azurelunatic | New Hair, Blue Hair

I put dye on the hair last night. I was ready for a mess, because I dripped blue all over the nightshirt when I was putting it on, but it seemed to soak all up into the hair (oo, damaged tips) so all I had was a bit of goo, and no blue. I have yet to unbraid it and brush it out (sirens woke me up, and I have to finish up my sleep cycle) but little bits should be nicely darkened and may even glow blue in the sunlight. Yay for blue hair, even stealth!blue hair!

I also did a baking-soda-and-vinegar hairscrub last night. It feels disgustingly icky when it's just the baking soda on there, but the vinegar rinses it all right out. Hair is feeling shiny and smooth this morning, and that is a good thing.

It would be great if I could actually cut down on the number of random bottles that are lurking around the sides of the shower. If I can actually switch the hair care routine to need less in the way of commercial products, I can afford to start getting small bottles that don't take up that much room, really.

I miss the peach-scented conditioner I used to use. It was a scent filled with all sorts of memories.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

We routinely take hair products from very large bottles and put them into smaller ones - you either buy the smaller bottles of the brand you use (an extra but one time expense) and from then on transfer to the larger ones as you run out, or you purchase inexpensive travel bottles. The advantage to first is that you get actual product. The large bottles live in the linen closet.

You know why the vinegar rinse is absolutely necessary after the baking soda, right?

Ooo! I'm curious about this as I've been doing the baking soda/vinegar thing but can't do the vinegar every time as the smell makes me ill (yes, I'm that sensitive to vinegar).

Simple chemistry. Baking soda is a base. It maybe good for cleaning your hair, but the alkaline makes the little tiles in your hair stand up, so it feels weird and it tangles. A lot of shampoos tend to the alkaline as well - soap is relatively high in pH - so it's a common problem.

Vinegar is an acid. It neutralizes the base and helps rinse the residue off. And therefore, your hair will be smoother and softer.

Lemon juice will work, too. You wouldn't dilute it as much as you do the vinegar, but then again, it smells so much better.

Hrmmm, maybe my hair's weirder than I thought as just baking soda doesn't make my hair tangle more than usual. But then I have super-super-thick & relatively fine hair, which would appear to be impossible according to most "experts" (as in, 99% of the stylists who've touched my hair can't get over how fine it is once they realize the thickness).

If I don't use the vinegar (or hopefully, the lemon juice) for a couple of months, my hair does start to feel a little coarse. But one or two applications usually takes care of it. Regular shampoos were much, much worse about this than the baking soda.

Thank you for telling me about lemon juice as an alternative, though!! Hubby likes the apple cider smell, even in vinegar, but I really can't take it -- I can still smell the vinegar half an hour after I've rinsed my hair!

*Do* you dilute the vinegar first?

Lemon juice will work. And you may just have smoother hair.

I'm afraid to try the baking soda, because my hair tangles just by existing.

Yep, I do... ummm.... *tries to remember last time I mixed the stuff* I think, 1 Tbsp vinegar to 1 cup of water. More or less. Any recommendations on the amount of dilution for the lemon juice?

I tend to do 1.5 - almost 2 Tbsp of baking soda per cup of warm/hot water because 1 Tbsp didn't do any good at all for mine or hubby's hair.

And my hair tangles pretty badly too, always has. I've actually had fewer tangles since going the baking soda route, come to think of it...

They recommended apple cider vinegar in

longhair, so I got a bottle of that when I saw it on sale. I love the scent of vinegar in a salad, so I always start wanting a salad when I use it in the shower...

I'm a member of

longhair and they do rather fetishize acv, but there's nothing magical about it. Unless you do like the smell (I'm neutral about it), in which case, cool.

I do like the smell, but it's cheering to note that it's just the chemistry that's the necessary thing, and not the actual apple cider bits.

Chemically, it makes sure the baking soda is the hell out of there. I've also heard that a state of slight acidity is better for hair than being basic in any way; IIRC, I've also heard that hair dissolves in bases faster than it does in acids, and it takes more acid to dissolve hair than base.

I wouldn't be surprised. It makes sense.

New Hair, Blue Hair

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