For those of you who are tired of toxic chemical leave-in conditioners, here’s a recipe for a natural leave in conditioner and hair detangler that’s cheap, leaves no residue, and can be made in under 5 minutes! This recipe works for curly and straight hair, hydrates dry hair, and doesn’t contain ingredients that could weigh down hair (coconut oil, shea butter, etc.).
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I was only six years-old in 1991. I can remember like it was yesterday begging my mom for big hair. Not just any big hair. I wanted 1991 big hair with Shirley Temple style ringlet curls.
Big hair was an important accessory needed to complement my bleached denim overalls and tie-dyed shirts. It was that year, my mom finally spoke the words I had waited so long to hear (it seemed like “so long” as a six year-old) , “YES!”
The big day finally arrived. My mom turned our living room into a full-working beauty salon. A few hours later my first perm was complete. I ran to the my parent’s bathroom to check out my new do.
The excitement only lasted for so long. Perms only last so long. Within a few months my hair went back to my natural straight locks.
Even after the style of the ’90s passed (although the clothing of today is starting to reflect the outfits I wore in first grade…who decided to bring back faded overalls and super high-waisted pants??), I’ve longed for big curly hair. Maybe it’s one of those “the grass is always greener” scenarios. I want what I can’t have– gorgeous curls!
Three years ago, my second child, Londyn, was born. The greatest surprise of all appeared around her first birthday with the sighting of a ringlet curl. Today, Londyn is 10 years-old and has gorgeous curly hair. I’m now living vicariously through Londyn.
I’ve learned a lot about caring for curly hair over the past few years. Like curls just can’t be combed with a “regular” hair brush. Oh no, that’s a recipe for pure disaster, at least that’s been my experience with Londyn’s hair. Curly hair must be delicately cared for in very specific ways. A gentle comb and leave-in conditioner and detangler are essential to maintaining Londyn’s curly hair.
Thankfully, a DIY leave-in conditioner and detangler recipe is very easy to make. Not only is it super easy to make, the ingredients work better than most store-bought products (in my opinion)! In fact, I’ve tried a lot of hair detanglers on Londyn’s hair over the last year, and by far this natural homemade version is the best. I’m excited to share this simple recipe with you!
What are the best ingredients for a natural leave-in conditioner and detangler?
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Glycerin: Glycerin is a sugar alcohol derived from plants or vegetable fats (there is also a synthetic version which I recommend staying away from). Glycerin is used in many beauty products due to its moisturizing properties. Glycerin is known as a “hygroscopic.” This means glycerin pulls moisture from the air. This is why glycerin makes a fantastic leave-in conditioner and detangler! On its own glycerin can destroy the hair and strip it of moisture, but when diluted glycerin softens the hair and even reduces frizz. I recommend this glycerin.
1 Tablespoon Aloe Vera Gel: Aloe vera gel comes from the aloe vera plant. The gel (found inside the leaves) is great for moisturizing the skin and hair. Aloe not only attracts moisture to the hair, but also seals it in. Aloe also contains many minerals which are beneficial for the body (including the hair and skin!). I recommend this aloe vera gel.
Lavender Essential Oil: This ingredient is completely optional. If you would like to add essential oils for scent, I recommend going with an oil that may provide some beneficial properties to the hair. Orange, lavender, and rosemary essential oils are great for natural hair care. Some folks suggest that lavender essential oil is helpful for hair growth. I’m not sure how much substance there is behind this claim, but if you want to try a natural hair growth option, then go for it. It can’t hurt. My favorite brand is Plant Therapy.
You can also use other natural ingredients to make homemade leave-in conditioner, from shea butter to coconut oil, but I prefer the ingredients listed above. Heavy oils and butters can weigh down hair, depending on your hair type. The goal of my recipe, and the ingredients used, is to provide hydration and aid in detangling hair strands, without needing to wash out the leave-in conditioner (that’s the whole goal of a LEAVE-IN conditioner).
If you’d like to experiment with other natural conditioning ingredients, explore 13 natural leave-in conditioner recipes from healthline.
How to make natural leave-in conditioner
Making DIY leave-in conditioner and hair detangler can be done in under 5 minutes and doesn’t require any special tools. Just grab a small squirt bottle (you can even reuse an old hair care bottle), add the glycerin, aloe vera, distilled water (distilled water is best to use to minimize bacterial growth), and essential oil (if using). Place the cap on the bottle and give the ingredients a good shake. That’s it! You’re done.
How to use DIY leave-in conditioner
Use homemade leave-in conditioner just as you would any store-bought product: spray the conditioner generously on hair strands, let it sit for a couple of minutes (to work its detangling and conditioning magic), then comb through the hair. I recommend using a wet brush or comb, particularly if you have thick, curly, or tangled hair. leave-in conditioner & hair detangler = magic moisturizing hair juice
What is the best natural hair conditioner?
What about wash-out conditioner that you use in the shower? Or natural store-bought leave-in conditioners that are sulfate-free and don’t use toxic ingredients, like parabens, in the formulas? If you’re looking for something natural that you don’t have to DIY, here are the best natural hair conditioners that I’ve tried and love…
- True Botanicals: True Botanicals is known for making non-toxic products that really work and rival conventional products. This is the shampoo and conditioner that I’ve been using for years now. And yes, I use this on my color-treated hair without issue.
- Innersense Beauty: The Pure Inspiration Daily Conditioner is made for all hair types, and the Color Radiance Daily Conditioner is formulated for color-treated hair. This brand also makes fantastic shampoo. Innersense also makes natural hair care products for detangling and styling. The leave-in conditioner is a reader favorite.
- Josh Rosebrook: Josh is known for beautifully-formulated natural skincare and hair products. Josh’s hair line includes shampoo, conditioner, hair spray, a hair mask for dry and brittle hair, and style cream for texture and definition.
- Dessert Essence: The best budget-friendly natural shampoo and conditioner. You’ll find this brand in most health food stores, online, and even some conventional stores. This brand makes various hair products and they all get rave reviews and are budget-friendly.
Explore the best 8 natural shampoos and conditioners reviewed.
Homemade Leave-In Conditioner Hair Detangler
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 TB aloe vera gel I believe you can also use pure aloe juice.
- 1/2-1 TB vegetable glycerin this amount depends on your hair. I recommend starting with 1/2 TB and working your way up to a higher amount. Almost 1 TB is perfect for Londyn. Some people may need more or less.
- 5 TB distilled water
- 10 drops lavender essential oil or orange or rosemary or your favorite essential oil (should be kid-safe if using in a child's hair)
Instructions
- In a 4-ounce spray bottle, combine all the ingredients: aloe vera gel, glycerin, water, and essential oil.
- Give the bottle a gentle shake until the aloe vera is combined. That's it! Store the natural leave-in conditioner and detangler at room temperature.
To Apply:
- Shake the bottle, spray hair strands generously with the leave-in conditioner, allow to rest for a couple of minutes in hair, then brush with a wet brush or comb.
Hi eager to make a recipe similar to this can I use tea tree, aloe, glycerin and water for natural girl hairstyle
Hey Vickey, It sounds like you want to use this recipe with a change to the essential oil? That’s fine :).
? Is 5 T. distilled water correct? that barely makes any.
thanks
Barb
Hey Barb, Correct, this makes a small amount at a time–the best way to make homemade body-care products using water :).
Hi there!
Thanks for the recipe(s)! I LOVE your blog & have been working my way through the products in our house replacing what I can with DIY stuff & your blog has been an excellent resource!
Quick question! I just whipped up a batch of this detangler for my kiddo & it seems to leave a sticky residue on my hands/her hair. I am applying it to mostly dry hair on days she doesn’t wash her hair (it’s pretty easy to come when freshly shampoo’d & wet) so maybe that’s why, but I just was curious if you had this issue? I did start with 1TB of glycerin, but then ended up adding extra water a day or 2 later to try to dilute the glycerin & see if that helped. No luck. Thoughts?
Hi i came from googling for a diy leave in conditioner, this seems like a nice hair recipe but it would have brought the post together if you had a picture of your daughter’s hair after it had dried. I appreciated the before shot but there’s nothing to compare it to, just some wet hair.
Anyway, awesome blog otherwise, I am enjoying reading your recipes!
Thanks for the tip, Olive! My goal was to show that the product works as a detangler–to help relieve the pain that comes with brushing curly, tangled hair and make brushing the hair easier. I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipes.
Is it possible to use tap or filtered water instead of distilled? Or possibly just boiled tap water?
Hey Kali, Yes, but you’ll want to use the detangler within a few days. You could also boil filtered water–you’ll want to boil it for about 15 minutes.
Thank you so much for posting this. My hair tends to be quite dry, and I have tried many hair oils over the years. The only thing that really seems to nourish my hair is olive oil, so I was looking for a leave-in conditioner for in between hot olive oil treatments. This recipe has been awesome for my hair! Leaves it silky and soft. Thank you!
Hey CNik, I’m so glad this recipe has been helpful for you!!
My 5 yr old daughter and I both have curls and the resulting difficulty with tangles. The best thing I have found so far is going no poo. Every product I bought for our hair did not work well. Once a week, I wash my hair with a flax seed “tea” and then I scrunch in a lot of aloe gel (a liquid-y type that has to be refrigerated). Over the course of the day, the aloe soaks in while also keeping my frizz calmed and my curls defined. At night, I brush each section of my hair with a boar bristle brush to distribute the sebum to the ends of my hair. I follow the same routine with my daughter’s hair, but I wash her hair with the flax twice a week, since she’s a kid and gets dirty sometimes (at the park, etc.). She loves when I brush her hair with the BBB (boar bristle brush). And I always use a comb when I put the aloe gel in her hair after her wash. I intend to exchange the pure aloe for your recipe and try that. Thank you for your work and your dedication to helping people find ways to live their own way. Hugs to you.
Love it! Thank you for sharing!
Hi There,
I love all your recipes however, recently after doing some research, I am some concerns around shelf life. How long can this product last considering it has both aloe and water in it which can attract bacteria fairly quickly? There are a lot of natural product recipes that use distilled water and aloe and I have recently learnt without a preservative these can’t be used for long. As your very knowledgable it would be great if you could consider writing an article on the shelf life and safety or bacteria in natural products?
Julia (a very big fan of your blog as it changed my life for the better)
Hey Julia,
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the blog!
Yes, the shelf-life of a product is greatly reduced when water is used. If fresh aloe is used, the shelf life is even shorter. For these products, I keep my recipe ratios very small, so the product is used within a few weeks, and it is usually best to keep products with fragile ingredients (like a milk or aloe juice that requires refrigeration) in the fridge. I haven’t found a preservative that I feel comfortable using, or one that’s readily available and effective in low quantities (like tea tree or rosemary essential oil).
If you have the DIY Natural Cleaning Challenge, there are a couple of pages before the recipes that talk about safety, bacteria concerns, etc. I’ll work on getting this information on the blog, too. I would be happy to send you that information via your email later this week.
Thank you so much for this! My daughter has really fine, curly hair. Every morning it is such a pain to comb her hair. This worked so well and it leaves her hair so soft! Thank you for sharing all your great ideas!
Hi kristen i love your recipe for both my daughter and for my curly hair. I do wish to let you know however that rosemary e.o. is not recommended for children under the age of 10. I stumbled across this when i was researching eucalyptus for congestion in toddlers. I would just air on the side of caution and either substitute or leave out entirely. I’m going to keep using it on my hair because i love it, but mix her up a new batch with maby some rosewood oil.
Hey Kathryn, Thank you for sharing! Yes, you’re correct about the recommendation due to chemical constituents called cineol and menthol, and the issues that can arise. It’s always best to research before adding any oils to a product–I’m glad you’re doing this!
PS: I’ll make sure to make a note next to the rosemary recommendation :).
Thank you very much Kristin.For sure I will try this spray but a quick question can I extract aloe gel from the fresh alovera plant or shall I buy the aloe gel from the store? If I use fresh aloe gel from the plant then does the spray last for 2 months? Or shall I store in refigerator If I use fresh aloe gel from plant?
Hey Angel, If you can find a “cleaner” aloe vera gel (I like Real Aloe brand), then I recommend using the bottled gel. If you can’t find this, then fresh aloe should work, but the detangler will have a very short lifespan (just a few days or a week).
Eagerly waiting for your reply
Hi Kristin really thankful for sharing this beautiful tip I never posted any comments in any site but I really impressed with your tip and please kindly reply to my question.
I have very dry and very very tangled hair so I used so many store bought products but store bought products have very harsh chemicals I taught of switching into homemade leave in conditioner but the only problem with the homemade products are they are not handy to travel and they should always store in a refrigerator.
The above detangler spray which you have mentioned can be stored in room temperature? how many months can we store the spray in room temperature? can I keep the spray in my bag and use it whenever my hair is tangled? Is the spray handy to travel with it ? please do reply
Hey Angel, Yes, the spray may be stored at room temperature. The spray will last 1-2 months at room temperature. Due to the water in the recipe I wouldn’t go any longer than a couple of months. While I think this spray works best on wet hair, I’ve used it on my daughter’s dry hair. If the spray is stored in a travel-size bottle, I think it would be very handy to travel with.
My daughters both have very curly hair. I will definitely have to try your recipe. All the others just say to use water and conditioner but I think it leaves an icky coating on their hair. Also, you should try thing brush. It’s AMAZING!
http://www.amazon.com/SALE-Tangle-Hair-Brush-Set/dp/B00GOJMIWO/ref=sr_1_7?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1454612003&sr=1-7&keywords=no+tangle+brush
Thank for sharing, Marian! I just ordered a set of brushes!
IS TB means Tub
Hey Masuda, TB stands for tablespoons. I use a standard American tablespoon in my recipes.
Wow found your website today trying to avoid buying more carols daughter for me and my daughters hair. Breaking the bank! I am making the detangler as you say… and yes I do the no shampoo because every time I shampoo it even with the carols daughter it makes more knots than if I don’t shampoo it at all. I saw your recipe for the coffee creamer and I bow at your feet. Thank you for an awesome blog I bookmarked you.
I also make my own leave in conditioner with aloe, glycerin, and water but I also add vitamin e for its moisturizing benefits. And as someone who also has curly hair, its essential to not wash everyday. Once or twice a week is better. Good post!!
I’m a curly haired girl as well! Those tangles can be a disaster. I use a coconut milk mixture now, can it be mixed with the aloe gel and glycerin?
Also, what do you use to shampoo your daughters hair? I’ve switched to the “no poo” method, I like it but am always looking for new ideas. Just wondering if you have or have heard of success.
Kinky Curly makes a shampoo called COME CLEAN and a conditioner / detangler called KNOT TODAY. My daughter & I use this – excellent results, and have been for 20 years. Love to find a natural alternative and will try your recipe. ALSO curly hair is genetically DRY hair, and frequently THICK hair / dense. Products need time to penetrate the shaft to be effective. I leave my shampoo & conditioner in for 3-5 minutes each. See any website or blog from Ouidad Curly hair. And a large tooth comb is a must! I threw out all the hair brushes in the house! Even my sons have curly hair. Hope this helps ….
Hi Kristen! As a curly girl myself and mother of a 4 year old and 19 month old with curls, this is awesome!! I’ve been making a similar one with coconut oil, as it really helps with frizz (with the added help of gel and mousse, haha). Just an FYI, but not shampooing daily will do wonders for curly hair. I only shampoo the kids hair on Saturday night and Wednesday. The other days I just wet their hair and co cleanse with conditioner and I always add product when their hair is wet, before bed. It helps with the tangles!
Hey Leah, Great tip! Thank you so much for sharing. I’ll definitely try skipping the shampoo for a few days.
Rosemary and lavender will also repel lice, making this a great one for grade schoolers hair! They make commercial leave ins and detanglers with those scents that are marketed for just that purpose.
Awesome information, Adelle!
Kristin in your climate note were you referring to the alternative recipe of just glycerin and water or to the original recipe with Aloe vera? I live in the desert and as excited as I am about this recipe (and I really am!!)I’m worried about the climate and the glycerin now. Any thoughts?
Hey Brandi, The glycerin is the main cause of concern in humid or very dry climates. Since the glycerin pulls moisture from the air, it may not have that moisture in a desert climate so it may try to pull it from the hair and cause some breakage. I’m not sure exactly what qualifies as too dry or humid for glycerin, but it’s important to keep in mind. I recommend mixing together a bottle and spraying the dentangler on a very small area of your hair for a few days, and observe how your hair reacts.
Thanks!