Top Apple Cider Vinegar Products for Your Hair Extensions

Maybe, you’ve already heard, but people use apple cider vinegar for more than just a delicious salad dressing topping. The benefits that apple cider vinegar offer your hair are pretty endless, especially considering its PH balancing properties. Raw enzymes and beneficial bacteria which aid digestion, weight loss, cholesterol levels and more make this fantastic acid-like product. The best part, in my opinion, is the fact that it is affordable and all natural. That sounds like the perfect recipe for healthy skin and hair! No matter your chemical makeup, apple cider vinegar will work with what you have.

Apple cider vinegar comes from the sugar of apples from a process called fermentation. This process turns them into acetic acid, which is the active ingredient in vinegar. When you ferment the sugar of apples, you end up with this lovely product we call apple cider vinegar. This process creates acetic acid, which is the active ingredient in the apple cider vinegar and forms the sour taste. Here is a fun fact! The word “vinegar” is French for “sour wine.” Apple cider vinegar is made similar to how alcohol is. So let’s get into how to make this correctly. I suggest you read this section if you’re interested in knowing what we recommend you put in your hair extensions. You can do this process in two-steps.

During the first step in the process, you must expose crushed apples, or apple cider, to yeast. This step ferments the sugars from the apples and turns them into alcohol. It’s okay; we process you won’t get drunk using this product!

The second step calls for the alcohol solution to add bacteria. Doing so ferments the alcohol and turns it into acetic acid. As stated before, acetic acid is the main active ingredient in vinegar! Have you ever wondered what gives specific brands of apple cider vinegar that foggy appearance? Some brands of organic, unfiltered apple cider vinegar contain strands of proteins, enzymes, good bacteria and “mother.” Some apple cider vinegar fanatics swear that the “mother” is responsible for most of the health benefits, but unfortunately, there are no studies to support this. If you plan on taking apple cider vinegar orally, you won’t have to worry about gaining any weight at all. Apple cider vinegar contains about three to five calories per tablespoon. Also, there aren’t too many minerals or vitamins in it, but a small amount of potassium is present. The quality apple cider vinegar contains some amino acids and antioxidants. These ingredients come in handy for PH balancing and cleansing of the hair, body, and skin.

Apple cider vinegar is beneficial for many areas from food to your face. But this is a hair blog, and there are still just as many benefits, if not more, for your hair as there is for your skin and body. The best way to go about using apple cider for your hair extensions is to do a rinse. The same way you would do any other task for healthy hair, a rinse could be as favorable. Do I still need to convince you? I’ll give you a few reasons to consider.

The natural oils in our hair come from our scalps, which is also known as sebum. The PH level is usually between 4.4 and 5.6. If kept at this level, consistently, your scalp and hair will be safe from any possible fungal or bacterial growth. Many shampoos can interrupt the natural PH and cuticles of the scalp, which is where apple cider vinegar comes in. Apple cider vinegar has a naturally high acetic acid rate, and the PH level is very close to the PH of the human scalp. Therefore, it could be beneficial to regularly rinse out your scalp and hair with this vinegar to bring the scalp back to its original natural acidity. You should especially consider this tactic if you tend to have oily skin and hair!

I mention many times in this blog post about the active ingredient of acetic acid in apple cider vinegar, so let’s get a little more in-depth as to what precisely this property does. This antimicrobial is potent and can kill bacteria and fungus present in the hair and scalp. Some everyday occurrences include dandruff or molds. An apple cider vinegar rinse is good at being a proactive measure against these occurrences. Because the PH will be in the process of balancing, you create an environment where fungus and bacteria can’t sustain very long. Consider a rinse at least once a week, because many who suffer from dandruff say that a rinse once a week has made a significant difference in preventing the flaking.

You all know how it is! Product build-up is so typical especially in the natural hair community that there are products made to take care of it. Most of the products on the market are expensive and contain harmful ingredients that could harm your hair instead of helping it. Apple cider vinegar is a natural cleanser for the hair that can restore life and get rid of all the product accumulation. It’s best to let the apple cider vinegar sit on your head for about three minutes because this allows the vinegar to break down the residue in enough time to be rinsed out.

Yes! Apple cider vinegar does all of this and more! When the cuticles of the hair aren't smooth, it causes frizz to form in the locks. The apple cider vinegar smooths down the skins to prevent the frizz. For hair detangling you can use apple cider vinegar. In many cases you can replace the conditioner with the apple cider vinegar to detangle, but if you don’t think you’re ready to give up your favorite conditioner that is okay. You can use both at the same time. Once again, the smoothing down of the cuticle encourages knots to become looser, and it gives the hair more slip in the process. Shine is also a factor of a smoothed down hair! After the rinse, you should see and feel a difference in the way your hair reflects light. It should have a glossier and smoother appearance and texture.

If you don’t know what porosity is, I’ll explain just enough for you to understand what it does for you. Normal porosity hair lets in the necessary amount of moisture to penetrate the outer cuticle. When the porosity of the hair is too high, that means it absorbs too much liquid and lets it go as quickly. Usually, chemical treatments, heat damage, and other dangerous factors cause hair to be high in porosity. The holes left in the hair shaft can open up the strand to even more harm in the future. Apple cider vinegar won’t exactly change the porosity of your hair, but it can help make it more manageable. Test your porosity by dropping a strand of hair into a glass of water. If the hair floats to the top, you have low porosity. If the hair strand floats midway, you have average porosity.

We can put our hair extensions through hell, sometimes. From the heat to the coloring, we often forget that it is still hair, which means it’s prone to all the damage we are willingly giving it. From the looks of it, apple cider vinegar is a factor in many health benefits for your hair, including smoothing out cuticles, detangling your hair and improving porosity. This process results in healthier hair and a reduction in split ends and breakage.

Healthier has never been so readily attainable! Here’s how you can make your own apple cider vinegar rinse: 1. Start off by blending one cup of water with two to four cups of tablespoons of vinegar. I’ll get into what the best apple cider vinegar brands are very soon! 2. Shampoo your hair thoroughly and rinse it out. You can either do this next step in the shower or near a sink. Next, you want to pour the apple cider vinegar mix over your entire scalp and let it run down your hair shaft. Try not to get it in your eyes! 3. Begin massaging the mix into your scalp and rubbing the mix into your hair with your hands. If gloves make you more comfortable, go ahead and use them! The scalp massage is supposed to stimulate your scalp for circulation of hair growth. 4. After about three minutes, rinse out the vinegar. If you have dry hair, start out with two tablespoons of vinegar per cup of water. If you have oily hair or dandruff, three or four spoons will probably be required. You can adjust this blend over time to see what works best for your hair.

The measurements of how much water to apple cider vinegar to put on your hair depending on your preference. If your hair tends to be dry, start off with two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar per cup of water. Three to four tablespoons of apple cider vinegar may be more appropriate for those of you who have oily hair or dandruff. You should repeat this process as often as you like, but it can be anywhere from once a month to every other week. Using the rinse once a week is recommended for most scalp issues, though. Also, if the smell of the apple cider vinegar concerns you, don’t let it! The scent disappears once your hair is dry.

Now that you know all there is to know about apple cider vinegar, where it comes from, how people make it and what it can do for your hair, it’s time to get into which products contain the best ingredients for an apple cider vinegar brand. Here’s what you should be looking at:

Not only is this brand widely known and more popular than most, but it’s also worth the investment! The product is certified organic by the Organic Certifiers and Oregon Tilth. BRAGG is the oldest brand available on the market and is family-owned.

Vitacost does not sterilize their apple cider vinegar, and they don’t add any artificial sugars or flavors. BRAGG is excellent, but if you’re on a budget then Vitacost maybe the way to go because it is slightly cheaper.

Eden Foods makes their apple cider vinegar from naturally fermented apple juice that ages with the use of vinegar in a wood barrel. This product comes with Mother and is both raw and unpasteurized. They also use amber glass to protect its flavors and nutrients.

Dynamic Health offers vinegar that is kosher and halal-certified. The fun part about this brand is that they provide their apple cider vinegar in both liquid form and a capsule. The capsule is equal to one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. I know the pill has nothing to do with hair, but maybe if you're having trouble swallowing the taste of apple cider vinegar you can opt for the capsule!

The product is made from organic apples and fermented naturally. The natural fermentation produces a distinct flavor, but hey we are talking about hair here!

Apple cider vinegar is versatile healthy and beneficial to every part of the anatomy. The wide-ranging benefits include everything from preventing scalp infections to alleviating cold symptoms, and some people have turned to apple cider vinegar to help with health concerns including diabetes, cancer, heart problems, high cholesterol, and weight issues. Apple cider vinegar can be the most inexpensive investment you make for your hair extensions, especially if the hair is old or you've been wearing the look for more than six weeks. Give your hair the attention it needs by purchasing some apple cider vinegar at your local store and notice an immediate difference in your hair quality and clarity! Have you tried ACV for yourself? Let me know in the comments!