deep conditioning: the placebo effect & natural hair high

i’ve been slowing coming down off of my high and i’m no longer a fan of traditional deep conditioning – 20 mins or more. if i can be completely honest with you, i’ve never really felt it did much for my kinky natural hair. don’t get me wrong, i actually love the idea of deep conditioning. you know, plastering my hair with a thick custard like cream that is rich in oils, butters and emollients that claim to put the pep in my hair step. but once i do it, after all the conditioner is washed out and i step out of the shower to stand in front of my bathroom mirror, face soaked, hair shrunken and dripping wet, and i’m left feeling blasé; not overly impressed because my hair really feels no different than it would had i used a regular wash out conditioner. it’s like when you find some cute shoes at the shoe department in macy’s and you get all geeked to try them on but after you get them in your size from the sales associate they look not so cute on your feet? the idea of the shoe was great, but the actual implementation left you wanting more? that’s how i feel about deep conditioning. yet, i still did it a few times every couple months.

recently, it’s been revealed, thanks to celeste, that deep conditioning is [click to continue…]

One of the biggest complaints I hear from lots of naturals is how dry their hair is. I know that from experience it can be a challenging thing and is probably the cause of many a naturals going back to relaxing.

Though my hair is in the 4 category, I think that most naturals will agree on one thing that helps turn your hair around are conditioner washes, more commonly referred to as co-washes.

I cowash once a week or once every two weeks and once a month do a diluted shampoo wash to clarify as conditioner washes can cause buildup. I dilute my shampoo as follows: 1 part shampoo/2 parts water.

Too much shampoo is absolutely too drying for my hair and cowashing has saved my hair from breakage caused by dry hair.

Cowashing is a great time to experiment with different types of conditioners, especially the cheapie but great ones. You’ll have to find one that works well with our hair type. I stick to the cheapie but great ones because it works and I live by the motto — “if it ain’t broke”…I try other stuff every now and then but it’s not often. I’ve gone through the trial and error of finding my few good conditioners. I don’t have a holy grail one yet, but when I do I will share.

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DEEP CONDITIONING

deep conditioning: the placebo effect & natural hair high

conditioner washing natural hair 101