my hair is thick, partly curly, mostly wavy, and honestly includes every color and almost every texture possible for a person of mostly northern european ancestry. no one treatment, formula, ritual, or technique works on all of my hairs all of the time. I usually follow a lazy approximation of the curly girl method and wash 2x a week, dry with a tee shirt, sleep with a silk pillowcase, and haven’t used heat on it in at least 8 years. it’s still frizzy with lots of split ends from messy buns, and by day 3 or 4 I’m using dry shampoo (diy powder, not aerosol) and using a boar brush to keep it contained. as with all things, I am avoidant of quick, mainstream fixes because I want to keep it natural and low-waste, and haircuts because I’m frugal and also covid… but I really needed a change!

this past month, I bought a bone comb after having it saved for later on etsy for, like, years, and, in addition to an herbal rinse every couple of weeks, it’s really changed my haircare and improved split ends! I comb my hair before bed and apply a little hair oil to the ends to keep them protected, and wake up significantly less frizzy, my curls last longer, and overall, it’s knotting and breaking much less.

here are 3 very loose recipes for herbal hair products that I find reliable and enjoyable, and hope you will too. let me know if you try them! <3

I infused this oil last winter but used it pretty infrequently before this past month. it’s formulated for light colored hair like mine, but I’m including notes in the “recipe” for darker hair!

in an 8 ounce mason jar, combine equal parts each of the following dried herbs:
calendula, chamomile, rosemary, & sage
for darker hair, use more sage and less chamomile.

cover herbs with a combination of apricot and coconut oils, along with a couple tablespoons of vitamin e oil if you have it. cover and store out of direct sunlight at room temperature for at least 6 weeks, checking every couple of days to make sure the oil hasn’t spoiled, and to give it a little shake or stir. once the herbs have infused, it will be fragrant and noticeably colored, and you can strain into another jar or bottle for use. you can also store as is to continue infusing and only strain as needed to refill a dropper bottle for use.

apply to ends of dry hair before brushing or wet hair after bathing to protect from breakage, especially in the winter or dry climates. you can also use this oil for a deep conditioning treatment, or to spot treat dry patches on the scalp.

I infused this hair rinse experimentally this summer, not knowing it would be a hair rinse. it’s just fresh horsetail and jewelweed infused in homemade apple cider vinegar (which is I think, at least in my kitchen, less acidic than storebought; also, zero waste!). my community garden is about 30% horsetail and jewelweed in the early summer and since both herbs are abundant, mineral rich, and have an affinity for soothing and rebuilding the skin and/or hair, I threw ‘em together in a jar thinking i might use the rinse to soothe a sunburn. it’s really just equal parts fresh horsetail and jewelweed, covered in ACV, and infused for 8 weeks.

once I strained it, it was getting on fall and pretty dry, and my hair had, as previously mentioned, been suffering and was also rejecting my preferred shampoo and conditioner. I brought the bottle up to my shower and for about 2 weeks I poured 3 capfuls of the rinse onto my scalp after shampooing and before conditioning. it certainly soothed my scalp (chronically dry) and it seems to have balanced whatever else was going on with my hair in early fall.

I plan to use this rinse every 6 weeks or more often as needed, and to make a much bigger batch next season!

diy hair powder

in an empty, well-washed spice bottle with shaker lid, combine:
arrowroot powder to fill about 2/3 of the container
1/2 tsp baking soda
super tiny pinch nutmeg
generous shake cinnamon
if you have light hair: some ground up chamomile (about a tsp is nice)
if you have dark hair: add cocoa powder or more cinnamon until it is dark enough to blend in with your hair
essential oils of your choosing for fragrance, max 10 drops total

stir well or shake to combine!

shake a little onto oily roots and tousle with fingers to blend. if you haven’t used a powder dry shampoo before, it can take practice to get the results you’re used to with an aerosol, but it’s totally worth it when you likely have all of these ingredients in your pantry and it is, of course, zero waste.

herbal hair care