Maybe you have seen it on my Instagram or Facebook page, because lately I am experimenting with a new kind of natural gel for my hair. Which gel? Well, oatmeal gel! I came across this new kind of natural gel on a Instagram page of a curly girl that I follow. I was immediatly very interested and enthusiastic. I am always looking for new natural hair products, so maybe you can imagine that I was very happy to find out about this natural hair gel. What kind of hair gel is this and what would it do for my hair? At that same time I also got a bit nervous. Offcourse I want to try this new gel, but my normal hair routine was also fine and I always had good results with the flaxseed gel. Sometimes I used Aloe vera gel, and that was also fine. But now I was at the point that I wanted to try something else, something that I did not know. I asked myself if I was prepared for a bad washday, and yes; I was. It is only your hair. My curiosity won, so I started reading and experimenting. After a few times experimenting I created the best recipe for my hair, and hopefully also for your hair. In this blog I will share two recipes, one with oatmeal and one with oatflakes.
Let’s go back to the beginning. What makes oatmeal so good for your hair? Well oatmeal is known for it soothing and softening effect for your skin and it is very moisturising. This is why it is a great ingredient for natural soaps and you see it more often in shampoo’s or conditioners. Oatmeal contains a lot of vitamin B complex (2, 3, 5 and 6), zinc & magnesium and it is a natural humectant. This last thing means that it draws moisture from the air around you into your hair. This makes your hair soft and shiney. The vitamin B complex makes your hair thicker and firmer. Oatmeal also contains around 8% of protein. So it is ideal if your hair likes protein!
Do you have an irritated scalp? Than you can also use an oatmeal rinse instead of oatmeal gel. Oatmeal soothens and softens an irritated and dry skin. Oatmeal contain beta glucan and is for that reason very moisturizing. It works wonders against an itching skin, flakes and dandruff. Oatmeal restores the natural PH balance of your skin and improves the bloodcirculation. This last thing stimulates your hairgrow. Ideal if your hair does not seem to grow at all!
If you would like to use an oatmeal rinse you can just add some extra water to the recipes below. You can divide it onto your hair and scalp just after you have washed your hair. You don’t need to rinse with water after, you can use it as a leave-in.
There are different recipes online for a natural oatmeal hair gel. I made the gel with oatmeal and with oatflakes. I like the gel better with oatflakes because when I made and used the gel with oatmeal it left some kind of ‘dust’ in my hair. I find this ‘dust’ disturbing so I started using oatflakes. With oatflakes my hair looks cleaner and I have less to no dust.
Recipe oatflakes gel
- 300 ml cold water
- 4 tablespoons oatflakes (32 gram)
- One pan
- One fine sieve
- A small panty
- Measuring cup or a big glass
Boil the oatflakes with the water in a small pan. It takes for about 3 minutes until it is on its boiling point. Then let it boil for about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir into the pan inbetween so the oats will nog burn on the bottem. The water needs to get a bit thicker before you will sieve the oats out from the gel. Don’t let the gel get to thick, it will get thicker once the gel cools down. Put the fire out and sieve the oats from the gel. After that you can also sieve it trough a pantyhose. Put the gel into your fridge and let it cool down. The gel will get thicker once it is cold. The best way is to make it the day before your want to use it.
Oatmeal gel
Like I said above, you can also make this gel with oatmeal. I like to make it with oatflakes, but there are a lot of people who like it with oatmeal. When you use oatmeal you need to use less oats and less water. The boiling time is also different.
- 250 ml cold water
- 2 tablespoons oatflakes (18 gram)
- One pan
- One fine sieve
- A small panty
- Measuring cup or a big glass
Boil the oatmeal with the water in a small pan. It takes for about 1 to 3 minutes until it is on its boiling point. Then let it boil for about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir into the pan inbetween so the oats will nog burn on the bottem. The water needs to get a bit thicker before you will sieve the oatmeal out from the gel. Don’t let the water get to thick, it will get thicker once the gel cools down. Put the fire out and sieve the oatmeal from the gel. After that you can also sieve it trough a pantyhose. Put the gel into your fridge and let it cool down. The gel will get thicker once it is cold. It is immediatly ready to use once it is cooled down.
You can keep the oatmeal gel and the oatflakes gel in your fridge for about one week. Make sure you do not make to much the first time.
Optional (this is also for the oatflakes gel): add some drops citrus and/or some drops essential oil to the gel. This way you can use your gel a bit longer, like 2 weeks instead of one week. When the gel starts to smell you need to throw it away. The gel has a consistency of pudding, it is a bit thinner than a normal hair gel and you can easily use it as a leave-in. Your hair does not get sticky, greasy or weight down by this gel. You can use it on wet hair but also on dry hair. I like to use it after I washed my hair, on wet hair, but also when I refresh my hair during the week. The gel can give you a cast. This is nice to know for curly people. You can scrunch out the crunch when your hair is dry.
After the first time that I used the oatfakes gel I was sold! I loved it! My hair is soft, shiny and nog so weight down (flaxseed gel can do that to my hair, then it has to much moisture). My hair feels airy, full and thicker. I also have more volume. Maybe it is the 8% protein that does the trick, because my hair loves it! When I scrunch out the crunch I see a bit of dust in my hair, but when I fluff my hair with my hands and my rootpick it disappears. The second day my hair looks clean and skiny. Because my hair is a bit darker, you can see the ‘dust’ more easily than with blond hair people.
What do you think of the oatmeal gel? Have you tried it out yet? Let me know!
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hello!
I’m unclear what an oat flake is vs oatmeal.
Can you explain please? thanks
Hi Anna,
Oatmeal is crushed oat flakes. So oat flakes are the whole flakes and oatmeal are crushed and smaller.
Have a nice day!
Greetings Rachel
Hello, I wanna ask…when my hair dryed, its just so thick, like..its like i had wires instead of my hair ???? i just dont know, what to do next, like do i have to brush my hair or? Thanks for any help
Hi Roonie,
That’s the protein from the oatmeal. Maybe your hair doesnt need any protein.
Have you tried flaxseed gel? It’s more moisturising.
Greetings Rachel
Did you ‘scrunch out the crunch’?
Anytime you use a mousse or gel and let it dry hard, you them use your hands to scrunch your curls. This makes the gel not hard.
It could be the protein, or you used too much gel.
If protein, you can add oil to the recipe.
And on protein. The molecules are big and won’t stick to your hair and cause protein overload. Worst case is *this* protein is wrong for your hair (too large probably) and you need hydrolyzed proteins or amino acids.
Hi! Thank you for this recipe!
Have you tried rinsing the oats before adding them to the water to try and get rid of that dusty look?
If not, I’ll try it and let you know (I have a feeling it may still look dusty).