Go Deep! A Treat For Your Locks

September 4, 2012 by Alia 22 Comments

I’ve been dying to try out some DIY hair masks and over the past couple of months, have finally had a chance. The experiments have been fun and I’ve got a few favorites.

What is a Hair Mask?

Hair Masks are great at providing deep conditioning to your hair. It’s not something I would recommend doing every day. However, it’s a nice weekly treat, if you can make the time. The ingredients of a hair mask can vary. There are masks you can buy and there are lots that you can make at home with regular ingredients from your kitchen.

Years ago, I used to indulge in a hot oil treatment every few weeks. It felt great on my hair and was easy to manage. I also used to do overnight treatments of mayonnaise on my hair. It worked great, but I wasn’t a fan of the “scent” of mayo on my head all through the night.

Recently, I’ve been venturing into my kitchen to find ingredients. In all cases, I reversed washed my hair. After the hair mask, I shampooed, but didn’t have a need to re-condition my hair again. Here’s my assessment of my experiments so far:

Avocado/Egg Hair Mask

I mixed half an avocado (mashed) and a beaten egg in this mask. The mixture was pretty thin and it spread easily throughout my hair. I massaged it into my dry hair and let it sit for about 30 minutes. I rinsed it out in the shower with cold water. (You never want to use hot water when there is egg involved, in case you accidentally cook the eggs!). After rinsing, I shampooed my hair and skipped the conditioning step.

Not only was my hair not tangled at the end of it, it was so soft. My hair felt great!

This mask also works great if you add honey to the mixture. It makes the mask a bit thicker and easier to handle.

Coconut Oil Hair Mask

This hair mask had only one ingredient – coconut oil. I massaged the oil into my dry hair and let it sit for about 20 minutes. I loved the smell of coconut while I was doing this. Unfortunately, I think I used too much that day, because it took my several rounds of shampoo to wash out the coconut oil. Perhaps I should have had an ACV rinse on hand to help me get the excess out.

I tried this a few weeks later, using less oil (maybe 1.5 tsp in total). I was able to wash it out easily with my regular shampoo.

Both times, my hair felt great afterwards and I would recommend it, provided that the amount of coconut oil used is scant!

Carrot/Banana Hair Mask

I was inspired to try this hair mask after reading Stilishbabe’s blog. I blended two small peeled and chopped carrots with half of a banana, 1 T of Manuka honey and 1 tsp of coconut oil. I did my best to massage the mixture into my hair. However, it was quite crumbly, so it was a bit of a challenge. I let it sit on my hair, under the cover of a shower cap, for about 30 minutes. Before getting into the shower, I shook out my hair to get most of the mixture out. Then, I washed my hair with my regular shampoo.

This mask was a bit more work than others and it was worth it. My hair was soft and shiny at the end of it.