First, a story, then the low-down (if you don’t care to read this off-putting tale, skip down to the picture of the clove below): When we returned home from my son’s 6-day band camp, he was a little … stinky. He’s 13-1/2. Those things happen. But he was riper than usual, and I was somewhat concerned that he didn’t shower the entire time he was there.
He swore up and down that he did.
Emptying out his bag (which happened to be packed with two wet towels), I reached into the side pocket where I’d stashed his socks and underwear. They were all clean.
All of them, but two pairs of socks.
He had showered, oh yes. But he had not put on clean underwear the entire time. What? WHAT?
You’re gagging. I’ll wait until you’re done.
Needless to say, much yelling and eye-rolling (on my part, mostly) ensued, and he is now in Personal Hygiene Boot Camp. He is not enjoying it, but he will learn, or he will do pushups until his arms fall off.
Skip to me: This morning, it was 48 hours since I showered. Between driving across two states and battling a severe computer virus yesterday, I didn’t have it in me.
Like mother, like son.
I’m in Boot Camp now, too.
When the lack of shower occurred to me this morning, I glanced at my hair and noticed it looked super dull. Not really a surprise.
Then I remembered reading, long ago, that shampoo can easily be “boosted” with an herbal infusion. Thus, this was born:
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Boost Your Shampoo with an Herbal Infusion
First of all, what is a herbal infusion? It’s just a strong “tea” made with herbs and water. It’s easy, quick, and often very yummy smelling.
So what you’re doing here is making an herbal infusion and mixing it with your shampoo.
Why would you want to do this?
- It extends the life of your shampoo. Shampoos are very concentrated, and there’s no reason why they can’t be diluted to some degree. When you’re halfway into your bottle, add a herbal infusion, and you have a whole bottle again.
- You can fine-tune for your personal hair profile. Blond, brunette, or red, there are ways to boost the color and brighten the hue of your hair – naturally. Is your hair oily? Dull? Dry? Limp? Again, add a herbal infusion, and you’ve solved a problem.
- It’s healthy (and crunchy)! Personally, I only use shampoos that don’t contain bad stuff, but even the store-bought “organic” shampoos contain chemicals that I’m not all that wild about. By using a herbal infusion, I’m at least reducing my exposure to those chemicals to some degree.
- It’s fun! Seriously, if you haven’t tried any homemade beauty recipes thus far, you should try this one. There’s a certain sense of excitement in making your own concoctions and watching them work (better than you’ve been told they ever could).
Herbs for Hair Colors
You can use any or all of these herbs you want in your herbal infusion. Today, I’m focusing on adding shine and a boost to particular hair colors, so this is not an exhaustive list of herbs you can use on your hair. Just an idea of what you can do to boost your shampoo performance.
- Brunettes: Black tea, cloves, rosemary.
- Blondes: Chamomile, cornflower, green tea, rosemary.
- Reds: Orange pekoe tea, marshmallow leaves, hibiscus.
How To Make a Herbal Infusion For Your Shampoo
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2 Tbsp of herbs (see list above)
- 1 C. boiling water
Add your herbs to the boiling water and turn the burner down to low. Let the herbs steep for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain the herbs out of the water. Presto – herbal infusion! Add the infusion to your shampoo bottle and shake well.
Shampoo and condition as normal.
Ooh and ahh over the crunchy results.
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Just out of curiosity, what kind of shampoo is your favorite? The one in the picture above is BeeCeuticals Bee Hair Now. It’s infused with lavender and rosemary, and I really love the smell. But I’m always looking for new shampoo – can never stick with one for long!
In love and magnificent tresses crunch!
Very Important Things – Watch and Do Now!
I recently came across your site and am having a nice time reading through your site. Have you ever considered going no-poo? I use baking soda to occasionally clean my hair/scalp and do a apple cider vinegar rinse everyday. I have added essential oils and tea rinses to it as well. Google it, you wont smell like a pickle….promise
I’m actually thinking about trying no ‘poo. It sounds so wonderful (once your hair adapts)! I did realize there’d be a snag for me. I LOVE to do hair masks (typically with lots of oil or cocoa powder) and I really, really need shampoo for those occasions.
Do you think using shampoo once or twice a week will mess up the effects of no ‘poo the other days?
I am a simple Suave girl. I love there new professional series, they have one with rosemary that is just the best smelling. I will have to try one of these herbal infusions. Thank you for sharing a great tip!
Blessings & Giggle to you and yours,
Jeanie
Funny story! My son is five, and he’s always asking me why he has to put clean underwear on every day. He’ll say, “But I only wore it once. It’s not that dirty.” It must be a boy thing.
Gah. I’m SO glad someone mentioned the story. I was beginning to feel guilty for airing my son’s dirty laundry (pun intended).
Boys are gross, really. I have no idea how to relate. Or how to make them be not gross.
Except nagging.
They ask for it.
Anything to use that will make grey/silver hair shine?
You’re the second person to ask me that, and I feel SO stinky about leaving gray hair out!
One of the best things you can do for gray hair is stop using shampoos with chemicals in it. Gray hair is more susceptible to picking up the bad stuff and showing it to the world.
Marshmallow leaves and green tea would also work to bring out the zing in gray hair. You could also try a final rinse of lemon juice (which will help blanch the off colors that may be present due to chemical exposure and the like) … about 1 Tbsp. to 4 C. of water, just after conditioning.
Thanks for the question! Sorry I forgot in the post!
This is fantastic! I’m definitely going to try this out sometime this week. Can’t wait 🙂
Thanks!!
<3
Linds
Yay! When you do, you have to tell me how it worked out for you.
Love that story. I hope you got the group discount rate for the Hygiene Boot Camp!
This infusion sounds wonderful. I tend to be a pretty low-maintenance person who does very little pampering of myself — mostly out of laziness, not martyrdom! — so I don’t buy fancy shampoos or such. I think what’s in the shower is some herbal essence something or another for colored tresses.
Well, just so you know, I’ve already been cooking up in my head a day that we can get together … and there will be pampering. That is, if you want to.
I guess, if you say no, someday I’ll just show up on your doorstep – a crazy lady with wildly beautiful hair, wielding food and screaming “PUT IT ON YOUR FACE!”
Actually, I’m curious to know what shampoos you’d recommend!
So, I’m totally paranoid about talking about any products (because of the BlogHer thing, and I never know what’s really acceptable). But here, I’m sure it’s fine.
This is not an exhaustive list, because I rarely stick with one brand and hardly remember anything that happened more than 10 minutes ago. But these are the ones I DO remember loving:
BeeCeuticals Bee Hair Now that I mentioned in the post
Nature’s Gate Chamomile & Lemon Verbena
Himalaya Hydrating Shampoo
Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Threat
The ones I wasn’t really happy with:
Avalon Organics Lavender
Kiss My Face (anything, really, though I do LOVE Kiss My Face toothpaste)
I hear good things about natures gate and their toothpaste isnt that bad, thought I prefer desert essence.
I hear people rave about Giovanni Products.
I am up for using new products, I liked Avalon Organics Lavender, but I didnt like that it didnt really lather up.
I really do love the Giovanni (I use their shine product when I straighten my hair), but I’m really not so sure how “organic” (whatever that means in shampoo) their stuff is.
I’m with you on the improvement in hair after using more natural products. It took a week or two to really notice the difference.
I just figure, if I can eliminate one chemical at a time, I’m in a much better place than if I didn’t ever try.
I use all natural products in my hair- and sometimes make my own conditioners(with nettle, horesetail and rosemary). When I do buy store bought items, I use.
Shampoo- Castille Soap (dr. bonners or similar)
Deep Conditioner- Organic coconut oil (leave in for about 1hr before washing hair)
Conditioner- Avalon Organics Lavender Conditioner and/or Pure Life Soap Co Rosemary Conditioner.
Nice. Y’know, I’ve been thinking about switching to just castille (with an infusion, because I like me some scents).
And I haven’t done the coconut oil treatment for months now. Wonder why I forgot. Thanks for the reminder!
My hair has responded wonderfully to castille soap and the coconut oil treatments. Overall, my hair loves the switch to all natural/organic products
I will try this!
I buy whatever my hairdresser recommends. A Paul Mitchell product, either for dry hair, colored hair, yada yada.
Well, luckily this can go with any kind of shampoo. And, honestly, I can’t tell a darned bit of difference between the shampoo I buy and the super fancy salon shampoo I used for years.
That’s how they getcha. Heh.
Welcome back crunchy girl! Love the shampoo idea!!!
Yay! Thanks! And please tell me you have a recipe for mango …
Of course 🙂 I will email them to you!