DYI hair detangler spray

(Yes, you're at the right spot.  I got bored with my blog design and decided to try something new.)

So for some reason, my favorite mother-in-law sent me a link the other day for homemade hair detangler spray.  Actually the reason might be that Johanna has the rattiest hair imaginable.  It's thick... but it's fine, and she can actually get a snarl in the back of her head while sleeping.  In braids.

Anyway, this particular recipe comes from the Frugally Sustainable website.  Just glancing over the recipe, my first thought was, wow, this looks easy.  My second thought was, what the hell is marshmallow root?

Here's the ingredient list so you can see what I'm talking about:

1 1/4 cup distilled water
1/4 cup (1/2 ounce) dried marshmallow root
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 tablespoon olive oil or jojoba oil
Essential oils, optional

(Easy, right?  Except I won't lie, I have no idea what jojoba oil is either.)

Our town has a grocery store with a killer bulk food section.  They have all kinds of weird stuff, so I figured marshmallow root would be no problem.  And there it was, between the marjoram and the Mexican seasoning.  For $22.89 a pound.  Luckily I only needed 1/2 ounce.  That's 45¢ worth, just in case you don't feel like doing the math yourself.

Fast forward to that night.  I simmered the marshmallow root in the water for 30 minutes.

Mmm, tasty!  It looks like shredded wheat.

Then I strained it through a sieve.  Technically I was supposed to wait until it cooled down.  I do not possess that kind of patience.

Huh.  Looks like egg yolks.  DOES NOT
smell like marshmallows.

I didn't end up with a lot of liquid, but maybe that's because I simmered it uncovered or something.  Whatever.  Moving on.  I added the rest of the ingredients, including a couple drops of Tea Tree Oil because that's the only essential oil I own.  I mixed that around for a while and then poured it into one of Johanna's many detangler spray bottles.

What was leftover.  Too gross not to share.

So I don't know if it was the bottle's fault or my fault, but this mixture just did NOT want to spray on Johanna's hair.  And we all have lives to lead.  So I just dumped some of it on her hairbrush and went to town.

And OH MY HECK.  Worked like a champ!  Well, except on that one little rat's nest of a snarl on the left side of her head that we can never seem to get rid of.  So for THAT, Eric strategically used a pair of scissors.

Um, wow.

And then we all rejoiced in the smoothness that was Johanna's hair.

Pretty!

Incidentally, this isn't particularly greasy, even with the oil in it, and the vinegar smell eventually dissipates.  Her hair is soft and smooth and was really easy to comb through--we can't hold this stuff accountable for The Snarl, since NOTHING would have been able to take that out.  Don't think it's going to last particularly long, but for 45¢ a shot, who cares?  Definitely worthwhile.

So thanks, Frugally Sustainable.  That was fun.  And I would not hesitate to make it again.