Mixing shampoo into conditioner for gentle cleansing?

hallamaa

Has anyone here tried to mix a bit of shampoo into a conditioner to make a sort of DIY cleansing CO-wash mixture?

I have this problem that I simply cannot find a conditioner that is cleansing enough and suitable for my needs and would also be affordable. Since it takes soooo muuuch conditioner to do the whole CO-wash routine I'm looking into alternatives. I live in a country where there are almost no curly hair products and shipping from online stores cost so much to this farthest trench of Ultima Thule.

I usually use Nature's Gate conditioners because they are so cheap and suit my hair, but they are way too heavy and waxy to function alone as CO-washers. I have tried mixing a bit of sulfate-free shampoo into Nature's Gate Pomegranate conditioner in the palm of my hand before I apply it in the shower. The results have been fairly encouraging. The shampoo seems to cut some of the waxiness, but doesn't have the harshness of straight shampoo, the mixture doesn't foam almost at all. I bet there are people with better understanding of formulations here on this board to tell if it's a really bad idea in the long term. Any experiences?

BotticelliBrit

You could always just use a low-poo. Which is a gentle shampoo without the nasty sulfates. That's what I, and a lot of other curlies who don't co-wash, do

KaZenner1990

I have heard in the past that you should not mix anionic and cationic substances but I don't have any further info about it.

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EverydayCurls

BotticelliBrit wrote: »

You could always just use a low-poo. Which is a gentle shampoo without the nasty sulfates. That's what I, and a lot of other curlies who don't co-wash, do

She said she uses sulfate free shampoo. I guess she wants the middle point between sulfate-free shampoo and co-wash.

BotticelliBrit

EverydayCurls wrote: »

She said she uses sulfate free shampoo. I guess she wants the middle point between sulfate-free shampoo and co-wash.

Skim-read that last part and didn't see the 'sulfate-free' bit.

If you're using a sulfate-free shampoo though, I don't see a reason to mix it with conditioner. It should be gentle enough. Have you tried using the sulfate-free shampoo on its own, without mixing it with conditioner?

hallamaa

Thanks everybody for your responses

Yeah,the root of the problem is that I haven't been able to find affordable low-poo that is gentle enough, also I haven't found conditioner suitable for CO-washing that wouldn't make my wallet cry :confused4: I have gone through so many different brands of low-poo but none of them suited my hair and frizz prevails. I'm getting more and more confused about this whole low-poo thing, since some low-poos have felt even harsher that just regular old SLS stuff...

BotticelliBrit

I've recently purchased the ElastaQP Créme Conditioning shampoo and it was only a couple of quid. I've also really enjoyed the Palmer's Olive Oil Formula Co-Wash Cleanser which, again, is really cheap.

Depending on where you're from, I'm sure the ladies here can rec a bunch of affordable and gentle low-poos for you, if you'd like to go down that root

What low-poos have you been using that you've found harsh / haven't worked? Maybe there's something in the ingredients we can look at and pin down!

sixelamy

You may want to try Kiss My Face Whenever Conditioner. It's a great conditioner that has cocamidopropyl betaine in it, so it's very cleansing as well. It's the only cowash I can use with my hard water.

FrostiiLove

I use sulphate shampoos and water them down, I'm sure you can do the same thing with a low poo.

Chaklat

I think the OP problem is that products are hard to come by where she lives and she has limited access. If mixing the poo and conditioner works for you, by all means do what works for you. It just like doing a pre poo. I've tried this prior to finding a cleansing Cowash product that worked for me. I find As I Am Coconut Cowash to be very cleansing, as cleansing as a moisturizing shampoo.

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Morgan_Adcock

When you low-poo, are you applying the low-poo to your hair as well as your roots, or are you applying conditioner to your hair prior to applying the low-poo to your roots? If not the latter, then I would suggest trying that. That is the method I used when I first started CGing, and I'm certain that I've read it in Curly Girl (though I can't remember if it was in just one of the two editions, or both). Pre-pooing – applying conditioner to you dry hair some interval of time prior to washing it, and letting it soak in, then targeting your roots with low-poo is another good option.

I agree that some low-poos can be harsher than regular shampoo. I think the manufacturers don't "get" that we're trying to prevent overwashing our hair (or think they know better than we do what our hair needs), and compensate for removing the sulfate detergents by throwing as much non-sulfate detergent into the mix as possible.

I'm also curious which of the Nature's Gate Organics Conditioners you used. I have superfine hair which gets weighed down extremely easily, and I've found the Lavender and Aloe worked well for me for both co-washing and conditioning/detangling.

adthomas

I have had a similar issue since I started using Ecostyler gel. It works well but is not easy to cowash out. Out of everything I have tried I like Suave clarifying conditioner for oily hair although you would think a curly would run from an oily hair product. It really help a lot as far as getting the gel and oils out. Otherwise I have to cowash 3 or so times. And my hair is thick so even harder to get it out. Fortunately I shampoo once a week and I have been diluting my shampoo for months using an applicator bottle . Way better technique because it keeps me from puttingtoo much in my hair.

adthomas

Tonight I mixed a little SM Restorative shampoo into my Suave clarifying conditioner. Probably a dime of shampoo per half palm full of conditioner. I worked in for sections trying to be good about scrubbing at the scalp with my fingers. I chose this shampoo because it's gentle and actually doesn't get my hair super clean. I save super clean for my weekly shampoo with tjttt but I wanted my hair mostly clean by getting most of the Eco out of tightly curly dense hair which is not easy with conditioner. I followed with a rinse out. I think it was the best cowashing out of eco gel so far. It worked well everywhere but the front. I need to work on that mre.