Does your hair need a little TLC? You don’t need expensive commercial hair masks, you can easily make it yourself!
Making your own hair mask is affordable, healthier for your hair and you get to customise what goes in it.
Your hair deserves the most natural oils and the most nourishing hair care ingredients!
Hair masks are not as complicated to make as you may think! We’re going to talk you through 3 recipes, starting off with some simple ones and then a more advanced and luxurious version.
So get ready to give your hair the treatment it deserves with a homemade hair mask!
Contents
What are Hair Masks?
Hair masks are a deep conditioning product that provide intense hydration. They can be used on all hair types, and work wonders on dry or damaged hair!
Hair masks can be used once a week for deep hydration and conditioning for your hair. It will leave your hair feeling silky smooth and looking much healthier!
You may be wondering what the difference is between a hair mask and a conditioner. They are both great at moisturising hair, but hair masks have more intense moisturising and nourishing properties.
What Hair Masks Shouldn't You Make?
You may have seen hair mask recipes online using bananas, apple cider vinegar, avocados or eggs. This is not how you make a hair mask!
These recipes are made by people who simply don’t know what they are doing. There’s a reason these ingredients aren't found in normal hair masks.
So don’t be fooled by recipes written by people who know nothing about cosmetics!
If you really want healthy hair, you need to use ingredients made for hair and a recipe written by experts.
Why Make Your Own Hair Masks?
If you want to have healthier hair, don't want to spend a fortune and want to know exactly what you are putting in your hair, then you need to make your own DIY hair mask.
Sure, there are thousands of hair masks available online and in shops. But they are all overpriced and contain so many ingredients that aren’t needed.
When making your own hair masks, you control what goes in it. So if you know argan oil works wonders on your hair, put it in the recipe! If you love the benefits of keratin, add that too!
How to Make a Hair Mask
Homemade hair masks are simple to make. We’ve tried and tested 3 amazing recipes that we think you’ll love.
Our simple recipes are a great place to start. They will nourish the hair, but it doesn’t have as intense moisturising properties as an advanced hair mask.
The more advanced recipe creates a more nourishing and deeply moisturising hair mask. However, this is a more in depth recipe and uses ingredients like preservatives and stabilisers.
Simple Oil Hair Mask Recipe
Fractionated coconut oil and argan oil are very light oils and have incredible moisturising properties. Rosemary essential oil is a very popular oil for hair and is used to improve hair health.
Ingredients:
- Fractionated Coconut Oil 47g | 50ml
- Argan Oil 45g | 50ml
- Rosemary Essential Oil 2g | 2ml
Method:
1. Measure the oils
- Weigh out the fractionated coconut oil and argan oil.
- Mix the oils together in a bowl
2. Add essential oils
- Weigh the rosemary essential oil in a separate bowl
- Mix the rosemary essential oil with the oils until fully combined.
- Now it is ready to use!
How to Use: Apply to damp hair and leave to sit for 15 to 30 minutes. Rinse the mask off with a gentle shampoo until it is fully rinsed out of the hair.
TIP: The Soapery team have tested this recipe and we love the way it feels. It feels very light on the hair, so we think it would be perfect for fine hair. We suggest only applying it to the ends of your hair, as it could leave your hair looking oily (especially if you have naturally oily hair).
The rosemary oil can leave a slight scent in the hair, so feel free to leave this out or use a different essential oil if this isn’t for you!
You only need to use a small amount, a little goes a long way! We recommend using it on a small amount of hair first to make sure you like it and don’t have any issues with the ingredients!
Simple Butter Hair Mask Recipe
We chose shea butter and coconut oil as they are really moisturising and leave hair looking smooth. Castor oil is a great moisturiser and is also said to improve hair growth.
Ingredients:
- Shea Butter 33g
- Coconut Oil 19g
- Castor Oil 44g | 45ml
Method:
1. Combine the ingredients
- Weigh out the shea butter, coconut oil and castor oil in a bowl.
- Heat the ingredients in a bowl over boiling water, or in a microwave in short bursts.
- Once everything has fully melted, mix well until fully combined.
2. Whip the mixture
- Put the mixture in a fridge to cool down.
- Once the mixture is looking like it is starting to set, take it out of the fridge.
- Using an electric whisk or mixer, whip the mixture until it is a light and fluffy consistency.
- Now it is ready to use!
How to Use: Apply a small amount to the ends of damp hair (you really don’t need a lot, a little goes a very long way). Let the mask sit on the hair for about 15 to 30 minutes. Rinse the mask off with a gentle shampoo until it is fully rinsed out of the hair.
TIP: The Soapery team have tested this recipe and we love how it feels in the hair. It is a thick consistency, which is great for coarse hair and thick hair types. You only need a small amount, as a little goes a long way!
We suggest applying this to the ends of your hair, as it may leave your hair looking oily (especially if you have naturally oily hair). This hair mask needs to be shampooed out (some of us even needed to shampoo it twice to make sure it was fully out).
Like our other hair masks, we recommend testing it on a small amount of hair to be sure you like it and to make sure you don’t have any issues with the ingredients!
Advanced Hair Mask Recipe
We’re using natural oils like castor oil, jojoba oil and argan due to their amazing moisturising benefits. Hydrolysed rice protein and keratin are incredible for hair as they nourish, strengthen and repair hair.
This is not a 100% natural recipe as it contains ingredients like geogard ultra, BTMS 50, PQ7 and panthenol. However, these ingredients are crucial to the success of a hair mask.
Even though this recipe is not 100% natural, it creates a hair mask that is more like a professional product.
Ingredients:
Water phase
- Water 53.5g | 53.5ml
- Geogard Ultra 1g
- Vegetable Glycerin 5g | 4ml
- Panthenol 2g
Oil phase
- BTMS 50 6g
- Castor Oil 8g | 8ml
- Jojoba Oil 8g | 9ml
- Argan Oil 9g | 9ml
Cool down phase
- Polyquaternium 7 (PQ7) 3g
- Hydrolyzed Rice Protein 3g
- Hydrolyzed Keratin 2g
- Vitamin E Oil 0.5g | 0.5ml
Method:
1. Heated water phase
- Measure the water, panthenol, geogard ultra and glycerin in a heatproof beaker.
- Place the beaker into a double boiler or a pan with heated water.
2. Heated oil phase
- Measure the BTMS 50, castor oil, jojoba oil and argan oil into a separate beaker.
- Place the beaker next to the other beaker in a pan with heated water.
3. Heat the mixtures
- Heat both of the beakers in the heated water for about 20 to 30 minutes.
- Make sure to consistently stir the mixtures so everything has been fully melted and combined.
4. Combine the mixtures
- Leave the mixtures to cool slightly.
- Pour the water mixture into the oil mixture.
- Using a stick blender, mix the ingredients together until fully combined.
- Once mixed, it should create a creamy consistency.
5. Cool down phase
- Mix the PQ7, hydrolyzed rice protein, keratin and vitamin E oil together.
- Add this to the main mixture and mix well.
6. Test the pH of the mixture
- Take 2g of the mixture and mix it in 18g of water until dissolved.
- Using a digital pH meter, test a small sample of the mixture.
- The pH of the conditioner should be in the range 4.5 - 5.5
7. If necessary, adjust the pH
- If the pH of your conditioner is too low, make a sodium hydroxide solution.
- Put on your gloves, mask and safety goggles. For more information about safety when using sodium hydroxide, click here.
- Weigh 10g of sodium hydroxide and 90g of water.
- Add the sodium hydroxide to the water and stir until dissolved.
- Add 0.5g of the solution into the diluted sample that you used for pH testing.
- Test the pH again, if the pH is still under 4.5, repeat the last steps until the pH is 4.5 - 5.5.
- Once the correct pH has been reached, record the amount of sodium hydroxide solution needed and add this to the remaining conditioner.
- If the pH of the conditioner was over 5.5, you can follow this process but use 10g citric acid diluted in 90g water.
8. Pour into containers
- Leave the mixture to cool and pour into a container of your choice.
- Now your diy hair mask is ready to use!
How to Use: Apply to damp hair all over (or just on the lengths and ends) and leave to sit for 15 to 30 minutes. Rinse the mask off thoroughly until it is completely out of your hair.
TIP: The Soapery team have tested this recipe and we love it! This hair mask feels incredible in the hair and leaves a smooth, silky feeling in the hair.
This hair mask can be used for any hair type, especially dry hair or damaged hair as it is incredibly moisturising.
Again, a little goes a long way!
This hair mask can be applied all over as it doesn’t leave the hair looking oily after. However, we recommend testing it on a small amount of hair to be sure you like it and you have no issues with the ingredients.
Continue reading
Now you know how to make a hair mask, why not continue reading?
- Want to make soap? Try our seaweed soap recipe!
- Try more hair care recipes, with our leave in conditioner recipe!
- Learn about saponification values with our SAP values blog!
Let us know what you think in the comments below!
