Hair Tip Monday| Help your conditioner absorb better with a DIY Microwaveable Turban

Don't you just hate it when you gently massage conditioner on your hair and it just sits there? Like.. literally! It doesn't absorb into your hair, doesn't moisture it, does nothing at all.

Now, this could be due to a number of reasons of which include: product build up, low porosity or simply the product's ingredients. In today's HTM, I'll be sharing a quick tip to help your conditioner absorb better.

I had been wearing mini twists for about 7 weeks and recently took them out. My hair is dry, greasy and in need of tlc. There were knots everywhere but I managed to remove them with minimal damage; but bwoy it's dry.

After removing my twists.

I always deep condition first so I sectioned my hair into four and applied the conditioners ( I ran out of the conditioner I used at the front of my head and had to use another conditioner for the back sections.) One thing I noticed was, the second conditioner I used didn't absorb as quickly as the one I used at the front (used Organics Hair Mayonnaise at the front). It just sat on my hair (pictured below)

So I asked myself, "KK, What can I do to help this conditioner out?" Of course! Steam. 

Tip begins here:

• Wet your hands with water or use a spray bottle to mist your hair and doing the 'praying method' run your hands over your hair. For this demonstration I'm focusing on the section that was having a bit of trouble with absorption. If you need to wet your hands more once more to really work it in; go ahead and do that.

      Without adding water                                                     After adding water

Then....

If you have a microwaveable steam cap then you can go ahead and use that. However, I'm going to show you how to use a t-shirt to do it.

• Get an old t-shirt. Choose a t-shirt that is a little thick so that it will hold the heat.
• Place your shirt in the microwave and run it in the microwave.

Start with a low number like 20 or 25 seconds to see how the material reacts to heat. Then you can build up the time if it doesn't burn. But try to stay within the 15-35 seconds range. Avoid 45 seconds and over. (The first time I did this I burned my shirt at 45 seconds lol)

• Carefully remove shirt from the microwave and wrap it over your plastic cap/bag.

• The shirt will only hold the heat for a little while (mine held it for about 5-7 minutes) but it may vary depending on the shirt's material. Leave on for however long you desire and continue with your respective regimes. I opted to leave it overnight because I started my hair in the night and continued with washing and styling the following day. 
• Remember to close the cuticle with cool/cold water as your final rinse.

Why it works:

By adding water to your hair, you are imparting moisture back into your hair. When heat comes in contact with water the molecules begin to separate creating steam. This then encourages the cuticles to open up thus helping your product to absorb better.

Tip Tip Whooray!

For more information on the benefits of steaming:
4 benefits of steaming for Natural Hair