Why does my SMT turn into cottage cheese??

[ALenee]

I have made the SMT mixture before with no problems using the SAME ingredients as I did today. For some reason I tried TWICE to make some today and it turned into a cottage cheese-like mess! :(

I used:
- Clear aloe vera gel
- Honey
- Suave naturals condish

HELP!

[Delilah]

Make sure you have the ratios right, check the SMT thread. This commonly happens from using too much AVG, it 'curdles' some conditioners.

SMT Recipe
4 parts conditioner
1 part honey
1 part clear aloe gel

I have had my recipe curdle with roughly 2 parts AVG instead of 1, but work fine with 1 part using the same conditioner.
There is also a list of conditioners which reportedly work well and do not curdle in the thread.

[~GypsyCurls~]

Sometimes mine turn cottage cheesey-y, but stirring it more usually helps. Did you use 100% aloe?

[HairColoredHair]

I get the clumpy bits with certain conditioners and sometimes entirely at random.

I've stopped using Aloe in my mixes... it didn't help much more than just the cond/honey mix does and cond/honey never clumps.

[ALenee]

Make sure you have the ratios right, check the SMT thread. This commonly happens from using too much AVG, it 'curdles' some conditioners.

SMT Recipe
4 parts conditioner
1 part honey
1 part clear aloe gel

I have had my recipe curdle with roughly 2 parts AVG instead of 1, but work fine with 1 part using the same conditioner.
There is also a list of conditioners which reportedly work well and do not curdle in the thread.

What is AVG??

[spidermom]

What is AVG??

aloe vera gel

I stir my ingredients together in a small bowl floating in a saucepan of hot water, didn't measure, and have never gotten curds. Did you do it some other way?

[ALenee]

Yea, I put all the ingredients in my "SMT" bottle and then shake it up to mix :/

[spidermom]

Yea, I put all the ingredients in my "SMT" bottle and then shake it up to mix :/

I never tried mixing it that way. You might want to try my way, see how it works for you.

[ALenee]

I will try that next time... I also think that I may have added too much honey to the mix :P

[kwaniesiam]

I mix the honey and con first, then add the avg. It prevents curdles quite well, and I use more avg than normal because my hair loves it :)

My mix is usually 2 parts condish to 1 part of each honey and aloe.

[Islandgrrl]

I've never had it get clumpy, but I have had it get insanely thick - thicker than any one idividual component. I just stir like crazy and add a little water to thin if I have to.

[Anje]

I normally don't have it get more than slightly lumpy with the Suave Naturals, but it once got really hard to rinse when I used the strawberry-scented stuff. (DH picked it out, apparently forgot I don't like smelling like food.)

Are you microwaving the mix? I think it works a little better when heat is added.

[Katze]

Hm, even when mine is clumpy, I still use it. I got more clumps with drugstore conditioners (Dove, which is also coney) and less with 'natural' conditioners.

For me, the clumps have never been a problem - I smear the stuff on anyway. It's not like it really affects the results at all...at least not for me... :confused:

[HairColoredHair]

Hm, even when mine is clumpy, I still use it. I got more clumps with drugstore conditioners (Dove, which is also coney) and less with 'natural' conditioners.

For me, the clumps have never been a problem - I smear the stuff on anyway. It's not like it really affects the results at all...at least not for me... :confused:

It doesn't affect my results with the SMT, but I couldn't get the clumps back out the once I tried it. Ick!

[spidermom]

While whipping the ingredients together in a bowl set into hot water, sometimes I get almost mousse consistency; it's very nice to apply when it turns out that way.

[Jeni]

When I was using aloe mine would get clumpy, since my hair doesn't seem to care for aloe I use oil instead and never have an issue.

[Gumball]

What Suave conditioner is being used? I know Suave has an Aloe and Waterlily conditioner that can result in too much aloe thus chunky SMT treatments. You could scope out the ingredients in the conditioner. I know that happened to me more than once with Suave conditioners. I haven't done an SMT since. :p