Baking Soda Conditioner

Posted by admin on Aug 20, 2012 in Products | 0 comments

I have been trying to find a natural way to reduce shrinkage of my natural and came across a baking soda treatment.  I really was not expecting much from it so I did not take photos of the process – just the results which turned out shockingly well as you can see in the photos below.  This was the cheapest hair product I have purchased to date – just fifty cents for 8 ounces of baking soda.

I was afraid to try the Cherry Lola Treatment (yogurt, braggs amino acids, baking soda) since a friend tried it and her hair has never been the same.  I briefly considered a texturizer or relaxer but hubby talked me out of that since I rarely wear my hair straight and I now prefer curly styles.

So, what did I do? I opted for a baking soda conditioning treatment which, for my mix, was 1/4 cup of baking soda and 1/2 cup of conditioner.  I used Trader Joe’s Nourish Spa conditioner.  I applied this treatment to freshly washed, conditioned and DRY hair.  My was dry since I put it in a ponytail while I went to get my manicure and pedicure.  I opted to not try this treatment on wet hair since I felt it might be too runny.  The mix turned out to be pretty thick, almost like a heavy whipped cream.

I let the mix sit on my hair, covered with a plastic cap, for 30 minutes under my hood dryer.  I left it on for an additional 30 minutes with no heat.  I rinsed it out and my hair was super moist, like seaweed slimy moist.  I followed by adding a deep conditioner overnight.  It was after 11 pm when I finished adding my conditioner and tying up my hair for bed.  I used Nature’s Gate shine enhancing henna conditioner.  I rinsed that out the following morning and added a leave in (Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship) and I let my hair air dry.  I noticed that my hair did not shrink up as much as usual and that my curls seemed to clump better.  The photos outside in the white are of my dry hair.  It was pretty much what you see is what you get from wet hair to dry hair.

The test was when DH came home and noticed that my hair was not as tightly coiled despite air drying with nothing on it except a leave-in.

I was able to get second day hair (wearing blue) although it was not all that defined by day two since I slept in my makeshift Sue Maesta Hood (purple cut off pantyhose) instead of doing my hair in pineapples aka mini ponytails. I did not add any oils or product for day two, just shook out my hair and took the photos.

So far this treatment has worked positively for me.  I will keep trying it to make sure the results are not just in my mind.

Let me know what you think.   Have you tried this treatment?  How does it work for you?