Using this baking soda and apple cider vinegar hair rinse will keep you free of dandruff this monsoon. Since both the ingredients can be drying if used in excess, you must ensure that you don't use it beyond once a week!
Remember, baking soda has a very high pH, which opens the hair cuticle. "Apple cider vinegar will help seal the hair cuticle to defrizz hair and give it shine," explains Denniston. "[It] will also rebalance the scalp's pH after using baking soda, helping the scalp stay moisturized and protected."
If your hair tends to be dry, you may want to use the rinse less often; if your hair and scalp are more on the oily side, you may want to do it more frequently. Generally speaking, though, you'll want to rinse your hair with an apple cider vinegar solution a couple times a week.
Another woman stated that after three years of using baking soda as a shampoo substitute, she noticed her hair had become brittle and weak. She discovered that the high alkalinity of baking soda, which is not pH-balanced, mixed with the acidity of the apple cider vinegar, caused the damage.
Redditors and curly girl communities alike swear by using baking soda (followed by apple cider vinegar) to help reset your scalp's pH—which purportedly promotes hair growth, removes product buildup, and even softens hair strands. It is also found in some of our favorite dry shampoos.
It is important to remember that hair grows from follicles beneath the skin,” Madan says. Fiction: Baking soda can treat hair loss. “There is no reliable or published evidence of this being true,” Madan says. When treating hair loss, experts say it's best to meet with a medical professional.
“Tighter curls tend to deal with more dryness since sebum has a harder time traveling down the hair shaft, so using baking soda can strip the oils and cause further dryness,” Ogboru says. As a rule for any texture, limit your baking soda hair-apy to once a week or once every two weeks for extra dry or textured strands.
Baking soda has a pH of 9, which is far higher than that of the scalp. Using a product with such a high pH may harm the hair. Over time, baking soda can strip the natural oil from the hair, lead to breakage, and make the hair fragile.
Since baking soda is a scrubbing agent, washing your hair with it can gradually strip the dye from your locks. Baking soda can lighten all hair colors, but it might take a few washes to get your hair to the desired color.
How do I use ACV for hair care? An ACV wash can be made very simply. Mix 2 to 4 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar with 16 ounces of water. After shampooing and conditioning, pour the mixture over your hair evenly, working into your scalp.
"I recommend shampooing first and then saturating the hair with ACV." Once you massage the solution into the scalp, let it sit for three to five minutes before rinsing and conditioning as normal.
But please be careful with this mixture because as we mentioned earlier, ACV is a very powerful ingredient and can damage the scalp when not used with care. ACV is very acidic and when used too often, or too heavily can damage the hair.
However, although baking soda won't make your hair grow any better, it might have some effect on your scalp and hair as a clarifying agent. Temporarily, these clarifying effects can help cleanse away product buildup and excess oil or prep the hair for chemical services by cleansing the surface of your hair strands.
Really? Apparently, Coca-Cola contains phosphoric acid, a very low pH. So when you apply it to your hair, the cuticle tightens, which makes your strands look smoother and your curls look more defined. Others say the sugar adds build-up to your hair, making it look fuller.
You should never apply apple cider vinegar directly to your hair. As we mentioned above, it has a highly acidic pH that undiluted could cause irritation, itchiness or burn the sensitive skin of the scalp. The best and safest way to use this ingredient is by diluting it with water to make a hair rinse.
Wash the apple cider vinegar solution out of your hair with clean water. After the solution is rinsed out, you can dry your hair as usual.
The Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar balances hair and scalp pH. By lowering the pH of your scalp, ACV flattens and closes the hair cuticle. This makes your hair smoother and easier to detangle, shinier, less frizzy, less prone to breakage, and more moisturized.
So, use 1 cup of cool water and 1-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. After you rinse out the apple cider vinegar, apply conditioner to the ends of your hair just like you normally do.
An apple cider vinegar rinse should be used after shampooing and before conditioner.
Go along with your normal shampoo routine and rinse your hair. Then slowly pour the ACV hair wash onto your head in an attempt to evenly distribute it. Leave it in your hair for about 2-3 minutes to soak in. Finally, thoroughly rinse to remove from your hair and you're done!
2) Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse:
Another option is to mix a bit of apple cider vinegar into a dollop of shampoo. This clears build up from environmental toxins and hair products. It also seals the hair cuticle, making your grays silky, shiny and frizz-free.