For me, natural and organic hair care means making an active choice for improved health and a cleaner environment. By carefully choosing the products you use for hair and body, you can contribute to this.
For me, it’s about the whole mindset of reducing product consumption to use fewer but better products that are naturally good for me and the environment. By reducing the number of unnecessary chemicals in the bathroom, you help prevent them from being washed down the drains where they would eventually end up in the oceans. The whole chain is connected, which is why the choice of shampoo and soap is so important.
How do you start easiest with natural & organic hair care?
The easiest way to start with natural and organic hair care is to just take action and simply begin. Many make it complicated and think it should be difficult, which it isn’t. Pick a good hair soap and start washing your hair; it doesn’t have to be more complicated than that at first. To quickly and easily find the right soap for your hair, the soap guide is here to help you below.
The soap guide
Should you consider anything special at the beginning?
At first, you should keep it as simple as possible so you don’t find it difficult or troublesome and then give up. The first thing you try should therefore not be an advanced rye flour wash, but start simply with a good hair soap. There are both smaller trial soaps and the soap guide you can find above to help you find the right one.
Keep this in mind to succeed with your natural hair care:
- Find the right soap: As I mentioned before, the soap guide is a fantastic help, but I want to highlight the soaps Nettle & Birch and Rasul & Calendula a bit extra because they are perfect for those who are about to start or have recently started with No-Poo. The reason is that they have a deep cleansing effect, suit oily hair, and are gentle on the scalp at the same time. This is exactly what hair that has just transitioned from strong surfactant shampoos needs.
- Mechanical cleansing: Unlike conventional shampoo, it can also be good to note that you may need a more mechanical cleansing with solid hair soap. This doesn’t have to be complicated or difficult; all you need to do is massage the scalp thoroughly and really work the soap in with your hands.
Now I’m curious, what does no-poo mean?
For many, thoughts about no-poo are a lifesaver for hair and skin problems. The mindset is also helpful for those striving for fewer chemicals in everyday life. No ’poo is a shortening of the English no shampoo, but it’s also a play on words – being without “crap” (poo).
Can you have problems?
Some may have problems when switching from conventional shampoo to natural hair soap. The scalp has gotten used to the shampoo’s strong surfactants, and our natural sebum production has been disrupted. This means some may experience issues during a transition period before the scalp resets to natural oil production.
For many, natural hair care works immediately. Especially children and people with short or untreated hair rarely have problems.
Transition Period/Weaning
A scalp accustomed to conventional shampoo produces a large excess of sebum, the scalp’s own oil. This happens because the scalp compensates for our regular washes with strong surfactants that remove the natural sebum and dry out your scalp. As a result of this overproduction of sebum, your hair also feels greasy after a very short time.
Therefore, people wash their hair with strong surfactants again to remove the grease, which leads to a vicious cycle with conventional shampoo. When switching to organic and natural hair soaps without strong surfactants, sebum/oil production decreases to a normal level and your scalp becomes more balanced.
The transition period some experience at first occurs when the scalp adjusts from conventional shampoo with an overproduction of sebum to a balanced level with organic and natural hair care. During this time, the hair can feel greasy and oily because the scalp hasn’t yet adapted and still overproduces sebum, even though you no longer use the strong surfactants that remove the excess.
The transition period varies between individuals and can last from about 2 weeks up to six months, while many don’t notice it at all. If you enter a transition period and feel that your hair is too oily/sebaceous, you can use Rasul hair detox.
When did you start using natural hair care yourself and why?
I myself started using solid soap for hair some time after I began making my own soaps. At first, I used my soaps only for the body and hands, then also for the hair. The reason was that my husband's scalp problems disappeared when he switched from "stronger shampoos" to my solid soaps, and when I saw how much of a difference natural hair care could make, I switched too.
I started selling soaps about 14 years ago, and back then the soaps were richer and intended for the skin. Since the company's inception, I have developed my soaps to suit all kinds of people and needs. Everyone should have the opportunity to find a good soap for both hair and body, whether they have sensitive, dry, or oily skin and scalp.
How often should you wash your hair?
I believe you should extend the time between washes as much as possible because it’s good for your hair, scalp, and the environment. Sometimes just rinsing your hair with water or acid rinse is enough. A good start is to reduce washing to twice a week, eventually every 4th or 5th day. It may sound scary to go so long between washes, but once you switch to natural hair washing, the oil production in your scalp will become more balanced. This means you won’t need to wash your hair as often as when using strong surfactants.
Until your hair has adjusted, there are different ways to hide greasy hair. For example, you can put your hair up, wear a hat or scarf, use dry shampoo made from arrowroot or potato starch, or simply accept a "bad hair day" on some days.
Thinking about making your own dry shampoo? Don’t miss the blog post with the DIY recipe, for both light and dark hair!
Organic dry shampoo
What is your product "Rasul – hair detox" good for?
Rasul clay (Rhassoul) is a washing clay and hair detox that works excellently to clear out residues of previous hair products when you want to switch to no-poo. Feel free to do a treatment with rasul clay before you start using solid hair soap to cleanse and prepare your hair for more natural hair care. This reduces the risk and/or length of the transition period that can otherwise occur at the beginning.
Rasul hair detox also works well to alternate with your regular hair soap if your hair starts to feel lifeless or extra oily. This is because the washing clay makes the hair soft and shiny and adds volume.
Do you need to use conditioner with natural hair care?
Many manage well with just hair soap and therefore don’t need anything else in their hair washing routine. However, if you feel your hair needs extra care, you can use hibiscus acid rinse to get a conditioner effect.
What is hibiscus acid rinse and why should you use it?
An infusion (tea) of organic hibiscus leaves with a low pH (acidic) that works excellently as a very fragrant acid rinse after washing your hair. Rinse cooled tea over your hair; if you have long hair, let it soak in a bowl with the acid rinse before pouring it over your hair. Whether you need to acid rinse your hair after washing with soap mainly depends on if you have hard water where you live and how damaged your hair is from sun, blow-drying, coloring, perming, rough brushing, etc. See the Acid Rinse Guide below.
The hair’s negative charge attracts the positive ions in tap water (especially hard water). The soap’s negative charge wants to bind to the positive ions, and the acidity ensures that the positive ions are rinsed away along with the soap.
If the water, on the other hand, is soft and your hair is neither treated nor particularly damaged, you might not need to do a vinegar rinse at all.
Vinegar rinse guide
There are many different hair oils and masks. What do you recommend for dry, winter-weary hair?
First and foremost, I recommend using a richer soap in winter than you used during the summer. During the cold and dry winter period, you can, for example, use the extra nourishing soaps Shea & Avocado or Lavender, both of which contain shea butter.
Besides using a richer soap, you can care for your hair by brushing it. When you use a brush, the hair’s natural oils are distributed through the hair and out to the lengths. Brushing also cleans the hair from dust and dirt while stimulating the scalp so that sebum production increases. So feel free to brush several times a day during the winter months.
To give your winter-weary hair some extra care, you can do various hair masks. Usually, you already have everything you need for a mask at home in the pantry, so there’s no need to spend unnecessary money on expensive chemical masks. For example, make a nourishing egg and avocado mask or a lovely mixture of honey and oil. You can easily create your own home spa!
If you have very dry hair ends, you can use argan oil or tea seed oil. Avoid heavy oils in the hair as they can easily weigh it down. Apply the oils to damp hair after showering or in the evening before going to bed. The oils can also be used on other dry areas of the hair and even on the scalp as a nourishing treatment, but be prepared for slightly greasier hair for a while.
Wooden hairbrush
A plastic hairbrush often has small bristles that wear on the hair. A hairbrush with wooden bristles detangles well and is gentle on a sensitive scalp. A wide-toothed comb is good for detangling knots; preferably do this while showering and rinsing with a vinegar rinse.
A brush distributes the sebum / your own oil from the scalp out to the lengths and provides good care for the hair. It also removes dirt and dust, giving shinier and healthier hair. Remember to dry brush your hair often.
Is it possible to mix natural and non-natural hair care products?
Yes, I think you can do that, but you should avoid the worst offenders like silicones and strong surfactants (SLS, SLES). For example, if you feel you really need a conditioner, go ahead, but choose one that is completely silicone-free because otherwise, they are really hard to wash out.
What does your own hair care routine look like?
I tend to get oily hair easily and use the Rasul & Calendula soap when I shower. I try to stretch out my hair washes, and if my hair gets oily in between, I use my own dry shampoo made from cocoa and potato starch, but cocoa and arrowroot work just as well. I put the dry shampoo in a powder container and use a powder brush to apply it. See the recipe in the info box. When I "panic use" the dry shampoo, I quickly part my hair into sections and apply it where the hair is oiliest. Otherwise, I use it in the evening before going to bed so the hair and scalp can absorb the dry shampoo properly.
Sometimes I also do a Rasul hair detox if my hair is extra oily, about once a quarter. Then I use a hibiscus acid rinse about once a month.
You can also consider washing your pillowcase more often if you have oily hair because when you sleep at night, the pillowcase gets oily and then transfers that oil to your freshly washed hair the next night. Another tip from me is to tie up your hair at night to get more volume during the day. That way, your oil stain ends up on the pillow under your hair, and the oil doesn’t get into the lengths. I do this because I have slightly oilier hair. My daughters, on the other hand, who have dry hair, apply water and argan oil to the ends and braid their hair at night so it wears less while they sleep.
Which is your favorite among your soaps and why?
There I choose my fragrance-free options. Those are my favorites because I think "clean without added fragrance" smells good! Perfumes and scents often cause problems for many, and from an environmental perspective, fragrance-free products are the best. We don’t need to walk around smelling like different scents all the time; instead, you can pick a few skincare or haircare products that have fragrance if you want.
For example, you can choose a pleasantly scented soap for hair and body and then keep the rest of your skin and hair care neutral.
Finally, what makes your soaps unique and why should someone choose them?
The soaps are genuine – they are handmade on a small scale in Sweden using organic and natural raw materials, and the creation process involves great craftsmanship. They help your skin and scalp feel good, and you make a conscious choice for the environment.
Original post written by Sara Mårtensson, founder of Lapland Eco Store, which has been part of Glimja since 2021.
