And What to Expect When Transitioning to Clean Hair Products
Agghh! I am in the process of switching from ‘regular’ to organic hair care products. And yes, I am thankful for those who warned me about the longer-than-desired transitional period. My hair seems healthy but is oilier than ever ☹. When I previously tried organic shampoos and conditioners, I quickly abandoned them when my hair became oily and weighed down. But this time, I am more educated and committed to making it past the one or two painful months of extra oiliness.
I learned that it can take your hair up to several weeks for oil production to normalize when transitioning to organic products. Traditional shampoos strip your hair of its natural protection, potentially causing your scalp to produce more oil to compensate. This can cause you to wash your hair more frequently and why many of us depend on conditioners for artificial shine and moisture. To successfully make the switch, I knew I would have to stick it out and give my scalp time to adjust to non-stripping products. After all, I have been using products with harmful chemicals for 30+ years so surviving a few more weeks seemed fair.
If you are considering transitioning to organic hair care, here is my advice:
Commit to your goal: Refuse to go back and lose weeks of progress - keep your mind on the end result of healthy hair and using products that won’t disrupt your body.
Be detox-ready: Have the ingredients on hand to do a hair detox as needed to help speed up the process and control the extra oil. Baking soda and apple cider vinegar detoxes worked wonders for me. You can find the steps below for the ACV detox (see below).
Fake it till you make it: Consider purchasing an organic dry shampoo to help in the meantime (or essential oils if you actually end up producing less oil which can also happen).
Update: My hair was oiliest at weeks 3-4 and then slowly got less oily until my body adapted at around week 10. I also performed a weekly hair detox for the first month or so which helped tremendously. Please note that transition times vary (so you might be luckier than me as I have very oily hair and skin!). I’ve actually read that some people will experience dryness when transitioning to organic hair care–I would have loved to have that problem 😉.
In the end, it was worth it–my hair is fuller, looks shinier and healthier and is growing faster. If you have ever tried or had success with a hair detox, please tell us what worked (or didn't) below in the comments.
Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar Hair Detox:
2 Cups Water
4 TBSP Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)
Optional: squeeze half of a fresh lemon or a couple drops of an essential oil such as tea tree or lavender for extra cleansing
After shampooing your hair, pour your ACV solution onto your hair and let it sit for a few minutes. You can use a spray bottle or plastic bottle applicator if you have one handy. Rinse your hair with cool water and then wash again with shampoo before applying conditioner.
-ACV detox formula and steps courtesy of Skincare Ox