I’ve been growing my hair for about five years now, it’s long, relatively healthy and a born again colour virgin! Who would’ve thought, all those years of paying to alter my colour when all along it turned out that I most prefer it in it’s natural state. However it isn’t perfect, I exercise a lot so it’s continually being pulled back into a pony, causing tears to the hair shaft, commonly referred to as split ends, and when it’s not slicked back holding onto it’s tiny root for dear life, it’s being tortured by various heat appliances. I also don’t like getting my hair cut, in fact the thought of getting my hair cut gives me minor heart palpitations and I break out in a sweat, is there anyone else out there as petrified as me?
It stems from a bad haircut when I first moved to Sydney, which took almost two years to grow out. That’s the thing about the hair dressing service, no matter how many soy lattes, iPads and magazines they offer you as service add-ons, if they cut your hair bad the service is terrible, and there’s no way to politely ask them to undo the atrocity they just created. Over time you slowly rebuild your confidence and you learn to deal with the misfortune of living with bad hair while juggling the daily bombardment of questions about what on earth you’ve done to it like you actually did it on purpose! But you’re already scarred for life and anytime anybody comes near you with scissors you’re sent spiralling into a mini-meltdown.
Anyway I’m digressing from my post, clearly an issue I’m still dealing with. A hairdresser recently told me to try a simple, yet effective hair mask at home to help seal my split ends as I (clearly) don’t like cutting them off and all it requires are two ingredients – An avocado and unsweetened evaporated milk.
I scooped out a quarter of the avocado and mashed it up on a chopping board with a fork and placed it in a bowl.
Next I added approximately 1/4 C of the unsweetened evaporated milk and mixed the two ingredients together to form a paste. The hair dresser didn’t give me exact measurements so it’s a little trial and error but the consistency you’re looking for is a slightly runny paste. My hair is quite long so I require more, however if your hair is short or shoulder length, you may get away with a smaller measurement.
Make sure you apply to freshly shampooed hair, lightly towel dried. I used a pastry brush to apply then got stuck in with my fingers to comb it through. Please note it is slightly messy so make sure you do it over a basin to catch any particles that may fall whilst applying.
Once I had applied to my hair I used a hair clip to secure my hair to the top of my head and wrapped some glad wrap around it to keep it in place. I left the mask on for 20 minutes then jumped back in the shower to rinse out, at this point you don’t even need to re-shampoo, trust me, your hair may feel a little stiff, but all you need to do is comb some conditioner through it, rinse and dry off. Any remaining paste can of course, be applied to your face as a face mask, no point in wasting wonderful ingredients – there is a reason Cleopatra bathed her skin in milk after all!
This D.I.Y treatment is not only easy to make, but it’s cost effective as well. These two ingredients cost a fraction of what you’d pay in a salon for a hair treatment, at around $3 per treatment in comparison to upwards of $30, if you do the math, that’s a whopping 90% saving. The other big win for this treatment is it’s natural, with increasing concerns over chemicals and what they can do to our bodies, wherever possible it’s always better to go with an organic option.
Not all hair is created equal, so naturally results will vary, but I found once my hair was properly dried off, the usual halo of frizz I have standing up on top of my head wasn’t there and my hair felt a lot silkier to touch. Are all my split ends sealed? No, but the treatment has rejuvenated my hair and left it not only looking, but feeling a lot healthier. I’m really happy with the results of the mask and I’d love to hear if you ladies tried it and had a positive experience.
Thanks for sharing, that’s so cute. Do you think it is suitable for hair breakage and split ends? It’s something I get asked quite often from my own blog’s readers, and I would love to know what you might think of it.
Hi there, nice to hear from you and thanks for the comment! I’ve tried the hair mask quite a few times and posted about it because I think it’s wonderful and hopefully others do too! It certainly makes my hair feel softer, almost like it’s had an intense conditioning treatment, and the fly-away’s I get around the top of my head are always more tamed. I think it helps to minimise the appearance of breakage and split ends, I certainly don’t notice as many after a treatment, and believe me I do look hard. I do still believe that although it helps treat these, it isn’t a cure and I aim to get a small trim every 6-8 weeks to help keep my hair in good condition. I hope this helps answer your question! x