2026-04-19 Making Hair Clay

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Thought I would put my decade-old (at least) cosmetology license and salon experience to use and make some hair product! Haha. No, this was to reduce my use of hair spray, as I'm not sure inhaling it here and there is particularly good for me, along with the scent of strong alcohol because of the hold that my hair requires for my styling.

So, hair clay. I was able to get this recipe to a pretty high hold that ended up sustaining my mohawk very well throughout the day. I have yet to use it in super humid weather, but it's held up quite well otherwise...

In this mixture there are only three simple components with no extra preservatives or plastics which are present in commercial brands.

Clay. Beeswax. Oil.

Thats it. Truly these are the only parts it needs. The clay acts as a strong binder for the rest of the material and provides a matte finish to the hair, so it's not overly shiny like a pomade or gel. It also gives the texture slight grit between the two clay ingredients that I'll list later. Beeswax is meant to enhance the hold of the product overall and keep the moisture out. The oils act as a great emulsifier for the two above ingredients, and also provide moisture to the hair without being too heavy so as to weight it down.

In the end you end up with a very familiar clay textured product that can be spread throughout the ends of your hair with high hold once well emulsified in your palms (really rub it in before applying). There's barely a lingering scent at all, and I do enjoy the nondescript small footprint of the container I've put it in.

There's a lot of resources online for this kind of thing, but here's the recipe I have and my individual modifiers.

Recipe

The amount listed below will yield 2oz of hair clay. In my case, I had enough of the bulk material and more, so I doubled the recipe to fit in my container of 4oz.

- Measure out all of the oils and beeswax into a pot. You will want to use a double boil method, where the pot of oils sits inside of another pot that has water boiling in it already. This shouldn't be over direct flame.

- Once these materials are melted, mix the clays into the oil that is still being heated and stir it well until it has a clean, chunk-free, "muddy" consistency."

- Pour into container of your choice and let it sit open until its totally hardened. I have heard of Bentonite Clay being positively charged by metallic surfaces, as in it could over time cause corrosion in metal containers. I'm unsure if this would be true once it is a part of this mixture, but I recommend using a plastic or glass container anyway.

Thank you !