Homemade Leave-In Conditioner

Okay...so 1 thing I really want to accomplish in the year 2012 is to be smarter w/ our money. Now...I'm not saying there will not be shopping trips, nail appts., or eating out...but instead, that I'm going to: use up every last bit of things that I have and try to recreate some of my most-used products.

I know that most of us have drawers, closets, cupboards filled with products we've bought, used a few times, and then cast away b/c something brighter and more magical came along. So...this year, my goal is to use up those products. They originally filled a need in my life, and I'm sure that they will again. Here's to you, zillions of lotions, hairsprays, nail polishes, eyeshadows...even cleaning products...you're finally going to get your day in the sun!

Next...once all those things have been used up, I'm going to do my darndest to find a make-it-yourself version of as many products that I can. There are so many great 'recipes' for homemade lotions, cleaners, etc...I think I can come up w/ some very useful things.

The first I've tried (since I ran out of it this week), is leave-in conditioner. I have naturally wavy, thin & fine hair...so I use a lot of this stuff b/f I blowdry. When I found this pin (here) on Pinterest...it really was an 'oh duh' moment. Of course it would be this simple!

All you will need is: a spray bottle (I'm just reusing the empty one I had), conditioner (I had this one left-over b/c I do splurge on a more expensive one...it's amazing...another post, perhaps), and hot water.

I'm not a very precise person...if I don't have to be...so I definitely eye-balled this one. I'm sure there's some scientific way of figuring out how much conditioner to water you need...but I'm not that patient (wouldn't have any idea of how to do it anyway). I just filled the spray bottle about an inch up from the bottom with conditioner (it's not a see-through bottle...so this was a fingers-crossed kind of thing). Then, I ran the water as hot as I could get it, filled it up to the top, screwed the lid back on...and then 'shook it like a polaroid picture' (sorry...couldn't resist).

Voila! Made me some leave-in conditioner for practically nothing. I have no way of knowing how many times I can make this from one bottle of conditioner...but I'm sure it's a lot. The cost of the conditioner was a little more than $3...and I normally pay over $4 for the leave-in spray...so, I'm pretty much saving literal buckets of money here.

Now...I'm just looking around my house for other things I can recreate. This could get interesting!

~Hilary~