DIY Deep Conditioner (Banana, Yogurt, and Avocado) – My First Attempt! [PIC]

I’m not too keen on being a “mixtress” (it’s often too tedious) but sometimes I like to do a little concocting myself once in a while. I have been keeping my eyes on a certain yogurt and banana deep conditioner recipe that is supposed to make your hair feel like sun shine and rainbows. Let me tell you – it did just that. I was very pleasantly surprised.

Here is what I did (I modified the recipe based on the many different recipes I read on blogs/forums and watched on youtube).

You will need:

4 oz. plain greek yogurt
1 very ripe banana
1/2 of a ripe avocado (next time I’ll use a whole avocado. I really just wanted to eat the other half…)
4 tbsp honey
3 tbsp olive oil
2-3 tbsp grape seed oil
2-3 tbsp vegetable glycerin

Instructions:

Combine all the ingredients into a blender (I used my Nutribullet). Blend until very smooth. Apply onto clean hair as if applying a virgin chemical relaxer. (I washed and conditioned my hair with commercial products two days before my diy conditioner application so my scalp and hair was clean enough at the time of application). Do not shampoo.

My application experience:

Application time for me was two hours. My hair was in eight corn rows prior to applying the mixture. I would loosen a corn row, finger-detangle, spritz lightly with water, generously and carefully apply the conditioner, and then twist the hair. I would then go on to the next row and do the same thing until my whole head was complete. After this process, I put on a disposable conditioning cap and let the mix sit in my hair for about five hours.

Looking at other naturalistas’ experiences with their home made conditioners, I found that many had to wash their hair several times (and sometimes with shampoo) because banana bits were still in their hair. Thankfully, my process went very smoothly. The consistency of my conditioner (although I think “mask” is a better term) took up the consistency of the yogurt. It went on smoothly and washed off smoothly. However, be careful not to get the mix on your scalp. It wont be terrible if you do, but having it there will make rinsing out a little more difficult. I got some of my mix into my scalp and so had to spend extra time rubbing my scalp to loosen up the build up.

Smoothing my hair after I’d finished applying the homemade conditioner on each section.

When I finished rinsing the concoction out my hair, I gently wrapped a cotton shirt over it so that it would absorb as much excess water as possible. I (accidentally) went to sleep with the cotton shirt and finally removed it this morning (which made it roughly 8 hours of cotton shirt drying time).

My hair was about 90% dry after that – dryer than I intended, so I sectioned my hair into 8 parts and using a spray bottle of glycerin and aloe vera juice (water would have worked just as well), I spritz each section. I finger-detangled each section, braided, and then sealed each section with grape seed oil and Jamaican black castor oil.

What about the smell?

I was kind of paranoid about smelling like bananas and yogurt all day. I absolutely hate the taste of bananas and can’t even stand their smell. I’m not a fan of yogurt but greek yogurt (depending on the brand) is tolerable at times. After rinsing my hair of the mix, it still smelled like a produce stand (actually, it smelled totally of bananas but was faint). However, when I allowed it to dry completely after rinsing the conditioner out, the smell was gone.

Was it messy?

Nope. Hardly. I did get some of the conditioner on the back of my sweatshirt where my hair touched it, but that’s nothing a quick clean in the washing machine and dryer can’t fix.

The results?

My hair right now is still in the eight braids. Tomorrow I will attempt a braid out, and – if I remember – take pictures and upload them here.

I loved the way my hair felt after rinsing out the conditioner. It was unbelievably soft. Soooooo soft. And even when my hair dried it still felt great. Detangling was 50% easier and my curls really popped, though the front section of my hair was still stubborn in that there was still frizz and very little definition (boo!). I will definitely try this homemade conditioner again in the future.

The success and ease of this homemade conditioner has encouraged me to try other mixtress-y things. Next on my list are oil rinses and apple cider vinegar rinses.

The Details of the Group Hair Consultation

So the group hair consultation I had with my cousins this past Saturday went well. We actually went through the whole process by me demonstrating each step with my hair, and explaining my methods and the products, as well as trying to help my cousins understand their hair and why it reacts the way it does. I went in intending to do my sister’s or someone else’s hair but then again, I’m glad I actually got to wash my own hair…because when I am in a lazy slump, it takes a while before I get the motivation to start up again.

DETANGLING (aloe vera juice and vegetable glycerin)

Anyway, we started by me detangling my hair first with the aloe vera juice and glycerin mix because I hadn’t detangled in nearly 2 weeks, which meant lots of shed hair. You do not want to wash your hair when it looks and feels like a bird nest. You’re just asking for more tangles so I made sure the  shampooing step would be made easier by detangling and removing shed hairs beforehand.

SHAMPOOING (tresemme naturals shampoo)

After detangling, I shampooed each section of my hair (I think I separated my hair into 2-3 sections) and made sure to really get the scalp. For not washing my hair in 2.5 weeks, the scalp looked pretty good pre-shampoo, but there was still a bit of gunk, especially in the front area where I’m most likely to manipulate my hair in between washes. I think the fact that I’ve limited my moisturizing to using purely the aloe vera juice, vegetable glycerin, and the occasional co-wash has helped tremendously with with flaky hair and product build up.

CONDITIONING (tresemme naturals conditioner)

I rinsed out the shampoo and used a generous amount of conditioner for each section. I also detangled again. The comb slid through my hair like butter at this point. Yay. 🙂

LEAVE-IN CONDITIONER (aloe vera juice and vegetable glycerin)

After rinsing out the conditioner I sprayed the aloe vera juice and glycerin to do the final detangle, as well as to add more moisture back into my hair. The aloe vera juice closes the cuticles, which helps lock in moisture and makes the hair less prone to breakage and splits. It also keeps it looking shiny. The  glycerin puts in the moisture. It’s a humectant, and my hair loves humectants. Wiki it to learn of its properties. I remoisturize my hair every day or two days, twice a day with this mixture and seal it with oil.

OIL SEALANTS (grapeseed oil and Jamaican black castor oil)

Anyway, I coated my hair with grapeseed oil, especially focusing on the ends, and added Jamaican black castor oil (JBCO) around the perimeter of my hair because my hair is a little thin there (JBCO is great for thickening hair). After, I made 4 large braids and held it in a bun. I kind of looked like Princess Leia haha. My hair dried fully by morning. If it were the winter, it would have stayed wet for way longer. I have a different regimen for the winter, though.

– end –

And voila. Those were the details. We started around 10pm and ended around midnight. I didn’t take pictures because I was more focused on explaining each step, the whys, and the hows. Also, it’s kind of awkward stopping to take pictures of your own hair haha.

However, I do plan on making a video (or take pictures) of one of my wash days. I also want to learn how to flat iron my own hair. Maybe I’ll flat iron my hair instead of going to the salon for my next length check. I guess it’ll depend on how I feel when the time comes.

Over all, the group consultation was fun and informative! Now, I just need someone to teach me how to cornrow haha.

Things in my fridge right now

– Sparkling water
– Aloe vera juice
– 20 or so tangerines
– 6 lemons
– Greek yogurt
– Glycerin/aloe vera leave-in conditioner mix
– Glycerin/aloe vera/Tresemme conditioner mix

I need to stock up on almond butter, some more sparkling water (I buy 12 16.9oz bottles a week and I have one left – the horror!), baby carrots, and then maybe some spinach, pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, and a bunch of other citrus fruits and berries for my smoothies should I decide to make them again. It’s not really hot enough outside for them, though. *Sigh* Cambridge shall forever remain the gloomy city to me.

And yes, popcorn for those days I’m feeling junk-foody but still want to remain *healthy*.

If I can eat it, I can put it in my hair. Except, I’m not that daring lol. In theory, I should be able to make a protein treatment with the Greek yogurt and whatever else is in my fridge, but I’m not there yet as a hairlista. My glycerin mix will keep me satisfied for the time being.

I’m curious to know what’s in the fridge of others of the (healthy) hair-obsessed persuasion.