Why I Only Trust Handmade Natural Hair Care (And Where to Start)
- Katherine Haircare
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
My hair used to snap off just past my shoulders no matter what I did. The reason? Everything modern haircare had taught me was quietly sabotaging my growth.
So, I chopped off all the damage (to chin length), ditched commercial products, and vowed to find a truly natural way to grow my hair. Today, after several years of using handmade natural hair care, my hair is longer and healthier than ever, all the way to my tailbone!
If you’ve struggled with breakage, thinning, or lack of growth, this guide will show you why I only trust handmade natural hair care, plus exactly where you can start.
3 Reasons I Only Trust Handmade Natural Hair Care
Handmade Natural Hair Care is Potent
Anything mass-produced for the drugstore shelf has to last months, even years. That means they almost always include preservatives to keep it stable, fillers to bulk it out, and formulas designed for profit rather than performance. By the time you use it, much of the potency is gone.
Handmade natural hair care is different. With this kind of product, there is no need for preservatives, because you are mixing it yourself on the spot. This means the product is inherently more potent.
It’s fresh, active, and powerful. When I started making my own products, my hair finally grew past the shoulder-length plateau I’d been stuck at for decades!
No Harmful Ingredients
This is the first reason I stopped using my commercial hair products. It wasn’t because I thought they didn’t work. In fact, I was terrified to give up my silicone conditioners and my “holy grail” curl cream.
What changed was bigger than hair. After having my first child, I went through a bout of postpartum mood disorder. When I began to recover, I felt a deep commitment to take care of my health on every level; mind, body, and spirit. That included looking hard at what I was putting in and on my body every day.
The research was eye-opening. I learned that conventional products often contain:
• Endocrine disruptors that interfere with hormones
• Ingredients linked to cancer risk
• Silicones that coat hair without healing it
That was my breaking point. I threw out any product that had ingredients whose names I couldn’t pronounce, and decided I would only use products with literally edible ingredients. Oils, clays, butters, aloe vera, etc.
It was a huge relief to know I was caring for my health while also caring for my hair. Using handmade, natural hair care is a great way to ensure that everything you use on your hair and body is not only potent, but safe.
Works Holistically (Not Just a Band-Aid)
Conventional haircare usually masks symptoms. For example, if you struggle with an oily scalp, you’ll probably notice that shampoo strips all the oils from your scalp, then your scalp overproduces to compensate, and suddenly you feel like you have to wash daily just to look presentable.
The problem with “band-aid solutions” when it comes to our health or hair care is that they aren’t actually as benign as a literal band-aid. When our body presents a certain symptom, it’s meant to direct us to find the root cause.
But in a modern Western paradigm that dismisses this idea and only uses “treatments” that make the symptom go away, then we are actually making the root problem grow bigger. Our bodies are intelligent, and we mask our negative symptoms at our own risk.
Let’s give a really interesting example of a natural ingredient you have probably heard of, and its ability to deal with issues with our hair and scalp in an intelligent way. Lavender essential oil. Lavender essential oil is cold pressed from lavender flowers, and basically contains the medicinal essence of the lavender flower, along with its recognizable and beautiful smell.
So in this example, our case study person could either have too much scalp oil, or too little. That’s the first way lavender oil excels compared to conventional chemically based products. It can treat either issue.
If they struggle with excess oiliness, and begin incorporating lavender essential oil into their hair care routine, it will encourage the scalp to produce less oil in the first place. OR, if the person doesn’t produce enough oil, the lavender oil can encourage their scalp to produce more oil.
So the natural solution is intelligent. It works with the body where it’s at to bring about healing at the root level, not just masking symptoms.
But enough with all of this theory. Where do we even begin with haircare?
Where to Start with Natural Hair Care
Transitioning to handmade, natural hair care can feel overwhelming. At first, I thought I needed a dozen new products to replace the ones I’d thrown out. But it turned out just a few staples were enough to restore my hair’s health and set me up for long-term growth.
Rhassoul Clay Hair Wash
When I first tried natural cleansers, many left my hair dry and brittle. Rhassoul clay was the turning point for me. It gently cleanses the hair without stripping it of its natural oils. It removes buildup, and even helps define curls.
My earliest recipe was as simple as clay, water, and a drop of essential oil. These days I enrich it with Ayurvedic herbs, but the base remains the same and it’s still the product I return to after more than seven years.
You can find the full recipe I use today in my Hair Growth Cheat Sheet, along with links to each ingredient from brands I trust and recommend.
Apple Cider Vinegar Hair Rinse
When switching to what we would call a “no poo” method of hair care, which is a wide term that can refer to any method of washing the hair that isn’t shampoo, we need to do something as a second step to balance our pH.
Our hair and scalp like to be sitting at a somewhat acidic level on the pH scale, and if it’s not, it can cause problems. Most of the methods used to cleanse hair, clay included, are more alkaline. This is fine, and even beneficial, but only if we follow it with a slightly acidic hair rinse as a final step. I love apple cider vinegar rinses because they take 5 seconds to make, and are really effective.
Benefits include:
• Restores scalp pH
• Boosts shine and smoothness
• Makes detangling easier
It takes only seconds to mix, but the results are immediate and lasting.
My apple cider vinegar rinse recipe (for both short and long hair) is also in my Hair Growth Cheat Sheet.
The Best Oils for Hair Growth
Hair oiling was the step that took me the longest to figure out. At first, I couldn’t see how oils could replace conditioners. But after months of trial and error, I realized the key was choosing the right oils and using them in the right way.
Here are some of the best oils for hair growth:
• Castor oil: helps produce thicker growth
• Coconut oil: aids in deep hydration
• Argan oil: keeps the ends strong
• Shea butter: my go-to for deep moisture
Over the years, I even developed my own 14-ingredient hair oil that supports every stage of the growth cycle, and it has been instrumental in taking my hair from chin length to tailbone.
It soothes and restores the scalp, removing the biggest barrier to new hair growth. Then it actively encourages new growth (this is where you start to see new baby hairs popping up). Finally, it strengthens and hydrates from within, so you don’t shed or break your hard-earned growth!
This particular recipe has been instrumental for me in growing my hair from a chin-length haircut to now tailbone length and still going. Less than a year after launch, it has now been used by thousands of satisfied customers all over the world!
If you’d like to see what people are saying about it, you can use the link below to read the reviews and learn how each ingredient helps revive and retain your hair.
Learn more about my Herbal Hair Growth Oil.
Thanks for reading!
Katherine