Deep Treatments

I'm taking a break from writing my philosophy of education (which also happens to be due in about two and a half hours... yay procrastination!) to talk about deep treatments.

I started CG in the summer, so moisture was never an issue for me. The one time I tried a DT, I actually got overconditioned. So I just stayed away. Then winter rolled along. In January, it got really cold and dry out. I started doing DTs with conditioner, olive oil, and honey (which may not have been the best idea considering low dew points). I noticed moisturized curls for a few days here and there, but the weather has been all over the place, so I never did it on a regular basis.

I thought my DT days were over when I started using pink boots, which is actually moisturizing to me, and then FSG. The weather has also been very nice here, in the seventies and eighties with dew points in the fifties. I really didn't think DTs were important, now that there is moisture in the air.

About two weeks ago, I began noticing bad tangles at the nape of my neck. By the end of first day hair, my curls there would be dry and impposible to untangle. Even detangling in the shower was hard. Soon my hair started looking dry at the end of day one. It didn't feel dry, but it looked like I hadn't conditioned in months! I thought I may need protein, as I was also getting fly-aways, but luckily never remembered to grab my LVPNG.

Today I grabbed all that I could get my hands on to do the mother of all DTs (at least the biggest one I've done so far...). I come home on the weekends to tutor a family friend for one my education classes, and I don't bring a whole bunch of product because it's a pain to lug down three floors and a block or two to the car. So I became resourceful and used what I could find.

1. Karen's Body Beautiful Hair Milk in Pomegranate Guava - I've been avoiding this for a while. I didn't think my hair was doing well with oils and the panthenol seems to do the exact opposite of moisturize (which is odd considering the first time I used the milk, I got overconditioned). Unfortunately, it's what I had. So I coated my dry hair with it, paying extra close attention to the nape of my neck.
2. Fruit of the Earth Aloe Vera Gel - FOTE is also something I've been avoiding. It worked well in late summer/early fall, but also seemed to contribute to drying me out. I know it's supposed to be moisturizing, and since the weather has improved, I thought I'd give it a shot. I squirted a few puddles into my hand and worked through my hair.
3. Olive Oil - I'm still not sure how my hair does with oils, but olive oil has never been a problem in my other DTs. I've recently discovered my skin needs oil to stay hydrated (liking Camellia oil right now), so I thought I'd apply the same concept to my hair. I ran a few palmfuls through my hair.
4. GVP Conditioning Balm & Suave Cucumber and Melon - It was at this point I realized I should add some rich conditioners. Except I didn't have any. I'm dangerously low on GVP CB. So I panicked and used about a quarter size blob of that and then some Suave.
5. Honey - With the dews being higher, I decided to add some honey in. I've been having some success with it in my homemade FSG. It was pretty sticky going in, so I added a little water.

I clipped my hair up for about two hours while I worked on some homework. When I washed it out, my hair felt very moisturized and my tangles were gone! I think I'll incorporate this into a weekly routine for as long as I need to. I haven't scrunched the crunch yet, but so far things look good!

Just to add, there are special deep treatments out there that you can buy. I'm cheap and usually just add whatever I have in my kitchen/bathroom to some conditioner and call it a day. Some of these include Karen's Body Beautiful Luscious Locks mask (which I've heard great things about, but can't justify the price), Jessicurl's Weekly Deep Treatment, and Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner, which is also a good conditioner (though I've had some problems with it, of course...). I think the best approach to deep treatments, like everything concerned with curly hair care, is to experiment! Pay atttention to ingredients to see what's moisturizing or what has possible sensitive ingredients, like protein or humectants.