Easy DIY Hair Mask with Natural Ingredients – For Strong Shiny Heathy Hair

There comes a time in about every 3 to 4 months when my hair starts resembling the ends of a broom. That’s the time I make my trusty old hair mask, and like magic it restores my hair and makes it shiny and soft again. Every single time.

Now you’ve probably already seen variations of this mask, and honestly there are unlimited ways to make this by swapping some of the ingredients with others. 90% of the hair packs and masks available commercially pretty much will contain these ingredients so might as well make it at home right? At least this way you know for sure whats going in it.

This is a very simple DIY hair mask, most of these ingredients you probably already have in your pantry. These are very common Indian ingredients used in hair packs for ages, and should be easily available in most grocery stores or supermarkets.

If you live elsewhere, I’ve added amazon links to all of these ingredients and mentioned a few alternatives as well in case you can’t find these exact ones. And if you can’t find everything, just the use yogurt, egg and coconut or olive oil and follow the rest of the instructions. This makes a simpler version of the mask but also works quite well.

My mom used to make this every two weeks like clockwork when I was younger, and honestly I think thats a major reason why my hair continues to grow quite fast even today. Personally I’m too lazy to do this every 2 weeks, but if you can please do it and your hair will probably become shampoo commercial level awesome in no time 😀

Another difference is that mom used the ‘real’ variety of these ingredients in the hair mask. By real I mean – homemade yogurt/curd, real red hibiscus flowers and leaves from our garden – ground into a paste and the actual Amla fruit – soaked overnight cut into pieces and ground into a paste/or juiced.

I however find it easier to just use the powdered kind, its easier to store and cuts the preparation time in half. And it works just as well for me. But if you have access to the real ones and have the time, please use them instead.

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup of yogurt
2. 1 large egg
3. 2 heaped tbsp Hibiscus Powder
4. 2 heaped tbsp Amla Powder
5. 2 tbsp Hemp with Avocado Hair Oil or till it reaches desired consistency

Method:

1. Put all the ingredients in a glass bowl and mix with a whisk till it reaches your desired consistency
2. If you want it to be more liquidy just keep adding a 1 tsp of oil and mixing till you’re satisfied
3. It needs to be runny enough to be applied to hair with a brush but not too runny like water
4. Once you’re satisfied with the consistency, apply to all of your hair – from root to tip. Basically ensure all the hair and scalp is soaked with the mask
5. Cover hair with a shower cap and leave it on till it dries or at least for 25-30 mins
6. Once dry, wash your hair with your regular shampoo and conditioner

The conditioner is not really necessary at this point, but I use it to mostly rid of all traces of the smell. This mask doesn’t really leave your hair smelling like an egg if I’m honest, but it does smell a little too strong for my taste. So instead of rinsing my hair with shampoo repeatedly which would defeat the purpose of the mask, I’d rather use a conditioner which soaks in and really negates any lingering smell from the mask. After that just dry your hair as usual and go about your life with better hair 😀

Mix, mix mix!!

This is the consistency I prefer. Basically I keep adding oil till it becomes like this.

My hair before the mask

My hair after the mask

Now for some of the alternatives you could use to make different hair masks. Mix and match according to what your hair needs at that moment.

Oils:

• Coconut Oil
• Olive Oil
• Almond Oil
• Castor Oil (works wonders for hair growth)

Instead of egg:

• Honey
• Fresh Aloe Vera gel
• Lemon juice

Instead of the powders:

• Henna (leave it on for less than 20 mins if your don’t want it to color your hair)
• Baking Soda
• Shikakai
• Banana
• Avocado
• Cream
• Mayonnaise

Experiment and have fun! I also wanted o add that there is a lot of research on coconut oil and some of the other ingredients that you can read. Please skip if you dont prefer but I wanted to include it since I use it and it works for me.

Let me know in the comments if you have a hair mask that you swear by and I would love to try it out. If you’re interested check our other post about hair care where we talk about an overall routine for healthier hair, and here we review some natural shampoos. Till next time!

-Sat