Have you ever bought something for one purpose and then found that you don’t use it often. I bought whole flax seeds for some health reason like adding more fiber to our diet. My kids are funny about food with lots of texture and I hated having to put the flaxseeds in the food processor to make ground flaxseed. It’s just easier to buy ground flaxseed. So what do I do with the whole flaxseeds I already have? Why make gel of course!
I follow a couple of natural hair care blogs and many of them boast the benefits of making your own flaxseed gel. It’s a moisturizer and defining gel – two in one! I have been meaning to try this gel on my own, especially since I added gel to my routine last year and pay about $4 for a particular brand. Now $4 is not a lot of money, but if there is something out there that I can make on my own, I know what the ingredients are and I have them sitting in my pantry – why not make it myself? Right?
I decided to make this gel on a whim after I had just purchased a gel from my local Walgreens. After making this gel, I quickly returned the gel I bought to Walgreens. That’s how much I love this homemade gel. It did all the things I needed it to do: softness, shine, definition and it was non-flaky.
How do you make it? Simple. Real Simple.
• ¼ cup whole flax seeds
• 2 cups water
Put both items in a pot and simmer, slow boil for about 5-7 minutes, mixing with a whisk or spoon to make sure the seeds don’t stick to the bottom of the pot. The thicker the consistency you want, the longer you boil. I wouldn’t boil more than 9-10 minutes or else you will have a hard time straining it. A lot of other folks use a sheer knee high to strain the gel and tongs to squeeze out the gel from the knee high. If you don’t have either, by no means go out and buy either one of these! I don’t have knee highs or tongs and I wasn’t going to buy either one. Most of us have a strainer – that’s exactly what I used and my spatula to push it down. Either way, keep in mind that this mix is very hot and your fingers should not touch it until it has cooled. I put my strainer over a mixing bowl and poured the mixture from the pot. The gel will begin to seep through the strainer on its own. You will need your spatula or a big spoon to press on the seeds to make it go down even more. When you are done you can pour your mixture into one of those many small/ medium size jars you are always recycling and store in the refrigerator. This mix fit perfectly in a 12 ounce container that seemed to have been waiting for the moment I would place the perfect mix in it.
Of course you can add to the mixture. I didn’t go crazy and if you don’t have the extra items lying around then don’t worry about going out to buy any special oils or essential oils. What I already had: lavender essential oil, castor oil and sweet almond oil. I put a few drops of lavender essential oil, 1 teaspoon each of castor oil and sweet almond oil. Other items you can add if you have are:
• Vitamin E Oil
• Aloe vera juice/ gel
• Neem, Avocado, Jojoba, Argan, Olive, Coconut, any number of oils
• Lemon, Lavender, Peppermint, Essential Oil
Keep in mind when adding essential oils, think in terms of drops (3-5 drops will do). Essential oils are concentrated – a little goes a long way. For oils such as coconut or olive, think in terms of one teaspoon or one tablespoon and no more or else you may have a greasy mix. As if to prove my point that a little goes a long way – you only used ¼ cup of flaxseeds to make this gel and on top of that you can save the leftover flaxseed to make more gel when you run out of this batch.
What do you do with it?
I now use it for almost everything I do with my hair. Twist, twist outs, braid outs, wash and goes… Lately my routine has been very simple. I am really trying not to spend hours doing my hair. I already have two other heads to contend with; let’s not add mine to the mix. So long story short: I conditioner wash, add my leave in, then I just finger comb this gel through my hair, section into four, braid each section, let air dry, tie my head before going to sleep and hopefully in the morning it is dry. If they are dry, I let the braids loose, whip my hair back and forth and go about my day. During the week (about every 2-3 days ), I mist my hair with water at night, apply the gel with the same finger combing technique, braid into four separate braids and repeat the same process.
Pretty cool for something that only cost me $4.99 for a one pound bag of organic whole flaxseeds, which makes my final cost for the gel about 62 cents.
Loves.to.Know 