If you’re someone who pays so much attention to their hair like I am, then you’ve probably bought a few shampoos or conditioners and later noticed they didn’t really work well for your hair. Whether it’s shampoos, conditioners or styling products you probably own several not-so-great products. Maybe they made your hair a certain way you didn’t love, or you didn’t get the results you were expecting from the products. Whatever the case may be, If you’re like me, you might feel a little guilty throwing out something you just bought with your hard earned money just because you can’t use it on your hair. Now that you know which ones don’t work, it’s time to take them out and clear your shelf for better hair products. But how can you do it without being wasteful? Like everything, it’s all about approach.
Here are some tricks I’ve learned over the years on how you can use up those bottles of product you find hard to throw out. It’s a list of things you can do alternatively with products that don’t do their job well.
Tips on how to re-use products that don’t work
Use as a Rinse-out conditioner:
When a conditioner doesn’t work the way I want it to, I use it as an after-shampoo conditioner or a rinse out conditioner. Perhaps the conditioner didn’t provide me with the amount of slip I needed for my combing or it was too watery for defining my curls or it didn’t hold in moisture like I wished or maybe just because it didn’t have enough emollients.
I usually use conditioners that would have sat on my product shelf unused as my rinse-out conditioner after shampooing. A bad leave-in conditioner, moisturizing conditioner, detangling conditioner or deep conditioner could make a good rinse-out conditioner. But take note that some of those conditioners might still not work well as rinse-out conditioners. In addition, always check the ingredient list before you buy any hair product to make sure they do not contain any “toxic” or “bad” ingredients for your hair.
Use as a Pre-poo:
You can use any carrier or macerated oils or conditioner you don’t like as a pre-poo treatment(pre-shampoo). Pre-poos are very important to incorporate in your hair care routines as they prepare your hair for proper shampooing. They also prevent your shampoo from drying out the sebum on your hair. Pre-pooing makes the hair soft and very easy to detangle. You can mix your conditioner and oils to form a great pre-poo treatment.
Use Conditioner as a body scrub:
You can use lighter conditioners or clarifying conditioners as a body scrub. I have to say that I’m not much of a sucker for fancy products so I try using what I have creatively.
I use a bath sponge and a light conditioner mixed with my body wash to make it milder and use it to scrub over my body once or twice every week. Because the conditioner is slippery, I don’t get bruises from the sponge and I also don’t dry out my skin. When I rinse off the conditioner after scrubbing with the sponge, my skin feels smooth and somewhat moisturized but not too much.
You could also try this using baking soda as your scrub. I know that you are aware of this, but I do want to add that as with any product, you should avoid your eye area, and if you’re sensitive to scents, some ingredients, or certain preservatives, please check the labels before trying this scrub.
As Hot oil treatment:
Hot oil treatments are great for your hair. They help to stimulate blood flow to your scalp. When next you get tired of your carrier oil you just purchased or you feel like the oil isn’t working well for you, try using it as a hot oil treatment and massaging the oil into your scalp to help increase blood circulation, you might begin to like the oil after that. There is nothing like a good scalp massage.
To Clean Makeup Brushes:
You can use shampoos that don’t serve you well for your hair to clean makeup brushes. If you have any sulfate shampoo, here’s the best you can do with it. Rinse your makeup brush in warm water, apply a little dab of shampoo to the brush, and rub it gently into a lather. Rinse and dry your brush. In case you do not have makeup brushes to wash, you can as well use your sulfate shampoos as a hand wash. You can put shampoo that doesn’t work so well on your hair into a hand-soap pump bottle to wash your hands with. Similarly, you can use your shampoo as a shower lotion as well.
Make your own curling cream:
If you have a moisturizer or a leave-in conditioner you don’t like, try mixing it with a gel such EcoStyler Gel or any good gel of your choice. You will end up with a great curling cream which will serve you well during your twist outs and braid outs by providing the perfect definition and hold for your hairstyle.
As Shaving Cream:
You can also use conditioner as a shaving cream. If you ever find yourself on a trip and you don’t have (or didn’t have room to pack) shaving cream, use your conditioner in its place. You can shave your underarms or anything with a conditioner. You need to slather the conditioner on the area as you would with shaving cream, and then shave it off. I love using a conditioner. If I were on a desert island, conditioner would be the one household item I’d choose to bring with me. Conditioners are good for shaving as they leave the skin feeling soft and moisturized afterward.
Donate to friends and family:
There’s this saying that One person’s waste is another person’s treasure! If a product doesn’t work for you, it may work wonders for your sister, mother, daughter or friend. Try gifting some of your fairly used products, the person on the receiving end will be very grateful for it.
Summing it all, I think these tips are really cool and can help you save a lot of money or make good use of everything you purchase with your money. There is no need to waste perfectly good products when they can still work with a different function ( yea, I’m that annoying person who hardly throws things, doesn’t let anything go to waste and loves recycling).
I hope these tips can serve you, be of great use to you or help you save some money.
