By Julyne Derrick

Coconut oils and milks are great for both your skin and your hair. In the tropics, women have been moisturizing their hair with coconut milk for generations. And for good reason, coconut milk is wonderful for keeping hair soft and shiny.

Here, I include 3 coconut milk masks for the hair and as an extra bonus, I've included a recipe for making your own homemade coconut milk.


Simple Coconut Milk Hair Mask
Coconut oils and milks are great for both your skin and your hair.

This recipe is a favorite and leaves hair silky and smelling fabulous.

What's best about this hair mask is how absolutely simple it is. Plus, there's no need to use all the milk. You can cover the bowl and use again after a few days.

Ingredients

• 1 can of unsweetened coconut milk
• a few drops of essential oil if you like (totally not necessary, but if you have them on hand it can be luxurious).

How to Use
Pour a can or bottle of unsweetened coconut milk in a bowl and refrigerate overnight so it hardens. Section hair into 3-5 sections and section, by section, apply the milk from roots to ends of your hair (hair should be dry when applied). Cover head with a shower cap and leave the mask on for about 20 minutes. Rinse hair in the shower and comb out. If you have dry ends but your scalp tends to get oily, apply this mask only to the bottom 3/4ths of hair, keeping it off the scalp.


Coconut Milk & Avocado Hair Mask
I love the effects of avocado on dry, frizzy hair. This recipe is for shoulder-length hair. Add more if you have long hair.

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp unsweetened coconut milk
• 1/2 avocado
• 1 tbsp honey

Throw the ingredients in a blender to combine. Add another tablespoon of milk if it's not runny enough.

How to Use
Wet your hair thoroughly, then comb the mask through from roots to ends. Cover with plastic and a towel or a shower cap if you have one and let the mask sit for 10-30 minutes before rinsing thoroughly.
I have found that even 5 minutes helps with these masks, so if you're in a hurry, you can rinse after a few minutes and you won't have to leave the shower.


Infused Olive Oil and Coconut Milk Hair Mask
You've heard of hot oil treatments, well you can make your own with an infusion of rosemary and olive oil. The milk is added for extra moisturizing benefits. Don't have time to make an infusion? No worries. Just skip that part. Olive oil and coconut milk are wonderful together even without the herb.

Olive oil infusions will last for 6 months.

Ingredients

• 1 cup olive oil
• 3 tbsp dried rosemary leaves
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk

To make the infused olive oil, combine the oil and rosemary leaves in an airtight Ball jar for 4-8 weeks. If you don't have time for this, make the infused oil by gently heating the rosemary in the oil for 2-4 hours in a water bath or double-boiler. Whatever you don't use on your hair, you can use for meals. Rosemary-infused olive oils are wonderful brushed over focaccia breads or used for dipping.

Once you have your infused olive oil, you'll make your hair mask by combining 1/2 cup of the infused olive oil and 1/2 cup of the coconut milk.

How to Use
Apply to hair, cover with a shower cap and let it sit for 30 minutes. Rinse thoroughly. You may feel you need to shampoo your hair after a hot oil treatment, which is fine.


How to Make Your Own Coconut Milk
While you can buy coconut milk in a can, there's nothing better than homemade just-off-the-coconut milk.

Here's how to make your own.

Ingredients

• 1 coconut
• 4 cups boiling water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Find the eyes on the coconut (they are always the 3 spots on one end of the coconut). You need to pierce these with an ice pick or a sharp skewer. This is to allow the heat to penetrate the coconut.

Drain the coconut water into a cup.

Place the coconut in a pan and bake for 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and place on a large wooden cutting board or other solid work surface. Break the coconut apart with a hammer. Rinse the coconut meat and slice the coconut into small pieces (no need to break the shell away from the meat).

Place the coconut pieces and the reserved coconut water in a blender and blend until finely chopped.

Put the chopped coconut into a glass bowl with the 4 cups of boiling water. Cover the bowl and let it sit for 30-45 minutes.

Using a strainer or cheesecloth, strain the mixture into another bowl. This is your milk. You should have enough for 3 treatments. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

This article first appeared on About Style

Happy Healthy Hair – Vitamins and Supplements
from Kala Kilshaw

Our hair and nails are the last place to receive the benefits of vitamins and we rarely eat as much of the good stuff as we need. As hair is 91% protein, in order to repair it from the inside out, a regular hair masque is the solution. Many masques available are moisture based so make the hair feel soft and smooth but don’t actually do any internal good. A simple homemade protein based masque is all you need.

These 2 examples are perfect for all hair types, they are a great blend of proteins and fatty acids exactly what we need for Happy Healthy Hair.

Ingredients for Banana Hair Masque
• 1 banana
• ¼ cup of almond milk
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 tbsp honey

⚛ Cut banana into small pieces and place in a bowl
⚛ Add ¼ cup of almond milk
⚛ Add 2 tbsp coconut oil
⚛ Add 2 tbsp honey
⚛ Blend or mash until smooth

Ingredients for Avocado Hair Masque
• 1 pitted avocado
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tbsp of either coconut, olive or almond oil

⚛ Place the avocado and egg yolk in a bowl
⚛ Add 2 tbsp of either coconut, olive or almond oil
⚛ Blend or mash until smooth

Directions of use:

★ Apply to freshly shampooed, towel dried hair (squeeze water from the hair don’t rub, this prevent roughing the cuticle and causing damage)

★ Cover with a plastic shower cap or bag and a warm towel if possible

★ Leave for 20 mins

★ Comb through gently with a wide tooth comb from end to roots so as not to stress and damage the hair

★ Give your scalp a lovely massage – see details of the benefits above

★ Rinse thoroughly


⚛ 20 mins is perfect timing for treatments and don’t sleep with them in as there are no extra benefits.

⚛ You can add a couple of drops of your favourite essential oil if you want a more fragrant indulgence.

⚛ Drying your hair thoroughly instead of leaving it damp and tying it up will prevent, fungus, scalp problems and breakage.

This article first appeared on UKHairdressers.com

(The Science Experiment)
by Beth Skwarecki

When my hair gets frizzy, a good silicone serum is like magic. You just rub a drop on your hands, pat your hair all over, and your hair looks like a million bucks. But then you have to wash your hands afterward, which sometimes feels impossible. Silicone just does not wash out like other hair products.

So the anti-frizz serum sits on a shelf in my bathroom, mostly unused. A few days ago, my four-year-old found it.

“What’s that in your hair?” I asked. The front of his head was all wet, shiny curls. “I washed it!” he said. With what? “Hair soap!”

Our hand soap is in a green container with a pump top. The anti-frizz serum is also in a green container with a pump top. Four year olds have a vague idea that hand soap is not for hair, but they also cannot read words like “serum” or “shampoo.”

I asked my Facebook friends what gets silicone out of hair. Surely someone would know. Apple cider vinegar was the first answer, and the second, and made several more appearances as the day went on. I had my doubts, since silicone is not water soluble. Clarifying shampoo was another popular recommendation, but is there really a difference between clarifying shampoo and regular shampoo?

Crowdsourcing would not solve my problem. I needed to use science

Click here for the experiment >>

Nowadays, whether or not you actually request balayage hair color in the salon, chances are you’re going to get it. That’s because balayage is one of the most modern, natural-looking, gorgeous hair color techniques around and more and more hair stylists are adding the service to their repertoires. If you have any doubts about the popularity of balayage, take a close look at any celebrity “It girl”—Hadids, Kardashians, Jenners, Swift, etc. On all of those constantly-scrutinized heads of hair, you’ll see evidence of carefully crafted balayage highlights. So if you ask your stylist for sunkissed, dimensional hair color, chances are he or she will incorporate balayage into your color service.

So what exactly is balayage?  Matrix Celebrity Spokesperson George Papanikolas is a balayage expert—his work can be seen on the tresses of Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Jenna Dewan Tatum, Hailey Baldwin, Hannah Jeter and loads more. “Balayage is actually a French word for painting,” says George. “And the technique originated in France. It’s a method of hand-painting sections of hair with lightener or hair color in order to create highlights that look as if the sun had lightened the hair naturally.” 

Typically, balayage highlights are concentrated on the center and ends of the hair, for the most natural-looking result. Many hair color experts also like to frame the face with balayage highlights. Because they’re not placed right at the root, regrowth is not noticeable, so frequent touch-ups aren’t necessary, making balayage a cost-effective hair color service. However, sometimes color artists like to combine balayage highlights with traditional, foil highlights for a more substantial lightening effect.

The best part about balayage highlights is that they are completely customized. That means your colorist will place them in the precise sections that will make your hair and your complexion look their very best.

You may think balayage is just for blondes, but that’s not the case. Balayage can be done on any color—blonde, brunette, red and more—and it can also be adapted for any length.

So — ready for hand-painted hair color?  Here are 10 of our favorite balayage hair color designs.

Platinum Balayage
Ice princesses rejoice! This clean, clear blonde balayage is completely Frozen-worthy, and has the cool impact of a Scandinavian blizzard. The roots are light, beige blonde and the wide balayage highlights in the center and on the ends are snowy pale.

Light Blonde Balayage
It’s blonde hair shot through with moonlight. Champagne strands are embellished with glistening silver balayage highlights to produce this shimmering effect. Applying the highlights with a delicate touch produces the all-over, gleaming result.

Medium Blonde Balayage
Also referred to as “bronde,” this medium blonde confection combines the best of both palettes. It’s a mélange of milk chocolate and cocoa brown, plus mocha and light cream highlights.

Dark Blonde Balayage
Perfect if your hair is on the dark side naturally, this combo maintains some of your rich, natural hue, then enlivens it with streaks of smoky blonde. Highlights should be heavier on a darker base, and for the most natural-looking results, your stylist will mix up the sizes, making some highlights thicker and some finer.

Light Brown Balayage
As innocent as a little kid, these subtle tones of sandy brown and buttery blonde will look like you spent the summer building sandcastles on the beach—even if you never left your desk! The key to placing these balayage highlights is to aim for the spots where the sun would hit your hair—around the face, on the crests of the waves and on the tips.

Medium Brown Balayage
Warm brown haircolor is lovely on its own. But add a few golden blonde highlights and, whoa! The results turn heads! Subtlety is the key to highlighting this hue. George Papanikolas recommends placing highlights in a v-shape on select sections, leaving the center of the “v” un-highlighted, for delicately beautiful results.

Dark Brown Balayage
Chocolate, caramel and honey work beautifully on the dessert tray, and the combination is equally delicious when it comes to balayage. These dramatic hues are bold and glamorous, and they reflect your confident approach to style and fashion.

Watercolor Balayage
If you’re looking for a cross between natural and high fashion, unconventional color, consider Watercolor balayage. Here, pale moss highlights are nestled in a smoky base, for a result that’s fashion forward yet still classic.

Grey Balayage
Grey is the new black. Rather than running screaming at the onset of a few greys, fashionistas are flocking to their color pros for cool versions of slate, steel, violet and blue-grey shades. One of the most popular “grey-dient” approaches is balayage. A deep base gradually morphs into lighter tones on the midlengths and ends. For example, if the base is inky blue, the lighter sections may be pale blue-grey and blue-silver.  If the base is deep violet, the ends could be done in variations of steely lavender.

Red Balayage
Think balayage is just for blondes and brunettes? Nuh-uh! It’s a gorgeous technique for redheads, too! Balayage provides the natural-looking dimension that redheads need, and the results are super subtle. For the most realistic results, your stylist will create a warm base color of auburn or chestnut, and then add balayage highlights in lighter tones of strawberry and toffee.