Last week we put 3 guest bloggers up to the challenge of trying out a homemade Australian hair care “secret.” Read all about it here… or just see their pictures and results below and decide: will YOU start keeping cracked beer bottles next to your loofa?
1. HONEY
The Australian Secret: “Dissolve one spoonful of honey into three cups of warm water. Once dissolved simply pour over wet, freshly washed hair and let dry. Do not wash it out. Then just style as normal. This leaves hair soft with intense shine.”
Guest Experimenter: Rachel, Uncurbable Craving (Twitter @ThatTweetThing). Why her? Because she’s as tweet as honey.
Rachel’s Review: Honestly, I wasn’t entirely convinced that this humectant treat would be enough for my wild mane. I wasn’t sure if it would condition or add sheen to my hair enough. Usually I add a TON of conditioner… tons and tons, really. In this case, I didn’t use my bottle of conditioner at all. I shampooed my hair and then poured the honey mixture allover my freshly washed hair and then hopped out of the shower. I didn’t rinse it out. It didn’t leave my hair sticky in any way, in the shower or out.
When my hair was dry, I could tell that it felt soft. It had a nice shine to it. What was most notable to me was that the leave-in honey treatment almost acted as a styler. It seemed to hold my waves in very nice spirals. I think I’ll try this again; a good way to sometimes save on very expensive conditioner by switching it up!
2. EGGS + MAYO
The Australian Secret: “Combine one egg and mayonnaise together and apply to washed hair. Leave in for five minutes then rinse for great shine and body. Or you can replace the mayonnaise with two teaspoons of castor oil for a healthy scalp and roots. Eggs are used to add body, shine and softness to any head of hair.”
The Guest Experimenter: Nova McGinty, Good Food North East (Twitter: @novamc). Why her? Because she’s from the UK (a non-American P.O.V. yet still our toilet-water hemisphere) AND she’s writing about food anyway.
Nova’s Review: I’m the girl willing to try most things once, I pay over £6 (around $12) each for my shampoo and conditioner and if I can try something that I can put together from my kitchen cupboard and it saves me money I’m willing to try it. But when Michelle asked me to be a guest blogger and my mission if I should choose to accept it was to use eggs and mayo on my hair… I was a little dubious.
I along with 3 friends blog on a regular basis about food – but we go to restaurants and eat it.
But being a lover off all thing that Michelle does at Spa Week and in NYC, I’m putting my trust in her and joining in with the edible hair experiments from down under.
Okay, so before I even begin, I go to raid the cupboard to discover we have NO mayo – yeah that’s right no mayo! Our house isn’t a big fan of it and I don’t like to eat it if I can help it but I have no issues layering it on my hair in the name of Spa Week science. If I’m honest I think I have the raw (no pun intended) end of the deal. I think I’d prefer the beer task any day! (Don’t speak too fast, Nova!)
Before (Nice Body)
After (Flat and Split-looking)
I wash my hair with my regular shampoo, then mix the egg and mayonnaise together and apply to my hair, It’s very messy and I’m surprised there isn’t much of a smell. I leave in for 5 minutes then rinse. Whilst trying to get it out of my hair I notice it feels kind of greasy. I rinse a little more until it feels okay.
My hair now fully dried doesn’t feel full of body. The shine is there but it feels as if there’s a layer of something left on my hair and I’m contemplating washing it again.
Aussie-brand hair products are the only Australian thing I’ll be using in my hair in the future.
3. FLAT BEER
The Australian Secret: Apply flat beer to the hair and scalp, then rinse it out. Beer has a cleansing quality that will clarify the hair and leave it shiny and free of any built-up product.
The Guest Experimenter: Oz Sultan of Perks Consulting News (Twitter: @ozsultan) Why him? Because what else was he gonna do with that six pack in the fridge? (Not to mention that luscious hair!)
Oz’s Review: I ended up looking like Nicole Kidman from “Days of Thunder”. I’m not quite sure what sort of woman washes her hair with flat beer, I can however assure you that if it were a curly haired lass, that it was Kylie Minouge in the 1980s.
Since you’ve probably never tried this, let me describe the experiment in detail. Two-day flattened beer has this sort of frat-house like vinegary scent which doesn’t quite wash out in the shower. One is left with this “hint of hops” that lingers long after you’ve exited the subway and made it to work. Now, I should mention that my hair is naturally wavy-to-curly depending if I’m in the desert or a tropical jungle. The flat beer wash curled my hair like crazy – which lasts more than one day. By the way.
Conclusion: Inadvisable unless you can handle the curls!
Nicole Kidman photo courtesy of www.screenrush.co.uk
Perfectly dim lighting, terrycloth and rubber slippers, exotic decor, chocolate truffles that will make you see stars, and attendants that know exactly when to refill your tea or bring you another one of their warm, plush towels… it’s details like these that distinguish a great spa experience from an outstanding spa experience.
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