Science-y Hair Blog © 2023 by Wendy M.S. is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 
FAQ:
Introducing: Flax-Oat gel.
Completely DIY, affordable grocery-store ingredients. Combining the shine and "clumping" of flax gel, the "grip" and support of oat-based gel.
I used to love Flax-Xanthan gum gel, but not the extra mixing and heating step for Xanthan gum. This gel's benefit, aside from adding thickness for easier application, is giving wavy (Type 2) or curly and coily hair (Types 3-4) hair: 1) volume, and/or 2) extra help pulling hairs into groups of similar-curving shapes for hair-texture-definition.
But without the extra mixing step of Xanthan gum.
Did I mention we're skipping the fussy extra mixing step? 😀
Ingredients:
- Flaxseeds: Dark or light brown
- Old Fashioned oatmeal (oat flakes - the kind that cook in 5 minutes - not 1-2 minutes). The quick-cooking or instant kind may leave residue in your gel.
- Water (distilled water if you have very hard or alkaline tap water)
- Oil of your choice if desired. This will add flexibility for those who find the end result less flexible than optimal or too rough-feeling.
- Optional: Conditioner, oil of your choice (more below)
Recipe:
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons Flaxseeds (approximately 40 ml)
- 1 Tablespoon Oatmeal (15 ml)
- 1 1/2 cups water (350 ml)
- 2 drops to 1/8 teaspoon oil of your choice. (Optional)
- Bring Flaxseeds and Oats to a boil over medium to high heat.
- Turn heat down to a simmer, and simmer desired length of time. See this video for simmer-time diagnostics.
- Short simmer (5-8 minutes) : Lighter gel for Finer or easily-weighed-down hair. Gel is done when thin threads hang from stirring utensil but seeds/oats still "flow" when stirred. Strains easily.
- Longer simmer (10-15 minutes): Thicker gel for thick or dry hair. Gel is done when thicker strings hand from stirring utensil, and seeds and oats clump when stirred. Requires some pressure from a spoon to strain.
- Strain gel through metal strainer into a clean bowl or large measuring cup.
- When cool, store gel in a clean storage container in the refrigerator for 1 weeks. Or freeze in an ice cube tray for longer storage-time.
- Gel may separate a little when frozen and thawed - mix it back together and it seems to perform just as well.
Protein: Is this protein? I've seen some industry studies of flaxseed mucilage (gel) extract that indicates a low protein content. The oats contain protein, but we're leaving much of the flax and oat in the strainer.
This gel can have a cumulative effect on how your hair feels, like most styling products.
In reference to hydrolyzed proteins that are active ingredients in hair-care, this is not a hydrolyzed protein. If this changes how your hair feels in a way you don't like, it's probably the overall effect of starches, long sugars and (un-hydrolyzed) proteins, and how those interact with your unique hair.
If you like this but it feels stiff - add more oil, use a leave-in conditioner, or apply mixed with some conditioner or styling cream.
"Finish" of product: This gel has a slight supportive, "grippy" feel because of the starch from the oats - that is great for hair that needs definition to hold waves or curls or coils. If hair leans towards the dry or Coarse side, this could feel stiff (as too much protein can for some people).
Flaking: For me, with oatmeal-only gel it is hard to use the right amount of gel without getting powdery flakes in my hair when it's dry. This ratio of oats to flax doesn't cause flakes. For me.
Tangles/difficult to apply?: This product does not have "slip" - it may be difficult to comb or brush through hair. Mix it with a good leave-in conditioner (or a rinse-out conditioner that doesn't irritate your skin) and a little oil will help your tools - or fingers - slide better through your hair.
- Use between 1 part conditioner to 1-2 parts gel, with a drop of oil of your choice.
- Test your Flax-Oat curl cream for separation by putting a little blob in your palm - squish it around with your finger. If clumps form - these products may not be getting along!
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Just want to say, Thank You!
ReplyDeleteFor all of your time and effort you take out of your life to share all this information with the ones of us that truely needs it.
Some of us don't post often, so please keep that in mind and know, if you post something, and no one comments, some of us are reading your post, and appreciate them all!
Hi, what you wrote about the protein effect of this gel not being comparable to a product containing hydrolyzed proteins made me wonder about rice water rinses, which most sources seem to consider a full-blown protein treatment. I did a highly concentrated rice water treatment recently (really a creamed rice gloop, using the recipe linked below) with a conditioner that has hydrolyzed keratin protein in 11th place (& some amino acids even further down the list.) The protein effect seemed considerably more intense than it ever has with that conditioner alone. Also, I searched your blog & it doesn't look like you've written about rice water rises or treatments at all, so I'd be interested to hear your general opinion of them. https://curlmaven.ie/my-modified-rice-water-treatment/
ReplyDeleteI haven't written about rice water rinses. I haven't tried any yet! I'll have to do that, because trying them usually gives me more questions than I would have thought to ask otherwise. There will be a difference between the uncooked-and-fermented-overnight (or longer) and unfermented ones. There is a lot of variation in recipes out there. Cooked rice water rinses will be very different from uncooked because the starch changes dramatically during cooking in water (the change is called "gelatinization"). It behaves differently in hair. I've put it on my to-do list. There are some new things coming up on the blog etc. soon, it's been a busy season!
DeleteThanks for the response! I highly recommend the rice treatment I linked above, which uses rice cooked & frequently stirred in a lot of extra water. The resulting liquid, after straining, is much more creamy than watery. I used brown rice, which many sources don't recommend for the rinses because the bran coating makes it more difficult for the protein, starches & nutrients to leach out into the water. But it does have extra nutrients & bran oil (which white rice doesn't have) & I figured the cooking, frequent stirring & straining (with pressure) would force plenty of its inner goodness out. And I believe I was right, as the strained result was a creamy, light beige gloop & the treatment had a very noticeable (& excellent) effect. I did try an uncooked & left-to-soak-overnight rinse once (made with white jasmine rice) & didn't really notice any effect. I'm leery of the teeming bacteria (& strong odor) that would result from allowing it soak any longer than that, although I guess an overnight soak probably did ferment it slightly. Also, from what I've gathered, the extra benefits of fermentation have more to do with scalp (rather than hair) health & I'm not sure I buy those claims.
DeleteThere's a lot to explore in rice water rinses. Fermentation won't necessarily smell bad, I do lots of work with fermented plants, etc. Even a short fermentation will change the starch, proteins and pH of the rinse. Cooking changes the starch too, but in a different way. This will be interesting, because the starch-size, pH and such will have a lot to do with how it interacts with hair.
DeleteLooking forward to reading about your upcoming rice water experiments!
DeleteForgot to comment that I've made this gel before & really like it, although I didn't make it again after I used it up because I have a number of commercial gels to use up. After I do, there's only 2 I'll repurchase & I intend to use them in combination with the Flax-Oat gel. Although I'll probably use the latter on its own in the winter when I need less hold. But it does give significantly more hold than plain flaxseed gel, & a lot more volume!
ReplyDelete