We have been living with Grey’s father since 2011, a few
months before Gabe was born. He has a very large house and in order to provide
for our son, we agreed that it was best. We were young, fairly fresh out of
high school, and lacking in work experience/income. So we moved in with his
father and have lived here for a little over two years. Shortly after giving
birth to Gabe, I decided I wanted a little change from my natural color—which
is a dirty blonde—and bleached most of my hair. There was a lot of damage to
the ends of my hair, and I eventually got it cut after a month or so, which is
when I began to notice something strange about my hair. I had come to be used
to what bleach damage feels like (stringy, stretchy, brittle when dry, etc.),
but this was different. After several months I felt a buildup in my hair that
was squeaky and rough and brittle like split ends. It was mainly located in the
hair on the back of my head, especially at the ends.
Ignore the dumb Twilight poster!
One day I was over at my parents’ house, and my mom gasped
when I turned around to face the kitchen sink. “Your hair is ORANGE!” she
exclaimed (now, I’m paraphrasing because who remembers specifics, right?). I went
to the mirror to examine my hair and was devastated. How had I not noticed my
hair had turned a disgusting, brassy orange?! What had caused this? Where was
that beautiful bleach blonde I’d had just two months before? I started to
remember how the bathtub was always orange. Could it be the water? I began to
zealously research what was causing this change in my normally silky locks. It
turned out my suspicions were correct: it was, in fact, the water.
The well water here at my father-in-laws home is very high
in iron. When the water sits in the hair (and especially when left to air-dry),
the iron oxidizes. Do you know what oxidized iron is? Rust. There was rust in
my hair. I was appalled and frankly grossed out. This also explained why the
water often smelled awful—like wet dog and metal—and why the bathtub orange. Once
I knew what the problem was, though, I had to figure out a solution…The bathtub
was a simple fix with some strong descaling spray product from Lowe’s (I don’t
recall the exact name off of the top of my head, but it’s way too strong and
chemically to use all the time…we maybe use it every few months or twice a
year). The hair was not so easy…I read a zillion reviews and discussion boards
to find the best option for me.
It seemed there were a couple of different things you could
do to reduce the rust. First and foremost was to buy a shampoo/conditioning
system made specifically for well water and the buildup it causes. I have tried
two brands: Malibu C and Ion. Malibu C was the better of the two, especially in
conjunction with the demineralizing packets they have, which I used weekly and
removed large amounts of build up at a time. Ion didn’t help very much at all,
so I would not recommend it. Another thing I could do was to reduce the time my
hair spent drying. Blow drying helped a lot in the beginning, but it became
tiring to do so every day, not to mention damaging. Another method to help with
the build up was a vinegar rinse; and that, by far, has been the most helpful
thing.
I struggled with the orange in my hair for a long time...I’d
say from February 2012 to October 2013. Even with the expensive shampoo,
conditioner, and demineralizer, I still had some buildup; and eventually I
abandoned them to save money. I was not yet in the habit of using the vinegar
on a regular basis. However, in October of last year, I decided to end the
struggle of the orange by dying my hair brown. I had actually bleached it again
before dying and cutting it (the result of a failed attempt at cute bleach
blonde locks), but I’d been debating on going brunette for some time. After
dying it a different brown after that, I knew I was going to want to go back to
blonde, so I wasn’t too worried about my color fading. I began to try out apple
cider vinegar to keep away the buildup. After a month or so, my hair definitely
felt loads better, and I began using John Frieda’s Sheer Blonde strengthening
shampoo/conditioner system—which I find superb for my hair type! My hair was,
for the most part, healthy and silky again.
It was then time to return to blonde. I knew with my new
found cure, I would be able to maintain my blonde the way I wanted it! Just
before Christmas, I bought two boxes of blonde dye, one in the lightest dye
(NOT BLEACH) I could find and one ash blonde. I used a mixture of dish soap and
crushed vitamin C tablets to lift some of the brown color from my hair a few
nights before dying, and then used the lightest blonde on the brown lengths and
ends for a time, then added it to my roots (this dye step was important to keep
from my roots becoming too light!). After just the first box, I was blonde. I
didn’t even need the second box! It was a little more strawberry than my
natural color, but seeing as my mom is a redhead, it didn’t look bad. I was
blonde Sarah once again!
Now, after that dumb story about my hair dying process, you
are probably wondering what my vinegar rinse routine is and how much I use,
right??? So I use straight up, undiluted apple cider vinegar on my hair. I know
some people say to dilute one to two tablespoons to a cup of water, but I said
whatever and went all hardcore. ACV goes in my spray bottle. I use a bottle I
bought from a Sally’s beauty supply store, but any bottle that has a laser
function on it would work great (the laser setting helps shoot that ACV right
down into my scalp!). While in the shower, I shampoo, rinse, and then spray the
ACV all throughout my hair from roots to ends. It doesn’t take a tremendous
amount, as your hair will already be wet, but I squeeze out the excess from the
lengths, assuring that it is distributed evenly. I often leave the ACV in while
I am washing my body or washing my son (hooray for coshowering!), but if I had
to set a timer to it, I’d say leave it in at least 2-5 minutes. Then I simply
rinse it out and condition as normal. The conditioner usually soaks right into
my hair, and it is always extra silky and healthy looking on the days that I do
this! I often use the vinegar rinse every other day or so to ensure there is no
more rust buildup.
I have read that vinegar diluted in water actually mimics
and helps balance the pH of skin and hair, which is why it is used in
everything from hair rinses, to facial toners, to douches! You could use white
distilled vinegar for this, but I love the earthier, more pleasurable scent of
apple cider vinegar. If you are worried you will smell like salt and vinegar
chips, don’t! The scent fades once your hair is dry so that someone would have
to stick their nose to your head to smell it, especially after you’ve used a
conditioner on top of that. It has been months now since I have had any signs
of the rusty buildup in my hair and I am finally able to really grow my hair out
without fears of it breaking off and becoming unmanageable! The picture I’ve
added are all taken by me to illustrate exactly what my hair looked like before
I started this journey to healthy hair and after.
I hope this has not bored you to death and that you will
have learned something from my trials and errors! Forget all of those expensive
shampoos! Apple cider vinegar is a life-saver (for your hair anyway)!
-Sarah
ACV IS THE BEES KNEES!
ReplyDeleteIt absolutely is!
Delete