Natural Remedy for Dry, Itchy, Flaky Scalp

One of the first things I noticed when I started eliminating chemicals from my life was that my teeth were whiter, my clothes didn’t have pit stains and my shower curtain didn’t yellow.

It never occurred to me that the products I was using to clean with (or feel clean with) would actually make things look dirtier. Until I stopped.

I also used to have a weird taste in my mouth that I couldn’t get rid of. My elbows were dark and so was the skin under my armpits. (It drove me nuts because they looked dirty.) The more I used lip balm, the more my lips peeled. And some of my toenails had dark stripes. I know, pretty, right?

All of these issues quickly resolved with homemade toothpaste, regular Castille soap, natural deodorant, natural body butter, foot balm and lip balm.

So, naturally, when I started having strange and extremely irritating itches on my head, I of course wondered if it was the chemicals in my shampoo, which is store-bought and very much not natural. My scalp never felt clean. It felt as though scales were making a crusty layer of skin on my head.

I have tried to make shampoo in the past with some success, but not enough. It’s very hard to get exactly right, consistently. Still, I want (need) lather and I am fussy about how my hair feels.

So, I had an idea. I thought maybe I could make a rinse for my scalp to get that clean feeling and to hopefully get the skin on my head back to normal. And, then, I could just shampoo my hair, keeping the chemicals off my actual scalp. This way I could also still get the sudsy, fragrant shampoo experience I really like.

It totally worked! It’s the best hair hack ever. And super simple. All you need is a squirt bottle, white vinegar, baking soda and essential oil. (I prefer citrus – lemon or grapefruit.)

How to Make

1. Put a little vinegar in the bottom of the bottle. (I used a 4 oz bottle and filled about 1/2 an inch with vinegar.)

2. Add about a half a teaspoon of baking soda. (Put it in gradually, it’s going to fizzle.)

3. Add your essential oil. (The amount is up to you depending on how fragrant you want it to be.)

4. Fill the rest with water.

How to Use

1. Squirt the solution all over your scalp.

2. Let it sit a minute or two.

3. Rinse well.

4. Shampoo the hair, not the scalp and rinse well.

5. Condition the ends.

#HONESTLYDIFFERENT