Have you heard of going 'No Poo'? It stands for 'no shampoo', meaning ditching the toxic shampoos and cleaning your hair naturally.

This is an idea that I LOVE. It is also something that I have NOT been able to get to work for me, for the life of me! I have thick, wavy, frizzy hair, and so many people say it is PERFECT for hair like mine, but so far, no bueno.

I first began my 'No Poo' journey several years ago. I have played around with baking soda, ACV, essential oils and fancy brushes, but no matter what I did, and how long I waited, my hair stayed a greasy mess.

I settled for a 'Low Poo' method, which just another way to say, 'I use shampoo as little as possible'. I clean it with other methods, and when it gets looking greasy, I use actual shampoo and wash it all out.

Well, I decided to do some reading the other day, since a lot of time has passed, and it turns out there are quite a few more methods to clean your hair now, besides the baking-soda-wash and ACV-rinse. People are using eggs, clay, honey and other fun stuff.
I tried clay and now my hair hates me! It was a disaster!!

Well, one method I found was using flax seed gel. Apparently you can make a gel with flax seeds, and this is supposed to be a great natural hair gel! What?! Someone else was saying 'no poo' never worked for them, but one day they tried making flax seed gel and they used it to wash their hair, and IT CLEANSED THE HAIR WITHOUT STRIPPING THE NATURAL OILS!! This is the ultimate goal of devotees of the 'No Poo' method: finding a way to clean your hair naturally and without stripping it.

I'll just let you all know that I have not actually tried it yet, but when I do, I'll update you all on how it works!
Or doesn't work...

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How to make flax seed gel:

First of all, you need some good ol' whole flax seeds. Any kind will do.

I had this huge jar of organic flax seeds on hand already because I found them on clearance at Walmart a couple weeks ago! And, yes, that IS my coffee brewing right there. Multi-tasking, you know...

I don't think you have to be very precise, but you will want to add about a half-cup of seeds to 2 cups of water. Heat it up on the stove. I think the hotter you make it, the quicker it snotifies, (that's the technical term), but I went for medium heat, and that worked well for me.

You can see the gel beginning to form almost instantly:

Basically you just heat up the seed 'soup' and mix it occasionally. It will begin to get thicker:

It's just starting to get thicker here, and has a thin, slimy consistancy.

Keep it going until it looks like snot. Yes, snot. It will look gross, and that is good. That's what it is supposed to look like.

Test it by scooping it out and glooping it back in the pan.

Yep. Looks snotty.

After it is the right consistency, you need to strain it. The seeds have served their purpose and can now leave. (I'll probably add mine to smoothies or oatmeal or something...) I used a small strainer and a spoon to push the seeds around.

When you're done, you can scrape some more snot off the bottom of the strainer. It's amazing how much will stick there.
Some people use cheesecloth, and I have even heard of people straining it through pantyhose after it has cooled off, and squeezing out the gel.

Look. My gel is complete. It looks EXACTLY like snot.

Yes, I may have run around and told my kids that I have been really congested today and decided to collect my snot.
I'm childish like that.

I am going to store it in the refrigerator, as that was recommended. I will probably whisk in some essential oils and maybe even a little honey or something, and try this out as a hair cleanser. I will let you all know how it goes!