The girth of my ponytail has been steadily shrinking over the years. I used to have thicker (or more?) hair that made for a fat ponytail! Not anymore, and so it freaks me out when I see more than usual hair fallout. With this hair treatment I intend to fix all that!
My lofty hair goals for this go-to healing hair mask were to moisturize, prevent hair loss, promote hair growth, cleanse, and heal.
I don't have set recipes, I have ingredients with purpose that I combine depending on what I think my hair needs that day.
The Ingredients - Healing Hair Mask
A spoonful of manuka honey
A bit of water to thin out the honey
A spoonful of castor oil
4 Tbsp of a carrier oil (jojoba, argan)
2 drops of neem oil
2 drops of rosemary essential oil (EO)
2 drops of thyme EO
2 drops of clary sage EO
2 drops of peppermint EO
Spoon it onto your hair, massage it into your scalp and down to the ends. Leave on for 30-60 min and wash out.
Some days I'll use only one of the essential oils. Some days it's 2-3 of them. Other times I'll put only honey. But in general the proportions you want to hit are 2 drops of essential oil to 2 Tbsp of carrier oil or other liquid. Otherwise it could be too potent/strong and cause irritation. I hate to admit it, but I guess sometimes there IS such a thing as too much of a good thing.
Dave said to make sure I include the fact that not all of my DIY solutions have turned out "good." (YES, Bebe, I was just about to say that.) So once I made the mistake of including raw egg in my hair mask. I could smell egg whenever I turned my head--not appetizing. Another time I put coconut milk in my hair and ended up smelling like baby spit up for the rest of the day. Neem oil also stinks. I mean it's really, really bad. Basically Dave is surprised every day when he gets up and takes a deep whiff of my hair during our good morning hug.
I've heard of people putting mayonnaise or mashed up avocado in their hair. Or whole milk. Um, nah, I'll save those ingredients for lunch.
Also remember, all oils won't come out of your hair on their own--you need to wash it with something that removes oil or you'll end up looking like a greaser for days. (That's why my hair looked like that when you saw me that time!)
3 solutions for getting rid of the oily hair
1. Cornstarch (use it like a dry shampoo)
2. Dawn dish detergent (use it like shampoo)
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*UPDATE 2/3/21:
I have learned that my hair can't take too much oils. My hair just doesn't absorb certain thicker oils. So if I'm going to do a healing or moisturizing hair mask, I have to use oils that are good for low porosity hair. Jojoba, meadowfoam and hemi-squalane are the only oils I use on my hair now. Also I have to wash my hair really well after the mask.