Hair Milk Experimentation and Whatnot…
I've been testing out the creation of a hair milk recipe. I know, I know! Hair milks seem to work best for people with a looser curl pattern. But that's not even my concern. My main concern was creating a good consistency for it.
Initially, I kept getting a medium cream -- not too thick but not as thin as I wanted it to be.
I wanted a true milky consistency. I wanted something loose enough to be put into a spray bottle, BUT which isn't as thin as water.
I’ve been testing out the creation of a hair milk recipe. I know, I know! Hair milks seem to work best for people with a looser curl pattern. But that’s not even my concern. My main concern was creating a good consistency for it.
Initially, I kept getting a medium cream — not too thick but not as thin as I wanted it to be.
I wanted a true milky consistency. I wanted something loose enough to be put into a spray bottle, BUT which isn’t as thin as water.
I think those types of products distribute through the hair very well because of their liquid consistency. And since this hair milk will be an emulsification with mostly water or aloe vera juice, it would then be very good to use as a moisturizer on dry hair.
For me, it was difficult to create because I was just blind testing: adding ingredients on the fly without creating a test recipe first.
My first test… was a thick cream. Uhm, no. It was good but not what I was looking for.
The 2nd test was not as thick as the first, but still too thick and a little tacky because I used a draggy Castor oil (I gotta go back to my old brand of castor oil because this cosmetics-grade brand I got sucks).
The 3rd test… now I’m getting somewhere. I chose to use Hibiscus and Rosehips, and infuse them into water to form the base of the milk.
I also chose oils which were good for hair and skin. In case I didn’t like it for my hair, I would always be able to use it as a post bath moisturizer for my skin. Or, dare I say, as a facial moisturizer.
Oils
Sunflower oil – contains Vitamin E, A, B1, B6 and C, and it helps condition the hair. It helps with moisture retention and absorbs well, too.
Camellia oil – is a lightweight oil said to be a conditioning to the hair as well. It improves dry hair and will not weigh down the hair because it absorbs quickly.
Tamanu – is more of a treatment oil because of its strong scent and powerful ability to fight dryness. Tamanu is thought to promote hair growth and add sheen. It’s especially recommended to help damaged, dry skin.
So, I made the emulsion and added the oils after the emulsion was formed. To it, I added wispy amounts of guar gum.
“Wispy” just means teeny, tiny amounts; not a lot, but enough to give it a good amount of slip without causing flakiness once it’s dry.
It only takes a very, VERY small amount of guar gum in order to create a good “slip”. I use the end of a chopstick to dip the guar gum out and into Caprylic Capric Triglyceride. Then I added that slurry to the main mix.
So I made the emulsion and it looked nice…. until after about 1 day. It started to thicken a little too much for my liking. So I ended up adding 2 TBSP of Aloe Vera Juice to it. And… LOVE IT.
Remember, I wanted it liquidy/watery consistency so it could distribute better in my curls. But I didn’t want to just add plain water. What’s the fun in that?! LOL
In addition, adding Aloe Vera juice ensures the pH is curl-friendly (causing the curls to pop) and the hair cuticles would lay down to help smooth the hair.
There will be different versions of this recipe because I do intend to try out different herbs, different oils and different ingredients to get a similar consistency.
If you want a true hair ‘milk’ (milky, thin, lightweight consistency), check out this recipe:
Rosehip Hibiscus Moisture Milk v1
http://www.curlytea.com/item/rosehip-hibiscus-moisture-milk-v1.html
