members compare and record their haircare experiments.

 

Here's a snippet (and makes sense to me since I live in a very dry climate):

 

In extremely low-humidity conditions, such as a cold, dry winter air, there is no appreciable amount of water in the air for the humectant to attract to the surface of the hair. In this particular type of climate, the best one can hope for with most traditional humectants is for them to prevent evaporation of water from the hair into the environment. Also, under these circumstances, there is some risk of the humectant actually removing moisture from the cortex of the hair itself, creating the problem it was intended to prevent. That’s why in dry climates it is important to use conditioning products which rely on strong moisturizers rather than traditional humectants.