The great hair experiment 2012

I may or may not have posted here before, but I struggle with hair loss. I don't know if it's because I'm cursed with EXTREMELY thin hair, and I insist on keeping it long and wearing it up a lot of the time, or if it's hormonal, but I lose hair at a fairly rapid rate and I can see thinning areas all over my scalp. It's thinned all over, not in any pattern like pattern baldness so I'm suspicious that it's more hormonal/thin hair and less female baldness. At least...I hope.

At any rate, I've been trying desperately to save my hair. I've used shampoos of various kinds and last year I switched COMPLETELY to SLS free shampoos that are organic or mostly. While this seems to have slowed it down, it's not completely stopped it. So now I'm taking it one step further.

My mother recommended I look into a baking soda/cider vinegar combination used by a cousin of mine who has LONG LUSTROUS hair. I checked it out and I'm willing to give it a go! I've heard about the wonders of apple cider vinegar and hair care before but I haven't ever been brave enough to try it. So today I gave it a shot.

You start with one Tbsp of baking soda in 1 cup of warm water, work this into your hair like you would shampoo then rinse lightly out with additional clean warm water.
Finish with 1 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar also in 1 cup of warm water, rinse this through and leave it in. Don't shampoo. Repeat this process every other day or so to normalize the PH balance of the scalp.

So here are my initial thoughts. My hair was greasy because yesterday I washed with organic "clarifying" shampoo. It seems that when I use clarifying, my hair is ALWAYS greasy the next day. After putting in the baking soda mix, my hair took on a slick feeling, like all the oils had been "drawn" up. It wasn't unpleasant. The cider vinegar gave it an immediate "squeak" that I rather like, but it definitely leaves the scent of vinegar lingering like a halo around me. Again, not entirely unpleasant since I'm not adverse to the smell of vinegar. I'm told it will fade. It's only been a few minutes since I did this (I had to immediately run and blog, of course!) So I'll see how it does after a bit longer.

I'll let you know how it goes! I figure it'll take at least a month to give the process justice and to see if it slows or stops the thinning. If this doesn't work, it may be seriously time to consider a wig. Red headed with flowing wild curls maybe? Like Kate Winslet a la Titanic? Oh yeah!