the natural coconut relaxer
so, the bananas are bought and the coconut milk is ready for my conditioner tomorrow…
my hair is getting a bit longer, so the take-down/clarifying/conditioning process now takes more than one night.
tonight i took a couple hours to convert my box braids into twists… (rationale: a twist bun for work will (for me) look neater than a braidout bun… and it will be super easy to undo when i’m ready to clarify/condition.)
tomorrow night (or tonight… it’s tuesday/1:30 a.m. chicago time…) i will clarify & condish.
now, i have heard the buzz around the net about the magical ‘natural coconut cream relaxer [click here to see a video]‘… for those who don’t know, apparently coconut milk/cream + coconut oil can break down and loosen the curl pattern… um #1 i’m not really mad at that, cuz i’m not gonna sit here and front like a slightly looser curl pattern wouldn’t make my life a *tad* bit easier… but #2 some women who tried it said it doesn’t really work… one even suggested people might be confusing ‘curl definition’ with a loosened curl pattern.
i’m inclined to agree… at least for my nappy texture which laughs at any product that comes in the name of straightening… plus, my hair is super coily/bouncy after bentonite rinses (ooo, look at me using bentonite rinse in the plural… nobody’s gotta know i only did it once…). but i don’t think it’s cuz my curl pattern was loosened — just defined.
okay, so here is just a side view of my makeshift twists… the only purpose they’ll serve is for that bun tomorrow…
one cool thing… as i was taking down my hair, i noticed that i was losing A LOT less hair than usual. like, when it was all done, my little ‘lost hair’ ball was teeny. i’m going to have to chalk it up to the castor oil. it’s the only thing that’s changed in my regimen since i last took my hair down. so the c. oil has both thickened and strengthened my hair. good job, c. oil… good job.
i will post photos clarifying/conditioning photos tomorrow, but i want to know: what are your thoughts on the coconut relaxer? has anyone tried it? if so, please specify your hair texture when responding…
Loading ...
I want to try the coconut relaxer as a deep conditioner. I honestly could care less about relaxing my curl. Not to say it wouldn’t be nice, but I highly doubt it’s possible. But it looks like a pretty damn good DC and I want to start using a homemade one on my hair at least every other week. Might need to try this out this weekend. My hair hair been needing a good conditioning treatment lately.
Yeah I doubt the relaxing part. Coconut is mostly fat so that cannot really break bonds in hair as a relax would. Likely factor that the hair is just more moisturised.
I think papaya could possibly relax hair but it is also good at breaking cells up so maybe not advisable.
I liked the comment on the video that one woman’s husband just put sugar in the mix and ate it. I would do the same too, some of this food is better in my stomach than on my hair
.
I never tried it, I’ve seen videos of people trying it. And, as you said it looks like something that just defines curls. It doesn’t really look like a real conditioner.
I never tried it, I’ve seen videos of people trying it. And, as you said it looks like something that just defines curls. It doesn’t really look like a real conditioner.
I never tried it, I’ve seen videos of people trying it. And, as you said it looks like something that just defines curls. It doesn’t really look like a real conditioner.
I never tried it, I’ve seen videos of people trying it. And, as you said it looks like something that just defines curls. It doesn’t really look like a real conditioner.
I never tried it, I’ve seen videos of people trying it. And, as you said it looks like something that just defines curls. It doesn’t really look like a real conditioner.
I never tried it, I’ve seen videos of people trying it. And, as you said it looks like something that just defines curls. It doesn’t really look like a real conditioner.
I never tried it, I’ve seen videos of people trying it. And, as you said it looks like something that just defines curls. It doesn’t really look like a real conditioner.
I must say, I think when people hear the word “relaxer,” they will automatically think it will make their hair straight…then when they try it, they will get pissed because it’s not.
It was a nice video, and I might try it if I ever get the time.
I’m going to change up the ratio of ingredients with my next batch. From what I’m now hearing, it’s the YOGURT that loosens the curls some not the coconut cream like I initially read/thought. I dunno…. Like I said in my post, if nothing else, it’s great conditioning treatment and may DEFINE your curls more than loosen them but everyone’s experiences are different. Hope you see results with your mix! I’ll be on the look out for an update!
Ah , I didn’t consider that yoghurt was added to the mix. The bacteria in yoghurt, do break down lactose into lactic acid. The acid can cause bonds in protein to break. Relaxers do the same action but have much stronger chemicals for ‘better’ effect.
I remain sceptical though. Someone needs to write a science paper and report the effects so I can scrutinize it.
@ Jc… i know you it hasn’t been scientifically proven… but i am going to post your response as a “check this comment” entry. i think it’s really interesting…
i have used both coconut oil, coconut cream/milk, and yogurt as a deep conditioner, and I have also used yogurt and henna as a treatment also…
- coconut oil left my hair very moisturized and strong as a Deep condish..
- coconut cream/milk is a nice pre-shampoo treatment for detangling the hair, but the milk is not moisturizing, so you may have to add a little oil or mix it with a conditioner.. I would say it gives more definition moreso than loosening texture..
- yogurt.. that one is a little tricky. the three times I used it my hair was super soft, smoother, and seemed to be easier to detangle – and the strands were strong, almost wiry. I would say that there may be some temporary loosening of the curl and increased definition.. I am a scientist but I havent looked into this yet.. but if I had to guess, because of the milk protein coating the hair strands (possibly to support keratin rebuilding)I could see how the curl would be looser, and lactic acid also can affect the cuticle, leaving a more “relaxed/defined/coily?” look..
I absolutely loved the henna and yogurt treatment that I had.. my hair was soft, fluffy, strong, and did not fuss with breakage even with detangling, airdrying and blowdrying.
In general I agree with SA that I dont even care about “relaxer” effects – its all about keeping the balance between moisture and protein, and both coconut and yogurt have BOTH, which is quite unusual for many products we tend to use on natural hair(avocado also has both)
I am realizing now that protein is my friend, but I have to seal the deal with moisture! So far my experiment is working.. BGLH, I may have to share that with you sometime once I get it down!
I will def look in the lactic acid and yogurt and get back to you though!
Blessings!
Lina
@ lina… YES! please do. ok, guys, this is AWESOME. jenny is a scientist, Jc is a scientist and so r you!!! i swear, natural female scientists need to start some kind of coalition for afro-textured hair research. i need that in my life!!!
in the meantime, you can just continue to drop this knowledge on BGLH. lol. it is MUCH appreciated!!!
I’ve thick, bra strap length hair, super tight coils. I tried the coconut milk on my natural hair and on my mother’s permed and color-treat. we both agreed it didn’t feel clean. hers returned to the normal state after a week or so. mine, going on 2 months now, is just now starting to feel normal. it loosened the curl pattern, but it just looked stringing or limp. it felt light. the crown is my tightest spot and it did relieve that for about a month and a week. I did it mostly for the moisture for dry scalp. it alleviated the itchiness and I’m just starting to flakes for the first time since then. although the feel of the hair wasn’t ideal at all or the look, it did solve scalp problems and made crown detangling incredible easy and painless for the period of time. hey, others may have different results. just try it on a small patch of hair though. you can always comb over that spot.
i would call the coconut "relaxer" a treatment rather than a darn relaxer lol we have already come to the conclusion that relaxers are not good, so why call something that is natural or rather a treatment a relaxer when relaxers are unnatural…just my two cents. i am definately going to try it though!
i would call the coconut "relaxer" a treatment rather than a darn relaxer lol we have already come to the conclusion that relaxers are not good, so why call something that is natural or rather a treatment a relaxer when relaxers are unnatural…just my two cents. i am definately going to try it though!
i would call the coconut "relaxer" a treatment rather than a darn relaxer lol we have already come to the conclusion that relaxers are not good, so why call something that is natural or rather a treatment a relaxer when relaxers are unnatural…just my two cents. i am definately going to try it though!
i would call the coconut "relaxer" a treatment rather than a darn relaxer lol we have already come to the conclusion that relaxers are not good, so why call something that is natural or rather a treatment a relaxer when relaxers are unnatural…just my two cents. i am definately going to try it though!
i would call the coconut "relaxer" a treatment rather than a darn relaxer lol we have already come to the conclusion that relaxers are not good, so why call something that is natural or rather a treatment a relaxer when relaxers are unnatural…just my two cents. i am definately going to try it though!
i would call the coconut "relaxer" a treatment rather than a darn relaxer lol we have already come to the conclusion that relaxers are not good, so why call something that is natural or rather a treatment a relaxer when relaxers are unnatural…just my two cents. i am definately going to try it though!
i would call the coconut "relaxer" a treatment rather than a darn relaxer lol we have already come to the conclusion that relaxers are not good, so why call something that is natural or rather a treatment a relaxer when relaxers are unnatural…just my two cents. i am definately going to try it though!
i would call the coconut "relaxer" a treatment rather than a darn relaxer lol we have already come to the conclusion that relaxers are not good, so why call something that is natural or rather a treatment a relaxer when relaxers are unnatural…just my two cents. i am definately going to try it though!