5 Excellent Hair Mask Recipes Using Ingredients from Your Kitchen

We all strive to achieve beautiful, shiny, healthy hair, but store-bought products can be so expensive! Giving your hair some much needed TLC doesn’t have to break the bank, as there are lots of effective home-made recipe’s that you can try. Here are 5 excellent, yet super simple hair mask recipes using ingredients from your kitchen!

1) Hot Oil Treatment

Coconut oil hair treatments have been hot on trend recently, but did you know that there is an array of oils that you can use to make your hair soft, shiny and strong? Just about all cold pressed, unrefined, organic oils are suitable for hot oil treatments and different oils contain different properties that work well for different hair types. Grape seed oil is an astringent oil for example, that is brilliant for an oily scalp, while avocado oil is a deeply nourishing treatment for drier hair types. Experiment with different oils to find your perfect match! Use once a week for best results.

Method:

1) Heat your oil of choice using the double boiler method until the oil is warm

2) Apply from root to tip – massaging into the scalp – and leave in for up to 24 hours

3)Wash out and condition as usual.

2) Egg and Mayonnaise

Our hair is made up of a protein, so unsurprisingly, it’s pretty important to maintain protein levels in our hair, which can become depleted due to various factors such as bleaching and chemical exposure. If our hair doesn’t have enough protein, it becomes weak and unhealthy. Egg and mayonnaise both contain protein so they are excellent for giving your hair a boost. Mayonnaise also contains oils and fats so it has conditioning properties too – who would have thought! Slather this mask on once a month for strong, healthy hair!

Method:

1) Whisk up one or two medium sized eggs (depending on your hair quantity and length) and mix in with mayonnaise as desired (you can add a drop of oil for extra nourishment).

2) Apply to wet or dry hair and cover with a shower cap to allow the ingredients to soak in.

3) Leave the mask to sit on the hair for 10-20 minutes, then wash and condition as usual.

3) Banana

Contrary to popular belief, the humble banana isn’t just useful for eating! It also makes an unassumingly wonderful nourishing and soothing hair mask, which also maintains hair elasticity and adds volume to fine hair! We’d never have guessed!

Method:

1) Mash up or blend 1 banana until it is smooth and lump free.

2) Mix in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to create a smooth paste.

3) Apply the mixture to you hair from root to tip, and leave in 30 minutes, before washing and conditioning as usual.

4) Honey and Yogurt

These two ingredients are a dream team for beautiful, shiny hair! Honey is a humectant so it reduces moisture loss from your precious locks, while yogurt, containing lauric acid, conditions and smooths your strands. For best results, use full fat yogurt, as the added fats will help to condition your hair. throw a drop of lemon into the mix if you want to take your shine to the next level!

Method:

1) Mix 2-4 tablespoons each of full fat yogurt and raw, organic honey (preferably local) in a bowl until you achieve a smooth, syrup-y texture.

2) Apply this mixture onto the hair, cover with a shower cap and leave in for 30-60 minutes

3) Wash a condition as usual.

5) Coconut Milk

Last but certainly not least, is a fabulously rejuvenating ingredient, containing a plethora of vitamins, including vitamins C, E, B1, B3, B5, and B6, which are all particularly beneficial for your locks. Like yogurt, coconut milk also contains lauric acid, giving it anti bacterial, anti fungal, anti viral and smoothing properties, so it really is a super charged ingredient for your hair!

Method:

1) Refrigerate your coconut milk for at least 24 hours to give it a thick, icing-like consistency and then remove the water so you are left with the cream.

2) Whisk the cream to give it a fluffier texture, making it easier to apply

3) Section your hair and coat each strand, concentrating on the tips

4) Leave for 60 minutes, then wash and condition as usual