Replacing Honey with Agave in Natural Hair Recipes?

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Last updated on May 27th, 2023 at 02:14 pm

Getting right to the point, I was recently preparing my hair care products on my last wash day and it was the week I protein treat my hair. I’ve been using a DIY goat’s milk conditioner recipe that I adapted to suit my hair’s needs.

So, as I’m whipping out all of my ingredients (frozen goat’s milk cubes, coconut oil, olive oil, guar gum….and honey), I discover I’m fresh out of honey! How the heck was I going to balance out this protein conditioner without honey?

That’s when I got the bright idea to substitute with the Organic Blue Agave that I use in my coffee. It’s a similar consistency to honey and I’ve noticed many moisturizing hair products contain agave nectar so I figured why not give it a whirl.

What I didn’t expect was for my hair to be as soft and smooth down the hair shaft as it was. O-M-G (I feel like such a kid!), this Agave did exactly what I needed it do and performed just like honey in my normal DIY recipe. So, I decided to do a quick internet search on the benefits of agave for hair. Here’s what I discovered over on CurlyNikki (read it all here):

Agave nectar is composed of several large carbohydrate molecules called polysaccharides: saponin, inulin, and fructosan. These polymers are made up of building blocks of different types of sugar molecules. Fructose is the primary component, with glucose being a smaller fraction of the material. Polysaccharides have many hydroxyl groups and for this reason are very hydrophilic. They will behave as humectants and draw water either to the hair or out of the hair, depending upon the environment.

Ahhh, just like honey, agave is a humectant. I suspected as much due to seeing this ingredient listed in many hair products that my hair actually loves. Since, I’m using the Agave as part of a conditioning treatment I wash out, I won’t worry about how it would behaving in environments with a high or low dew point.

The goat’s milk conditioner recipe I use requires the added honey (replaced by the Agave) to help keep the hair soft and smooth, while simultaneously strengthening it. Read all the goat milk benefits here.

My beloved Organic Blue Agave is good for more than just sweetening my coffee while helping me maintain a stable blood sugar. It’s an excellent replacement for honey in my natural hair recipes. So, will I continue to use it in place of honey?

Heck no! LOL! While agave is a wonderful substitute for honey in natural hair recipes, it’s expensive as all heck! I only purchase one bran, Izzy’s Organic Blue Agave (pictured above).

Other brands have been known to contain hidden amounts of high fructose corn syrup. This stuff is double the cost of the honey I use in my DIY hair recipes (I don’t bother with the organic stuff). Therefore, I’ll try to keep my cupboard stocked with honey. But, if I ever run out at least I know I have a viable option 🙂

Have you ever used products with Agave in them? If so, what was your experience?

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