It kinda depends on the hair type and porosity --- but in general....
Flax seed gel works awesome for smoothing and shining hair without making it crunchy. Boil 1/4 cup flax seeds in 2cups water for 5-10 minutes until it forms a light gel. Strain through a mesh strainer to remove the seeds. If desired, add a teaspoon of coconut oil (or your favorite oil), beat well with a whisk, and store in a squeeze-bottle or flip-top bottle in the fridge when not in use. I say squeeze bottle or flip-top bottle because this stuff is really slippery, and you won't really be able to scoop it out of a jar easily.
It's really slippery when applying to wet hair, just shake the heck out of the bottle, then scrunch a good sized handful through sopping wet hair before you wrap it up in a towel. And always use a microfiber towel (or even an old t-shirt) if your hair tends towards frizz, it's easier on the hair. Once most of the excess moisture is absorbed, let it air dry, and any slight crunch when it's dry, just gently run your hands over it and it will disappear. Flax seed gel is awesome!
You can also add a couple drops of tea tree oil and lavender oil and any other EO you like. The tea tree oil helps a bit with extending the shelf-life out of the fridge (4 days as opposed to 2 days in my experience). Lavender helps too, and smells wonderful. You can also use fresh-brewed green tea instead of water. It will be darker colored if you do though. It will last about 2wks in the fridge or 3-4days out of the fridge. You can tell if it's going bad if it starts to turn opaque or creamy looking instead of clear. Or if it smells sour.
Another tip for frizzy hair, is again, while sopping wet, (and after any gel or leave-in conditioner) to work a pea-sized amount of shea butter through the hair.
And avoid honey, agave, and glycerin now that the weather is less humid. My hair loves them in the hot, humid summer weather, but hates them in cool, dry winter weather.
Hope this helps!
Great recipe but Tea Tree is not a preservative. It is really important that you add a preservative to this but I would try it....
Great recipe but Tea Tree is not a preservative. It is really important that you add a preservative to this but I would try it....
It wil end up making 8oz or less of the gel, which is about 4 applications for long hair or 8 for shorter hair. It really gets used up long before it has any chance of spoiling in the fridge. I did mention to either refrigerate for up to 2wks or it would spoil in 2-4 days unrefrigerated, along with info on how perishable it is...
Have you performed bacteria and fungi cultures for those 2 weeks?
It's something that's been boiled for 10 minutes then refrigerated. People refrigerate lots of things for 1-2 weeks -- milk, juice, tea, soup...
I didn't want to discourage you sharing.
Anyone who had suggested to do the same with unpreserved lotion or similar products would have had the exact same reaction.
It's a current trend for producers to use unpreserved products as a sales pitch or even fail to include used preservatives in the INCI.
This gives off the wrong idea to a growing group of people who make handmade cosmetics.
A quick google search will show you plenty of Lush products growing mold.
Even a lot of preserved care products are contaminated and I'd hate for anyone to get hurt.
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