Image Source: @iamcardib
A couple of months ago, Cardi B took to her Instagram to show her long, thick, blown-out natural tresses and give her fans the inside scoop on her hair-care routine. Spoiler alert: she makes a DIY avocado hair mask at home. One of the most important steps of that routine for the chart-topping rapper is the ingredients: avocado, argan oil, mayonnaise, black castor oil, olive oil, two eggs, a banana, and honey. And from the surface, it sounds promising. Avocado, mayonnaise, and eggs are thought to be a great source of protein, and black castor and olive oils are hydrating and promote growth.
According to Cardi, this DIY mask promotes stronger strands and hair growth for curlies, and she even trusts it enough to use it in her daughter Kulture’s hair regimen. But, while some naturals might swear by kitchen-made hair products as a key to healthy hair, one major caveat to using raw ingredients is that they don’t always absorb into the hair strands properly or at all.
Image Source: @chocolatecurlsbeauty
Aishia Strickland, a professional stylist and curl artist, said on Instagram Live that “…food molecules are larger than what your hair can absorb.” When eating, your food changes and breaks down into a form that our bodies can use, Strickland states. When using those same food ingredients on hair, there is no process to break those molecules down further into ones that our strands can absorb.
Formulating The DIY Avocado Mask
As someone who likes to explore different ways to maintain healthy type 4 hair, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to test out exactly how a mask made from the items on your grocery list stacks up to commercial hair masks—especially one that is celebrity-approved. Let’s see if it’s worth the hype!
After collecting all the necessary ingredients for this recipe, I threw them into a blender to ensure that the mixture was as homogenous as possible—I was actively trying to avoid “avocado meat” sticking to my hair, as Cardi puts it. Blend all the ingredients evenly. If you don’t have access to a blender, I would recommend avoiding this altogether. The concoction I created ended up looking like a light green smoothie.
I began by detangling my hair and sectioning it into four equal parts, applying the mask evenly, and trying to coat all my hair strands. Initially, putting raw eggs and mayonnaise into my hair made me cringe slightly at the thought of the smell, but it was very mild. The aroma was more avocado and honey than anything else.
After letting the mask absorb into my hair for 15 minutes, I found that, while it hadn’t completely absorbed into my hair, my hair felt a bit softer and smoother—but nothing too drastic. I would give the absorption a 7/10 for my hair. At that point, I hopped into the shower to rinse everything out thoroughly with my BREAD hair wash.
The smell wasn’t horrible, but it was still a little odd, and that, combined with the knowledge that I had raw eggs and mayonnaise drying on my head, made me a little eager to rinse. I would absolutely recommend rinsing this mask with your favorite shampoo and cool or lukewarm water to prevent leaving the bathroom with scrambled egg-head.
My Results
Fresh out of the shower, without any product after rinsing, my hair felt soft, hydrated, and light, but there were some bits of residue. There wasn’t a ton of it, but there was just enough to be noticeable up close. The final opinion: if you’re in the mood to experiment, give this Cardi B-certified mask a go. If not, you’re not missing anything.
There are tons of really good deep conditioners and masks on the market that are filled with clean ingredients. They’re just as effective, are specially formulated for your hair, and save you the time you’d spend mixing ingredients in the kitchen.
Do you use DIY products in your hair-care routine? Would you try an avocado hair mask? Let us know what you use and how it works in the comment section.
