Delila Sophia

I stopped using chemical hair dye a few years ago and that helped a lot, but switching to all natural hair care has helped even more! I’m going to outline 3 awesome, affordable, natural products I use that have helped strengthen and improve my long hair.

As evidenced in many of my photos on Instagram, I have very long hair, so long that you usually don’t see all of it in my photos. It’s about tailbone length and it’s been about this long since I was a very little girl. I’ve tried a lot of products for my hair. To make things even more challenging I switched to exclusively all natural hair care about a year ago. Now, as you might have noticed I have not only very long hair, but also straight hair that is thick in terms of the amount of it, but it’s quite thin-stranded and breaks easily. I suppose part of my problem might also be that I love wearing my hair down and so it does go through quite a bit in terms of my activity.

I’ve been using indie makeup for a couple years now, but indie hair care was a bit a challenge for me since I don’t have curly or kinky hair and those seem to be the most common hair types that all natural hair care is created for. However, after a little research, trying a few samples, and learning some new techniques I finally found an all natural regimen that works quite well.

#1 – Silky Protein Shampoo Bar from Emilys Homestead

I discovered Emilys Homestead on my search for an all natural deodorant and I decided to try one of their shampoo bars.I love these shampoo bars for so many reasons! Among them:

• I only have to shampoo my hair once, maybe twice a week.
• My hair doesn’t feel stripped or dry, even if I don’t condition afterward
• They travel well, with no spilling.
• And they seem to make my hair stronger

I like to cut a chunk off the bar and keep it in my shower since I find the full bar size can be a bit harder for my small hands to handle. Once my hair is wet, I rub the bar over my hair, then add a bit more water by quickly letting water run over my hair, then massage and work the shampoo into a lather. You don’t get the big lather like you get from bars that contain detergents, but you also don’t get the ickiness that comes from those, and you do still get a nice lather.

If you are looking for a good way to get started with natural hair care, to support a great natural-focused business, and to keep things affordable I definitely recommend these shampoo bars. They are 100% natural and vegan.

Get yours from Emilys Homestead on Etsy for $8 each

 

#2 – Organic Peppermint Tea Tree Nourishing Conditioner from Good Earth Essentials

I found this conditioner during what felt like was a never-ending search for a natural conditioner that wouldn’t weigh my hair down or leave it oily. Oils can be great for certain hair types, but I haven’t found any oil I can use alone in my hair without it being heavy and oily looking. Luckily, I finally found this amazing stuff on Etsy! The texture of this conditioner is very much like what I was used to with store-bought conditioners: smooth, viscous, and gel-like, but this delightful conditioner is all natural. I love the minty scent, too! This might be the first product I’ve ever considering calling a “Holy Grail” for myself.

Because I use the natural shampoo bars as well, I mainly use this on the ends of my hair (for me that’s the last 1/3 or my hair or so). It’s not too heavy, but it moisturizes just the right amount.

I love Good Earth Essentials and they have a few other products I’ve tried and enjoyed as well. I love that they offer samples of this conditioner, so if you’re not 100% sure, give it a try and see if you like it as much as I do. This conditioner is all natural and organic.

Get yours from Good Earth Essentials on Etsy for $10.50 (sample size available for $4)

 

#3 – Baking Soda

When I used to use regular shampoos, I remember it was recommended that you use a clarifying shampoo to remove build up once a month or so. Baking Soda is my clarifying shampoo, so speak. It helps exfoliate my scalp and it leaves my hair feeling even softer than usual. I actually recently started using baking soda like this, but it’s shown me such great results that I just had to include it.

I keep mine in an old spice container in my shower and I use it first before I shampoo and after I wet my hair. I like to work a little bit into each section of my scalp at a time, mainly because my hair is quite heavy and I like to be cautious as I work with it when it’s wet. Once I’m done I just apply my shampoo bar over that, lather it up, and then rinse. Once my hair dries it’s really soft and, since I’ve been using this once every couple weeks, I’ve noticed that it cuts down on the build up on my scalp and I don’t have any more itchiness or flaking. I didn’t have either of those issues to any intense degree, but they did occasionally bother me, so I’m happy to be rid of them.