It Works!!

I just have to give a big endorsement of Lizzie's recipe for baking soda shampoo. Sure, it's cheap and it's all-natural, but why not just use regular shampoo?

Aside from avoiding phthalates, it turns out there's an even better reason. This stuff cures dandruff better than any expensive high-tech dandruff shampoo on the market!

For some reason, most of the guys I know suffer from dandruff issues, and my husband's were getting bad. Head & Shoulders didn't fix it, and he only got moderate results from a very pricey bottle of KMS. He had to use the dandruff shampoo every single day to avoid that festive Christmas-flocking effect.

Then a few days ago, he ran out of shampoo and didn't have time to go out to buy more, so he whipped up some of the baking soda shampoo and vinegar conditioner from Lizzie's blog post. (See, men can read and enjoy our blog too!) Lo and behold, his hair is glossier, silkier, less oily, and there is not one hint of dandruff. We haven't seen any in days!

So, I'm a convert, and I hope y'all don't mind the double post. I just had to share these awesome results and encourage the world to give this a try. Don't you just love it when the best solution also turns out to be the cheapest one?

The Spa In Your Kitchen

So your skin is blotchy, dry in patches and oily in others, looks ten years older than you are, and is just generally in need of restoration. You can go pay half a paycheck for a salon facial, or you can whip up this mask in the comfort of your own home, without even getting out of your pajamas.

Even though I'm good about moisturizing every day and taking care of my skin, I'm 30 years old and getting to the point where my face needs a boost every so often. Besides, I like to take a Beauty Day for myself every once in awhile. Sunday was one of those for me, and so I threw together a face mask...

1 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp organic yogurt
1 egg white

That is it, ladies, no mas, finite. Whisk it up in a bowl with a fork until it's all evenly blended and that's your fancy-ass spa facial. Try to use raw honey and a free-range, organically grown egg. Save the yolk - you'll use it momentarily!

Hold a hot damp towel over your face to steam it for a minute, then dry it with a fresh towel and use your fingers to apply the face mask as thickly as you can, covering your face and under your chin. If you have a little more than you need, apply it to your neck and decolletage. Let it stay there for 20-30 minutes, or until it feels very dry and tight all over.

Meanwhile if you want to treat your hair too, take that egg yolk and whisk it with a tablespoon or two of coconut oil or olive oil. Apply that to the ends of your dry hair (ends only! no roots!) and comb through your ends with your fingers so that it gets evenly distributed. Let that sit for a bit as your face does - I like to spend this time soaking in a bubble bath with a good book.

When that face mask gets so tight you can't stand it anymore, now's when you wash it off very gently with warm clean water. Use an exfoliating scrub too, if you like. Shave, if you do, and massage your whole body neck to toes with coconut oil or olive oil to keep it soft and supple. Now wash and condition your hair as usual, but before you get out of the shower, dilute a little white vinegar with an equal amount of warm water. Pour that over your head for a rinse that will leave your hair super-shiny - don't worry, it won't make you smell like vinegar, I promise!

Now step out of the tub, apply your favorite facial moisturizer, and fix yourself up. Relax and enjoy feeling extra pretty!

Shiny Manageable Hair. Cheap.

I was hesitant at first to get into washing my hair with baking powder and vinegar. Doesn't that combination blow up? What about my dyed red hair? What about the smell? Surely such cheap kitchen products can't give me amazing hair - why of COURSE that's what shampoo companies have conditioned (pun intended) you to think. I give you what is horribly labeled as the "no poo" option, meaning, No Shampoo.

Here I have made a paste from bicarb (baking soda) and a splash of water until it becomes the consistancy of shampoo. I'm still considering pre-making this and putting it in an old shampoo bottle actually, but I am uncertain if it will dry out, so don't quote me on it. Now, I'm out of apple cider vinegar (and honestly, you can use normal vinegar, I just prefer the apple cider to my dyed red hair). Mix a few tablespoons of that with water as well. Preferably cups of water. Now head to the shower.

Shampoo with the bicarb as normal. Scrub into the hair. You'll feel strange doing this at first. You'll feel even stranger with the vinegar rinse but trust me, it does work. Even my fiance is doing this and loving it with his natural red hair (some men have all the luck). Rinse the bicarb out as well as you can before doing the vinegar rinse for obvious reasons. This will feel almost like conditioner, as it detangles your hair, but not quite. Trust me, your hair won't smell. Once I was in a rush and poured the vinegar straight onto my head. Still, no smell.

Some people complain of feeling the grease form on their crown before any other place and others have said to remedy that by using a boar bristle brush to distribute the oils. I have not had this problem. I also already have a boar bristle brush, so the advice may or may not be accurate.

Either way, this is yet another way your kitchen can save you tons of money over the years. A giant bottle of vinegar and a box of bicarb are exceptionally cheaper than shampoo, even moreso than the expensive salon stuff I was using just a few days prior to this experiment. And you know what? I'm never buying that 'stays in your hair' chemical crap again! $$$ for me!