Rosemary Hair rinse

Yesterday I talked about our love of rosemary and how Pooka is using this new rosemary hair rinse. This rinse has been great at keeping the tangles out of Pooka's lower back length hair for days at a time. I admit I stumbled across this on pintrest. I was very skeptical, but I thought if I could find a cheaper way to keep it untangled and healthy, it was worth a shot.

I will say it works great. Even if she misses a bath or two, I usually have very little tangling. I am tempted to try it on my hair, but that is another day. Before I continue to sound like a commerical, let me show you how to make it.

First you need to put some water on to boil. I generally just fill the containers I will be using with water and add a bit extra to cover any that may evaporate off.

Why does water boiling look so cool in still life?

While that is boiling away, you take fresh 6-8 sprigs rosemary and place it in a glass jar or glass that can take a bit of heat. This jar I got as a alfredo jar or something, and it works great. This is where you will pour your boiling water, so make sure it is in a safe and sturdy spot where it won't spill when pouring your water.

Sturdy jar

However, I didn't have any fresh rosemary since the nursery only had single cuttings and I didn't buy any at the store thinking I would buy a couple of plants at the nursery and use it. Instead, Pooka was completely out of hair rinse, so I used some of our home dried rosemary from last fall. I had this whole little jar of rosemary that worked great. I didn't use it all, so I have enough for probably one more batch.

Dry rosemary works in a pinch

Once the water is at a boil, add the water to the rosemary. In a way, it is just like making tea. You will need to let this sit overnight in the container. Don't worry if it floats, as time goes by, it will all get the good oils and things out of the rosemary.

Dry rosemary +boiling water

Allow your rosemary water to sit overnight. I like to put the lid on the jar since I have little hands running around. However, for some reason I can't find my lid. I think it has something to do with the new dish helper and he is still learning what goes where. So once I couldn't find it, I improvised with press n seal.

Allow to sit overnight

In all honesty, my water sat for 48 hours before i could get to it. That whole life and kids and homework thing. Fortunatly it just gave it some extra time to steep and get all the good stuff out of it.

After 48 hours

Anyway, once you have a nice jar of rosemary water, get your squeezeable bottles. I bought these for like a dollar, but I am sure if your of a greener nature, you could clean something out. You will want to make sure you have a nice cap to put on it so it doesn't spill if it gets knocked over in the tub.

Bottles and apple cider vinegar

Next add some apple cider vinegar to the bottle. I promise you may smell like vinegar a bit when the hair is wet, but once dry, it doesn't smell.

Fill the bottles

Fill the container you will be using with about 1/10 to 1/5th vinegar. I just kinda eyeball it. The next step is to remove the rosemary from the water. If you used fresh sprigs, just pull them out, but since I had dry loose rosemary, I strained it into another jar. I will say don't do what I did here. About a minute after my picture, it all came crashing down. Nothing broke, but there was water from the top jar everywhere.

Remove rosemary soilds

Now you have a nice set of rosemary water and your containers. Just pour the rosemary water into your containers and shake.

Rosemary water plus Vinegar

Put a lid on and your done. I will say we keep one bottle in the fridge while we use the second bottle. Then when the first bottle is empty, pull the fridge bottle a couple hours before use or you get very cold and Pooka was mad for a bit. Not that I can blame her. Cold water in a hot bath is no fun.

Ready for use

We used this after every shampoo with Pooka. Her hair really does look good and it's detangled it and works just as well as any other conditioner we have found.  Even with buying a clamshell of rosemary from the grocery store, it is still a ton cheaper the commercial stuff and I don't have to worry about it getting in her eyes.