DIY Conditioner For Curly Hair

DIY Conditioner For Curly Hair:

I love a good ol’ DIY myself, especially when it comes to conditioning my curls; you have complete control over what goes into your hair products, along with being able to make them all-natural. 

But can you make your own conditioner at home?

Absolutely and it’s very easy! These homemade conditioners will leave your curls feeling soft and tangle-free; some are even light enough to use as a leave-in conditioner too!

Sometimes, our curls don’t get on with certain ingredients, making finding curly hair products challenging. Making your own products is the best thing you can do. 

It’s an affordable alternative but still offers brilliant results!

I use a combination of store-bought conditioners on my curls along with my own homemade recipes, and my curls have never felt so hydrated. 

Stay tuned, and I’ll show you some of my favorite recipes!d

Why Make Homemade Conditioner?

As you can above, I have very thick, frizzy, unruly curls, and while I love my afro look, I do struggle with frizz. I find that sometimes store-bought conditioners are way too harsh on my coils, so I switched to a homemade one to see if it makes a difference.

Having complete control over the ingredients has really helped me tame my curls. I can include heavier oils like coconut oil and shea butter without worrying about the bucket load of chemicals on top.

More affordable:

There are many reasons you might want to make your own conditioner, they’re not only better for curly hair, but you will notice that you’re saving yourself a lot more money by making your own.

This is the same case even when you use high-quality ingredients, which would put you out around 50 bucks in a manufacturer’s leave-in conditioner.

Instead, it might cost a similar price, but you’re able to buy these ingredients in bulk so that it will go 5x further than a 17oz bottle of conditioner. It is much cheaper and sustainable in the long run.

Expensive brands will only include a trace of expensive ingredients, and the rest is filled with chemicals that you can’t understand, and if you can’t understand or even say it properly, should it really be going on your hair?

Complete control of ingredients & no harsh chemicals:

By making your own conditioner, you can choose ingredients you’d like to include and ones you’d like to avoid. You can add specific ingredients for specific needs and wants in your hair.

I tend to follow a similar ingredient input to some natural manufacturers but customize it towards my curl type and hair porosity, so I get the most benefits, plus it’s 100% natural, no chemicals!

You can use high-quality ingredients, completely customize your conditioner along with avoiding toxic chemicals. Plus, it’s more sustainable as you can reuse old tubs or packaging.

Ingredients You’ll Need In A DIY Conditioner.

When creating your own homemade conditioner, you’re going to need a few simple ingredients such as water, oil, emulsifier, and preservative. After that, you can customize the ingredients you’d like to include with vitamins and essential oil.

Honey, candelilla wax, carnauba wax, or egg yolks are brilliant emulsifiers. These are all-natural derived ingredients, but if you’d prefer to use a chemical for this, then BTMS has brilliant conditioning qualities.

Behentrimonium Methosulfate is derived from rapeseed oil; it is used in many hair products as it is a brilliant detangler. Don’t worry. It’s not one of the bad sulfates and is safe to use on curly hair.

It leaves hair feeling silky smooth, but it is extremely lightweight to be used in a regular hair conditioner, deep conditioner, or leave-in conditioner.

Let’s go through my top recipes for curly, coily, or natural hair.

Egg And Olive Hair Conditioner:

You may be a little skeptical about the idea of using raw eggs on your curls. Still, eggs make a brilliant natural conditioner as they are a natural emulsifier rich in vitamins.

Eggs are also high in vitamin A, which boosts sebum production, increasing your hair’s moisturizing itself. Making it ideal for even the driest of curls.

Olive oil also has some serious benefits for nourishing curly hair. It works to reduce damage and to seal the appearance of split ends.

Since we curly girls can only brush our hair while wet, it means our hair is most prone to damage, so the olive oil helps strengthen the tips of our hair. It even promotes hair growth and strengthens the hair shaft as a whole.

Both ingredients go hand in hand to eliminate frizz, define curls and provide them with a hydration boost. If you want real curl definition check out my DIY curl cream guide!

What you’ll need:

• – 1 egg
• – 1 tbsp olive oil
• – 10 drops of essential oil of your choice ( I like peppermint)

The first thing you’ll want to do is whisk an egg and mix the olive oil in it, apply this mixture all over your dry hair, apply a shower cap, and blow-dry on low heat for 10 mins.

Rinse and shampoo with cool water to seal the cuticle.

Coconut Oil, Shea Butter & Honey Hair Conditioner:

If you have quite thick, coarse curls, you’ll need thick ingredients which will help weigh down your hair and help tame your frizz.

This blend of ingredients will work wonders for nourishing your curls; let’s start with the benefits of coconut oil for your curls.

Coconut oil works by sealing in water in your hair strand, preventing it from evaporating. This means your hair is more hydrated and the moisture barrier restored.

It also helps seal split ends and strengthens hair to prevent breakage. The high vitamins and essential fatty acids penetrate deep into the hair strands to moisturize the hair.

Fatty acids are crucial to the health of your hair. It can help improve the health of your hair from the inside; they are full of nutrients and proteins, which help strengthen the hair strand and even reduce hair loss.

Coconut oil really benefits those suffering from hair loss; despite it not directing hair growth, it helps protect the hair and slow the process of hair loss and strengthen brittle and weak hair, so hair appears thicker.

Shea butter acts as a natural heat protectant that creates a barrier around your hair strands; this shields them from heat damage.

Shea butter is a brilliant emollient and occlusive, so it works well to hydrate strands and nourishes the ends. Coconut oil has brilliant moisturizing qualities and can also provide a protective coating to seal hair.

Honey has both emollient and humectant properties, making it an excellent hair moisturizer. Emollients help smooth the hair follicle and add shine to full hair, while humectants bond with water to add moisture and seal in moisture.

Honey is also a natural emulsifier, so the other ingredients blend well together. This blend can be used as a hair moisturizer for curly hair as it is deeply hydrating. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• – 2 tbsp coconut oil
• – 2 tbsp shea butter
• – 2 tsp honey
• – 10 drops of essential oil (jojoba, olive oil, peppermint, etc.)

Since coconut oil and shea butter are all solid at room temperature, you’ll need to meet them to mix. You can microwave them for 15-30 seconds with the honey or over the stove for a few minutes.

Pour the mixture into a glass or bowl and mix for a few minutes until it is well blended. Pour into a glass container with a lid and put in the freezer for 5-10 mins.

Jojoba oil is particularly brilliant if you have thick curls. This will help harden the mixture and make it easier to apply to the ends of your hair in the shower.

You can use this as a DIY deep conditioner, leave-in conditioner, or even as a regular hair conditioner. This is only really ideal for thick, coarse curls as it may leave a greasy residue on fine curls.

It can help dry and damaged hair; the coconut oil helps strengthen the hair follicle, while the shea butter deeply nourishes and provides a protective coating. The honey acts as a humectant to help draw moisture into the hair to prevent frizz.

When honey is applied to the scalp, it can also help with problematic scalp issues like dandruff, flaky scalps.

Aloe Vera And Sweet Almond Oil Hair Conditioner

Aloe Vera is another brilliant ingredient you can use in your DIY leave-in conditioner recipes or regular hair conditioner recipes. It can even be used in many deep conditioner recipes.

Aloe vera is especially beneficial for curly hair as it helps strengthen and protect the hair strand. Aloe vera is a natural humectant that works with the environment to draw moisture and keep hair hydrated.

It is known as a plant with many surprises.

Aloe vera has many active ingredients that work to strengthen your strands. It can even promote hair growth by stimulating the scalp and strengthening the ends. It penetrates deep into the hand strand to nourish and moisturize the cuticle.

It can also protect your hair from UV damage; aloe vera gel forms a seal over the cuticle, which can help protect it from UV and heat damage.

Sweet almond oil helps enhance shine, luster, and moisture for dry and weak hair. It helps promote the natural curl in curly hair.

It is commonly used in leave-in conditioners, deep conditioners, and regular hair conditioners.

What you’ll need:

• – 2 tbsp aloe vera gel
• – 1 tbsp sweet almond oil
• – 10 drops essential oil ( I like rosemary oil or lavender oil for this recipe)
• – 1/2 cup water

Combine the aloe vera gel, sweet almond oil, and water with a whisk until a thin consistency. If you have an aloe vera plant, blend the chunks until it forms a gel.

Apply the paste after washing your hair on the mid-lengths and ends, and rinse after a few minutes. If you’d like to use it as a deep conditioner, you can leave it for 20 minutes.

If you apply to the root, make sure you wash your hair with shampoo afterward.

Avocado & Olive Oil Curly Hair Conditioner:

Avocado is yet another brilliant ingredient to help hydrate and nourish curly hair. It can be used in an oil form or as a whole avocado for a creamy deep treatment or everyday conditioner.

Avocados are brilliant as they contain naturals and lots of good fatty acids, which help strengthen and protect your curly ends, leaving them looking healthy and hydrated.

Avocados also act as a detangler making your life a hell of a lot easier when combing through the treatment mask from your roots to the ends. The last thing we want is to pull or snag and damage our precious curl shape or cause breakage. 

As I spoke about earlier olive oil also has some major benefits on curly hair. Olive oil helps strengthen the tips of our hair. It even promotes hair growth and strengthens the hair shaft as a whole.

What you’ll need:

• – 1 avocado
• – 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• – 1 tbsp honey

Grab yourself a blender and then add all the ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth. You can then put it in a mason jar to store or apply directly to your hair. 

Evenly coat your mask across the hair, comb it through with your fingers or a wide-tooth comb, so every strand is coated. 

Since I have quite thick, porous curls, I tend to double up on the ingredients and work in sections starting underneath and working my way through each section.  

You can wash it off straight away or use it as a deep conditioning treatment and leave it on for 30 minutes to an hour.

Summary:

Creating your own DIY deep conditioner, hair conditioner, or leave-in conditioner is a super fun task. It can help dry and damaged hair, and you have complete control of the ingredients.

No more spending hours researching what mix of ingredients you need for healthy curls; instead, you can find oils that will nourish your curls without the chemicals.

Don’t forget your essential oils like lavender, rosemary, peppermint. These ingredients can help stimulate the scalp, repair follicles at the root, and promote hair growth.

Give some of these recipes a go today!