Togolese
Active Member
Hi there, I can't believe I came back and am surprised I was a member since 2008.
Beginning this year I felt so nostalgic and wondered, if there are still people out there doing some sort of modified version of the maximum hydration method. If there's an active thread I'm missing, please guide me there. I've been doing it on and off since 2015. I do use commercial shampoos and conditioners, but also use henna, make herbal tea rinses, do clay masks and wear wash and gos. Often I feel lonely because I'm somewhere in the middle of the commercial but also alternative way. It would be so cool to connect with others to see where our hair will get in December 2023 with a similar routine. So how to do it?
Instead of doing this routine every 3 days: Just once a week. Depending on your mood, health, life and work schedule. I wash once to twice a week. If I wash twice, I don't do the clay step. No Cherry Lolas, Baking Soda or Apple Cider Hair washes needed. It's not about low porosity hair only, but leaving your hair as buildup free as possible to enhance your natural curl type.
The Hair Wash:
Week Zero
Clarify
Start with a clarifying shampoo for a fresh beginning. If you live in hard water areas or swim often, use a chelation shampoo. From this point you only clarify once a month, if you hair needs additional clarifying. If you use clay masks regularly with acidic liquids like acv there's maybe no need to do this.
Follow up with a Moisturising conditioner and detangle your hair or Moisturising deep conditioner (30 minutes, longer isn't needed unless instructions say shorter or longer) and detangle after. You can use heat, heat cap or just shower steam.
Week One and future
Cleanse
Alternate every other week between a Regular Shampoo and a Moisturising Shampoo. These shampoos are formulated different. Regular or All Purpose Shampoos give a gentle cleanse without stripping you hair and scalp. Moisturising or Hydration Shampoos contain more conditioning agents, more oils & butters and will provide extra boost. That way you make sure not to over cleanse your hair, but also not to under cleanse your natural hair when you use other styling products.
Condition
Follow up with a regular conditioner and the other week with a moisturising conditioner. You're free to also use deep conditioners. Just see what benefits your hair best & rotate so that you have a balance. Detangle your hair.
Clay Rinse
Have your clay mix ready and apply it in the shower. Since your main goal isn't to cleanse & detox deeply, but just to give your hair a boost of curl formation, frizz reduction & gentle removal of excess oils/butters/emollients your hair don't need (remember: this regimen was made for low porosity hair that creates buildup fast, not for high porosity hair), make sure your clay mask is ph balanced like a conditioner. It should be acidic somewhere between 4.0 and 5.0 and not basic. Your scalp has a ph somewhere 4.5-5.5. Hair strands have a ph of 3.7. Don't rub it in your scalp if you prepare the mask close to the ph of your hair. Just like commercial conditioners aren't made for your scalp. This is why instructions usually say to apply conditioners to the length of your hair.
If you chose to modify the clay mask to your own needs and want to use it before shampoo for extra detox, prepare the mask between 4.5-5.5, so that you can also detox your scalp properly without causing irritation. Diy is fun & easy once you really know what your doing & without basic chemistry knowledge you can mess up your hair. So beware if you want to become a mixtress in the kitchen and make your own hair care products.
Use your favourite clay powders. They have different ph levels, so it's all about finding a balance again.
When mixed with water only: Kaolin clay has a ph around 4.5-6.5 (using acv will make it more acidic, so using water mainly works great). Bentonite clay has a ph around 8-9, so it's basic. So don't skip shampoo to balance your scalp again and follow up with a conditioner to seal your hair, if you only use it with water. Same as when you use strong clarifying/chelating shampoos that are basic & not ph balanced, it's better to apply it on your hair strands only and use a second ph balanced shampoo to lather your scalp. That's why many mix bentonite clay with acv. which gets you a ph somewhere 5 and your scalp is save. The acv also acts as powerful remover of lime buildup. Rhassoul clay has a ph of 7-7.5 when mixed with water only. The drying effect people experience is they usually don't know what they are doing and what they are mixing up. PH knowledge and knowing how hair strands are build (hair shaft: cuticles, cortex, medulla) is important. Even if a commercial clay powder labels says to use water only, test the ph and if the mask is to basic, you better make it ph balanced if you especially use it as the last step of your hair wash.
You can add your favourite acidic liquids like organic aloe vera juice, organic apple cider vinegar, strong brewed hibiscus tea... , Ayurvedic herbs, oils, glycerine, hydrolised extracts, proteins and essential oils (1-2 drops only because the mask doesn't contain enough carrier oils). Make sure to smooth the mask into your entire hair, in the shower best, so there’s no mess. Your hair has to be open for this and not twisted or braided. This will allow your hair strands to clump further into it's natural state. And you will see progress in your hair texture, especially when you've never seen your hair clump. Leave it in at least 5 minutes and rinse good. Your hair should feel buttery soft and over time it will clump further on its own.
The clay step can be modified over time and doesn’t have to be used every time you wash your hair. I would encourage your to at least try it out once a week for 6-12 weeks straight to really observe your hair strands. Brittle hair strands have to be of course cut away, so make sure you're not starting a new routine on hair with lots of knots and splits. Also check out your water levels, you could be living in a very hard water area and using clay could be a more gentle alternative to strong chelating shampoos.
Styling
- Wash & Go Sets are best because you don’t disturb your hair too much and you see the progress in your curls better. Use a botanical (plant based) gel that provides moisture and then a second gel/mousse/lotion/cream on top for final hold, if your curl type needs it. Work in small sections if you own a very tight curl pattern. Have a spray bottle on hand, if your hair dries out too fast. Smooth the gel in those small sections on soaking wet hair to get your clumped further. Wavy hair (almost) turns straight and curly hair turns wavy. It will all shrink back in place, once the drying begins. You've applied enough gel and water once your hair feels very slippery. Kind of like sea weed. Your hands glide through and the surface of your hair doesn't feel rough. Now glaze a small to generous amount in the same smoothing motion of your second styler on top of these sections. Shake your head. If your hair is very long and loose maybe you'll require scrunching.
- Braid and Twists are also fine, but use a styling product with hold if you plan to unravel it for definition and hold.
- If you want to keep them closed mainly, use one humectant rich botanical gel and then seal it further with an oil, whipped butter or something else. The film forming humectants (water is evaporating slowly from your hair through the humectant film) will keep your hair moist, preventing your hair from drying out too fast and the additional layer of oil/butter will slow the rate of moisture loss down. So look out for botanical gels that don't just contain glycerin/honey but aloe vera gel, nettle, agave, sea moss, flex seed gel, marshmallow root, slipery elm, pectin, guar gum, xanthan gum, okra gel and so on. Science-yhairblog.blogspot has a great post about film forming humectants. So check your favourite gels out. The reason Jelloshot and As I Am So Much Moisture Lotion is working so well for me is that it contains okra extract, aloe vera juice, pectin, glycerin, royal jelly, horsetail extract & nettle . So the combo is helping with my moisture & definition levels and if it weren't for detangling & a fresh scalp, I would may be tempted to wash my hair every two weeks...
- Air drying takes forever, so use heat to set your hair in place and dry it.
Evening/Morning
- Cover your hair for the night for ex with satin or silk scarves and bonnets. It reduces friction and helps with minimising breakage.
What to expect
- Over time, your wet hair will require less and less styling products and product layering. The hydration levels from hair cleanses and conditioning steps are giving your hair all it needs and missed. It's not a process over time, because it takes a few hair washes and stylings to see results, depending on the products you've used in the past and the frequency of your hair washes. Some may call it curl training. I call it to enhance what's been already there but hidden. You can call it whatever you want.
NoGOs
- Since this method was originally a modified version of the curly girl method, but for type 4, especially 4c heads, I'll list done what ingredients you should avoid buying when it comes to hair care products. It's just a guideline, you can even be stricter:
- Sulfates, very harsh surfactants. Very stripping, especially curly hair. Can leave scalp and hair entirely dry and brittle.
- Silicones, especially the ones that aren't water soluble don't wash away. Over time they do the same as mineral oils. Dimethicone also fall here.
- Mineral oils, petrolatum, petroleum jelly, hair grease also contains mineral oils. It provides high shine and seals your hair. But over time you create a wall around your hair strands, that won't allow water to get in. It doesn’t wash away with regular or moisturising shampoos. Only strong sulfate free clarifying or sulfate shampoos can do so.
- Synthetic gels like Ecostyler or Wetline. They don't provide moisture and can dry out your hair strands depending on the texture over time. Now here's a tip, if you use a plant based humectant rich gel as your base, your hair is covered and protected. Using tiny amounts of these types of gels on top, shouldn’t be an issue. Also, there's a wide range of in the middle products, plant based combined with synthetic ingredients. So read the back of the ingredient list and decide for yourself, if you want to use that product.
- Parabens. Controversial preservatives.
- Formaldehyde are also preservatives. Claims there it's a carcinogen.
- PVP/Copolymer brings the holding factor, I have styling products containing it. It's water soluble, but can be drying over time. Once I find good alternatives I will maybe switch.
- Alcohols with a "prop" like Isopropyl alcohol or propanol. It can strip and dry hair out.
- As much as natural is key and I truly believe that's why this method was so popular back in the day. I stumbled on it in 2014, which lead me to big chop a second time in 2015, where I started using botanical gels. Something I wasn't aware of before.
Beginning this year I felt so nostalgic and wondered, if there are still people out there doing some sort of modified version of the maximum hydration method. If there's an active thread I'm missing, please guide me there. I've been doing it on and off since 2015. I do use commercial shampoos and conditioners, but also use henna, make herbal tea rinses, do clay masks and wear wash and gos. Often I feel lonely because I'm somewhere in the middle of the commercial but also alternative way. It would be so cool to connect with others to see where our hair will get in December 2023 with a similar routine. So how to do it?Instead of doing this routine every 3 days: Just once a week. Depending on your mood, health, life and work schedule. I wash once to twice a week. If I wash twice, I don't do the clay step. No Cherry Lolas, Baking Soda or Apple Cider Hair washes needed. It's not about low porosity hair only, but leaving your hair as buildup free as possible to enhance your natural curl type.
The Hair Wash:
Week Zero
Clarify
Start with a clarifying shampoo for a fresh beginning. If you live in hard water areas or swim often, use a chelation shampoo. From this point you only clarify once a month, if you hair needs additional clarifying. If you use clay masks regularly with acidic liquids like acv there's maybe no need to do this.
Follow up with a Moisturising conditioner and detangle your hair or Moisturising deep conditioner (30 minutes, longer isn't needed unless instructions say shorter or longer) and detangle after. You can use heat, heat cap or just shower steam.
Week One and future
Cleanse
Alternate every other week between a Regular Shampoo and a Moisturising Shampoo. These shampoos are formulated different. Regular or All Purpose Shampoos give a gentle cleanse without stripping you hair and scalp. Moisturising or Hydration Shampoos contain more conditioning agents, more oils & butters and will provide extra boost. That way you make sure not to over cleanse your hair, but also not to under cleanse your natural hair when you use other styling products.
Condition
Follow up with a regular conditioner and the other week with a moisturising conditioner. You're free to also use deep conditioners. Just see what benefits your hair best & rotate so that you have a balance. Detangle your hair.
Clay Rinse
Have your clay mix ready and apply it in the shower. Since your main goal isn't to cleanse & detox deeply, but just to give your hair a boost of curl formation, frizz reduction & gentle removal of excess oils/butters/emollients your hair don't need (remember: this regimen was made for low porosity hair that creates buildup fast, not for high porosity hair), make sure your clay mask is ph balanced like a conditioner. It should be acidic somewhere between 4.0 and 5.0 and not basic. Your scalp has a ph somewhere 4.5-5.5. Hair strands have a ph of 3.7. Don't rub it in your scalp if you prepare the mask close to the ph of your hair. Just like commercial conditioners aren't made for your scalp. This is why instructions usually say to apply conditioners to the length of your hair.
If you chose to modify the clay mask to your own needs and want to use it before shampoo for extra detox, prepare the mask between 4.5-5.5, so that you can also detox your scalp properly without causing irritation. Diy is fun & easy once you really know what your doing & without basic chemistry knowledge you can mess up your hair. So beware if you want to become a mixtress in the kitchen and make your own hair care products.
Use your favourite clay powders. They have different ph levels, so it's all about finding a balance again.
When mixed with water only: Kaolin clay has a ph around 4.5-6.5 (using acv will make it more acidic, so using water mainly works great). Bentonite clay has a ph around 8-9, so it's basic. So don't skip shampoo to balance your scalp again and follow up with a conditioner to seal your hair, if you only use it with water. Same as when you use strong clarifying/chelating shampoos that are basic & not ph balanced, it's better to apply it on your hair strands only and use a second ph balanced shampoo to lather your scalp. That's why many mix bentonite clay with acv. which gets you a ph somewhere 5 and your scalp is save. The acv also acts as powerful remover of lime buildup. Rhassoul clay has a ph of 7-7.5 when mixed with water only. The drying effect people experience is they usually don't know what they are doing and what they are mixing up. PH knowledge and knowing how hair strands are build (hair shaft: cuticles, cortex, medulla) is important. Even if a commercial clay powder labels says to use water only, test the ph and if the mask is to basic, you better make it ph balanced if you especially use it as the last step of your hair wash.
You can add your favourite acidic liquids like organic aloe vera juice, organic apple cider vinegar, strong brewed hibiscus tea... , Ayurvedic herbs, oils, glycerine, hydrolised extracts, proteins and essential oils (1-2 drops only because the mask doesn't contain enough carrier oils). Make sure to smooth the mask into your entire hair, in the shower best, so there’s no mess. Your hair has to be open for this and not twisted or braided. This will allow your hair strands to clump further into it's natural state. And you will see progress in your hair texture, especially when you've never seen your hair clump. Leave it in at least 5 minutes and rinse good. Your hair should feel buttery soft and over time it will clump further on its own.
The clay step can be modified over time and doesn’t have to be used every time you wash your hair. I would encourage your to at least try it out once a week for 6-12 weeks straight to really observe your hair strands. Brittle hair strands have to be of course cut away, so make sure you're not starting a new routine on hair with lots of knots and splits. Also check out your water levels, you could be living in a very hard water area and using clay could be a more gentle alternative to strong chelating shampoos.
Styling
- Wash & Go Sets are best because you don’t disturb your hair too much and you see the progress in your curls better. Use a botanical (plant based) gel that provides moisture and then a second gel/mousse/lotion/cream on top for final hold, if your curl type needs it. Work in small sections if you own a very tight curl pattern. Have a spray bottle on hand, if your hair dries out too fast. Smooth the gel in those small sections on soaking wet hair to get your clumped further. Wavy hair (almost) turns straight and curly hair turns wavy. It will all shrink back in place, once the drying begins. You've applied enough gel and water once your hair feels very slippery. Kind of like sea weed. Your hands glide through and the surface of your hair doesn't feel rough. Now glaze a small to generous amount in the same smoothing motion of your second styler on top of these sections. Shake your head. If your hair is very long and loose maybe you'll require scrunching.
- Braid and Twists are also fine, but use a styling product with hold if you plan to unravel it for definition and hold.
- If you want to keep them closed mainly, use one humectant rich botanical gel and then seal it further with an oil, whipped butter or something else. The film forming humectants (water is evaporating slowly from your hair through the humectant film) will keep your hair moist, preventing your hair from drying out too fast and the additional layer of oil/butter will slow the rate of moisture loss down. So look out for botanical gels that don't just contain glycerin/honey but aloe vera gel, nettle, agave, sea moss, flex seed gel, marshmallow root, slipery elm, pectin, guar gum, xanthan gum, okra gel and so on. Science-yhairblog.blogspot has a great post about film forming humectants. So check your favourite gels out. The reason Jelloshot and As I Am So Much Moisture Lotion is working so well for me is that it contains okra extract, aloe vera juice, pectin, glycerin, royal jelly, horsetail extract & nettle . So the combo is helping with my moisture & definition levels and if it weren't for detangling & a fresh scalp, I would may be tempted to wash my hair every two weeks...
- Air drying takes forever, so use heat to set your hair in place and dry it.
Evening/Morning
- Cover your hair for the night for ex with satin or silk scarves and bonnets. It reduces friction and helps with minimising breakage.
What to expect
- Over time, your wet hair will require less and less styling products and product layering. The hydration levels from hair cleanses and conditioning steps are giving your hair all it needs and missed. It's not a process over time, because it takes a few hair washes and stylings to see results, depending on the products you've used in the past and the frequency of your hair washes. Some may call it curl training. I call it to enhance what's been already there but hidden.
You can call it whatever you want.NoGOs
- Since this method was originally a modified version of the curly girl method, but for type 4, especially 4c heads, I'll list done what ingredients you should avoid buying when it comes to hair care products. It's just a guideline, you can even be stricter:
- Sulfates, very harsh surfactants. Very stripping, especially curly hair. Can leave scalp and hair entirely dry and brittle.
- Silicones, especially the ones that aren't water soluble don't wash away. Over time they do the same as mineral oils. Dimethicone also fall here.
- Mineral oils, petrolatum, petroleum jelly, hair grease also contains mineral oils. It provides high shine and seals your hair. But over time you create a wall around your hair strands, that won't allow water to get in. It doesn’t wash away with regular or moisturising shampoos. Only strong sulfate free clarifying or sulfate shampoos can do so.
- Synthetic gels like Ecostyler or Wetline. They don't provide moisture and can dry out your hair strands depending on the texture over time. Now here's a tip, if you use a plant based humectant rich gel as your base, your hair is covered and protected. Using tiny amounts of these types of gels on top, shouldn’t be an issue. Also, there's a wide range of in the middle products, plant based combined with synthetic ingredients. So read the back of the ingredient list and decide for yourself, if you want to use that product.
- Parabens. Controversial preservatives.
- Formaldehyde are also preservatives. Claims there it's a carcinogen.
- PVP/Copolymer brings the holding factor, I have styling products containing it. It's water soluble, but can be drying over time. Once I find good alternatives I will maybe switch.
- Alcohols with a "prop" like Isopropyl alcohol or propanol. It can strip and dry hair out.
- As much as natural is key and I truly believe that's why this method was so popular back in the day. I stumbled on it in 2014, which lead me to big chop a second time in 2015, where I started using botanical gels. Something I wasn't aware of before.
Last edited:
and welcome back. I used to do the Maximum Hydration Method from 2014. I've taken many things that I learned during that time but I now just follow a curated routine occasionally using clay, but mainly shampoo, conditioners, henna, Olaplex and K18. I wear my hair in a wash n go 99% of the time. You should join us in the most recent Wash and Go thread.
This was my hair right after the second big chop in 2015 when I started with the maximum hydration method. The other pictures are more recent from June 2021 where I used a bit of leave-in and gel on dry/damp hair, after clay rinse in July 2022, March 22 right after henna with a washngo and washngo Sep 2022. It may look like I have some sort of very loose pattern, but it's just my phone. Many hair strands when defined entirely, have the curl size of needles. So smaller than pen springs. After clay rinses, I get the most stretch and clumping. After shampoo I get the most definition & spring factor. It coils up into spirals.
Thank you for sharing, wow you've almost used the entire Olaplex system. So you weren't required (or forced) to cut your heat damaged hair away right? I've seen so many naturals getting their hair cut away, making it almost another big chop, but in the name of heat or "diy" damage. Is it really required when there're systems like Olaplex and K18? I've used Olaplex No. 0 + 3 and will only stick to 3 about once a month or so.
You would see countless videos up to type 4a and then the air becomes thinner and thinner lol. Kinky Curly Knot Today combined with Kinky Curly Curling Custard works best when it's used with enough water. It can give perfect definition and hold, but the curls will be more shrunken, depending on your hair texture and curl size. So instead of a stretched look, it gives me tiny ringlets, which I can stretch out if I want. When I use KCCC with Innersense ICH gel, it gives me the same stretched out look, because it provides more hold, but with a softer gel cast.
It's so good to be here and I can't wait to play around more with the clay masks. I saw spirulina in the stores today and thought of your hair masks!
