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Kitchen Aid: Food to Feed Your Hair
There is a dazzling (and, oftentimes, dizzying) array of choices on the shelves of any drugstore or beauty emporium--conditioners, shampoos, sprays, salves, balms, and anything else you can imagine. Yet the best item to get your tresses in top shape may be as close as the kitchen.
Check the refrigerator and peer in the back of your cabinets, and you'll find foods that can deep-condition, add shine, or give amazing body. Which is why NiaOnline picked three of our favorite edible hair helpers to share with you, along with the best ways to use them. Enjoy!
Wear the Mayo
What it does: That jar of mayonnaise sitting innocently in the fridge, waiting for a potato salad or turkey sandwich to dress up, also contains one of the best deep conditioners for chemically straightened or natural hair. (Because mayonnise may not rinse out fully, women with braids or locks should avoid it.)
How to use it: Apply generously to your hair as you would any conditioner. Then cover your head with a plastic cap. Sit under a dryer for 20 minutes or wrap a towel over the cap and leave on for 45 minutes. Rinse well with lukewarm water, and shampoo as normal. And don't worry--your head won't smell like the number 4 deli special!
Tip: Be a smart shopper and read the label to make sure you're getting real mayonnaise and not salad dressing, which can cause hair to become brittle and break. Also, if lemon juice or vinegar is one of the top three ingredients in the mayonnaise, pick another brand because both of those products can strip hair of moisture.
Get Oiled Up
What it does: Many women are already hip to olive oil's wondrous double life as a body moisturizer, but it also works amazingly well as a nourishing treatment for hair.
How to use it: To use olive oil as a daily light conditioner for locks or other natural hairstyles, pour it into your hands, rub directly into dry hair, and go. Olive oil can also be used as a hot oil treatment for any texture of hair. Once a month, combine 1/2 cup olive oil and 1/2 cup dried rosemary leaves (an excellent detangler) and heat on the stove or in the microwave until warm to the touch (not boiling). Coat hair, from the scalp to the ends, and cover with a plastic cap. Leave on 15 minutes. Shampoo twice.
Tip: Although you will not have to worry about smelling like a salad, your hair will be greasy to the touch if you apply too much oil. For short hair, stick to a dime-size application. Longer hair can stand up to a quarter-size amount.
Have a Brew
What it does: The vitamin B and natural sugar in beer add body and shine, while the alcohol and yeast combine to tighten the hair cuticle, thus increasing manageability. The proteins from the malt can also coat, rebuild, and repair damaged hair.
How to use it: Boil 3/4 cup beer (any brand will do) until it reduces to 1/4 cup. Allow to cool and add to a cup of your regular shampoo. Add the mixture to hair and allow it to sit on hair 2 minutes. Rinse with lukewarm water and condition.
Tip: Although most women do not notice any residual odor, others swear that their tresses are left smelling like a brewery. To eliminate any aroma, pour a cup of cool chamomile tea on hair before conditioning.
What homemade hair concoctions can you not live without? Share them with the NiaOnline community in the comments section below.
--Ayana Byrd, NiaOnline's resident beauty and hair expert, is the coeditor of Naked: Black Women Bare All About Skin, Hair, Hips, Lips, and Other Parts (Perigee/Penguin; $15.95)
There is a dazzling (and, oftentimes, dizzying) array of choices on the shelves of any drugstore or beauty emporium--conditioners, shampoos, sprays, salves, balms, and anything else you can imagine. Yet the best item to get your tresses in top shape may be as close as the kitchen.
Check the refrigerator and peer in the back of your cabinets, and you'll find foods that can deep-condition, add shine, or give amazing body. Which is why NiaOnline picked three of our favorite edible hair helpers to share with you, along with the best ways to use them. Enjoy!
Wear the Mayo
What it does: That jar of mayonnaise sitting innocently in the fridge, waiting for a potato salad or turkey sandwich to dress up, also contains one of the best deep conditioners for chemically straightened or natural hair. (Because mayonnise may not rinse out fully, women with braids or locks should avoid it.)
How to use it: Apply generously to your hair as you would any conditioner. Then cover your head with a plastic cap. Sit under a dryer for 20 minutes or wrap a towel over the cap and leave on for 45 minutes. Rinse well with lukewarm water, and shampoo as normal. And don't worry--your head won't smell like the number 4 deli special!
Tip: Be a smart shopper and read the label to make sure you're getting real mayonnaise and not salad dressing, which can cause hair to become brittle and break. Also, if lemon juice or vinegar is one of the top three ingredients in the mayonnaise, pick another brand because both of those products can strip hair of moisture.
Get Oiled Up
What it does: Many women are already hip to olive oil's wondrous double life as a body moisturizer, but it also works amazingly well as a nourishing treatment for hair.
How to use it: To use olive oil as a daily light conditioner for locks or other natural hairstyles, pour it into your hands, rub directly into dry hair, and go. Olive oil can also be used as a hot oil treatment for any texture of hair. Once a month, combine 1/2 cup olive oil and 1/2 cup dried rosemary leaves (an excellent detangler) and heat on the stove or in the microwave until warm to the touch (not boiling). Coat hair, from the scalp to the ends, and cover with a plastic cap. Leave on 15 minutes. Shampoo twice.
Tip: Although you will not have to worry about smelling like a salad, your hair will be greasy to the touch if you apply too much oil. For short hair, stick to a dime-size application. Longer hair can stand up to a quarter-size amount.
Have a Brew
What it does: The vitamin B and natural sugar in beer add body and shine, while the alcohol and yeast combine to tighten the hair cuticle, thus increasing manageability. The proteins from the malt can also coat, rebuild, and repair damaged hair.
How to use it: Boil 3/4 cup beer (any brand will do) until it reduces to 1/4 cup. Allow to cool and add to a cup of your regular shampoo. Add the mixture to hair and allow it to sit on hair 2 minutes. Rinse with lukewarm water and condition.
Tip: Although most women do not notice any residual odor, others swear that their tresses are left smelling like a brewery. To eliminate any aroma, pour a cup of cool chamomile tea on hair before conditioning.
What homemade hair concoctions can you not live without? Share them with the NiaOnline community in the comments section below.
--Ayana Byrd, NiaOnline's resident beauty and hair expert, is the coeditor of Naked: Black Women Bare All About Skin, Hair, Hips, Lips, and Other Parts (Perigee/Penguin; $15.95)
