Can Eggs Replace Shampoo?

Yes, depending on your hair type and what you are used to. However, to say it works for everyone is not accurate. Everyone’s hair is different and responds differently to different washing techniques. The question at hand is how often you would wash your hair with egg depending on your hair type. Everyone, regardless of their hair type, should not use this egg wash more than once a week. Your hair will become dry and frizzy from too much protein. But it is possible those (including myself) with fine, oily hair may benefit from using this wash once a week, and may even get away with using it in place of their regular shampoo. If you have dry, coarse, or curly hair, you can still benefit from this egg wash, but should use it, say, only once a month or so to reap it’s benefits.

From everything I have tried, from low poo, no poo, to water-only hair washing, this is my favorite “natural” cleanser out there. My hair becomes voluminous, soft, and shiny every time I use it. It’s very easy to make, and only requires egg and water. The best part is it’s free if you happen to have plenty of chickens in your backyard!

[insert funny chicken pictures. Oh wait…]

Yep, that chicken has a fro.

There must be some downfalls to using this though. I mean, it can’t be all sunshine and rainbows, right? Well some people report their hair smells like egg after each use, even after rinsing and drying it off. I have never had this problem. If you find your hair smells like egg after, you probably just need to wash it out better. If that doesn’t cover it, try adding essential oils to help mask that smell. Even if it doesn’t smell for you, you can consider using essential oils for a delightful after-shower fragrance.

Something else to be aware of is that you must use cold water to rinse the egg out. Otherwise, the egg will get cooked into your hair and you’ll have a scrambled egg mess to clean up; not fun. Be sure your water is not warm, but cool or coldThis is the other thing that tends to bother people, but I have come to love it. In fact, I have started taking cold showers as often as possible, for it’s many benefits, so this is not a problem for me. I switch from hot to cold showers, and I just wait to wash it out until the water is cold. Done. Okay, what next?

As I said before, use it no more than once a week, and use less often if your hair starts to get too dry or frizzy from too much protein. Again some people (finer, oily haired people) report using it once a week without an issue. I’m excited to test this and get back to you on that. Others may need to use it less often. See how your hair feels and what works for you. Again for the coarser, drier, curlier people, my instinct tells me to use this sparingly. If it dries your hair out too much, even after one use, consider adding some oil for added conditioning.

So how exactly do you wash your hair with egg?

the What:

1 whole egg

1 cup of cool water – use whatever water you usually use to wash your hair

a couple drops of your favorite essential oil (optional)

the How:

Whisk the ingredients together in a cup and bring into the shower with you.

Pour over your head and wash like you would shampoo, rubbing around making sure to get all your hair saturated. Do this for a minute or so and let sit in hair for another minute while you wash the rest of your body.

Rinse out in cool/cold water. If you are using warm water to wash the rest of your body, make sure you don’t let any touch your head or it will cook the egg. Turn water to cool before rinsing and make sure you rinse it out entirely so not to leave any egg in your hair.

That’s it! Let your hair dry as usual and bask in the glory of your soft and shiny locks. You’ll find it cleans your hair just as well as normal shampoo, without all the added chemicals. An easy way to transition to eliminating your shampoo, if you ask me! Especially if you’ve found the baking soda and apple cider vinegar rinse too harsh on your hair (like I have).

Instead of me going in to the details of what egg has that makes your hair so fricken beautiful, I’ll let you do that researching on your own. All I know is that it works for me and my hair type, and I’m extremely pumped about it. How about you? Have you tried this method before? If so, how has it worked?

***UPDATE 6/21/17***

So not even a whole week later, I tried the egg wash again. Mind you, the previous time I tried this was about 1 1/2 weeks ago. I did everything as I usually do, and after my hair dried, I noticed it being drier than usual; not soft and shiny as it had been previously. I’m wondering if even 1 1/2 weeks apart is too often? Now today, one day after that egg wash I see my hair is getting slightly oily already! This is probably my scalp trying to overcompensate for the excessive dryness with more oils. My gut tells me not to use this egg wash weekly, and keep it for maybe once a month.

***UPDATE 3/12/19***

I have gone back and forth using this method and have found using just the egg yolk works better for me. Because the egg yolk has less protein and lots of fat, it is less cleansing for my hair. Using this once a week with a moisturizing element works well and I’ve been doing it pretty regularly for many months now. When you use just the egg yolk, you can rinse with warmer water because cooked egg yolk doesn’t harden into your hair like the whites do.

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