Spa Day at Home: Make Your Own Hair Conditioning Treatments

Any type of hair can benefit from a little TLC every now and again.  There are some great products available anywhere from specialty stores, to salons, to your local drugstore down the street.  For a truly customizable experience, you may also treat yourself to a little "spa day" in the comfort and privacy of your own home.  Making your own beauty treatments is fun and inexpensive; it's always satisfying to make concoctions for loveliness according to your own unique needs and specifications.

Here are just a few recipes for wonderful homemade hair conditioning masques.  Try a few, and enjoy the results!

Olive Oil & Egg Hair Masque:

This masque is a deep, intensive treatment for dry, damaged hair.  Some people swear by mayonnaise as a hair conditioner --this recipe gives you all the nourishing properties of this homespun beauty secret, without as much of the "ick" factor!  Take 1 egg yolk and beat it ferociously with a hand mixer or food processor.  Slowly drizzle in about a cup of light olive oil.  (Feel free to add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to this recipe, too!)  Once the last of the oil has been added and the mixture becomes creamy and thick, it's ready to use.  Slather your hair in this conditioning masque for about 20-30 minutes before shampooing as normal (you may need to shampoo twice).  

Nourishing Guacamole for Hair:

This one is easy, vegan, and works well for most hair types.  Take a very ripe avocado and mash it to bits with fork or blender.  Add the juice of half a lime, and you're ready to roll.  You can keep this on your hair anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour before shampooing.

Yummy Banana Hair Smoothie:

Another super-easy masque with only two ingredients!  Mash a banana with half a cup of yogurt (plain, "light," or even flavored), blend thoroughly, and apply to your hair for about 30 minutes.  Rinse and shampoo as usual.

Lemon Meringue Hair Treatment:

This one requires just a bit more effort, but it's impressive and fun, and will remind you of your favorite yummy dessert.  Beat 2 egg whites until they're extremely fluffy; if you need help "fluffing" the eggs, add a few dashes of cream of tartar, though either way, the treatment will be beneficial.  Once the desired consistency has been reached, fold in a big squirt of honey (maybe 1-2 teaspoons or so) and the juice of half a lemon.  Saturate your hair with this mixture for 15-30 minutes, and wash as usual.  Make sure you don't rinse this out with water that's too warm; you don't want to cook the egg!

For best results with these treatments, use a shower cap in conjunction with these treatments.  Use a hair treatment once each week for optimal results.  Be sure to refrigerate any unused masque.  The olive oil & egg "mayo" masque should last in the fridge for a couple of weeks, but the others should be used as soon as possible.

Photo credits:  Avocado pic by the awesome ingserban, banana smoothie fixin's picture by the creative & talented quinn.anya, and the yummy meringue photo was done by the amazing Sunset Sailor!  Thanks for sharing on Flickr, my friends! :)