Homemade Hair Care
By Lori Kimble

My quest for a glorious mane of hair began somewhere in grade school.  Sitting behind the long blond ringlets of Maggie Mc Ray all day, I longingly twisted my own short brown wisps and dreamed of the time when my hair would flow in luxurious waves down my back.

Whenever I mentioned to my mother that I wanted to grow out my hair she would shake her head and tell me, “When you are old enough to brush out the tangles and keep it neat, you can do what you want, but as long as your head is in my care, you get a pixie cut.”  True to her word, when I reached jr. high, she let me grow it long and I have been fighting it ever since. I guess mother knew what an uncooperative army of follicles I possess and I completely understand why she didn’t want to deal with hair ribbons and curls as the school bus chugged its way up the lane to our house. 

In my struggle to tame the mane I have become quite a connoisseur of hair care products. I have run the gamete from paying outrageous prices for salon shampoos that didn’t keep their promises to spending pennies on grocery aisle conditioners that could have greased a cake pan.  After much trial and error, I came up with a solution.  I decided to make my own hair care products.  Not only have I found products that meet the unique needs of my hair, I now have the fun of playing mad scientist every time I whip up a batch.  My hair looks soft and shiny and it keeps its style through out the day.  The following recipes are easy to follow and very inexpensive.  Try whipping up a batch or two of your own, and you may never go back to store bought hair care products.

Chamomile Shampoo

6 bags of chamomile tea

4 tablespoons pure soap flakes

1 ½ tablespoons glycerin

Steep tea cabs in boiling water for 10 minutes.  Remove tea bags and add the soap and glycerin.  Stir until it is blended.

Honey of a Conditioner

½ cup honey

2 tablespoons olive oil

Mix honey and olive oil together. Use ¼ cup of olive oil if your hair is extremely damaged or dry.  Work a small amount of conditioner at a time through hair until coated; shampoo and rinse.  Once a week, do a deep treatment by covering hair with a shower cap and leaving conditioner on 30 minutes. Remove shower cap; shampoo well and rinse.

Homemade Hair Gel

Dissolve 1 teaspoon of unflavored gelatin in 1 cup of warm water.  Store in the refrigerator.

Homemade Hairspray

1 lemon thinly sliced

2 cups water

1 teaspoon rubbing alcohol

Place lemon slices in water and boil until half of the initial amount remains. Cool mixture, strain liquid and add alcohol.  Place hairspray in a spray bottle and it can be stored for up to two weeks without refrigeration.