Wednesday, June 12, 2013

HOMEMEADE CONDITIONING RINSE - COCONUT MILK AND HONEY




Coconut MilkI am always on the lookout for cheap yet good ways to keep up with my beauty needs -I am a beauty junkie, and I am totally crazed about hair care. I am really not "green" per say but  I am always surfing  the web for "the best" or "alternative" hair care.  I have done the whole co-wash thing, and been through everything from the cheap-o ( Suave ,VO5, Dollar store) stuff, to the heavy silicone laden ( Pantene, Herbal Essences) stuff, to silicone free ( Suave  Naturals) stuff . I have decided to go to the more natural  homemade route for many of my beauty needs. Honestly, nothing has ever worked better for me than this simple homemade  hair rinse recipe- best part its CHEAP!



I have seen many posts using a honey rinse to add shine and help condition hair and I have also seen many posts using coconut milk as a conditioning treatment. Well, I got to thinking, (bad thing when I do that), and came up with a conditioning rinse that honestly I love so much I doubt I will ever go back to store bought conditioner.



Here's the recipe- ( It makes 12 or so cups- a gallon is 16 cups so this is quite a bit)


-4 cups coconut milk ( if using canned and not homemade- just get 2 cans it will suffice, its thicker than homemade - I prefer Goya brand if your going with the canned- I will tell you how to make homemade coconut milk at the end of this post)


-8 cups water (boiled then cooled a bit- so its basically distilled- this is important for preservation sake)


-1/3 cup honey ( I use the plain old honey from the grocery store, no need for organic)


-containers to store it (I use a re-purposed squirt bottle for in the shower and empty glass jars - like from pasta sauce or mason jars for storage in the fridge)


-Large container to mix it in ( old milk gallon jugs work good)



Pour your 1/3 cup honey into your large container- add your water, but make sure its still warm to hot as to melt the honey. Let that cool a bit then add your coconut milk. Stir very, very, very well, even shake it if your container has a lid, then pour into your smaller containers.

I use an old plastic squirt bottle (it was a ketchup container ) in the shower for my mix and store the rest in glass jars in the fridge for latter use. Since this is a rinse and not a traditional conditioner it is very thin and I use alot since I have rather long hair that I wash daily. I have a 25 oz. bottle in the shower that lasts about 3-4 days, depending on how heavy handed I get..  You need to shake well before each use as it does seperate. I really have no idea how long this would last out in the open but personally I wouldn't push it past 4 days in the heat, maybe a week in the winter. This is, after all, all natural with no preservatives other than whats in the coconut milk and the honey. The milk will spoil. When I need to refill my shower container I make sure I pull it out of the fridge the night before so it sets to room temp. You can tell when it goes bad, it will not smell light and conutty any more. For me, homemade coconut milk seems to stay fresher a bit longer than the canned. The 12 cup batch only lasts me about a week or so, with daily use.  I do not know how long it will keep in the fridge, I have not had it go bad in the fridge for up to 10 ten days so far. You may be better off making smaller batches more often if you are worried about freshness or do not wash your hair daily.


This mix leaves my hair so, so soft and shiny. Plus it feels moisturized to the very ends and it NEVER builds up. Now, it is NOT detanging by any right. Honestly, I had to take an ungodly amount of time to untangle my hair after first using this. It was so bad nad I pulled out so much hair, that I thought I was going to throw out the whole batch and go back to store bought. However, it was worth it in the end  and the more I use it the better it seems to be plus I have  found a semi- homemade detangler recipe that helps with the tangle issues. I will post on that later.


I have to say I will never go back to a store bought conditioner after using this ( unless I go back to co-washing). My hair is finally perfect ,as perfect as it will get, every day, it has no build up and I swear is starting to grow. I also use straight coconut oil as as leave or an overnight conditioner with this mix so it may be the coconut oil that is actually helping, regardless, this coconut milk/ honey rinse is my holy grail hair conditioner.






To make homemade coconut milk (easy way)-


put 1/2 cup of packed coconut flakes into a blender- I can only find sweetened coconut flakes in my area (they are in the baking aisle) They do contain propelene glycol as a preservative. Propelene glycol is found in tradition conditioners as a humectant so I have no problem using sweetened coconut flakes. Besides I think the propelene glycol helps my homemade coconut milk last longer than the canned.

add


2 cups boiled and cooled, but still hot, water


blend till  flakes are pulverized- just a few minutes


 Strain very well with strainer or cloth, reserve coconut milk, throw out flakes, and repeat with fresh boiled water and flakes till you get your desired amount of milk. 

   This makes the best coconut milk in my opinion. If you want richer milk add more coconut (like 1 cup per 2 cup water), thinner milk, use 1/2 cup coconut to 4 cup water.

   You can also add all kinds of stuff to this rinse if you so like. I have infused rosemary ( 1 tablespoon per cup water) and green tea ( 2 tea bags per cup) in the water I use to make my rinse.  It smells lovely, works great, but has an ugly brownish shade to it.  You can also add essential oils if thats your thing ( I love lavender) . If you have really dry, thick, coarse hair add some lighter oil like safflower or sunflower oil to the mix.  Make sure to shake extra well if you add additional oils beacause the oil will settle on the top of the rinse.

    This really is a basic recipe,  and I am only posting about what works for me. Please  feel free to experiment and have fun. After all thats what beauty should be about.




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