Say hello to luscious locks with this Homemade Hair Butter! Explore this nourishing recipe for soft, gorgeous hair that shines from root to tip.
Hair butter: A woman’s new best friend!
Think gorgeously moisturized locks with a scent that smells like you’ve just walked out of a perfume shop – albeit without the overpowering scent.
Read on to find my recipe for a DIY hair butter!
Hair Butter Recipe
You will need:
- 4 oz of mango butter
- 1 oz of Jamaican black castor oil
- 1.25 oz of fractionated coconut oil
- 0.1 oz of Varisoft EQ 65 (see notes below)
- 8 drops of rosemary essential oil
Hair Butter Recipe Instructions
Step 1: Measure out the ingredients carefully using a digital scale.
Step 2: Melt all ingredients (except rosemary oil) in a double boiler or saucepan on the stove. The mango will melt around 145°F, while the Varisoft EQ 65 won’t melt till closer to 185°F.
Step 3: Combine the ingredients with a high-speed mixer or immersion blender for 1-2 minutes. You must use a high-speed mixer to incorporate the Varisoft; otherwise, it will separate as it cools.
Tip: Be careful not to splash any of the hot oils onto your skin!
Step 4: Allow the hair butter to cool while mixing 3-4 more times over the next hour. This is to help prepare the mixture for its butter-like texture.
Step 5: Once it cools down to around 100°F, add the rosemary oil.
Step 6: Once it sets completely, you’ll need to use an electric hand mixer to whip the hair butter. Usually, whipping for about 30 seconds to 1 minute is enough.
Note: Before it’s ready to whip, you should be able to press your thumb into the butter, and it holds its shape.
Step 7: Transfer the finished hair butter to an airtight container for storage.
What is hair butter?
Hair butter is one of the best deep moisturizers for hair!
It works fantastically well on normally dry hair, sealing in moisture and softening the hair strands without making the hair greasy or heavy.
Hair butter typically consists of a blend of natural butters like shea or cocoa butter, plus oils (maybe coconut or olive oil), and, in my world, essential oils for added fragrance and scalp benefits.
How to use hair butter
Applying hair butter the right way will make such a difference to your hair’s appearance!
Typically, hair butter is used to hydrate, naturally dry or coarse hair. My husband has very thick, coarse hair, and so he uses it essentially as a DIY leave-in conditioner. Most people, however, prefer to wash it out!
Use it as a moisturizing conditioner.
All you need to do is take a tiny amount of hair butter from the jar, melt it in your hands, and then apply it to the ends of freshly washed, damp hair.
You can rinse it out after a few minutes and dry your hair as usual.
It’s essential to use a tiny amount of hair butter at first, believe me – literally no more than a fingertip amount – as a little goes a long way.
Hair butter can be heavy on the hair if you use too much (I say from experience), resulting in a greasy, weighed-down look. Not good!
Pro tip: It typically takes several washes to fully remove the hair butter from your hair.
Use as a styling product
You can also use hair butter as a DIY hair styling product on dry hair.
It works great to add a touch of gloss, define curls, or tame the frizz, but remember to use less of the product than you normally would with a DIY curl cream or my homemade hair pomade.
This is because hair butter is really rich and extremely moisturizing; you don’t want to weigh your hair down.
Less is best, I say!
Benefits of Homemade Hair Butter
Budget-friendly: Making DIY hair butter is a great way to save money on store-bought hair products. Commercial hair butter is usually quite expensive, but when you make your own, you get to control the quantity (plus make larger batches at a lower cost per use!)
Natural Ingredients: I love knowing exactly what’s going into my hair care products. By making hair butter myself, I know I’m only ever using natural, wholesome ingredients, which means avoiding harsh chemicals.
Moisturizing: One of the best parts about DIY hair butter is how good it is for the hair! Especially if you have dry ends, and you want to use it with my DIY protein hair treatment.
Should you use hair butter on all types of hair?
The type of hair and how often to apply hair butter depends on your specific hair’s needs. Generally speaking, hair butter is best for thick, dry, coarse or damaged hair.
If you have thin, fine, or oily hair, you might consider using my homemade hair oil instead. They tend to be less greasy.
How often should you use hair butter?
I suggest using this hair butter 2-3 times a week for best results.
If your hair does tend to be more on the oily side, I would limit use to once a week, or as needed.
A couple of tips on using Varisoft EQ 65
- You can leave the Varisoft out, but it’ll be more difficult to wash the hair butter out of your hair.
- I think hair butter works best on thicker hair. On thinner hair, it can be too heavy and end up looking too greasy. Of course, you’ll only know by trying it out!
- Varisoft is a natural alternative to BTMS 50, though it doesn’t work as well. To me, Varisoft is the best alternative.
- You must use a high-speed mixer for this recipe, or the varisoft EQ 65 will separate.
- If you have trouble with the Varisoft separating during the mixing stage, you can mix it while it’s in the double boiler.
Summary
That’s all there is to hair butter! It’s a wonder product for the hair, adding in moisture and doubling up as a frizz tamer and curl definer.
If you try making this recipe, let me know how it worked out for you in the comments below!
Hair Butter Recipe
Equipment
- Storage container
Ingredients
- 4 oz of mango butter
- 1 oz of Jamaican black castor oil
- 1.25 oz of fractionated coconut oil
- 0.1 oz of varisoft EQ 65 see notes below
- 8 drops rosemary essential oil optional
Instructions
- Measure out the ingredients carefully using a digital scale.
- Melt all ingredients (except rosemary oil) in a double boiler or saucepan on the stove. The mango will melt around 145°F, while the Varisoft EQ 65 won’t melt till around 185°F.
- Mix the melted ingredients with an immersion blender for 1-2 minutes. You must use a high-speed mixer to incorporate the Varisoft; otherwise, it will separate as it cools. Be careful not to splash any of the hot oils onto your skin!
- Allow to cool while mixing 3-4 more times over the next hour. This is to help prepare the mixture for its butter-like texture.
- Once it cools down to around 100°F, add the rosemary oil.
- Once it sets completely, you’ll need to use an electric hand mixer to whip the hair butter. Usually, whipping for about 30 seconds to 1 minute is enough. (I usually let it cool overnight before whipping it)
- Transfer the finished butter to an airtight container for storage.
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