One full year of "no more chemicals!"

Last December was the last time I chemically relaxed my hair. I've cut it several times since then, and am pretty sure that most of the hair on my head is now chemical-free.

I have posted several times about the hair care products I've tried to use on my hair in the past year, and some of the stops and starts I've had along the way with finding what works. Anyway, here is what I've settled on:

-- Washing weekly with Trader Joe's TeaTree Conditioner, and once a month with a mixture of 1 TB baking soda in 8 oz. of warm water, and regardless of what I wash with, rinsing with a mixture of 2 TB of apple cider vinegar in 8 oz of cool water.

-- Daily conditioning with a mixture of TJ TeaTree Conditioner, extra virgin olive oil, pure aloe vera gel and vegetable glycerin, with a few drops of essential oil (usually orange or peppermint) added for scent. The mix I make includes 2 TB each of the first three ingredients and 1 TB of the glycerin, and lasts about 2 weeks.

-- Detangling daily with a mixture of 2 oz of the daily conditioner recipe above mixed with 6 oz of filtered water, shaken and applied with a spray bottle. This mixture also lasts about 2 weeks.

--A mixture of 2 TB melted shea butter, 2 TB olive oil and 1 TB aloe used as as a curly pudding applied to the ends of my hair, or brushed throughout my hair (using a soft boar's hair bristle brush) daily. This mixture lasts about a month.

--Styling with flax seed styling gel. Bring one cup of water to boil, add 2 TB whole flax seeds, simmer 10-20 minutes until thickened. Strain out the seeds, stir in 1 TB aloe gel and a few drops essential oil, and store in the refrigerator. I usually get 4 oz. of gel from this recipe, and it lasts about a month.

-- Monthly deep conditioning with a mixture of 1/4 cup mayo, 2 TB olive oil, and 2 TB water, warmed in a microwave, applied to my hair, covered with a shower cap and then a warm towel, and then rinsed out and washed after 30 minutes.

I really am happy with the results! Receding hairline? Gone; hair has grown back. Dry, flyaway frizzies? Gone. Dandruff? Gone. Itchy scalp? Rare, and when it does occur, successfully treated by rubbing the itchy spots on my scalp with vinegar on a cotton ball, and then applying aloe vera gel.

I'm still struggling with coming up with great ways to style my hair, and hope to learn (and post about) new tricks in the coming year. But the improved overall condition of my hair and scalp has been so worth it, and the fact that I am no longer using toxic chemicals on my body or rinsing them away into the environment makes that fact much sweeter.

I'm taking my daughter to see "The Princess and the Frog" tomorrow, and I'll post about it later.