DIY Zero Waste Hairspray

I am a woman with long hair. And oh my, that can be a struggle. It rarely shapes exactly the way you want it too. Too loose, too tight, bumps here, bumps there. I guess it will be an endless struggle. There is however one thing that makes it easier for me: hairspray. But over the past years I have not used it, I could not find it zero waste anywhere. But then I found the perfect solution: a DIY zero waste hairspray recipe. I will share it with you today.

Zero waste

I find ‘regular’ hairspray fantastic but horrible at the same time. It does the trick, but I honestly hate the waste. I decided to quit it a few years back because I could not find a sustainable hair spray brand. The spray usually creates a lot of waste because of the way it’s stored and the ingredient list does not look friendly either. Somehow, I gave up. I decided my hair would just be natural as it is and I wouldn’t use hair spray anymore. But over the years I started missing it and I thought there had to be a zero waste alternative for the hair spray they sell in ‘regular’ stores. There usually is a zero waste option for everything.

Essential

I started missing hair spray. I guess for me personally it is essential. Not for every day, I have gone years without it. But sometimes I just need it. For special occasions mostly, because I then usually curl my hair and I want it to last. Sometimes it’s also useful for when you just want a tight bun. Just a tight look with no messy baby hairs ruining the look. And trust me, do I have a lot of those baby hairs. I want a zero waste and sustainable life to be accessible and so it’s not possible to leave all things out. If I want people to follow my example, I can’t ask everybody to simply stop using hair spray. No, hair spray turns out to be an essential (who would have thought!).

DIY Recipe hairspray

The recipe is so simple that at first I could not believe this might work. Only 2 ingredients! Here’s the recipe for DIY zero waste hairspray:

• Boiled water
• Organic white sugar (or maybe even another type of sugar)

Here’s how you make it. Boil some water. Take any amount you want. I have a tiny hairspray bottle and so I boil only a small amount of water (see the picture above), but if you have a bigger spray bottle you should boil more. Poor the boiled water into the spray bottle that you’re using. I have a secondhand spray bottle, that’s why I still use plastic, I don’t want to buy new stuff. Leave a little room open at the top. Then, add the sugar to it. I just randomly put some sugar in there and it worked. Just don’t be too cautious. I used white sugar but brown sugar or something alike would work too, as long as it dissolves (and is sticky, but sugar always is). Shake the spray bottle when it’s closed until the sugar has completely dissolved. Let the hairspray cool down.

Easy but strong

It is such an easy recipe. I mean, water and sugar, I never thought it could be that easy. But it works! I have tried this recipe a bunch of times now and I feel like it does exactly what it needs to do. When I think about it, this does makes sense. Sugar is sticky. It also makes me feel good that I know the recipe only has 2 ingredients, instead of that endless lists of unpronounceable words on a store-bought hair spray. Simple, easy to make, but strong.

Have you ever tried making your own hairspray?

Yours sincerely,
Romee

Source recipe.