5/10...yep. I'm really excited. My hair may look some kind of crazy mist of the time but it's healthier than ever and I am achieving length I've never had without relaxed hair.
It's time to rake my wng differently so that the middle doesn't look so bare.
Thank you for reminding me, I knew I left something out of my clay mix! Honey! Too late, already on my head.
That's why I like doing DubaiDee's modified version cuz she eliminates the bs, acv, and conditioner step. My hair is doing fairly well on the modified version and I have hi po hair
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. It has glycerin high on the ingredients so will see how that plays out (actually excited about gel smh).
I'm in agreement with you here about letting go of the BS, especially when it comes to frequency and amounts used.
Finding MHM and following it strictly for 7months has helped me learn a lot about how to care for my hair. And I love DubaiDee's 3 step modified regimen. It really strips things back.
At this point, I am getting ready to try this As I Am Curling Jelly that arrrived today
So I have to rethink how to find the right balance of soft/strong- virtually no breakage and still have good clumping. This thing is a science for sure!
(oat straw, burdock root, slippery elm, nettle, horsetail, marshmallow root/ neem/ vitamin E oil and citric acid ). I also bought some things to make my gel making process easier- some cotton bags used for steeping a good bit of herbs and small sealable tea bags. I have the gel producing, herbs soaking in water now and I have to figure out where I want to incorporate the nettle/horsetail/neem etc. So, I'll let you know how my concoctions come out!
I have done some interesting experimenting over the last week.
I tried to make a conditioner using extremely diluted CLCT ingredients. I overnight GHEd with it and I was excited because I had very little breakage and my hair was very soft. However, on the second time when I did my clay/slippery elm/honey/sweet almond oil mix, I didn't have good clumping and my hair was overconditioned
So, I had to make a bentonite/acv only mix and my hair clumped back up.
It was my 20th Line anniversary (pledged Delta) and the humidity was 98%! But of course, I wanted to wear my hair out because I've been babying it for this event. I made some Thick flaxseed gel and put in my plaits, sat under the dryer and set out. My hair was not defined like normal in that crazy humidity/ drizzling, and my hair was HUGE. I actually got lots of compliments though and it really made me rethink the notion that I can only wear my hair out when it is in a perfectly defined braid out. I plait it up in just three big plaits and yesterday I took them down and wore a stretched "undefined" braid out and again I got a lot of compliments, especially from my Caucasian co-workers and friends so definitely rethinking the need for every hair to be in it's place for me to feel comfortable with it! This is a change for my 4c hair but now it still "looks like something" even when it's free form
Also, she uses gloves. That does help it glide through better, but I need to feel my clumps so I can detangle properly. I do a LOT of separating and it takes me absolutely forever (at least 45 minutes in the clay) but with my density, I don't get good results if I don't.Girlllllll! I need to know what's in her bottle. There is no way my fingers are going through my hair with this in it!!! Now my fingers were gliding through my hair before the mud....but with the mud
..... I'd take all of my hair out!!!
Now I remember why I didn't do all of that separating! She has to have a good conditioner in that mud (or it is all conditioner) to make it foam so her fingers can glide through like that. Off to my laboratory...(um)....I mean kitchen to do a little trial and error.
No, I NEVER comb my hair, lol. I have not combed my hair in years, but I do meticulous finger detangling every wash. I have kind of trained my hair for braid outs. When it's dry, before I get in the shower, I put it in 10 or so sections and bantu knot them. (I was plaiting them but realized that was adding more time). I rinse out my hair in the sections- adding the clay to each section and finger detangling. I leave clay on, knot it back up and go to next section. Then I take down each section, rinse it out under the water so it's still detangled, add the gel and immediately plait that section in the shower.
I have used BS treatments in my hair off and on for the past 7+ yrs. I use it for many things from cooking to hair to cleaning to skincare. Listening to DanaB she was using BS 2X per week PLUS claying with Bentonite + BS. Who's cuticle needs raising up 2 x per week?? Plus we've all decided that Bentonite is the most drying of the clays. I'm surprised it took 8-9 months to notice the damage. My hair would have been acting a fool after the 2nd use of the week!
I use BS as a treatment. I either mix conditioner with BS for a clarifying treatment or it's in my CLT. Either or and never both at the same time. Folks be overdoing
..........
Good points. I didn't realize she was adding BS to the clay. That is very extra.I have used BS treatments in my hair off and on for the past 7+ yrs. I use it for many things from cooking to hair to cleaning to skincare. Listening to DanaB she was using BS 2X per week PLUS claying with Bentonite + BS. Who's cuticle needs raising up 2 x per week?? Plus we've all decided that Bentonite is the most drying of the clays. I'm surprised it took 8-9 months to notice the damage. My hair would have been acting a fool after the 2nd use of the week!
I use BS as a treatment. I either mix conditioner with BS for a clarifying treatment or it's in my CLT. Either or and never both at the same time. Folks be overdoing
I went a little crazy in Whole Foods this morning.
It started yesterday when I washed out the thick flaxseed gel I had put in to hold up in the humidity. My hair felt rough and I didn't have slip, so a tiny bit more breakage. I realized that I normally use a flaxseed/marshmallow root/ burdock root mix with a little honey/ agave nectar for my gel, but this time I had only used flaxseeds.
So, off to Whole Foods today. I bought all kinds of mucilaganous and hair loving substances
Honeybee is on the job.
