Before some brilliant marketing guru decided to convince the world that they needed separate "shampoo" and "conditioner" to survive, guess what the pioneers used to wash their hair?
Soap.
Lye Soap, to be exact.
And, they didn't strip their hair by washing it. Every. Single. Day.
Guess what our Dulce donkey milk soap is?
Lye soap.
Good, old fashioned, lye soap. But we've supercharged it by replacing the pioneers creek water with our supercalifragilistic raw donkey milk and then added extra goodness with superb essential oils.
But, this is extra super secret...the conditioner that will balance your hair ph and leave your hair soft as silk and costs you pennies?
ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar.) The real kind. With the mother (like the scooby of kombucha...the slime stuff at the bottom of the jar.)
Ingredients to DIY your own ACV conditioner:
- 1 bottle Apple Cider Vinegar (with the mother)
- 1 empty bottle (this is one case where I prefer a BPA free plastic bottle, because glass and wet hands don't mix in the shower)
- Warm Water
When you're ready to condition your hair, pour some ACV into the empty bottle. (I usually use about 1/8-1/4 cup, it's not rocket science.) Then add hot / warmish water to the bottle with the ACV in it. Pour the entire bottle over your hair.
Now, if you have super thick, curly hair like we do, I keep a wide WIDE comb in the shower and comb through my hair at this point to get our the tangles and work the ACV throughout hair. You'll be AMAZED at how easy it is to comb the tangles out with this trick!
Then rinse.
The ACV smell goes away when your hair dries, or, when you use our Calm Balm.***
But, there are some of us who have extra thick hair, and scrubbing up enough lather with a bar of soap to get a thorough hair washing can be difficult.
So, I'm sharing the DIY secret to make your own liquid donkey milk soap that you can use as liquid soap, or as shampoo.
(You may want to cut this recipe in 1/2 or 1/4 so you use the soap quickly and it stays fresh, or keep extra soap in the fridge until needed. This mix has water added and zero preservatives, so, disclaimer, it won't last forever!!!)
Recipe to DIY our Dulce Donkey Milk soap into liquid soap:
- 1 bar of your favorite Dulce Donkey Milk soap: stay away from the ones with chunks for this recipe (Rosemary Mint or Oat and Honey) Chunks are great in chocolate chip cookies. Not so much in liquid soap.
- Food processor (for the wusses) or cheese grater (for the thrill and pain seekers)
- 1 gallon distilled water (not tap water)
- Stock pot (big enough to hold a gallon of water)
- Stick blender
- Soap dispenser of choice
1) Cut bar of soap into large chunks. Put in food processor. Grate into shreds. (Or, grate with a cheese grater, if you're a glutton for punishment and don't mind bits of shredded knuckles in your soap.)
2) Add 1 gallon distilled water to stock pot
3) When water is simmering, add soap shreds
4) Decrease heat to medium and stir until soap is dissolved
5) Take pot off of heat. Cover and let sit 12-24 hours or until soap is gelled.
6) Blend with a stick blender (optional, but recommended to remove clumps.)
7) Pour soap into dispenser of choice. Store extra soap in glass jars. This soap won't last forever, so make what you need and use it up. Or use a preservative. Or just use our bar soap as an old fashioned bar o' soap and don't worry about it.
I'll try to do a YouTube tutorial on this...follow us @OklahomaDonkeyDairy on Youtube for updates!
Leave a comment if you'd like me to sell soap shreds and Dulce branded liquid soap dispensers to make this a package deal...if there are enough of you interested, I'll do it for you! If not, invest in more band-aids for your bloody grated knuckles, my friends.
Or get a good food processor.
***(If you have thinner hair and our calm balm is too heavy for you, or you want to thin out your calm balm to make it last longer, we love any of the carrier oils by Mountain Rose Herbs. Just put a dollop of calm balm in your palm, then add a splash of a carrier oil, then rub together in your hands and apply. Here is a link to their organic Argan Oil, or their Organic Apricot Kernal Oil.)