Top 10 Weird Homemade Hair Treatments

Olive oil, sea salt, lemon juice... sounds like the ingredients for a salad dressing, right? Well, you probably could make a great dressing with these ingredients, but they also make great homemade hair treatments. From those that are downright bizarre to those that are very beneficial, this is a list of some of the weirdest items you can find at home to use for beautifying your hair:

Mayonnaise
Well, this does make your hair softer, but I would just stick with conditioner. While the vegetable oil and eggs in mayonnaise may condition your hair very well, this stuff will leave your hair smelling funky, no matter how much Herbal Essences you use afterward.

Ketchup
Here's another condiment that can be used to treat your hair. If you swim in chlorine-filled pools very often and have blonde hair, you may want to try putting some ketchup in your hair for about 30 minutes or so every now and then. The red ketchup will counteract that strange green hue that chlorine can leave in blonde hair without damaging it. However, it's another condiment that might leave your hair with a strange odor (and could lead to a craving for French fries).

Olive oil
Olive oil is a great hair treatment. Just put it in your hair overnight or at least for 30 minutes or so, then shampoo and condition as you normally would. It's very helpful for girls who dye their hair blonde, keeping hair from becoming too dry and brittle, and it leaves hair feeling very shiny and soft.

Beer
I'm not sure who would want to waste a beer on their hair, but it's another homemade method of giving your hair a little extra softness and shine. Perhaps it's the barley in the beer that's so beneficial for contributing to lovelier locks; I think there even used to be a conditioner available that contained beer. As great as it may be for your hair, however, it's a lot more fun to drink it (and if you drink enough of it, you'll eventually just quit worrying about what your hair looks like, anyway).

Tea and coffee
If you dye your hair a darker color, black tea and coffee are great temporary color boosters (although it can be a bit of a hassle to pour these beverages in your hair). For blondes, chamomile tea can boost your color and make your hair feel nice and soft (plus, unlike many of the things on this list, it actually has a pleasant scent).

Lemon Juice
If you're a blonde, lemon juice is great, because not only will it boost your color, if you leave it in your hair and stay out in the sun for 30 minutes to an hour, it will actually lighten your hair a little. Try combing it through your hair before you go outdoors to create subtle, shiny highlights.

Beet juice
And here's one for the redheads. Beet juice may not be the most pleasant stuff in the world, and it can really stain clothing and furniture, however it's this staining power that makes it great for boosting a redhead's hair color. So not only are beets very healthy for your insides, they can make you look beautiful outside, as well.

Body lotion
Have you run out of conditioner and don't feel like going to the store to get more? Well, try using some of your favorite body lotion in your hair. It's very moisturizing and can have a very similar effect on your hair as conditioner (and it often contains similar ingredients). I tried this once with some cocoa butter lotion and it left my hair very soft and tangle-free, and it smelled absolutely wonderful.

Baby powder
The smell of this, however, I can't stand. But it is great for oily hair. If you haven't washed your hair in awhile or you just have a naturally greasy scalp, sprinkling a little baby powder on your head and combing in through your hair can soak some of that grease right up. Who knew something made for babies' bottoms could also be great for use on your head?

Sea salt
If you want that naturally wavy, I-just-came-from-the-beach look (which is one of the most popular celebrity hairstyles right now), try spritzing some of this in your hair. After your hair has slightly air-dryed, spritz a little bit of a sea salt/water mixture in your hair and scrunch it. The sea salt enhances natural waves, so once it's all the way dry, you'll have a beautiful, beach-ready look.

While some of these treatments may be a little too odd, many of them can actually make your hair look amazing. So if you like to think outside of the box and (like me) hate browsing through the hundreds of hair care products available, you may find that you already have something available in your own home that can make you just as beautiful (if not more so).

SOURCES: About.com article by Julyne Derrick: 13 Secrets to Sexy Hair: What Your Stylist Didn't Tell You (But Told Us); www.pioneerthinking.com/hair