Dry Hair? Here, DIY Tips from Beauty Expert, Kattia Solano

Who doesn’t love DIY beauty? I so do! Maybe concocting a DIY hair or facial mask from products I have in my fridge and pantry reminds me of when I was a teenager and my friends and I would whip up egg white, oatmeal or avocado masks and have a “beauty day.” I’ll tell you a little secret … I still have “beauty days” with my daughters and I have the photos of the three of us in various DIY face masks to prove it. Besides the fun factor, there’s something to be said for using all natural and readily-accessible ingredients to soften your skin or moisturize your hair.

I don’t know about you, but in the winter, my hair is limp, flat and flyaway. Thank you, cold temps, dry air and indoor heating. You do me no favors. In the summer, my hair is still dry but instead of laying flat against my head, it frizzes and looks like I’m sporting a headful of Medusa’s snakes. Yikes! I can’t win. Or can I? I can’t wait to try the following at-home hair remedies for dry hair from Kattia Solano, owner of NYC’s full-service Butterfly Studio Salon.

DIY Hair Treatments — An example of gorgeous, healthy hair on my daughter, Victoria Riess. She sent this photo from Uruguay where she was directing an episode of House Hunters Int’l. She liked the way her hair looked in the Uruguay winter – and I agree. Gorgeous and healthy.

Hair Spritzer

For a deep cleanse to remove product buildup

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sparkling water

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 Tbl. Lemon Juice

Mix the ingredients in a spray bottle and apply to dry hair from roots to ends until fully saturated. Lightly massage for a couple of minutes, allowing the spritzer to absorb. Rinse thoroughly. Follow with a wash using a cleansing shampoo – something with an oil base like Shu Uemeura’s Cleansing Oil or a peppermint based one like Malin + Goetz shampoo are my favorites. To finish, take your favorite hair mask and mix in a natural fruit, nut, or vegetable oil for an extra boost of moisture.

All-Oil Treatment for Dry Scalp Conditioning

To combat a dry scalp, mix together ingredients that you already have in your kitchen based on what you think goes well together. I love extra virgin olive oil with avocado oil for instance or almond with coconut oil. The protein in avocado and almonds helps to strengthen the hair. Break open a capsule of Vitamin E and add it into the mix for ultimate, easy hair nourishment.

The Top Knot Trick

While you are applying a mask to your hair (either the hair spritzer or all-oil treatment from above), a quick fix for extra dry hair is to leave the mask in for longer and put it up in a top knot. Flip head over and twist hair into a knot/bun shape. Secure with a clip. For shorter hair, create a side twist. Leave your hair in a knot for 20 to 30 minutes. Tip: You can leave this mask in your top knot while you go to the gym or run a few errands. When you come home, release the knot and continue with your normal hair routine in the shower.

Pre-Treatment Products

If you don’t have time do make your own at-home mask, there are pre-treatment products you can easily purchase. Pre-treatment products were created to repair hair before you shampoo and can be applied on dirty hair. Kerastase has one called Immersion Nutritive. It’s a pre-shampoo for dry hair that you leave in until you use regular shampoo on wet hair.

Get it here …