If you have been in the natural hair community for a while, you would have come across several hair care methods that eventually flopped or fizzled out. This was applied to 4c hair, 4b hair e.t.c. In fact, even that hair typing method is officially a flop/fizzle too.
Let us look at some of these trends.
Baking Soda as shampoo
Baking Soda was touted as being able to clarify hair. That is, completely strip it of build up. It was even described as "detoxing" hair. It was advised that baking soda be added to shampoo and or a diluted baking soda solution be used to “open up the cuticle”.
As you can imagine there were a number of things wrong with this. For one thing, the pH is quite high and that high pH is not good for the hair. It is even worse for the scalp over time. This brought on scalp issues rougher hair over time.
Natural Nigerian advice:
To clarify your hair, use a well formulated clarifying shampoo. It will help to leave product build up but also respect the hair and scalp microbiome. Our dandruff shampoo is a clarifying shampoo. Use once every 3 washes or as needed. This is not a shampoo you need to use all the time, especially if you wash your hair frequently.
Inversion Method for hair growth
To accomplish this, one would apply oil the scalp and then hang upside down for a few minutes every daily every week.
As you can imagine, it caused a few headaches. Some people also reported feeling dizzy. To add insult to injury, there was no solid evidence for meaningful growth so it fizzled away after a while.
Natural Nigerian advice:
Regular scalp massages with stimulants (like some essential oils) to get blood circulation moving are encouraged. You can try our Hair Stimulating Oil which is formulated with a number of essential oils like Rosemary in order to improve circulation and encourage hair growth. Even just consistently washing your hair can be a game changer.
Maximum (Max) Hydration Method
This was an ultra- regimented daily routine to give hair maximum hydration. It incorporated the Cherry Lola method.
Let’s quickly make the distinction that the Cherry Lola method was usually a one step treatment using DIY mask of usually: yoghurt + baking soda + liquid aminos to soften the hair and improve slip.
A typical recipe for the Cherry Lola method called for things like greek yoghurt, baking soda, amino acids, organic apple cider vinegar, honey, an overripe banana, "un-sulphured" molasses, avocado and even an egg (which is usually optional).
Yeah, absolutely crazy if you step back and think about it.
The Cherry Lola treatment was usually the first optional step of the max hydration method. Now, let’s outline the sequence for this method
- Cherry Lola (optional, especially for first timers)
- Clarify (using baking soda and/or ACV rinse)
- Co-Wash and detangle
- Bentonite Clay rinse/mask
- Botanical Leave in
- Gel to define/clump the hair.
The Max hydration method had to be done at least weekly (every few days is encouraged) over several weeks in order to begin to see the benefits which include being able to get one’s 4c hair to do a wash and go.
Natural Nigerian advice
A streamlined wash day made up of wash, condition and then use leave-in and a cream/butter/oil has been demonstrated to work. Well formulated products work in concert to leave your hair and scalp refreshed and balanced. This is the way to encourage the scalp to keep doing what it does best - allow hair to grow.
Washing hair weekly (if your lifestyle allows) will allow for hair to stay hydrated without overflooding it. When a regimen is too multi-layered, people tend not to keep to it, meaning that the goal is not met. Keeping it simple means more consistency.
Baggy Method/Green House Effect for moisturised hair
This method involved wearing a plastic cap overnight after an LCO to trap heart/moisturre for faster growth and softness. It was also said to eliminate dry hair, which was a great concern for natural hair, especially 4c hair.
It did not take too long for this to fizzle out. First thing was that it became quickly clear that Warm + Damp + Oily + Time = Yeast Heaven.
Some people experienced itchy scalps, mushy hair that would stretch then snap (break) and even a sour, musty odor that was long-lasting.
This blog post looks at each problem in turn and tries to offer advice which we would not advice you take as it is predicated on continuing a method which is problematic. Trying to resolve symptoms rather than the underlying cause of the problem is a time waster which may lead to accruing more problems than you can resolve when you finally stop the triggering event.
Scientific study also finds that hair under that much contact with water is not good. Read more here: Effect of water desorption on the rheology and dynamic response of human hair to a non-contact impact
Natural Nigerian advice
You should not need to hydrate your hair every day. If you use a good combination of products, you will only need to do it once a week or so. If you are out in the sun or in a particularly dry place maybe twice. Use our well established protocol based on the LCO (Liquid, Conditioner, Oil) method.
This sees you spraying our Aloe Hydrate & Refresh Spray as your Liquid. Followed by any of our leave in conditioners for softness and moisturization. Finish with our Flax Seed Gel Creme to seal everything in. And you don’t need a plastic bag for that.
You can particularly just focus on moisturising the tips of your hair if you feel they need it more than the rest. The hair at your tips are the oldest, driest part. They have seen the most of your “hair adventures”.
To conclude, let us point out that we are not hating on any of these methods. We do not encourage them but the experimentation were important in the beginning when we were learning our natural hair with pretty much no scientific research/support. Things have advanced now and we know that for routines to last, they need to be simple, gentle and consistent. A lot of these methods failed at at these.
Reference
*J. Jamart, M. Djaghloul, J.M. Bergheau, H. Zahouani, Effect of water desorption on the rheology and dynamic response of human hair to a non-contact impact, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, Volume 46, 2015, Pages 176-183,ISSN 1751-6161, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2015.02.029
