I’ve been blessed with objectively average-to-good hair – firstly thanks to genes and then mostly thanks to the fact that I don’t dye, fry, or mess with it too much – so I haven’t seen much need to give my tresses any more love than a good shampoo and condition every day…or three…or four. What? They say it’s not good to wash it every day, OK!?

Lately I’ve been seeing recipes for DIY hair treatments floating around and I thought I might as well go for it in the name of ‘what the heck, it’s summer!’ My ends were looking a tad dry from sunshine and pool time and I figured I could use a little bounce and shine.

My only requirement was that my DIY hair mask should include all-natural ingredients. And when I came across this one, it was just an added bonus that I happened to already have these things on hand in my kitchen. If all else failed, it would just be as though I got in a food fight. And I’ve kind of always wanted to get in a food fight…

You’ll need:

  • 1 banana
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 an avocado
  • 3 tbsp buttermilk (made with milk and lemon juice)
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp honey

What now?:

  • make buttermilk by measuring a 1/2 cup of regular milk and stirring in 1/2 tbsp of lemon juice, allow it to sit for 5-10 mins.
  • drop all ingredients into your blender and blend it up until smooth
  • for a manual method (if you don’t have a blender or dread the thought of cleaning it afterward): in a small bowl, mash up avocado, banana, and egg, then add all other ingredients (buttermilk, olive oil, honey) and stir well until mixture is smooth
  • if you go with the blender method, transfer the mixture into a bowl (I don’t want anyone getting jabbed by blender blades on my watch!)
  • lean your head over the tub and apply the mixture to your hair from root to tip
  • twirl your hair up in a towel (preferably one you don’t care too much about) and let it sit for 30 mins (I may or may not be blogging in this condition right now)
  • jump in the shower, and wash your hair out with shampoo and conditioner as per usual
  • repeat often (once or twice monthly) for crazy, amazing hair

Some Observations:

I was mildly amused when I found the mask made me look and feel like a troll doll, if only for 30 minutes.

Washing it out was a bit trickier than anticipated, so I shampooed twice to ensure I got it all. I’m thinking it was most likely the olive oil being stubborn.

This could totally be in my head, because what I know about science could fit in a pea pod, but my hair seemed to dry more quickly than usual. Not good, not bad really, so just take that for what it is I guess.

At the end of the drying process, my hair is noticeably moisturized from root to tip, there is a definite shine and dare I say it even has some volume! Totally worth it.