ACV+Coconut Water= The perfect hair rinse

Guess what I'll be doing next wash day?  I'm going to experiment with a new rinse.  Most of us have used apple cider vinegar (ACV) as a final rinse on wash days.  We do this to help seal the cuticle layer, promote shine, and address itchy scalp issues.

Most often we dilute the ACV solution with water to curb the acidity levels.  Recently, idea popped into my mind.  "What if I were to use a little coconut water and ACV as my final rinse?" Would there be any benefits?  The first thought that came up was how coconut water is loaded with nutrients such as calcium, minerals, B vitamins, and protein.  Also, unlike water which has a neutral pH of 7, coconut water was a slightly acid pH of between 4.5 and 5.2.  Oh, by the way, our hair, and sebum has a pH level of between 4.5 and 5.5. Coincidence?

When this first came into my mind, I had no idea if it could work (or provide any benefits). So I went to Google to help show me the way.  One of my searches led me to the realization that there's an actual product out there called coconut vinegar which is essentially fermented coconuts.  One person shared her experience using coconut vinegar as follows:

 |"Yes, I’ve used apple cider vinegar many a-time as a hair rinse and it clarifies the scalp so well that you actually get a squeaky clean feeling on your hair and in your follicles. I figured that vinegars are vinegars and that they’d work similarly. So, I applied about a cup and a half of coconut vinegar into dry hair, massaging it into my scalp. Then I worked any excess on my hands into my hair and down its ends. If you try this at home – one note: be careful to tip your head back while doing this. Don’t let it seep into your eyes like I did because Yowyzas! it stings. Then I let it sit as I did all my other washing up before rinsing it out of my hair (not shampooing it out).

Well, my hair felt amazing! First its great for clearing out flakes and build up. This is important for those of you with flakiness or dandruff because while you may think you need less cleaning and more moisture, its can be the opposite You need to keep your scalp as clear as possible so that the bacteria from dandruff that feeds on dead skin cells are kept at bay (trust me, its worked for many of my clients). Secondly its fantastic for softening. Coconut vinegar is packed with minerals from the coconut water or coconut sap it is derived from and contains zinc, iron, manganese, potassium, copper and magnesium. Coconut sap also possesses all nine amino acids and these proteins are a wonderful treatment for our hair."

You can imagine my delight upon reading this review. Of course I'd love to get my hand on a bottle of coconut vinegar but until then, I came up with the bright idea to experiment a little by diluting my ACV with some unsweetened coconut water (the closer to all natural, the better).  This stuff isn't cheap so I'm think that I"ll use it in a spray bottle as a leave-in prior to applying my traditional leave-in.  So it'll be more of a "pre-leave in."

As of this moment, I haven't experimented first hand so look out for a follow up post later on.  I'm excited and hopefully this will bring great results.  Wish me luck.