Making your own hairspray is easy since most of the ingredients you need can be found at home, in your kitchen. It doesn’t cost a lot. In fact it’s cheaper those bought in stores, and it’s just as effective.
You’ll need half a cup of water, and two teaspoons each of granulated sugar and rubbing alcohol. The alcohol is optional, but if you’re going for it, we highly recommend looking for 91% isopropyl.
First boil the half cup of water in a pot. After it boils, take away the pot and pour in the sugar, little by little. Mix the liquid well until the sugar dissolves completely. Let this cool for a few minutes until it becomes warm, and no longer hot. If you’re using alcohol, mix it in at this stage. Allow the mixture to cool off before funneling it into a spray bottle using a misting nozzle.
Here are some tips you should remember.
- The sprayer should have a very fine mist nozzle.
- Style your hair until you get it the way you want it. Spray a bit more before setting the style. Allow your hair to completely dry out before moving it again. Remember that the hairspray is water. If you mess with it without it drying, it’ll only appear wet.
- The level of strength of the hairspray depends on how much sugar it contains. A single teaspoon would be a bit flexible. Three teaspoons would be very strong.
- If you’ll be using an iron to style with heat, try spraying a thin coat first. After it’s completely dry, use the iron. Don’t spray too much. That would create flakes, like a regular hairspray.
- Alcohol makes the spray last longer when stored. It also helps with the consistency preventing any clogging of the sprayer. It does not affect the strength of the hold of the spray. There is a cool feel though that you can feel if your spray has alcohol.
- If the spray starts to appear cloudy (which happens after a couple of weeks), discard it. This happens when the spray is too hot upon the addition of alcohol.
