Hi guys, long time no talk. Hope y’all have been doing great. Sometime last week I did a research on how oils are extracted, there benefits and stuff like that. Then I stumbled on orange oil, (who would have thought oranges or citrus fruits have oils too) and I found out that it was expensive, like E-XP-E-N-S-I-V-E. I can’t remember how much but really is it not the same orange I take they extract the oils from or is it a different strain or specie they use? Anyways that helped to resurrect the DIY spirit in me, so I searched Google and watched YouTube videos on how to extract orange oil and guess what I found all I need is just the rind or peel of the orange, the seemingly ‘useless part’ of the orange and a carrier oil. That’s all. You would have noticed a greasy or oily liquid on your hand whenever you peel an orange, that’s its oil.

So let’s get into business. Like I said earlier, you would need:
1. Clean orange peels
2. Carrier oil. This is a light weight oil that we would infuse the orange oil into. It’s best to use oils without a characteristic smell, like coconut oil so that the orange fragrance would not be compromised. You can use oils like olive oil and sunflower oil.
3. A clean glass bowl or wide mouth bottle that has an air tight lid.
4. Vitamin E oil. It acts as a preservative.

PROCEDURE
Place the orange peels in the bowl; pour the carrier oil till the peels are completely covered. Add 3-4 drops of vitamin E oil, cover tightly and shake so that everything mixes well.
Allow to sit for a week or two, shake the bottle from time to time to get a homogenous mixture. To get a stronger orange scent, after the first week, drain out the oil, add fresh orange peel and leave for another one week.
After two weeks, sieve out the oil and pour it into a dry pot or frying pan. Place it on a cooker at medium to low heat. Leave it for 5 to 10 minutes, your kitchen would be filled with the sweet orange fragrance. Allow it to cool then pour your orange oil into a clean bottle with an air tight cover.
Viola!!! Your orange oil is ready.

Orange oil can be used for hot oil treatment, as fragrance oil and as a soothing agent. After a long hectic day, you can inhale your oil and you would feel relieved almost immediately.

I hope this was useful, please try it out and let me know in the comment box below. Peace.

Source. Dami and I at the hair event.

My infuser bottle

Cut the fruits into small pieces, put them in the smaller container with holes, pour clean water into the main bottle, put the smaller one into the bigger one, close tightly and refrigerate over night. Your infused water would ready for consumption in the morning.

Infuser bottle with fruits and water

As I promised in this post, I’d be teaching you how to make some natural hair products yourself in your kitchen, bedroom or wherever you want. Since my big chop in November 2014, I can almost count the number of times I’ve used commercial shampoos, deep conditioners and hair cream. I call myself Mz DIY because I love doing everything myself, so in the past 9 months I’ve been making my hair products myself and it has been fun. As a naturalista, the basic products you’d need for healthy hair are sulphate free shampoo, deep conditioners, moisturizing hair cream, daily hair spritz and essential oils. Your natural hair is like a tree which should naturally grow when supplied with enough air, water and nutrients so before you apply any product on your hair, check the product description to know what you are feeding your hair with cause some products can actually be poisonous to your hair and the result of using such products would be hair breakage and thinning. With that said, let’s get to the business of the day, natural hair products.

1. Hair shampoo: The purpose for shampooing your hair is to take off dirt, buildups from products used, excess oil and dusts from your scalp basically and to also add moisture to your hair. Most commercial shampoos contain sulphates which help to cleanse the hair but also strip your hair of its natural oils leaving it dry and prone to breakage. A good shampoo should be able to cleanse the hair and leave it moisturized too.
Materials needed: Black soap (dudu osun), glycerin, honey, aloe vera gel, essential oils (coconut oil, olive oil, amla oil), vitamin E oil and a container (empty shampoo bottle)
Preparation: Cut the black soap into small bits, put in a bowl and add hot water to it for the soap to melt. Allow it to stay for 20 – 30 minutes; the clear water would have turned brownish black by then. Carefully pour out the liquid into your container about ¾ full. Add 1 tsp of glycerin, 2½ tsp of honey, 1 tsp of each essential oil and 3 tsp of aloe vera gel, shake well. Your shampoo is ready.

2. Deep conditioners: After washing your hair, it’s necessary to deep condition so that you can replace the oils and nutrients lost in the cleansing process. Deep conditioning is the key to healthy and longer hair. It’s advisable to apply heat when deep conditioning so that the nutrients can penetrate into the hair properly. You can order for good affordable deep conditioning cap here.

Deep conditioning cap.

*Over ripe banana, 2 tsp mayonnaise, 1 raw egg, 2 tsp honey and 1 tsp each of essential oils.
Blend till very smooth, sieve properly to avoid particles sticking to your hair, part your hair into about 4 parts and apply the smooth paste from root to tips concentrating on your tips because they are the oldest part of your hair. Cover with a plastic or shower cap and allow to sit in or 30 to 45 mins. Rinse with cold water.
*1 over ripe avocado pear, 1 over ripe banana, 1 cup of coconut milk, 1 tsp honey and 1 tsp each of essential oil.
Same procedure as above.
*2 eggs, 2 bananas, 1 avocado, mayonnaise, 1 cup of almond milk and essential oils.
Same procedure as above

3. Whipped Shea butter hair cream: This is used to seal or lock in moisture so that your hair can remain moisturized for a long period of time.

Source: Unknown

Materials needed: Shea butter, essential oils, aloe vera gel, glycerin and honey (optional).
Preparation:
#Melt the Shea butter by putting it in a bowl and placing the bowl in a bigger bowl that contains hot water. Add the essential oils, aloe vera gel, glycerin and honey, mix properly and pour into a container with air tight cover. Place in the refrigerator for 10 – 20 to solidify, your hair cream is ready.
#Put the Shea butter, essential oils, aloe vera gel, glycerin and honey in a mixer (cake mixer). Mix properly into a smooth paste. Pour into a container with air tight cover. You can watch this video.
4. Daily hair spritz: When your hair is dry, the tendency for it to break is high. Hair spritz is used to keep your hair moisturized at all times. Whenever you feel your hair is dry, just spritz.

Source

Procedure: Mix 70% water, 15% essential oils and 15% aloe vera gel, honey or glycerin. Shake properly and apply to your hair and edges.
So ladies, it’s time to use our hands. Try any of these products and let me know in the comment box. Thanks for reading.