My Mayonnaise Mistake!!!

As you know I'm in a love hate relationship with my hair at the moment. It’s dry and knotty and not at all what it used to be. I did some online searching and came across several posts recommending using mayonnaise for soft hair. The concept of mayo as a treatment isn’t new to me, in fact one of my sisters did this to her hair when we were younger (although I don’t remember the outcome, just the laughs). So I decided to give it a go. After all these years surely there had to be some legitimacy to it.

So the idea is that the oils, eggs and fats in mayonnaise help repair and rejuvenate hair.

Benefits of Mayonnaise for Hair (from stylecraze.com)

1. Hair Growth

Mayonnaise contains egg yolks, vinegar, and oils that work together to nourish and moisturize your hair. The presence of L-cysteine, an amino acid, in mayonnaise helps it nourish your scalp to promote healthy hair growth.

2. Removes Hair Lice

Mayonnaise is one of the most popular treatments when it comes to dealing with hair lice. Covering your scalp and hair with large quantities of mayo helps suffocate and kill lice.

3. Hair Straightening

With regular use, it can smoothen frizzy hair and make it appear straighter.

4. Conditioning Treatment

Because of its rich content of amino acids and nourishing oils, mayonnaise is one of the best ingredients you could use to condition your hair.

5. Defines Curly Hair

Using mayo helps define curls by treating dryness and frizz.

6. Protects Coloured Hair

Coloured and processed hair often tends to have damaged cuticles. Cuticles that are damaged and not sealed shut tends to bleed out the colour a lot quicker than healthy cuticles. Mayonnaise helps smooth the cuticles and seal in colour.

7. Treats Dandruff

Mayonnaise contains vinegar which is an effective ingredient for balancing the scalp’s pH levels and oil production. Excessive oil production is one of the leading causes for dandruff. Using mayonnaise soothes the scalp while unclogging and tightening the follicles. This helps curb dandruff.

How to use Mayonnaise as a Hair Treatment?

Most of the posts suggested mixing the mayo with olive oil which is what I did. I brushed out my hair, divided it into sections and on went the mixture!

The second this went on my hair, alarm bells began ringing in my mind. I was expecting it to feel like bottle conditioner on my strands but it immediately hardened and made my hair feel brittle.

 

Nevertheless, I took a deep breath and finished the application. Next I had to cover my head with a hot towel. This felt divine. The easiest way to do this is to put a damp towel in the microwave. Please DO NOT walk away from the microwave because this is a fire hazard! Mine heated up in less than a minute.

Instructions said to leave it on for half an hour. I was excited to wash it off; imagining soft, luscious, fat-infused locks waiting for me under this hard layer of Mayo Oil. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. My hair felt like steel wool (totally crying right now) and worse than before!

After I rinsed it off, I put on as much of my normal conditioner as I could manage but the damage was done. I was left with hard, dehydrated hair.

Suffice to say I will never be doing this again. And I do not recommend it. I would rather try something with completely natural products because clearly the chemicals in the Mayonnaise did not do me any favours!

♡, Sana xx