Even when you know your hair quite well sales people that appear to know their stuff will feed on your fears. 

I went to a rebranding event by ORS (formerly Organic Root Stimulator). At the event they had a woman with a gadget that looks at your scalp so that she can analyze your hair and draw conclusions about its state. 

She said:

• You have fine hair but lots of it (I wouldn't call my hair strands fine save for the back)
• You are suffering severe hair loss (really?)
• In 10 years time you will have a bald spot in the middle of your head if you don't start exfoliating now (oh no!)
• You oil your scalp because it feels dry but the oils are just preventing new hair fibres from growing (I thought, "umm, no, actually, I only ever add oils to my scalp during scalp massage. If I don't do a scalp massage I don't apply oil at all and that does not result in scalp dryness. Importantly, I use high quality, light vegetable oils that are easily absorbed by the scalp so, what are you talking about?")
  

Trust me, I felt awful! 

She tried to find out how I take care of my hair. "Are you a naturalista?" she asked?

I was like, "Umm, I have natural hair, so I guess so?" sheepishly.

"No, having natural hair doesn't make you a naturalista. A naturalista is someone who makes all their own products and tries to source all organic and natural stuff."

I don't agree with that definition but I didn't argue. I told her I like to use stuff that won't damage my hair in the long run but I don't look for terms like "organic" and "natural" because they mean nothing; sales people just throw those terms around to close sales.

Anyhow, long story short, in that moment I would have bought anything she was selling. I was so freaked out by what she had said but...she didn't have any stock.

When we left that event I started looking up trichologists in my area but by the next morning I had calmed down and realized it was nothing more than sales spiel. 

I have never exfoliated my scalp in my life, ever, so I don't think it's essential. I massage my scalp regularly and wash my hair and scalp weekly - I don't get dandruff and my scalp is not dry.

In this video I exfoliate my scalp for the first time using my own methods plus I have some random chatter with Harry, my husband. It's early Sunday morning and we're just chilling. Enjoy.

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• Neno Natural's DIY Hair Recipes

This recipe is for a deep conditioner. It will help to soften, moisturize and nourish dry hair.

Heated oil phase (38%)

• 4g BTMS-50 (4%)
  
• 2g Cetrimonium bromide (2%)
  
• 2g cetearyl alcohol (2%)
  
• 8g shea butter (8%)
  
• 2g sweet almond oil (2%)
  
• 20g marshmallow infusion (20%)
  

Heated water phase (52%)

• 24g water (24%)
  
• 20g aloe vera (20%)
  
• 5g glycerin (5%)
  
• 3g hydrolyzed silk protein (3%)
  

Cool-down phase (10%)

• 2g cetrimonium chloride (2%)
  
• 2g cyclomethicone (2%)
  
• 2g dimethicone (2%)
  
• 2g panthenol (2%)
  
• 1g optiphen preservative (1%)
  
• 1g essential oil blend (1%)
  
• 0.7g chamomile (16 drops) (0.7%)
  
• 0.3g cedarwood (6 drops) (0.3%)
  

Method

You will need two pyrex bowls because you will be creating two bain maries (a.k.a. double boilers)

1. Weigh out the heated oil phase ingredients into a pyrex dish.
   
2. Weigh out the heated water phase ingredients into another pyrex dish.
   
3. Create a bain marie for each and heat to 70°C or at least until the water in the pot starts to boil then reduce the heat. 
   

• Leave the oil phase heating at 70°C for 20 minutes. 
  
• Put the water phase on 8 minutes later and leave it for 12 minutes. 
  
• You can have the heated water phase on for the full 20 minutes but for a 100g batch I find that you get a lot of lost product due to evaporation so I prefer to put it on a little later.
  

1. Remove both from the heat and pour the heated water phase into the heated oil phase immediately. Stir simultaneously.
   
2. Continue to stir gently until the mixture has cooled down and thickened.
   
3. Allow to cool to just more than hand hot (45°C if you want to be specific) then add the cool-down phase ingredients. To be honest 45°C is a bit more than hand but I am so scared of inactivating the cool-down phase ingredients that I would rather not risk it.
   
4. Allow the formulation to cool completely then bottle it up.
   

Application

• Always condition freshly washed hair. To make you your own shampoo see nenonatural.com/DIYshampoos.
  
• Condition as normal. 
  
• If you have tangle-prone kinky-curly medium-to-long hair (like I do) wash it in twists to minimize tangling. Then undo each twist to condition the section.
  

Storage: The shelf life is 9 to 12 months. Store in a cool, dry place.   

Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.


You might also like:

• Neno Natural's Free Conditioner Recipes

A double-boiler is a gentler way for heating the ingredients. It stops ingredients from getting unnecessarily overheated and destroyed. This is especially important because different ingredients have a different melting point.

Can't I Just Heat On The Hob Or Microwave?
No, you can't.

If you used a hob the direct heat would be too strong and destructive.

If you used a microwave you would overheat the ingredient, at best; at worst, you would have some kind of an explosion.

Pyrex dishes won't crack from the constant heating and cooling. 

If you choose to use another type of glass, i.e. not pyrex bowls or jugs, Make sure whatever glass bowl you are using can take the heat!

Have you ever poured boiling hot water into a glass tumbler - it cracked didn't it? That's what most glasses will do, pyrex is specifically designed to take heat well.

This recipe is for a deep conditioner. It will not only help to moisturize and nourish dry hair, it also contains essential oils, hydrosols and other ingredients that help to strengthen hair.

Heated oil phase (22%)

• 6g cetrimonium bromide (6%)
  
• 3g incroquat CR (3%)
  
• 3g cetearyl alcohol (3%)
  
• 10g avocado butter (10%)
  

Heated water phase (70%)

• 33g water (33%)
  
• 20g hibiscus hydrosol (20%)
  
• 10g aloe vera (10%)
  
• 2g hydrolyzed silk protein (2%)
  
• 5g glycerin (5%)
  

Cool-down phase (8%)

• 2g cyclomethicone (2%)
  
• 2g dimethicone (2%)
  
• 2g panthenol (2%)
  
• 1g optiphen preservative (1%)
  
• 1g essential oil blend (1%)
  
• 0.5g geranium (13 drops) (0.5%)
  
• 0.3g bergamot (5 drops) (0.3%)
  
• 0.2g cedarwood (4 drops) (0.2%)
  

Method

You will need two pyrex bowls because you will be creating two bain maries (a.k.a. double boilers)

1. Weigh out the heated oil phase ingredients into a pyrex dish.
   
2. Weigh out the heated water phase ingredients into another pyrex dish.
   
3. Create a bain marie for each and heat to 70°C or at least until the water in the pot starts to boil then reduce the heat. 
   

• Leave the oil phase heating at 70°C for 20 minutes. 
  
• Put the water phase on 8 minutes later and leave it for 12 minutes. 
  
• You can have the heated water phase on for the full 20 minutes but for a 100g batch I find that you get a lot of lost product due to evaporation so I prefer to put it on a little later.
  

1. Remove both from the heat and pour the heated water phase into the heated oil phase immediately. Stir simultaneously.
   
2. Continue to stir gently until the mixture has cooled down and thickened.
   
3. Allow to cool to just more than hand hot (45°C if you want to be specific) then add the cool-down phase ingredients. To be honest 45°C is a bit more than hand but I am so scared of inactivating the cool-down phase ingredients that I would rather not risk it.
   
4. Allow the formulation to cool completely then bottle it up.
   

Application

• Always condition freshly washed hair. To make you your own shampoo see nenonatural.com/DIYshampoos.
  
• Condition as normal. 
  
• If you have tangle-prone kinky-curly medium-to-long hair (like I do) wash it in twists to minimize tangling. Then undo each twist to condition the section.
  

Storage: The shelf life is 9 to 12 months. Store in a cool, dry place.   

Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.


You might also like:

• Neno Natural's Free Conditioner Recipes

The six DIY Conditioner recipes that I give out for free are deep conditioners designed for weekly use. If you wanted to make a shampoo for daily use you would just halve the quantity of the following ingredients:

• BTMS
  
• Cetrimonium bromide 
  
• Cetrimonium chloride
  
• Cetearyl alcohol 
  
• Cetyl alcohol
  

Then add more water to make the difference.

In my ebook, DIY Conditioners Course I give you the exact volumes needed to convert each deep conditioner to its daily use equivalent.  

If you find that a conditioner you've made yourself is too thin, next time you formulate you can:

• Add more BTMS
  
• Add an oil or a butter
  
• Remove cetrimonium chloride from the recipe

Obviously, if you want to make a conditioner thinner if it is too thick then, you do the opposite:

• Reduce the amount of BTMS
  
• Use less vegetable oils or a butters
  
• Add cetrimonium chloride 
  

Remember to keep to the usage rates advised by the manufacturer. 

• For a weekly use conditioner you can go as high as 10% BTMS but for daily use I would not have more than 5%. In fact, I think 10% is pushing it even for a weekly use conditioner, I wouldn't go beyond 7/8%.
• With oils 5-10% is okay for us dry haired girls. Even up to 20% for an intense condition (but that is a lot). For oily haired girls 3-5% is plenty.

Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.



You might also like:

• Neno Natural's Free Conditioner Recipes
• What Is The "General" Recipe For Making A Conditioner DIY-Style?

Because we dry-haired girls only wash our hair once a week all my DIY Conditioners are designed to be for weekly or twice-weekly use. This makes them a bit stronger and more conditioning than a daily use rinse-off conditioner.

All the ingredients are split into 3 phases:

• Heated oil phase
  
• Heated water phase
  
• Cool-down phase

At a base level, if you have what is called a cationic compound in the right amount, you have a conditioner. So, a very basic daily use conditioner would be:

4% BTMS-50 (the cationic compound)
+ 1% optiphen preservative
+ 95% water

But how bland and dissatisfying would that be - no smellies! I like smellies so I would add fragrance or essential oil to get:

4% BTMS-50 (the cationic compound)
+ 1% optiphen preservative
+ 1% essential oil blend or fragrance oil
+ 94% water

But I have dry hair so I don't condition daily so I would need a more intense conditioner for weekly use so I would bump up the cationic compounds to get:

6-8% BTMS-50 (the cationic compound)
+ 1% optiphen preservative
+ 1% essential oil blend or fragrance oil
+ 90-92% water

But I have VERY dry, tangle-prone hair so I need more than just cationic compounds, I need a fatty alcohol for more moisture and slip plus some carrier oils for greater moisture and nourishment. So I change the formulation to get:

6% BTMS-50 (the cationic compound)
+ 3% cetyl alcohol or cetearyl alcohol
+ 10% carrier oil blend
+ 1% optiphen preservative
+ 1% essential oil blend or fragrance oil
+ 79% water

But that's a lot of water - I'd want something better, something with herbs and extracts that are beneficial to hair moisture, strength, softness.  So I would add an infusion or hydrosol / floral water.

Then I start thinking are there any ingredients that can soften and moisturise my hair further? Perhaps make detangling even easier? And the answer would be, yes, throw in some hydrolysed protein.

As with all kinky-curly hair it's sometimes hard to get it shiny, can any ingredient improve shine? Yep, try adding some silicones or silicone alternatives. Silicones not only help with detangling and softening hair but also boost shine/gloss and a healthy appearance of hair. Plus, they can help you retain moisture for longer, they coat hair and seal it like an oil or butter would.

Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.


You might also like:

• What Are The Best Silicones For People On A Co-Wash Regimen?
• What Are The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Silicones To Natural Hair?
• Water-Soluble Vs. Non-Soluble Silicones Found In Hair Products

Our first consideration in making a shampoo was simple: to get an effective cleanser with a secondary goal of making it a little moisturising and conditioning too because our hair is so dry.

With a conditioner there are several primary goals:

• To make our hair softer and more moisturised and to stay that way for as long as possible 
  
• To make it easier to detangle and comb
  
• To reduce shrinkage
  
• To make it easier to style / manage
  
• To make it look and feel better if it's damaged
  
• To make it more shiny although remember that straight hair is naturally more shiny and glossy because of the way light reflect off the strands
  

Less important goals include:

• Improving body / volume, I see that as a white girl problem because volume is not a problem we generally have;
• To reduce static a.k.a. fly away hairs, another white girl problem - I didn't even know what that was until I started researching DIY recipes in early 2013! 

As I introduce you to ingredients I will tell you how each ingredient helps to further one or several of the above goals. The key ingredients in a conditioner have a positive charge so that they stick to negatively charges hair.


Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.

​You might also like:

• Neno Natural's Free Conditioner Recipes
• What Ingredients Go Into Making A Good Conditioner?
• How Exactly Do Conditioners Work?

This recipe is for a deep conditioner. It will not only help to moisturize and nourish dry hair, it also contains essential oils that have been empirically shown by scientists to improve hair growth. 

INGREDIENTS

Heated oil phase (19%)

• 6g BTMS-50 (6%)
  
• 3g cetearyl alcohol (3%)
  
• 4g jojoba (4%)
  
• 6g avocado butter (6%)
  

Heated water phase (69%)

• 47g water (47%)
  
• 10g aloe vera (10%)
  
• 10g rose hydrosol (10%)
  
• 1g hydrolyzed oat protein (1%)
  
• 1g hydrolyzed silk protein (1%)
  

Cool-down phase (12%)

• 4g honeyquat (4%)
  
• 2g cyclomethicone (2%)
  
• 2g dimethicone (2%)
  
• 2g panthenol (2%)
  
• 1g optiphen preservative (1%)
  
• 1g essential oil blend (1%)
  
• 0.3g Rosemary (7 drops) (0.3%)
  
• 0.3g Lavender (7 drops) (0.3%)
  
• 0.2g Thyme (4 drops) (0.2%)
  
• 0.2g Cedarwood (4 drops) (0.2%)
  

Method

You will need two pyrex bowls because you will be creating two bain maries (a.k.a. double boilers)

1. Weigh out the heated oil phase ingredients into a pyrex dish.
   
2. Weigh out the heated water phase ingredients into another pyrex dish.
   
3. Create a bain marie for each and heat to 70°C or at least until the water in the pot starts to boil then reduce the heat. 
   

• Leave the oil phase heating at 70°C for 20 minutes. 
  
• Put the water phase on 8 minutes later and leave it for 12 minutes. 
  
• You can have the heated water phase on for the full 20 minutes but for a 100g batch I find that you get a lot of lost product due to evaporation so I prefer to put it on a little later.
  

1. Remove both from the heat and pour the heated water phase into the heated oil phase immediately. Stir simultaneously.
   
2. Continue to stir gently until the mixture has cooled down and thickened.
   
3. Allow to cool to just more than hand hot (45°C if you want to be specific) then add the cool-down phase ingredients. To be honest 45°C is a bit more than hand but I am so scared of inactivating the cool-down phase ingredients that I would rather not risk it.
   
4. Allow the formulation to cool completely then bottle it up.
   

Application

• Always condition freshly washed hair. To make you your own shampoo see nenonatural.com/DIYshampoos.
  
• Condition as normal. 
  
• If you have tangle-prone kinky-curly medium-to-long hair (like I do) wash it in twists to minimize tangling. Then undo each twist to condition the section.
  

Storage: The shelf life is 9 to 12 months. Store in a cool, dry place.    

When you're making your own conditioner these are all the yummy ingredients you will want to include: 

• Cationic quaternary compounds (and polymers), these are positively charged ingredients that stick to hair to moisturise, condition it and make it easier to comb. e.g. BTMS, fatty alcohols like acetyl alcohol
• Emollients
• Extracts / Infusions / Hydrosols
• Film Formers
• Humectants
• Oil and butters
• Panthenol
• Preservatives
• Proteins
• Silicones

You can use some or all of the above. It depends on what you are trying to achieve.

Technically, a product has to contain cationic ingredients to be called a conditioner. In the past I have made videos for you on how to make DIY conditioners using food ingredients:

• Nourishing DIY Banana Conditioner For Dry Or Damaged Hair
  
• Egg White & Coconut Protein Conditioner - DIY Homemade Hair Recipe

Whilst both of these recipes will help to soften and condition hair they are technically not "proper" conditioners because they do not contain these positively charged cationic ingredients that stick to your hair. This means that when you wash them out they wash out completely and there is nothing left on your hair to continue the conditioning process that makes subsequent combing easier.

When you are formulating a conditioner the first thing you should decide is which cationic quaternary compound you will use. The common options are:

• BTMS (go fore BTMS-50 because it contains double the amount of active ingredients as BTMS-25 and it also contains a humectant which is awesome especially for dry-haired girls like moi)
  
• Cetrimonium bromide
  
• Cetrimonium chloride 
  
• Incroquat CR
  

​Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.


You might also like:

• Neno Natural's Free Conditioner Recipes
• Key Considerations In Making Your Own Conditioner. What Should A Good Conditioner Do?
• How Exactly Do Conditioners Work?