Remix your Conditioner!

Heller!

So the last post I did was about the importance of conditioning dem curls.

Deep conditioners (especially natural ones) can get a little bit pricey...but if you follow the 5 tips in the previous post to selecting a deep conditioner, you can always get a less pricey one and.....REMIX YOUR CONDITIONER!

There are many things you can add to your conditioner to help enhance it and you don’t have to break the bank! All you have to do is raid your kitchen and remember if you can eat it, chances are you can put it in your hair J

1. Coconut Oil

I LOVE coconut oil!! I use it in my hair and after I shower I’ll use it on my skin (who needs lotion!?) In my last post I mentioned that coconut oil is one of the oils that can naturally penetrate the hair shaft, which makes it great for conditioning and repairing hair.

Benefits: retaining moisture, repairing splits ends, strengthening hair, helps dry scalp and dandruff

Tip:  Make sure you buy virgin coconut oil (most health food and grocery stores carry it).

Use: At room temperature coconut oil is solid. So I’ll heat up 1-2 tbsp in the microwave before I add it to my conditioner.

2. Honey

Good in your tea and great for your hair!

Benefits: Honey is humectant (attracts moisture and helps to retain water), helps with hair loss

Use: I add a few tablespoons to my conditioner. As honey can be sticky and slightly thick, I’ll warm it up in the microwave for 20-30 seconds to make it easier to mix into my conditioner.

Tip: You want to make sure you use natural honey. Most grocery stores or health food stores will carry it.

3. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

EVOO is another oil that can naturally penetrate the hair shaft, giving it great conditioning properties.

Benefits: retaining moisture, helps dandruff, helps add shine, strengthening the hair, helps with frizz

Use: I’ll add a few tablespoons to my conditioner. When I do a hot oil treatment at home, I’ll use this oil as my base (i.e., start with ¼ cup of EVOO) and add other oils to it (blog post to follow)!

Tip: EVOO can get slightly pricey but if you buy it on sale, you’ll never pay more than $5/ bottle. When EVOO goes on sale at my grocery store, I’ll buy a couple bottles. I keep one in my kitchen and one in my bathroom. Make sure you buy cold pressed EVOO.

4. Avocado

It’s great for more than guacamole...

Benefits: strengthening and repairing damaged hair, adds shine, helps dandruff and dry scalp

Use: Overripe avocados work best. Mash 1 avocado and mix it in with your conditioner. You can also make a great homemade conditioner by using only avocado and a few tablespoons of some of the natural oils listed above.

Tips: If you don’t want to deal with the mess you can always purchase avocado oil from any health food store.

 5. Eggs

I love eggs (with ketchup)! I’ve found that since I moved out...I eat a lot of eggs lol Anyways, eggs have protein, which makes it a great protein treatment for the hair. It is very important to maintain a good moisture/protein balance in our hair as protein helps to strengthen the hair shaft.

Benefits: Strengthening the hair, adds shine, thickening hair

Tips: An egg every once in a while will be good enough. It is important to not do too many protein treatments as the hair can become brittle and break.

Use: Whip a whole egg and add it to your deep conditioner. You can leave out the ketchup J

You don’t have to add all of these ingredients to your conditioner. Based on the given benefits of each, pick and chose the ones that will work best with your hair and experiment with the quantities to find what works best for your texture. In most cases, a little goes a long way. You can also try different ingredients every few weeks to add some spunk to your regime.

After you apply your conditioner to your hair, put a cap over your head (or a plastic bag works just as well) and sit under a drier (or blow-dry) for 15-20 minutes. (The heat opens up the hair follicles, which allows all the good moisturizing properties to get inside and work their magic). Rinse thoroughly and don’t forget to add a leave-in conditioner!

J! :)

Live without pretending, love without depending, listen without defending and speak without offending.

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