Have you jumped into the natural hair bandwagon yet? It is probably why you are here anyway. As a naturalista, you know that washday is stay at home day because of how long the process takes.
Do not let that scare you though because it is a small price to pay for a mane of rich natural hair.
Now, there are different kinds of hair textures but we are not going to get into that today. We only mentioned it because some hair types are more prone to drying than others.
If you find that your hair feels and looks dry after washing, you may want to try the max hydration method.
Heard of it before? Even if you haven’t, you have probably heard of the ingredients used like bentonite clay and apple cider vinegar.
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What Exactly is the Maximum Hydration Method?
It is simply a hair care routine that comprises 5 steps. Just as the name suggests, this method is supposed to significantly hydrate your hair until it is fully moisturized.
If you are keen on following others people’s natural hair journeys, you have probably heard them rave about this method on social media or YouTube. If not, you are still in the right place because we are going to explain explicitly how it works.
How it Works
Before we go any further, perhaps you would like to know that this method works perfect for low porosity hair. We are referring to the kind of hair that just cannot seem to absorb and retain moisture.
MHM’s 5-step regimen is meant to stretch your curls, strengthen, and hydrate them all while maintaining the thickness of your hair.
Spoiler: If your hair curls at the ends and shakes even when dry, the method is certainly working for you.
How To Do It
As we have previously mentioned, this method comprises the following 5 steps.
Step 1: The Cherry Lola Treatment
The Cherry Lola Treatment is a combination of ingredients such as raw honey, amino, acids, greek yogurt, apple cider vinegar, and baking soda.
You want to combine all the ingredients in a blender but if you do not have, one mixing them in a bowl until you get a smooth consistency will work just fine as well. Once that is done, apply the mixture to dry hair starting from the roots to the tips.
Ensure that your hair is saturated with the mixture and evenly coated. Tie your hair up and cover it with a shower cap. Let it sit for an hour or two and rinse with warm water.
Note: There are different Cherry Lola Treatments but amino acids and yogurt are compulsory ingredients. (We picked this particular recipe because it is the most positively reviewed).
Also worth noting is that Cherry Lola can be used as a moisturizing treatment on its own. However, we promised you 5 steps so let’s carry on.
Step 2: Cleanse
At this point, you can choose one of two options. An apple cider vinegar or baking soda rinse. Both are effective and easy to make so here goes.
For the baking soda rinse, you only need to put half a tablespoon of baking soda into a cup of hair conditioner, apply on your hair, and allow it to sit for about half an hour.
The apple cider vinegar rinse simply requires you to mix the liquid with equal parts water and pour the mixture into a spray bottle. Spray it on your hair until it is saturated and let it sit for about half an hour as well.
Step 3: Co-Wash and Detangle
Some shampoos strip the hair of moisture. This step is meant to cleanse and condition your hair at the same time.
This is particularly important when dealing with natural hair.
You want to part your hair and smear your co-wash product of choice from roots to tips. Put on a shower cap and steam your hair for about half an hour.
For the steaming, you can have it done at a salon but if you are doing this at home, you may want to invest in a quality hand-held steamer.
Step 4: Clay Wash
For this step, you will need a tablespoon of olive oil and honey, a cup of warm water and a cup of bentonite clay.
Bentonite clay helps intensify your curls and the apple cider. Depending on your hair type, you can mix the clay with olive oil or honey.
That said; you want to keep in mind that water and oil do not mix. You do not want the oil to just sit on your hair without being absorbed.
On the other hand, honey can nourish your hair with minerals, vitamins, and amino acids.
Generally, clay masks are usually messy so to avoid that, you want to apply this mask in layers. Doing that also prevents your hair from clumping and tangling. Let the mask sit for about 15 minutes.
Step 5: Styling Products Application
For this step, you will need a leave in conditioner and a hair crème or gel.
Before applying the leave-in conditioner, you want to get into the shower or put your head under a source of running water. Your hair needs all the water it can get at this point.
Once your hair is all-damp, you want to section it and apply the leave-in starting from the roots to the tips to eliminate any tangles.
For the crème or gel, you first want to part your hair into manageable sections. Crème is great but some people say that it just sits on the top of their hair.
Therefore, if you want stretched, deep curls, you may want to go for a gel that does not flake and has remarkable hold.
After applying your gel or crème, shake your head up and down and then from side to side. This is to separate your curls without touching them as that would cause your hair to frizz.
Related Articles
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Advantages
The Maximum Hydration Method comes with a host of benefits for low porosity natural hair or just any kind of natural hair. They include:
- The method helps in hydrating extremely dry hair. Deep curls are only an additional outcome of the method
- It is possible to wash your hair and go without it tangling. However, you want to separate your curls anywhere between the third and fifth step for best results
- The ingredients used in the method are easily accessible
- You do not need a hairdresser to apply the treatment on your hair as you can easily do it at home
Drawbacks
Although the MHM is a great technique, there are a few drawbacks to using it. They include:
(1)The method takes a significant amount of time to complete
(2)Things can get quite mess especially at the fourth step where you will be using bentonite clay
(3)You may find the method quite costly especially if you have longer hair because you will have to spend more on products
How Often Should I Use the MHM?
Your hair should not be dry at any point in time but you also do not want to overdo it with this method. Too much of something is poisonous don’t you think?
It is therefore recommended to do the Cherry Lola Treatment once every two weeks. As for the remaining steps, you can do them weekly.
We can see that the Maximum Hydration Method requires you to put in some work and dedicate a good amount of time to perform the steps.
However, it is all worthy especially if you are struggling with dry hair. If you are too strapped on time, you can opt to focus on the Cherry Lola Treatment and skip the other steps or even just clarify your scalp and hair with apple cider vinegar.
Frequently Asked Questions
We now you may have a few questions you want answered. Although we cannot address all of them here, we have answered a few commonly asked ones.
How often should I use the MHM?
You want to apply the Cherry Lola Treatment once every two weeks. The rest of the steps in the method should be performed once every week.
Should I perform the MHM on freshly washed hair?
Not at all. The first step in the routine is a cleansing step so all you need to do is just rinse your hair and start the regimen.
Conclusion
Dry hair is not a good look especially if you are rocking natural hair. However, getting moisture into your hair might prove to be a challenge more so if you have the low porosity kind.
Thankfully, there are techniques such as MHM that are designed to nourish your hair with all the moisture it needs to thrive.
One thing you will learn on your natural hair journey is that some products will work well with your hair while others simply won’t. You therefore have to keep an open mind and be willing to learn new things.
If you are on sitting on the fence about giving this method a chance, we encourage you to try it out simply because it has great online reviews and appears practical after going through it.
