DIY Natural Herbal Hairspray
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One of the hardest things to do when trying to go all natural is trying to find natural hair care products that don’t cost a fortune. Normal hairspray is loaded with chemicals! You can just tell when you spray it and its hard to breath! Am I right? I grew up with a hairspray loving mom (sorry mom for throwing you under the bus 🙂 and I remember her spraying her hair like it was going out of style! You could walk into the room and it was like you were hit with a wall of hairspray! Have I ever told ya’ll how much I love my mom! She’s the best!
The best part of this hairspray is that it works great! I have been using it for over a year and love it. I especially love that it cost next to nothing (fits it my budget :), is eco-friendly, and helps reduce waste. Plus, it is completely customizable and you can make it smell exactly how you would like! It’s so easy and cheap to make that you will never want to go back to the store bought stuff. Here is the super simple recipe:
DIY Natural Herbal Hairspray
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 1/2 Tbs sugar (White or Brown)
- 10-15 drops essential oil (here is a great kit with some of my favorite essential oils)– orange, lemon, mint, rosemary (promotes hair growth), or any essential oil you like. You can use one or blend them. My favorite is lemon or orange.
- Fine mist spray bottle
Direction: Dissolve sugar in hot water. Let mixture cool completely and mix in essential oils (if the water is too hot the essential oils may decrease in smell). Fill spray bottle and its ready to use.
To use: Lightly mist over hair, wait 30 seconds to dry, and reapply if needed. Be careful not to over spray and soak your hair. Plus, this stuff is strong and a little goes pretty far.
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Side note: People have questioned me whether or not this would attract bugs. From my experience, I have not had any issues with this hairspray attracting bugs! And bugs love me.
Super simple to make, works great, and is all natural. Can it get much better that that? Have you ever tried to make homemade hair care products? What was your experience?
I party here…
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I love this idea and just tried it. It holds great BUT I can see what looks like water marks/spots where it sprayed. I use them on my bangs so it is definitely distracting! 😉 Any advice how to avoid that or do you know why that is happening?
Hmmm Shauna I’ve never had that happen and I use this all the time. You could try to spray it and then comb through it after. Also maybe shake before each use.
it’s probably the water you used. some waters are hard water or use limestone. so you will find spots on your dishes and i guess your hair too.
good point! we do have hard water, so i will used distilled or filtered and try it! I may have also used a tad too much because I tried it with barely any and it was a lot better! =)
How many people out there spray their dogs hair with hairspray? I’m pretty sure if you spray your hair in your bathroom with the door shut and make sure that your dog doesn’t lick your hair when you done he will be fine. My granny used to style her hair with sugar water and my mum says the flies buzzed around but then my mum is prone to exaggeration. Am so going to try this.
i am like your mom and love hair spray! I fix my hair spray it and worry free the rest of the day. I like my hair to be stiff and to hold all day. (I agree the cloud of fog is AWFUL) I use an aerosol can now, i have never used a pump hair spray. Will your homemade product do the same for me as my aerosol? All your products are wonderful and loving the natural.
THANK YOU
JUDY
I’ve tried a recipe like this only using sea salt instead and with out essential oils, and it worked great!
Hmmm never tried it with salt. I may have to experiment! I like trying new things for fun.
I actually like to use salt AND essential oils. If you add the EO to the salt before you mix, then it won’t separate as much. It goes to show– there are lots of ways to do DIY 🙂
Can you add jojoba oil and tea tree oil to this and still be effective? How much of each could you put in?
I’m unsure I’ve never tried it before. Adding tea tree would be fine but not positive on the jojoba oil. You could always whip up a batch and let me know!
Awesome post Amy!
It’s a good idea of using natural substance for hair spray, plus Eco-friendly. But I am sure this will attract ants!
Hi Amy,
I was looking at this recipe and I would love to try it, but is it essential to add the oils? I don’t have oils that you are talking about. Will this hairspray still work without the oils? Thanks!
Dolly
Hey Dolly! You don’t have to put the essential oils in the hairspray. It is totally optional.
Thanks!!! Just wanted to check!!
Hi there,
We recently featured your article on a blog post titled ’top 11 homemade hair sprays’
You can find it here: http://www.naturalandhealthyliving.com/top-11-diy-homemade-hair-spray-recipes/
Please share if it’s ok with you! I’ve also sent you an email about this via the contact page!
Thanks,
http://www.naturalandhealthyliving.com
Very curious about the shelf life of the hair spray…I love this idea and am making all kinds of natural products and giving to my kids to get them away from as much of this harmful stuff as possible. Thanks for all the great ideas.
Many are asking the same question about shelf life. I, too, would like to know how long it will keep. I’ve been using it for several weeks and am wondering if it’s time to refresh, LOL.
Thank you
I would say the shelf life is months…. I use essential oils that have antibacterial properties. It takes me a long time to go through a batch and I’ve never had any issues.
Which oils have antibacterial properties? I’m new to the essential oils. Thanks!
What is the shelf life, or is it unknown?
The use of rosemary will deter any bugs… as it Is a bug deterrent!
The rosemary and mint are natural bug repellents, as are lavender, lemongrass and cinnamon.
Love this recipe! I’m linking to you from an upcoming blog post on my site. Keep up the awesome work!
Aw thanks for the feature!
I think either the lemon or mint essential oils are bug repellents, reason why they are not attracted to your hair spray.
Thanks Amy, talk about a blast from the past. Back in the late ’60’s my friends(male and female) and I all used “sugar water” to style our hair as the only available hairspray (I think it was Final Net) was so stiff and sticky. Yuck. Anyways, thanks for the reminder.
how long till it expires? Please do reply asap.
Does the spray expire? :/
Neat! Pinned to my beauty board:) Stop by http://www.sewsweetvintage.com/2013/06/beachy-pillows.html
I’m severely allergic to fragrance, and that includes any and all essential oils. Are the essential oils there strictly for smell, or do they serve another purpose? I’d like to make this just with the sugar and water. Thanks!
O that’s a bummer! The essential oil is just for fragrance and the slight benefits of the oil! So feel free to omit it!
What about adding a bit of Vanilla to your mix. It would add a bit of a nice smell for a while and you shouldn’t be allergic to it anyway.
your all homemade things are really good and I am fan of your products.