No woman wants to feel insecure about thin, frizzy, or dull-looking hair. How can they fix it without dropping their entire paycheck on hair treatments? Fortunately, the DIY hair care game is strong because more and more women understand the dangers of chemical hair products. Instead of pouring gasoline (chemical hair products) on the fire (frizzy damaged hair), women turn to natural ingredients to improve thickness and vitality.
How Do You Know What’s Right For Your Hair?
It can be tricky to find the right natural ingredients that benefit your hair and promote healthier, faster growth. Coconut oil improves shine, rice water improves growth, and lavender essential oil nourishes the scalp…the list goes on and on. This is because so many ingredients encourage a healthier scalp and hair. It’s best to focus on simple ingredients, though, especially ones that you can easily find in your backyard.
Aloe Vera For Healthier Hair
Aloe vera benefits the hair, skin, gut, and more! The high concentration of mannans, vitamins, minerals, lectins, and polysaccharides help to encourage healthier hair. Not only does it deep clean your oily hair, stripping away excess sebum and residue, but it also strengthens and repairs hair strands. Aloe vera contains vitamins A, C, and E, all of which encourage cell turnover. This process promotes new hair growth and adds extra shine to your existing hair. Additionally, aloe vera increases blood circulation to the scalp, and researchers found that better blood flow increases hair growth. Improved circulation also decreases the risk of hair breakage and loss.Â
Rosemary Essential Oil For Healthier Hair
Rosemary essential oil has the signature fragrance of the rosemary plant, and it contains rosmarinic acid, carnosic acid, camphor, and ursolic acid. These powerful antioxidant compounds help to increase blood flow to the scalp, which as we previously mentioned encourages hair growth. Researchers found that stress is a large contributor to hair loss, and rosemary essential oil actually counteracts cortisol (the stress hormone). That means that it encourages hair growth and helps fight hair loss at the same time. Rosemary essential oil also contains antibacterial and anti-fungal properties, which fight any dandruff-causing fungi on the scalp. This can reduce itchiness, redness, and inflammation on the scalp. Lastly, a 2015 study compared rosemary essential oil to 2% minoxidil, a conventional hair growth treatment. There were 100 patients with androgenic alopecia in the study. 50 patients used rosemary oil and 50 patients used 2% minoxidil. After six months, the group that used rosemary oil saw as much new hair growth as the other group, but minoxidil comes with a long list of side effects.
DIY Hair Mask
Ingredients:
- 1 stick aloe vera
- 6-12 drops rosemary essential oil
Instructions:
- Peel the aloe stick and add the gel to a blender. Add a little water to aid the blending process and blend until you achieve a juice-like consistency.
- Pour the aloe juice into a glass measuring cup with a pour spout and stir in the rosemary essential oil.
- Rub this mixture into the scalp and roots of your hair. Leave it in for at least 20 minutes and then rinse out with warm water. You can use a natural shampoo as well.
