Baking Soda And Your Hair

Back To Kitchen Basics…Baking Soda And Your Hair

Isn’t it simply wonderful to know that sometimes, the best and simplest thing for your health and even your hair, can be found in your kitchen? Yes, indeed, there are a lot of treasures to be found in the ordinary kitchen. Today we will be looking at baking soda and your hair.

What exactly is baking soda?

Baking soda is a compound, or as Wikipedia defines it:’sodium bicarbonate (IUPAC name: sodium hydrogen carbonate) is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. It is a salt composed of sodium ions and bicarbonate ions. Sodium bicarbonate is a white solid that is crystalline but often appears as a fine powder. It has a slightly salty, alkaline taste resembling that of washing soda (sodium carbonate). The natural mineral form is nahcolite. It is a component of the mineral natron and is found dissolved in many mineral springs.'[1]

Or to make it more simple, it is a powdered form of the salt made from sodium and bicarbonate. Do not confuse baking soda and baking powder – they are family, yet somewhat different.

Uses For Baking Soda And Your Hair

There are quite a few uses for baking soda and your hair as you do what’s best for your hair health. Of course, like anything in life, everything should be done in moderation. Too much of a good thing, as they say, can also be bad for you.

Baking soda can be used to:

• cleanse the hair – as a dry and wet shampoo
• promote shine
• balance the hair ph factor – increase the alkalinity, also neutralizes acidity, baking soda is alkaline

Cleansing the hair

You can use baking soda as a natural dry shampoo. It will absorb most, if not all of the oil sitting on your scalp and along the strands of your hair. Simply dust a light coating of baking soda on your hair brush and softly brush through your hair. Try not to be too ‘heavy-handed’ as you don’t want to look like ‘snow in December in the middle of July’.

One of the best brushes to use on your hair is a Boar Bristle Hair Brush . It has natural fibers and won’t pull on your hair.

As a natural wet shampoo – simply add some baking soda to your preferred hair conditioner and massage into the hair after making it thoroughly wet. Rinse well and follow-up with a moisturizing conditioner, then style as usual.

Promoting Shine

Using baking soda to help your hair shine is also a great way to make your tresses look healthy. One way to do this is to do a clay/mud mask or paste. You add enough Bentonite Clay Powder in a  bowl (based on your hair volume and length), add about 2 table spoons baking soda, and 4 table spoons apple cider vinegar, and then enough warm water to make a paste. Make sure that the mixture is somewhat runny but not watery. Apply it to dry hair and then cover with a plastic cap for about 15 mins. Rinse, cleanse (preferably with a co-wash moisturizing product), style as usual. Your end result should be a shiny head of hair.

You can also do this mask on freshly washed hair. It is totally up to you and the time you have to love your hair.

My Final Thoughts

I do a baking soda mask on my hair sporadically when I feel the need. The best way for anyone is to try it and see if it enhances your hair care. And as always, find that happy medium that works best with your hair through trial and error. Not everything that works for one person will be the life saver for the next person.

I welcome any feedback once you have given this a try.

 

REFERENCES:

[ 1] Wikipedia