The Art of Saving Money with Homemade Recipes

I know my project junkies will agree -- you can spend hundreds of dollars testing out numerous products available on the market, many of which are supposedly intended for natural hair use. However, breaking the bank shouldn't be a necessity for healthy, strong natural hair. I know one of the big factors for me going natural was to actual save money -- no more having to take weekly trips to the salon, no more having to buy expensive packs of Remy hair.. goodbye to all of that. I'll admit.. I've spent a few bucks here & there purchasing new products to try, but usually all my key ingredients needed for my hair are right in my own kitchen. 

Creating your own hair recipes not only keeps money in your pocket, but it allows for a more intimate relationship with your hair. You now gain a much better insight as to what your hair craves, prefers or rejects with your at-home experiments. When I'm bored, I like to get creative. So I want to share with you ladies a few tips to finding your own perfect hair concoctions:

• Don't mix too many things at once. I personally like the start with simple recipes. This way it's much easier to determine what works & what doesn't when your ingredient list is limited. 
• Try starting out with two-ingredient mixes until you find a mix that works well on your hair. When I first went natural, I already had two ingredients I felt could get me started along my natural hair journey: Water + EVOO. I mixed the two & used it until my spritz bottle was done. I learned my hair loved both ingredients, so in my next batch I added a new ingredient: Argan Oil. If you find a mix that works great on your hair, continue using it. If it's just okay, retry with a new ingredient until you reach perfection. 
• If there's a particular ingredient that you find always works well on your hair, make it a staple to your hair recipes, adding it as a standard part of all your recipes. For me, I try to incorporate EVOO into anything that touches my hair since my hair loves it so much. 
• Alternate the way you apply the mixes to your hair. This is how I figure what recipes work best on dry hair and which ones work best on wet hair. Once again it's a game of trial & error until you find something that works best for you. 
• Take note of what works for you & how it worked. Some recipes may be better for deep conditioning while others make great for clarifying. 
• Do your research! If you're hectic about putting bananas in your hair, make use of resources available to you before doing so. This was how I found out that using banana baby food works just as well as using a regular banana. Search through blogs & forums for your particular ingredients. You'll find others who have probably tried the same type of recipe share their success or horror stories. 
• Take a trip to your local grocery store & explore! I don't think anyone gets as excited as I do now whenever I pass a Whole Foods or a GNC. I encourage you all to experiment with essential oils and powders that you wouldn't normally find at your beauty supply or drug stores. 

So remember, a recipe failure is a good thing -- it's just your hair letting you know that it doesn't respond well to certain ingredients. The worst thing that can happen is you'll need to rewash your hair, so I encourage you all to get creative!

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