I have a confession to make. Between work, family, the house and the holidays, things have been kind of stressful lately and I haven’t been taking very good care of my hair. I hadn’t deep conditioned in ages, it was brittle, dry, generally unhappy and so I knew it was time for a protein treatment. I was at my mom’s this past weekend and I decided to do my Hair Guacamole treatment. One problem.
No avocados.
Huh.
So this DIY hair recipe is the result of me rummaging through my mother’s cupboards until I found a simple combo that worked.
Directions:
Mix all ingredients well with a spoon by hand and apply liberally to damp (not sopping wet) hair section-by-section. Leave in for a minimum of 30 minutes, and a maximum of 3 hours then rinse well. DO NOT USE HEAT WITH THIS TREATMENT.
Done.
I like applying my deep conditioner before I wash my hair, it’s also called a “pre-poo treatment” for this very reason. But if you prefer applying your deep conditioner after you wash your hair that’s fine too. Again, this treatment should NOT be used with heat.
Because hot mayo in your hair? Yeah. No.
I also like to dampen my hair with a spray bottle full of water, and apply this treatment. Again, not a hard and fast rule, just one that I like to employ, especially if my hair is really dry. Sometimes I will add a 2-3 drops of rosemary essential oil or tea tree oil to my deep conditioner (also not available at my mom’s house) because it has antifungal properties and stimulate hair growth. Some people like to add eggs to this mixture, but since there’s already eggs in the mayo, I think that’s kind of redundant.
And messy.
Why protein?
Your hair is made up of protein, and when it doesn’t get enough, either through your diet or through your regimen, you hair can become dry and brittle, even if you’re moisturizing on a regular basis. What varies from person-to-person is how much protein you need and how often you need to do it. You also have to be careful what KIND of protein treatment you are putting in your hair. Most of the those protein packets that you find at the beauty supply store (i.e.- Aphogee, Nutress, Palmers, etc.) are mixed in with a ton of other things that can irritate the scalp, like Betaine, ethyl alcohol, parabens, and mineral oil. Which is why making one yourself, makes more sense. If you want to know more about why those ingredients are bad for you and the environment, click here
• What kind of protein treatment do you use in you natural hair?
Header Image credit: poco_bw / 123RF Stock Photo
