By Alex on February 20, 2014 ( 2 Comments )

DIY Herbal Conditioner for Shiny Hair

This recipe is one I’ve been working on for a long time and grown to be one of my favorites! Because I’ve been tweaking it as I go, it’s gone from 2 ingredients to 11! Any combination of these ingredients works as well so you start making the conditioner with whatever you find in your local grocery/health food stores and add the others as you acquire them.

(PS: Almost all of these can be found at a Whole Foods and likely at any health food store but you can also buy absolutely all of these online at mountainroseherbs.com. If you go to a local store, make sure you check both the bulk bin section and the tea section.)

Each of these herbs has a function in this conditioner but the ones that really help make your hair tangle-free/frizz-free are the marshmallow root tea and the slippery elm bark thanks to a compound in them called mucilage. Even though they sound exotic, they are usually pretty easy to find. All the other ingredients serve to strengthen the integrity of the hair shaft, cleanse and stimulate the scalp, and provide slip and shine to increase hair manageability.

To use, just pour or spray this conditioner on after you’ve cleansed your hair, let sit for a few moments (optional, will get more intense conditioning but could make your hair look limp if it is fine like mine), and then rinse lightly with lukewarm water.

Ingredients (use 1/2 tsp of each ingredient):

coltsfoot
kelp granules
marshmallow root
lemongrass
burdock root
fenugreek
nettle leaf
slippery elm bark
rosemary
sage
peppermint
roughtly 2 cupts distilled water, or tap water that has been boiled and then cooled

Steps:

1. Place all herbs in a jar with a lid (I used a 2 cup mason jar). Fill the rest of the jar with your water of choice. It will look like this:

2. Let sit for 24 hours.

3. Strain using a cheese cloth.

4. Squeeze out the cheesecloth (see below). It’ll help get all of the mucilaginous compounds that you just extracted from the slippery elm bark and marshmallow root into your conditioner.