The Highlights

  • Apple cider vinegar is renowned for its skin, gut, and hair benefits.
  • It's deeply cleansing, scalp balancing, gentle (provided that it's diluted well with water), and revitalising for softer, smoother, and shinier hair.
  • ACV also helps maintain your hair colour's vibrancy for longer!
  • It's best to use once a week—two at the most—to prevent it from drying and irritating your hair and scalp. 

Apple cider vinegar is famous for its skin benefits. Wellness gurus even drink apple cider vinegar daily for its gut-nourishing properties.

But, what about apple cider vinegar for hair? 

Thanks to thousands of TikTok videos and various hair groups discussing apple cider vinegar, I know it's become somewhat of a cult favourite to clarify your scalp.

If there are detoxing teas to help relieve your bloated tummy, apple cider vinegar is a detox for your scalp to get rid of product buildup and flakes!

Below, we talk about the many ways adding apple cider vinegar to your routine can give you healthier, shinier hair.

What is Apple Cider Vinegar?

Contrary to what you may think apple cider vinegar is, it neither looks nor tastes like apple juice.

It's definitely made with apple juice, but it's combined with a specific type of bacteria and yeast to help it ferment—allowing the sugars in the juice to turn into alcohol.

It's fermented a second time to transform into vinegar! Isn't that cool? 

Apple cider vinegar has gained a following over the years for being a multi-hyphenate: it's used in salads and other food recipes, it's packed with vitamins and nutrients, has antimicriobial and antioxidant benefits for your skin, and is good for the hair.

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Who Can Use Apple Cider Vinegar On Their Hair?

Anyone! But, apple cider vinegar will especially benefit those who have an oily or dry scalp, dandruff, and those with a lot of product buildup.

But, how can products build up on your scalp in the first place? Well, if you have thin hair, use a lot of volumising hairsprays and dry shampoos, and don't wash your hair every day, it can cause products to stay on your scalp—making it look flatter and oilier. Which is the opposite of what you want with thin hair.

Using apple cider vinegar on your hair can rejuvenate it with just one wash!

The same goes for those with curly hair. Generally, people with curly hair don't wash their mane every day as it can dry out their strands. But, this also leads to buildup on the scalp—this is why an apple cider vinegar hair rinse works really well.

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Apple Cider Vinegar Benefits for Hair

Apple cider vinegar may initially turn you off because of its smell, but try it once and you'll never go back to regular clarifying shampoos again. Here's why:

Reduces hair colour fading

ACV helps close the hair's cuticles, preventing the hair dye or bleach from fading faster and maintaining that just-got-my-hair-done colour vibrancy!

Promotes a healthy scalp

Apple cider vinegar's clarifying properties gently remove pollutants, pore-cloggers, and styling product buildup, without stripping your scalp of its natural oils. 

This allows your shampoos, hair masks, and conditioners to better penetrate your scalp and hair shaft, resulting in healthier hair.

Aside from this, apple cider vinegar is good for itchy scalps. It sloughs off dead skin cells and soothes irritation. We love a multi-purpose product!

It clarifies and cleanses hair without drying 

Clarifying shampoos are known for giving your hair that squeaky-clean feeling, but they also strip your hair of natural oils. It's why your strands often look frizzier after you've used a clarifying shampoo.

ACV doesn't do that, no matter how much you use it. Instead, you'll see your hair is smoother and shinier.

Combats greasy locks

Apple cider vinegar balances the pH level of your scalp, and when your scalp is healthy, it produces less oil!

Reduces hair loss

One of the biggest causes of hair loss is your scalp still has leftover hairstyling products that weren't washed away.

This can block your hair follicles and stop nutrients from being distributed throughout the strands, preventing them from growing, and eventually thinning out.

The amazing thing about using apple cider vinegar on your hair is it thoroughly washes debris and excess sebum away, letting your hair follicles function as best as they can.

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Tips for Using Apple Cider Vinegar on Your Hair

There are some risks that come with using apple cider vinegar on your hair, but they call be avoided if you follow these tips:

  1. Don't overuse apple cider vinegar on your hair as this can have the opposite effect on your crowning glory. Instead of giving you healthier, shinier locks, it can lead to dryness and irritation. Once a week (or a maximum of twice) works best!
  2. Never use pure apple cider vinegar on your hair. Always dilute it with water so it won't be as acidic on your scalp and the smell won't be as nauseating.
  3. Follow up your ACV hair rinse with a hair mask! Since your strands are extra clean, the hair treatment will easily penetrate each strand to revitalise, soften, and repair it.
  4. Leave your apple cider hair rinse on for a few minutes. This will allow it to thoroughly work its magic on your scalp and locks!
  5. Rinse the ACV off with cold water. I know this may sound hard to do, but it's just for a few minutes. Using cold water can help close your hair's cuticle and boost shine!
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The Only Apple Cider Vinegar Hair Rinse Recipe You'll Need

Applying apple cider vinegar on your hair is not a one-and-done thing because it's not a shampoo. Since ACV is highly acidic, it needs to be diluted to suit your scalp's pH levels.

Here's a DIY recipe you can do, but feel free to experiment with the dilution to find the formula that works best for you!

What you'll need:

  • Apple cider vinegar
  • An empty and clean spray bottle
  • Water

Instructions:

  1. Mix 1 part of ACV with 5 parts of water. If you want to be specific about it, you can do 100mL of ACV with 500mL of water.
  2. Place your concoction in a spray bottle.
  3. Shampoo your hair in the shower. Rinse it well.
  4. Spray the apple cider vinegar hair rinse all over your hair. Massage it in with your fingers. Since it's diluted, there should be no stinging or burning sensation.
  5. Allow it to rest on your hair for 5 to 10 minutes.
  6. Rinse it well with cold water.
  7. Follow it up with a light hair mask or treatment.
  8. Rinse, apply a few drops of hair oil or serum, and dry your hair as normal.

There you have it! A sure way to get healthier, shinier hair with apple cider vinegar! If you get to try this recipe, comment your experience below.

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