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I mentioned in my facials post that I came across some pretty nasty stuff when researching what people like to use for homemade beauty treatments. There are a few things that I refused to smear on my face, no matter the promised results. Eggs and mayonnaise are on that list. When it came to hair, however, the same main ingredients are used over and over and I realized I just couldn’t hide from them anymore. Too bad cinnamon, sugar, and strawberries don’t make the best hair treatments. The stuff that apparently does?
Mayo, olive oil, vinegar, avocado, and eggs. Yum.
If these are my best options then I figured what the heck. But if I’m going to rub this stinky stuff on my head, I may as well do it all at once! So behold, my Hair Superfood.
Avocado (a superfood on it’s own) is well known for it’s ability to moisturize hair and add shine and body. It’s high in B vitamins and good for you fats. Eggs add essential protein to strengthen hair and mayo and oil condition and shine.
I honestly expected this to be a disaster, even after shampooing it out. My hair felt weird, but I went ahead and dried it anyway (without any added product). And WOW. It was outrageously soft, dangled, and shiny. I’m a believer and I think I’ll do this once a month now.
Just don’t keep this unlabeled in the fridge or you might have some angry men and a lot of extra tortilla chips.
Sara’s Hair Superfood
I have medium length hair. If yours is long, double this recipe.
1/2 avocado
1 T mayo (not light)
1 t extra virgin olive oil
1 egg yolk
I suggest using a mini food processor if you have one so you end up with a smooth, creamy mixture as opposed to a lumpy chunky one. Because putting avocado, egg, oil and mayo is gross enough, let alone lumpy chunky avocado, egg, oil and mayo. If you’re doing it by hand, just make sure to mash the avocado thoroughly.
Directions: Mixed pureed avocado, mayo, oil and egg yolk until smooth and creamy. You can put it on dry or damp hair. Either way, massage into scalp and comb through hair with fingers or a wide-toothed comb. Put on a shower cap, or use a plastic grocery bag. For extra conditioning, warm with a hair dryer for about 5 minutes. Leave on hair for 20 minutes or longer and then shampoo and condition as normal. This makes enough for one use.
You’ll notice I haven’t mentioned the vinegar yet. Vinegar is great at stripping out residue. Think about how well it works as a natural cleaning product- it does the same thing for your hair. It will work especially well for all you product junkies. You won’t want to over use it, but an occasional rinse will do wonders for your hair. Mine is so much smoother and shinier since I started using it. I’m sure a hair stylist will tell you not to use this on color treated hair, which makes sense. But (good thing my hair stylist doesn’t read my blog*) I use it all the time and it hasn’t affected my color at all. But don’t blame me if yours turns green or something…
*okay, update- see comment in the comment section below from my old hairdresser- she approves! Whew! I feel totally confident now in my superfood creation, lol. She noted the vinegar trick is especially great for swimmers in the summer time. (Thanks Erin!)
Directions: Combine 1/4 C vinegar with 1 C water. I shampoo and rinse my hair first and then pour on the vinegar mixture. I let it sit for a few minutes (while you shave, soap off, use a sugar scrub…) and then condition as usual. Combined with the Superfood above you won’t be able to keep your hands from combing through it all day.
* I should note that my hair is very normal. Not oily, not dry, not thick, not thin, not super curly, not super straight. Just normal. This all works great on my hair, but every treatment will work differently depending on your hair type so I can’t make any promises. In other words, don’t be mad at me if you try this and just end up bothered that you wasted a perfectly good avocado. I swear it worked wonders on my hair!
C’mon, who’s brave enough to try it?!
Other Spa in the Kitchen Features:
Facials
Sugar Scrubs
