DIY Beauty
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I’ve been admittedly not-so-great at hair care in years past—it’s been dyed and fried and bleached and neglected. And while I believe that a lot of the formula to healthy hair (and skin and nails) comes from what you put inside your body (good food and lots of water), I also think there are some things you can do externally to help keep your hair shiny, soft, and smooth. And one of my favorites is this all-natural deep conditioning hair mask.
When I was in college, I used to have at-home spa days where I’d pick up a packet (or two, because my hair is so thick) of a chemical-laden deep conditioning treatment and let it sit on my hair while I painted my toes and watched 90210 reruns.
I always loved how soft and shiny my hair was after those treatments, but now that I’m a little more conscious about the chemicals I put in and on my body, I’m a big fan of using all-natural ingredients to create my own beauty products.
There are a ton of recipes and formulas out there for deep conditioning hair masks—and I’ve tried a lot of them—but this combo is my favorite. Not only because it makes my hair soft and shiny, but also because it has ingredients that I almost always have on hand!
The same fats and oils in avocado that make them good for your body also make them a great option for helping to repair dry, brittle, or damaged hair. Olive oil is also extremely hydrating, and it helps protect your hair from damage—an awesome thing if you usually use a lot of heat on your hair. And honey is packed with scalp- and hair-strengthening vitamins (plus, it helps coat your hair strands and retain moisture). You can also toss in a few drops of lavender essential oil, which is a natural treatment for the scalp—helping to keep dandruff and itchy skin at bay. Oh, and it smells good, too.
The key to getting this hair mask to really get in deep to hydrate your hair is heat. There are a few different ways to go about this. My preferred method is to apply the mask to damp hair, wrap it up in a shower cap, and then apply heat—either with a blow dryer or, my favorite, sitting out in the warm spring sunshine! I let it rest on my noggin for a good 30-45 minutes, about the amount of time it takes to get through a magazine. Then I rinse and wash with my normal shampoo and conditioner.
I tend to have oily roots (although it is SO much better now that I only wash my hair a few times a week), so I try not put the mask on the first inch or so of my hair, but if your entire hair is dry, slop that stuff on everywhere! And make sure you really slather it on your ends.
If your hair doesn’t need a lot of conditioning, you can do this once a month or even less frequently, but if your hair is really asking for a drink, you could do it every couple of weeks. I would say that if your hair is normally thin or limp, I’d skip this hair mask—it’s really deep conditioning and might weigh your hair down (which is an awesome thing for my thick and wavy hair). Enjoy! Print
★★★
3 from 4 reviews
This rich Whipped Avocado, Honey, and Olive Oil Deep Conditioning Hair Mask is so easy to make and will leave your hair soft, shiny, and smooth!
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I don’t normally do hair masks, but I do dye my hair with henna which helps make it stronger. I also use goat’s milk shampoo bars followed with an apple cider vinegar rinse and coconut oil. The girl who cuts my hair is always amazed at how healthy it is and by the lack of split ends for the length of my hair. (It’s mid-back)
Where do you get your goat’s milk shampoo bars .
Great stuff. Honey is also a humectant — in that it attracts and helps to retain moisture.
It’s a inventive and courageous! I love it. I must try it myself.
Yes a must try. I’ve been using avocado oil in my hair for nearly a year and the results are amazing. I use the oil rather than mashing an avocado up. Both work well though. I suggest Aviva Pure Avocado Coconut Oil Hair mask. http://avivapurebeauty.com/collections/best-sellers/products/organic-hair-mask-avocado-coconut-rosemary
I’m getting ready to try this but have a ? do u mash the whole avocado or do you peel the skin off?
Both! Peel the skin, then mash the insides.
So you mash both and mix together?
No, peel the skin off the avocado. Throw the skin away, mash the insides. :)
Ok ty
thank you for this amazing natural mask, i have one question pleaz. If i want to make a big quantity so i can use some of it every week without having to do the same process every time will the mask stay as good as it is in its first day? thank you
I don’t think so. Avocado oxidizes pretty quickly when it’s exposed to oxygen.
Can I ask you a question, I’m in the process of color correction, for the most part I’m near the end but someone told me that the avocado will actually lock color in??? do you know if that’s true? Because I’m trying to remove some unwanted colors, but am also trying to repair my hair along the way. Thank you in advance for any advice
I honestly have no idea. Sorry!
I warm olive oil and argan oil plus lavender and rub it all through my dry hair as much as possible, really saturate it, clip it up in a bun and then leave for about 4 hours, then put the shampoo onto the hair directly then add water and hsampoo as normal with a good conditioner, this helps my hair soooo much as i blow dry my hair all the time so this is good xxx
I have been using an avocado, honey, lemon juice as a face mask twice a week. After the 2nd use i added the olive and tried the leftovers as this hair mask-works out great! Love it! Thanks.
What type of honey & where can I get it from?
What would the shelf-life be? I’m looking for something I can whip up and store for long-term use but I feel as though this is a one shot deal due to the avocado. Any suggestions?
Yeah, I don’t think this has much of a shelf life at all. I definitely recommend making it right before you’re going to use it.
im about to try this did this make anyone’s hair green? and was it more oily?
I’m currently doing a mask with coconut oil, tea tree oil, peppermint oil, honey, egg, and avocado!! My hair is damaged and needs major nutrients.
Hi Cassie my hair natural Afro Hair. Can I used this mixture of your on Afro hair. My hair is very dry and frizzy at present. Please advice. Thanks
I’m not sure! I doubt it would hurt though. :)
Hi! You can definitely use this on your natural hair. I am a black woman with natural hair and I do it all the time. Sometimes I add full fat yogurt, but the avocado, honey, and olive oil is definitely good for our hair. Try it out! :-)
Arryel
I use it on my afro hair!
It does work on ‘fros. I I have black hair and I noticed the change IMMEDIATELY. After you do it, braid it in cornrows for the night to lock in nutrients and then in the morning you get shiny curls. But be warned, it gets really messy, my first time I left oil traces every where I went.
Yes I have very course dry and easily broken hair. I’ve been doing this concoction with egg (yolk only for protein) and unrefined unprocessed coconut oil. The avacodo seemed to help the oil penetrate my strands. Honey (raw natural) contains vitamin E I didn’t mix the honey with the avacodo mask, instead I put honey on after the avacodo mixture sat in my hair for 45 minutes. Then, I let that sit for another 30 mins or so. Other oils I saw mentioned on this thread may not work for our hair type so you won’t get the full benefits, try castor oil or coconut oil and stay away from hair grease!!!
Do I need to shampoo and condition my hair afterwards or can I just wash it out. I just washed my yesterday and don’t wanna damage my hair by washing it again today but I really want to try this mask!
Yes, I would recommend it.
Hi there ladies, I am an engineer on a fishing vessel that never sees the outdoors for months on end so no time for salons for me. I was looking at all the reviews every one has left and I am very excited to try this on my own. My poor hair needs help so I am hoping your ladies method of avocado, honey, and, and olive oil does just the trick. Thank you for this web site!! It was helpful!!
Hey i also have afro hair and im tempted to do this mask .was wondering if it could be left in overnight though?
Yes! I’d suggest wrapping your hair in a warm towel but overnight is great and would work wonders for your hair! Definitely add some lemon juice to help with the oxidation of the avocado though
I have a very thin hair and oily scalp But hair so dry and rough. Can i try this mask with only olive oil honey and avocado.??
You wouldn’t need the oils, but a little lemon juice would help balance your natural oils out
Can I do this more than once a week? My hair is over the top dry!
Hi Cassie, I brought 2 large avocados and cut them before they ripened. They were bitter in taste and I did not want to throw them so I made a paste and stored it in the refrigerator. The frozen thing can last for 3-4 months. I can use it right?
I don’t see why not. :)
My son has an afro and has been asking me to look for something like this. He’s so excited to have found this. We live in West Africa and can get all of these ingredients except the lavender oil.. Will try it today. Thanks!
Here are the ingredients I use from after reading all kinds of recipes that work and realizing all these ingredients are god for the hair…I put castor oil on my roots because this enhances hair growth so I want to make sure I have castor oil on the roots and scalp and in a bowl I mix the following: olive oil, coconut oil, castor oil (again), honey,avocado one whole egg, cinnamon. I leave it on for at least 3 hours or all night.Love it!
can i leave this on overnight if i have bleached hair?
Looks great and seems very easy. Do you think it is suitable to use for hair breakage and split ends? It’s something I get asked quite often from my own blog’s readers. Thanks
I Am 56 years old and have always had gorgeous thigh wavy black hair down to my waist. Since going through menopause and using different medications my hair has started to fall out and I’m getting bald spots. How do I get my thick hair back and loo the bald spots??? My hair was always my best feature and not I won’t go out in public or to functions because it’s so bad. I even stopped washing every day and wash every 2-3 days and am now wondering if shampoo is good for it at all. Help me please I’m desperate Halfpint
Halfpint – I went through an awful bleaching sessions due to a hairdressers mistake. I looked like a scarecrow/Yorkshire terrier for a long time. However, every night, I slept with coconut oil in my hair, and wrapped my head with cling film. You’ll see the results in no time. My husband uses it to prevent hair fall, and my father in law has used it to encourage hair regrowth. I hope this advice helps you. Please give it a try. P.s, you can never use enough!! ;)
For Halfpint – to stop hair from falling out try taking fish oil at night before you go to bed. You may also need to check the health of your thyroid since hair loss is directly tied to it. Your body temperature should not be lower than 97.7 deg. Measure this temp before you get out of bed in the morning.
Hi,
This is an excellent recipe. You can also try banana and milk hair mask. This makes the hair soft.
I love using this mask, I always use Active Manuka Honey with Coconut Oil and it works a treat for my damaged hair, love it!
You can use raw avocados in your hair:
Mash a ripe avocado (pit removed) with one egg, then apply this home remedy to wet hair. Leave on for at least 20 minutes, then rinse several times. If you are not up for all the dirty mashing in the kitchen, you can also use the Shielo Intensive Mask, which has Avocado and other oils in it. Both work well!
Great tip. I would definitely try this one. I love using natural products on my hair. Thank you for sharing.
I use chemical relaxers on my hair. What affect will the avocado mask have when applied to wet chemically treated hair?
What is the shelf life of this product when you make it and what would you suggest in reference to storage outside of refrigerator? I was thinking mason jars to seal it and keep the air out?? It would be great if you could reply to my email.
Regards, Veronica
So I tried a few different all natural hair masks. After reading other people’s experiences with it online and seeing a lot of all natural recipes I decided to try it myself. My hair recently since living in Indonesia has become very dry and brittle…. lifeless and limp. Where as back in london my hair was in great condition strangely enough, I mean my mum is a hairdresser and a very good one at that. I always had very shiny smooth hair, soft and very little breakage.
So after feeling insecure about how bad my hair had got I decided to try out some of these hair masks …. now as someone who swears by natural products and I’m actually allergic to a lot of chemicals in shop bought products. This was probably the single worst mistake I have ever made with my hair.
Firstly I tried an egg, coconut oil, olive oil mask. I left it in for over an hour just like people had suggested and to my disappointment this mask made my hair worse, it was so dry that some of my hair actually broke off and when I brush my hair after I had washed it out and had conditioner in it a lot of hair came out with it. I was really shocked that a natural mask could do this kind of damage to my hair, especially after so many people had said it did wonders for theirs. I mean I’m aware everyone hair is different but the results were shocking.
I then tried a simple coconut oil, ask a few days later thinking I would try and get some moisture back into it because by this point my hair was awful even to touch. Again I couldn’t believe it, after leaving it on for only 10/15 minutes then shampooing and conditioning like normal my hair again was super dry.
And again with an avocado oil mask. I had the same results as the coconut oil. Now I’m really devastated at how bad these masks have now made my hair… it was bad before… but now it’s terrible. I’m very insecure and now wear my hair Twizzled into a bun so no one will see how bad it is. I don’t know what to do.
Hello, It might help to know that your first mask (egg) was a protein treatment, this is meant for limp oily hair that is too stretchy. Your other two treatments do not help either because you did oil masks, oil is not moisturizing but it can provide nutrients and lock in moisture. For dry, brittle hair, you need moisturizing masks, such as the avocado and honey mask or a store bought deep conditioning moisture treatment- stay consistent with the treatments, rub a small amount of a light oil like coconut oil after the treatment to lock in moisture, and stay away from protein for a while.. you’ll notice a great difference. don’t give up on the natural way :)
You have what’s called protein overload. Read up on it, there are lots of articles about how to reverse protein overload.
I’ve just made and used this for the first time, my hair is quite short so I have quite a bit left over………… would I be able to freeze what is left and defrost it when I want to use it again rather than waste what is left?
Good recipe; I have shoulder length hair & this is extremely nourishing.would recommend.
I have tried so many conditioners and this mask has been amazing for my hair especially when having it naturally curly. Its softer, stronger, more manageable and my curls are so defined.
I have African hair. Here’s my honest experience- no sugar coating. I tried it and my hair was extremely hard at first. I thought I had ruined my hair. A lot of my hair fell out but I think it was just dead hair. Not a reaction to the masking treatment. I can really tell a difference after the treatment! My hair is much softer and much more manageable. I don’t know if I put enough honey or olive oil..I just eye’d it but whether I did or not I truly appreciated this treatment because it seemed to have thickened my hair in a good way. It didn’t seem weighed down. I am now just wearing my natural hair pulled back and I’m okay with that. Usually my hair is thin. Primarily because it’s uneven. Some of my hair is 14″ and In other spots half that length and varies in between. Im going to get my ends cut soon and stay on top of learning how to support my hair to be beautiful because I’m tired of getting keratin treatments due to the health concerns. Despite what they advertise the unhealthy chemicals ‘can be’ activated from flat ironing well after you’ve gotten the treatment … like from simple heat like taking a hot shower…who doesn’t want a hot shower?..I just found out about this and am very disappointed. I loved Keratin treatment but if I can support my hair to have a beautiful healthy curl by putting avocados honey and olive oil in it every so often then that’s what I’ll do. Thanks a lot for sharing this article and guiding me! Oh yeah, one more thing the smell was bad to me. It smelled like Clay. Any suggestions on this for next time? maybe use more honey?
I felt the very same. Loved how it made my hair look and felt :) I smelled like an avocado i guess it’s normal maybe add more olive oil or honey would do. Btw I also used Vitamin E <3
I have curly hair and i did this today morning. It’s a thick paste but when washed it feels smooth. It sort of expands my curls which means hair gets wavy afterwards not back to my curly hair. It softens the hair a lot. Great for anyone who posse straight or wavy hair or even curly.
Do you have to use a shower cap or can you use a plastic bag.
I imagine that would work!
Hey Ladies, I’d love to try this But, it seems counter-productive to shampoo afterwards. Can I just rinse it with lemon water or something other than shampoo? We’re stripping away all the good the diy avocado conditioner does by shampooing after. Any suggestions? Thanks!!
Don’t rinse with lemon ise Luke warm water or a sunflower shampoo. You can even use baby shampoo.
I Have been doing this for months and worked fine. Except I shampoo my have first then apply avacado, Less olive oil and more honey. leave for about 1-2 hours. Rinse well and apply conditioner then rinse again. No issues with excess oils. #naturalhair
My hair is thin and long. It’s mainly my scalp that’s dry and when my hairdresser put on the color, 12 hours later my scalp starts itching and burning. It’s happened twice now. She want to a patch test to see if if it’s the color product, which I will let her do. My doctor said thatwhen you have dry scalp it causes your scalp to get tiny cracks with cause the burning/itch sensation when you get your hair colored. Before the patch test get here I wanted to try a home remedy and saw yours. I emailed to my hairdresser and she said it sound good. Since I’m using for just a scalp treatment for right now, would it be better for me to cut your recipe in half?
I think you could go either way!
While the ingredients are beneficial the application is all wrong. As we all know oil and water do not mix! If Oil is put in water you will notice that the oil stays on the top. So therefore applying oil to damp hair will do the same thing. Oil will not penetrate the hair shaft, rather just sit on top defeating the whole purpose of moisturizing.Any oil based should always be applied to DRY HAIR! then wrap in plastic wrap and if you wish wrap a hot moist towel over that, and leave on as desired. l believe this is just common sense and doing some extra research, several different sites also said the same thing. So ladies get most out of your oil based hair masks and remember to apply to dry hair!
I just did this hair mask today as my hair has been super dry and dull lately. I applied it all over my hair but avoided my roots. I washed my hair twice to ensure I got everything out and even after 2 washes, my hair was SO GREASY! I had to get back in the shower and wash it a THIRD time (which I’m sure completely defeated the purpose…) and it’s a little better now, but still a bit greasy. My hair feels soft.. I’ll give you that, but not worth it for the amount of oil it leaves behind.
★
does this work for black boys too?
My hair has been thinning a lot. I’ve tried supplements, eating clean among other things. Nothing is working. Would this mask help with nourishing the hair follicles?
★★★★
OMG YES!! I needed this recipe! I did my mask at night before bed and I felt like I slept on a bed of flowers.
★★★★★
Great information. The recipe is so well explained and the method of using is also pretty well described. Thank you so much for sharing.
I’m not sure how to rate this. But I have to say I super love hair mask and I love avocados and stuff. I did try this on myself and a friend. I saw sadly have to say I didn’t like this as much as I should of. I didn’t everythinv that it says but the mask left so much avocado sick from the insides. I sadly have to say this one isn’t realy much favorite a and it also left my hair feeling oily which I do not like.
★★
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