DIY Recipes 2026

[Angel of the North]

I realised that there's not a current product recipe thread, I thought it would be a good idea to start a new one.

If you have a DIY recipe you would like to share, drop it in this thread, all types of product recipes are welcome, if something works well for you, it might help someone else out.

 

[snoop]

I'll start with something super basic, but easy enough to make:

Glycerine + water.

Leaves your hair feeling sooo soft. I didn't put ratios because it really depends on how soft you want your hair, how much shrinkage you're willing to deal with, and how much frizz you're willing to deal with. But it works!

 

[Angel of the North]

I'll start with something super basic, but easy enough to make:

Glycerine + water.

Leaves your hair feeling sooo soft. I didn't put ratios because it really depends on how soft you want your hair, how much shrinkage you're willing to deal with, and how much frizz you're willing to deal with. But it works!

I made a similar spritz for my braids last year:

Distilled water 40%
Aloe vera juice 40%
Grapeseed oil 10%
Glycerin 5%
Vitamin E oil 5%

I eyeballed it using a 100 ml spray bottle.

 

[snoop]

Is this something that you would use all year or only in certain seasons ?

 

[Angel of the North]

Is this something that you would use all year or only in certain seasons ?

I use this while my hair is in braids, keeps everything nice and moisturised, I spray multiple times through the day, especially when I'm in the sun.

 

[CoiledOrchids]

oil mix for scalp: Avocado oil mixed with a few drops of peppermint oil

Avocado oil is also great as a hot oil treatment, sealant and it's good mixed into most dcs and rinse out conditioners!

 

[Angel of the North]

oil mix for scalp: Avocado oil mixed with a few drops of peppermint oil

Avocado oil is also great as a hot oil treatment, sealant and it's good mixed into most dcs and rinse out conditioners!

It's one of my top 2 oils alongside Grapeseed oil. Sunflower, papaya and safflower are my next set of faves. I love them because they are great multipurpose oils that work for me in all the ways you described and they are not too heavy for my fine strands.

 

[Angel of the North]

For users of flaxseeds, I came across an interesting DIY recipe just now.

 

[Angel of the North]

I'm interested in the preservatives used in this mix, that's a huge batch and will likely take some time to get through, I'm wondering if the preservatives used will be up to the job.

 

[snoop]

I'm interested in the preservatives used in this mix, that's a huge batch and will likely take some time to get through, I'm wondering if the preservatives used will be up to the job.

The preservatives should be up to the job since it looks like she's going to be selling them. (I.e. more of it will get used right away.) I'm not sure what preservative is yellow, but I use Liquid Germall Plus and tend to make a few litres at a time when I make hair and body lotion (maybe enough for 2 to 4 large mason jars.) Between my and the kids' hair, it takes me a few months to use up the jars.

 

[Angel of the North]

The preservatives should be up to the job since it looks like she's going to be selling them. (I.e. more of it will get used right away.) I'm not sure what preservative is yellow, but I use Liquid Germall Plus and tend to make a few litres at a time when I make hair and body lotion (maybe enough for 2 to 4 large mason jars.) Between my and the kids' hair, it takes me a few months to use up the jars.

I think I heard her say the preservatives were fragrant oil and vitamin e oil, although I could be wrong. That's what made me wonder how effective they would be against water based products.

I don't know for sure, but I would bet that liquid germall plus, might be difficult to get over here. There are a lot of laws around this sort of stuff over here and the first thing I noticed when I first started researching the DIY preservatives, was that the most easily accessible preservatives in the US, were not available or were prohibited over here.

I have quite some research ahead of me to find the best ones for the job.

 

[snoop]

I think I heard her say the preservatives were fragrant oil and vitamin e oil, although I could be wrong. That's what made me wonder how effective they would be against water based products.

I don't know for sure, but I would bet that liquid germall plus, might be difficult to get over here. There are a lot of laws around this sort of stuff over here and the first thing I noticed when I first started researching the DIY preservatives, was that the most easily accessible preservatives in the US, were not available or were prohibited over here.

I have quite some research ahead of me to find the best ones for the job.

Yeah, Vit e oil and any essential oil combination are not preservatives. Fragrant oils are definitely not. I'm wondering if you can take a look and see what smaller commercial UK companies use and then hunt those down.

What would you do for water? I'm asking because I was having a discussion with a friend in London and I couldn't believe that distilled water is so hard to come by.

 

[Angel of the North]

Yeah, Vit e oil and any essential oil combination are not preservatives. Fragrant oils are definitely not. I'm wondering if you can take a look and see what smaller commercial UK companies use and then hunt those down.

That's a good shout, I will definitely look into this.

What would you do for water? I'm asking because I was having a discussion with a friend in London and I couldn't believe that distilled water is so hard to come by.

I use distilled water for any water based products

Distilled water is not hard to come by in London at all, you can buy it in most BSS, Amazon, eBay and other vendors online. I have a couple of unopened bottles sitting in my stash as we speak.

If your friend is looking in the supermarkets, then it would be more difficult to find, as it's usually the larger/superstores that sell them. You can also get deionised and demineralised water in some supermarkets.