Recipe for natural, chemical free leave-in conditioner spray

It is surprising to me that it took me this long to start making my own hair products, especially after 3 years of working as a shampoo girl at a hair salon that caused me to develop mild eczema. I was cursing life, hating my job that forced me to be exposed to chemicals for hours on end. Luckily, when my days at the salon were up, my hands cleared up and my skin went back to normal. Strangely enough, it's my new job at ABC Carpet & Home that has made me realize that I'm not ok with pouring ingredients I can't pronounce over my head and down the shower drain. At ABC, they sell loads of beauty products that are mostly organic and natural, but the prices are steep and I'm a college student and cashier, so 80 dollar bottles of conditioner are out of the question. So I did a little research and came to the conclusion that making your own shit rocks. I'm still tweaking my shampoo recipe, but here is a great one for leave-in conditioner spray.


You'll need

1. a refillable spray bottle (mine is about 8 ounces, less than $2 at Bed Bath, & Beyond)
The great thing about this is that you can reuse this bottle as much as you like. You can even use an old spray bottle if you have one handy.

2. an aloe vera leaf (about $2 at Whole Foods) and a knife to scrape out the goo
Aloe Vera is a natural conditioner, often used to help heal sunburns and stimulate hair growth. It can also be used as a preservative, delaying the growth of undesirable mold and bacteria.

3. filtered water

4. jojoba oil (found a bottle that will last me forever for $6 at Trader Joes)
This is the best stuff, the closest oil to skin's natural sebum. It's non-greasy, odorless, and a natural carrier of vitamin E plus other things that I forget but are apparently awesome. And if you decide to switch back to the dark side of store-bought conditioners, you can use the remainder of your bottle as makeup remover or moisturizer that will hydrate the beejesus out of your dry feet (I'm talking to you, New Yorker City folk, I know all that walking is reeking havoc on your footsies).

5. a bottle or two of your favorite essential oils (mine were $6 each at Whole Foods)
I used rosemary and lemongrass essential oil, which combined together to create a heavenly aroma that stimulates the hair follicles. The possibilities are endless though, so chose whichever oils appeal to your little nose best. Usually these come in teensy bottles, but we'll be using a very small amount so you won't run out for awhile.

6. a blender/food processor/something that will liquefy your aloe vera goo

7. a big bowl

The process

Grab your aloe vera leaf and crack the baby open. I made a mess at this point, so be careful of where you are doing this. Use your knife to scrape out the clear jell inside of the leaf into a big bowl. When I did this I just assumed that the goo inside the leaf was going to be like the aloe goo I've used on my sunburn-prone skin since childhood, but it's actually more like jello. This is why we need the blender to make to improve the consistency for our purpose. So get to it, blend it up until it gets a bit frothy. Fill the spray bottle about half way with the goo. Then drip in about 15 drops of your essential oils and 10 jojoba oil drops. My hair is on the dry side, but it is also very fine, so 10 drops of jojoba oil works just dandy, but if you have extremely dry hair you might want to add more, less for fine hair that doesn't need so much moisture. I would start with less and add more if you feel like your hair needs more loving. Then just fill the rest of the bottle with filtered water and TADA! Some good hair shit.

This recipe can be tweaked in a number of ways to suit your needs. Jojoba oil can be interchanged with other oils (such as olive or avocado), though I prefer jojoba because it has no scent, so the essential oils can speak for themselves. I'll post more recipes soon!