Is it possible to wash hair without using shampoos and to have healthy, clean and hydrated hair in a natural way, using FLOURS??
I guess reading that you can wash your hair naturally using flours left you a little concerned, because I bet you’re asking yourselves: “Why and how flour can wash away dust, sweat, smog and all the impurities that, along with sebum, create layers of residues on my hair?”
Keep reading the post if you want to know how!
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Cereal flours (oat flour, millet flour or buckwheat flour) are the most delicate and soothing flours and they’re indicated for who has dermatitis or for who has a very delicate skin.
That’s why there are lots of cleansing products made with oat flour, created especially for everyone who has delicate and sensitive skin.
Oat flour is, by the way, one of my favorite flours to remove make-up because it’s very delicate on the skin. It’s a natural exfoliative, so it removes all the impurities and dead cells, making your skin softer and more glowing, and you only need a minute to prepare this natural cleanser.
You can see how I make this face-cleanser with flour in the video above. It only took me a bunch of seconds!
Flours ground from legumes are very indicated to wash hair naturally: chickpea flour, which has been used for centuries in India, or bean flour, pea flour, soy flour or lentil flour.
Rice flour, for example, is not right to wash hair, but it can be added and mixed to chickpea flour if you want a soft scrub effect, thanks to its scratchy texture.
Actually, I recommend you to do a natural gommage made with rice flour (that can be replaced with sugar) once a month, to remove impurities and dead cells from your scalp, to favor the blood flow and the oxygenation of your hair follicles, and, consequently, to favor your hair growth.
Fine hair will benefit from this hair mask, because this gommage, if rubbed on the hair roots, will give so much volume to the hair.
RECOMMENDED READING: Fine, Thin Hair? 4 essential tips to get volume & strength in your hair!
Why flours can wash hair naturally?
It should be noted that not all flours are good for this aim.
While cereal flours are made of starch and a small amount of fat substances that can emulsify the mix of exceeding grease and dirt, legumes flour also have a percentage of saponins, substances similar to the most delicate surfactants.
But what are these vegetable saponins that we can find in those flours?
The term “saponin” comes from the Latin word “sapo” that means soap (in fact, they create a soft foam if added to water). In nature, there are lots of plants that contain this substance, even though we wouldn’t imagine it. More than 100 plants contain saponins, but the most common ones are legumes and cereals.
These soothing substances are responsible for the cleansing agent contained in flours that can help us wash our hair naturally.
Moreover, if you choose to use a flour with a high absorbing factor like chickpea flour, even the greasier and oilier hair will be perfectly cleaned because the flour can incorporate the grease on the hair by absorbing it, so when you wash the flour away, it takes all the dirt away with it. Result? CLEAN HAIR!!!
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So, flours do not degrease the hair like a shampoo, but they wash it naturally leaving it clean.
How to wash your hair using flours?
The amount of flour you should use for your washing mix depends on how long and how thick your hair is:
- short hair: 1-2 tablespoons of flour
- long hair: 2-3 tablespoons of flour
You must add water to the flour, very slowly, until you have a mix of the same consistency of the crepes batter. You must mix it energetically and you must be sure that there aren’t any lumps while you’re adding water. If you are familiar to herbal hair dyes, well, the consistency of this mix should be a little more liquid than the consistency of the herbal hair colors mix.
Once you made your flour mix, you must apply it on your scalp and rub it for a few minutes, even 5 minutes, if you want your hair to be perfectly cleaned. If your lengths aren’t dirty, I suggest you not to use this mix on them because it makes them drier, so I suggest you to apply only a conditioner on the lengths. If you have difficulties to spread the chickpea flour mix on your hair, you can use a spargishampoo.
FOTO: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0447/0177/files/farina_di_ceci_spargishampoo_medium.jpg?v=1482134902The result of your flour wash depends on how accurately you spread the mix on your scalp and how well you wash the mix away. It’s important to wash your hair for a few minutes, in order to wash all the flour grains away.
If you use herbal hair colors, you’ll know what I mean, but I can assure you that washing the flour mix away is slightly easier.
Once you’ll have tried this uncommon method to wash hair, you’ll agree with me if I say that’s it’s easier said than done.
After the rinse, you’ll have to apply a natural silicone-free hair conditioner to detangle your hair lengths easily, because they are more difficult to comb if you don’t use a conditioning agent.
But, for a marvelous result on your hair, I suggest you to try the Acid Rinse: Apple Vinegar or Lemon?. I suggest it to you also to rebalance your hair and scalp’s pH, since the flour mix’s pH isn’t acid at all.
You can use the flour mix to wash your face and body, if you can spare it.
The first time I used flours (I used chickpea flour) to wash my – oily! – hair, I was surprised to see how clean, soft, voluminous and fluffy my hair was, especially because I used a delicate and natural method!
I can’t stand the flour smell on my hair, what can I do?
As with all things, there are pros and cons. For example, chickpea flour has a “perfume” that’s not very easy to ignore, and that not everyone likes. Some people find it nauseous.
Personally, I smell the chickpea flour odor while I’m washing my hair, but, to cover it, I use the acid rinse I mentioned earlier or I use one of Beautilicious Delights’ sprays made with aloe and fruit acids – perfect substitutes of the acid rinse -.
To make your hair wash more pleasant and bearable, you can add 2-3 drops of essential oil to your chickpea flour mix, to cover the smell of it and to get benefits from them: sage and rosemary essential oils are perfect for oily hair; citrus essential oils have a purifying action and a strong scent that can likely cover the smell of chickpea flour.
If you never used or if you only heard about essential oils, it’s important that you use them consciously, because NATURAL doesn’t mean HARMLESS, too.
I talked about essential oils in the video you can find below. I’m sure it can be useful to get to know them better.
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As an alternative, you can use one of the flours I mentioned before: they’re perfect to wash your hair and they have a less strong smell. Or you can make a mix with half chickpea flour and half oat flour, that has a more delicate odor.
There also are hair-styling products that can help you cover the flour smell.
Washing my hair with flours makes my scalp itchy, what can I do?
The first advice I can give you is to insist when you’re washing your hair. If you don’t wash your hair perfectly, some flour grains might be stuck in your hair, especially if it’s long, resulting in an itchy and sore scalp.
In the past, when I couldn’t properly wash the flour mix away, I had serious itching problems, and since I suffer from seborrheic dermatitis, the condition of my skin worsened.
Now that I know how to handle my dermatitis using herbal hair colors and a pharmacy product that I use once a month, washing my hair with flours gives me so much satisfaction. Believe me if I say that I’m still surprised by how clean and voluminous my hair looks after I washed it with a simple flour…
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My hair lengths look dry and dull after I washed my hair with flours: what can I do?
This natural washing method may not be suitable for all hair types.
There will be someone who won’t like this method because of how hair feels after being washed, or because hair won’t be as beautiful as when it’s washed using shampoo, or there will be someone who will feel their lengths drier than ever. If you already have dry hair that needs conditioning agents, well, washing it using flour may not help you.
But you can always try new combinations by adding other ingredients to your flour mix. Ingredients that can prevent hair dryness like glycerin, honey, flaxseed gel or fenugreek gel, and if you know you have dry lengths, using a rich conditioner will help you prevent dryness.
Read more about how to use FENUGREEK: Fenugreek (Methi) Helps Preventing Hair Loss Naturally? Preparation, Tips and Properties!
In the video-tutorial below, I talk to you about my favorite mix of flour and cleansing herbs:
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As I always say, the most important thing to do is try! Only if we aren’t afraid to try new combinations, we will find out what our hair likes!
Washing Hair Naturally with Flours is indicated for:
- Who has thin, fine hair
- Who has oily hair
- Who has delicate and sensitive skin
- Who uses herbal hair colors to dye their hair
I love washing my hair with flours because it’s a natural method that isn’t aggressive on the scalp and it’s a very delicate washing method. It can be the perfect alternative to shampoo if you don’t want your herbal hair color dye to be washed away.
Pro:
- Glossy, soft, fluffy and voluminous hair- Non-irritated scalp, neither itchy nor sore
- It helps normalize the scalp’s sebum production
Cons:
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- Dull hair if you don’t use the acid rinse
- It’s a more laborious method, because you must wash the batter away perfectly
- The flour smell (especially if you use chickpea flour that has the best results on hair), but it’s subjective.
RECOMMENDED READING: Natural Hair Care Routine for Oily Hair
If you’re still using grocery store’s hair care products made with silicones, I’m afraid your hair won’t like to be washed with flours. The best results are obtained on already silicone-free hair.
You can obviously wash your hair with flours to help your hair in the transition from siliconic hair products to ecological hair products.
Don’t give up if you’re not satisfied of the result after the first try, it’s possible you’ll need a few washes to see how your hair benefits from this washing method and to find yourself having clean hair for more days than the usual.
My top three washing flours are: in the first place there’s chickpea flour, followed by oat flour and in the third place there’s buckwheat flour.
As with all things, the ideal is “not too much”, so I suggest you to alternate using flours to wash your hair, to “normal” washes using natural and delicate shampoos, diluted or mixed with other cleansing herbs.
If you use flours to wash your hair naturally, let me know which one you like the most in the comment area below!
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