DIY Homemade Lemon Hair Gel

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Making DIY Homemade Lemon Hair Gel is easy, all natural, and way more affordable than store bought! It takes just minutes to make and has been the perfect way to control frizz!

Straight down view of Homemade Hair Get with lemon slices around it.

This lemon hair gel is great to have around for a little frizz control. My family and I have been making this hair gel for 20 years now! That feels so crazy to say, but it really has been that long.

My parents starting going more natural with bath and body products and eating organic back in the early 90’s. It was a wildly different time where options for natural bath and body products were almost non-existent. And things like health food cookies meant they most likely had carob chips in them. Thankfully times have changed!

But at the time, my mom got creative and started making her own gelatin based hair gel. It’s worked so well, I’ve been making it ever since. It’s just the perfect amount of hold for my curls. But I’ve also had so many people write in to say they’ve loved it on their straight hair as well.

Homemade Lemon Hair Gel in a bowl with aloe vera and coconut oil in dishes around it.

At one point I tried the popular flaxseed gel, and it did work really well. But it’s a bit messy, and I’ve never made it again because it was too much hassle for me.

So… that’s where gelatin comes in. I need something around for those ‘we have an emergency’ frizz days, which let’s face it with curly hair is almost ever day! It keeps for several weeks in the fridge, and about a week at room temperature.

Let’s dive into some tips below for this DIY Lemon Hair Gel!

The ingredients for the DIY Homemade Lemon Hair Gel measured out.

I make 3 different versions of this hair gel. For the first, after the gelatin has completely dissolved you can pour it into squeeze bottles.

Or you can add the moisturizing ingredients to the lemon-gelatin version as the second option.

And finally down in the recipe you’ll find my favorite most stable version which makes way less. It also omits the lemon juice and uses a few drops of essential oil. I love lemon, but you can use any essential oil you love the fragrance of.

Tip #1: Use a good quality gelatin like the Great Lakes brand for the best long lasting shelf life. You can definitely use the standard Knox brand. But I’ve found through a lot of testing it goes bad much faster.

The finished Hair Gel in a bowl and ready for storage.

How to make natural hair gel:

Warm the gelatin and water in a saucepan over low until completely dissolved. Or heat up some water until it’s hot but not boiling and pour it over the gelatin. Stir until the gelatin dissolves. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice or essential oil.

From here, you can leave it plain or follow the moisturizing variation. Refrigerate whatever you think you won’t use in a week. And if some of it does go bad there’s no need to worry because this recipe costs just pennies to make!

Tip #2: Use a small funnel to help you pour the gelatin mixture into the squeeze bottle.

Tip #3: Experiment with a less gelatin to water ratio for a lighter hold and softer gel.

I put my two different gels into small squeeze bottles for ease of use. You want to keep your hands out of it if you can, or it will spoil more quickly.

Tip #4: 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.

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.

A close view of the Homemade Lemon Hair Gel.

Looking for more natural bath and body recipes? Check out my favorite basics below!

What’s your experience with natural hair care? Do you have any favorite natural products?
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The finished Hair Gel in a bowl and ready for storage.

DIY Lemon Hair Gel


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4.5 from 10 reviews

Description

Making DIY Homemade Lemon Hair Gel is easy, all natural, and way more affordable than store bought! It takes just minutes to make and has been the perfect way to control frizz!


Ingredients

Scale

1 tablespoon plain gelatin

1 cup water

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

For Conditioner Version Add:

12 Teaspoons of coconut oil

4 Tablespoons of aloe vera gel

Small batch essential oil version:

1 teaspoon plain gelatin

1/31/2 cup water

a few drops of lemon essential oil, or oil you desire


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 it’s set up.

For the conditioner version, add the coconut oil and aloe vera to the lemon-gelatin mixture, 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.

Store the first and second hair gel options in squeeze bottles and use within 5-7 days at room temperature. I’ve had both versions keep for 2+ weeks refrigerated. So you can store the extra and get the bottles out a week or 2 later to use at room temperature.

For the small batch essential oil version, heat the water and pour it over the gelatin. Stir until dissolved and add a few drops of essential oil. Store in a squeeze bottle and use within 10 days.

Notes

If at any point something seems ‘off’ with your hair gel, throw it away! Natural products go bad at different rates according to temperature and such. My small batch essential oil version easily lasts me 10 days, and the lemon and conditioning versions last 5-7 days.

  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Category: DIY
  • Method: Mixing

This recipe was originally published in 2013, but has been updated in 2021 with more information, tips, and new photos!

106 thoughts on “DIY Homemade Lemon Hair Gel”

    • 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!

      Reply
  1. 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?

    Reply
    • 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.

      Reply
  2. 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.

    Reply
    • 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! 🙂

      Reply
      • 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.

  3. 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 .

    Reply
    • 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! 🙂

      Reply
  4. 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?

    Reply
    • 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!

      Reply
  5. 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!






    Reply
    • 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!

      Reply
    • I totally agree, aloe vera is the foundation of my beauty routine, and I’ve started adding it to my smoothies as well!

      Reply
  6. 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!






    Reply
    • 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!

      Reply
  7. 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.

    Reply
    • 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.

      Reply

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