Today we’re creating a beautiful Dry Argan Oil Hair Mist! This formulation was inspired by some of the argan oil hair oils/serums on the market like ones from Moroccanoil and OGX, and will leave your hair shiny and moisturized. It’s super simple to make (just five ingredients!) and I’ve included instructions to alter the formulation to perfectly suit your hair. Let’s get started!
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Our star ingredient is beautiful, silky argan oil. Argan oil was my first carrier oil love, dating back to pre-Humblebee & Me days, and it is still one of my all-time favourite oils. Vitamin-rich argan oil has been used in skincare and hair care in Morocco for centuries and has recently become quite popular in the West (well… “recently” = 10+ years ago now, I suppose… that decade passed quickly!). You can purchase pure argan oil for a small fortune from Sephora ($64/50mL), or you can order it from somewhere like New Directions Aromatics for a fraction of the cost ($12.70/100mL). That was a very exciting discovery for me back in 2010!
One of the first things I did with argan oil was apply it directly to my hair, where I quickly learned that applying undiluted oil to my hair isn’t something my hair loves all that much. My hair isn’t very tolerant of oils; it’s about a 1B using the extended Andre Walker system, so when I apply oils to my hair I need to do something to prevent over-application so I can get the benefits of the oil without my hair becoming greasy and limp. Hair balms do that by hardening the product so only a small amount can be applied at a time, while leave-in conditioners dilute the oils with water. This formulation takes a slightly different approach.
I store my argan oil in the fridge, and here you can see it’s still solid and looks rather curdled—no worries, it melted in a few minutes!
The bulk of this formulation is an ultralight, volatile silicone—cyclomethicone. This ultra-slippy and expensive feeling ingredient serves to really lighten up the entire formulation, doing a job very similar to the one water does in lotion. In an emulsion, water dilutes the oil so the overall product feels lighter. With a lotion, you can easily spread a small amount of oil over a large amount of skin so you get all the lovely benefits of the oil, but without your skin feeling greasy or oily. It’s much the same here—the cyclomethicone dilutes and lightens the oil, allowing it to be easily spread through lots of hair, reducing the chances of over-application in a specific area. And because cyclomethicone is oil soluble, we don’t need to fuss with creating an emulsion as you would with a lotion—you can simply stir everything together!
I’ve used argan oil at 20% for my doesn’t-super-love-oils hair, but if your hair loves oil you could very easily shift the balance of this formulation to feature more oil! Simply increase the argan oil percentage and decrease the cyclomethicone percentage accordingly to create something that is perfectly tailored to your hair (you could also do the opposite to reduce the oil concentration if desired) 😊 Something to keep in mind; if you use enough oil that this product starts to be more viscous than water, you may not be able to mist it and might want to switch to a dropper-top bottle. Thicker liquids in a mister bottle will come out in a jet rather than a mist, which can be uncomfortable (depending on where the jet is pointed!) and will deposit a lot of product in one place.
I’ve also included a small amount of lightweight, slippy C12-15 alkyl benzoate for a bit of added richness and even more fabulous slip. If you don’t have it I think Neossance® Hemisqualane or isopropyl myristate (IPM) would be easy, lovely alternatives. A small amount of vitamin E, an antioxidant, helps delay the onset of rancidity.
For fragrance, I decided to break out the bottle of Sunset Heat I ordered from the Scentsational Soaping Supply when I was getting my Bum Bum dupe fragrance last year. It’s a lovely, juicy, summery scent that apparently smells like Escada’s Sunset Heat perfume, which isn’t something I’ve had the chance to smell. You certainly don’t have to use this fragrance, or any fragrance for that matter! An essential oil would also be lovely, or you could leave the product unscented and replace the fragrance oil with more cyclomethicone.
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Relevant links & further reading
- Cyclomethicone + other cyclo-siloxanes in the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia
- C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate in the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia
- Argan Oil in the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia
- Tocopherol (Vitamin E) in the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia
- 10 Recipes to Make with Argan Oil
- More hair oil + hair balm formulations:
- How long will ______ last? What is its shelf life?
- Do I need to add a preservative to this recipe? How long will it last?
Dry Argan Oil Hair Mist
17.3g | 69.2% cyclomethicone (USA / Canada)
2.5g | 10% C12-15 alkyl benzoate (USA / Canada)
5g | 20% argan oil (USA / Canada)
0.125g | 0.5% Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada)
0.075g | 0.3% fragrance or essential oil of choiceWeigh all the ingredients into a small beaker, or directly into the bottle you’ll be storing the hair mist in.
If it’s a beaker, stir to combine. If you went straight for the bottle, cap and shake. I used a 30mL (1fl oz) slim mister bottle from YellowBee for my bottle.
That’s it!
To use, mist the product over your hair as needed. This can be used on wet or dry hair. You can also mist it onto your hands for more controlled application.
Shelf Life & Storage
Because this hair mist is 100% oil-based, it does not require a broad-spectrum preservative (broad spectrum preservatives ward off microbial growth, and microbes require water to live—no water, no microbes!). Kept reasonably cool and dry, it should last at least a year before any of the oils go rancid. If you notice it starts to smell like old nuts or crayons, that’s a sign that the oils have begun to oxidize; chuck it out and make a fresh batch if that happens.
Substitutions
As always, be aware that making substitutions will change the final product. While these swaps won’t break the recipe, you will get a different final product than I did.
- As I’ve provided this recipe in percentages as well as grams you can easily calculate it to any size using a simple spreadsheet as I’ve explained in this post. As written in grams this recipe will make 25g, which is just shy of 30mL (1fl oz).
- To learn more about the ingredients used in this formulation, including why they’re included and what you can substitute them with, please visit the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia. It doesn’t have everything in it yet, but there’s lots of good information there! If I have not given a specific substitution suggestion in this list please look up the ingredient in the encyclopedia before asking.
- The lightweight, volatile, oil-free base is integral to this formulation. Some possible variations:
- Using isododecane instead of cloclomethicone.
- Using cyclopentasiloxane instead of cyclomethicone.
- Using dimethicone 1.5 (the 1.5 is important—other weights of dimethicone are heavier and will not work) instead of either or both
- You could also try a natural cyclomethicone alternative like LuxGlide N5 (USA / Canada).
- You could try isopropyl myristate (IPM), coco caprylate, or Neossance® Hemisqualane instead of C12-15 alkyl benzoate.
- You can substitute another liquid oil (or blend of liquid oils!) that your hair loves instead of argan oil. I think broccoli seed oil, jojoba oil, and camellia seed oil could all be lovely choices.
- If you’d like to incorporate an essential oil, please read this.
Gifting Disclosure
The 30mL (1fl oz) mister bottle was gifted by YellowBee. The C12-15 alkyl benzoate was gifted by Essential Wholesale.
Oooohhhh! This sound wonderful! Most products I try on my thin fine fine hair will weigh it down and look like I haven’t shampooed in weeks. I love that I can play with the amounts of oil in this. Definitely going to give this one a try. Since I color my hair, it needs a bit of moisture especially in the ends. Thank you!
Hooray! I’m in the same boat as you—I WISH I could use straight oils on my hair, but that leads straight to a shower for me. I look forward to hearing what you think 🙂 Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making!
I made this today!!! i have very thick hair and was wondering if next time i could double the amount of argan oil? Would that throw off the whole recipe? Im thinking it would be like doubling the bacon ratio in an omlette!!!!! thanks for all your great posts!!
Hey Jeanette! I’ll refer you to paragraph #5 in the post for guidelines on increasing the oil content ❤️ Happy making!
Hi Marie, another great recipe. I do love a “dry” oil. I was checking out the ingredients and it seems that the use of cyclomethicone is going to be restricted in the eu do to environmental and safety concerns. My supplier suggests: Isoamyl Laurate (and) Isoamyl Cocoate. It looks like it could work, what do you think? I know you made several suggestions for alternative ingredients in this recipe but I think this is an interesting ingredient and I would love to hear your thoughts about it.
My experience with natural cyclomethicone “alternatives” is that they are never anywhere near as light/volatile as cyclomethicone. They can work as an alternative in some formulations, but I haven’t found them to do well when used as cyclomethicone is used here 🙁
I’m currently testing isoamyl laurate and natura-tec plantsil (hydrogenated ethylhexyl olivate & hydrogenated olive oil unsabonifiables) in some Marie’s formulations – I could let you know if I like them or not. Without having tried cyclomethicone or other silicones it’s difficult to compare them, though. Hence I’m planning to compare them to other ester oils.
Hi Marie & bees! After testing above mentioned esters (quickly, side by side comparison) I like them a lot as super light weight, fast absorbing carrier oils but they don’t perform like silicones do in hair oils like this (replaced cyclomethicone with the most potential one, natura TEC plantsil/ natrasil). My hair (short, straight) doesn’t like oils too much though. I was still able to mist it and it makes my hair shiny/ glossy (plain camellia oil does that do). IMO isoamyl laurate seems a bit similar to c12-15 alkyl benzoate and coco caprylate (haven’t tried emulsions yet except cleansing oil). Each of them still makes my hair feel a bit oily when applied undiluted…so hair balm, possibly with silica microspheres might work. In hair conditioners and shampoos they could be nice! Natrasil is said to work well in liquid shampoos. It feels amazing on skin. Leaves skin feeling supple and elastic. Isoamyl laurate and coco caprylate seem interesting in other projects too. They’re quite different from MCT-oil or fractioned coconut oil. Can’t wait to play with them more. In short: I kind of agree with Marie. Thanks, Marie, for introducing coco silicone to me. Just my opinion – hope this helps anyway!
Hey Marie,
The recommend usage for LuxGlide N5 on WSP website says 1-3% but this formula calls for 69.2% of the cyclomethicone. Would it still be safe to use the same percentage of LuxGlide N5 for this recipe? TIA!
Hey Kit! I researched this as well and detailed the info in the encyclopedia entry for the 350 version. It’s probably fine from a safety standpoint, but I’ve tried it in the past and if you have fine hair that is not super oil tolerant I don’t think you’ll be thrilled with the results 🙁
Thanks for your reply! I also tried to look up the info on WSP as well and they gave really different numbers/percentage. I will try to make it with N5. I’ll let you know how it turns out! Thank you so much again!
Hi! I have had great luck with many of your recipes and I really look up to you and trust your suggestions!
I am wondering if you had tried a recipe using rice water and foti root? I’ve seen some testimonials on YouTube regarding the Red Yao women and their hair routine and am interested but actually trust your formulating judgment. Just wondering. ☺️
Hi Erin! I don’t have any formulations using either of those ingredients at this point; rice water is a thing I’ve considered, but I’d really need to test my preservation system for an extended period of time to be confident in the stability of any formulation using it ❤️ Happy making!
Are there all natural substitutes for some of these ingredients? I looked at the encyclopedia and did see any.
I would re think this whole thing, or at least put a warning disclaimer on your post, as the majority ingredient cyclomethicone is a known endocrine disruptor and can harm fertility and an unborn child in pregnancy. The E.U has banned the ingredient by now I think, because of these reasons. Nothing is worth your good health.
You’ve missed several essential facts, making your take far more alarming than the reality of the situation.
1. “Cyclomethicone” is a generic/broad term for one or more cyclic siloxanes. “D5 and D6 are the predominant cyclomethicones used in cosmetics and personal care products, due to their excellent skin and hair conditioning properties. Cyclomethicone D4 is rarely used as a cosmetic ingredient. D4 can also be present at very low residual levels (generally <0.1%) in D5 and D6, since it is used as a starting material in the production of those cyclomethicones. During this manufacturing process, virtually all of the material is consumed leaving only a tiny amount of D4." D4 is the one with the bad reputation.
Check the datasheets from your supplier to learn more about the specific products you’re looking at. The cyclomethicone sold by Lotion Crafter shows it is mostly D5 & D6, with 0.000–0.0099% D4. D4 is the one you're referring to when you say "the majority ingredient cyclomethicone is a known endocrine disruptor and can harm fertility and an unborn child in pregnancy". It's not the majority ingredient. Ever. It's well known to be not awesome and is controlled and avoided. "After reviewing information on bioaccumulation of these siloxanes, the Government of Canada concluded that siloxane D5 and D6 are not harmful to human health. However, they concluded that only siloxane D4 may cause harm to the environment or its biological diversity." D4 is generally considered an impurity.
2. A 3-second google search shows it is not banned in Europe. "The EU’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) reviewed the safety of D4 and D5 in 2010 and concluded that cyclomethicones (D4 and D5) do not pose a risk for human health when used in cosmetic products". "After 31st January 2020, the concentration of D4/D5 in cosmetic products that are rinsed off after application (“wash-off”) placed on the market should be less than 0.1% by weight of either substance.” “The restriction will only apply to wash-off cosmetic products that, under normal conditions of use, are removed with water shortly after application because in these circumstances D4 and D5 are emitted to the aquatic environment before evaporation.”
Sources:
https://www.cosmeticsinfo.org/ingredients/cyclomethicone/
https://knowledge.ulprospector.com/7724/pcc-cyclosiloxane-d4-d5-regulation-update/
https://oxfordbiosciences.com/safety/eu-cosmetic-regulation-updates/
You don’t have to use this ingredient if you don’t want to, but don’t avoid it because you believe things about it that just aren’t true.