In way over my head, help! (hair conditioner is my biggie)

[TardisMama]

So about 2 months ago I decided to ditch conventional antiperspirant-deodorant, about a month ago I started looking for a natural deodorant that actually worked (the health food store one I had been using was decidedly not) and found bumble and bee products, I got some samples and the one that I liked the smell of doesn't work very well for me and the one that work great I can't stand the smell of. So I looked and the ingredients and thought that sound simple so I started looking up homemade deodorant recipes and where to get ingredients, then while looking for ingredients I saw M&P soaps that looked way less drying and more natural than what we normally use (especially for my 3 year old who LOVES to play with bar soap in the bath) and that looked pretty simple so I got that, and then I realized I was going to have a ton of leftover shea butter that would probably go bad before I used it all for deodorant so I looked into making lotion bars for Christmas and that didn't seems so difficult so I got a few more things for that, but it didn't seems like a finished present so I thought lip balm, and those recipes seemed a little more complex but I'm a good cook, it's nothing I can't handle. Then I lost my tube of cloth diaper friendly rash cream and decided I could do that too. (and then I gave a mouse a cookie) Then I noticed at one of the online stores a hair conditioner base (the Crafter's Choice one) - now I have extremely long and curly hair with an oily scalp so I am forever searching for the holy grail of hair care routine to keep my hair from hating me, the ingredients looked good, the description of, esentially, mix with hot water and voila, conditioner sounded easy as pie and I figured I would add a little oil or something to make a deeper conditioner, easy peasy, click, order... and then I started to try to look up recipes... oh, not so easy as described.

So now I know that I need a preservative, check, GFSE is not good enough, check, there is quite a bit of info out there on the subject so I think I have decided on getting Optiphen Plus. Unless that's a bad idea for what I'm planning to make? I'm realising I've gotten myself in trouble without knowing enough of the lingo - especially the sciencey stuff that I have always had a hard tome wrapping my brain around to be able to figure out how to get myself out. Of course, as long as I'm already stupid and crazy and way in over my head I kind of want to add just a little bit of a gentle surfacant to the mix to make a sort of very slightly shampooey conditioner that might actually make a conditioner wash routine work for me. Can I just get the surfacant (looking at Cocamidopropyl Betaine) and do the measuring (thank the Doctor I found some calculators for this stuff around because the math is waaaaaay beyond me) and just sort of toss the hot water and the flakes and the surfacant and maybe some oil all in together and then add some preservative and essential oil when it's almost cool? Is that more or less all there is to the idea? Or am I absurdly naive and am going to have a huge mess on my hands and need all sorts of other ingredients and timing and all that kind of stuff? I've been trying to find recipes or instructions or anything but all I am finding is this and similarish forums or the sites that sell the ingredients with no concrete information. Can someone give me some pointers, websites, better search terms, anything?

 

[lsg]

Re: In way over my head, help! (hair conditioner is my biggi

Some ingredients work well together and others do not. Here is the best link for info. that I have found:

http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/2 ... ampoo.html

I suggest that you buy and download Susan's e-book Shampoos and Condtioners. You will find that link to the right of the screen when you get to her blog.

 

[TardisMama]

Re: In way over my head, help! (hair conditioner is my biggi

Thank you! Thank you! That site is a wealth of info! I don't know what I was googling wrong to never run across it but that is much more what I was looking for. I still feel a little in over my head but at least I have a resource now. I'll have to wait for Christmas money to buy her book but at least I have some direction to start my experimentation. Awesome! Thanks!

Just a side question, I could start a new thread if I needed, do I need to add preservative of any kind to a toner made of witch hazel (plain old alcohol containing Target brand), Rose water, and a teeny bit of jojoba oil? No tap water involed, everything comes out of a purchased bottle. I only mix up about a weeks worth at a time. If it does, would a little vit E oil do enough for that short a time? I never would have thought about it but all the dire warnings to preserve anything water based has me feeling paranoid.

 

[lsg]

Re: In way over my head, help! (hair conditioner is my biggi

If the Witch Hazel is from Target, it probably contains enough alcohol to be safe. I am assuming the rose water contains a preservative, if not, then you will probably need to add one.

 

[TardisMama]

Re: In way over my head, help! (hair conditioner is my biggi

OK so how would I go about this? Am I being waaaaaay to ambitious for my first try here? I keep looking for recipes that use this conditioner concentrate and not finding any. What I want to make is a mild cleansing conditioner so I'm thinking the conditioner concentrate (Cetearyl Alcohol (and) Stearalkonium Chloride are the listed ingredients, though I have seen mentions of Dimethyl Stearamine and Lactic Acid elsewhere as the 3rd and 4th ingredients, but maybe that's an old formula?), optiphen plus, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, and a small amount of essential oil for fragrance (I like my scents to be slight). Would that even work? How would I go about it exactly. That site is helping but I'm still feeling really lost and stupid and like I never should have ordered this stuff.

The concentrate's instructions say add 5% concentrate to hot water. 5% of what? A cup? And how do you figure out 5% of a cup? And then does that mean you use the cup of water and then add that 5% of the cup, or do you take as much water out as you are putting flakes in? And then the Cocamidopropyl Betaine says 4-40% Again is that let's say 20% of the final product or 20% of the amount of water used? And if it's 20% of the final product then how on earth do you adjust the rest of the percentages. I just don't get it. Maybe if I had ever once passed a math or science class since grade school this would make sense. If I had realised there was this much math involved I never would have even attempted it, I can do a recipe that is spelled out for me but this vague percentage stuff just gives me a headache trying to force my uncooperative brain to wrap around.

 

[lsg]

Re: In way over my head, help! (hair conditioner is my biggi

As I am just a hobbyist I don't know enough about chemistry to advise you on that formulation. I rely on Susan's site and others like it to get info and ideas.

 

[ToniD]

Re: In way over my head, help! (hair conditioner is my biggi

I hear you, math can get confusing.

First, with formulations you are usually working with weight. It is more precise. So you need a scale, one that works in grams or ounces, and one that has a tare feature...lets you start from zero as you add each ingredient so you can measure individual ingredients.

I work with grams to make the math easier.

If you are making 100 grams of product, then 5% of that is 5 grams.

Write out each ingredient on a list. Put a % amount after each. Make them add to 100%. You can make any amount of product using this method.

say you are making the conditioner alone for 100 grams of product

Water. 94%. 94 grams
Conditioner concentrate. 5%. 5 grams
Preservative. .5% .5 grams
EO. .5%. .5 grams

Hope that helps

 

[lbtddr]

Re: In way over my head, help! (hair conditioner is my biggi

the easy to conditionen hair is after washing use a small spray bottle add a small amount of oil i like coconut oil or sunflower oil shake and spray i have long hair and it works great i spray some on my hairbrush to. for a deep condition just add the oil to hair and let set for at least 20 minets then wash. works great for a natural hair treatment http://www.soapnbath.com natural soaps