Yoghurt treatment - what is it supposed to do?

[piratejenny]

Hi guys, first let me admit that I'm a newbie so I hope this question is not too silly..

Anyway, I've been trying to transition to WO for a couple of months and am looking for a way to enhance my natural color and cover some greys without interfering too much with my WO adventure. After reading around on LHC I came up with the plan of doing a henna gloss with yoghurt as a base (I'd rather avoid conditioner). After proudly announcing my plans on the Water Only thread some people warned me about yoghurt causing a vomit smell that's very hard to get rid of...

So, now I was wondering if this is an experience shared by more people and if there is anything you do about it which does not include shampoo...

Also, what do you do yoghurt treatments for anyway? (besides as a base for glosses :))

[jasper]

I used yogurt and honey as a moisturizing hair cleanser once. My hair liked it a lot and was soft and smooth but I only did it because I had some greek yogurt leftover from a recipe. I don't know about long term repeated use.

[Roscata]

I did a couple of yogurt treatments and the smell definitely lingered even if I COed after, which usually makes my hair smell really pretty. So I have no clue how to get rid of the smell.

Concerning what yogurt does, I read this article on NaturallyCurly.com:

"Did you know yogurt is very good for your hair and skin? For those of you of you who can not eat yogurt for whatever reason don’t go away just yet, you can also receive the benefits without consuming it!
BENEFITS OF YOGURT FOR HAIR!
• Great conditioner
• Cleanser
• Promotes Hair Growth
• Prevents Frizz
• Cures Itchy Scalp
• Cures Dandruff
BENEFITS OF YOGURT FOR SKIN!
• Diminishes pores
• Improves skin texture
• Exfoliates
• Can treat acne and scars if used regularly
• Reduces dark circles
• Removes blackheads
• Removes whiteheads
• Gives skin a Healthy Glow
There are so many different benefits to using and consuming yogurt, and if I were to tell you all of them I would be here all day. If you guys read
saw that was a * Tip-Yogurt can be applied to the face daily to improve the overall appearance of the skin! Depending on your personal needs you can add different ingredients to get different benefits! If you guys would like some face mask recipes or tips feel free to send a message or email me!" (Link to article: Got Yogurt??? (http://www.naturallycurly.com/blogs/view_post/general-hair-blogs/1464)) :D

[piratejenny]

I did a couple of yogurt treatments and the smell definitely lingered even if I COed after, which usually makes my hair smell really pretty. So I have no clue how to get rid of the smell.

How long did you leave the yoghurt on? And what type did you use? Greek or no-fat or something in between?

[Roscata]

How long did you leave the yoghurt on? And what type did you use? Greek or no-fat or something in between?

I left it on my hair for one hour, I used Greek Gods Traditionally Plain. I figured that using no-fat yogurt would defeat the purpose of conditioning my hair. :D

[piratejenny]

I left it on my hair for one hour, I used Greek Gods Traditionally Plain. I figured that using no-fat yogurt would defeat the purpose of conditioning my hair. :D

Haha, yeah, I guess that makes sense. I'm not too concerned about the conditioning at this point, my main goal for the moment is to do a yoghurt based gloss as enthusiastically described in this thread http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=9851&page=3.

Sounds like I should best try this on a weekend, though, so the smell has some time to go away before I have to show up at work on Monday morning :pirate:.

[Roscata]

Haha, yeah, I guess that makes sense. I'm not too concerned about the conditioning at this point, my main goal for the moment is to do a yoghurt based gloss as enthusiastically described in this thread http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=9851&page=3.

Sounds like I should best try this on a weekend, though, so the smell has some time to go away before I have to show up at work on Monday morning :pirate:.

Sounds cool, I hope you post your results on this thread, I'd like to know how it worked out. Oh I have one thought about the smell: maybe try to add EO to your mix. Good luck! :D

[piratejenny]

So I did it :D. I used one cup of plain no-fat yoghurt and added 2 teaspoons each of cassia and henna. Mixed it up well and just spread the goop on my scalp and dry hair. It was super easy and quick. Then I covered my head in a plastic bag and a towel and waited 45 minutes. At the end I jumped into the shower and rinsed. I didn't shampoo or condition, just plain water (I'm trying to transition to WO).

I'm really happy with how the colour turned out. I did this last night and went to bed with moist hair. This morning it felt terrible - strawy and greasy - but it improved a lot during the day with combing and preening and I'm not sure how much is due to the WO transition anyway (I'm only a little over a month hard-core WO and my hair is still quite "out of control" to begin with).

I'm not sure I could detect any conditioning as a result of the yoghurt, but I used the no-fat stuff and frankly I think it's pretty disgusting. I usually only consume full fat dairy and this just felt weird and kind of slimey. It did work very well as a base for a gloss, though :)

As for bad smells, I can't detect any besides the rather distinct henna smell. Certainly no sour dairy or even vomit. I assume this might be different if I had used yoghurt with actual fat content. I might try this again in few weeks, when my hair has had some more time to adjust. It's kind of hard to make final judgenents with out of control WO transition hair :D