walterSCAN
January 17th, 2011, 06:53 PM
**Long Story** ;)
So, when I moved to my new apartment, the water reacted horribly with each and every conditioner I owned. I had been having a bit of trouble with waxiness/ build up from conditioner before the move, but nothing like this. It felt like... just... GUNK in my hair, and it took a couple of no conditioner washes to get rid of it. Before you ask, no, none of the conditioners contained 'cones.
But they still made my hair feel gross, SO, having recently acquired coconut oil to try as additional moisturizing, I decided to try it as my primary moisturizer.
It was a little heavy, so I thought about adding something else to it to lighten it. I had some aloe vera gel laying around (the clear kind, without many additives), so I mixed a bit of it with melted coconut oil in my hand, and it worked well. And then I decided that I was too lazy to keep mixing it every time I showered, so I made a bigger batch. Here is my method:
Scoop/ squirt 3 parts coconut oil to 2 parts aloe vera gel into a clean baby food jar and mix it up with a hair stick :) . It won't blend very well, it'll be all chunky and separated still, so place the jar on top of the (in my case, baseboard) heater with the lid off (close the bathroom door so the cat doesn't get any ideas) and leave it alone for 5-10 minutes. When you come back, the coconut oil will be liquid, and there'll be little beads of the aloe vera in it. Put the lid on, and close it tightly. Shake the jar vigorously for a while, but not so long that the coconut oil starts to harden again. Before that starts happening, sit the jar somewhere cool. When it's hard again, repeat the process (stirring, melting, shaking) and let it cool again and the coconut oil and aloe vera gel should be well blended. Keep the jar in a cool place (in my case, anywhere in the house ;) ).
I use a bit of this mixture that is about the size of a pea, maybe a little larger. It took me a little while to work out just how much to use for my hair type/ length.
I've been using this as a leave-in for 5-6 months now in lieu of conditioner, and I LOVE IT! :bounce: Once I figured out how much to use, my hair has been well-moisturized and not in any way gunky or weighed down. It's been awesome, and I thought I should share it and/or see if anyone else uses something similar.
SO, long-post-short, have any of you ever tried anything like this?
So, when I moved to my new apartment, the water reacted horribly with each and every conditioner I owned. I had been having a bit of trouble with waxiness/ build up from conditioner before the move, but nothing like this. It felt like... just... GUNK in my hair, and it took a couple of no conditioner washes to get rid of it. Before you ask, no, none of the conditioners contained 'cones.
But they still made my hair feel gross, SO, having recently acquired coconut oil to try as additional moisturizing, I decided to try it as my primary moisturizer.
It was a little heavy, so I thought about adding something else to it to lighten it. I had some aloe vera gel laying around (the clear kind, without many additives), so I mixed a bit of it with melted coconut oil in my hand, and it worked well. And then I decided that I was too lazy to keep mixing it every time I showered, so I made a bigger batch. Here is my method:
Scoop/ squirt 3 parts coconut oil to 2 parts aloe vera gel into a clean baby food jar and mix it up with a hair stick :) . It won't blend very well, it'll be all chunky and separated still, so place the jar on top of the (in my case, baseboard) heater with the lid off (close the bathroom door so the cat doesn't get any ideas) and leave it alone for 5-10 minutes. When you come back, the coconut oil will be liquid, and there'll be little beads of the aloe vera in it. Put the lid on, and close it tightly. Shake the jar vigorously for a while, but not so long that the coconut oil starts to harden again. Before that starts happening, sit the jar somewhere cool. When it's hard again, repeat the process (stirring, melting, shaking) and let it cool again and the coconut oil and aloe vera gel should be well blended. Keep the jar in a cool place (in my case, anywhere in the house ;) ).
I use a bit of this mixture that is about the size of a pea, maybe a little larger. It took me a little while to work out just how much to use for my hair type/ length.
I've been using this as a leave-in for 5-6 months now in lieu of conditioner, and I LOVE IT! :bounce: Once I figured out how much to use, my hair has been well-moisturized and not in any way gunky or weighed down. It's been awesome, and I thought I should share it and/or see if anyone else uses something similar.
SO, long-post-short, have any of you ever tried anything like this?