Hey Guys!
Over the weekend I decided to give bentonite clay a second go since my first undocumented attempt was a major fail. Bentonite is an impure clay that usually forms from the weathering of volcanic ash that can be used to strip your hair (and skin) of toxins and impurities when mixed with water. Its one of those things I’d never heard about until I became natural but its supposed to be amazing for clarifying your hair i.e. removing product build-up without the stripped dry feeling you get from using sulphate shampoos. After neglecting my hair since my One Year Natural post, I decided my hair could do with some TLC.
Steps
I started off by detangling my hair in 4 sections using my handy spray bottle full of water, Tresemme Naturals conditioner and a wide tooth comb. When I was done, I kept my hair twisted in the 4 sections.
Apparently you’re supposed to mix your bentonite clay with apple cider vinegar for some PH balance science-y stuff but I didn’t have any at the time. So here’s what I mixed (roughly I didn’t measure things before hand):
Add the water gradually to the clay until you get a thick clay consistency – you don’t want it to be too runny or it’ll drip everywhere and you’ll hate yourself when you have to clean it up. (Speaking from experience lol). Once I was happy with the consistency, I added the coconut oil in and mixed it to get as smooth a consistency as I could. Make sure you only use plastic utensils! Plastic bowls, plastic spoons – NO METAL!
I applied the clay mixture to my hair using my hands. I worked through each section to make sure every single strand of my hair was saturated. You don’t want the clay to dry in your hair so if you feel your hair drying during the application process make sure you spray it with some water. Once I had coated all my hair in the clay, I put a shower cap on and let it sit for 20 minutes.
Rinse the clay out – this was the most annoying process. I had my shower head running over my hair on the highest pressure for a good 10 minutes but I still hadn’t got all the clay out. There were tiny little clumps hiding everywhere. Another 10 minutes later, it was all gone! Phew!
All in all, I liked how my hair felt at the end of this process. It felt baby soft and well moisturised so I’ve decided to order some more clays and see how I get on with following proper recipes lol.
Have you tried any clays treatments on your hair? Let me know your experiences.
Hey hun. Looks and sounds like it did the job. This is my first time ever hearing about it though. Looks like henna but henna is a lot messier. I guess that's the closest 'clay' treatment I have done… Did you get the Bentonite Clay treatment here in Lagos?
Hi Amy! I still have't tried henna, I'm a bit scared about the whole dyeing your hair red thing lol. Did your hair colour change? I got the Bentonite Clay from Natural Nigerian. She has a meetup coming up soon or you could order it online at http://www.naturalnigerian.com xx
Pls how much did youbuy the Clay
Hi Bessie, I got it from Natural Nigerian. You can check out her store on http://www.naturalnigerian.com x
This is definitely worth trying.
Can I use nzu to do it?