I’m a sucker for DIY haircare or skincare. Always have. Always will be the vain one amongst my siblings, too. (Compensating much?)

It’s one of the many traits I shared with my dad. I mean, I was the one he relied on for facials, manicures, and pedicures. I’m proud to say I never let him down in the aesthetics department. For the less important stuff such as financial responsibility and overall maturity, he had two other daughters for that.

It’s safe to say I’m a bit of risk-taker when it comes to trying on “natural” ingredients on my skin. Because what could possibly go wrong?

Bicarb soda as an alternative to shampoo? Left me with hair fit for halloween. If I wanted to come as a Witch’s Broom. Forget combing it. I was literally clawing my hair between fingers and even then it wasn’t a very smooth process.

Olive oil as facial moisturizer? Sure. My skin glowed for a couple days but when Day 3 rolled in, so did the huge pimples that were as ripe and as plump as cherry tomatoes.

Sugar to exfoliate the face? So-so. Nothing bad really happened but I felt like it was a bit too rough and too big for my pores. Asphalt would’ve done a much finer job.

Egg whites to tighten your skin? I got told off by my mom. It didn’t sit well with her that I was wasting her eggs.

Speaking of eggs, mayonnaise on hair? A word of advice: Don’t. Not only does the acidic after-smell take ages to fade, you end up with really oily, slicky hair. Unless you’re into Goth.

At one point I was into the whole activated charcoal facial regimen, too. I mixed the black powder with water to turn it into a paste and then slapped the entire mixture as my face mask.

“Look, El!” I emerged proudly from the bathroom to showcase my then latest beauty discovery to my sister one night.

Bitch. laughed. her. ass. off.

The nasty kind, too.

Couldn’t take it against her, though. I had to admit my beauty hacks were pretty avant garde ten, fifteen years ago. I fucking pioneered that shit. Now I see activated charcoal gaining traction in the beauty industry and every time I do, I smile inside. I knew I was on to something!

Anyhow, I was recently introduced to another DIY hair care recipe and guess what, I LOVE IT! In fact, I plan to keep applying it on a regular basis and see how it goes but so far, so good. At the risk of sounding pompous, my hair has never been so luxuriously soft and shiny! Even my hair tie couldn’t handle it, sliding down the wonderful sleekness of my mane.

The only downside — and don’t worry, it’s temporary — is that while the oil mixture is on your hair, you’re gonna smell like sauteed onions. Because that’s exactly what the recipe calls for:

1 cup coconut oil +1 cup onions + 1 cup curry leaves fried together in a pan before straining out the leaves and the onions, leaving you with the miraculous bounty of the herb-infused liquid.

 

Massage into scalp. Leave in for a couple of hours. Shampoo it off (I do mine twice). Condition. Feel the magic working after a day or two.

Before you know it, you’ll be compelled to blog about it, too. Or proclaim about it on Instagram, at least. Which makes me guilty on both counts.

I should be showing you after pics, shouldn’t I? But, yeah, those are photos of me marinating my head. Wearing the glasses I rarely use to pass off as smart. :p