Hello Goddess!
Today’s recipe comes from a very dark place — my roots!
I’ve been water only hair washing (wohw) for 9 months now, and during the last 2, I’ve been wearing havana twists (they were in the last video:).
It was AWESOME.
I got a nice break from my daily routine, and used some hair spritz’s and frank juice to keep Lavish happy, and well moisturized. When it was time to take them down, I found thick, luscious, fuller, healthier hair — with a littleproductbuildup.
And I didn’t want to mess up my water only gorgeousness. Nothing had been on my roots or ends for some time, so this new recipe had to cleanse & clarify, and not strip all the goodness out of my hair.It also needed to MOISTURIZE.
I knew I should use a clay wash, but I had some issues…
For years I used nothing but clays. They wereall I needed. A lavish bentonite clay wash was my cleansing conditioner, and rhassoul clay (with honey, cocoa butter, and coconut milk) was my deep conditioner.
Over the years this clay combo:
- solved my hard water problems
- stopped hair breakage
- prevented and cured hair loss
- grew back my edges (and my kids edges)
- grew back all of my hair and added some inches
- added thickness and volume in thinning and non-thinning areas
- stopped chronic shedding and low-grade alopecia at my upper right temple
- gave me moisturized, more defined, longer, kinky gorgeous hair
With an emphasis on longer.
Which meant that washing the clay out got a little trickier. I added safflower and castor oil to the mix, but my hair seemed to be getting dryer as it got longer. Plus it wasn’t sexy to have little clay specs fly out with every scalp massage!
So I stopped with bentonite clay, or used so little of it it was barely noticeable in the recipe.
But that was then.
The recipe below is as close to perfect as I have found. It will be magicfor you if like me, you’re into moisture-rich, well-nourished healthy kinky curls!
Recipe Inspiration
This recipe is so good I wish I would have created it myself. It was inspired by Goddess Christina Pierce’sClay Mask Recipe. I loved her oil ratio and knew it would keep my strands super nourished. I didn’t have all of the ingredients, and some surprises happened while applying (ran out a few times — new growth:).I’ve included photos and the recipes of these mini blends. You can also find more of Christina’s Awesomeness here@maneobjective.
- 1 cup (or 4oz) of bentonite clay
- 2 tablespoons marshmallow root powder
- 2 tablespoons amla powder
- 1 tablespoon burdock root powder
- 2 tablespoons of castor oil
- 2 tablespoons of avocado oil
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons honey
- ¼ cup grapefruit juice (I ran out of apple cider vinegar and used grapefruit juice to finish the recipe; it's super hydrating)
- 6 tablespoons of distilled water (I like my mix soupy so use less liquid for more of a paste)
- Add all dry ingredients to your mixing bowl.
- Use a fork or whisk to remove any clumps of powder.
- Add grapefruit juice and honey to dry ingredients and stir.
- Add oils and water and continue to stir until the clay is blended to the consistency you like..
- You can use less liquid to make more of a paste for your hair. I like mine soupy:)
Recipe Highlights
Add your ingredients to a bowl. Use a fork mix your powders together and remove any clumps. It will look something like this…
Add in your bentonite clay. This is optional, but adding a little rhassoul clay to the mix seems to have an elongating effect on our curls, and it adds extra conditioning powers to this blend. Give it a try by adding about 1 tablespoon. Your clay mix should look something like this after everything is added.
This diy blend is excellent to make ahead and store in a cool dry place. It’s great to pre-mix and it’s ready when you need it. If you have leftovers, keep them in a sealable container. It will last for years!
I added in the liquids and realized I was going to need more liquids!
This would live in my hair for a year if I put it in like that.
Luckily, I only had to add 2 more tablespoons of grapefruit juice. I didn’t think it could beat my apple cider vinegar, but it did!
Here it is. SHEER PERFECTION.
And then I ran out. I needed to make another quick batch after getting most of the back of my hair done. I used more amla powder than clay in this one. I also put in more honey and coconut oil.
And I still needed more! This is mostly amla powder, with a little splash of coconut oil and and squeeze of honey. This helped me finish the front and work through it one more time…
I used this as a deep conditioning cleanser before putting in protective styles last month with Team Lavish.
Recipe Notes
I must say that the oils in this recipe did not cause my scalp any unhappiness. It was also kid friendly which is awesome! We’ll definitely be adding this recipe to our summer collection to keep our hair balanced during swim season.
What extras do you use in your clay recipes?
