I know this sounds totally weird, but yes, I make my own hair spray. At first, it was a novelty. Try it, they said. It will be fine, they said. Guess what? It IS easy. It DOES work. And my favorite thing, its CHEAP! Where I live in Arizona, there is an abundance of citrus trees. I gratefully accept any and all offers of fruit from kind neighbors and friends, so the lemons are free. I buy my vodka in Mexico, since I live about 20 minutes from Los Algodones. When I couldn’t find rubbing alcohol in the US during COVID, I bought a Mexican version of Everclear in Algodones. It was about $5 per liter (about 15 cents per ounce) at the time and 98% alcohol. I now use it for all my concoctions.
- 2-3 Lemons (lemons for lighter hair, oranges for darker hair)
- 2 cups Water
- 2 tablespoons cheap Vodka
- A fine mesh strainer
Wash the lemons (or lemons). Cut into chunks, peels and all. Put the lemons and water in a small sauce pan and simmer until the water is reduced by about half. (I don’t get all uptight about the exact ratio, the point is to get all the good stuff out of the fruit and concentrate it.)
Strain it, well. The downside of not straining it well is that any pulp left behind will clog your sprayer. Please don’t ask me how I know this. I do this in two stages. First, I use a regular mesh strainer and the back of a spoon to force the good stuff from the fruit. I then discard the fruit in the compost pile or trash. Then use a finer strainer (I use a coffee strainer) to do a second strain.
Measure the strained liquid and add enough water to make one cup. Add the vodka. Put it in a small spray bottle for use. The original instructions say to shake before every use. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. I haven’t noticed a difference.
If you are gifted an abundance of fruit (or find a screaming deal), you can double, triple or quadruple the recipe. I cook and strain the fruit, add the water and freeze in one cup portions. When you are ready to use, unthaw the juice, and add the vodka. Hair spray for practically nothing!