Inspirations with Emily J. Weitz

Natural Hair Care Products - D.I.Y.

For many people, showering - and hair washing - is daily ritual. While it's great for the body, it's not always best for the hair. In fact, if you're not conscientious about what you put in your hair, you can actually damage it by over washing. And excessive conditioning leads to a build-up of product that just weighs down the hair and makes it heavy and oily.

Yet, understandably, few people want to give up the daily shower, especially with benefits such as exfoliating the skin, not to mention the psychological and emotional perks of a morning rinse off. So, instead of reducing the number of showers you take consider changing the products you use to give your hair and body what they need - you could even make the concoction yourself.

When you look at the back of most of the shampoos on the market, you'll find a lot of ingredients that sound unfamiliar: Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Chloride, Ammonium Chloride, Tocopheryl Acetate, Biotin, Thiamin HCl, Ascorbic Acid, Panthenol, Polysorbate 20, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Citric Acid, Tetrasodium EDTA, DMDM Hydantoin, Fragrance (Parfum), Yellow 6 (CI 15985).

Does your hair need all of this? No, it doesn't. By making your own creation, you will know exactly what you're rubbing on your scalp.

Choose the ingredients to put into your hair treatment based on the texture and color of your hair. For dry hair, oily herbs and ingredients like comfrey root, avocado, and orange blossoms add moisture and shine. For normal hair, dandelion and clover are great cleansing herbs. For oily hair, lemon grass, watercress, and strawberry leaf will clean without adding buildup. For coarse hair, try olive oil or cherry bark to smooth and calm.

Enhance your natural color by using herbs that bring out highlights. These ingredients are often mixed with alcohol and other additives in commercial shampoo. For the towheads, try lemon juice, chamomile, honey, lemon peel, or calendula. For the chocolate browns, sage, lavender, rosemary, and cloves all bring out the richest hues, and their aromas will have a soothing effect as well. Redheads can brighten up their color by adding henna, cinnamon or beets. And for the darkest ebony locks, indigo, lavender, and sage will deepen the tone.

Once you've decided which herbs are right for you, it's time to purchase the other ingredients. Liquid castile soap, spring water, herbs of your choice, and almond or apricot oil combine to make a cleansing, natural shampoo.

Find a clean glass jar with a top. Place 1/4 of the herbs of your choice into the jar. Bring the spring water to a boil, and then pour over herbs. Cover the jar and let sit for about 15 minutes. Strain the liquid into a bowl. Add liquid castile soap and almond or apricot oil and mix well. Optional: add a few drops of your favorite essential oil, like ylang ylang or lavender for a nice scent. That's it! Keep the shampoo in a bottle with a top. This recipe yields about 24 shampoos.

Even when you're using homemade recipes for shampoo and conditioner, you can get a lot of buildup in your hair. I started using an apple cider rinse a few years ago, and it adds unbelievable life and bounce to my otherwise limp hair. If you want to make your own, you'll need apple cider vinegar and lemon juice, which will restore the natural pH levels of your hair. In a jar, combine the juice from 1/2 lemon and two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar with one cup of water - that's sufficient for one rinse treatment. Add the mixture to your hair after shampooing and rinsing as usual. Do this once a week to clear the hair of buildup.

Create your own mixtures, tailored specifically to your own needs, and you'll have healthy, lustrous locks.

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