DIY hair care: you don’t need much for healthy, shiny hair

Summer is over and with it the most demanding time of the year for your hair. Heat, sun and salt water put extra stress on your locks, leaving you with a dry scalp and brittle hair.

It’s time to pamper your hair! Elaborate, expensive remedies aren’t necessary for this. Nature alone has some tricks up its sleeve to care for scalp and hair gently and without much effort. May I present to you: the best DIY hair care products – natural, cheap and uncomplicated.

Hair care: what does your hair need?

Even if advertising wants to convince you otherwise: with hair care, less is usually more. The follicles on your scalp need some attention – but elaborate shampooing and styling won’t do them any good. It dries out the scalp and leaves damage to the hair structure, which requires even more care and elaborate treatments.

A problem which worsens by itself. When this happens, the most important thing your hair and scalp need is their own sebum. While this is what gives you unsightly greasy hair, it also performs an important protective function of the skin. Humans have up to 900 sebaceous glands per square centimetre of skin on the face and scalp. These sebaceous glands produce about 90 per cent of the fat molecules that lock moisture into the skin and protect it from UV rays and other damage. You can learn how to protect your scalp from aggressive UV radiation toohere.

Frequently washing your hair with hot water disturbs sebum production and, in the worst case, even stimulates it, making the scalp even greasier. It also disrupts the skin’s natural pH and its ability to protect itself from damage.

To grow strong and healthy hair, your hair also needs a range of vitamins and proteins. The most important of these is keratin, a fibrous protein that makes up hair and nails. For the production of keratin, your body needs biotin and vitamin B7. In addition, the hair follicle should be supplied with sufficient nutrients to enable healthy hair growth. For this you need the trace element iron, zinc and vitamin B12. Other B vitamins and vitamin A also keep the hair looking beautiful while vitamin C transports the growth-promoting mineral iron to the hair root.

So a balanced diet and gentle care is already a suitable wellness program for your hair. Luckily, to achieve both, you need the same ingredients.

Honey, vinegar, chamomile: make your own hair care products

Hair health comes from the inside, but you can also make your hair shine gently and naturally from the outside – and without disturbing the balance of your scalp. Here are my top DIY hair care picks - they’re super easy and you’ll only need a few simple ingredients.

1. Acid rinse with apple cider vinegar

Pouring diluted apple cider vinegar over your head after shampooing can make your hair strong and healthy. And even more: the acid rinse can even remove harmful silicones after washing with conventional shampoos and soap residues.

Silicones in hair care products (article in German) aren’t dangerous to you, but they can clog pores and cause skin and hair problems in the long run. An acidic rinse with a naturally low pH (pH<7) keeps the scalp healthy, builds the hair structure and neutralises the high pH value of shampoos and hair soaps. Such soaps are very alkaline and make the hair look brittle and dry, as shown by studies.

Because apple cider vinegar is very acidic, it makes hair softer, stronger and more radiant.

Here’s a simple recipe for an acidic rinse:

• 1 litre cold of water
• 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon of honey
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon of olive oil

To apply: mix the ingredients and pour the liquid vinegar slowly over your head after shampooing. Leave it on for ten minutes, rinse with lukewarm water and you’re done.

2. Chamomile tea for oily hair

Chamomile is known for its anti-inflammatory and anti-allergenic effects and is therefore used as a natural medicine for many everyday ailments. It also has a calming effect on the sebaceous glands and therefore provides a gentle remedy for oily hair. Especially if frequent hair washing with aggressive shampoos has become a self-reinforcing problem.

It’s easy to apply, just add four tea bags of chamomile tea to one litre of hot water and let the tea stand until it’s lukewarm or cool. Pour the tea over your head after shampooing, or instead of, and then let your hair air dry. You don’t need to rinse the tea out.

3. Coconut oil and honey conditioner for brittle hair

If your hair isn’t greasy, but dry, damaged and brittle, a homemade conditioner made from coconut oil and honey is suitable. Both have an antibacterial effect and an acidic rather than alkaline pH value. This makes coconut oil in combination with honey a miracle weapon for dry hair. It also contains valuable vitamin E, which protects your hair from harmful environmental influences. To prepare the conditioner you need:

• 3 tablespoons of coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons of honey
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice

To apply: heat the coconut oil in a saucepan, mix the honey and squeeze about half a lemon over it. When everything has cooled down a bit, spread the mixture onto your hair and leave it for 15 minutes. After that, you can wash it all out.

4. Hair mask from coffee grounds and rosemary oil

Most households throw away their coffee grounds. The supposed waste product from coffee has a lot of power. The caffeine it contains stimulates the hair roots, promotes hair growth and gives it back its radiance. The positive effect on hair growth has even been shown in studies. If used regularly and persistently, rosemary oil also strengthens the hair and promotes growth. For the hair mask you need:

• 5 tablespoons of coffee grounds (wet or dry)
• A dash of water
• A few drops of rosemary oil

To apply: mix as much water to the coffee grounds until a paste is formed. Add a few drops of rosemary oil and spread the paste onto your hair and scalp. After ten minutes, you can wash out the mask with lukewarm water.

5. Hair mask from avocado and lemons

While vitamin C (from lemon) is essential for healthy hair growth, avocado moisturises your scalp, even fighting dandruff and hair breakage. To combine the power of both home remedies in one hair mask, you need:

• 1 avocado
• ½ teaspoon of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice

To apply: halve, pit and mash the avocado in a bowl and mix everything with the olive oil and lemon juice. Massage the mixture into towel-dried hair and leave it for 30 minutes. Finally wash out the mixture with lukewarm water and shampoo.