Batches from the kitchen table

A look at what moderators and long-standing members have been mixing lately. Each entry lists the hair type it was built for and the note that came out of the thread, so you can tell at a glance whether it is worth trying on your own lengths.

Coily hair, Johannesburg

Flaxseed gel, 1:5 simmer

Thick set that holds a wash-and-go through a dry Highveld week. Member note: strain twice, or the gel pulls into strings by day three in the fridge.

Read the thread

Fine hair, Cape Town

Aloe and glycerin leave-in

Light enough for humid coastal air. The batch photo shows a thin pour, not a cream, and that is deliberate for fine strands.

Read the thread

All hair types, Gauteng

Apple cider vinegar rinse

Diluted pour for hard tap water that leaves a film. Members log how often they use it before their scalp starts to feel tight.

Read the thread

Fine hair, Durban

Whipped shea, cut with light oil

Raw shea softened so it spreads instead of sitting greasy. Batch photos show how much the colour shifts between unrefined lots.

Read the thread

Scalp care, all regions

Rosemary and nettle infusion

Used as a final cold rinse, brewed in small jars and kept no longer than a week. The thread covers what to do when the herbs run out.

Read the thread

Deep conditioning, coily hair

Shea and banana mask

A heavier weekend batch for dry ends. Members flag the lumps that survive blending and the swap to mango butter when shea is out of stock.

Read the thread

See full batch logs How threads are moderated

The people behind the threads

A forum only stays useful when someone keeps the shelves tidy. These are the moderators, recipe testers and long-standing members who answer the awkward questions, flag a bad ratio before ten people copy it, and quietly move a thread to the right place.

Jill Marais

Founder and head moderator

Started the forum after years of filling notebooks with flaxseed ratios that worked and batches that turned to slime. Reads almost every new welcome post and matches starters by hair type.

Nomsa Dlamini

Coily hair and deep conditioner threads

Tests shea and mango butter blends on 4C hair in Durban humidity. Keeps the storage notes honest, including what goes grainy after a warm week in the cupboard.

Pieter van Wyk

Hard water and rinse section

Based in Pretoria, where the tap leaves a film on everything. Wrote most of the vinegar and citric acid guidance, and warns when a rinse is too strong for dry ends.

Aisha Patel

Ingredient sourcing, Johannesburg

Knows which spice shops, bulk stores and market stalls around Johannesburg sell raw shea, aloe and dried herbs without import markups. Updates the supplier thread when stock moves.

Lerato Mokoena

Fine hair and light formulas

Runs the fine-versus-coily comparison threads and keeps a running list of swaps for when an ingredient is out of stock, from glycerin to light oils.

Thandi Nkosi

Batch troubleshooting and shelf life

Cape Town member who photographs every batch and logs how long it lasts in the fridge. Her separation checklist is the first thing most newcomers read.

Moderators here do not post before-and-after photos or push a product. If a recipe fails, it stays in the thread with the reason attached, so the next person mixing a jar at the kitchen table starts from something real.

The people behind the recipes

Jill's Organic Formula started as a kitchen counter in Oliverberg, where a batch of flaxseed gel went stringy and nobody could say why. That question turned into a forum for South Africans who mix their own hair and scalp treatments from food-grade ingredients, and the team that keeps it running still answers threads the same way: what went in the bowl, what happened next, and what to change on the second try.

Jill Meyer, founder

Keeps the recipe index and the welcome thread. Jill has been boiling flaxseed for close to a decade and still writes every ratio by hand before it goes into a post, including the batches that separated in the fridge.

Thandi Nkosi, moderator

Handles coily hair threads and the hard water discussions coming out of Gauteng. Thandi tests rinses on her own hair before recommending a dilution, and she is the one who flags a vinegar pour that is too strong for dry ends.

Ruan Pretorius, ingredient sourcing

Tracks where members can buy raw shea, aloe and dried herbs around Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban without import markups. Ruan also keeps the swap list current when something runs out of stock.

Fine hair desk

A rotating group of members with fine strands who test lightened shea batches and thin flaxseed pours. Their notes on humidity in coastal air are the reason several recipes list a glycerin adjustment at the end.

Storage and shelf life

Every batch thread asks the same two questions: how long does it keep, and where. The team keeps a running set of notes on fridge life, grainy whipped butter and what a change in smell actually means.

How we talk here

No before-and-after hype, no pressure to buy anything. Moderators step in when a thread drifts into claims nobody can back up, and the welcome thread stays open so new members can get a starter recipe matched to their hair type.

Why the forum exists

Most DIY hair advice online is written for someone with a fully stocked cupboard and soft water. Members here work with what is on the shelf at a local shop, in water that leaves a film, on hair that ranges from fine to coily. The team's job is to keep those threads honest and useful, one batch at a time.

If you are new, introduce yourself in the welcome thread and say what your hair does on a normal wash day. Someone will point you to a starting recipe, and you can take it from there.