Hair care pantry raid!

While surfing the net I came across some fun home hair care recipes. With the fun of summer and heading to the beach and pool you will need to give your hair some extra love to keep it from becoming too dry and damaged.

There are many items that you will find in your kitchen that can provide some great nourishment and only take a few minutes to make. I found a nice one on youtube that includes one of my favorite ingredients, avocado! I love all things avocado, I love to eat it, put the oil in my soap and wear it in my hair. This fruit has so many benefits it's crazy, another blog I came across described it as the world's most complete food. Avocados are deeply penetrating and rich in vitamins A and D, lecithin, potassium as well as vitamin E

Here is the recipe for the whipped avocado hair treatment:
1 pitted avocado
1/2 can coconut milk
1 oz coconut oil
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp honey
2 oz pure aloe
1 tsp castor oil (you can sub almond, grapeseed or more olive oil for castor if you don't have any)

Place all ingredients in the blender and whip until it has the consistency of a mousse. Once that is complete, you can put treatment in your hair, using a comb may help. Leave on for 10-15 minutes, put hair in plastic shower cap if you have one, then rinse out in lukewarm water, you can shampoo if you'd like to or skip the shampoo and simply condition for the ultimate treat.

A really simple treat that you may like is an olive oil mask. That's it, just olive oil, warm it slightly (not hot) and start at the ends of your hair working to your scalp. Give your scalp a good massage and leave the olive oil on at least 15 minutes but you can leave it on up to an hour before rinsing out, shampoo and condition as normal.

Have some hair product build-up? Mix baking soda with some water and rinse through your hair. About 1 1/4 tbsp per 1 c water should do it, you can clean and style as normal.

*This was part of my original blog notes from 2011. Since then I have learned more about the hair and it's pH. I left the note in for people to read but no longer recommend alkaline products for haircare (anything above a pH of 7, including handmade soap). The hair is typically an acidic pH in the 4.5 to 5.5 range. Unlike the skin it cannot adjust it's pH if it is taken out of range. For this reason I recommend Hair Care products that are properly formulated for hair or ingredients that fall within a pH range that will compliment the hair. ~April 26, 2020

Do you love eggs......from your head down to your legs? Well maybe you will after this treatment. Eggs are packed with nutrients, protein and lecithin all ingredients that your hair wants and needs. I found a couple of treatments using eggs to help make your hair shiny and beautiful, a couple of sources also sited that it will make your hair grow faster but I have my doubts since hair growth and hair patterning is genetic and body dependent.

This simple recipe calls for 1-2 egg yolks (depending on hair length) and 1 tbsp of honey. Honey is a humectant and will draw moisture to your hair, this is not great for all hair types because some hair will just become puffy and frizzy, usually hair with tight spiral curls will become too frizzy, you can just skip the honey and do the egg portion. Work the egg mixture onto your hair massaging your scalp well, rinse off after about 10-15 minutes make sure to use warm water so to not cook the eggs (yikes!) Shampoo and condition as normal, this can be done as often as once per week.

Some essential oils can be added to any of these treatments, some that are great for hair are tea tree, rosemary, peppermint and lavender, click here for more information on their benefits. When using essential oils it is important to know that they should never be used directly on your skin, always mix with a carrier oil. Also some essential oils should not be used on people with certain health conditions, including pregnancy and epilepsy, please consult a physician with questions.

Alright, go raid your pantry and have a good time!!!

Yours in shiny hair
~Soapsmith