Banana Smoothie – Hair Conditioner (with Cetrimonium Chloride)

Bananasmoothie2

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These are personal experiments for educational use only—not for commercial or consumer use. By proceeding, you assume all risks related to safety, testing, and regulatory compliance.
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Lab Note: My “Banana Smoothie” Hair Conditioner

Hello Hello Everyone! 😀 I know I just posted a hair conditioner recipe recently, but I am way too excited about this one to wait!

In my last experiment, I used an eco-friendly emulsifier that was good, but it needed so many thickeners that I had to put it in a pot. This one is different. This is my Banana Smoothie—it’s creamy, but not too thick, so it actually pours into a bottle!

The star of the show? Mr. Cetrimonium Chloride! 😀 It is an amazing conditioner. It’s a “beast” at detangling (even though the cream itself is soft), and the effect lasts as long as it’s on your hair.

The Formula for my Smoothie:

Phase A:

  • Water to 100
  • Glycerin 2
  • Cetrimonium Chloride 4 (I have long, thin hair that knots if I just look at it, so I used 4% and it works amazingly!)

Phase B:

  • Cetearyl Alcohol 2 (This is the thickener. I only used 2% to keep it pourable. If you wanted a pot-cream, you’d go up to 5%!)
  • Shea Butter 0.5
  • Dicaprylyl Ether 0.5 (A very light synthetic oil)
  • Jojoba Oil 0.5 (Technically a wax—it never goes rancid!)

Phase C:

  • Wheat Proteins Powder 0.5
  • Polyquaternium 7 – 1
  • Quaternium 80 – 0.5 (These are extra conditioners, but Cetrimonium is so strong you could even omit these!)
  • Preservative (According to the type used)
  • Fragrance Oil (I used BANANA—hence the name! :D)
  • Citric Acid (To reach pH 4.5—you MUST add this!)

Notes from the Beaker:

  1. Heat it up: I heated both Phase A and Phase B to 70°C.
  2. The Golden Rule: For conditioners, it’s different! Phase A (Water) MUST be poured into Phase B (Oils). Not the other way around! Very important! 😀
  3. Mixing: I used the immersion mixer until it looked smooth, then stirred slowly by hand until it cooled down.
  4. One by One: I added the Phase C ingredients at the end, but I added them one by one. If you dump them all in, the texture can get cranky.
  5. The Oil Choice: I used Jojoba and a synthetic oil because they don’t go rancid. Since conditioner stays on the hair a bit, you don’t want oils that smell bad after a while!

Final Verdict: I am really satisfied! It smells like bananas, detangles like a dream, and actually fits in my squeeze bottles. I love it! 😀

15 thoughts on “Banana Smoothie – Hair Conditioner (with Cetrimonium Chloride)”

  1. Can you please tell me how much Citric Acid should I use t to reach pH 4.5 ?

    I really would like you to post your leave in conditioner recipe 🙂

    Thanks a lot .

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    1. Oh for that there is not a fixed quantity: you should use the stripes which tell you the pH of your hair conditioner and you add little by little citric acid until you see that the pH is 4.5. 😀

      I will post it for sure! 😀
      Sorry for the wait!! 😉

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  2. Thanks a lot for your reply
    should I dissolve the citric acid powder first in some water before adding it to the conditioner ?
    waiting for the leave in conditioner recipe 🙂

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    1. Oh it is not needed! 😉
      I always add it in powder directly into the conditioner and I stir with a spoon. It melts away in seconds.
      Then I wait a few minutes (to be sure it all “melted”) and I give a quick stir again and finally I check the pH!
      If it is still too high I add a little bit more and repeat until I get the pH I want! 😀

      At the moment I am abroad and I will get home only in two weeks… so unfortunately I cannot make a recipe of the leave in conditioner yet (I have other recipes coming up though!) because I don’t have my “laboratory”(aka laundry room and ingredients) with me 😀
      But I promise I will make it as soon as I get home! 😀

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  4. Hello.

    Do you think that use the Lactic acid instead of the citric one to low the PH will affect the preparation?

    Thank you a lot. I just started to make some stuff on my own and I really like to read your blog 🙂

    Merry Christmas.

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    1. I don’t think it should be a problem to use lactic acid. 😀 However maybe try it first in a little amount of conditioner just to be sure: then you can mix it again with the rest! 😉

      Thank you!! 😀

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  5. Pingback: Can you recognize a good Shampoo? pt. 1 | It's all in my hands

    1. The same amount for any other lotion BUT consider that they only emulsify and DON’T ACTUALLY CONDITION the hair, so you’ll need to add other conditioning ingredients… Or you will end up with a normal lotion and NOT a conditioner 😉

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  7. Hello I have a brief question… About adding the phase c one by one do u mean add an ingredient then stir and the the other one then stir again till your done?

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