Flax FAIL

Friends, it's been a crazy month with everything going on in the world, but I'm back. I try to only post good recommendations here, that are tried and true, but my friend Tatiana pointed out, you can learn just as much from my fails. Not all products or projects will be successful, and you can either bypass my mistakes, or avoid it altogether. So, here's one *not* to try. :)

For those with curly hair, you are probably well aware of the challenges: one side may dry curlier than the other, we're prone to frizziness, there are 8000 rules about how to not damage the curl (you should wash in cold water, sleep on a silk pillow case, never use a regular towel, only microfiber)...

On a good day this is how my curls dry naturally with no product. I have a bit of frizz, and would like more definition. On a less good day, well... there's a reason I revert to straightening my hair vs leaving it to chance.

Now that I'm working from home for the foreseeable future (thank you zombie apocalypse), I have a lot of flexibility for experimenting with my hair. I've been intrigued to try this DIY hair gel recipe, that's touted as both a miracle for curly and kinky hair as well as low waste. It's made with just water and nutrient-rich flax seeds, full of fiber, proteins, and Omega-3.

There are dozens of how-to videos and blogs online showing soft defined curls, a nice thick hair gel, and an incredibly simple process, so I'm excited to get started. I mean just look at this one:

I jump right into step 1: boil 1/4 cup flax seeds with 2 cups of water, on medium for about 10 minutes.

Each of the various videos have different cooking times resulting in different thickness of gel, so cook down to your preference.

Next, cool the mixture. Then strain though a knee-high stocking, or a mesh strainer. The seeds will be strained out, leaving a translucent gel.

Wait, what? I'm left with an oatmeal-y sludge! No viscosity after cooling, just grainy, soupy sludge!

I think I figured out the problem, yet none of the recipes clearly call it out: you need to use WHOLE flax seeds, and I used ground.

30 minutes lost but not wasted. I've learned one way to *not* make hair gel! If you end up trying a home hair gel recipe, let me know what works for you.