Did you know that… in your kitchen you will find very useful ingredients to make homemade recipes that help you nourish your hair?
Free of chemicals and preservatives, some homemade recipes can leave your hair healthy and shiny for very little money.
They are always very cheap, another of the attractions of getting into flour and putting some homemade recipes in your hair. Logically, not all hair products in a routine can be -or should be- replaced by those made at home, but some, occasionally, can. We will tell you which ones.
Apple Cider Vinegar Clarifying Rinse
Clarif… what? A clarifying wash is the one that is given when the scalp is very dirty, or when the strand has too much finishing product and it looks heavy and leaden. Also, this rinse is highly recommended if you have dandruff or an oily scalp, because vinegar is a great pH regulator.
The recipe couldn’t be simpler: you only need apple cider vinegar with the mother (or unfiltered, it’s important that the bottle specifies one of these two concepts) and tap water. Dilute a good tablespoon in a glass of water and apply the mixture to your scalp with the help of a spray bottle. Rub the scalp as if it were shampoo for 5-10 minutes and rinse with plenty of water. Then continue with your routine as usual, WITHOUT shampooing (you have already washed your hair with this rinse).
Used occasionally, it leaves hair loose, shiny and ultra-clean.
Protein mask
For when your hair needs a good intensive treatment. Eye! All hair needs protein, but perhaps not all need an intensive. In general, hair must maintain a correct balance between hydration, moisture and proteins. You will notice that your hair can benefit if you do not use hair products that contain them (check INCIs , they usually appear preceded by the word ‘hydrolyzed’ ) and if your hair is straighter than usual, excessively soft, without body, very frizzy…
Another way to find out is the famous ‘elasticity test’ , which you can do with hair that has fallen out (don’t pull it out, for Dior’s sake). Stretch the strand until it breaks. If you do it right away and with virtually no stretching, your hair may have a high protein level. Does it stretch 30% before breaking?: The protein level is normal. If it stretches 50% or more, you may need protein.
There are three ways to do a protein intensive, arranged, in turn, in order of efficiency. If you doubt whether you need protein, start at the beginning and, after a while, see if you need something stronger.
Rice water.
The preparation could not be simpler: you only have to cook a small glass of rice in three glasses of water. Once it has cooked for 20 minutes, filter the water and let it cool. This water is applied to clean, damp hair throughout the length of the hair. Leave to act for 15-30 minutes and then rinse to continue with your usual routine.
Beer water.
One for you and one for your hair. You will need enough to cover your mane. Leave it open while resting so that it loses gas during the night. When you wash your hair, do the last rinse with it, let it act for 5-10 minutes and rinse.
Gelatin: the strongest treatment. Do it only if the previous ones have not worked for you.
For this, you will need neutral gelatin in sheets or powder (one envelope or two or three sheets), a cup of hot water and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar.
Mix the hot water with the gelatin in a bowl and stir until the gelatin dissolves. Add vinegar and stir again. Then, put the mixture in the fridge and let it cool until it thickens a bit.
Using clean, damp hair, apply the mixture gently to the hair in sections, distributing well. The gel will harden quickly, so you have to do it with some alacrity. Do not touch the sections in which you have applied it (as it dries, the hair will harden and handling it can break it).
When you have finished applying it all over your hair, leave it on for 10-20 minutes, and rinse the treatment with lukewarm water, without shaking the hair until you have washed all the mixture away. Afterward, and since protein tends to be a bit drying, put on a hydrating mask and leave it on for as long as you need.
Linen gel, the seed of a good curl
A star hairspray, and one of the most popular homemade hair recipes in the curly world . It is done in no time and helps define curls and waves, providing softness and shine.
To make it, boil a tablespoon of flax seeds in two glasses of distilled water. To this you can add cloves if you are a brunette or cinnamon if you are a blonde (they help to preserve the mixture). Go stirring with a fork and taking it out of the container from time to time; you’ll know it’s ready when you take a thread of ‘babilla’ off the fork. Strain it quickly, otherwise it will harden and you won’t be able to handle it, and let it cool. Use it like any other define gel.
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