Healthy hair grows from healthy scalp but scalp care is widely neglected in conventional hair care. Even worse, the scalp is severely compromised with conventional hair care and by frequent application of harsh defatting surfactants.
Although hair loss has various origins and reasons (hormonal malfunction, ageing, genetic reasons, reaction to certain medication etc.) one of the most frequent and common causes of hair loss is the insufficient circulation in the scalp.
Conventional hair shampoos severy defat the hair and scalp. This causes an uneasy, irritated and itchy scalp and forces the scalp to produce more sebum to counteract the defatting action of the surfactants used in conventional hair care. (Have you experienced that crazy situation? The more you wash your hair the more greasy the hair)
The global dissatisfaction with conventional shampoos has lead to the no-poo movement which you're certainly aware of. Although there are people who claim they are quite happy with the no-poo trend (after an awful transition phase of severral weeks), most people I know have given up this craze because they didn't feel comfortable, clean and healthy by no-pooing their hair and scalp.
This is rather a personal matter and anybody shall decide for herself whether to jump on the bandwagon of no-poo or not. I personally recommend application of a mild shampoo that wouldn't defat and irritate the scalp.
Read our previous blog posts about hair washing here:
Apart from a healthy shampoo and a good, old-fashioned scalp massage during hair washing (this is actually where the word "shampoo" originates), the scalp needs the same care as face or body skin. Almost all hair care products (pre-wash and after wash) focus on the hair and negled the necessity to pamper the scalp. In this tutorial, we have prepared and easy to make hair & scalp toner. It sooths irritated and itchy scalp, acts as a light detangler, improves blood circulation in the scalp (hence reducing or slowing down the hair loss) and it refreshes your hair, scalp and your olfactory sense with its subtle scent.
Massage this toner to towel dried hair and scalp after each hair washing and in between hair washings (the same way you apply a body splash or a facial toner) and enjoy the revitalizing scent and its soothing effect over your scalp.
Formulation:
Phase A |
|
Rosemary hydrosol |
60,0% |
Neroli hydrosol |
to 100,0% |
Betain powder |
2,0% |
Aloe leaf extract powder |
1,0% |
Caffein powder |
1,0% |
Sodium lactate |
1,0% |
Sodium PCA |
2,5% |
Allantoin |
0,1% |
Natural chelator PA-3 |
0,1% |
Phase B |
|
Plant based pentylene glycol |
5,0% |
Symbiosolv clear plus |
4,0% |
Ginger oil |
0,1% |
Rosemary oil |
0,1% |
Bergamot oil |
0,1% |
Phase C |
|
Arginine (to adjust the pH) |
ca. 0,05% |
Dermosoft 1388eco |
3,0% |
Versatil BL |
0,5% |
Procedure:
1- Blend all ingredients of phase A in a beaker @RT. A magnetic stirrer is very helpful but not necessary.
2- Blend phase B in a small beaker and slowly add it to phase A. A temporary turbidity may appear but the mixture shall become transparent within half an hour.
3- Prepare a 10% dilution of this blend in distilled water and measure the pH. In our case, the pH was 5 which is too low for our preservative system. We increased the pH by adding arginine. (The pH should be above 5,2 as you add the preservative)
4- Add the preservative. Prepare another 10% dilution and measure the pH again. In our case it was 5,4 which was exactly in our desired range (5,2-5,5).
5- Take your stability and micro kit samples and fill the rest in a suitable container (a spray bottle is perfect)
Enjoy the revitalising scent and the long-term properties.
BeHappy and have fun