Ways to Condition Your Hair Naturally

There are so many different things you can use to condition your hair. It’s actually a bit overwhelming to consider all the possibilities: olive oil, coconut oil, avocado, coconut milk, honey, apple cider vinegar, lemon, mayonnaise, egg yolk… and those are just the ones I’ve tried!
Types of Natural Conditioners

I group natural conditioners into the following

Oils are pretty easy to figure out. The most common I see recommended is olive oil, followed closely by coconut oil. Jojoba oil, argon oil, and castor oil are also popular but not as easy to find in stores. Avocado is also a popular conditioner, but usually recommended in the whole form, not just the oil.

 Egg yolk and mayonnaise I’ve tried each one once and it made a huge mess. It also made my hair extremely soft and shiny. If you have damaged hair, a protein mask is absolutely worth the mess.

Apple cider vinegar and lemon are acids  they are recommended in many different places as good natural conditioners. I did not have good experiences with them, probably because my hair is extremely dry. It seems that apple cider vinegar works best on oily hair.

Honey I’m not really sure which group to put it in. The recipes I have tried use honey along with an oil to make a creamy conditioning mask. Honey is very nourishing for hair and provides shine.

4 Ways to Use Conditioners

• Most people use conditioner as a wash and rinse product. If you are co-washing your hair, then you are already adding a little bit of conditioner to your hair. Straight hair doesn’t usually need much additional moisture, so a light wash out product will probably be enough.

• For additional moisturizing, conditioners can be used as a leave-in product on wet hair. I have found this to be the most helpful when I wear my hair curly to help the curls set without frizz. People with moderately dry hair prefer to use a light conditioner as a leave in. If that is not enough, you can use a slightly thicker conditioning cream. When I first started following a natural hair care routine, I needed a lot of moisture but now that my hair is healthy a light conditioner is enough.

• On extremely dry or damaged hair, a deep conditioning treatment can work wonders. Most deep conditioning treatments are very thick cream like mixtures and work best when applied with a little heat. I have found the best way to apply a conditioning treatment is to work the product through clean, wet hair. Then add a shower cap (or plastic bag) to retain the moisture. Your body heat trapped within the shower cap is enough to provide deep penetration of the conditioner over an hour or two. If you want to speed things up, wet a towel with hot water and wrap it on top of the shower cap. When the towel gets cold, warm it up again. Repeat for 15 to 20 minutes.

• Conditioning agents can also be used on dry hair. I have found olive or coconut oil to be great at eliminating frizz on both my straightened or curly hair when applied dry. Light conditioners can also be applied to curls to tame second (or third) day hair.

At this point you’re probably wondering where to start, what product to try first right? Start with what you have on hand in your kitchen. It will take a bit of trial and error to find the best product for your hair.
Credit Becky Marie