Hair salons are a mum-and-me favourite nearly everywhere, and for good reason - deliberating over cuts, colour, treatments, and chatting with your stylist is part of the experience of bonding. However, just because you’re in lockdown doesn’t mean you can’t spend some quality primping time with your daughter or mum! Being at home without the social pressure of physical work and school can be a great time to give your hair the love it deserves. Just like your skin needs a break from makeup, your hair also needs breaks from hot tools, colour, hairspray, and chemicals! We’ve put together some helpful DIY treatments all types of hair, all made from ingredients you have in your pantry. So grab your daughter or mother, and it’s time to recreate a nourishing hair ritual at home! 

Hot oil mask. 

We love these for an instant injection of high shine and hydration! While you may be paying triple digits for these types of treatments at a salon, you can easily recreate all the goodness of a hot oil mask at home without the price tag simply with ingredients that you make dinner with. Your choice of oil will depend on your hair — how thick it is, how frizzy, how damaged. For thick or damaged hair, we recommend using coconut or olive oil, which have a high concentration of fatty acids and a thick consistency perfect for smoothing frizz and replenishing damaged ends. If your hair is on the thinner side, then we’d recommend a thinner oil, such as argan or jojoba. However, if your hair is thin and damaged, you can do a half and half of a thin oil with extra virgin olive oil — this way, you reap the benefits of both worlds! To set up, simply heat your oil in a bowl of hot water until it is warm — not hot — and begin applying to your dry hair in batches, massaging through the strands until you reach your scalp. From there, simply wrap in an non-absorbing material such as a shower cap — or if you don’t have it, plastic food wrap can do! — and leave on for up to half hour. Et voila! Your very own at home hair mask! 

Cold water. 

Now that you’ve perfected the hot oil mask, it’s time to rinse it out. But wait! Don’t go for a hot rinse, even if it is getting cold outside. Hot water does the same thing as hot tools — when applied repeatedly to hair, it raises your hair’s cuticles and damages it in the long term. Instead, use cool or lukewarm water and a gentle shampoo to rinse out the oil thoroughly from your hair. 

Let’s talk scalp. 

The seat of your hair follicles, the root (ha!) of a glorious head of hair — and we guarantee you’re not paying enough attention to it. The old wives tale of brushing your hair for a hundred strokes every night has some truth to it — it’s to stimulate blood flow to the scalp, which increases cell turnover and makes for stronger, longer hair over time. To ramp this scalp-stimulation up to the next level, we recommend using a DIY scalp scrub (just like a facial exfoliator!) To get rid of dead skin build up and stimulate growth. Here are three simple recipes, just mix each group of ingredients into a smooth consistency, rub deeply into your scalp for ten minutes, and rinse! 

FOR OILY SCALPS

2 tbs brown sugar, 2 tbs ground oatmeal, 2 tbs hair conditioner.

FOR DRY SCALPS

2 tbs sea salt, 2 tbs lemon juice, 2 tbs olive oil. 

FOR FLAKY/DANDRUFF SCALPS

1 tbs baking soda, 1 tbs shampoo, 3-5 drops tea tree oil. 

Leave in conditioner. 

Want more? Us too! The cherry on top of this luxurious routine is some DIY conditioners to leave your store-bought in shame. To prolong the smoothening, softening, and hydration of the routine above, we love to add a thirty minute leave in conditioner in at the end of our wash (why not? Now we have the time!) to really lock the moisture in. Just like our scalp scrubs, your choice of ingredients depends on what type of hair you have. As a rule, you want to avoid weighing down your hair with thicker products if you have flatter, thinner hair; but you also want the benefits of a truly nourishing treatment if your hair is on the thick side. This is totally dependent on you and your personal hair type, so pick from one of two listed below, apply to the roots of your hair and leave in for 30 minutes, and rinse out thoroughly with cold water!

FOR THINNER HAIR

Mix aloe vera gel (fresh if you have a plant!) with argan oil until you have your desired consistency. 

FOR THICKER HAIR

Mash a ripe banana and drizzle with honey, plus a few drops of oil to thin if necessary.