Hey Hey everyone!!
Hope you are all well! So Sunday I tried out bentonite clay on my hair again. Anyone else tried this stuff yet??
My hair has been pretty meh lately, it’s been falling out & I’ve had a lot of breakage as well. Usually when my hair starts breaking how it was it’s a sign that I’ve been lazy & I need to give it a trim. About a month ago I cut quite a lot of my hair off, mainly from the front because that’s where the majority of the heat damage on my hair was. After I cut it I did a deep conditioning treatment & put it into braids so I wasn’t over manipulating it, one of my biggest problems is that I get bored with my hair quickly so I’m always changing it. Since I’ve cut my hair it’s grown quite a bit which I was pretty surprised about, as it normally takes a while for me to see a difference, maybe its because in lock down I’ve actually just been able to leave my hair alone & let is do its thing…
Anyway I’m getting off topic so back to the bentonite clay! Sunday was the 2nd time I’ve tried it & all I can say is, it brought my curls LIFE!! Now after we wash out hair obviously it’s clean & our curls will start to pop again but you know sometimes they just aren’t quite right & they’re a little lacklustre. Well this stuff seems to do the trick to bring your curls back to their bouncy glory!
What the hell does it do to your hair?!
Bentonite clay is great if you have product build-up or scalp conditions by working as a kind of detox for your hair. It’s an absorbent clay formed from aged volcanic ash that absorbs toxins from your body, which is why it’s most commonly used as a face mask to clear pores. However a lot of naturals use this to clarify their hair as it removes bacteria from your hair & scalp as well.
Here are a few benefits of bentonite clay:
- Draws impurities from you hair and scalp. Bentonite is a negatively charged clay that attracts positively charged product build-up and heavy metal toxins. A lot of people use this to give themselves completely cleansed hair.
- Has Antimicrobial Properties. This basically means it can kill & stop the growth of bacteria & fungus on your hair & scalp. Perfect if you have dandruff, scalp fungus & many people have said its great for their psoriasis.
- Defines Curls. The clay helps clump curls together, giving you a super defined curl pattern.
- Enhances Shine. When you have product build-up, you probably know that not so nice stiff feeling to you hair. Sometimes with a weird greyish colour for company, that leaves your hair looking dull. This gets rid of that dull look and gives your hair a really lovely shine.
- Conditions Hair. Doing a bentonite clay mask can help with manageability conditioning your hair, leaving it soft & much easier to detangle on wash days!
- Promotes Healthy Hair Growth. I’m not sure about this one but many people have said when they use bentonite clay it’s help with growth. It does unclog hair follicles & cleansing your scalp thoroughly can boost hair growth by leaving the perfect environment for growing hair.
Ok I’m in…How do I used this stuff?!
Be sure to mix your paste up in a plastic or ceramic bowl and use a plastic or wooden spoon, basically anything that isn’t metal because you don’t want to activate the clay before it gets on your hair.
To make the mask you just need to mix some of the clay, water and whatever else you would like to nourish your hairs. The first time I did mine it was waaaay too runny and I was totally covered, it can be a messy process so just keep that in mind if you had planned to do this anywhere other than the bathroom! The 2nd time I made the mask I managed to get the paste consistency I was looking for & I added some apple cider vinegar to my mask because I had quite a bit of product build up that I needed to get shifted.
Once you’ve mixed the clay, water & anything else you felt like adding into a paste, separate your hair into sections as normal. Starting with your first section spray this down with warm water so it’s saturated, you want to use warm water to help open you hair shaft & also hydrate your hair so you have less tangles to work with. Apply the clay from your roots working down to the ends, be sure to sub-section to make sure you cover every strand of hair in the clay. Whilst you work on each section massage it into your scalp for stimulation plus its a nice little treat! As you are working through your hair be sure to keep spraying down the last sections so the clay doesn’t dry out in your hair, when I finished coating my hair I just spray it all down once more, give my whole scalp a little massage & the pop a plastic cap on to stop it drying out.
Leave the clay on anywhere between 5mins – 30mins & sit with a plastic cap or even a plastic bag if you don’t have a cap over your hair. This will trap the heat from your head in & help open your hair cuticle even more to let the clay work it’s magic, as well as stopping the clay from drying out so you don’t have to keep spraying it down. Once your time is up jump in the shower and wash the clay out. You don’t need to shampoo your hair because the clay naturally cleanses but if you want to add a little to make sure it’s all out feel free.
Because the clay is super clarifying it will take off product build up, but it will also strip your hair of it’s natural oils as well, so you will definitely want to do a deep conditioning treatment on your hair after to moisturise it. You might even find you see a bigger impact from the deep conditioner because its able to get into your hair cuticle better. Finish your normal hair regime, sit back & relax and just wait for you hair to feel amazing. Once I finished my whole regime my curls were bouncy, shiny & so soft. My 2nd attempt using this was definitely better than the 1st because I think the consistency was totally off when I did it the 1st time – It was seriously a runny mess!! – You can use this clay whenever you feel your curls need to be refreshed or reset, I’ve used it twice so far but honestly I’m only counting the 2nd attempt as the first was such a flop haha. So I’ll try and fit this in at least once a month because I really do feel a difference in my hair, days later my hair still feel soft bouncy & moisturised.
So while I was looking into bentonite clay I came across a whole range of uses for it, I’ve always known people use it as a face mask & on their hair but the list also includes: deodorant, toothpaste, detox bath, bug bites, burns, digestive issues & the list goes on! Who knew one simple mud could be used for so many things! Hmm maybe I’ll give some of these a go…not gonna lie the thought of eating or drinking the stuff isn’t up there on the list for me, so I might have to give that one a miss!!
So guys & girls, have any of you used bentonite clay & what did you think of it? Did you love it or think it’s not worth all the hype?
Hope to see you on the next one!
Just a really quick note to say I’ve done another post on bentonite clay that you can find here. Just a little update on this one 🙂
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