The Green Diva

Amazing Avocado Hair Mask

Avocados are my new favourite fruit, not to eat but for the pure pampering benefits in my weekly beauty ritual. The Guinness Book of World Records class it as the world’s most nutritious fruit, and there isn’t another fruit quite like it. For those who don’t know avocados are believed to originate from Mexico, and were then introduced to California. The skin of the fruit is quite wrinkly and is usually a greenish brown colour (depending on the variety) which probably led to the nickname ‘alligator pear’.

I do my best to eat fruit that grows locally but in the UK this can get pretty unsatisfying especially in the winter. My mum loves avocados and they are packed with a lot of nutrients- nearly twenty vitamins and minerals including the eye friendly Lutein. Avocados also contain other antioxidants, including alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, and zeaxanthin.
Avocados are also full of healthy fats and therefore are excellent for dry hair and skin. Research has shown that avocado oil is more penetrating than almond, olive and safflower oils. This makes avocados the optimum way to deliver nutrients into the deeper layer of the skin- an additional benefit is that this fruit also has natural sunscreen properties.

The Hair Mask

Ingredients
1 small ripe avocado (I prefer Hass avocados)
1 spoon yoghurt
½ spoon honey

I am happy to say that this is an incredibly easy mask to make, just mix all ingredients together until it is nice and creamy and apply immediately. Spend at least ten minutes massaging it into the hair and scalp. I separate hair into sections to ensure I cover all hair. You can in fact mash up and massage just plain avocado on your hair. Bear in mind I have very thick hair which seems to suck up anything I put on it, half an avocado is probably enough to treat short to medium hair. Leave it on for 30 minutes– preferably with an old shower cap on to maximise penetration by keeping heat in.

This hair mask doubles as an excellent facemask for dry skin. If your skin is a bit oily add half a teaspoon of fresh lemon.

The results

Be sure to stand in the shower until water runs clear before shampooing- massage all your scalp and hair carefully as avocado contains little fibres which can be left in hair. After washing and conditioning hair as normal my hair is softer and easier to manage than usual. In fact I cannot stop touching it as it feels so great. My hands are also lovely and soft from taking time massaging the mask into my hair!

This is my favourite home hair treat, I have tried olive and almond oils in the past but found the smell horrid and they were difficult to wash out completely. The last time I put olive oil in my hair I had to wash it again after realising it hadn’t all washed out after drying my hair. Needless to say that put me off oiling my hair again. In comparison avocados are so easy to wash out and don’t leave any scent in hair.