No "poo" hair washing. Week 1

On my quest to become toiletry snob extrodinaire, I have decided that I shall no longer use the devils sauce shampoo and conditioner. I had become a product snob, thanks entirely to Saramae and her hair stylist clan, using the best products I could afford. Well, I learned that my tightly curled frizzy fried hair dosent care if I spend 1 dollar, or 50 dollars on shampoo. Its going to be frizzy and uncontrollable no matter what I use. FINE, have it your way hair. I stumbled on a pictoral of a girl whos hair was slightly less curly than mine, using baking soda for shampoo and a vinegar rinse to condition. Hrmmmm... I must try this. I only wash my hair once a week to start with, so I figured my hair is used to producing less oils anyhow. This shouldnt be too much of a shell shock. Right?

So, I used her recipe for shampoo. A quart of boiling water and a quarter cup of baking soda. I splashed this on my crown and let it drizzle down to my ends. (my hair only goes slightly past my shoulder) I rubbed and scrubbed from top to ends and rinsed very well. It felt squeeky clean, like I had just finished washing with a normal shampoo. I thought, OMG I LOVE THIS!!!

Next stop, vinegar rinse. ewwww I wasnt really looking forward to this part. I used a slightly modified version of her recipe. Which was 3/4 cup of water, 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar, a tsp of aloe gel, few drops of peppermint, and a few drops of tea tree. Well, my aloe is in oil form and I had spearmint not peppermint, so I changed it up a bit with spearmint oil tea tree oil and a bit of 5x orange essential oil. I also threw in a tsp of rice bran oil for good measure. This was a bit harder to tell how much I was actually getting smooshed around in my hair. So I probably used way more than I needed to. But whatevs, it still felt smooth. There were a few tangles left when I rinsed it out. (I dont brush my curls for a week either) the salon shampoo I was usually typically made all the tangles fall right out, but the vinegar rinse just mostly got em out.

Brushing my wet hair with those few tangles posed a slight problem. Mainly because I am not used to it. I didnt have the same glide to my hair that I usually did but I dont think that is such a big deal. Tangles and glide are not yet a deal breaker.

So, now I am parked back on my couch with season 8 of NCIS and will sit here, upright, until my hair naturally dries. I am anxious to see what the curls will do to show approval or distaste for my new routine.

Pictures to come!

Soap making blues

Its official, I totally suck at making cold process soap bars. I cant get the scents to stick, and more times than not, I am having to hot process some goofy slop out of my batter. I enjoy the HP batches, but they arent what I wanted. And when I dont make things perfect, then I must suck at it.... Right?

What I have discovered, is that I have a natural talent for liquid and cream soaps. Each time I have attempted a batch of either, it has come out exactly as I planned. And that makes me happy.

I did a batch of liquid soap a few weeks ago. I enjoy the fact that I can make a buttload of paste, and dilute it later with whatever superfat and scents I want. I enjoy that I dont have to worry about seizing or ricing with any of my fragrances. And I enjoy that the finished product is tucked nice and neat into a sweet little bottle and dosent make a mess in my shower or bathtub when a kid leaves it in a puddle of water. And my favorite part, the cure is called sequestering. And I just really like the word 'sequester'. Its fun.

My cream soap is still in its beginning process. I am whipping it up every other day or so. I have a few weeks left before it is done rotting. (cream soap version of cure) I used way more water than I originally thought I would need. but its light and fluffyish and the color is fairly white/ivoryish. I cant wait till its done so I can make it smell pretty then dig my fingers in it all day long. My eldest said it looked like divinity. (candy) which I guess was a compliment. I need to grab a camera and take pics of the stages. Who knew chemistry could be fun???

I have an order in for some more goodies that should be here tomorrow! Including my preservative, more smelliegoodies, and emulsifying wax. Gunna try lotions next! I actually go through way more lotion than I do soap. Its one of the few things that helps releive my Restless Leg Syndrom. YES ITS REAL DAMNIT! So, theres my weekend project. Even though I have been neglecting my scrap room for weeks. I really really really need to organize it. ooOOooo maybe I can make some pretty boxes to put soap bars in? oooOOooOOoo.......

For Realsies

And another blog, long forgotton, wandering aimlessly through cyberspace, alone, desolate. OOPS!

I blame Saramae. The brat decided that, in the grand tradition of her entire immediate family, she too, should become a hair stylist extrodinaire. A whole year and a half, including a WHOLE summer, wasted while she was in prima hair school. On a good note, she finished school and graduated as elite. And very much teachers pet. Yay Saramae!

All the kids are in school now. Its halfway through winter. I havnt really scrapped much of anything, except a gift now and then. Nothing amazing. (I sorta, kinda, but not really updated my youtube on projects. I have a whole SD card of videos I need to edit) I started making home made soap. Not the melt and pour kind, but real lye soap like great grandma and great grandpa used to make back on the cotton farm. Its a friggin BLAST.

But, not being able to give up the scrapping just yet, I am in the middle of a mixed media soap recipe box which will showcase all my fabo soap recipies and offer sniffy samples and a visual extravaganza of each and every batch. Kind of a soapy growth chart. Perhaps I should finally get that finished... or, make that valentines day batch of heart soap.... oooOOOooOoOo Decisions Decisions.

Drats! Time flies, kids are out of school. Byyyeeeeeeeee