Alright, peeps, let’s talk hair. I’ve been talking and tweeting about my crunchified hair lately. I have been washing my hair exclusively this way since that post. I know I said I wasn’t going to only use the baking soda/vinegar method…but every time I get in the shower I do it again. I have some more news to report:

First of all, I have tried using apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar. It does make a difference in the texture of my hair. I want to say it’s a bit softer, but I’m not sure that’s an accurate description. It is less prone to snarls but more prone to static. I also much prefer the smell of white vinegar, so plan to go back to it on the next wash and see if it is still different or if it’s just that my hair is adjusting to this new way of washing.

PLEASE NOTE: When I talk about the smell, I mean only during the shower. My hair has absolutely ZERO scent once I rinse the vinegar out.

Secondly, I convinced Little Cowgirl to let me give it a go on her hair. I told her I had new shampoo, and I used a spray bottle to rinse the baking soda with vinegar. She LOVES it. She told me her hair is shinier, faster to wash and has no snarls (that’s debatable, my friends). It does seem to be working well. I thought she would balk at the vinegar smell (she doesn’t like to help with cleaning if it involves vinegar) but she has never mentioned it.

I’m taking the spray bottle with me the next time I shower – I think I’ll need much less vinegar that way.

I have a pictorial for you as well today. Two days ago, I washed my hair right before bed (after we came back from the water park). I went to bed with wet hair. I have lots of hair so it was still a bit damp when I woke up the next morning. I blasted it for a few seconds with a blow-dryer and took five minutes with the curling iron to this effect:

Beginning of the day...see how "bright" the different colors of my hair are? it's the vinegar, I swear.

We spent the day running around to tutoring and harvest broohaha, did a bit of yard work (watering things) and helped Cowgirl fly her kite. I never brushed or touched up my hair. Last night at 10:00 pm this is what my hair looked like:

Ouch - nice florescent lighting effects. But the hair still looks pretty good.

I know some of you have been experimenting with this as well. If you have tried it and would like to write about your experience (good or bad) please email me at closeenoughblog@gmail.com so I can feature your crunchified hair.

Here is what my hair looked like this morning – just rolled out of bed and brushed it. I always like the texture of my hair on days two and three after a crunchy wash (sorry if that’s TMI about the frequency of my hair washing) because it maintains its softness and the style relaxes.

7:00 am - after brushing. I work hard on my hair, people. I had to lift my arm five or six times.

Are you thinking about crunchifying your hair? It’s worth a try – it’s been nothing but surprises for me. It’s a simple process:

1) Mix about 1/4 cup (I use more) baking soda with a cup or so of water. I just take a plastic bowl of baking soda into the shower with me and spray some water into it. I mix it with my hands and pour some of it on my head, then I scrub that part of my head. I have a lot of hair (and a figuratively big head) so I like to pour a bit on at a time in sections (top, side, side, back, long hair that hangs down) followed by scrubbing that portion.

2) Pour vinegar over your head and let it bubble (I’ve been keeping a small, screw-top bottle of vinegar in the shower). Interestingly, I read the original description a friend found of this method and it suggested rinsing the baking soda out with water first. I missed that part and put the vinegar on while my head was full of soda. But I really like the fizzy feeling and plan to omit rinsing with water between steps one and two. This may work better on different types and textures of hair – we should experiment!

3) Rinse with water.

Three steps to crunchy hair (four if you rinse between steps one and two) – and I mean crunchy in a good way, like eats steel-cut oats/composts/makes granola from scratch crunchy; not makes a snapping sound/feels hard/then crumbles kind of crunchy (which is only good if you are taking about chips).

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