I have been using DIY hair gel for the last two weeks and I am OBSESSED

I had seen a bunch of curly girls rave about DIY hair gel on social media, but quite frankly I thought they were taking this natural movement to the extreme, because who has the time and energy to make their own DIY hair gel, conditioner, masks and whatever? (go suffer buyers remorse at Clicks and Dischem like the rest of us!) I wondered, who are these people? but now, I am these people – since I found out the benefits of Flaxseed gel on your hair and also how cheap the seeds are and easy the gel is to make.

Let me start by saying that this is the most basic of basic recipes. Also, because I can’t be bothered to cook food, let alone hair products, this recipe is made in the microwave and not on the stove top like most other recipes.

You will need 2 cups of water and a third of a cup of flaxseeds (linseeds) I hate the taste of it by the way but love it on my hair.

You put it all in a microwave-safe bowl and boil for 3 minutes. take it out to stir, put it back in for two minutes, then take out to stir and put it in for a final two minutes. You should have swollen seeds floating in a slimy concoction (yum)

Now take the mixture and strain it through an old (but clean) pair of pantyhose. squeeze out as much as you can while the mixture is hot and you try not to swear because your fingers are burning.

At this point, you can mix in a variety of things…

aloe vera gel, essential oils, oils like coconut or grapeseed, shea butter or honey.

All these products add extra benefits to your gel…with my last batch, I added honey and shea butter (you need to blend it with a hand mixer though because shea butter won’t mix well otherwise-I learned this the hard gloopy way). the honey adds extra shine and the shea butter nourishes (I read these things, I don’t stake my life on these things).

I really like the plain old gel though, it leaves my hair so soft and moisturized and since it dries so quickly and doesn’t cause build up, I can use it in the morning to refresh my locks.

The mixture stays fresh for up to two weeks in the fridge and if you are not too keen on its slight bready smell just add your favourite essential oil 🙂 Also you can reuse the seeds, I have not done this yet mainly because we are currently using a smaller fridge while our fridge is being repaired so I don’t want to fill it with unnecessary things, as seeds cost  around R15 a packet  and I get 6 batches out of it.

The gel has been such a hit that both my son and husband use it now too and we have various degrees of curliness, which is a good sign right?

Is there any beauty product you DIY? let me know so I can try