Frugal Luxuries: Hair Care Part 1 – The Daily Grind

Not bad for no-poo!

I’m a low-maintenance hair type of person. Wash and go is my favorite “style” if you can call that a hairstyle. Except for winter, I blow dry almost daily in the winter (I can’t stand going out in the cold with wet hair). I don't even shampoo. No-Poo for me!

For daily care I wash my hair with soap. Yup, bar soap. Oatmeal and Almond natural bar soap, to be particular. And I condition with cider vinegar. I’ve been doing this routine for well over a year, and my hair and scalp has never been healthier.

How it works: Soap cleans your hair, but if you have hard water the soap doesn’t rinse thoroughly. That leftover soap can damage your hair and can leave the cuticles of your hair open. The cider vinegar rinses out everything and closes those scales, and neutralizes any residual soap. The cider vinegar also helps to keep dandruff under control. (I’d always had a nasty scalp until I started using this method, now it's nice and healthy!)

Directions:

1. Wet hair
2. Rub bar soap all over hair
3. Scrub scalp with fingers
4. Rinse with water
5. Don’t panic, yes your hair will likely be feeling really odd by now
6. Put a few tablespoons of cider vinegar on your hair and work in with your fingers, running your fingers through like you would with conditioner. Yes, it’s harder to work in than conventional conditioner, but it’s worth it.
7. Rinse with water again
8. Dry and style as usual

Tips:

• Make sure it’s soap, not a beauty bar.
• Put the cider vinegar in a squirt bottle, you really don’t want to have to mess around with a big ol’ container or an open cup. If you want to reuse/recycle, use a clean condiment container.
• If your hair is ending up too dry, try using a little more cider vinegar, or try just washing every other day.
• If it’s too “greasy,” use more soap, or soap up twice. Unless you have soft water (lucky you), in that case try using less cider vinegar.
• I don’t recommend using a ton of styling products, but if you do then the washing method outlined above will wash out mousse, hairspray, etc.
• If I find that I need a little definition I’ll smooth just a couple of drops of olive oil on my hands and run my hands through my hair, starting at the ends and working my way up. Don’t use too much to begin with, you can always add a few more drops if needed.

Cost: A bar of soap lasts months and generally costs anywhere from $1 to $5. A gallon of apple cider vinegar locally costs around $3. And drops of olive oil don’t really count. That adds up to… less than pennies a day? (Excuse my less than stellar math.) Either way, it's definitely frugal!

If you're interested in going a step further and washing your hair with baking soda, check out this article!