Hello! I have so many things to write about, but I’m going to start with this little note on a hair gel I just prepared.
Flaxseed and lavender soaking
My husband has been asking me to make natural hair gel for quite a while. Just today I remembered and started working. The hair gel is basically made from flaxseed and you can do it just with that, but I added some nice goodies to it to give the hair a little extra boost 🙂
For it I used:
1/2 cup of flaxseeds
1/4 cup of dried lavender flowers
2 cups of water
1 teaspoon of honey
Skin of a grapefruit
Wild rosemary (as much as you like)
Cooking
The flaxseed need to be soaked for at least 6 hours before the preparation. The original recipe I worked from said this was optional, but I feel it isn’t. I soaked the flaxseed along with some dried lavender flowers for six hours, stirring every couple of minutes at the beginning. You can just leave it alone after you see that the flowers and flax seeds are well mixed.
Ready! It wouldn’t leave the spoon
In a pot I boiled together the skin of a grapefruit and some wild rosemary my husband and I gathered around the Hollywood trail (I owe you a post and pictures on that one) in two cups of water until I was left with around half a cup. Removed the grapefruit and rosemary and added the soaked flaxseed+lavender.
Cooked over high heat, stirring occasionally. Some people add epsom salts here. I didn’t 🙂 But I did add about a teaspoon of honey. When it started to boil I stirred very constantly and reduced the heat to medium until it looked like thin jelly with some foam. Kept on cooking. How do you know when it’s ready? You’ll start to see gel texture in the borders of the pan. Cook for a little while longer and there you go. Ready! It should have the consistency of egg whites.
PRESS!!!
Now the hard part.
I put the jellyish mixture in panty house (I just bought those $1 ones that are knee high and come in a tiny cap – you can also use a cheesecloth) and then I pressed my life away to get the gel out of the flax seeds. Not an easy task! It also looked eww, but smells nice and it’s full of good things for the hair! In contrast with commercial hair gels that are full of chemical stuff. Not nice.
You can add essential oils if you like (lavender or rosemary are nice) and even some oil or butters (I actually added a little bit of macadamia oil for moisture). You can also add a preservative after it cools a little bit.
Store it in the refrigerator for longer shelf life.
TA-DA!
How to use?
I haven’t used it yet, but other recipes say you use use more than you would with a commercial product. Saturate your hair and let it air dry. This makes it great for curly or wavy hairs , soft with no crunchiness or stickiness and nice, defined curls. If you have a bit of crunchiness you can always scrunch it out with your hands 🙂
I think I’m even trying this for myself! But I need a new haircut first!
This recipe (besides the water and flaxseeds) was made up by me, so go crazy and make your own mixtures and experiments! Let me know if you find anything interesting and enjoy 🙂
Sweet Meadowsweet 