Shampoo and rinse All-in-One

I have been plagued by itchy scalp. Sometimes so severe that I end up scratching myself stukkend! The most affected parts being at the back of my head on the neck muscles... maybe because they stand out more and loose moistcha quicka?

Who knows, who cares.

IT ITCHES!

So I went off on a search for an alternative to frothy, foamy shampoos. Head and Shoulders helped a lot but the question remained "Why does this shampoo take away the itch? What is in it that I don't want my body to come into contact with?" After all, it was still foaming and as far as my knowledge goes, foamy is not really good for you.

Enter: Apple Cider Vinegar

I am not going to elaborate on how good it is for you, or the many, many uses it has. All I will say is look for a raw, organic, unfiltered, uncooked, unpasteurised, un-unpleasanted, non-chemical-ed ACV. Oh, and apparantly it has to say something to the effect of "the mother" or that it contains "the mother". It will be a murky brown liquid with a bit of a sediment at the bottom which, of course, is the mother.

Of course, the odour of ACV is not really all to pleasant but the smell dissipates after an hour or so after rinsing your hair with it, but I add some essential oils to my mix that not only smell nice but are also good in mending any issues you may have under your thick wooly rug-at-the-top. Feel free to Google them, or create your own combination.

Here's how:

Ingredients
1 part water (preferrably filtered or boiled or distilled)
1 part ACV
10 drops Ylang Ylang EO
10 drops Rosemary EO
5 - 10 drops Rose Blend EO
Any old plastic bottle (I used an old Pantene bottle. The cap comes off so you can pop it in the dishwasher after a few good rinses, to make sure it is LIKE, TOTALLY clean).

Pour water into the plastic bottle and add the ACV. You will have to work out the measurements of water, but since I was using a 375ml bottle I worked on around 180ml water and 180ml ACV. Just make sure there is enough space at the top of the bottle to add essential oils.

Add the essential oils, replace the cap of the bottle and shake, shake SHAKE it!

How to use
Wet your hair thoroughly, and press out any excess water. Shake your ACV rinse thoroughly before dribbling it over your hair, massaging it down into the roots and scalp.

TIP: Keep your head backwards while dribbling the mixture into your hair otherwise it could run into your face and eyes. It will only sting a little bit when it comes into contact with the eyes (unlike normal shampoo which burns like HELL!) but altogether not a nice one to try and rinse out.

Now leave the liquid in your hair while you take your bath or shower, carefully avoiding running water onto your head until you have finished washing the rest of your beautiful body. Rinse, and pat dry. No need for a second rinse unless your hair is really gunky or full of some chemical off-the-shelf hair product.

Nice, neh!

The First. The Last. The Best.

Right, let's kick it off with a nice lekker body scrub. This is one I experimented with, handed it out as gifts and got a "Wow!" from me Mum (Bless her dear Heart!). The scent was meant to entice the men to use it on themselves but eish! Some grease monkeys just never catch on to trends... EVER!

Ingredients
Brown sugar
Grapeseed oil
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Lavender Essential Oil
Patchouli Essential Oil
Ginger Essential Oil
Ti Tree Essential Oil (optional)
100ml bottle with cap

Here's how:

• Fill the container (I used a flip top jar) up to its neck with sugar.
• Add the grapeseed oil slowly and stir. I used a toothpick to stir as this was the only thing small enough to go through the opening in my container. Feel free to use anything you want. Let it settle.
• Now add around two teaspoons of FRESH (not the bottled kind) lemon juice and stir again. Do not add any more than this as this will dissolve the sugar and make this mixture messy and tacky and sticky... we don't want that!
• Add around five to seven drops of the listed essential oils. Stir again.
• Should there be some space left, you can top off with just a little more sugar and oil, but do not fill past the container's neck line.
• Stir again.
• Close the lid and store "in a cool, dry place" (Some lids may be leaky so placing it under the shower will do exactly what we are trying to stop the lemon juice from doing...)

How to use:
Before you wet any areas to be scrubbed, take a finger full (around 3/4 of a teaspoon full) and rub it together in your hands. Now smear it all over the area to be scrubbed. Add more if necessary. Rub firmly and slowly, like you are massaging the area, for a few seconds. Rinse with warm water.

I usually don't wash the excess oil off since it tends to get absorbed into the skin within an hour anyway. It defies the purpose in any case, since the oil is meant to moisturise, while soap tends to break down the oil and leave your skin dry... maybe even DRIER than before!

Have a Great Dane, y'all!