A few weeks ago I shared with y’all my first attempt at a homemade face mask made with raw honey, cinnamon and nutmeg. It was a huge success – so much so that my sister and I applied the mask together last weekend while she was in town. Good times.
The combination of low cost and great results is the perfect motivation for me to continue exploring the world of homemade beauty products.
Up next: hair.
Like most brides I know, I’ve been growing my hair out. It’s longer than it’s been in years. I finally have gotten used to it and actually love it, but keeping long hair looking shiny and healthy sometimes feels like a challenge, especially in the winter.
After a little research I determined that there are a couple of different options for homemade hair masks. It seems that any natural food that is either fatty and/or oily is beneficial to restoring shine and moisture and repairing damage. That makes sense. The trick is not making your hair too greasy or oily. That would suck.
I decided on avocado, mayonnaise and coconut oil. I think quantity might vary depending on hair length and thickness, but I used half of an avocado, about1 tablespoon of coconut oil and 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise. The mask should be thick and not too oily or else it will drip down your neck and face. I threw everything into a small pot and applied medium heat until the mask was slightly warm. You should be able to touch the mask with your hands without burning yourself.
I placed the pot in my bathroom sink and scooped it out with my hands, coating all of my dry hair from scalp to tip. I recommend placing a towel over your shoulders and back – better to be safe than sorry, right? Once my hair was coated in the mask I twisted it on top of my head and covered it with a plastic bag from the produce section at the grocery store. A shower cap would work just as well, but I don’t own one. Covering your head is essential – the idea is to generate enough heat to really get things going under there.
I left the mask on for 2 hours before hopping into the shower and rinsing it out. I used my everyday shampoo and conditioner. I’ll admit that even after shampooing twice, I wasn’t entirely convinced I had rinsed it all out, but I decided against shampooing a third time. Post shower, I proceeded as usual. I like to let my hair air dry as much as possible before bringing out the blow dryer.
Shampooing twice appeared to be a good decision. I wasn’t excessively oily at all and I didn’t find any, um, surprises while blow-drying either. My hair definitely felt silkier and looked shinier too so I would call this experiment a success and will definitely be adding this into my regular hair-care regimen. I’m thinking once every two weeks.
Hydrating hair masks at the hair salon by my house cost $15. While that isn’t as expensive as I expected, this homemade hair mask cost significantly less. Ulta sells hair masks for even more than my local salon and I can hardly pronounce half of the words on the ingredient list. Yea, I will definitely be repeating my homemade hair mask made with 3 ingredients for less than $3.