Homemade Shampoo and Conditioner

This post is about Hair, I have been thinking about my life and the things that I call standards. The things that are in every household through out this country. Whether you are in the upper echelon's of society paying small fortunes for your hair care products, or your budget allots the cheapest shampoo and conditioner made on earth, either way this experiment is for you! Let me get this out in the open, I am a hair care snob... I love Redkin All Soft! I love the smell of it, the way it makes my hair as soft as an ancient Greek goddesses, I LOVE it. That being said for the largest size, which is the best deal money wise, costs $26 per bottle, so I spend $58 after tax. Now this being said, I have very frugal with this, and make it last at least 2 months, but that is still almost $360 per year in just shampoo and conditioner! It pains me to think of all of that money being washed down the drain every day! Along with the fact that I have to wash it everyday because if I don't then within 24 hours my hair looks as greasy as ever. I have read dozens of different health and wellness articles stating that washing your hair everyday is harmful to your hair and scalp. With this in mind the last month I have tried to cut down on how many times I wash my hair, trying every other day, and sometimes every third day. This worked, except that my hair still didn't look clean, nor could I do anything other then buns, braids, and hats. Well, I have hard from so many different people to try a baking soda wash with a apple cider vinegar rinse. I thought about it now for months, and have decided that I am going to give it a whirl. All experiments must have parameters, and mine for this is simple. I want clean, un-greasy, soft, manageable hair, and I want it to stay this way for at least 3 days; I also want to save money, I want to be able to make this with ease, from things that I have on hand, and want this to be easy enough to do for life. To start this I went to walmart and bought two of the clear ketchup and mustard bottles. Each cost 97 cents. I also bought a bottle of lavender oil from a health food store for $16. **Side Note** I will be trying this with lemon extract, vanilla, peppermint oil, and almond extract, each of which I already have in my cupboards. In the first I mixed 1 1/2 cups water, 1 1/2 TBS baking soda. DONE In the Second I mixed 1 1/2 cups water, 2 TBS apple cider vinegar, with 2-4 drops essential oils. (The oil is extra, you can choose not to add this and you hair simply won't have a smell) I started this last night, I was so excited and I loved the bottles. The tips made applying it to my scalp so easy, and The above recipe makes one head washing. I let the baking soda sit on my scalp for a minuet or two before rinsing it out, and then using the vinegar was fast and easy. I was so impressed by how easy my hair was to comb out afterwards! I have very long curly hair so generally it is super difficult to brush out when my shower is through. It has now been 24 hours and my hair still smells beautiful and we will see how this fairs for the next week! I am looking forward to the continuation of my adventure!

Wipes and Diapers and Saving Some Cash!

Well it has been months since I added my last post about cloth diapers, and let me say that I love them! I was able to switch while finishing my final semester in college! I am looking forward to continuing on with this. I have been telling everyone who asks about this everything they want to know and more, and after looking over the numbers I have found that every diaper I change saves me 25 cents, and I change 6-8 diapers per day. That means per month I save between $42-$56, and that is just on diapers! I have also added cloth wipes which I only use when he has a wet diaper, this cuts down on my wipe budget, and I have learned how to make disposable wipes. TO MAKE DISPOSABLE WIPES~ In a 2 cup liquid measuring cup fill with 2 cups hot water, 2 TBS baby wash, and 1 TBS baby oil. Then take one new roll of paper towels, cut in half (use a sharp knife,)and put half in a tall plastic container. Pour the mixture and with in 30 seconds you can pull cardboard and with it will come the first wipe! this solution is the same solution that you use on the cloth wipes, and all you have to do is lay the first wipe down, then the second wipe laps over the first and you fold the left over part of the wipe to the center. You continue to do this until you have filled your container. I use an old wipes box that my friend gave me, and when you do it this way, then you have the pop up effect that makes life so much easier. I love saving money, and I love things that also save me time. I also have a little boy who's skin is so overly sensitive to the unpronounceable chemicals that the cheap baby supplies are doused in. I hope that if others are searching for this that all of my research will come in handy and save some time!