Hello!  Newbie here!  I have shoulder-blade-length, thin, fine, dark dark brunette,fast growing, mostly strait, very silky shiny hair.  It's very much like baby-hair, and since my mom was a hairdresser when I was a kid, I've worn it just about every way imaginable (I was the only kid in kindergarten with a perm...)  Right now I'm itching to grow it loooong and girly, after several years with a short short chin-length bob.  ANYWAY, now that I've introduced my hair ;0P ...

I was curious to know if anyone else had experimented with hair muds.  I don't like petrochemical based shampoos and conditioners for a wide variety of reasons but I like clean, manageable, soft hair.  Personally I use Terressentials (not affiliated with them in any way) Pure Earth Hair Wash in Lavender.  It's basically an oil-absorbing clay and essential oils...mud-like in consistancy.  I did not think it would work AT ALL, especially on my "oily" or so I thought, hair.  After the two week break-in/hair detox period, I could not believe that my hair was soft and clean and even TANGLE FREE from MUD!  In fact, my itchy scalp and dandruff went away and my "oily" scalp started being nice and normal.  I've been using this stuff for a year now, and swear by it.  Now that my hair is getting longer, I find that my ends are a bit dry, but a little bit of shea butter (think pencil-eraser-sized...just a little bit) warmed in my palms and rubbed into the ends, then brushed with a boar bristle brush keeps everything smooooth and silky.  Has anyone else tried a mud?  Oh, p.s. I get mine from www.terressentials.com

WELCOME I am glad to be the first to greet thee! For I myself am a newbie. It is awesome that you found this site while first starting to grow long. It will help you out a great deal. I wish I had found it about 6 years ago **pouting**oh well.
Can't wait to see pictures and hear about your growing experiences.
As for the mud, never tried, sounds interesting though.
Myself, I don't have a oil scalp, but I know others on here do. So they should be able to jive with you.
Good Luck, and happy GROWING! ;D

Welcome to LL AngelQ.  Glad you've joined the fun here.
I've not done anything with hair muds either.  Sounds like you've found a good routine for your new long locks.

I've not tried hair mud that was intended for the hair.  I"ll admit to a few mud fights while camping that coated the hair, face, arms, legs........  oh well, you get the picture.

Anyway - WELCOME!   ;D

Hi AngelQ! Wow, it must have been interesting to be in kindergarten and have  a perm!8)

Thanks for sharing your experiences with Terressentials. I've been to their website and thought about trying it, but after seeing the detox process, I thought "nevermind." Maybe I'll try it in the future.  

Welcome AngelQ!  I have no experience with muds but it certainly sounds interesting.  I know that mud baths are popular at spas, so it must do something right!  :)

Cynde

hello fellow mud head  ;D
i myself am mainly into herbal mud. washed with herbs for the very first time today after having a terribly itchy scalp cuze i used a "mild" shampoo several times. after 8 months of mainly coing, my scalp protested lol. i know herbal henna always cured my itchy scalp, it's still itchy though, dispite the neem in the mix :(
i never tried that mud though and it sounds interesting! but just one question: i am a product junkie and i can't give up "commercial" conditioners. now, herbs go nicely along with them, heard clays can end up in a total disaster. how about this mud thingie  ???

I too was addicted to commercial shampoo and conditioner.  I thought that my hair was totally unmanageable without my pantene pro-v.  But when I started researching about what was actually IN my beloved shampoos and conditioners, I became concerned and began looking for safer alternatives before I became pregnant (I'm 8 months pregnant with a little boy ;D ).  I did NOT believe a mud would work for my hair, but I was willing to give it a try.  You DO have to go through the "detox" period, where all the synthetics coating your hair get washed out.  The first couple of weeks with the mud can be really disappoining, as your hair feels gummy and is a tangled mess, but I still stuck with it, giving it a chance.  But after that "detox" it really does work.  My hair wasn't greasy or tangly or dry and was really soft and full of natural body instead of being weighed down.  Every once in a while (about twice a month) I like to give my hair/scalp a good cleansing to remove any oil buildup (like you would do with a natural bristle hairbrush) or anything else funky going on, but I DO NOT use a conventional shampoo and conditioner, as these will result in me having to go through hair "detox" again, with the gummies and the tangles.  I instead use Aubrey Organics Green Tea Shampoo and Cream Rinse (fantastic smelling, relatively safe compared to regular shampoos) which do not misbehave with the hair mud (probably because they don't contain synthetic "coating" materials).  And like I said before, a tiny bit of shea butter and a boar bristle brush can cure any dry ends and make your hair every bit as silky as my beloved but forbidden Pantene pro-V.  I don't like my hair routine to be too complicated and above all, I have to have uncompromisingly good results and will search obsessively until I find the products that meet my high standards.

P.S.  nice to meet all of you!

Oh, btw sittykitty, I don't have an oily scalp either anymore!  My "mud" cured it I think!  What I think happened is that when I was a young teen and freaking out over hormone changes that brought about acne and all that fun, I started using a shampoo and conditioner for "oily" hair.  Those kinds of shampoos strip the scalp of natural oil.  The scalp reacts by producing MORE oil to compensate, thus creating a bad cycle of more washing and more oil.  This is my theory.  Now that I'm not stripping oils out of my hair and scalp, instead of being MORE oily, my hair and scalp are really normal and never ever look greasy.  Needless to say, I was impressed.

Hey Styg, what was the "mild" shampoo you used?
And what kind of mud do you use?

Also, CONGRATS, on the baby AngelQ! Your first?

This mud thing is starting to sound very interesting, like trying interesting, so my ? is do you use it every time to wash your hair?

sittykitty,

Thanks, yes this is our first!  We're very excited and eagerly anticipating his arrival in October!  He's just starting now to get a little cramped in there and poking me in the ribs pretty hard, to the perpetual amusement of my husband.

Yep, I use the mud every time I wash my hair, with the bimonthly exception of the Aubrey Organics Green Tee Shampoo and Conditioner (which don't seem to compete with the mud) for a deep cleaning.  Since the mud is so gentle on my hair, and my hair isn't really really long and difficult to wash/dry, I pretty much wash with the mud on a daily or every-other-day basis, but when I say wash, I primarily mean wash/scrub my scalp and just rinse the mud though the rest of my hair without scrubbing it.

Also, styg, if you like herbs, adding them to the mud is a piece of cake.  The type that I use already has some in there (lavender and a few others), but you can buy the plain and add your own herbs and essential oils.

Welcome!!  Congrats on the baby!!  I think having kids is the biggest adventure and most fun I've ever had.  I look forward to hearing from you on the board.  I bet you have some really great hair stories and excellent knowledge to share. ;D ;D

Welcome AngelQ

I did try Terressentials a couple of years ago and yup, after the detox, which can be formidable, it does work, and without conditioner.  It is also good for cleansing the skin - beware of peppermint in certain places  :o.

It's not my routine now but when I used it I also used a bit of shea butter and sometimes jojoba - vinegar rinses with EO's are nice with this too.

Enjoy...g

Baby on the way!  How exciting.  You are in for 21 years of excitement.  Enjoy the fun.  :D

Oh congratulations!!!!  How exciting!

:D

October-that's my B-day too, maybe he will come on the 11th! It's just around the corner, bet you can't wait. I have 3 my youngest just turned 4 months. ChiliPepper and BB are right an ADVENTURE and EXCITMENT, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

So back on subject, **SORRY** how long does one container of the product last? How long is your hair? And when are we gonna see some pics.?

So does the bottle last you past the detox period? I've been afraid of buying it thinking that once it starts to work, I'll be out and have to use regular shampoos until another one comes, starting the detox process all over again.... Or some nasty cycle like that. My hair is about BSL, do you think it would last that long?

wrote on Aug 29^th, 2005 at 10:58am:

Baby on the way!  How exciting.  You are in for 21 years of excitement.  Enjoy the fun.  :D

According to my mother the excitement lasts much longer than that!! (I'm 35)

Congratulations on your first baby!!  :D

Cynde

Being a Mom is the best thing ever  :)

Congratulations!


I'll check out the mud thing. When I go and get massages, I always have some "Fango". That's nothing else but hot mud  ;D

Hair Mud! HAIR MUD! YEEEEEEEEEEE!

sorry it's just I'm a bit excited over the hair mud because back in my late teens I discovered Garden Botanika's hair mud stuff.  I have the problem of oily scalp and I know what you are talking about.   The GB's hair mud stuff worked and I faithfully purchased it untill GB closed it's stores here in Dallas.  

And that thing you mentioned, of oil overproduction because you wash too much- it's true.  I've heard it from an Avon lady, a Mary Kay lady, and several cosmotologists(sp?).   If you have oily skin you should wash your face no more than twice a day and your scalp no more than once a day.  That's what they told me and once I stuck to that my skin stopped gushing oil.   (Well, it took a while but I don't remember how long.  Not more than a week I think.  I know I looked like wino with stringy greasy hair for a few days. )  

But GB's hair mud worked soo well and I missed it soo much.  Thanks for the link, maybe this one will work as well.

Also, know what helps with oily skin as well?  Drinking lots of water.  It thins out your body's oils.  Works very well and you'll notice the different in your oily face and/or scalp if you go a few days without much water.

Hope you're enjoying the kid.  Play dress-up while you can- they'll loudly protest with their own style soon enough. LOL!

(^_^)/
BEM

I found this posting who knows how long ago, and loved it because I love hair mud! African Spa at the body shop used to make a nice hair mask, but then they stopped making it >:(, then I swapped to their brazil nut mask, but they changed the formula and I didn't like it anymore >:(, then I tried a mask from my local organic foods store, which was ok, but smelled funny >:(, I thought I'd never find a really nice hair mud :'(. So now I've finally broken down and ordered a bottle and can't wait till it gets here in the mail. I'll let you know all about it, and how I like it!

Yes, please post your results! My conditioner has some mud in it and I'm kind of interested in learning more about hair mud.