Baking Soda & Conditioner Revisited

After how nasty my hair felt during this trip to Charlotte, I knew something had to be done.  Instead of going to my fave DC treatment, Miss Jessie's Super Sweetback (I'm being a cheapie and am trying not to finish the jar just yet) I decided to try out the baking soda & conditioner treatment that I tried when I first BC'd (5 months ago!!!) Now there are plenty of articles that talk about the pH of hair and baking soda and why it is(isn't) a good idea to use.  One of which you can find here.  I chose to do this because I felt a DC with conditioner, honey and oil just wouldn't cut it.  I grabbed a bowl and mixed maybe 3 teaspoons of baking soda with 2 huge squeezes of Suave Almond and Shea Butter.  Whipped it up and applied to my hair in sections.  Threw on my plastic cap and hung out for 15-20 mins.  I didn't wanna go longer because it softens hair and I didn't want it to be too soft, that leads to another set of problems that I would have to correct.

Lemme just say this. The smell... UGH, it's kinda reminiscent of a relaxer.  Cue flashbacks of burns and sitting in a chair praying for this pain to go away. Actually if you scratched your scalp previously, I could easily see it burning so try to avoid that before doing this.  After I rinsed it out and washed with HETT and did the usual routine (moisturize, then twisted on damp hair, untwist the next day) my hair felt nothing like that tumbleweed I remember feeling in Charlotte.  My hair felt softer and I promise my curls/coils (the few that I have) were more defined/visible.

This is something I would definitely do on occasion.  Maybe 3-4 times a year, no more.

If you have loose curls, I don't know if I would suggest this.  Maybe a baking soda rinse for cleansing your hair but I could see it looking almost straight if you were to use this.  If you do have looser waves/curls (type 2, 3a-b) and you have tried it, lemme know how it worked out for you.

Sidenote: I just found coconut milk in my pantry, which means more experimenting :) but probably not for a while because I'm supposed to be in a hair demo/show and after that I'm going into protective style mode for at least a month.  Also the henna gloss I did a little while back did color my hair!.  I couldn't find those grey hairs because they were dyed.  It's been about a month since I did it and I found that damn hair again but instead of grey it's a mix of that and auburn.  Now that I found it and can tell the color is fading I think I may be due for another gloss.  Depends on how lazy I am.