My dad was born in the late 40s, so he has a lot of perspective on all the different trends since then.

He has always been a story teller, and once he told me a story that I will entitle "Earth Mama"
Now bear in mind, I have no idea how realistic this story is.. but heres my interpretation of it.

My dad remembers a time when they started putting out all kinds of mass produced shampoos/conditioners, body soaps, foods and etc. After all these mass produced items were put on the market, there were women who decided that they didn't like all these products that were already put together and so easily accessible, they wanted something with morecustomization.. something where they knew (and could understand) all the ingredients that were in it. My dad came to know these women as Earth Mamas.

I am a mother of 2, and with both of my babies I've chosen to make my own homemade baby foods out of fresh organic produce rather then the heavily processed jarred food. I also cloth diaper my babies, and I use cloth wipes as well.. which is what started my obsession with essential oils.
When my youngest was just a few weeks old he developed a bad diaper rash that wouldn't go away for anything, I tried rash creams, and even some prescription yeast cream to no avail.
One day I visited a little shop downtown Olympia, WA called Radiance. They sell tons of essential oils and the staff there was very helpful and we researched infant safe essential oils for rashes. I left the shop that day with Lavender Oil, Apricot Oil, and Tea Tree Oil.
I went home and mixed those three oils into water and started using them for a cloth wipes solution and soon enough my sons rash went away within a week! I've been using that same combination ever since then and I haven't had too much of a rash problem since.

Then I decided to dread my hair out, it was very long and tangle prone... I'd been growing it out for years and had reached the point where I was tired of taking care of it.
So I did some research and realized that most of the same essential oils I already had could be used in my hair!
I started making my own shampoo by mixing baking soda, lavender oil, and tea tree oil into water and pouring it over my scalp and letting it sit for about 10-30 minutes while I was in the shower.
I LOVED the way my hair smelled, and my scalp felt cleaner then it ever had before! Now... 3 months later I've got some serious baby dreads going and they always smell like some kind of amazing essential oil.
I've experimented with all kinds of other essential oils, my favorite of the season being peppermint oil. (I LOVE the tingly feeling on my scalp... not to mention it smells AMAZING)
Typically I wash my dreads every week and a half to 2 weeks with water and essential oils, baking soda I only add about one time per month to get all the grease out (I have oily hair)
And in between washes... most every day I will spray my dreads with a premade mixture of water, lavender oil and tea tree oil to freshen things up and also because I love the smell

If you've never experimented with essential oils... I highlyrecommendit!