Shea Butter Styling Wax
By Karina | June 8, 2011
I got my hair cut last weekend - SHORT - check out the picture! - and it’s super fun to have shaggy short hair that I can mess with and play around with. PLUS, as Jenn has noted before, I’m using less of everything - less shampoo and conditioner - so it’ s much more efficient!
One of the tiny choices I’ve been struggling with, though, is the styling product thing. To get maximum fun out of the hair I feel like I need to add a little something for texturing. My stylist used a spray wax, but I didn’t want to buy it because it’s a propelled spray in a can that is hard to recycle and probably loaded with petroleum products. We have some stuff left over from years ago when my partner was sticking his hair straight up into the air, but it’s got a nasty fragrance that I can’t get past (as much as I would like to use what we have).
So I asked all my girlfriends what they’d recommend, and they gave me a bunch of tips… and I was just about to head out to the store (special trip, I might add!) to get SOME kind of stuff. And then I had a brain storm:
If what I wanted was just a light wax to texture, why didn’t I try just straight shea butter?
Eureka! So I started doing some searches for “shea butter texturing hair style” kinds of stuff, but all of the results had to do with different textures of African-American hair when it is naturally styled (which is a really fascinating discussion on it’s own) but not much on the topic of styling Caucasian hair.
Yesterday morning I jumped in with two feet. I grabbed my container of unrefined shea butter (purchased years ago with Jenn from a guy at a flea market) and pulled out a small amount - say, half of a pea-sized ball. I warmed it up in the palm of my hand and used my fingers from my other hand to apply it to my hair and hey presto! styling wax!
The shea butter worked GREAT. It smells a little, well, unrefined, so I’m going to melt a small amount and add some essential oils - probably rosewood and lavender, which I love - and put it in a small pot (I have a few of those at home saved from other cosmetics I’ve used up) so it’s easy to use. And by using the shea butter I can be SURE that I’m using something that doesn’t have a lot of weird chemicals in it, I don’t have to make a special trip to the beauty supply store, I’m using stuff that I already have at home, and I’m not buying another plastic tub full of stuff! Chalk up another great DIY beauty solution!
And as an added bonus, when I take my motorcycle helmet off as I get to the office each day my hair stands straight up like an anime character until I smooth it back down again. I DEFINITELY look like a power ranger with my safety gear and crazy hair. Love it!
Do you have any DIY or eco/green hair styling suggestions?
Topics: Health | 4 Comments »
4 Comments
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
I bet you could melt in some beeswax for a little more sticking power, too.
I want to make some homemade sea salt texturizing spray and see if it works on my fine, straight hair. I blow dry my hair for volume (it’s super flat), and wanted something to add a touch of texture, as pomades and balms are often too heavy for my hair.
this is quite timely. about a month or two ago i FINALLY tried making my own hairspray. i started with a sugar version, but it left my hair kind of icky. then i tried a recipe of juice from an orange simmered with flax seeds. this was working much better, except i cannot figure out an appropriate bottle to use that doesn’t gunk up and either stream it out or stop working altogether. i certainly don’t want to just start buying bottles willy nilly. i started with reusing an aluminum bottle that originally held a deodorant spray. it started streaming out instead of misting. then i purchased a plastic travel bottle from target and it pretty much stopped pumping altogether pretty quickly (and i’ve tried running under warm water, which also isn’t very energy efficient). i even cleaned out my old Misto… streamed. i finally broke down and bought a travel size bottle of dove hairspray and am using that up and will see if that bottle is any better.
it’s pretty frustrating to have the bottle be the stumbling block here.
LOVE your new ‘do!! It’s super-stylish, especially when paired with your motorcycle persona. And love that you’re still working through that tub of shea butter- so am I! It really is the best moisturizer I’ve found yet.
Awhile ago I made some wax from beeswax (from my friend’s dad’s bees), some oil (I think I used peanut? whatever was in the kitchen), a bit of some hair product I rarely used. I just melted it down and poured it in an old lotion tub. I use it on the ends of my long hair for shape and to smooth over long bangs. Good luck, and your haircut looks cute.