Hair Serum Help

[Sallyj]

Hi, I am looking for a non-greasy feeling hair serum recipe. My hair is very damaged after years of dying & it is also very very frizzy especially when humid. I need something I can apply in the morning, also needs to be vegan friendly. Any help would be greatly appreciated before I go get it all cut off Thank you.

 

[Earthen_Step]

I use jojoba oil mixed with essential oils I enjoy. Out of all the things I've tried I like this best. If you use too much it will be greasy, but at lower amounts it's quite nice. Jojoba oil is wax ester that is very similar to the waxy sebum that your skin produces to protect your skin/hair. I apply it after showers while my hair is wet cause I can spread it easier and use less. You can use it while your hair is dry, but it's a bit harder to distribute, especially with long hair.

*Edit* I have tried: sunflower, coconut, avocado, sesame, palm, jojoba and blends from all these oils. For me jojoba works best, I have long curly hair that frizzes very easily - especially on the humid days. Jojoba does a pretty good job, I blend it with essential oils that are supposed to be good for hair and scalp.

 

[navigator9]

Your hair sounds the same as mine! I've probably tried most of the commercial anti frizz serums out there. They have a lot of chemical crap in them. And most of them feel greasy, because they've got silicone in them, to coat the hair. And then they don't really work anyway. I've had a long discussion with a former coworker about our frizzy hair, and we've pretty much come to the conclusion that some things help a little, but nothing does what we'd like it to do. That being said, I've had about as much luck with this method as any.....the night before I wash my hair, I rub avocado oil into the ends. I don't use an excessive amount, because then I would have to use a lot of shampoo to wash it out, and that would be counter productive. It's kind of a trial and error thing. I usually wash my hair every two to three days, and I mix a small amount of shampoo in about two or three cups of warm water, and pour that over my wet hair...."shampoo water." It washes out the excess oil, but doesn't strip the oils, like it would if you used a lot of shampoo. Then I use conditioner. After my hair air dries, I rub a drop or two of avocado oil between my palms, and rub it into the ends, just enough to coat it a bit, but not make it greasy. It's really a losing battle, but I'm always hopeful. The only time I'm really happy with my hair is when there's no humidity, and I live in a part of the country where the summers are excessively humid, so I'm pretty frizzy allllllll summer long! lol

For our type of hair, there's really not a whole lot that works when it's humid. It's most helpful to avoid things that will make it drier, like washing with too much shampoo and water that's too warm, using a hair dryer. Hair spray contains alcohol, so that's not good either. I know coloring it doesn't help, but I'm not going to give that up, so I try to avoid as many other drying things as possible. At some point, I'm going to try the "no poo" method. I keep saying that, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Probably because I'm pretty doubtful that it will work better than any of the other things I've tried. Best of luck to you, and if you find a cure for frizzy hair, please be sure to let me know!

 

[Obsidian]

I've had good luck with plain coconut oil. I get the expensive virgin kind for skin/hair, it makes everything better lol. If my hair is excessively frizzy, I'll use some of my body butter which is shea, coconut and a little avocado.

 

[Trix]

Not all silicones are bad, some are actually really good at protecting skin and hair.
But if you don't want to use them, something that has worked really well for me is mixing aragan oil, jojoba oil and vitamin E oil, and using that as a serum....it works really well specially in humid weather.

 

[Dorymae]

Are you wanting a serum or an oil base? I always thought of serum as having no oil and being a water base.

 

[Trix]

I work in a place where I have a bunch of serums around me all the place and I'm sure it is a marketing ploy. They all are clear or transparent more or less, but some have extracts and others do have oils in them.

The little formula I used I took from the ingredient list of an, an extremely popular hair serum here that seems to help fight humidity. Only difference is they have two silicones as the primary ingredients. I figured such I only use a few drops of oil at. Time I don't really need any 'vehicle' to suspend my oils in until I use them....

 

[navigator9]

Not all silicones are bad, some are actually really good at protecting skin and hair.
.

The reason I try to stay away from silicones is that they tend to build up in the hair, and that means having to use a clarifying shampoo when they do, further drying out my hair. I've tried Moroccan Argan Oil, Frizz Eze, Bio Silk, etc., and found through much trial and error, that a tiny bit of oils work better for me, and they're actually good for the hair, too. I tried coconut, and jojoba, and settled with avocado, that seems to be what my hair likes best.

 

[biarine]

I use jojoba, argan and organic unrefined hemp oil with essential. I preferred hemp compare to argan

 

[Sallyj]

Thanks for the replies everyone. i will try some of the ideas. The problem I had is I had a severe allergic reaction to a hair dye ( I had been using this brand for years). We are talking blisters all over my scalp, weeping scalp & swollen itchy eyes. Since then my hair has been in a terrible state. I make beauty products for myself but have always failed when it comes to hair products. The oils I blend are either 2 heavy or greasy. I would love an oil based product that's light enough to spray or mist my hair to just bring back the condition, I work 7 days a week and very long hours so pampering my hair for hours is not an option. Thanks again everyone.

 

[snappyllama]

Sorry this isn't a recipe, but it's the way I keep my crazy dry ends in check and thought I would share in case it might help you out. I have a thin, dyed hair with oily scalp with super dry ends.

For everyday cleaning, I stopped actively shampooing my ends. Now I just shampoo my scalp and let the shampoo water simply rinse over the rest of my hair. I only use shampoo every other day or so. The rest of the time, I just rinse with water or use a dry shampoo. It's really cut down on how greasy my scalp gets between shampoos and the thin hair breakage I was getting.

Whenever my ends are still looking dry, I dip them in an argan/coconut oil blend (about 10/90), wrap my hair in a towel, and rinse out after about an hour. If I have an avocado handy, I'll mush that some of that up in there too. I look and smell like a guacamole experiment gone wrong. I can still run around doing household chores or surf the interwebs while it conditions.

 

[kumudini]

Thanks for the replies everyone. i will try some of the ideas. The problem I had is I had a severe allergic reaction to a hair dye ( I had been using this brand for years). We are talking blisters all over my scalp, weeping scalp & swollen itchy eyes. Since then my hair has been in a terrible state. I make beauty products for myself but have always failed when it comes to hair products. The oils I blend are either 2 heavy or greasy. I would love an oil based product that's light enough to spray or mist my hair to just bring back the condition, I work 7 days a week and very long hours so pampering my hair for hours is not an option. Thanks again everyone.

I don't think you need to pamper your hair for hours for it to be manageable. Once you have washed it, most likely a very mild shampoo bar/ liquid soap, you just need to squeeze out enough water and spread a few drops of whatever light oils you choose through out the hair and leave it to air dry. It is not going to be perfect from day 1 but with repeated use your hair will get there. Everyones hair is different, you could try different oils and see which one your hair likes best. Fractionated coconut oil, jojoba oil, argon oil even sweet almond oils are light yet conditioning. Or may be regular coconut oil or olive oil suit your hair better. Whichever you choose, you just need few drops if you want to avoid greasy feel.
Hope your hair heals soon

 

[Trix]

Hi Sallyj, if you are still looking for a proper serum, I have this recipe I decided I will try first and then post if I like it.

50% cyclomethicone (yes it's a silicone, but relax it doesn't build up as it just evaporates from hair)
25% jojoba oil
20% argan oil
5% sweet almond oil.

Mix by either stirring gently or placing in a container and rolling it on table or something (maybe I was just bored when I did it) then wait a little bit and use it.
Has been helping my hair feel nice and not dry, while keeping the humidity from playing havoc with it.