Hi y’all!
Please please please and please, if you have not been deep conditioning frequently or you’ve not been deep conditioning at all (Ah! *shudders*) you need to hop on it oh! I beg you!
This is for ALL hair types! Everyone can benefit from it whether you’re relaxed, natural, texlaxed or you have locs.
As I told my friend the other day, I am a living testimony to the “wonderment” that is deep conditioning. My hair has really really improved overtime because I was deep conditioning every single week(or at least once every 10 days) since it was barely 1/2 an inch long. In fact at that time my family members will be telling me “please which hair do you have that you are doing all these things to it”.
Now when people touch my hair and say “So soft!” or like someone said “natural hair? And it’s soft like this?!” I know that my deep conditioning and moisturizing are paying off because my hair didn’t start out this way.
I’m not going to go into the science of it all because I’m lazy I want this to be a short post but from my own experience, deep conditioning really improves the look, feel and health of your hair. My hair is a million times softer than it was when I started this journey.
You may be thinking now, “I have to go and buy one expensive deep conditioning treatment oh!”. No you don’t! You don’t need anything fancy. All you need is your regular conditioner and some oil mixed in.
You can be adventurous and mix in other things like glycerin, honey, aloe vera gel/juice, coconut milk etc or you can even go all natural and use avocado, banana, ghee(man shanu) etc.
If you’re not into mixing stuff, you can also get yourself some store bought deep conditioning treatment. Brands like Cantu, Organic Root Stimulator etc have treatments that can be bought off the shelf and would work well.
Whatever one you choose, put it in your hair, cover with a shower cap(or plastic/nylon bag like me. lol), let it sit for a while(you can sit under a dryer if you want to but I don’t. I just let my body heat do the magic) and rinse it out. Do this every week or at least 2x a month.
I’ve tried different things but for me my staple is, conditioner+oil+honey. Sometimes I’ll add glycerin, I’ll use a mix of several conditioners, I’ll use a mix of several oils but basically, it is conditioner+oil+honey. If I don’t have honey, I use just conditioner and oil(olive, castor, coconut, peppermint etc. Anyone you like really or a mixture of all).
I cover my hair with a nylon/plastic bag, tie a scarf or 2 over it and let it sit for at least 2 hours(you can do more or less but I don’t think it should be less that 30 mins or an hour). Sometimes I leave it overnight.
I usually do this after I shampoo(if I’m using shampoo that day), after I cowash(if I’m cowashing that day) or in recent times, on dry hair and then I cowash afterwards. Whatever works for you really(some people do it before they shampoo).
Just use the internet to find different deep conditioning treatments you can do. The options are nearly endless. Try different things and methods and find what works for you.
Deep conditioning should be a part of your regimen. Of course deep conditioning alone will not change your hair. It works hand in hand with other good hair practices like moisturizing, gentle handling, keeping your hair clean etc.
Whatever you use or however you choose to do it, just make sure you deep condition CONSISTENTLY and you will reap the benefits with patience. You will end up with hair you can’t keep your hands off.
Jennifer Abah 