vegan yogurt-like products for hair masks ???

[Arctic]

I remember from the past my hair loved occasional natural yogurt (dairy yogurt with nothing added) masks. I can't remember the recipes I used years ago, but I might have written them in my blog. I assume it was a mixture of natural yogurt, conditioner and honey, left on hair for 30 minute-ish.

I rarely if ever buy dairy though, for ethical reasons, but I regularly have non-dairy natural yogurts (by natural I mean there is no berries, fruits, aroma, etc., but in all honesty these products are not really as natural as natural dairy yogurt is when it comes to the ingredient lists. Many have for example sugars added, but not all.)

Anyway, this is not a post about which yogurt type is better, more "natural" or more beneficial for our guts. This is about...

... would these non-dairy, natural yogurts be good for hairmasks? As in, a home made protein+moisture combo deep treatments? Maybe mixed in favourite conditoner and adding some aloe or honey, or following with another moisturizing treatment.
... have you tried non-dairy yogurts as air masks and how did you like them? If you have also tried dairy yogurts, how would they compare?

The yogurt I currently have in my fridge is made from oats and has very stripped down ingredients (= good thing). It only has 1,3 % of protein in 100g. I also often have soy based yogurt. Other non-dairies - not so much, because they are not widely available here.


I might try this out today just for pampering myself and having some fun mixing potions :D These non-dairy yogurts are quite expensive where I live, so before I pour some of mine down the drain, I'd love to hear how others have liked them!

[Hairkay]

Hi,

I've only ever seen the soya version of yogurt selling and you can get it plain. I sometimes have oatmeal baths and have even tried it as a hair mask. I just got oats let it soak in some water for some minutes then put it all in the blender, sieved the liquid and used it.

[MINAKO]

Im thinking about the silken tofu in my cupboard right now, lol. Interesting idea! I never liked actual dairy or egg products in my hair. Its also proven that these protein treament dont really go far as the molecules are to big to really get into the cuticle. But of course they can help on a more temporary level still.
Well, i would be interested about peoples expiriences. Maybe i try it in a pre-poo one of these days. Thanks for the inspiration.

[Arctic]

Minako, yes I know about the molecule size of dairy protein (and many home made protein treatments) is too big for hair - however my hair liked dairy yogurt masks a lot. In general my hair is sensitive to protein, but always after dairy yogurt treatment it was very nice feeling and silky. I don't know how soy or oat protein compares to dairy protein in size. My hair is in nice condition and doesn't really need protein now, but I feel like experimenting and pampering myself with mask! Silken tofu sounds interesting too! Let us know how it goes if you try it! :)


Hairkay, soy yogurt is the most common here too, but we also have the oat yogurts widely available in almost every corner store. Just recently I have also seen some coconut and almond yogurts, but I think their base was soy and the nuts were added to it.

Ah, yes, the word I was looking for is "plain" and not natural. I mixed it up because in my language the plain yogurt is often called natural.

How did your hair like the oats treatment? I have read oats would be very good and soothing for skin!

[Hairkay]

Minako, yes I know about the molecule size of dairy protein (and many home made protein treatments) is too big for hair - however my hair liked dairy yogurt masks a lot. In general my hair is sensitive to protein, but always after dairy yogurt treatment it was very nice feeling and silky. I don't know how soy or oat protein compares to dairy protein in size. My hair is in nice condition and doesn't really need protein now, but I feel like experimenting and pampering myself with mask! Silken tofu sounds interesting too! Let us know how it goes if you try it! :)


Hairkay, soy yogurt is the most common here too, but we also have the oat yogurts widely available in almost every corner store. Just recently I have also seen some coconut and almond yogurts, but I think their base was soy and the nuts were added to it.

Ah, yes, the word I was looking for is "plain" and not natural. I mixed it up because in my language the plain yogurt is often called natural.

How did your hair like the oats treatment? I have read oats would be very good and soothing for skin!

That's why I went for oats because I have eczema. It helped sooth my skin. The oats in hair feels slippery. I've heard some use the oat liquid as a final rinse. That way they're left with a thin protective coating over hair. I've heard it suggested that hair be oiled prior to the rinse because it would be difficult for the oil to get through the coating. I've just used it the same way I use the banana mask. Rinse hair (hair may or may not have been prepped with coconut oil/olive oil some hours before), coat with oat water cover with a plastic cap/bag with a towel over it for half an hour then rinse the stuff off. It seemed to give similar results to the banana one.

[Arctic]

Thank you, Hairkay, for the info!

I think I'm going to give this a try. Even if the oat yogurt is expensive I don't use that much of it at my length. :D I'll let you know how it goes! I am going to use oat yogurt, my normal conditioner and maybe some honey or syrup.

[woolyleprechaun]

I doubt its a substitute for yoghurt, but methi masks offer a lot of slip and my hair loves it. I used to use it with yoghurt but found my hair was more than happy with a simple methi purée.

[Hairkay]

I doubt its a substitute for yoghurt, but methi masks offer a lot of slip and my hair loves it. I used to use it with yoghurt but found my hair was more than happy with a simple methi purée.

I used methi/fenugreek mixed with yogurt last week for conditioner. It was good just ended up smelling sort of celery salt like.

[Arctic]

I have no idea what methi is, lol. :D And what does it have to do with non-dairy yogurts?

[Hairkay]

I have no idea what methi is, lol. :D

It's used for cooking and can be found in the herb and spice section in supermarkets. It's used in Indian dishes and some eastern African countries. see here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenugreek

and here
http://www.thehealthsite.com/diseases-conditions/15-health-benefits-of-methi/

[Arctic]

Hairkay, thanks! I found now what it's called in my language, and the name is familiar, but I doubt it is sold here much. Seems like with quick googling it's mostly sold as supplement in capsules or seeds for sprouting.

[Hairkay]

Hairkay, thanks! I found now what it's called in my language, and the name is familiar, but I doubt it is sold here much. Seems like with quick googling it's mostly sold as supplement in capsules or seeds for sprouting.

Here's a thread with a video

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=130135

They've used the seeds here.

[Arctic]

Thanks. So that's why woolyleprechaun brought up fenugreeks in the context of this thread (vegan non-dairy yogurt) because the popular way of using them is mixed with dairy yogurt. I have to say I was a little perplexed as what the fenugreeks got to do with non-dairy yogurt, but now I sort of understand.

[Arctic]

OK I did my hair mask. There wasn't very much of the oat yogurt in my mix after all, so I doubt it would have a big effect.

I used conditioner, oat yogurt and a little bit of honey. Dampened my hair a little bit, applied the mask and left it on for probably 30 minutes or little more. Washed with shampoo (CWC method). I didn't got chance to feel/see how my hair looks/feels like when dry, because I put it in sock curls when it was still damp. What I was able to tell is that it seemed to be nice. Scalp feels good too.

The oat yogurt was pleasant to use, and I didn't experience that sour smell a dairy yogurt mask started to smell like in the heat of the head.

I also digged up my old blog entries, and looks like I used to mix only yogurt and honey, without conditioner (but I followed those masks with normal conditioner). Also looks like I already have used soy yogurt at some point years ago, and liked the results, but prefered the dairy yogurt results apparently. Well, this is probably first time using oat yogurt, then!

I'll update how my hair looks/feels tomorrow... :)

[Calypso]

Well I would have thought coconut milk would be similar to yogurt for hair, and I know that lots of people love using it. I tried it once, though, and my hair absolutely hated it. :( I can't compare it to yogurt, though, as I'm vegan and have never used yogurt on my hair. Has anyone else used both yogurt and coconut milk and is able to compare?

[Hairkay]

Well I would have thought coconut milk would be similar to yogurt for hair, and I know that lots of people love using it. I tried it once, though, and my hair absolutely hated it. :( I can't compare it to yogurt, though, as I'm vegan and have never used yogurt on my hair. Has anyone else used both yogurt and coconut milk and is able to compare?

Yep, coconut milk is oilier but smells nicer (the freshly made coconut milk). Yogurt helps if you've put too much oil in your hair, it'll get rid of the excess.

[Arctic]

I think I used coconut milk years ago, when I was new member, and it was too oily for me. Later I have learned my skin doesn't tolerate oils well at all, and coconut in all forms is a big offender for me.

As Hairkay said, yogurt (of any type) is not oily. Plus it's nice and acidic, very calming for skin too. I don't mind the actual smell of yogurt, but I admit the dairy yogurt did start to smell unpleasantly sour after a while in deep treatment. The vegan yogurts don't seem to have that problem, and even dairy yogurt didn't leave any smell on my hair.

So for me personally, (all types of) yogurt win easily over coconutmilk. I always felt coconut milk is more comparable to adding oil to my conditioner, whereas yogurt feels it has other benefits.


Update: My hair feels and looks good, but nothing special. After reading my old blog entries from years ago, I think I can relatively safely say that on my hair, vegan yogurts (I have now tried both soy and oat yogurt) don't seem to quite have the same effect as dairy yogurt had for me. But they are not bad in any way either, and it's nice to have an ingredient I can safely put on my sensitive scalp too, and nice to sometimes mix my own potions and hair masks.

(I'm not vegan anymore myself, I am lacto-ovo-vegetarian, but I tend to choose vegan products most of the time (~95%) and I rather buy vegan yogurts.)

I find it interesting, that am I really the only one who has tried vegan yogurts as hair masks? Maybe those products ae not as common elsewhere as they are in Finland.

[truepeacenik]

Given that you now eat dairy and honey, I'd say use what always worked.
I do eat dairy yogurt because the non dairy is either prohibitively expensive or loaded with sweeteners and stabilizers.
What I do is pour off the whey (I buy or make a quart at a time) as it separates, and save that for a treatment. I mix with enough yogurt to get some body to it.
Since I buy nonfat, I doubt I'm getting moisture from this.

If I wanted to go nondairy, and avoid coconut, I'd try silken tofu, as Minako suggested.

Basically I make sure I come near dietary guidelines for protein and put protein in at the root.

I'm now wondering what is the molecular size of powdered pea protein.

[Arctic]

Thanks for the suggestions! I'd be interested to learn about vegan proteins' molecule sizes too!

Tofu is here as expensive as vegan yogurts, and I don't like silken tofu, so I personally won't be using that for hair either (because I would need to eat most of it anyway). But I'm interested to hear how people like it as a mask, if someone tries it!

I don't really eat much any eggs or dairy, I eat 95 % vegan, but am not as strict as I was when I was vegan. So dairy yogurt isn't really an option for me, even if I call myself lacto-ovo-vegetarian. I might buy some (organic) few times a year, for my dog usually, so maybe I'll remember to have few spoonfuls for a hairmask the next time. But I always have vegan yogurt in fridge, so that is an available and easy option for me for hair masks (thankfully my hair is still so short I don't need much, because yeah, this stuff is rather expensive).

[Arctic]

Ahhh, I now realize my title for this thread has been a bit missleading - again. Some of you probably though I am looking for replacement ideas for yogurt, whereas I wanted to hear experiences about non-dairy yogurts specifically. I really need to start making better headers! Anyway, nice to have so many other suggestions too, maybe one day I will experiment with some of them, I'll save this thread for future reference! Keep the suggestions coming, and I am still interested to hear other people's experiences with non-dairy yogurts as hair masks too. The thread has evolved into something interesting for many vegetarians and vegans! :)

[Arctic]

Hmmm, I have some soy protein isolate and also normal soy flour AND chickpea flour ("gram flour"). I wonder how those would be like as masks! I don't know for sure, but i would think protein isolates would have smaller molecule size, no?

[woolyleprechaun]

Thanks. So that's why woolyleprechaun brought up fenugreeks in the context of this thread (vegan non-dairy yogurt) because the popular way of using them is mixed with dairy yogurt. I have to say I was a little perplexed as what the fenugreeks got to do with non-dairy yogurt, but now I sort of understand.
Yes, that was the connection! I could have been a little clearer there... You know when you are having a discussion with yourself and forget that others can't hear it? Yeah, that happened.
But anyway, I have no experience of vegan yoghurt substitutes being used on hair, mainly because all the yoghurt substitutes I've ever purchased have been made from substances with no known benefits.

[truepeacenik]

Hmm... What about skipping the fermenting and thickening and going straight to the protein liquid, with a thickener? Like agar?
The flours are a possibility. Using soy flour in soy milk (or whatever sub you use)?
I'm trying to remember if cooking enlarges or shrinks protein molecules.

And yes, isolates are smaller.