Less & Lavish
Share
High-performance, all-natural hair care. For women who want clean beauty, without compromising elegance. Canadian Made 🇨🇦
If you’re a mom who wants to learn how to make your own products without getting completely overwhelmed, you’re in the right place.
I’ve already gone down the viral DIY rabbit holes, tried the recipes that looked amazing online but didn’t actually work, taken the formulation courses, and learned what makes a product perform properly.
Now I’m breaking it all down in a way that’s simple, practical, and actually doable at home.
Follow along and I’ll show you how to make your own products too.
09/03/2026
I think one of the biggest things that changed for me when I started making my own products was realizing that formulation is actually learnable.
At first, DIY haircare and natural beauty felt incredibly intimidating. There were percentages, pH, preservatives, emulsifiers, surfactants, botanical ingredients… and approximately a million different opinions about what was “clean,” “natural,” or “toxic.” 😂
And before I understood any of that, I did what a lot of us do: I tried copying natural DIY recipes I found online.
Some looked amazing in the video.
Some sounded so simple.
And then I’d actually make them and end up with something that separated, felt terrible in my hair, didn’t clean properly, was way too stripping.
That frustration is honestly what pushed me to start learning the why behind the ingredients instead of just copying recipes.
Once I stopped trying to understand everything at once and started learning one thing at a time, it became so much less overwhelming.
And that’s when I really fell in love with it.
Not just making a finished shampoo or conditioner, but understanding why a formula worked, why another one failed, what each ingredient was actually doing, and how small changes could completely change the end result.
I’ve been making and testing my own hair products for over 3 years now, and I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way. So a big part of what I want to do here is shorten that learning curve for other women who are curious about DIY haircare, natural hair products, cosmetic formulation, ingredients, and making products from scratch.
You do not need to know everything before you start.
You just need somewhere to start.
If you’re new here, hi 👋 I’m Michelle — mom of three, haircare formulator, and someone who genuinely loves learning how things are made. I share ingredient breakdowns, formulation experiments, DIY reviews, formula fails, and the behind-the-scenes of creating natural hair products.
If that sounds like your kind of rabbit hole, follow along. There’s a lot more coming. 🤍
Hair oils are NOT all interchangeable, and choosing the wrong one can be the difference between soft, shiny hair and hair that just feels greasy and weighed down.
Some oils are better for the scalp. Some are better for dry ends. Some give incredible slip and shine, while others are much richer and work better for thick, coarse or very dry hair.
That’s why I choose oils based on what I actually want them to DO.
-Jojoba for a lighter scalp oil.
-Camellia for softness and shine without much weight.
-Argan for smoothing dry, frizzy ends.
-Broccoli seed for serious slip and a silky finish.
-Sweet almond for an easy medium-weight conditioning oil.
-Avocado and olive for hair that needs something richer.
-Coconut for protecting and oiling the lengths.
-MCT when I want something extremely light.
-Castor when I want something thick and coating.
There really isn’t one “best hair oil.” The best one depends on your hair type, where you’re using it, and the result you’re trying to get.
I’ve spent the last 3+ years making and testing my own hair products, going down ingredient rabbit holes, trying things that worked beautifully…and plenty that absolutely did not. 😂
So now I’m sharing what I’ve learned to help make DIY haircare and hair formulation a whole lot less confusing for the women who want to learn how to make their own products too.
Save this as your hair-oil cheat sheet, and follow for more ingredient breakdowns. 🤍
08/25/2026
I’ve always been the kind of person who thinks, wait… could I make that myself?
That curiosity is actually what led me into formulation in the first place. I wanted products that felt more aligned with what I was looking for, so I started learning how they worked, testing ingredients, making terrible first versions, improving them, and eventually creating things I was genuinely proud of.
And lately I’ve realized I want to share a lot more of that side of things here.
Not just the finished product, but the figuring-it-out part. The experimenting. The mistakes. The “I have absolutely no idea if this is going to work” moments.
And if you’ve ever wanted to learn how to make your own natural hair or body products at home, you might want to stay close… because I’ve been working on something new for you. 👀
More soon. 🤍
How do you run a business from home with three little kids and no childcare?
As a work-from-home mom and small business owner, this is probably one of the questions I get asked most.
The truth is, running a business with kids at home doesn’t look like perfectly scheduled work blocks, uninterrupted productivity or some magical version of “work-life balance.”
A big part of what makes it possible for me is independent play.
I don’t believe that being a hands-on mom means I need to entertain my children every minute of the day. My kids play together, create, problem-solve, argue, work things out, help around the house and learn how to occupy themselves while they also watch their mom build a business.
And I actually think there’s something valuable in that.
For most of human history, motherhood happened alongside work. Women cooked, grew food, tended animals, made clothing, maintained homes, helped support their communities and raised children at the same time.
Modern motherhood can sometimes make us feel like our undivided attention should be on our children every waking moment…and I’m not sure I agree.
Some days I get hours of work done.
Some days my kids need me more and the business gets pushed aside.
Some days we’re out adventuring and almost nothing gets done.
That’s what running a small business as a mom looks like for me: less balance, more give-and-take.
And I think there’s a much bigger conversation here about motherhood, independent play, working from home with kids, and whether we’ve created unrealistic expectations for mothers.
For the other mom entrepreneurs and work-from-home moms: how do you make it work in your house?
I’ve now seen multiple creators posting almost the exact same video claiming OGX, and TRESemmé shampoos are being pulled from shelves right now and telling people to go “claim money” from these lawsuits.
But this is old information being presented like breaking news.
The DMDM hydantoin lawsuits largely date back to 2020–2021.
• OGX: lawsuit filed in 2021. The major case was dismissed in March 2022, and OGX says it stopped producing hair products with DMDM hydantoin in September 2021.
• TRESemmé: lawsuits began around 2020–2021. The major consolidated case was dismissed with prejudice in December 2022.
• Suave: a proposed class action was filed in June 2021 over older formulas containing DMDM hydantoin.
There is no new August 2026 recall pulling all three brands from shelves because of this ingredient.
And this is what bothers me. Thousands of people are panicking, throwing away products and asking what they’re supposed to use because old lawsuits are being framed as something happening today.
As someone who formulates natural hair care, I also think we need to stop treating every preservative like the enemy. Water-based products NEED proper preservation. Bacteria, yeast and mold contamination can absolutely cause scalp problems.
I use Leucidal Liquid, a radish-root ferment, and recently added Kem Diol at 1% for stronger preservation. I would much rather formulate a properly preserved product than chase a “perfectly clean” label at the expense of safety.
Question ingredients. Absolutely. You’ve seen me do that all the time.
But give people context, not mass hysteria for views.
i’m curious to know your guys’s thoughts on this.
Sources: OGX Beauty, ClassAction.org, Castillo v. Unilever / Justia, Lewakowski v. Unilever
Three years ago, my last two beautiful baby’s were born. The last six years have been a continuous journey of being pregnant, caring for newborns, breast-feeding and being sleep deprived and slowly trying to figure out who I am again.
Throughout this time, I’ve also been trying to grow out my hair, of course, I only use my products from Less & Lavish, but if you are like me and motherhood is anything but a straightforward process, consistency is not the easiest thing to do. Especially when it comes to anything in regards to self-care.
This year I have been trying to make myself somewhat of a priority again trying to rediscover who I am, my style, my look, my hobbies, my friend group and it’s still ongoing. But I am definitely feeling a lot more myself these days and I’m hoping to start being a lot more consistent with my hair growth journey going forward.
What has your postpartum journey looked like for you?
08/06/2026
I used to believe becoming my “best self” meant optimizing every part of my life.
I trained six days a week. I did cold plunges. I experimented with HGH, protein, creatine, handfuls of supplements, and every extreme way of eating from vegan to carnivore.
I was always trying to improve, perfect, and push myself further.
Then motherhood changed the way I saw everything.
It brought the exhaustion of modern womanhood into sharp focus. We are expected to care for everyone, manage everything, look beautiful, stay healthy, remain productive, and somehow keep improving through it all.
But the more I tried to optimize myself, the less like myself I felt.
When I began searching for gentler, more natural haircare for my children, something finally came together for me. I realized I did not want to create another brand asking women to do more.
I wanted to create something that allowed them to do less.
Less pressure.
Less noise.
Less chasing.
Less correcting.
And more rest. More nourishment. More connection. More time outdoors. More laughter. More softness. More of the things that help us feel safe, grounded, and fully alive.
I no longer believe radiance comes from constantly trying to change who we are. I believe it returns when we reduce the stress, create space for joy and connection, and come back to the person underneath all the pressure.
We are not problems waiting to be fixed.
We are already beautiful.
Perhaps we simply need to remember who we were before the world convinced us we needed to become more.
Less noise. Lavish feel.
Click here to claim your Sponsored Listing.
Category
Contact the business
Website
Address
Calgary, AB