Beauty

Ketchup May Solve Your Summer Hair Woes — Here's How

There are so many amazing DIY beauty remedies just sitting in your kitchen pantry.

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Spending lazy summer afternoons in the pool can be a total blast, but all that chlorine can wreak havoc on your hair. Luckily, the antidote for this annoying beauty woe can be found right in your pantry.

During a segment on the 3rd Hour of TODAY on Tuesday, beauty expert Emma Heming Willis revealed that she uses ketchup, of all things, to create a hair mask whenever her mane is feeling the effects of all that chlorine. And Dylan Dreyer, Sheinelle Jones and Al Roker were pretty blown away.

"No way," Dylan said.

"This looks like a prank," Sheinelle commented.

Heming Willis, who is married to actor Bruce Willis, admitted that the idea of using ketchup in your hair is a bit divisive, but she explained why it works wonders.

"The tomato and the vinegar is very acidic, so what it's gonna do is just sort of help with that chlorine buildup in your hair," she said.

TODAY Illustration / Getty Images

As the founder and CEO of the skin care line COCOBABA, Heming Willis knows a thing or two about beauty and she shared some tips on how to use her one-ingredient ketchup mask. She even asked her daughter to help serve as a model during her segment.

"Put it on thick; don't be afraid. Put it on a topknot on top of your head," she said, adding that you should pop a plastic shower cap on for 30 to 90 minutes to let the ingredient soak in.

Afterwards, simply wash the condiment out with shampoo and conditioner and get ready to love the results.

"Your hair just feels so much lighter from (getting rid of) that chlorine," she said.

During her segment, she shared several DIY beauty tricks for summer that all have ingredients you can find in your pantry. Here are a few of our favorites!

Frozen Homemade Toner

This frozen toner helps hydrate, exfoliate and eliminate puffiness. You can also achieve similar results by freezing the ends of your cucumbers, and Heming Willis asked her husband to be a model and show off how well this skin solution works.

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cup of water (use distilled if possible)
  • 2 tablespoon rosewater
  • 3 drops of tea tree essential oil (optional)

Instructions:

  1. Mix ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
  2. Pour liquid mixture into ice cube tray.
  3. Freeze

Green Tea and Cucumber Body Spray

"This is something that I love doing for my kids and I if we've gotten a little bit too much sun," Heming Willis said, adding that green tea is full of antioxidants. Cucumber is a great source of vitamin C and hydration; aloe vera cools and is anti-inflammatory; and peppermint cools.

Ingredients:

  • 1 bag of green tea to make a cup. Reserve a ¼ cup
  • 1 tablespoon aloe vera gel
  • Half of a cucumber (peeled and pureed)
  • 2-3 drops of peppermint essential oil (optional)
  • Small spray bottle

Instructions:

  1. Brew a cup of green tea (reserve ¼ cup) and let it cool to room temperature.
  2. Take half a peeled cucumber and puree. Strain and add 2 tablespoons cucumber juice, 1 tablespoon of aloe vera gel and 2-3 drops of peppermint essential oil into mixing bowl.
  3. Transfer the mixture to a spray bottle. Store in the refrigerator (it should last a week).

Coconut Body Butter

Heming Willis called coconut oil her "all-time favorite beauty ingredient" and said it's great for dealing with flaky, dry skin during the summertime. The ingredient is rich in saturated fat and medium chain fatty acids and can help eczema and psoriasis too.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of coconut oil
  • 10-30 drops of essential oil (optional)
  • Mason jar

Instructions:

  1. Place mixing bowl and whisk in freezer for 30 minutes.
  2. Remove and add 1 cup of coconut oil and 10-30 drops of essential oil to mixing bowl and whisk ingredients until the coconut oil becomes creamy (it should take 5-8 minutes).
  3. Transfer the mixture to a mason jar.

This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:

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