Yucca Vs. Soapwort Vs. Aritha/Soapnuts?

**ratgirldjh** · March 19th, 2009, 05:41 PM

i tried a hair pack with amla and yogurt and let it stay on my hair for an hour - and then rinsed for a long time with water. it left my hair very strong feeling - but also smelling (suprise LOL) of yogurt! i went outside for a couple of hours and i guess the sun intensified the yogurt smell and i started feeling sick! so i finally caved and re-washed my hair with my poo bar. i could tell while washing with the poo bar that my hair felt very smooth and a little oily - so i guess the amla and yogurt actually went into my hair. so maybe i will do this once a month or so. i don't know if my hair likes protein and i know yogurt has protein.... so this was an experiment because plain amla packs make my hair too dry if left on for more than a few minutes... and i'm sensitive to all the other herbs

**mellie** · March 19th, 2009, 05:51 PM

Tina, I wash with soapnuts every day, that seems to be best for my scalp and hair. If I don't wash every day, I get very oily and greasy looking (roots and lengths), and it doesn't feel good either, my scalp gets itchy. When I wash every day, my scalp is clean and free of "crud" or flakiness or anything and my hair looks healthy, shiny and bouncy and I am a happy camper!

Some folks just need to wash every day for optimum scalp health and good looking hair (and ends), I'm definitely one of them! :-) I'd say, just do what works best for you!

Ratgirl, I've never tried yogurt for that very reason - sorry to hear about the smell!!

**ratgirldjh** · March 19th, 2009, 05:58 PM

well it wasn't quite as bad as eggs - but almost... it seemed to get worse and worse as the day went on. so i guess - if i do this again - it won't be soon! but my hair feels very soft, shiny, and strong! so i guess it liked it even if it stunk! of course it would figure that my hair would like something that stunk... my hair loved shikakai! it was just my scalp that itched!

**mellie** · March 19th, 2009, 06:00 PM

Ratgirl, does your rat have a skateboard???

**ratgirldjh** · March 19th, 2009, 06:13 PM

actually that is the neighbor kids skateboard
eric wasn't interested in skating at all

**Twitter** · March 19th, 2009, 11:37 PM

Originally Posted by mellie

How much foam are you using, Twitter? I just use 1 oz. total liquid (made into foam), it's just enough foam to do my scalp only. Lemon seems to be quite important (for me, anyway!), because without it my ends seemed dry and frizzy.

Sigzephyr, so sorry you had itchiness! Some folks just have problems with saponins, like Ratgirl mentioned...hope that it's OK for you tomorrow!!

I usually use 1 oz of liquid made into foam, I've used more if I did a heavy oiling. How much lemon do you usually put in? When I had about 12 oz. of liquid I think I put about 1 tablespoon of bottled lemon juice. Do you think adding vinegar might work also? My hair has always seemed to like vinegar better than lemon.

**mellie** · March 20th, 2009, 06:19 AM

I put in 1 T of fresh lemon juice (not bottled) in 8 oz water. It could be that it's the bottled lemon juice? I noticed my liquid didn't work as nicely when I used "old" half lemons that had been in the fridge for a week.

So maybe try fresh lemons, or as you said, maybe putting in 1 T vinegar instead of lemon, if your hair likes that better? Or lime juice works too - I tried that for a while and it was very nice!

**tina1025** · March 20th, 2009, 09:07 AM

Ktani, I tired oiling my hair before washing them with sopanuts but my hair didn’t seem as clean or dry. They felt oily or clumpy. Now I just oil my hair once a month or twice a month.

Millie, that’s exactly why I wash my hair everyday too. I used to wash it every other day (when I used commercial shampoo and shampoo bars) and on the second day I had to put my hair up so that it didn’t look bad but by the end of the day they looked extremely oily.

I also cant wash my hair in the morning, put it up and style it in the evening when I need to go out. I have to wash my hair right before going out…..

But according to the article it sounds like the more you wash your hair, oiler it gets. So basically they are saying that we should let our hair get oiler and over time the oiliness will decrease?!?!?

Also,
Are you experiencing stickiness after washing with sopanuts!!??!? …..I think I know why...
Are you guys using other products in your hair which contains chemicals? I use (nickel size) hair gel in my hair everyday. It’s the safest gel (rated 1 out of 5 ) according the cosmetic data base yet it has some chemicals in it and I don’t think sopanuts gets rid of it. IMO, since sopanuts (well all the herbs are weaker) are weaker then chemical, sopanuts are not getting rid of the chemical residue from hair gel, other shampoo, conditioner or any other products we use. For past 3 days I have been rinsing my hair with ACV (2 tsp ACV with 2 cups of warm water). I pour the mixture over my hair and right after I put sopanuts and 5 mins later I wash my hair. Today (3rd day) my hair doesn’t not feel oily, clumpy or sticky at all.

I know Millie uses lemon juice and I tried putting lemon juice but it didn’t work for me. So I am assuming ACV is more acidic compared to lemon juice?!?! I could be wrong.

**mellie** · March 20th, 2009, 09:14 AM

Hm, good points Tina!

But according to the article it sounds like the more you wash your hair, oiler it gets. So basically they are saying that we should let our hair get oiler and over time the oiliness will decrease?!?!?

That does seem to be what they are saying, although I don't really see the point in going through all that itchiness and bad looking hair at work, if my hair and scalp are healthy and happy with daily washing.

I was thinking about this too - with the foam method, since one isn't doing any abrasion or roughing up the hair like with shampoo, it is a much gentler method for hair (and ends especially) than daily shampooing with commercial products.

Tina, it never occurred to me about the product use (gel, etc). Good call! I never use anything so I didn't even think of that!

Re: is vinegar more acid than lemon juice? I just did a quick Google and found this:
http://education.arm.gov/teacherslou...s/acidrain.stm

Vinegar has a pH between 2.4 and 3.4, while lemon juice has a pH around 2.2

So you are right Tina!