If you’re searching for a quick and effective way to revive dry, frizzy hair, this DIY moisturising hair mist is the perfect solution! Made with natural ingredients, this simple recipe hydrates and tames unruly strands while adding a touch of shine.
Whether you’re battling dryness or want to keep your hair looking fresh throughout the day, this lightweight mist is a must-have for your hair care routine.
Contents
In this post, I’ll show you how to create your own hydrating spray to nourish and smooth your locks effortlessly! This DIY recipe will give you loads of options to choose from so you can tailor the moisturizing spray to your needs. Without further ado, let’s dive right in!
Benefits
- hydrates frizzy, dry hair
- intense care for high-porosity hair (great for curly hair)
- deep conditioning
- soothes an itchy scalp
- combats hair loss
- promotes hair growth
- natural ingredients—no harmful chemicals
This homemade moisturising hair mist harnesses the power of nature to revive your hair. Depending on your hair type and what you want to focus on, this spray moisturizer offers many benefits.
First and foremost, it nourishes and hydrates your hair. Now, we all have different hair types, but we’ll address each with using the right ingredients to provide your hair with the right kind of moisture (more about this later).
If you have high-porosity hair, meaning, your hair absorbs water and oils easily, then you’ll need a more intense care which this DIY moisturising hair mist will give you. The ingredients will deep-condition your hair without weighing it down!
In this case, adding natural oils to your spray is a must and you can benefit from the amino acids and fatty acids contained in the oils. The benefits include, amongst many other: hair growth, scalp nourishment, and increased blood circulation.
If your hair is rather on the low-porosity side, like mine, and oil tends to wear your hair down, don’t worry! One of our main ingredients is aloe vera which provides very similar benefits. Plus, glycerin helps with the absorption.
Aloe vera is extremely hydrating and stimulates the hair follicles, thus, encouraging hair growth and preventing hair loss.
Any scalp issues, such as an itchy scalp, can be helped with this hair moisturising spray, too. If you have a flaky, dry scalp, you may want to try out my aloe vera coconut oil hair mask for extra care!
Certain essential oils that I recommend later on increase blood flow which further improves the overall health of your hair.
As we are only using natural products and organic ingredients, this homemade hair mist is free of harsh chemicals. For example, propylene glycol is a very common solvent used in many conventional hair products.
Propylene Glycol depletes the hair of its natural oils and has a drying and damaging effect on our hair!
Ingredients
This list gives you an overview of what ingredients you can add to your DIY moisturizing spray. Don’t use all of them in it, please ;). Pick the ones you want and create your personalised hair mist. Refer to the section ‘DIY Hair Mist Recipes’ to get a better idea.
Affiliate Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links. That means I may earn a small commission, if you purchase the linked product, at no extra cost for you.
- distilled or filtered water
- rose water
- chamomile or green tea
- aloe vera juice
- aloe vera gel
- vegetable glycerin
- honey
- pentylene glycol (NOT propylene glycol!)
- apple cider vinegar
- argan oil, virgin coconut oil, olive oil or jojoba oil
- essential oils (tea tree or lavender oil)
(see quantities in recipe card)
The Base
The base of our DIY moisturising hair mist is made of about 50 ml / ¼ cup of water. I recommend making small amounts because we don’t really add a preservative and the shelf life is thus limited. Some of the ingredients, like pentylene glycol or apple cider vinegar, are preservatives.
Always use filtered water to avoid added chemicals from your tap water. Ideally, use distilled water that you can buy in your grocery shop.
Another alternative is brewing chamomile or green tea and use that as your base once it cooled down. By the way, I have a chamomile tea hair mist and conditioner recipe here on my blog.
Chamomile tea is great for blond hair or when you want to treat dandruff. Green tea may promote hair growth and prevent hair loss.
Rose water reduces dandruff, moisturises dry, damaged hair and adds shine. You can use it on its own as the base or dilute it by substituting it with water (50:50).
Aloe Vera
You can replace up to a third of our base with aloe vera juice. You should be able to get this in your grocery shop or in any health food shop.
Alternatively, add a tablespoon of aloe vera gel! When using a store-bought gel, make sure it doesn’t have too many additives and isn’t too thick. Often times, they’re thickened to give them more texture and it may be hard to dilute with your base.
Homemade aloe vera gel is generally more on the runny side and would be ideal. Just remember to use up your spray moisturizer within 5 days.
Note: Aloe vera may leave a light film on your hair. For some hair types, this ingredient may need to be omitted or use the hair mist as a pre-shampoo treatment or hair mask that you can rinse out afterwards.
The Humectants
Glycerin, honey and pentylene glycol have humectant properties which means, they hydrate the hair and lock the moisture into the hair shafts.
Glycerin enhances shine and its hydrating effect will give your hair that lustrous look. If you have curly hair, glycerin can improve your curls by taming frizz.
Honey is a natural humectant and can also be helpful in the treatment of brittle hair (hair breakage) and scalp issues. It may also lighten your hair naturally (when left on the hair and not rinsed out).
Another great humectant is pentylene glycol. First of all, do NOT confuse it with propylene glycol which is a chemical solvent.
Pentylene glycol naturally occurs in certain plants and can thus be derived. It is often used in the natural beauty industry as a solvent, as a preservative, and as well as a humectant because it’s widely tolerated (even by sensitive skin).
If you make this DIY moisturising hair mist with oil and water, it’s a fabulous add-on because it’ll help mix those two, plus, preserves your product (to a certain extent!).
Those with low-porosity hair have to add at least one of them to ensure proper absorption of the other ingredients.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar (ACV) enhances shine, balances the pH level of the scalp, and helps with dandruff and an itchy scalp. Always dilute ACV with water and don’t use more than one tablespoon (with a 50 ml / ¼ cup base).
ACV is a great conditioner as well but if you use it, you need to rinse out the spray after about 20-30 minutes. Do not leave ACV on your hair because it’s acidic!
Oils
Argan oil, coconut oil, olive oil and jojoba oil are fantastic oils to nourish your hair. However, if you use this spray as a leave-in treatment, oils may wear down your hair or leave a residue (especially for thin and low-porosity hair).
In my opinion, oils should only be used by those with high-porosity hair, and/or those with coarse, curly hair.
Note 1: coconut oil should only be used during the warmer months when it’s liquid or you can substitute it with fractionated coconut oil or MCT oil. Jojoba oil is a lighter oil whereas olive oil is highly hydrating (great for dry hair).
Note 2: oil and water don’t mix, obviously. If you add oil, always shake the bottle before spraying your hair mist. Or add pentylene glycol as solvent.
Essential Oils
Tea tree essential oil can help with various scalp issues such as dryness and dandruff. Lavender essential oil promotes hair growth and prevents thinning.
Lavender oil can be used without the need for a carrier oil—tea tree technically, too. There are some experts that recommend diluting it with a carrier oil, though. It may cause irritation in some people.
Just as with oils, mentioned above, make sure to mix your bottle before application because oil and water don’t mix well!
Instructions
How to Make
Add your chosen ingredients to a clean glass spray bottle, except for the base. Then, add your base to fill up your bottle. Screw on the lid and give the bottle a good shake.
How to Use
You can easily add this DIY moisturising hair mist to your daily hair care routine or whenever you wash your hair. Or use it whenever you feel your hair needs that extra care.
Step 1. Wash your hair as usual. Spray the moisturizing spray into your damp hair, starting with the roots and working your way down to the tips.
You can also spray it on dry hair as needed.
Step 2. To improve blood circulation and to enhance better absorption of the product, massage your scalp for about a minute or two. To further increase the blood flow, you can do this by bending forward, and head down (only if this doesn’t make you feel dizzy).
Step 3. Continue with your usual routine and leave the hair mist in.
Different Uses
- leave-in treatment
- pre-shampoo treatment
- hair mask
- conditioner
Leave-in Treatment: Use the hair spray as instructed above. If you have high-porosity hair, this is your best choice as your hair will simply soak in the ingredients. You may not even need to apply it to damp hair but whenever you feel the need to apply the spray.
For me, having low-porosity hair, this doesn’t work and the spray is rather weighing down my hair and leaving this residue on it. I prefer using it in the following ways.
Pre-Shampoo Treatment: Apply the hair mist to your dry, unwashed hair and leave it in for about 30 minutes to up to an hour. I like putting on a shower cap so the moisture stays on my hair. Plus, the body heat created under it enhances absorption!
Hair Mask: You apply it just as instructed with the pre-shampoo treatment, however, you do this the night before you wash your hair.
Now, generally, it’s not advised to sleep with wet hair. And I agree—it doesn’t feel so good. I recommend applying the mist in the evening and letting it soak and dry before going to bed.
To avoid smearing any of the residue onto your pillow case, wear a shower cap at night, or place a towel over your pillow.
The next morning, wash your hair as per usual.
If your hair is very dry, why don't you give this banana hair mask or this avocado banana hair mask a try??
Conditioner: For this use, I recommend adding apple cider vinegar to your creation! It might be a good idea to skip the oils.
Wash your hair, step out of the shower, and apply the moisturizer spray. Leave it on for about 20-30 minutes, then rinse it out.
DIY Hair Mist Recipes
These recipes are for a 50-60 ml / 2oz. spray bottle.
For all hair types
- 40 ml distilled water or other base ingredient
- 1 tablespoon aloe vera juice
- 1 teaspoon glycerin
- 1-2 drops of lavender essential oil
For high-porosity hair
- 30 ml distilled water or other base ingredient
- 1 tablespoon aloe vera juice
- 1 tablespoon argan or olive oil
- 1 teaspoon glycerin
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ¼ – ½ teaspoon pentylene glycol (optional)
Conditioner
- 45 ml distilled water
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 drop tea tree essential oil
Hair Mask
- 30 ml distilled water or other base ingredient
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil (only when it’s already liquid, otherwise, replace with argan or jojoba oil)
- 1 tablespoon aloe vera gel
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 drop lavender oil
- 1 drop tea tree oil
- ¼ – ½ teaspoon pentylene glycol (optional)
Storage
This DIY moisturising hair mist has a short shelf life even if we add some ingredients that are naturally preserving.
I suggest you make small amounts and use up the spray within 3-5 days. Keep the spray in the fridge and in the bottle to keep it fresh, unless you added coconut oil since it turns solid in the cold.
For best application, use a spray bottle. I prefer glass over plastic and the spray head that you can see in the pictures. But see what works best for you!
If using essential oils, it’s always a good idea to use a tinted bottle—particularly when working with tea tree as it turns toxic when exposed to daylight for an extended time.
Safety and Warnings
Always make a patch test before applying any of my recipes to your body, your skin. The listed ingredients are generally safe to use but may cause allergic reactions in some individuals.
📖 Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
For all hair types
- 20 ml distilled or filtered water or other base ingredient
- 20 ml rose water
- 1 tablespoon aloe vera juice
- 1 teaspoon vegetable glycerin
- 1-2 drops lavender essential oil
For high-porosity hair
- 30 ml distilled or filtered water or other base ingredient
- 1 tablespoon aloe vera juice
- 1 tablespoon argan oil coconut oil, olive oil or jojoba oil
- 1 teaspoon vegetable glycerin
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon pentylene glycol NOT propylene glycol!
Conditioner
- 45 ml distilled or filtered water
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 drop tea tree essential oil
Hair Mask
- 30 ml chamomile tea or green tea
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil only when it’s already liquid, otherwise, replace with argan orjojoba oil
- 1 tablespoon aloe vera gel
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 drop tea tree essential oil
- 1 drop lavender essential oil
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon pentylene glycol
Instructions
How to Make
- Add your chosen ingredients to a clean glass spray bottle, except for the base (water). Then, add your base to fill up your bottle.Screw on the lid and give the bottle a good shake.
How to Use
- Wash your hair as usual. Spray the moisturizing spray into your damp hair, starting with the roots and working your way down to the tips.
- To improve blood circulation and to enhance better absorption of the product, massage your scalp for about a minute or two. To further increase the blood flow, you can do this by bending forward, and head down (only if this doesn’t make you feel dizzy).
- Continue with your usual routine and leave the hair mist in.
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