Make Your Own Organic Hair Gel for Pennies

This week's DIY experiment was hair gel.  This is my favorite thing I've made so far.  I will never buy hair gel from the store again!

Here's the unbelievably easy, two-ingredient recipe:

Put 1/4 C flaxseeds and 2 cups of water in a pan.  Bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally so the seeds don't stick to the bottom.  Once it starts turning into a thin gel, turn down the heat so it's simmering.  Stir continuously for about 10 minutes, or until the gel is thick.  (When you stop stirring, your seeds will suspend in the gel instead of settling to the bottom.  Then you know it's ready).  

Turn off the heat and immediately pour the gel into a fine mesh strainer over a bowl.  (If you don't have one I think an old nylon would do the trick).  While its straining I recommend washing out your pan right away, because the gel will be hard to get off once it's dried.

Whisk a few drops of lavender oil (or other favorite essential oil) into your gel.  I used lavender because it's supposed to be good for your hair.  Also, it makes the gel smell really good!

Ta-da!  Homemade organic hair gel.  You can save the seeds in the fridge and re-use them for one more batch.

But does it really work?

Yes.

I was really skeptical, especially since my naturally curly hair is rather difficult to tame.  I had been using a lot of mousse every morning and doubted that anything less could work for me.

But...not only did it work...it worked better than the store-bought mousse!  My hair didn't feel crunchy, and my curls were soft and defined even at the end of the day.

In the morning, right after I showered and put the gel on

In the late afternoon, after I had been out walking on a windy day

The only downside I can find with this gel is that you need to keep it in the refrigerator.  I think it will last about 2 weeks in there.

 Is the money saved worth the work?

Yes.  Here's the cost breakdown:

1 bag of organic flaxseeds: $2.71 USD
(The 4 cups in one bag will make about 32 cups of hair gel (since each quarter cup can be used for two batches).  If I use 1 cup of gel per month, this bag will last me almost 3 years!)

A few drops of lavender oil for each cup of gel: $0.32 USD

So the grand total is: $3.03 USD for nearly three years' worth of organic hair gel.

(That means I will save about $60 per year!)

Plus you're avoiding chemicals that can harm your body and plastic containers that harm the environment.

Now that's a good deal!