Natural Detangling Shampoo

I cannot tell you how many times I've tried a detangling shampoo and closed my eyes and dreamed for the comb to just glide through my hair. Then the nightmare begins with about 15 minutes of pulling and yanking.

It all started back in 1995 when I decided to where my hair natural (afro). I stopped using relaxers and straighteners. Several reasons I chose to go natural were relaxers were damaging to my hair, I saved money and it was low maintenance. But there was a problem I began having recently and it was tangled hair after washing. I never had this problem and couldn't understand why in 2012, I would begin to hate washing my hair. Being an African-American woman I am afforded the luxury of not having to wash my hair every day, thank God. When it was time to wash my hair I would procrastinate terribly. So what can I do to make this easy and painless?

I did a little web search and came across a recipe for a detangling shampoo. It contained all natural ingredients like marshmallow root, burdock root and castile soap. Being who I am, I came up with my own version of this shampoo. I added coconut oil, castor oil, glycerin and African black soap. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

For the shampoo

1 bar of castile soap

African Black Soap

6 cups of water

For detangling

½ cup of Marshmallow Root

½ cup of Burdock Root

2 cups of water

Other Equipment You'll Need:

grater

large sauce pan or stock pot

Instructions:

1. Shred your soap with the shredder. I used Kirk's Original Coco soap because it was cheaper than Dr. Bronner's.

2. Boil 6 cups of water. Add two cups of soap flakes. I used 1 cup of castile soap and 1 cup of black soap. Stir the mixture, and the soap flakes should start melting. Turn off the heat and let the mixture sit there for an hour or so.

3. Boil the 2 cups of water, remove from heat and add the marshmallow root and burdock root. Let it sit for about an hour and strain. You will end up with a "tea" that you will mix in with the shampoo. Let it cool and pour into empty shampoo bottles or bottles with a pump.

4. I mixed a teaspoon each of castor oil and coconut oil for moisture.

Results:

The mixture is a bit loose but there was amazing lather. I didn't get the glide I wanted but there was less tangling. I would suggest using a conditioner after because my hair was a little hard or too clean, probably because of the black soap. This can also be used as a body wash.