Natural Me: Flax Gel

So my hair is naturally wavy.  Actually that’s being kind, it’s more frizzy than wavy and after years of having perms, then straightening, and then coming to the realization that my hair hates me, I’m taking a new route.  I’ve been reading around the web about the Curly Girl Method.  Basically you stop using any hair products containing sulfates and silicones.  Big surprise, a variation of those 2 ingredients are in pretty much everything on the store shelves.  BUT why should these be avoided?

Sulfates are irritants that strip your hair of it’s natural oils, but also make shampoo foamy.  Silicones replace those stripped oils and give your hair back a fake shine.  The problem is that silicones, usually found in conditioners and styling products, need sulfates to wash out, and sulfates,  usually found in shampoos, remove moisture so they need silicones to replenish them.  It’s a vicious cycle the man has created to make your succumb to buying things.  It's a conspiracy I tell ya!  The idea behind curly girl is that you use only water soluble products products and therefore sulfates aren’t necessary to wash away a silicone buildup from your hair.  This is just a very basic run down of the curly girl method, for more info on sulfates and silicones, or tips, and tricks for taming your mane check out the book by clicking a few of the above links.

I don’t like the idea of using store brand hair products because they’ve always done more damage than good to my hair.  I’m not that crazy about the silicone free “natural” conditioner I got for the process, so the experimenting with crap free, within budget conditioners continues.  I’ve actually haven’t used conditioner is YEARS and tried the whole no-poo (baking soda and apple cider vinegar rinses for my hair for several months, but that’s for another post). Can nothing ever be easy for this nest I call hair?  At least I’ve found something promising with gel.  For styling my hair, I need gel.  Lots of gel.  It helps to hold the curls and keep them frizz free.  I did a little research with my best friend Google and found out about gel made from flax seed.  The gel is soooo easy to make and use, I’ll NEVER, cross my heart and hope to die, EVER go back to store bought gel.  Here’s how to make your own:

Flax Seed Hair Gel

Stuff you’ll need:

1/4 cup flax seeds (either darker brown or golden, I’ve used both with success)
1 cup boiling water
2 glass canning jars
panty hose
something air tight to store the gel in, I use those little glass canning jars
essential oil (optional)

Method:

Pour 1 cup of boiling water in your jar and dump your seeds in

Wait 24 hours, don’t touch!

After 24 hours, line the other jar with the panty hose and slowly pour the seeds and water mixture through to the new jar. 

Once the water is all through, use your hands or some tongs to repeatedly squeeze the flaxseeds to release the goopy gel into your jar.  After a few good squeezes dump your seeds back into the original jar, screw on the lid and put them in the fridge for next time.  I usually reuse the seeds once more.

You’ll want to stir it or shake it to make sure it's thoroughly mixed.  At this point you can also add a couple drops of your favourite essential oil for a fresh scent, I like something citrus like orange oil.  And you’re done.  You’ll end up with about 3/4 cup of gel.

I like to transfer mine into 2 smaller jars in case I forget to put one back in the fridge and it goes bad, not all is lost.  Yes it has to be stored in the fridge.  No preservatives and chemicals = spoilage within 2 weeks, but I found I use it up in roughly a week and a half so no big deal.

I use the gel on soaking wet hair that has only had the excess water scrunch/squeezed out with my hands.  I pour some gel in my hands, rub them together, scrunch it into my hair.  I use quite a bit because I have long hair and it is very frizzy.  Once the gel is in, don’t touch your hair until completely dry.  It can be blow dried if you don’t have time to dry it naturally.  Once dry, scrunch your hair lightly to release the casing that the gel created around your curls.  This gets rid of the wet look that gel creates without losing the curl.

With any product, what works for me may not work for you, BUT this gel is so cheap and easy to make that I encourage you to just give it a try!! Substitute it with your normal gel in your normal routine and let me know what you think!!