My BS/ACV experience, (for those who suffer from dandruff). I also need some advice

I have been letting my hair go all natural/neglect/freeform since August 2012, at that point and time my hair was very short (much less then 1 inch all around) I started with Dr. Bronners and then used The BS/ACV a couple times and switched to dreadlockshampoo bars for dandruff help (did work well). The past month or so i switched back to BS/ACV by the "no touch" method. I used 1/2 cup of Baking Soda per 5 cups of water with 10 Tea Tree, 10 Rosemary, 5 peppermint essential oil drops. For ACV i used about 2 teaspoons for 5 cups of water with no Essential oils (imo too expensive for me at this stage to just immediately rinse out ACV while using EO's). I kept watch on my scalp pretty much every time before i went to go wash (every 3 days). I noticed that my scalp felt dry and still had dandruff while i was undergoing the no touch method. My hair seems to be sectioning itself out well but i cant seem to understand if my hair type just doesnt want to dread, or if perhaps it is just too short to dread yet. I have very thick hair thats more straight than curly (but not super straight). Yesterday i did my typical BS/ACV wash but this time i massaged my scalp with a decent ammount of pressure "through my hair" aiming at just touching my scalp. I massaged my scalp: #1 while getting my hair wet prior to dumping the BS on, #2 right after i dumped the BS on, #3 while rinsing the BS. #4 after i dumped the ACV on while imediately rinsing out the ACV under the shower head. After all that my scalp has never felt better. All the dandruff was stripped away and i had 0 itchyness even after going for a run (exercising seems to always make my scalp so damned itchy its unbelievable). My hair hasnt really made any progress besides gaining length and forming some sections and some hairs get barely clumped together (super fragile sections that easily come undone). Here is my concern, after that wash all my "fragile sections" for the most part became undone. I want to continue the BS/ACV touch method because it helped my scalp so much, but im worried that its not going to dread because of how easily the sections come undone. But then i think "If i keep washing every 3 days and scrub my scalp and just let my hair keep growing, it'll get to a point where just scrubbing my scalp wont interfere with the progress that has been made further down my hair away from the scalp" <-- is that the case? I get minor minor stress over it and i just need peoples opinons on what i should/shouldnt do. Will just massaging the scalp after i dump the BS on be enough? Am i over massaging? am i not over massaging? i need to be at ease haha. Thank you, i will post a pic on how long my hair is currently. I also feel as though my hair (after becoming undone from massaging/washing) will get back to as much progress as it can get in just a few days because it didnt get that far. Is this just part of the process? I would be 100% at peace to keep scrubbing my scalp even if it "slows" down the dreading process, as long as it would dread eventually in like a year or 2 i would be fine. Photo is down below

updated by @teddyjo: 02/05/15 10:12:49AM

Hi there. If your scalp wants to be scrubbed with your fingertips, then go for it. Things don't always work the same for everyone. I do recommend that you cut down to 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar for your length hair. Also, when you have essential oils in the ACV, you don't always rinse it out right away. ACV is a conditioner and should only be on for a minute at most. Over conditioned hair can allow any forming knots to slip out. Be patient, let your sections be, dreads usually like to start forming in 6"hair length or more. So try changing that and see how it goes. Finish off your shower with a cold head rinse, as cold as you can do take, that will help with your dandruff & feel real good.

Peace

slightly short but ni[ot too shirt u certainly are over masaging if yiu can bnot at all u shiuld but if u must use yur fungers=tipos whike soaking un the bs and scrape at the scalp in itchy areas try not to massage it all pinpoint the areas needing it and gi =o fr it if u scrape at small areas u wont sdisturm the hair

so zero in on the bad parts scraoe at an area no bigger then a quarter just barely enough to scrape off anty chunkines ans move in

i might if it is widespread use all 5 fingers on diferent points and just do a lil scratchy motion then move around

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alright i will try to pinpoint the areas. It feels like its the whole scalp though. When i did massage i gently put all my fingers (except my thumbs) through my hair and tried not to disturb any sections. once i felt my scalp i applied more pressure and made circular motions about quarter sized. i probably should just do this after i dump the BS over my head, then ill wait the 10 minutes. Followed by a no touch rinse and a no touch acv/rinse. What is your opinion on rinsing the hair (no touch) on my off days of washing after a workout? <--- will this speed up or slow down the process? and will wearing a bandana while exercising positioned at my hairline underneath all the hair in order to keep it out of my eyes prevent dreading?
soaring eagle said:

slightly short but ni[ot too shirt u certainly are over masaging if yiu can bnot at all u shiuld but if u must use yur fungers=tipos whike soaking un the bs and scrape at the scalp in itchy areas try not to massage it all pinpoint the areas needing it and gi =o fr it if u scrape at small areas u wont sdisturm the hair

so zero in on the bad parts scraoe at an area no bigger then a quarter just barely enough to scrape off anty chunkines ans move in

i might if it is widespread use all 5 fingers on diferent points and just do a lil scratchy motion then move around

i will try 1 teaspoon of ACV, should i be rinsing it out immediately? i remember reading somewhere on here that it should be rinsed out immediately if you dreads aren't mature. And yeah i always follow with a freezing cold rinse. thanks

the Barrellady said:

Hi there. If your scalp wants to be scrubbed with your fingertips, then go for it. Things don't always work the same for everyone. I do recommend that you cut down to 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar for your length hair. Also, when you have essential oils in the ACV, you don't always rinse it out right away. ACV is a conditioner and should only be on for a minute at most. Over conditioned hair can allow any forming knots to slip out. Be patient, let your sections be, dreads usually like to start forming in 6"hair length or more. So try changing that and see how it goes. Finish off your shower with a cold head rinse, as cold as you can do take, that will help with your dandruff & feel real good.

Peace

Yep, try not to keep on the ACV for more than one minute, you can rinse it out just about right away. Peace

i would cut back on the amount of oils your using in your bs mix. tea tree is very drying and can make dandruff worse plus too much essential oils can leave some slip in your hair. i would suggest no more than 5 drops total.

one thing that helped my dandruff is i do a gentle scalp scratching with my nails before i wet my hair. it helps to loosen the flakes on my scalp and they wash away easier.

How long have you been doing the bs/acv wash for? Correct me if I'm wrong everyone but for me it took a few weeks for my scalp to get used to it. I had a really itchy period where I had both dandruff and a couple head zits (oily areas) which were pretty gross to me since I've never had either of those issues before but the past couple weeks it's improved and while I still have some dandruff (which is pretty normal for me in winter to have a little) the oily spots and itchiness have gone away. As long as your using cold water I would try waiting a bit and if it doesn't get better switch back to the bars.

You took the words right out of my mouth with your methods compared to mine. Except I do the sea salt soaks whenever I have a good hour to spare.I don't use the acv washes at all. Not until the dreads have formed and I feel like its necessary. I used the soap bar as well. I Switch it up though whenever I want, between the bs wash and locs bar.IN my washes as well I use no oil.... SO far my only formation are two pieces that was my rat tail prior to dreading. SO That was already longer than the rest of my hair and has began to lock up and start growing.. I have a problem touching them too much..I figured I would share what I do. MAybe give you some food for thought. I suggest you keep toying around with portions and methods until you find one that fits into your daily active life and regime.TAke care.