Apple Cider Vinegar: Your Hair's New Bestie

Apple cider vinegar, where do we begin?

So I’m kinda, sorta in a relationship with ACV. Err...at least my hair is.

​

It all started with having dry hair. I workout and that meant I was shampooing/conditioning my hair 6-days a week. Bad. Very bad. My hair was definitely taking a toll with all the product buildup and I didn’t even realize it. I’d feel gross after a run and wash my hair, get home from work and feel icky before going out and again, wash my hair.

At the time it seemed pretty normal. Wrong. I was making my hair dry one wash after another and slowly, but surely none of my hair products were working. It was an endless cycle – my hair would be dry, so naturally I’d add more product to make it shiny and tame and straight and behave, etc., etc. Bad.

Fast forward to my hair stylist, he basically called me a dumb ____ (You can go ahead and insert the word of choice there). He told me about this magical product – apple cider vinegar.

::The gods did a happy dance::

Basically, shampooing my hair everyday was bad. So bad that my shampoo, the one thing I thought made my hair clean, was actually making it unclean. 

Now

I shampoo my hair 2 times a week – tops. Let me give you the details.

Step 1: Get in shower. Take a tiny bit of ACV and pour on your head (or add the ACV to a spray bottle – ratio of about 1:3)

Step 2: Massage the ACV into your scalp and roots. Don’t add to your ends.

Step 3: Rinse out. Once you rinse the vinegar out it’ll gradually make its way to your ends.
*The ACV is removing all product buildup, while still conditioning your hair. AKA no more dry hair. Woot woot.

Step 4: Condition the ends of your hair with your normal conditioner + rinse out.

Tip: If your hair is more oily – "shampoo" your roots with baking soda + then use ACV to rinse out as conditioner. 

Results

At first, your hair will feel a little on the greasy side. Just roll with it. Or invest in a hat. Or dry shampoo. Perhaps both?

Give it a few weeks to let your hair get back to its natural state and you won’t even remember your life pre-ACV. Ya, it’s that real. 

My hair has never been shinier or more Pantene-commercial-worthy.  * Shameless brag *

Side note: I’ve gotten all my friends hooked on this no-poo ACV process.

So get to it, ladies and gentlemen. You’ll love it, I pinky promise.

A Few Things I've Learned

- You can smell the vinegar when your hair is wet, but once you blow dry/air dry the smell goes away. I do sometimes smell it at the gym when I sweat though, which is a little weird, but I got over it quickly.
- This stuff actually makes your hair grow. My hair has grown a lot + rather quickly.
- It's a bit of trial & error to determine exactly how much ACV your hair can take. Too much can make you look like you don't believe in showering and/or your personal hygiene AKA greasy. I definitely recommend starting out using it in a spray bottle.
- Dry shampoo is the jam.

Happy ACV-ing!