so, about a week ago i proclaimed i was switching to all natural hair ingredients. for some background: my regimen is centered on protective styling. i keep twists or box braids in for 3 weeks, then take them down and do a clarifying treatment and deep condition. the plan is to try different ingredients/products every 3 week cycle until i find what works perfectly for my hair. my next clarifier/conditioner is feb. 16…
ok, here is pt 1 of the sequel…
i began by going to a storefront health food store in chicago, where an old white dude was lecturing customers on colon cleansings, and how his brand of green tea was the best. anyway, i picked out my sodium bentonite clay powder and castor oil, and an annoying helpful sales lady kept asking if i was going to do a colon cleanse. i didn’t have the heart to tell her i was using the stuff for my hair, not my bowels. so, i quickly paid for my things (about $20) and left.
the rest of my ingredients: honey, coconut milk, apple cider vinegar, olive oil and plain yogurt, i got for under $15 at Aldi. holla!
i returned home and mixed 3 tbsps of bentonite clay, 2 tbsps of apple cider vinegar, a big tbsp of plain yogurt, a couple teaspoons of baking powder, and about 4 tbsps of water. i think it was too watery… but anyway, i stepped in the shower, and soon realized that i didn’t quite know how to get the mixture from the bowl into my hair. so i ended up awkwardly bending over, and just-as-awkwardly scooping the mixture into my hair. *good times*
anyway, once i got it all in, i worked it into my hair, and… it. was. magic.
you have heard me sing the praises of apple cider vinegar in the past. well, i’m sorry, … but bentonite clay kicked acv’s ass! my hair felt clean, moist and soft all the same time… i didn’t even know that was possible. and the coil definition was insane.
i did some research about b. clay and discovered that
“Bentonite clay is made up of a high number of tiny platelets, with negative electrical charges on their flat surfaces and positive charges on their edges. When bentonite clay absorbs water and swells up, it is stretched open like a highly porous sponge. Toxins are drawn into these spaces through electrical attraction and bound.”
and it’s a popular ingredient for colon cleanses (hence the sales lady’s question…)
so, my coils are well defined when my hair is wet, but usually disappear and napp-up when it dries. i was shocked to find, though, that my coils stayed defined even after my hair dried. and my hair felt… bouncy. let it be noted that i’ve NEVER used the word “bouncy” to describe my hair.
after my bentonite rinse, i really didn’t want to do a deep condition cuz my hair felt so good, and i didn’t want to mess it up. maybe i should have listened to myself, because things went downhill from there…
i heated up my deep condition mixture: honey, castor oil, olive oil, a little bit of water, (i forgot the cocount milk… maybe next time.) i repeated my awkward experience of transferring the mixture from bowl to head, put on a shower cap and watched 2 episodes of sex and the city.
when i returned to the shower to rinse my hair i felt… um… sticky (thanks honey), and my hair was nowhere as soft, moist or defined as it was after the bentonite clay mixture.
so, apparently honey is full of humectants, “a hygroscopic substance that easily forms hydrogen bonds with molecules of water. Humectants are often in many cosmetic products where moisturization is desired, including treatments such as moisturizing hair conditioners.”
i *guess*. i mean, i don’t doubt honey’s moisturizing properties. but maybe, for my texture, they’re not strong enough.
there was one consolation prize, though. a day after my disappointing deep condition, i saw the castor oil looking lonely on my bathroom sink. “what the heck,” i thought, and used it after my daily application of elasta qp mango butter (which i am phasing out, btw.) my gosh, my hair felt soft HOURS later. the castor oil sealed the moisture in a major way.
so in sum
Winners
Bentonite Clay
Castor Oil
Losers
Honey
Next Contenders
ok, so now i’m on a clay kick, and i heard that rhassoul clay is good for deep conditioning. so, it’s next in line to try.
i have to give a shout out to Moni… because i basically copped her amazing clarifying recipe. thanks girl!
write any thoughts or ideas in the comment box, and stay tuned for the feb. 16 sequel…
