Okay so after over a month of playing with methodology and recipes and the like, I've FINALLY discovered the (almost) perfect way to make an all natural, homemade, great conditioner that you can use just like the store-bought stuff! Yay!
A friend was kind enough to give me some of his xanthan gum and I tried it out as an emulsifyer. It worked beautifully and I managed to find the right ratio of water to oil.
Here's how I do it.
You need an oil in your conditioner to help moisturize your hair and keep it soft. For this you could technically use any oil but I love using my homemade oil conditioner as my oil base.
*NOTE: IF you use the homemade oil conditioner, which has vit. e oil, tea tree oil, and coconut oil (all natural preservatives) then this recipe will keep for several weeks outside of the fridge. If you are using almond oil or something else as your oil then you should consider adding a preservative to keep your mix from spoiling (gross!)
You will also want to have:
Xanthan gum
Filtered water (or boiled water - just be sure there are no hard minerals)
Green tea leaves
Step 1 - Making tea
You could use plain water if you want but green tea has so many benefits, especially for your scalp, that I decided to use it in my conditioner. I just steeped the tea in the water while I got the rest of my stuff ready!
Step 2 - Mixing the oil and the tea
You HAVE to mix everything before you add the xanthan gum so your next step. If you use the measuring system I use for my homemade oil conditioner solution then I would put 1 vial-full for every 1/2 cup of water you use. That's the equivalent to about 1tsp of oil for every cup of water. Mix them together and you're ready for step-3!
Step 3 - Xanthan Gum
Okay so once you have your oil and water (or tea) mixture put together it's time to use the emulsifier. You could try and use a plain old whisk for this but I highly recommend an electric one because, as my friend and I discovered, xanthan gum works VERY quickly and it is VERY potent.
So! For about 4 cups of water I would only use 2 - 3 tsp of xanthan gum. Not even kidding -- it takes that little.
Also, since it works VERY fast, make sure you have the blender running while you add it! You may have to add a little more to make up for the clumps that occur during the blending process.
If you get clumps like I do then you should probably strain your mixture so you are rubbing concentrated clumps of xanthan gum in your hair. Thankfully this step is easy.
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| Sorry for the glare... |
Step 5 - Bottle and enjoy!
:-)
If you mix the xanthan with oil first, until it's smooth, and then mix it with the water, you'll have no clumps :-)
ReplyDeleteOh wow really?!? I was wondering if there was a trick to it.
DeleteThank you so much! That makes my life soooo much easier!
Glad to help. Xanthan mixes well with oil and "disolves" in ethanol. So if you want to make a gelly recipe, you'll need to add alcohol to the xantan.
ReplyDeleteI love your blog, and I'm definitely trying this green tea conditioner recipe as soon as I purchase some xanthan gum!
ReplyDeleteI'd really like to make this recipe. I'm confised about the ratio of oil to water. How big is your vial? If I were to follow the measurements of your conditioning oil, how much of it would I use for one batch of conditioner?
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can tell it should be 4c water (tea), 4t oil conditioner mixture and 2-3t Xanthum gum (I used guar gum just fine). Mix the oil and gum first, then add oil to avoid lumps.
ReplyDeleteI mean add water last.... ;-)
ReplyDelete(I can't see my comment, so sorry if I already posted this before). I'd love to try this recipe, but haven't had too promising results with xanthan gum, water, and oil conditioners in the past. Just curious how you think this makes your hair feel; is it silky, light, greasy?
ReplyDeleteAmazing article. I have collect more ideas about hair conditioners make at home. This article is really amazing and will be helpful for our readers.
ReplyDeletehttp://sumitathanere.hubpages.com/hub/Natural-Homemade-Hair-Conditioners-And-Their-Recipes