DIY Zero Waste Hair Wax

So I recently chopped all my hair off, after two years of growing it out and one “no dye” year. This was all meant to reduce waste (dye supplies) and save money (less haircuts). But I missed the short hair, so now it’s back. The dilemma – my new hair requires product for proper styling, so how do I keep my hair routine as zero waste as possible?

Here’s what I did!

Ingredients

• 1 chunk of beeswax, about the size of a small bar of soap

• 2ish tablespoons of coconut oil

• 1 glug of olive oil

The recipe that I used had more specific measurements, but I had no way of weighing my beeswax so I went rogue. They also called for 10-20 drops of essential oil to add scent, but I found that the beeswax had a delicious honey smell and saw no reason to add more scent.

Step 1: Assemble the ingredients.

I used the cute jar that I wanted the final product to reside in as my container for picking up coconut oil at Bulk Barn (because I was going to mix the ingredients directly in the jar). The amount of coconut oil I picked up cost me $.70.

The beeswax was available unwrapped at Nu Grocery (Ottawa’s package-free shop). They were happy to slice off a chunk for me! It came to just under $4.

Lastly, olive oil is something we always have around, so no foraging required there.

Step 2: Grate the beeswax

Easy enough. I grated most of the chunk using a large grater. The beeswax is very firm and it feels a lot like grating parmesan cheese. I stopped grating when it looked like I had far more than would even fit in my little jar (hint: I was wrong).

Step 3: Combine beeswax with coconut oil

I stuffed the grated beeswax into the coconut oil jar. You might have to squish it in there if you have a small jar.

The recipe then called for a “bain-marie” to melt the mixture. I had to look up what this was, then improvised by putting my jar in a small pot and adding water until it was filled to about halfway up the side of the jar. I set the pot on medium heat and then stirred the beeswax-coconut oil mixture as the water heated up and began to melt the mixture. It took 5-10 minutes of heating and stirring to get a mixture that was mostly smooth.

Step 4: Finish up

Remove the jar from the hot water bath and add glug of olive oil. Stir. Let sit until cool. Done!

The whole process was super quick and easy, and the product works great! The hardest part is probably Step 1, depending on the availability of beeswax in your area.

A few notes: I could have grated more beeswax to add, as it shrunk down a lot once it melted; and also the recipe I referenced said to store the product in the fridge but I found this made it too firm, so I’m just keeping it in the bathroom cabinet.