15 DIY Hair Recipes for Almost Every Step in Your Regimen
CLEANSERS & RINSES
Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse
Ingredients:
2 cups of water
1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
Directions:
Combine the water and ACV into a bowl or cup. Slowly pour over hair, scrubbing scalp and hair to remove buildup. To smooth the cuticles and restore PH balance, you can also use this rinse as your final step after washing, conditioning and detangling.
A good ACV rinse can remove product buildup, restore the pH balance of the scalp and hair, promote blood circulation in the scalp–which can stimulate new hair growth–and give the hair a soft, healthy sheen.
Baking Soda Rinse
Ingredients:
2 cups warm water
½ cup baking soda
Directions:
Allow to dissolve, and apply to scalp and hair. Massage. Can be used after regular shampooing or in place of it. The consistency shouldn’t be gritty, it should be smooth and easy to apply.
SuperCoils ‘Marshmallow Rinse’ for Detangling Ease
1 cup hot water
4 teaspoons shredded marshmallow root
Directions:
Put the marshmallow root in a cup, then add the hot water and allow the mixture to sit for about 10 minutes, as if you were making tea. Strain the marshmallow out, and use the “tea” as a rinse for your hair.
Herbal Hair Rinses
Ingredients (pick the ones that you need):
Catnip: Promotes healthy hair growth–many women on longhaircommunity swear by this stuff for long, strong hair.
Chamomile: Softens hair, soothes the scalp, lighten and conditions (people use it with honey to bring out natural highlights). Chamomile is also known to stimulate growth.
Horsetail: Helps brittle hair due to its high silica content.
Lavender: Stimulates hair growth
Nettle: conditions, improves texture, helps with dandruff, irritated scalp, and dry scalp
Parsley: enriches hair color and gives a nice luster
Plantain: great for dry, irritated scalp, dandruff, and seborrhea
Peppermint: stimulates the scalp
Rosemary: Acts as a tonic and conditioner, one of the best herbs to use, gives luster and body, stimulates growth, helps with dandruff, and brings out dark highlights in the hair.
Sage: Very effective in restoring color to graying hair, excellent for weak brittle hair
Saw Palmetto: good for thinning hair and hair loss
Thyme: good for oily hair and dandruff
Witch Hazel: cleanses hair
Directions:
After you’ve decided which herb(s) will get the job done, follow the steps below:
- Place the herb(s) in a pitcher (glass is ideal).
- Pour boiling water over the herb(s), cover, and steep for 10-20 minutes.
- Strain the mixture and allow the liquid to cool.
- Pour over your head after your regular shampoo, condition, and detangling session. Do not rinse.
You can buy your herbs in bulk from one of the following:
DEEP CONDITIONERS
Honey Deep Conditioner
Ingredients:
1/4 cup of honey
1/4 cup of olive oil
Directions:
Mix honey with olive oil. Heat in microwave oven to melt and apply to hair, then cover head with a plastic cap for 15-30 minutes. To ramp up the moisturizing benefits, sit under a hooded dryer or don a micro heat cap.
Hair and Scalp Moisturizing Mask
Ingredients :
1/2 cucumber
1/2 avocado (pitted)
1/3 cup sour cream
Directions:
Blend and apply mask to hair. Cover hair with shower cap for a half hour, then rinse with cold water for a soothed scalp and moisturized hair follicles.
Pumped up DT
Ingredients:
1 cup of your favorite Deep Conditioner
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of olive or coconut oil
Directions:
Mix and apply to hair in sections. Cover with a shower cap and sit under a bonnet dryer for 15-30 minutes. Rinse, and style as usual.
MOISTURIZING LEAVE-INS
Curl Defining Leave-In with Aloe Vera Juice
Ingredients:
8oz Light conditioner (Suave, Tresseme, V05)
5oz Distilled water
3oz Aloe vera juice
1-2 oz Coconut oil
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a bottle, shake, and apply to damp hair. This mix provides moisture, definition, and shine.
Sheenalashay’s Moisturizing Hair Mist
Ingredients:
8oz bottle
Water – Distilled Water is best (Fill the bottle 3/5th of the way)
Vegetable Glycerin – Purchased at my local Wholefoods Grocery Store and/or Amazon.com (Fill the bottle 1/5th of the way)
Olive Oil – Purchased at any grocery store (Add about 1 tablespoon)
Essential Oils – Purchased at my local Wholefoods Grocery Store and/or Drugstore.com (Add as much or little as you want)
Rose Water – Purchased at my local Wholefoods Grocery Store (Add about 1 tablespoon)
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a bottle, shake to emulsify and apply to damp or wet hair.
Shake’s Whipped Shea Butter
Ingredients:
8oz pure yellow unrefined shea butter
can of coconut milk
Olive oil
Coconut oil
Vegetable Glycerin
Directions:
Use a hand mixer
Put all of the shea butter in a large plastic bowl
Add a few large spoonfuls of coconut milk and whip until smooth.
Add more and more, bit by bit, mixing after each addition until it’s light and fluffy.
Add a spoonful or so of each oil and mix again.
Add a healthy squeeze of glycerin, and voila!
KurlyBella’s Marshmallow and Burdock Detangler
Ingredients:
15- 20 dried organic hibiscus flowers
3 tablespoons organic dried marshmallow root
3 tablespoons organic dried burdock root
hot water
Directions:
Bring a pot of water to a low simmer. Add the dried hibiscus flowers.
Simmer the flowers for about 5 minutes making sure your water does not boil.
Remove from heat and remove flowers.
Add organic dried marshmallow root and organic dried burdock root and stir them into the hot water.
Cover and let the herbs infuse for 15 minutes.
Strain and pour the liquid into a squirt or squeeze bottle (I like to use an old water bottle with the pop out top).
Use this mixture on freshly washed and clean hair and do not rinse out. Comb through your hair and style as usual.
STYLERS
Curl Defining Spritz
Ingredients:
9 oz of conditioner (VO5 Extra body, Suave Bio Basics, or Suave Naturals)
3 oz of setting lotion (use lotta body for extra body)
1 oz of glycerine (optional!)
1-2 oz of sweet almond oil/coconut oil/olive oil, etc. (I used 2 oz of coconut oil)
Directions:
Put all the ingredients in a bottle and shake to blend…
Add water until the consistency is to your liking.
This concoction results in a light styling lotion that would leave my hair soft, crunch free, defined, and moisturized. I used it to Wash & Go with great success– curls popping everywhere! My Aunty still uses this recipe from time to time.
Sav8Sol’s Moisturizing Spritz
Ingredients:
2 tbsp leave-in conditioner (your choice)
4 tbsp aloe vera juice
4 tbsp distilled water
3 tsp avocado oil (or) 2 tsp jojoba oil
2 tsp evoo oil
5 drops rosemary oil
** you can also substitute this spritzer as a creamy hair milk by substituting the (4 tbsp) aloe vera JUICE with (3tbsp) aloe vera GEL and eliminating the (4 tbsp) distilled water.
Directions:
Mix together in an 8oz spray bottle.
Flax seed Gel
Ingredients:
1 cup water
2 tbsp flax seeds
(optional) coconut oil
Directions:
Bring water and flax seeds to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes. Strain and keep it in the fridge for up to a week. Some people add other things, EO, Aloe, etc. But I just use the above recipe. Add a pinch of citric acid as a preservative
This will de-frizz, provide hold, shine, and definition.
Homemade spritzes and butters are very popular on the hair boards, and can be incredibly beneficial. If you’re a mixtress, please heed this warning, and make sure you’re adding preservatives to your concoctions, and/or keeping them refrigerated. Tonya McKay of Naturallycurly.com suggests the following:
- Make up a small amount of solution daily or every other day.
- Make up enough solution to last for one week and store it in the refrigerator when not in use.
- Make up enough solution to use for 1-2 weeks and add either natural or synthetic preservative drops to it in an amount specified in the literature.
When whipping up your mix, she directs us to use boiling water, clean hands, and a sterilized container. You can purchase grapefruit seed extract (a popular natural preservative) from many health food stores. Even your properly preserved mixtures should be placed in the fridge for safe storage. To read more from this article, click HERE.
This article was originally published in 2010 and was recently updated for grammar and clarity.
