Natural hair care is the only way to afford it when you want lustrous locks and problem-free hair. Shea butter is one of the best hair ingredients; adding it to your DIY hair conditioner can do wonders for your hair.
If you want to nourish and moisturize your locks, soothe dry scalp or hair, strengthen your locks, and condition your hair, shea butter is your best bet. Let’s look at how shea butter helps hair and incorporate it into your recipes for healthy hair.
Benefits of Shea Butter for Hair
When used regularly, Shea butter offers numerous hair, scalp, and skin benefits. It’s also natural and suitable for most hair and scalp types. The key benefits of this beautiful ingredient are as follows:
- Shea butter is an excellent moisturizer that moisturizes your hair and skin for hours after application.
- Those with curly or thick and coarse locks will benefit from using shea butter because it nourishes and moisturizes hair and works as a sealant to prevent moisture loss, familiar with coarse, curly, and highly porous hair.
- It’s an anti-inflammatory and can help combat inflammation-related issues of the scalp.
- It’s an excellent healer and very useful for restoring damaged locks.
- Some studies have found that shea butter helps treat eczema and dryness-triggered dandruff.
- An anti-aging aid, shea butter helps combat aging-related issues and promotes cell regeneration and keratin synthesis. This is especially useful to combat thinning hair or receding hairline, brittle or weak hair, split ends, etc.
- Rich in nutrients like Vitamins E and A and essential fatty acids, shea butter nourishes and strengthens your locks. It’s also an emollient and also acts as a natural heat protectant.
- It can prevent frizzy hair and dryness of the hair or scalp.
DIY Shea Butter Hair Conditioner Recipes
Whether you want to promote hair growth, curb frizz, repair dry or damaged hair, strengthen your hair, and more, you can choose your ingredients or make swaps in the recipe according to your requirements. We’re sharing a basic recipe that can be tweaked according to your requirements, along with a few other recipes and suggestions for tweaks and additions.
Basic Vegan Shea Butter Hair Conditioner
This is a very versatile recipe you can use as a base, and it is simple. Yet, it’s a nourishing and moisturizing recipe that wonders for your hair.
Ingredients
Shea Butter – 1 Tbsps.
Coconut Oil – 2 Tbsps.
Argan Oil – 1 Tbsp.
Vitamin E Oil – a few drops
Lavender Essential Oil – a few drops
Instructions
Melt the Shea Butter and Coconut Oil together in your double boiler.
Once melted, remove from heat and refrigerate for a few minutes.
The mixture shouldn’t solidify fully, just a little to make whipping easy.
Remove from the refrigerator and start beating on medium-high with your hand blender.
Slowly add the Argan Oil, Vitamin E Oil, and Lavender essential oil while whipping.
Once the mixture turns nice and fluffy, it’s ready.
Usage
You can use this as a leave-in conditioner – take a small dollop, apply sparingly, and comb through to spread evenly.
Make sure to cover the tips.
You can apply on the roots if you don’t have oily hair.
If you’re using this as a deep conditioning treatment pre-shower, let it sit for a couple of hours before washing off.
Notes
You can swap the coconut oil with other carrier oils if you prefer. Choose the carrier oil depending on your hair and scalp type – you can use sweet almond oil, avocado oil, apricot oil, Jojoba oil, olive oil, etc.
You can also use herb-infused oils instead of plain carrier oils.
You can add essential oils of your choice for added aroma or benefits.
You can also add aloe vera gel or juice for added hydration.
Easy Vegan Shea Hair Strengthening Conditioner
This deep conditioning and nourishing conditioner recipe helps restore damaged hair to health and strengthens hair. It’s also beginner-friendly and very versatile to customize according to your needs.
Ingredients
Shea Butter – 1/4 Cup
Avocado Oil – 1 Tbsp.
Rosehip Oil – 1 Tbsp.
Argan Oil – 2 Tbsps.
Vitamin E Oil – a few drops
Rosemary Essential Oil – a few drops
Myrrh Essential Oil – a few drops
Instructions
Melt Shea Butter and Avocado Oil together in your double boiler.
Once melted thoroughly, remove from heat and refrigerate for a few minutes.
Remove it from the refrigerator once the mixture turns slightly cloudy but not complicated or opaque.
It should take a few minutes in most cases.
Slowly whipping the mixture medium-high with your hand blender while adding Argan Oil.
Also, add in the essential oils and whip till light and fluffy.
Transfer to a mason jar and use as needed.
Usage
Take a small dollop of the conditioner and apply it on damp hair.
Make sure to cover all the roots to tips.
Apply sparingly – little is more with this deep conditioner.
Comb through to spread evenly or massage and style as usual.
If you’re using this as a pre-shower treatment, let it sit for a few hours before washing off. You can apply this pretty well if you use it before your shower.
Notes
You can also add Castor Oil to this recipe for thickening and strengthening hair. Also, it promotes hair growth. Castor oil can be dense and thick, so add sparingly, especially if using it as a leave-in conditioner.
You can add coconut milk to this recipe for added shine, strengthening, and softening hair. If using coconut oil, refrigerate and use within a week.
You can add a spoonful of vegetable glycerin to this recipe for added hydration.
This can be a DIY leave-in conditioner, especially for those with dry, frizzy, or damaged hair. For thinning hair or oily hair, it is best to use it as a pre-shower treatment, significantly if it weighs down your locks or leaves them greasy.
Easy Vegan Detangling Shealoe Hair Conditioner
This is a simple and easy conditioner recipe that uses aloe vera gel for added shine and slip that makes detangling easy.
Ingredients
Shea Butter – 1/4 Cup
Aloe Vera Gel – 1/4 Cup
Avocado Oil – 1 Tbsp.
Argan Oil – 1 Tbsp.
Ylang Ylang Essential Oil – a few drops
Vitamin E Oil – a few drops
Instructions
Melt shea butter and aloe vera gel together.
Once thoroughly combined, remove from heat and refrigerate for a few minutes.
Whip the mixture on medium-high while slowly adding other ingredients like argan oil, vitamin E oil, avocado oil, and essential oil.
Once light and fluffy, you’re all set.
Transfer to a mason jar and use as needed.
Usage
Take a small dollop of the condition and apply it to your locks.
Make sure to cover the tips.
Wait for a few minutes before you start detangling.
Detangle with your fingers or a wide-toothed detangling comb.
Style as usual.
Notes
You can add any essential oil of your choice, though geranium, lavender, ylang-ylang, and rosemary are among the few vital oils in detangling hair.
You can also add aloe vera juice instead of aloe vera gel.
Application Tips and Best Practices
Applying the conditioner to dry or wet hair and washing it off after an hour is best. This is especially helpful to get the most from using shea butter in your hair care routine without letting it weigh down your locks.
Unless you’re using it as a leave-in conditioner, leave the hair conditioner on your hair for an hour or more so it can work as a deep conditioning treatment.
Depending on your hair and scalp type, requirements, and preferences, choose and swap ingredients and adjust the quantities to make the recipe more suited or customized according to your needs.
Shea butter is suitable for your hair but is a very heavy ingredient. Combine it with other ingredients to make it more pliable and lighter. Your diy shea butter hair conditioner can be customized to suit your requirements, so make suitable swaps and make it as dense or light as you want.
You can apply it on your scalp and hair, though if you’re often left with greasiness despite washing, consider using it only on your locks from midway to the tips. Applying only on the hair shaft will still help your hair.
Leave the conditioner on your hair and scalp for an hour or more for best results.
If you think using hot water helps with rinsing out better and preventing greasiness, consider using lukewarm water instead of hot water. This way, hair is not ripped off the moisturization and conditioning it received from the conditioner recipe.
Final Thoughts
DIY is a lot of fun when we do our own little tweaks and experiments on the recipe to make it customized and more suited to our needs. Try these natural DIY shea butter hair conditioner recipes, and let us know how you like them.
As always, please reply with any questions, feedback, or requests. We love hearing from you. Don’t have time for DIY recipes?
No worries, we have you covered with a range of premium vegan hair care cosmetics from Vitamins Revive. Check out their online store to learn more about their products.
Let us know how these recipes turned out for you, the successful tweaks and trysts you did, and more!
