If you’re reading this, it’s probably time you set aside an evening this week to pamper yourself and show your hair some TLC. To help you plan your night of slathering and lathering, we’ve put together our top 7 favorite DIY hair masks and hair treatments for you to try. Pour yourself a glass of wine, queue up your Netflix, and get ready for healthy hair.
Why hair masks?
Hair masks are quick yet highly potent, effective ways to provide your hair with tons of health benefits in less than 20 minutes. Think of hair masks like high powered hair conditioners, giving your hair benefits like softening and hydrating, a boost to grow, adding shine, and even fighting off infections. While some hair salons offer expensive hair treatments that yield similar results, we've decided to go straight to Mother Nature for our hair masks. This collection of hair masks only require a few, all-natural ingredients each, which can all be found in your fridge or cupboard and come straight from the Earth. The recipes we’re going to share with you are all wonderful hair masks to help nourish, protect, and moisturize your hair, so you can ensure you're putting your best hair forward.
Enjoy the video tutorial below, or scroll down for the recipes for each DIY hair mask.
The ingredients
Here’s a shopping list of the all-natural ingredients that will be included in the concoctions we’re going to share with you. Whenever possible, we recommend to go with the organic option, to ensure that the ingredients you're applying to your hair are free from growth chemicals and pesticides:
- Avocados
- Strawberries
- Lemon
- Honey
- Coconut Milk
- Brown Sugar
- Banana
- Plain Yogurt
- Eggs
- Cinnamon
1. Coconut Oil + Honey Hair Mask (Repairing)
Let’s break down the ingredients and their benefits.
Coconut Oil
Coconuts truly seem to be the magical ingredient for your hair. Coconut Oil can be used for hair and skin, is a healthy fat for cooking, aids in digestion, supports the body's natural hormones...the benefits of Coconut Oil are endless! Coconut Oil for hair keeps it moist and soft and prevents hair breakage because of its high moisture retaining capabilities. Since Coconut Oil is loaded with fatty acids, it penetrates the hair more deeply than regular conditioners, leading to beautiful soft, silky, shiny hair. We recommend to use Organic Coconut Oil whenever possible.
Honey
The benefits of honey are endless! First, honey is great for retaining moisture in your hair as it is a natural humectant. This means that it sucks moisture into the hair and prevents it from escaping. This is especially great if you have dry hair and need an extra boost of moisture and hydration. Honey is also an emollient, which helps smoothen and soften your hair, and brings back any lost sheen and shine to your hair.
The Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon of Coconut Oil
- 1 tablespoon of honey
Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients into a bowl
2. Transfer mix into a pot and heat up until melted
3. Apply to hair from top to bottom and cover with a shower cap
4. Let it sit for 15-20 mins
5. Rinse
Need extra instructions on how to make this Coconut Oil and honey hair mask at home? Click here to watch a video tutorial.
2. Coconut Oil + Cinnamon Hair Mask (Hair Growth)
Let’s break down the ingredients and their benefits.
Coconut Oil
We’ve talked about Coconut Oil in the previous mask recipe and you’ll find Coconut Oil to be in many different hair mask recipes because of its hydrating and moisturizing properties.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon has antimicrobial properties that help your hair grow, helps with dandruff, hair loss, and strengthens your hair follicles as well. When applied to your hair, cinnamon stimulates circulation to the scalp, improving blood flow to the hair follicles, and leading to stimulated hair growth. If you're looking for longer hair, this is the hair mask for you. Let’s get to stirring!
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon of Coconut Oil
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
Directions:
1. Mix these two ingredients in a bowl, and make sure they are mixed well.
2. Part your hair down the center and start by applying it down the part and on your scalp.
3. Use your fingertips to massage the product into your scalp. *Bonus Head Massage*
4. Tie your hair up and cover with a shower cap or a towel
5. Let this mask sit for 30-45 minutes and then rinse with your regular shampoo and conditioner.
This mask is best and most effective if used one a week.
3. Egg + Lemon Hair Mask (Oily Hair)
Let’s break down the ingredients and their benefits.
Eggs
Eggs are rich in Vitamins A, D, and E, proteins and fatty acids, which help retain the luster and shine in your hair. As your hair is mostly made of protein, this extra boost to the hair leaves it feeling healthy and restored. On top of being delicious when cooked to an omelette - it's also a great natural conditioner!
Lemons
Lemon is best for those with an oily scalp, as lemon juice has the capabilities of absorbing excess oil and grease in the scalp. Lemon is high in Vitamin C, which leads to strong hair, and its acidic nature will help clean your hair from any deposited products and dust. Lemon also contains a compound called Limonene, which adds bounce and shine to dull, lifeless hair. Lemon juice is also great for fighting Dandruff, as it has anti-fungal properties. Who knew there were all these benefits of lemon!
Ingredients:
- 1 egg
- ½ lemon
Directions:
1. Crack an egg, and be sure to only use the egg white.
2. Squeeze one half of a lemon into a mixing bowl.
3. Mix the egg white and lemon juice together until you have a smooth consistency.
4. Apply to damp hair from top to bottom.
5. Tie hair up and cover with a shower cap
6. Let this mask sit for 30-45 minutes and rinse with shampoo and conditioner.
Of course, the best way to get rid of oily hair is through preventative measures. Learn more here.
If you’d like to kick this hair mask up a notch, here’s a recipe for a hair mask that will not only help with your oil issues, but also soften and restore that natural shine.
Another variation...add in some coconut milk
Surprise! Coconut milk is a natural hair repairing remedy. It's no surprise, since coconut milk is made from the healthy, white flesh of coconuts. Are you suffering from hair loss? If so, coconut milk is loaded with vitamins like Niacin and Folate, which stimulates circulation in the scalp, promoting hair growth. Do you have dry hair? Coconut milk also contains Vitamin E and healthy fats, which nourish dry hair, moisture hair root to tip, and acts as a natural hair de-tangler.
Ingredients:
- 1 egg
- 1 cup of coconut milk
- 1 squeeze of lemon
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
4. Brown Sugar + Olive Oil Hair Mask (Dry Hair)
Let’s break down the ingredients and their benefits.
Brown sugar
Brown sugar is a great exfoliant for the hair that helps get rid of those dead skin cells from your scalp and any other leftover residue buildup. Who knew this sweet baking ingredient was the key to healthier hair?
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Extra virgin olive oil has always been used as a natural conditioner to treat dry hair. It also produces soft and shiny hair by locking in the moisture and preventing dryness of the scalp. It's a great resource for preventing hair breakage, split ends, and even fly-aways!
Do you scratch your head a lot? Do you have issues with dandruff and dry hair? This mask is going to be your best bet to help remedy those issues. If you'd like to learn the root cause (no pun intended) of your dry hair treat the hair from within click here.
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
Directions:
1. Mix the sugar and oil together into a bowl
2. Apply to your hair from top to bottom
3. Let the mask sit on your hair for 15-20 minutes
4. Rinse
5. Banana, Yogurt + Honey Hair Mask (Frizzy Hair)
Let’s break down the ingredients and their benefits.
Bananas
We go bananas for bananas in hair mask recipes! Bananas are secret wonders for hair conditioning. They are full of natural oils, potassium, carbohydrates, and vitamins, all of which help lock in moisture and help eliminate that annoying frizz.
Yogurt
This recipe kind of sounds like we’re making a parfait, but we promise that yogurt has incredible benefits for your frizzy hair. Yogurt has high levels of lactic acid, which helps treat dull and damaged hair, so this ingredient is a must.
Now let’s learn how to make this parfait, err, I mean hair mask!
Ingredients:
- 1 sliced banana
- 2 tablespoons of plain yogurt
- 1 tablespoon of honey
Directions:
1. Combine all the ingredients together in a blender or mash the banana and mix the ingredients until they are all blended together well.
2. Apply the mask to damp hair from top to bottom.
3. Tie your hair up and cover with a shower cap.
4. Leave the mask on your hair for about 30-45 minutes.
5. Rinse with your regular shampoo and conditioner.
Boom! Frizz-be-gone! O
6. Coconut Oil, Avocado + Honey Hair Mask (Damaged Hair)
Let’s break down the ingredients and their benefits.
Ok, just a fair warning- this one might make you look like you have guacamole on your head, but we promise it’s worth it.
Avocados
Ever wonder why health nuts tout avocados as an essential ingredient to a well-balanced meal? That's because the guacamole ingredient is a natural, healthy fat, which offers nearly 20 different vitamins and minerals including potassium, folate (which repairs damaged cells), Vitamins C and E (which both promote hair growth). In other words, avocados add shine, moisturize, provide your hair with essential vitamins and proteins, and even help protect your hair against heat and everyday wear.
Ingredients:
- 1 avocado
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon of honey
- 1 tablespoon of Coconut Oil
Directions:
1. Mash avocado and put the mash in a mixing bowl.
2. Add eggs, honey, and oil to the avocado mixture and mix well.
3. Apply to your hair from the ends to the roots.
4. Let sit for 15-20 minutes.
5. Rinse.
7. Coconut Oil, Strawberry + Honey Hair Mask (Shiny Hair)
Let’s break down the ingredients and their benefits.
Strawberries
This hair mask recipe is great to achieve overall hair health, and one of our particular favorites because the strawberries make it smell so delicious. Strawberries are full of Vitamin C, which helps your body create collagen, an important part of the hair's structure. This strawberry hair mask also eliminates excess oil and grease and will give your hair a glossy shine.
Ingredients
- 6-8 fresh strawberries
- 1 tablespoon of Coconut Oil
- 1 tablespoon of honey
Directions
1. Blend all ingredients to form a puree.
2. Apply evenly to damp hair.
3. Let it sit for 5-10 mins.
4. Rinse well with warm water.
Bonus ingredient: apple cider vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is known for having antibacterial and antifungal properties which help with flaky and itchy scalps. It also cleanses the hair without stripping natural oils and helps retain the moisture in your hair for better conditioning. So how does apple cider vinegar work for hair? Here's a quick science lesson:
Apple cider vinegar contains loads of vitamins like B vitamins, vitamin C and potassium. Since apple cider vinegar is slightly acidic, when you dilute it with water, it works amazingly to balance the pH level of your scalp and cure any ailments. Exposing your hair to this acidic apple cider vinegar also hardens the outside of the hair, which results in hair that shines, is smooth and silky, and less prone to tangling. Consider doing an ACV hair rinse to give your hair a bit of a refresh. It's so simple but effective
There you have it! As you can see, you don't have to go far or spend a fortune when it comes to hair masks. By simply utilizing key ingredients in your kitchen and understanding each ingredient's benefit to your hair, you can mix and match them as you see fit to solve your hair problems. Now go ahead and schedule that night of pampering for yourself - you deserve it.
Written By: Daryn Mae Stumbaugh
