Make Your Own Hair Care Products

Making your own hair-care products can be simple or elaborate, depending on your level of interest. Here are some recipes for preshampoo treatments, simple additions to commercial shampoos, shampoos to make from scratch, and rinses.

Preshampoo treatments. To remedy certain conditions, you can apply healing substances to the hair before shampooing.

> Mayonnaise will add body and conditioning. First wet the hair,then gently rub the scalp with mayonnaise, smoothing it out along the hair shafts. (For oily hair, apply only to the ends.) Leave on for 10 to 20 minutes, rinse well, shampoo twice, then finish with an herbal rinse.

>Yogurt will provide conditioning and shine. Apply as above.

>Beaten egg yolks will cleanse the hair and restore luster. Apply as above; however, wash out with tepid rather than hot water to avoid the scrambled-egg look.

>Warm oil will restore body and shine to dry, overworked hair. Massage olive, jojoba, coconut, or any other natural vegetable oil onto dry scalp, then cover the hair with a towel that has been wrung out in either hot water or a hot herbal infusion. Continue treatment for an hour or more, making sure to wet and rewrap the towel each time it cools. (For good heat retention, try sitting in the sun.) To cut the oil, apply shampoo before wetting the hair. Shampoo twice, and follow with an apple cider vinegar or lemon rinse. This treatment may be used once a month.

Shampoos. To boost the performance of your regular shampoo, you can mix it with any of the following ingredients.

>A beaten egg will nourish the hair while restoring texture and tone. Use only egg whites for oily hair, or yolks for dry hair; for "normal" hair, use the whole egg.

>A mashed avocado will add luster and body.

>Rosewater will cut oil.

>Herbal infusions are perfect for diluting strong shampoos and for creating special effects.

To make your own shampoo that is mild, nourishing, and amenable to a good lather, try combining an herbal infusion with a mild, pure soap. You can use either a liquid soap of shavings from a bar soap. Stir 1/2 cup of soap into 2 cups of hot liquid infusion, and continue stirring until the soap melts. For added color or scent, sprinkle in a drop or two of essential oil. Lavender rosemary oils are especially good choices for conditioning. (Note: you may be able to purchase castile soap already mixed with these oils.)

To make a soap-free shampoo, combine an herbal infusion with a saponin-based plant such as soap tree bark. Although saponins will produce some lather when beaten with water, the results may be bless than sudsy. If you're looking for something mild and don't mind very little lather, give this recipe a try.

Here are two points to keep in mind when using homemade shampoos. First, because they contain no preservatives, they should be used within several hours or stored in the refrigerator for later use. Second, no shampoo made from soap will be pH balanced. Whereas the hair's natural pH ranges from about 4.5 to 5.5, natural soaps - even pure castile soaps - have a pH of about 7 or 8. And while the commercial shampoo industry prides itself on maintaining a proper pH balance, the fact remains that healthy hair automatically returns to its natural pH level shortly after shampoos of any sort are removed. To restore pH levels even more quickly, acidify the hair with a vinegar or lemons rinse.

After-shampoo rinses. To make a final rinse, dilute an herbal infusion with an equal amount of cool water. Pour this solution over the clean, wet hair. Better yet, pour it over the hair, catch it in a pan, pour it over the hair again, and repeat several times.

Another excellent rinse can be made with vinegar or, for light hair, lemon juice - ingredients that will neutralize the alkalinity of the soap while softening, conditioning, and imparting shine. Simply add 22 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice to 2 cups of warm water. Use as a final rinse, or a next-to-final rinse.