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Style and nourish your hair with this homemade flaxseed hair gel. It’s perfect for defining curls and waves, but also helps style hair when straightening.
One day, a friend of mine was over, and we were talking about flax seeds. She told me that in Colombia it’s common to make flaxseed hair gel, and is especially popular for styling curly and wavy hair. I was fascinated and decided to try it out myself.
I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical at first. I rarely use hair products because I hate the way they feel. Plus, once I made the flaxseed hair gel, I didn’t find the look of it very appealing.
Because it was a bit gloppy, I was worried that it would be sticky and gross, but I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t sticky at all, and I didn’t feel like I needed to immediately run and wash my hands off after applying it like I do with pretty much all other hair products! It just feels clean!
Why make it?
Flaxseed hair gel is amazing! Not only does it work wonderfully as a styling aid, but it is also said to be nourishing to the hair because flaxseeds are rich in omega 3, proteins, and antioxidants.
Any time you can use a natural product that works well, is non-toxic, and is even beneficial for your hair or body, I’d consider that a major win. It’s very simple to make, and you can reuse the packaging. That makes it a sustainable option too!
Ingredients
This simple recipe uses only 2 main ingredients: flaxseeds and water. That said, you can customize the recipe by adding other ingredients that may further nourish your hair.
The Flaxseeds
I have made the gel with both golden flax seeds and brown flax seeds. The brown flaxseeds seemed to give off more gel than the golden ones. Either will work, though. No matter what you use, you may find yourself needing to adjust the ratio of flaxseeds to water to get the consistency that you want.
The water
While I generally use distilled water for all of my homemade cosmetics, I normally use our filtered water from home when making this gel. Because we’ll be boiling the water in the first step, we should be killing off any problematic microbes that our water may have.
Essential oils
Essential oils are the perfect addition to your homemade flaxseed gel because they add a pleasant fragrance. Plus, some essential oils are said to be beneficial to hair.
I love using rosemary and lavender because they provide a fresh, herbal scent. They’re also great for the majority of hair types. They may add shine, improve circulation of the scalp, and help with dandruff.
The possibilities are really endless, though.
Vitamins and proteins
You can further boost the beneficial properties of your homemade hair gel by adding other nutrients. D-panthenol, aka. provitamin B5, is one of my favorite additions to almost all hair and skin product recipes. I buy it in liquid form and add it at around 2% of the recipe by weight. (So, I’d add around 2g if making 100g of hair gel.)
Apart from panthenol, I also often add either some sort of protein such as wheat or oat protein. Check the recommended dosage for any additives that you want to add. (I usually add these at around 2% too.)
Making flaxseed hair gel
Making the gel is simple enough too!
All you really need to do is to boil some water, add the flaxseeds to the boiling water and cook them. Once the mixture thickens slightly, you strain out the flaxseeds and allow the gel to cool. Once cool, you can add in any other ingredients like essential oils.
Troubleshooting
While this recipe is pretty simple overall, you may find yourself having issues straining out the seeds. This can happen if you cook the flaxseeds for too long and the gel gets too thick.
To remedy the situation, just add more water! You may need to cook it down a little bit longer, if you add too much, to get it right back to a happy medium point. (One where it is thick enough to be gel-like, but not so thick that you can’t strain the seeds out.)
Some people like to add the seeds to a small cotton pouch (like the teabags I quickly made from recycled t-shirt sleeves) or a tea strainer for easy removal. I tried that once, but didn’t find that I could get as much gel using that method. (The gel tended to stay within the pouch along with the seeds.) Feel free to give it a try, though.
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How long does it keep?
As this is a product with water in it, it won’t keep for very long unless you add a preservative.
Most people make flaxseed hair gel and store it in the fridge for up to a week. Because it’s a quick and easy recipe, and you probably end up using quite a bit of it in your hair each day, that’s really a great option.
If you want to keep the gel out of the fridge and/or for a bit longer than that, you can add a preservative to it.
Packaging
While I show the gel in a glass jar in the photos, I generally use silicone travel tubes for my homemade hair gel. The advantage of using a bottle or tube with a flip-top cap is that you aren’t using your fingers to scoop up the gel. Whenever you scoop up a product from a jar with your fingers, you are likely to be contaminating it, which will reduce its shelf-life.
You could also consider using a pump bottle of some sort. While they are convenient to use, I don’t like using them as much because they are harder to clean and reuse. I usually throw my silicone tubes in the dishwasher for cleaning and sanitizing before reusing them. They’ve held up pretty well over the years for multiple uses.
Preserving flaxseed gel
There are a few things that you’ll need to keep in mind before just randomly adding a preservative to your gel. I have a whole guide dedicated to natural preservatives, but I can give you a few tips here too.
pH
It’s important that the pH of the gel falls into the pH range in which your preservative is effective. The pH of my gel was (unsurprisingly) around 7 (neutral). That may be a bit high for some of the natural preservatives.
Normally, I’d want the pH for hair care products to be lower than 7 anyway (4.5-5). In the case of this gel, though, the pH doesn’t concern me as much as it does with a homemade shampoo. Applying this gel is basically like wetting your hair with water. It dries pretty quickly, leaving only the beneficial ingredients of the flaxseed.
That said, if you’d like to lower the pH of the gel (for either reason), you can add a couple of drops of lactic acid or make a solution of citric acid and add a small amount.
For more information about pH, check out my post about the importance of pH in cosmetics.
Dosage
The amount of preservative needed will depend on the preservative you are using.
Most of the natural preservatives need to be added at around 1% of the recipe by weight. That means that for every 100g of hair gel you make, you’ll need to add around 1g of preservative. (Leucidal will need to be added at a higher dosage, around 3.5%.)
Solubility
Because this product is mostly water-based, I’d choose a water-soluble preservative.
Other seed gels
I’ve had people ask me if chia seeds can be used to make a hair gel. To be honest, I still haven’t gotten around to trying it yet, but I’ve seen that other people do use chia seeds for hair gel. I’ve mostly stuck with flaxseeds because they’re generally the more frugal option. I’d also think that it would be slightly harder to filter out the chia seeds, but I could be wrong about that.
Interestingly enough, I also read that a fenugreek hair gel works better for straighter hair. (Flaxseed hair gel is said to work best for curly and wavy hair.)
How well does it work?
Well, here is a picture of before putting the gel in, and right after putting it in my hair without any further styling.
Before After
I’m pretty happy with that for quick and effortless summer styling!
Of course, I can always go back and define some of the curls better if I’m going out and want my hair to look even better.
How to use it
How you use the gel will depend on your type of hair and the way you want to style it.
I use it both on freshly washed hair, after towel-drying it, and as a pick-me-up for dry hair that needs a bit of styling help.
When you first put the gel on your hair and let it dry, it will get a little bit crunchy. I like to apply the gel, comb it through with either my fingers or a wide-tooth comb, and then allow it to dry. Once dry, I scrunch my hair to make it soft again. The curls will stay defined.
Sometimes I find myself adding a bit of the gel to my hair first thing in the morning after combing through my hair. That said, I have found that when I’m using this gel, I don’t really have to reapply every morning. After combing my hair, I can also wet it to reactivate the gel.
Flaxseed gel for skin
While this gel is normally used for styling and nourishing hair, some people like to use it on their skin!
Because it isn’t greasy, it can easily be applied in the morning to help hydrate the skin without making your skin look oily. Some people say it makes their skin glow!
It is also said to help tighten the skin and reduce the appearance of pores.
Alternative homemade hair gel
For those who are looking for another alternative for styling their hair, you can also make a no-cook homemade hair gel using gums like xanthan gum.
Easy Homemade Hair Gel (With or Without Aloe Vera)
Video
Nourishing DIY Flaxseed Hair Gel
Materials
- 3 Tbsp flaxseeds Brown or golden
- 1.5 cups water
- 5 drops lavender essential oil
- 5 drops rosemary essential oil
Instructions
- Add the water to a small saucepan and boil it.
- Once boiling, add the flaxseeds to the boiling water and lower the heat. Keep heating over medium heat until the water starts thickening up and getting frothy.
- When the water has thickened slightly, strain out the seeds using a metal sieve or other strainer. Work quickly as the gel will thicken as it cools, making it hard to strain.
- Optionally, add essential oils to your DIY flaxseed hair gel for fragrance.
- Store in the fridge for maximum storage time. Throw away and make a new batch when the gel starts to get cloudy, or after 10 days, whichever comes first.
- Flaxseed hair gel can be applied to wet or dry hair. Some people also like to apply it to skin for its nourishing qualities.
Notes
This post was originally published on April 22, 2015. It was rewritten, adding new information, in April 2021.
Easy DIY Hair Conditioner for Natural Hair
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Shahwar
I added gel ,lavender oil,rosemary oil and coconut oil ,and use it 30 minutes before of every shower…is it ok that way??is it will be beneficial for hairs this way…
Tracy Ariza
Hi Shahwar,
I’m not sure if it will have any added benefit using it right before showering. It’s meant to be more of a styling aid rather than a conditioning type product.
Fatima
Flax gel has amazing benefits for your hair and scalp, it gives it a nice shine and promotes hair growth since its rich in omega 3 fatty acids. I apply it on my hair before showering. It seems that when i add essential oils to it (not only makes it smell amazing and the added benefits of the essential oils!) but it also preserves it. I read somewhere that it could stay up to 3 weeks in the fridge. You’ll notice a sublte smell if it starts getting bad. I have naturally soft/straight hair and im going to try applying it after showering as well to see if i get some volume and waves!
Rumi
Hi… Can colour my hair after applying flax seed gel?
Tracy Ariza
Hi Rumi,
Yes, That should be fine. I’ve done it before without any problems. 🙂
sidonie deboniare
have you looked at the curly girl method. looks like it would work great on your hair xx
Tracy Ariza
Hi Sidonie,
I hadn’t heard of it, and just gave it a look. It sounds like what I’ve been doing lately and, yes, it’s been doing wonders for my hair. I’ve been making my own cleansing conditioner type shampoos. My DIY conditioner also works really well on my hair!
Thanks for pointing me in their direction, though! They are definitely on to something. 🙂
Andrea
Did you ever give an update about your experience with soap nuts? I’m curious!
Tracy Ariza
Hi Andrea,
Actually, I never got around to it because I was never really sure how well they worked. I will say that I used them for all sorts of things. I used them to wash my clothes, to wash dishes in the dishwasher, to wash my hair, etc.
It really appeared to work pretty well, but out of curiosity, I tried doing most of the same things with just water and I couldn’t really be sure that they were really doing anything. The dishwasher and washing machine actually do a pretty decent job on most things without anything else. I guess the hot water really does a lot. 😉
Because I’m not 100% about the efficacy of them, I decided to skip posting about them. I figure there are a lot of people already writing about them, and I wasn’t really going to say anything totally new anyway. I’m now working on using surfactants to make the same sorts of cleansers. Hopefully I’ll get those up on the blog soon. (Just a few more trials first) 🙂
Sri
Hi Ariza,
Can I apply flax seed gel before I do straightning. I don’t want to use chemical .
Kindly suggest me.
Tracy Ariza
Hi Sri,
I’ve never tried using it before heat straightening because I like to keep my curls, especially since the quality of my hair has improved recently due to not washing it as much and using natural products like this one.
That said, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work before straightening.
Morgan
Hi is their a way you could make it into a hairspray and also I boiled my flax seeds and the gel seems a little sticky what did I do wrong please help
Tracy Ariza
Hi Morgan,
I’ve thought about the hairspray idea myself. The problem I see is that it is water based and thick. If you thin it down with more water, it would end up wetting down your curl before it would dry enough to hold it in place. I don’t know if watering it down with alcohol would work, or if that would be bad for your hair. (I’m guessing most hairsprays have something like alcohol in them to allow the moisture in them to evaporate quickly.)
As for the stickiness… You probably didn’t do anything wrong. 🙂 The gel will feel slightly sticky when you hold it in your hands, but once it dries, the stickiness goes away. So, yes, it’s normal for it to feel slightly sticky when you are putting it in your hair, but once it dries it will harden and when you play with your hair, it will crackle and then your hair will then feel soft. I hope that makes sense. It doesn’t leave a stickiness once dry.
Sarah
You have a beautiful blog! I have been making my own flax seed gel for about a year now, and I love it. But I’m curious, do put the gel in while your hair is wet or dry? Thank you!
Tracy Ariza
Aw, thanks, Sarah!
I actually use it both ways. It has enough water in it that I find it works quite well on dry hair. In the pictures of this post, I put it in my dry hair and took the pictures pretty soon afterwards. As it dries, it gives a bit of a crunch that later softens. (As I’m sure you know, since you use it already.) 🙂
That said, I find it very convenient to use in towel dried hair too, especially before drying my hair with a blow dryer and diffuser.
Which way do you use it? (Or are you like me and do both?)
Thinking about it, this is one of the reasons that I often use it in dry hair…
I sometimes sleep with wet hair after showering at night, and don’t want to put it in my hair before going to bed so it doesn’t set in a bed head way. I instead add it in the morning to help better shape my hair. I may or may not dampen the hair a little when adding the gel, depending on how bad it is. 😉
sharde
i didnt let it froth up either and i used muslin bags as well
sharde
lol i bet they are tasty mine came out kind of thin but it was still pretty gelled it wasnt a solid like i expected was it supposed to be that way?
Tracy Ariza
Well, it kind of depends. If you want it thicker, you can either cook it longer, use less water, or try the brown seeds if you were using the golden ones. The muslin bag may also be affecting the amount of gel that gets made. I’ve since stopped using the bags because it was just easier for me to strain them with a stainless steel strainer.
In any case, I have used it both ways and thought I would like a thicker gel, but found it was easier to use when it was thinner. So, perhaps you can try it out, and then next time try to make it thicker, and try to achieve the texture you prefer from then on. 🙂
sharde
can you reuse the flax seeds like you can the soap nuts
Tracy Ariza
Hi Sharde,
That’s a good question.
I haven’t tried it, but I would suspect that you would be able to reuse them to a certain extent, but that you wouldn’t be able to get as much gel out of them the second time.
I’ve been known to snack on them afterwards instead. 😛
Adriana Lugo
Yes, you can put them in the fridge and reuse them. I’ve done it before, but didn’t like the gel the second time around.
Tracy Ariza
I need to update the recipe with another option: to preserve the gel with a natural preservative like Leucidal. That allows for making a gel that should keep out of the fridge for up to 3 months.
Jessamy
Hi Tracy,
How much leucidal would you use for this recipe please? And can you explain the ingredient to me like what is it made from and what are its properties?
Thanks for this hopefully my hubby and kids like it!
Do you have a recipe for a detangling hairspray that works for you? My daughter has similar hair and I currently deep treat it with either a lavender or calendula infused oliv oil which gives her hair AMAZING lush curls but shes 10 and wants to do things for herself and struggles to get the oil on evenly so I would like to try to make her a similar product that she can spray on, wondering if you had any ideas?
Warm regards
Jessamy
Tracy Ariza
Hi Jessamy,
Leucidal is a natural preservative that is derived from the fermentation of radishes. It is normally used at 3-4% of the recipe by weight to help preserve the life of the product. (So, if you are making 100g of gel, I’d add at least 3.5g of Leucidal.)
I chose that preservative because it’s seen as one of the “most natural” (or so I thought). I thought it would appeal to “crunchy” readers who normally try to avoid preservatives. I used it myself for a while but switched to try out new ones. Plus, I didn’t like the fact that you need to add such a high concentration of Leucidal to recipes.
I have been working on a (long) post about natural preservatives in the last couple of weeks, and just came across this:
http://chemicaloftheday.squarespace.com/most-controversial/2016/8/24/study-radish-root-ferment-contains-petrochemicals.html
It makes me reconsider if I want to recommend Leucidal. In my opinion, there are better preservatives out there anyway. (Lately, I like using Sharomix, but there is Cosgard, Preservative ECO, etc.)
My plan is to finish that post, and then go through my older recipes that recommended Leucidal, and pointing to the post explaining all of the options and how to switch out preservatives. (Most of the others are used at around 1%.)
As for the detangling spray…
Well, you are in luck. It is one thing I have been wanting to make. I just recently got an order for an ingredient (Basically cationic ingredients are conditioning and help detangle) that is supposed to help with making a great detangling spray. I’ll try to work on making mine in the next week or so- and will test it for a couple of weeks- and then try to get a post out as soon as I can!
I don’t want to say more until I test it, but meanwhile, you could always water down the homemade conditioner and use it as a detangler. (I’d add in more preservative, as needed, to compensate.)
Jessamy
Thanks so much for your reply! If you want someone to test the detangling spray you are working on I would be keen 🙂 I look forward to your post on preservatives because its something that makes me really nervous and I have never managed to find anything that explains them well, or if there are better preservatives for different product types (oil based, water based, I dont know what else but you get what I mean!) So hopefully that will make me feel a bit more confident.
Tracy Ariza
I’m having a hard time with the post because there is a lot of information I want to add, but don’t know how to best organize it all. Hopefully, I’ll cover most of what people are looking for…
If not, I’m sure I’ll later get lots of questions that will make me update it to do so. 😉
I can work on the spray this week and maybe privately message you with what I’m doing if you want to try?