TJ Nourish Spa as a DC?

[davisbr88]

My hair loves oils and butters too!
I think I am going to do a little experiment with TJ and mix it with some oil until it becomes a creamy consistency and see how it does as a DC. I don't have any more right now and my hair is straight so I won't be wetting it yet, but I will pick some up in a couple of weeks. I will definitely report back then, even though it will be a while from now.
Unless you want to try it, virtuenow, since you have it on hand.

 

[Nonie]

nonie, I just read your post---ran and grabbed my Aveda Damage REmedy bottle---and you're right. This Aveda smells exactly like the Ao Gpb, too. How strange is that-- since the smell is so unique. It not watery like alot of conditioners but thick and rich in something (I don't undestand these ingredients).

Davisbr, I love oils and if I can't work this conditioner study out, and find one that actually moisturizes/strengthens my hair, then I'm going to just stick to oil rinses for my conditioning.

@virtuenow, and this is why I don't waste time studying ingredients. Unless a product that was working stops working and I suspect a formula change so look to see what happened, I am just happy to find something that works and I live in blissful ignorance of what the magic formula is. I do try to find a couple of products that I do like so that if one stopped working, I'd have the other to fall back on.

I hate working my head harder than necessary.

 

[davisbr88]

Nonie:
I think the Pantene might be attributed to other things, though.
For one, I know cones make my hair feel really smooth, but they coat it, so I don't know how they could really penetrate.
And the Disodium EDTA throws in a monkey wrench because if you have hard water, that works to correct it and leaves your hair really smooth and silky.
So I don't know!!!!
Don't throw it out jut yet virtuenow. I think it's hard because we are comparing "natural" and not-so-natural products as well.

 

[Nonie]

@Nonie:
I think the Pantene might be attributed to other things, though.
For one, I know cones make my hair feel really smooth, but they coat it, so I don't know how they could really penetrate.
And the Disodium EDTA throws in a monkey wrench because if you have hard water, that works to correct it and leaves your hair really smooth and silky.
So I don't know!!!!
Don't throw it out jut yet @virtuenow. I think it's hard because we are comparing "natural" and not-so-natural products as well.

@davisbr88 my point exactly. Trying to pinpoint what in a product makes it a "deep conditioner" is too much like hard work. I know the reason essential oils can penetrate hair is because their molecules are small. So are those of carrier oils which is why only a few select oils work as carrier oils. So I honestly suspect that is the secret. Not the emollients which would just coat and give a smoothness that prevents moisture loss, but the other ingredients that enter the strands possibly with an emulsifyer to hold onto moisture or bind the goodies to the hair, then the emollients and cones coat the outside to seal the deal.

ETA: I think the easy way to know if a product is truly a DC is to use it the way it's directed to be used for DCing purposes and see if your hair responds as it would to a DC. *shrug* That's what I'd do anyway. Too lazy to try to figure the science out.

 

[virtuenow]

true! Lol at your suggestion that "I" test out "your" experimental TJ mix! Haha. But I already mix shea butter and oils into my water conditioners (including TJ)-- b/c otherwise my hair laughs at them.

And nonie, once you start, you can't really stop w/the ingredient studies. It has helped me to narrow down why my hair has rejected so many products. All I really pay attention to is the top 3-5 ingredients. But I like your "ignorance is bliss" way about things. It keeps it simple.

 

[davisbr88]

@Nonie: By Joe, I think she's got it! (I love Audrey Hepburn... don't judge me)
So, I'm just going to say that a good DC should have EOs, a carrier(s), and an emollient(s)... (and I guess water in cases where it's used on wet hair?) Sooooo.... TJ has all of those except a carrier.
Now I am super stoked to try the TJ mixed with oil. I am going to try perilla seed oil, and maybe a sprinkle of salt added as well, to mimic the way Disodium EDTA combats hard water (I sprinkled salt in Aussie Moist and used that as a DC once per JustKiya's thread and it was faaaaaab).

ETA:
@virtuenow: Ohhhh, I see. And I just used it as an instant conditioner. Never tried it as a DC, so I never mixed anything into it.
Lol, and I wasn't claiming it as "mine," just what I wanted to try since I hadn't before. No inventions going on over here.

 

[Nonie]

And nonie, once you start, you can't really stop w/the ingredient studies. It has helped me to narrow down why my hair has rejected so many products. All I really pay attention to is the top 3-5 ingredients. But I like your "ignorance is bliss" way about things. It keeps it simple.

@virtuenow I guess I'm lucky because I didn't do any of that. I let guinea pigs who gave reviews on how products worked on them (mostly relaxed ladies I found on LHCF when I was a newbie) make recommendations.

I looked to relaxed ladies for the best conditioners because something told me that if anyone would be looking for the best treatments, it would be them because their hair had gone through some change and needed plenty of TLC. That was my thinking anyway. That's how I came to discover AO GPB and HSR, S Curl, Aussie Deep, TJ Nourish Spa....etc.

I already knew of Nexxus line thanks to my 1990's stylist who saved my jheri curl from a slow death by introducing me to Emergencee and Nexxus line as a whole.

And my hair journey has been one of the easiest and stress-free journeys ever. I never became a PJ and I never concerned myself too much with ingredients. And I've been using the same products in rotation over the years never being swayed by the next wonder that gets posted.

TBH, I think if I worried too much about ingredients, I'd have missed out on a lot of good products trying to stay 100% natural, avoid SLS, mineral oils, cones. Because I just looked at products as a whole, I've been blessed to find staples for life. My theory is: cakes, cookies, pastries use more or less similar ingredients but do not look or taste the same. And loaf of bread, a cake, a glazed bun and a donut/doughnut can appear to have similar texture but all taste different. In other words, ingredients do not determine what the whole product will be like, so I don't focus too much on them.

 

[Nonie]

@davisbr88, I hate to burst your bubble but adding the essential oils and emollients I doubt will make TJ a DC. I think what you'll end up getting is a product of your own making (from the EOs and emollients) that will penetrate your strands, leaving the TJ sitting outside wondering what just happened.

I do think the products that work as DCs are made in such a way that the recipe takes penetration into consideration and the recipe which doesn't ignore any part of the product, but creates a whole that penetrates the hair.

If you were to mix the products aside from TJ, methinks you'd get the same results using them alone as using them with TJ. In other words, TJ will just be a sitting duck in your creation.

 

[davisbr88]

@Nonie: ITA. I usually just kick it wit V05 for a co-wash but since I love TJ, I was just looking for a way to make it a dual purpose conditioner similar to AO so I can use it as my only conditioner. I am working on paring my stash down, so if I find that I can use one product in place of two, I am definitely willing to try and figure it out. I don't mind doing a bit of an experiment because my hair completely turned around when I switched to mostly natural products, so I want to be able to get to using all natural at some point. I know I can use Bee Mine DC, but again, I want to pare it down, and Bee Mine is significantly more expensive than if I just mixed TJ and an oil I already have anyway. So that's the mindset with which I am approaching this.

ETA: You're probably right about adding the oils, too! But I like figuring things out. I'm both a researcher and a hands-on chick!

 

[virtuenow]

Nice observation with the cakes and cookies. I just started rotating new stuff in--and I've been natural 5 yrs. So I'm discovering new stuff while avoiding the pj cruise. I held on to the nexxus and nioxin long enuff and rejected the idea that anything could be better, while unbeknownst (wow, i used that word) to me, my hair was not reaching its potential and finally sent me a message in the form of a setback.

 

[Briabiggles]

Man! This thread is deep! Deep thoughts for deep conditoners!

 

[davisbr88]

^^ Lol.
We were tryna crack the code!!!!