This lemon hair gel is great to have around for extra hold, or just a little frizz control. I tried making a flaxseed gel and it worked really well, but it’s pretty messy and only keeps for a week or two in the fridge. So…, that’s where gelatin comes in. I need something around for those ‘we have an emergency’ frizz days. It keeps for several weeks in the fridge, and about a week at room temperature.
I made two versions of lemon hair gel this time. After I melted the gelatin and added the lemon juice, I poured half of it into a container. With the other half, I added 1 teaspoon of coconut oil and 1 Tablespoon of aloe vera juice for a moisturizing gel. This moisturizing gel is my attempt to wean myself off of my favorite ‘leave in’ conditioner.
The creamy white gel in the front is the moisturizing one. The clear-ish one is my regular hair gel. I’m hoping the moisturizing one will be the end of the leave in conditioner. I was using flaxseed gel for a while, but convenience won out every time I got too busy to make another batch. Convenience comes in a bottle with a host of nasty chemicals. I feel a little guilty every time that I use that stuff, but seriously, it’s like magic. It tames my hair like nothing else, but my bottle is almost out and I don’t want to replace it. So, hair gel is back in production, and I’m in search of something natural to be my leave in conditioner.
Warm the gelatin and water in a saucepan until completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice. From here, you can leave it plain or follow the variation.
I put my two different gels into squeeze bottles for ease of use. You want to keep your hands out of it or it will spoil more quickly.
Tip: Pour the gel into several small squeeze bottles. That way you can put one in the bathroom, and refrigerate the rest to keep it longer.
This brand is produced in Vancouver, B.C. and is the best natural hair product I’ve ever bought. There isn’t anything in it that I can’t pronounce, and it is completely natural. However, I can’t buy it now that we’re living in Montana. So, that’s where Lemon Hair Gel comes in. As a bonus, it only cost me $0.60 to make my own hair gel, and it works just as good as the one from the store that cost $10.00.
I’d like to experiment a little more with the flaxseed version before posting it. I think it has great potential for everyday use. Until then, this gel is keeping my curls in check.
What’s your experience with natural hair care? Do you have any favorite products?
Print
DIY Lemon Hair Gel
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 1-1 1/2 cups 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeIngredients
- 1 packet of gelatin (about 1 Tablespoon)
- 1 cup water
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- For Conditioner Version Add:
- 1–2 Teaspoons of coconut oil
- 4 Tablespoons of aloe vera gel
Instructions
- Mix together the water and gelatin in a saucepan. Then place it over medium heat and stir just until the gelatin dissolves.
- Remove from heat and add lemon juice. Let cool until gelled.
- For the conditioner version, I added the coconut oil and aloe vera after the gelatin had set.
- Place everything in the blender and blend on low until creamy. You can also whisk this together by hand, but you will need to melt the coconut oil first.
96 Comments on “DIY Lemon Hair Gel”
This is really a good diy post. I have read your article and comment sections. Some of the commenters get a good result. So I will give it a shot. Thanks for your post.
I sure hope you enjoy the recipe!
Made the gel last night with Great Lakes (orange can). Blended with the aloe gel this a.m. Have short 2a waves. Used about 6-8 small marble-sized bits, well melted in my hand on very damp hair. Because it’s so thin going on it was hard to tell if i was over doing it. Clipped roots and diffused to about 80%. Looks and feels good. Going out into a hot day … real test will be D2 – D3. Will let you know how it goes. Can’t believe i have jello in my hair lol
It’s always a process to figure out how much you’ll need for your hair, but definitely worth it!
Hello..can you Tell me the exact kind of Great Lake gelatin you used to make this gel? I seen different ones available on Amazon and I want to get the right one.
I’ve included the link below to the exact one I bought. I hope this helps, and be sure to let me know if you have anymore questions!
https://www.amazon.com/Great-Lakes-Unflavored-Gelatin-Kosher/dp/B0008D6WBA/ref=pd_sim_121_5?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0008D6WBA&pd_rd_r=X760DFNK0VGQYRGE64C1&pd_rd_w=IpLoW&pd_rd_wg=5W5a2&refRID=X760DFNK0VGQYRGE64C1&th=1
Acids (like lemon juice, or vinegar) prevent gelatin from firming. Grapefruit seed extract, essential oils, and alcohol prevent bacterial degeneration of gelatin to some extent. Refrigeration is the most inexpensive and effective means of preservation, for about a week.
Thanks for your tips!
Hello,
I guess that others haven’t had the sort of issue that I have because I have read through the comments. So, I am unsure if you left this out of the procedure due to simplicity or not. I am adding gelatin to medium hot boiled water and allowing it to dissolve, then adding lemon juice. However, the mixture is not setting up. I think I need to have the component of cold water to hot. For my third attempt I am going to dissolve warm boiled water with gelatin then pour into cold water.
Please let me know if I am doing something wrong!
I reworded the directions so that hopefully it will be more clear. 🙂 I mix together the gelatin and water, then place it over heat and heat only until the gelatin dissolves. It’s important not to let gelatin get too hot or it will start to break down. Also another thing that could be going wrong is your gelatin. The only time I’ve had my gelatin not set up is because it was really old, once I bought a new container, I’ve never had the problem again. You can also place the gelatin into the refrigerator to help it set up faster. I hope this helps, and be sure to let me know if you have anymore details that might help me solve this!
I love this! I have super curly thick hair. I use lots of product and like to stay away from chemicals, but the natural products are sooo expensive. I tried this and I have wonderful results. There is no frizz at all and my hair is shiny and bouncy. Thank you soo much for this recipe!
I know what you mean, it seems like every natural hair product I’ve tried is so expensive and half the time they don’t even work. I’ve never found anything that works as well as this simple hair gel, and I’m so glad to hear it’s working great for you too! 🙂
I usually make my gel with guar gum or xanthan gum added t water. It is much easier than doing the flaxseed version. That is a huge mess and doesn’t work any differently than the gum version. Give it a try 🙂
Thanks so much, I definitely will try that out! I never could get on board with the flaxseed version of hair gel, just way too much mess for me. 🙂
Won’t the lemon juice lighten hair? I have very dark brown hair and don’t want to change the color. Is there a substitute for the lemon juice? Also, what is the shelf life?
I don’t know if such a small amount would lighten your hair, but you can leave it out. Lemon juice acts as a preservative but you could replace it with a small amount of alcohol like vodka, (I’m not sure if that’s known to lighten hair or not). The shelf life for the lemon version is usually around 7-10 days at room temperature, which is why I keep half of my batch in the refrigerator for the next week so that I don’t have to make it as often. I hope this helps, and be sure to let me know how it goes, or if you have anymore questions! 🙂
Hey can you use a vegetarian gelatin? ??
I think it should work fine, I used to use a plant based one but I lost my source when they quit making it so I don’t have a particular recommendation. I do know that not all vegetarian gelatins are a 1:1 ratio so you might need to do a little testing with whichever one you choose. I hope you enjoy the recipe, and be sure to let me know how it goes! 🙂
So the citrus acid from the lemon wont damage my scalp/hair at all???
The small amount of lemon juice shouldn’t be a problem, (I’ve personally been using this for over 10 years) but there’s no way I can give you a definitive answer because everyone reacts differently to different ingredients. I hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
Can you post a picture of your hair before and after using this gel and Conditioner?
Hi Sudha, while it might seem like a good idea to post a before and after pic, this gel works differently for each person so I don’t want it to be misleading. I hope you enjoy the recipe, and be sure to let me know how your experience goes! 🙂
This is the first time used gelatin for anything and OMG IT STINKS!!! My hair gel is setting now and I’m not going any
Gelatin shouldn’t stink a lot when you first make a product (however it can spoil over time), it has a fairly light smell when you first make something. In fact it’s so light, you’d have to put your nose right next to it to smell anything at all. I’m thinking there must be something wrong with the batch of gelatin you have, and I definitely wouldn’t use it! Regular store bought gelatin does work for this, but it doesn’t last as long as a higher quality gelatin like Great Lakes. I hope this helps, and be sure to let me know if you have any questions. 🙂
Hi Kari!
I literally found your post by way of so many links I wouldn’t attempt to count. ☺ I have natural curly hair that has such an attitude it hates everything I put on it especially gels with alcohol.
I’m going to put this recipe to the test and report back to you. I pray for amazing results!
I’m so glad you found us, and I hope this works for you! I’ve found a combination of this gel and a leave in conditioner works wonders for taming down the ‘wild’!
The best I have ever used is the GKhair gel for creating sculpted sleek, smooth style with long lasting strong hold. Generates best results when applied prior to blow drying. Amazing hair styling product. 🙂 <3
Thanks, I’ll have to check it out for when I need extra strong hold!
I happen to stumble upon your blog about 2 years ago and I still get excited when your email pops up in my email box. I am in love with all your recipes and I haven’t found one that I don’t enjoy, so thanks for your hard work. You can truly see you ❤️love❤️ what you do and again thanks! So this recipes is very cool, I have been making the gelatin hair gel for years now and I haven’t thought of adding extra ingredients to help with my hair. So anyhoo, the point of my comment is that you said that you had curly hair and I was tooling around with my recipes and I found a good spray “leave-in-conditioner”, so I thought I would share it with you.
6 tablespoons filtered water
6 tablespoons aloe vera
2 tablespoons rose water
1 tablespoon argan oil
5 drops rosemary essential oil
5 drops Ylang Ylang essential oil
I put it in a glass spray bottle. I use this after I have towel dried my hair and wowsers does it help with the curls and keeping them intact. I have found that I haven’t used my gelatin gel as much, just on my ends. Okay, now that I have talked your ears off I just thought you would like to try something a little different!
Thanks again for what you do….keeping my little butt healthy!!
Thank you so much for your kind words, and I’m so glad you’re enjoying the blog! I am beyond excited to try this leave in conditioner out because I like to use this hair gel in combination with a conditioner to make sure my curls stay moisturized, (I’ll let you know soon how it works out)!
This looks like an interesting recipe and I would love to try it. When you say “6 tablespoons aloe vera,” do you mean the juice or the gel?
I’m not sure if Stephanie meant gel, but since she said it’s a spray and leave in conditioner maybe aloe vera juice might combine better than gel? For my recipe I do mean aloe vera gel and I’ve just added that to the recipe to clarify.
Can i use this gel daily??
I personally use this gel 5-6 times per week, but I use it in connection with an Apple Cider Vinegar hair rinse where you dilute the vinegar 1 part vinegar to 10 parts water and rinse your hair with it after shampoo and conditioner to combat buildup of products. My hair is curly and tends towards dryness so I also use this gel in combination with a leave in conditioner. Overall I do believe you can use it everyday, but you’ll need to adapt your beauty routine to your hair type. I hope this helps, and be sure to let me know if you have anymore questions!
hi i havent tried this gel yet but am interested i dont have curly or frizzy hair i have thick heavy hair and at the moment i have a pixie cut that is long on top and i try to style it in a faux hawk style and store gels just wont keep my hair up unless its rock solid and feels like you could snap your hair off even then its a struggle i have very healthy hair and an extremely dry scalp (minor psoriasis) how do you think this gel would do for that?
I don’t think this gel would be strong enough to keep super thick heavy hair in a style like that, I think you’d need something more along the lines of a sculpting gel.
Hi Kari !
A very simple and great all natural recipe without harmful chemicals. Thanks for sharing it. I made this gel yesterday for my boyfriend. Actually when i made i did add some oils like olive, coconut and castor for deeper conditioning. Also added some orange essentials for a greater citrus combo. Its smelling really nice.. Well now, the problem here i faced was, till the time the gel was in the fridge it was nice and firm like jelly, but i removed it out and it became liquid again. So i put it back into the fridge its become gel again. The weather here isn’t much hot nor humid. Can you please suggest me what should make the gel be of jelly consistency even when out of the fridge.
I’ve noticed that this seems to happen with mine too every once in a while, I’m not positive with exactly what’s going on but I do think this can happen if the mixture gets too hot on the stove top. Too much heat seems to damage the gelatin, the good news is that it will still work to style your hair but it won’t have as much hold to it. The other factor I’ve noticed is the quality of gelatin, the regular boxed kind from the store sometimes seems to go liquid like you mentioned. I’ve started using the Great Lakes brand of gelatin and I’ve been really happy with the results. It’s quite a bit more expensive but I noticed that my hair gel keeps for longer before spoiling and it doesn’t turn to liquid like the regular store bought stuff sometimes does. Also, if you added a lot of extra oils it might have made the gel a looser texture at room temperature. I hope this helps, and be sure to let me know if you have anymore questions! 🙂
Thanks for reply, I’d definitely let you know when I make new one. This one is working but as you said the hold isn’t very strong. I did not add a lot of oil it was a mix of all 3 oils making 1 1/2 tbsp to the same quantities in your recipe.
I shall try making it on lower temperature n try another brand of gelatin once this one finishes.
I made the gel last night. I added to much gelatin so I had to work with it to get the right consistency. The gel is a little spongy and less is more. But I still like the affect once i blow dry and work it in. Next batch I will use less gelatin .
If you ever have too much gelatin again, you can simply add some more hot water to dillute it. If the gel has already set up and it’s thicker than you’d like, you can place the gel over really low heat to just melt it before adding a bit of water to it. You can do this by scraping the gel out of the container and heating it in a saucepan or place your gel container in a hot water bath. I’m glad you were still able to use your first batch, and be sure to let me know if you have anymore questions! 🙂
I’m going to make this gel tonight. I wanted to add a little more aloe and a little less coconut oil. and maybe a little more lemon juice,because I like the smell and I was hoping to lighten a little bit. Do you think that it’ll be alright?
That should work just fine, I would just always be careful of trying to lighten your hair because it can be drying to some hair types. If you just wanted to increase the lemon smell, you could add a few drops of lemon essential oil as well. I hope you enjoy the recipe, and be sure to let me know if you have anymore questions!
I absolutely love this hair gel! I have always struggled with hair products, as I seem to have a reaction to everything. Not this, I am thrilled! Thank you!
★★★★★
I’m so glad to hear you like it! This hair gel has been life-changing for my curly hair that tends to get a bit wild by the end of the day!
aloe vera is nectar
★★★★
I totally agree, aloe vera is the foundation of my beauty routine, and I’ve started adding it to my smoothies as well!
What a great idea for hairspray! I’m definately going to try that!
Let me know how it goes for you! 🙂
I have to tell you how much I love this gel! I have used it for about a year now. I make the conditioning version and my hair is so much healthier. I have very fine, thin, long hair, that for the most part is straight with just a touch of natural curl. It is fuller and not as frizzy when I use this. I keep my jar in the fridge all the time so as not to deal with it going bad in the bathroom. I blow dry and curl my hair pretty much everyday. Now if I could just tweek my homemade hairspray so it is the way I like I wouldn’t have to buy that anymore as well!
P.S. I live in Great Falls, so we are practically neighbors, by Montana’s standards anyway!
★★★★★
It’s always great to hear from a fellow Montanan (and neighbor)! I keep my gel in the fridge as well because it really doesn’t keep super long which is the biggest downfall of homemade products as far as I can see! I use a version of this recipe as hairspray for when I put my hair up – I make it just a bit looser and put it in a small hairspray bottle (you can find them in the travel sized toiletries section at Walmart). I keep my ‘hairspray’ version in the fridge too, so when I need it I warm it up first be setting the spray bottle in a jar of hot water. It only keeps about 5 days because of the warming up process, but you can make a couple bottles at a time and keep the extras in the fridge which seems to keep for about 2 weeks give or take a little!
I appreciate your response. I am all for going natural if possible. Sometimes natural products work and sometimes they don’t. This one did not work for me. I made the conditioning version of the gel to begin with. Knowing my hair needs the extra moisture. It’s been days and my hair is still super dry. I have deep conditioned it a second time and used a heavier conditioner plus another leave in. It is possible that I used way too much of the gel, but regardless. It really did a number on my hair and I had a horrible time trying to get it out. It stuck like a plastic coating. My hair feels damaged now, like I had it permed without deep treating it after. My hair is fine but I have a lot of it. A pea sized amount would not work for me. I am sorry to be so negative but I am just being honest about how my hair reacted to this gel. I just wanted to add a word of caution that this might not work for every one.
Gelatin is a natural hair conditioner (approved by stylists), so if your hair is dry it’s most likely due to washing it several times in a row with shampoo, also gelatin washes out very simply with only warm water because it dissolves in water! When you use any kind of gel (store bought or homemade) it’s always best to use as little as possible for the most natural look.
I don’t usually leave bad reviews and I mean no disrespect andm nt tying to be nasty… but this gel was HORRIBLE for my hair! I made the conditioning version yesterday afternoon and tried it out . It dried into a crunchy mess that would not scrunch out. My hair was like straw. When I tried to work my fingers through it to loosen the gel my hair became gummy and felt like it was coated in spray starch. I had these white flakes everywhere and some strands looked completely white!( I have dark brown hair..it was very noticeable.) I have fine 2c/3a curly hair which tends to be drier anyway. Maybe I made it wrong..or maybe it would do better with more water, less gelatin and without the lemon juice -which is drying anyway but it was awful. I had to drench my hair in olive oil and let it sit for 2 hours before it would loosen. Then wash my hair in regular shampoo containing sulfates twice, then co-wash with my regular conditioner,use a heavier conditioner to condition and put a leave in . After all of that my hair still feels extremely dry. I only say this as a caution to those who have drier hair-this might not be the gel for you.
★
From what you said in your comment I think you may have used too much hair gel for your type of hair. I also have fine curly hair and I’ve been using this hair gel for over 10 years without any drying problems. If you had white flakes in your hair it would be because there were lumps of gel when you applied it, try rubbing a small amount between you palms to ‘melt’ it before running you fingers through damp or wet hair. I like to use the conditioning version of this hair gel because my hair tends to dry out easily as well, so that might be a good place to start if you want to try this again. The other thing I do to help hold style in my hair is to use a leave in conditioner, this really provides great long lasting moisture for my hair, then I just use a small amount of hair gel (an amount about the size of a pea) and I rub it between my palms before working it through my wet hair. Then I let my hair dry as usual and the conditioner/gel combo really helps my hair stay defined and not get frizzy throughout the day! Also, washing your hair that many times could really dry curly hair out, gelatin based gels come out really easily with just a small amount of shampoo, you can also make a hair rinse from apple cider vinegar diluted with water (1 part vinegar to 10 parts water) that really helps with any product buildup you might get from any hair product. Sorry this didn’t work out the greatest for you, best of luck of you decide to try again, and let me know if you have any questions!
Great recipe! I’ve tried flaxseed gel but it didn’t give me the hold I needed. This recipe gave me the hold and moisture I needed to keep my locks looking neat and shiny.
Thanks!
★★★★★
Thanks for letting me know how it worked for you! I’ve been very curious to see how it works for different hair types, so far everyone from straight to curly hair has had good success! 🙂
Hi,
What kind of gelatine did you use i.e powdered, gel or sheets.
Thanks
★★★★★
I use powdered gelatin – let me know how the recipe works out for you! 🙂
Hi,
Thanks for the recipe! I just made it now. I am planning to keep part of it in my bathroom and the other part in a refrigerator. How long can I keep the gel without refrigerating? How long do I keep it in the fridge?
Depending on the temperature of your house, it will usually keep 4-5 days at room temperature, and 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator. We live in a cooler area so my hair gel keeps for a full week at room temperature – I just portion it into small containers, and then take out 1 per week from the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks. You will definitely know when it goes bad because it will start to stink – sometimes I have to throw out some if I haven’t used it all but it costs pennies to make so I don’t mind too much! 🙂
Thank you for the answer and the recipe! My gel is still liquid after hours and hours but nevermind because it works wonders in a liquid state too! 🙂 It nevertheless gave me amazing hold and definition! So thanks a bunch for this I had a real struggle finding a gel that doesn’t dry out my hair.
I just hope my hair will not get sensitive to protein in time by using this gel.
Best wishes to you and your great blog 🙂
★★★★★
Next time, try refrigerating it right away and it should gel up in a couple of hours. It always helps to mix it up when it comes to different products! I use a leave in conditioner and this hair gel, but sometimes I’ll use just the leave in conditioner. It also really helps to do an apple cider vinegar rinse on your hair 1-2 times per week to get rid of any product build up – use a ratio of 1 part apple cider vinegar to 10 parts water, pour the mixture over your hair and rinse thoroughly with cold water. This keeps your hair shiny and helps to avoid your hair ‘getting used to’ a product.
Hi! It’s been almost half our since since cooking and my “gel” doesn’t seem to be hardening even a little bit. It is still totally liquid. Is it going to turn into gel eventualy or did I do something wrong?
I was a little confused because my packet of gelatin is way more than one tablespoon (so I did not put the whole packet into the mixture just the one tablespoon)
Hope I am making sense 🙂
Cheers
Andrea
Hi Andrea, I don’t think you did anything wrong! It takes hours for the hair gel to solidify, you can speed it up by pouring it into your containers and placing it into the fridge. The next time I make this I’ll time it, and add the information to the recipe. Thanks so much for writing with your question because I’m really working on being as specific as possible in my instructions, (lots of room for improvement)! 🙂
Hi. Could you make this with Agar Agar or another vegan product? Thanks!
I know they substitute well in food recipes, but I’ve never tried it out in DIY projects. Let me know if you decide to try it out! 🙂
Thanks! I love the scent of grapefruits, so that’s a plus 🙂
Perfect! I have a couple of grapefruits in the refrigerator, so I’m going to try it too – just to change things up a bit!
Can you swap the lemon juice for lemon essential oil or any other essential oils? Thanks!
You can swap them (not in equal proportions of course) but I don’t know if the essential oil will act as a preservative or not like the lemon juice. You could also substitute some alcohol (like vodka) for the lemon juice if you still need a preservative and want to use essential oils. Hair gel made without the lemon juice also seems to be thicker and harder to use (I’ve tried it a few times) so I would recommend trying it as is for best results! 🙂
Can you swap other fruit juices then since essential oils aren’t the best option? I personally am not fond of the smell of lemon, so I was just curious.
I think that lime juice or grapefruit juice would work equally as well as lemon juice. Orange juice should work but since it’s not quite as acidic I’m not entirely sure. I personally would start by trying grapefruit juice, or you could try using vodka instead (it helps to preserve and to soften the gel). Let me know which route you end up going! 🙂
Hi,
My 8year old son has been wanting to put HAIR GEL so that he can make his hair stand in spikes like the various footballers:) I was resisting it as these hair gels have god knows what not Rubbish in them that I didn’t want his baby hair being exposed to them.i started my search and ended up at your blog and I am so glad I did.i made the gel right away as I had all the ingredients at hand. my son was ecstatic to have gel placed in his hair and r could make various hairstyles:) just a query.the gel seems to be sticking to his hair in pieces,I have to comb it out,is that how the texture is?? Thank you so much for this recipe and I am loving your blog and would be trying other things from it too soon..
Take care
When I apply the gel to my hair, I always let it liquify in my palms before applying it. I also apply it to wet hair which helps for an even distribution. Hope this helps and be sure to let me know if you have anymore questions!
I made my own version of this gel by using Vegetable gelatine and adding Orange oil and rapeseed oil. It works better than the Gelatine derived from Pork which made my hair stinky like a farm. However, my rendition of this recipe doesn’t seem to have a strong hold as with the conventional Gelatine. Plus, it has small clumps which shows in my hair I have to comb it out using my fingers.
Glad you shared your experience. I’ve also noticed that the gelatin derived from animals tends to go bad sooner than vegetable gelatin, that’s why I always keep mine in the fridge. 🙂
I made the lemon hair gel today. I’m a guy and have real short hair. I just comb everything forward and the front part above my forehead straight up. This gel seems to hold well, which is what I need but what I didn’t like about it is it leave clumps of solid gelatin that I have to pick out of my hair. Is there a way to get it to where it will still hold strong but easier to apply? Like with regular hair gels it’s more creamy and you can rub it together and then apply.
If you’re getting solid clumps of gelatin in your hair, you need to use less at a time. Place a little bit in your hand and rub it around until it’s totally liquified, then rub it through your hair. If you need more, just repeat the process. I have really long hair, and that’s how I apply it because otherwise I get lumps too. Also, you could try the moisturizing version of this gel because it’s softer. Hope this helps, let me know if you have anymore questions.
Hi Kari!
I made this hair gel today, I used a cup and a half of water (didn’t want a real stiff gel) and Real-Lemon (didn’t have fresh lemons). I added 2 tsp coconut oil and 2 tbls fresh aloe gel. I used it on my hair, applied liberally in sections to washed hair blotted with a t-shirt. I combed it through, then shook out and scrunched my curls. I air dried and WOW is all I have to say! I did have to re-scrunch out a few slightly crunchy places, but now I have bouncy, shiny, soft and moisturized curls and feel good that I know exactly what is on my hair!
Thanks so much for this great recipe!
★★★★★
It’s great to hear from you, especially since you have curls too. This gel seems to be working on most hair types, but it’s particularly effective for curls. I’ve tried all types of products for curls, but it makes me cringe wondering what I’m rubbing on my hands and what’s going into my hair.
Sorry if this sounds like a silly question: will the lemon juice add highlights to my hair?
It’s not likely because there is such a small amount in the recipe. I definitely haven’t noticed any lightening or highlights in my hair, and I’ve been using this recipe for years!
Does the aloe vera have to be from the plant? If so, how can I extract the gel in an efficient manner? Thanks!
You can find aloe vera in a bottle at any health food store. Always look for a brand that has to be refrigerated because it’s more natural. If you’re using aloe vera from the plant, slice the leaves in half and scrape out the gel.
Is gelatin good for hair ? Does it have any side effects ?
Gelatin is supposed to be good for your skin, hair, and nails – internally and topically. I use my hair gel 3-4 times a week and my hair is much healthier than when I used store bought products.
Does this gel hold up to extremely hot climates? I am in TX where it can get up to 110~
I think that humidity has more to do with it than heat. It doesn’t really get above 95 here and the gel has held up really well for me, but it’s not humid here like it can be in Texas. If the hold isn’t strong enough, you can increase the amount of gelatin (try one teaspoon at a time) to make a stronger hold. When I’m anywhere with humidity, I always use the moisturizing version of the gel because it works better for my curly hair.
I live in Oklahoma City, the humidity is not as high as Texas, but I have found the gel to be amazing for my hair. My hair is not frizzy, nor do my curls become tight and loose my style. Thank you Kari. The gel is awesome! I have afro kinky type 4 hair and it’s the only gel I’ve used that hold my style.
You just made my day – it’s always great to get feedback, especially from someone with different circumstances!
Vitamin Cottage sells the Great Lakes Kosher (and also pork) gelatin. The 2 lb container, I believe. If you don’t have a Vitamin Cottage close by, then Amazon would probably be the next best choice.
This is a great idea! I’d slather it in my hair before I go out in the sun 🙂
Been looking for kosher gelatin at health food stores around here, but nobody carries it. I like it better because it is all vegan and it’s more stable than Knox. (lasts longer without watering out) Do you know anyone who carries it? Does anyone out there know where to get it? Azure used to carry it but the last time I checked they don’t.
I’ve been wondering the same thing, I think I’m going to have to order it online.
If it doesn’t have to be vegan you can get one from Amazon – Great Lakes kosher gelatin – made from pasture-fed cows.