It was smooth sailing for a nice portion of my transition from relaxed to natural hair. Then, the temperature dropped, the moisture in the air became less & my hair didn’t know what it got itself into. Or maybe I didn’t know what I had gotten my hair into? Either way, these past few weeks have been a challenge, but I found the perfect resolution for my hair.
Because the air hasn’t had as much moisture in it I’ve been upping the ante in terms of the amount of water, conditioner and shea butter I’ve been applying to my hair. Once I realized that still wasn’t enough I went over to nappturality & began searching the message boards for homemade hair remedies. I found some really great ones over there, but both recipes that I mention today are from my Curly Girl book. Avocado is a known to be a great, natural moisturizer for dry hair, so I got all the ingredients for the recipe below in hopes of restoring my locks:
Wrapunzel (Avocado Hair Treatment):
- 1 ripe avocado
- 3-4 teaspoons of honey
- 8-10 drops of olive oil or jojoba oil
The ingredients above are all put in a blender, then you apply it to wet hair (targeting the ends), wrap your head in plastic & let it sit for 20-30 minutes. Rinse your hair, condition & style as normal. Now, I’ve successfully done this hair treatment in the past with good results, but was unsuccessful 3 weeks ago, when I bought a not-so-ripe avocado (whoops!).
I knew I couldn’t go another week without some sort of treatment, but I didn’t want to go anywhere because it was so cold outside. So, I decided to try out this recipe since I had all the ingredients at home & had GREAT results:
Love is in the Hair (Tonic for Dry Hair):
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, jojoba oil, or shea butter
- 4 tablespoons conditioner
- 2-3 drops of essential oil
Because jojoba oil is pretty expensive I didn’t want to put 4 whole tablespoons of that in. Instead, I used:
- 1 tablespoon of jojoba oil
- 2ish tablespoons of shea butter (I have lotion, not a bar)
- 2 tablespoons of conditioner
- 3 drops of tea tree oil
Conditioner, Shea Butter Lotion, Jojoba Oil & Tea Tree Oil
Mix all the ingredients together, which, at first, looks kinda gross (like cottage cheese – yuck)!
Then, after a lot of stirring (your arm may be sore) it looks nice & smooth like butter!
Love is in the Hair
Once the mixture is ready, apply to wet hair & leave in as long as you can. The first 2 times I left it in overnight, but be warned, your hair will be drippy & you should place a towel under your head if you sleep with it in. Next time I’m going to leave it in for 3 hours or so & see if I have the same results. Rinse hair thoroughly & condition/style as normal.
Mixture in my hair!
I love this treatment & will be using it every 2-3 weeks until the weather gets warmer (ie: more moisture in the air). You may have to adjust the amounts you put in depending on thickness & length of your hair. Also, if you have a sensitive nose like me, be careful about which essential oils you add to the mix (FYI: tea tree & lavender oil are very strong).
I still have the lotion in my hair here - it's mixed in enough that I can run some errands while bringing moisture to my hair! 🙂
Have you tried any homemade remedies that you can’t get enough of?
I’d love to hear about them!
Here’s a tip: if you put set the bowl with the mixture inside another bowl with warm water (not hot), it should give the oils and lotion more “slip” making it a little easier to mix. I also search the web for recipes and use an egg face mask that works great for tightening the skin. Seperate an egg, mix a teaspoon of sugar into the egg white and mix well. Spread over a clean, dry face and let set. Your face will be pretty much immobile. When mask is completely dry, lay a warm, wet towel over your face to loosen it up then gently wipe away. Make sure to use the mask under your chin and on your neck, also. A bit of the yolk can be used as a natural moisturizer.
I know some people melt their shea butter, but I never thought to heat up my homemade mixture(s). I’ll have to try that next time. And thanks for the egg face mask recipe . . . I’ll definietly make some (& soon) – it’d be nice after a long, stressful day at work!
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