DIY | Banana Avocado Coconut Hair Smoothie

I've been making a smoothie almost every day since the year started thank to #Simple7 with Simple Green Smoothies.  Since my very first 30daygreensmoothie challenge with them, finally I've almost achieved 30 straight days of green smoothies - 1.25yrs later, lol.  This weekend, I whipped up possibly the most incredibly smooth, deliciously smoothie yet!  But! It wasn't for drinking, this time it had a different fate.  But OhMy did it smell amazing and I was dying to drink it.

I've been home in Trinidad for just over a month and my hair has been suffering!  This tropical heat coupled with the humidity is no joke.  I would think my hair would be retaining a lot more moisture than it has, instead, if I leave it out for more than 6 hours it's like I put some tumbleweed on my head.  On top of which, it feels crunchy and looks miserable.  I needed to do something ASAP!  Like a treatment, but, I don't have any of my go-tos - side eyeing TSA and 50lb regulations.  It would seem, however, that the universe felt I needed to get back into the kitchen to rectify this situation I had going on.  Since my smoothie a day goal I've ensured to have plenty fruits on hand, but the fruits have been raining and pouring in, so much that I don't know what to do with them all -aside from eating them fresh and getting my green smoothies in everyday.  One particular fruit has been bananas, and I've loved having them.  They make my smoothies soo creamy, smooth and naturally sweet; They're great in baked goods, I made banana-nut muffins, and I don't even like banana bread!  I've frozen about a dozen! A DOZEN!  Could you imagine?

Thank goodness bananas aren't just for eating.  Although I really must say again, they really are great in smoothies!  They are my default smoothie ingredient, ever since my early smoothie making days when I never imagined putting food in my hair as I thought it a complete waste of good food. But, my hair loves the Kurlee Belle Banana Nut Avocado Deep Treatment, and I thought, what if I could replicate it.  I scoured the 'world's catalogue of ideas' and my favourite video search engine for copycat recipes to no avail.  There were however many, many DIY deep conditioner/treatment/mask recipes, I must have reviewed over 50.  All basically the same with slight variations, like adding essential oils.  A quick inventory check revealed that I had the Bananas of course, and there's always Coconut Oil.  I also had Coconut Milk but the Kurlee Belle ingredients list coconut oil, even though it's milky in colour and texture.  The other main ingredient, Avocado, was hiding out in the freezer, long forgotten.  And Honey, also listed in ingredient list was on hand.  Perfect!

Before I get to the recipe, lemme tell you a little story.  Way back when my hair was relaxed I put banana in my hair.  That was the one and ONLY time.  I was left with micro bits and pieces of banana all up in my hair.  It was a disaster!  I never fathomed I'd be back here, definitely not with my kinks and coils now.  I'm telling you, fruit in your hair is tricky business.  Don't just jump in like I did, following a video that used a fork, yes a fork, to mash the bananas and mix the ingredients.  But here I am in present day, thanks to the many who suffered my faith and shared their trials willingly trying again, with a much improved method inspired by Naptural85 - she's a true guru!

Now that I had a method, I needed a recipe.  One that would result in the same, if not better results than using the purchased Banana Nut Avocado Deep Treatment.  I decided on the measurements below for my recipe taking into consideration my hair length and texture, you can make adjustments to suit your differences accordingly.

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But first, really briefly, here are some Hair Benefits of the ingredients used:

Bananas - keep hair hydrated and healthy; can increase the moisture content of hair, smooth frizz, and soothe itchy scalp
Avocado - contains fatty acids that nourish, smooth and soften hair; locks moisture into hair cells, nourishes hair cells, and strengthens hair roots, shaft and strands
Coconut Oil - penetrates hair shaft, has a high moisture retention capacity; hydrates, conditions and softens hair
Honey - is a natural humectant, it holds on to water molecules; provides shine while conditioning to make hair soft and supple
Olive Oil - helps protect the keratin in hair and seals in moisture; help hair manageability and conditions, increasing softness (great benefits of Olive Oil and other oils shared here)
Glycerin - water soluble and dissolves oils making it a great emulsifier; moisturizer and humectant

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Banana Avocado Coconut Hair Smoothie

Ok, it doesn't look that great, it actually looks like baby food,

or baby **op

1 Banana
1/2 Avocado
2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
1 Tbsp Honey
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Glycerin

Tablespoon
Teaspoon
Blender
Strainer/Sieve
Container


*Both my banana and avocado were frozen, therefore I defrosted them before using.

Add ingredients 1 at a time to blender, blending each before adding the next ingredient.  ie add banana, blend, add avocado, blend, etc
Puree until you have a smooth consistency and no visible lumps.
Place a fine strainer/sieve over your container and pour the mixture slowly and carefully.  Gently tap the strainer to assist the mixture in passing through into your container.  You can also use the back of the measuring spoon, but do not force the mixture by pressing as you may end up with tiny pieces passing through.

My mixture was actually very well blended and there were no lumps or pieces of fruit.  However even if your mixture looks smooth, I still advise using the strainer.  Better be safe than sorry.

After applying to my hair in sections, I used a plastic bag - could never find a shower cap when I need one - to cover my hair, tied with a scarf and let it sink in for 2, almost 3 hours while I got some stuff done - like sharing this all with you.  Now I'm off to wash it out.  I'll share the results with you if my camera and lighting cooperate today.
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I did record the making of this smoothie and will post it soon as I find a video editor to use since I don't have my laptop - any suggestions?

~ Josie Jo ~