Has anyone else tried this. . .?

[Shiro]

I use sugar mixed with a little bit of green tea(organic) and a drop or two of honey, lemon juice and tea tree oil. It helps when I get little bumps all over my face from medications. I also clean my face with an oil wash, consisting of coconut oil, almond oil, grapeseed oil, castor oil, tea tree, peppermint and lavender oils. Then I top it off with a natural yogurt soap that I make, yogurt is supposed to help with the Ph balance of your face (I think... don't quote me on that) and is an antibacterial.

 

[geekgoddess]

Lots of great tips in this thread! Thanks ladies.

Was wondering if anyone knows handy home remedies to help or reduce the appearance of milia?

I have quite a bit sprinkled around my cheekbones and under my eyes. I've been exfoliating weekly with a scrub from Origins (which I love!) and it seems to help a bit - but it's really pricy.

Other than exfoliation, the only remedies I've seen have been to go get facial peels or microdermabrasion..

Olive oil wouldn't make it worse, would it..? (if I wanted to try the olive-oil makeup remover thing..)

 

[ic3st0rmer]

Maybe I will give that a try, too. I know just the olive oil by itself has done wonders for my skin, but I can give some other oils a try!

The whole idea that your body produces natural oils, and when you are constantly stripping them away your body reacts by producing more, is very true. It applies to hair, as well. Do you know how I "treated" my very oily hair? By washing it less, not more!

My hair was getting to a point where I had to wash it every other day, if not everyday. On the day when I washed it, it would look dry and frizzy, but the following day it would look very oily already. It would never be "just right," except for the times between late afternoon on wash day and early morning of non-wash day... lol

I read somewhere about people who stopped washing their hair altogether, and that cured all their hair woes. Well, I personally wouldn't be able to stop washing my hair altogether, since I believe it does need some cleaning once in a while and since I have a full time job and perform fairly regularly, all of which which require me to look clean and professional, which the long adjustment period for unwashed hair would not work so well with. So, I decided to just try washing my hair less often.

First, I started going 2 days without washing. Then, 3. Then 4. Right now, if I wash my hair on Monday I can go all the way until Saturday without washing it. On the last days it will be a bit oily, yes, I have to keep it up... but not unbearably oily. For someone with naturally oily hair like me, that is quite a feat... because before, by the second day my hair would be unbearably oily, ugly, and itchy. This doesn't happen anymore, and my hair looks gorgeous for 3 days after being washed... it also never looks dry and frizzy on the day that I wash it, unless the weather is unusually icky.

My hair looks and feels much healthier now, and all I had to do is shampoo it a little less. It also saves me a ton of money on shampoo, a small 8oz bottle lasts me 4+ months, whereas I used to go through one of those within just a few weeks.

i'm just wondering... does it work for a hot & humid country like singapore? i'm washing my hair once everyday, it gets quite oily on the day after, and more oily on 3rd day. i've having hair loss issue.... am i washing too my hair too frequently...?

 

[Darshiva]

Quite likely. The deal with hair washing is that it strips out all the natural oils, so your head over-produces them to compensate for the loss. Switching to a longer period between washes will result in an initial gross period while your hair adjusts to the new regime, and then it will balance out & you'll spend less on hair products and have healthier hair. Of course if you are styling with anything other than a brush (& maybe a hair dryer) on a daily basis, it's probably best to stick with your current regime or just change over to chemical-free hair styling if you want to change to a longer period between washes.

 

[Yame]

i'm just wondering... does it work for a hot & humid country like singapore? i'm washing my hair once everyday, it gets quite oily on the day after, and more oily on 3rd day. i've having hair loss issue.... am i washing too my hair too frequently...?

I can't say whether or not the hair loss issue is due to washing it too much, but washing your hair everyday is never good for your hair. Hair isn't meant to be washed everyday, even the gentlest shampoos are too harsh for everyday use, and will eventually begin to make the hair dry and brittle.

BTW since I posted on this thread I've been able to stretch my washes even longer, I now wash my hair only on the 7th day... but I do wear it up in buns every weekday, so that helps me stretch the washes a little bit farther. Towards the end it's very oily, but I actually like that because it makes it easier for me to put my hair up.

I'd recommend that you try to stretch your washes, as well. Try going every other day, then every 3rd day, then just twice a week. Some people say they don't have success with this, that their hair stays just as oily, but most people who have tried it for an extended time noticed a decrease in oil production.

 

[Elfie]

I used to make home made soaps and moisturizers at home. The best thing for any skin type (meaning it works well universally, but may not cure all woes on its own without additional ingredients) is natural liquid vegetable glycerin. It does not dry your skin or clog your pores, it does not promote oil production in the skin, it does not cure or cause redness and irritation. Because of this, vegetable glycerin is a great base oil-type-substance for any beauty product. It blends well with vitamin e oil and does not separate from emulsifiers easily (the stuff that makes the oil and water stick together in lotions and moisturizers). Stay away from products that contain steric acid, as it can be very drying. It is often used as a hardener in soap bars, so read the labels. Citric acid does wonders in scrubs, and has a nice bubbly feeling on the skin.

Dry, crushed aspirin in a small amount of warm water (like... drops, not even a splash) is a good skin exfoliant, but test it on a small patch of your skin first. Sugar and salt scrubs have been covered already in this thread.

If you plan to make skin and beauty products at home, it would pay to have some vit. e oil on hand. It acts as a light preservative. If you want your products to keep longer, buy a product called germamin b. I do not recommend making more than you'd need for a week, though, so the vitamin e would work best without hurting your wallet.

Remember to refrigerate your home made products as they will grow mold in normal room temperatures.

Chamomile tea in your bathwater is fantastic (though I would prefer to use dried chamomile flowers, but the tea works as well). Calendula flowers steeped in the bath are great skin softeners. These can be bought dried at any herbal store, as well as online.

I need to break out my old recipe books. Where are they...

 

[LadyLoba]

Natural products don't normally work on me either...or store bought products. I can use Aveda, Jafra, and MAC products...any other brands Ive tried in the past few years have made me break out or the scent tripped off my sinus allergies...but I did once grab some Olive Oil out of the pantry when I had no money for a hair treatment and it worked beautifully, but it was really hard to rinse out of my hair.

 

[Darshiva]

Try cold beer to remove the olive oil next time, and use the olive oil in a spray can as it lets you control the amount you use a lot better. Chances are you used much more than you needed. With olive oil, a little bit goes a long way. I let my hair rest for about 20 minutes after applying the olive oil, and I usually rinse it with cold beer (then shower as normal).

If your hair is particularly dry & brittle, a whole egg (mixed, not beaten) works wonders. For that you want to avoid using the beer as a rinse as it leaves a sulphury smell, but on the other hand if you can handle that, it leaves your hair looking glorious. Using the egg trick I can usually get an extra month without the need for a trip to the hairdresser - a useful tip if you're trying to grow your hair long in the shortest time possible.

 

[Shiro]

I treated my oily hair with a soap made from 100% organic oil treatments. The day before I wash my hair, I use a mixture of coconut oil, olive oil, sweat almond oil, grape seed oil and a touch of castor and peppermint, apply from the tips of my hair and at the very top of my scalp,ad brush it through with a boar bristle brush and let it sit over night. I get lots of compliments on my hair being so long and healthy when I go out.

 

[ic3st0rmer]

Quite likely. The deal with hair washing is that it strips out all the natural oils, so your head over-produces them to compensate for the loss. Switching to a longer period between washes will result in an initial gross period while your hair adjusts to the new regime, and then it will balance out & you'll spend less on hair products and have healthier hair. Of course if you are styling with anything other than a brush (& maybe a hair dryer) on a daily basis, it's probably best to stick with your current regime or just change over to chemical-free hair styling if you want to change to a longer period between washes.

ohh... i think my hair products are quite minimal: shampoo, conditioner, brush. will only use hair cream/moisturiser at 1/2 length till hair end if i'm going out...hair dryer is a no no to me...

uh, no offence... but don't the hair have a certain smell if we don't wash it, say once every 2 days? for ex. pillow smell, etc?

 

[Darshiva]

None taken. The 'pillow smell' you're talking about is often from going to bed with wet hair. I've never noticed any smell from my hair, neither has my husband. I've noticed a similar smell from the guys I've known with long hair who put it in a ponytail while wet.

Sounds like you might be a candidate for experimenting with more spaced-out washing times. I'd definitely do it in stages as suggested above, be aware that there will be issues while your hair adjusts (because it's still compensating for the extremely frequent washing) but if you take it slowly with the progress, you'll find a length of time between washes that suits you. That's what you should aim for - the length of time that gets the best out of your hair.

 

[Yame]

uh, no offence... but don't the hair have a certain smell if we don't wash it, say once every 2 days? for ex. pillow smell, etc?

No. In fact, since I wear my hair up from day 2 or 3 (day 1 being wash day) until I have to wash again on day 7 (aka day 1 again), it actually holds the just-washed smell until day 4 or 5. So each time I take it down, it smells like conditioner.

After that, it just smells like nothing. If you come up to me and smell my scalp, it'll probably just smell like scalp. It's not a bad smell, it's a human smell.

 

[ic3st0rmer]

oh... thanks for the clarification. btw, when u said u dont wash ur hair, it means only rinsing with water or not even that?

 

[Darshiva]

Only washed once per week. I do occassionally get it wet, but there are external factors in there and are not related in any way to hygiene.

 

[Sirène]

I've tried to cut down on washes (I am a former shampoo-every-day girl), but what do you do when you get excessively sweaty? One 45 minute session on the stationary bike and my hair is soaked. Not washing it for another couple of days is not a pretty option.

 

[Yame]

I've tried to cut down on washes (I am a former shampoo-every-day girl), but what do you do when you get excessively sweaty? One 45 minute session on the stationary bike and my hair is soaked. Not washing it for another couple of days is not a pretty option.

I can't help much since I don't sweat very much if at all, but whenever I do, I just... let it be. I might take a shower since I can't stand being sweaty but my hair won't bother me so I still don't wash it until whenever is my next wash day. The sweat will just evaporate and I don't see any issues with my hair after that.

Have you ever tried just leaving it alone after working out? What happens to it? Does it look more oily, or does it look ugly? Does it smell?

If it's a matter of it looking oily, you can try spreading the oil with a boar bristle brush. If it's a matter of it looking ugly, you can wear it up until the next wash day. If it's a matter of it smelling, then... well... you should wash it... LOL

 

[ic3st0rmer]

it seems my hair drops more when washing once every 2-3 days compared to washing everyday...

 

[Yame]

it seems my hair drops more when washing once every 2-3 days compared to washing everyday...

That's probably because a lot of the shed hairs will stay on your head when you aren't washing. Some might come out when you brush, but not as many as when you wash. The less you wash, the more it looks like you are shedding... when really you are shedding just as much as you would have otherwise.

Since I wash just once a week, I get some pretty massive sheds when I do wash. Because really, I am shedding in just one wash what I would have shed in 7 washes if I washed my hair everyday. So I am not shedding more hairs overall (if anything, I may be shedding less, because 7 days of sheds is no laughing matter for someone like me, I would think it should look much more massive than it does)... I am just shedding more at once.

Does that make sense?

I doubt that washing your hair less would make it actually shed more... unless there is an underlying problem like fungus or something like that, in which case you should see a dermatologist. So if it looks like it's VERY bad shedding, go back to our old routine and see a derm.

 

[ic3st0rmer]

it doesn't seem like a whole bunch of hair will fall off... it just look like alot when i'm looking at them on the bathroom floortrap.

though i have to admit the hair doesn't feel that dry anymore compared to shampooing daily. its not that oily too.

 

[Daimona]

Agree with Yame.

And just a couple of cents:
If you brush your hair before washing it, you'll shed less when washing it and hence less hair to pick up from the floor.
If you also brush it over your dry sink, less hair will fall on the floor and it'll be easier to gather the shedded hair.