DIY Hair: Natural At-Home Hair Masks

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I love finding alternative ways to style my hair without using heat or products. I can achieve salon results without damaging my hair!

diy-hair-natural-at-home-hair-masks — author

I dye my hair a lot. That sometimes means bleaching it too—which only serves to dry it out and damage it. I try to stay away from heat, but sometimes there's nothing else I can do! I'm sure many of you have experienced hair damage in some sort of way. And when that happens, it's so important to give your hair the nourishment it needs.

Shampoo and conditioner only go so far. Sometimes, you need to go HAM and just take a day to pamper your hair! Using a hair mask is the ultimate way to do that.

You can buy something from the store, but if you take a look at the ingredients, I bet you don't know what half of them are.

Here's my rule: If it's something I can't pronounce and have never heard of, I try to stay away from it (until further research is conducted). The great thing is, I've got a bunch of stuff in my kitchen that I know is good for my hair.

Take A Look in the Kitchen Cabinets

Seriously! Olive oil. Honey. Coconut oil. Egg yolks.

Okay, the egg yolks really shouldn't be in the cabinets. But many of the things in your own kitchen act as amazing moisturizers for your hair! And the best part is, you can get away with mixing a lot of things to make an ultra-awesome hair mask.

How it Works

Different ingredients will do different things for you—so create the hair mask to focus on the areas you need.

Egg Yolks: Yolks contain tons of protein and amino acids, as well as vitamins A, E, and D. This combination stimulates sebum generation, which controls dandruff and scalp dryness. Vitamin E helps protect against UV rays, and fatty proteins reduce frizz!
Olive Oil: Hair loss is generally caused by the shrinkage of hair follicles, because of the overproduction of the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Olive oil helps to reduce the production of DHT. In addition to containing vitamins that nourish your hair, olive oil also has antifungal properties!
Honey: Honey is also a great antifungal and antioxidant. It's also a humectant, meaning that it keeps your hair moisturized.
Coconut Oil: Coconut oil has a very low molecular weight, which allows it to easily penetrate the hair shaft and work from inside. It provides proteins and vitamins K and E, which both fight against hair loss and promote healthy, soft hair.

Make Your Mixture

You can't really go wrong with these core four ingredients. The worst you could do is not wash it all out completely, which would actually be good for your hair. I mean, you might look greasy and stuff but the mask would be soaking into your hair longer!

The Process

Now that you've put together your mixture, get ready to get messy.

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I recommend heating up your mixture, but only for a short amount of time. Coconut oil is solid at room temperature, so you'll want it to melt a little so it can mix properly with your other ingredients. Also, avoid heating egg...it'll cook.

When your mixture is warm (not HOT), find your nearest bathroom or toilet seat. Maybe even lay a towel down on the ground.

While seated, bend over with your head between your knees. You want the blood to go to your head—and no, I'm not trying to make you dizzy. The blood going to your head means that you're getting your circulation going! As you're upside down, massage the oil/honey/egg/whatever mixture into your scalp. What's the point of all this? It will stimulate your hair follicles to promote growth.

Once you've got all the gunk in your hair, let it sit. If you've got a few hours, use them! If not, 30 minutes to an hour will do a good job too.

When your time is up, hop into the shower and rinse out all of the stuff with warm water. Be careful with hot water, especially if you've put egg in your hair...it may start to cook. Plus, it'd look weird.

Rinse out as much as possible, and then shampoo/condition. Those of you who follow my blog know that I am a subscriber to the no-poo movement. That means instead of using shampoo pumped full of damaging sulfates, I use baking soda. However, I've found that when doing hair masks with a lot of oil, it's a bit difficult to wash out with baking soda. Don't smite me, but when I do hair masks, I just wash out with normal shampoo. I can't tell you how many times I've thought I did a good job washing, and then my hair dries and it's heavy with oil.

The Results

I decided to try my own mask and videotape it for your sake. In the video above, I used two egg yolks, two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and one tablespoon of warmed coconut oil.

I left the mixture in for about an hour before washing it out. The results were fantastic.

Usually, my hair can be difficult to comb through. It tangles easily. I let my hair air-dry fully after showering and ran my fingers through it. It was incredibly smooth and soft! The egg yolk definitely played a role in making it shiny and de-frizzed. I also found that after styling my freshly egged hair with Curlformers, my curls stayed in longer!

Check out the photos below and see for yourself!

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.