Comments on Fake Plastic Fish: Product tames frizzies without synthetic chems or ...

Jojoba oil is lighter on the hair than olive oil (...

2008-08-27T11:50:00.000-07:00

Jojoba oil is lighter on the hair than olive oil (which I used for years smelling like a salad). Jojoba is technically a wax not oil , or so I've read, but it goes on smooth and doesnt leave the hair greasy. You can also add a nice fragrant essential oil to it. Definitely gets the frizz. My latest experiment with making shampoo was a failure but I will keep trying. Anyone have any tips?

For frizzies, I'm been using the smallest amount o...

2008-08-27T06:50:00.000-07:00

For frizzies, I'm been using the smallest amount of olive oil.

Seems to work.

Not great, but functional.

As to your leftover conditioner with extra ingredients...perhaps mail it back to the company with an explanation of why you are no longer going to be using their product.

Best wishes!

Rather than fragrance, or even "natural fragrance,...

2008-08-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

Rather than fragrance, or even "natural fragrance," perhaps they could put citrus oil on the label. As Rachel said, "People could tell it was citrus, but not what kind." It think that those of us trained to avoid anything with the world "fragrance" on it would be satisfied by that. And it would add a new element of mystery since people wouldn't know that the citrus oil was purely for fragrance, it might have essential anti-frizz qualities. :)

For frizzies, let flax seeds soak over night and p...

2008-08-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

For frizzies, let flax seeds soak over night and put the gelatinous goo it makes in an old leftover spray bottle and spray it on. I'm also experimenting with a little sea salt and trace minerals in distilled water, sprayed on for conditioning and natural highlights. Forget containers. Make it yourself.

I started reading your blog a couple of weeks ago ...

2008-08-22T05:09:00.000-07:00

I started reading your blog a couple of weeks ago having been linked through from Chris at the BBC who is trying to go a month without disposable plastic and is logging all her plastic rubbish.

I have already been inspired to try the Lush shampoo bar, and I have to say, 2 weeks in, I'm thrilled with it!! Normally I try all sort of different shampoos and end up with a scritchy head, but my scalp is feeling much better already.

My husband has been complaining about not being able to find the right styling product for his hair, so I shall point him in this direction.

Not too sure I'm ready to try the baking soda thing yet though, hubby thinks I'm mad for replacing the daily shower spray with a vinegar solution, so it's one small step at a time!

Nice. I just bought some John Masters Organics ha...

2008-08-21T09:16:00.000-07:00

Nice. I just bought some John Masters Organics hair texturizer that is bourbon (oh yeah!) vanilla orange. Mine has 9 ingredients and also a plastic lid. Looks like you win. ;-)

Ooops, on second look, that lid looks like high de...

2008-08-21T08:22:00.000-07:00

Ooops, on second look, that lid looks like high density polyetheleyne. Here's my beloved bakelite option for a 60 ml apothecary blue glass jar, alongside the more harmful metal plastic combo options:
http://www.newdirectionsaromatics.ca/caps.php?cPath=2_80&products_id=118

Bakelite is relatively natural and harmless, made from resin and wood flours:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakelite

Of course, there's always a lid liner of thing styrofoamy stuff that might someday be replaced with a waste fruit leather type film?

Love & RRRevolution, Tracey

Hi Beth,Your lid may be bakelite, the oldest, safe...

2008-08-21T07:57:00.000-07:00

Hi Beth,

Your lid may be bakelite, the oldest, safest form of plastic in my opinion. The lids are made specifically for the jars, so there's not much in the way of interchanging unless the manufacturer develops options. I have some metal lids, but they deform and often need replacing, don't hold oils or fluids in, and have plastic components anyhow. Bakelite so far as I know is rock-like and pretty inert in landfill. I don't think wild life are attracted to it at all. It's safer than ashphalt when disposed of. It can shatter, but my attrition rate is only 3 or so a year, and I deal with thousands of containers.

If anyone has new info about bakelite, I'd love to hear it.

The ingredients look great, but your correspondent is mistaken in speaking of aloe vera oil - it's water soluble and comes in gel or juice form only. I wonder what emulsifies the mixture? I'm getting into the lab thing any second now! As for fragrance, that it almost always a euphemism for synthetics and solvent extracted horrors. I wouldn't even trust the term "natural fragrance". Uranium is natural - so are the glands of animals and the stress urine of whales, and these are natural fragrances! What's the harm in just stating that it's tangerine? Anyone with the sense to copy their recipe would know that:
a) it's tangerine because it doesn't smell like orange or mandarin essential oil
b) it's not a good fragrance to use because it photosensitizes the skin and hair, leading to a risk of burning the kin and lightening and damaging the hair. Unless they have deterpinated it, in which case it's no longer natural and is irritating on a deeper level. I would use a lavender bulgarian or a cedarwood essential oil. Natural only means not adulterated with chemicals or other oils.

It's fabulous that they've made a natural hair product that demystifies things to a large extent and that comes in a glass jar! I wish that we who make things could get stores and customers to make the leap into refilling things locally. That would make my life feel complete!

Thanks! I might have to give that a try, since I ...

2008-08-21T05:56:00.000-07:00

Thanks! I might have to give that a try, since I have super short hair that needs a little "product"!

Sounds like an interesting product! For the past ...

2008-08-21T05:43:00.000-07:00

Sounds like an interesting product! For the past few months, I've been using coconut oil on my hair once a week to condition it. I usually pick a day I home by myself, slather my head in oil and then wear a shower cap until I'm ready to rinse it out. This works well with my no 'poo!