Yogurt for Straightening/Loosing curl pattern in 4b naturals...

[dlove]

Have you loosed your think, dense curl pattern using yogurt? I have read that by covering your 4b hair in plain yogurt or spritzing your hair with whole milk and leaving it on for an hour, you can loosen your tight curl pattern over time. I read that it lasts only from wash to wash.
Has anyone with 4b hair experienced this and succeeded?
If so your input is valued and appreciated.

TIA Ladies

 

[NYAmicas]

I know there are threads that have discussed milk as being a natural relaxer. I'll have to do a search.
I always said I would try it but I was anti dairy for a minute-when that newgrownth comes a-knocking I will be trying the milk thing.

 

[Extremus]

bump for more responses

 

[almondjoi85]

hmmmmm i want to know this answer...bump bump

 

[adw425]

I added a couple level tablespoons of yogurt to my conditioner three times three weeks ago and noticed that next Sunday how loose my curl pattern was. I did it three times that first week because I just liked the way my hair felt after the conditioning treatment. I was not looking at all to loosen or relax my curl pattern and was very surprised that this happened, so I started researching this and it is likely the lactic acid action.

My mix also had honey, molasses, whey protein, a tiny bit of coconut oil and coconut milk and my powdered herb mix of strengthening/softening/ moisturizing herbs. My base conditioner was SalonCare honey and almond. I did it three times last week with a splash of buttermilk added (as an experiment) and my curl pattern has loosened about 75-80%. My hair has barely tangled in three weeks and it feels very smooth and retains moisture better. I haven't gotten anymore of those nasty knots on the ends either.

I did not use the yogurt or buttermilk at all this past week and I have wet my hair every night this week either co-washed, shampooed or rinsed and the curl pattern is still the same -- loosened. The "s" shape of the strands are elongated and when I pull my hair back into a bun, my wave pattern is nearly non-existent. I believe it is the lactic acid in the yogurt/buttermilk.

 

[halee_J]

Interesting...I tried something similar 2 weeks ago with coconut milk and lime juice and got good results; NG is less "poofy" comb glides through. Two washes later the curl pattern is still loose.

I think the link between the lime juice and the yogurt is the acidity...I wonder what is it about acidity that seems to loosen curl....

 

[dlove]

I added a couple level tablespoons of yogurt to my conditioner three times three weeks ago and noticed that next Sunday how loose my curl pattern was. I did it three times that first week because I just liked the way my hair felt after the conditioning treatment. I was not looking at all to loosen or relax my curl pattern and was very surprised that this happened, so I started researching this and it is likely the lactic acid action.

My mix also had honey, molasses, whey protein, a tiny bit of coconut oil and coconut milk and my powdered herb mix of strengthening/softening/ moisturizing herbs. My base conditioner was SalonCare honey and almond. I did it three times last week with a splash of buttermilk added (as an experiment) and my curl pattern has loosened about 75-80%. My hair has barely tangled in three weeks and it feels very smooth and retains moisture better. I haven't gotten anymore of those nasty knots on the ends either.

I did not use the yogurt or buttermilk at all this past week and I have wet my hair every night this week either co-washed, shampooed or rinsed and the curl pattern is still the same -- loosened. The "s" shape of the strands are elongated and when I pull my hair back into a bun, my wave pattern is nearly non-existent. I believe it is the lactic acid in the yogurt/buttermilk.

Hi and thanks again for you input... You inspired me to start this thread.
Are a 4b? I'm beginning to believe that this method only works on those that have type 1,2, or 3 type hair, hair that has a mixture of 3 with 4, but not soley type 4. I tried plain low fat yougurt last night. Nothing happened but the naps-- still thick and dense. Right now I standing here with whole milk mixed with Giovanni direct. I will rinse in an hour. We shall see...

 

[freshlikemoi]

Hmmm very interesting....i still dont know if it makes sense...

BUMPing for more responses....

 

[carameldiva]

i'm a 3c/4a and i have used yogurt in my henna mixes for a month or two now and got similar results to what adw425 got. I like the end results so i will keep doing it. It is not such a dramatic change that it affects my styling options but at the same time it does loosen my curl pattern.

 

[ajargon02]

i'm a 3c/4a and i have used yogurt in my henna mixes for a month or two now and got similar results to what adw425 got. I like the end results so i will keep doing it. It is not such a dramatic change that it affects my styling options but at the same time it does loosen my curl pattern.

Keep in mind that Henna is known to temporarily loosen curl pattern as well. Have you tried your mix without the henna?

 

[morehairplease]

wow, this is interesting indee. I will have to try a yogurt mixture on my hair at my next wash and report back.

 

[NaturalJoy]

I added a couple level tablespoons of yogurt to my conditioner three times three weeks ago and noticed that next Sunday how loose my curl pattern was. I did it three times that first week because I just liked the way my hair felt after the conditioning treatment. I was not looking at all to loosen or relax my curl pattern and was very surprised that this happened, so I started researching this and it is likely the lactic acid action.

My mix also had honey, molasses, whey protein, a tiny bit of coconut oil and coconut milk and my powdered herb mix of strengthening/softening/ moisturizing herbs. My base conditioner was SalonCare honey and almond. I did it three times last week with a splash of buttermilk added (as an experiment) and my curl pattern has loosened about 75-80%. My hair has barely tangled in three weeks and it feels very smooth and retains moisture better. I haven't gotten anymore of those nasty knots on the ends either.

I did not use the yogurt or buttermilk at all this past week and I have wet my hair every night this week either co-washed, shampooed or rinsed and the curl pattern is still the same -- loosened. The "s" shape of the strands are elongated and when I pull my hair back into a bun, my wave pattern is nearly non-existent. I believe it is the lactic acid in the yogurt/buttermilk.

This is slightly off topic, but adw425, I was wondering of you wouldn't mind sharing the ingredients of your herbal strengthing/softening/moisturizer herbal mixture? Ever since my fav Herbal Softening Shampoo was discontinued I've been on a quest to create a replacement!

 

[carameldiva]

Keep in mind that Henna is known to temporarily loosen curl pattern as well. Have you tried your mix without the henna?

Nope. I didn't try the mix without the henna. But i have tried henna without the yogurt and my results were not as moisturizing as with the yogurt and honey. I also didn't see much loosening of the curl prior to adding the yogurt and honey to the mix. Sorry i can't contribute more to the discussion.

 

[adw425]

Dlove: I really do not know what I am and I really do not even want to "type" my hair, but for the sake of this post and after reading the thread yesterday on hair typing, this has been my experience: My hair had the appearance of 4b after I transitioned and my hair was so dry that it shrunk up very tight. After I discovered LHCF and learned the importance of getting moisture into the hair strands and retaining moisture (and proceeded to get moisture into my hair strands and retain it) the "s" shape of my hair strands for the last two-plus years has had the appearance of not as coiled as 4a, but not as loose as 3b, so I would say 3c. In it's present loosened state, the "s" shape is pretty elongated and has the appearance of 3a. However, my hair is retaining even more moisture after these treatments so moisture retention is definitely figuring in this equation as well. How's that for an answer or non-answer (smile)?

Also, I kept the yogurt mixture in for at least 30-60 minutes while either soaking in the bathtub, doing dishes or working on the computer -- not on purpose. I did not have a clue that this would loosen my curl pattern. It was AFTER that happened that I went on this site and did a search for yogurt and came up with lots of posts on the lime and coconut treatment and some saying that the purpose of putting the lime in the coconut milk is to sour it and yogurt and buttermilk is already essentially sour milk. In those posts, I also learned about lactic acid. I just did a search and learned that lactic acid is also present in molasses (as well as sour milk, various fruits and wine) so the molasses may have ratcheted up the potency of my concoction if, in fact, it is the lactic acid that is loosening the curl pattern.

I don't know guys. All of this happened by accident and I was just trying to figure it out and this is what I came up with. The one thing I forgot to add in my first post is that my shrinkage is 50% or less of what it was before the yogurt. I just put the yogurt in it to use it up and it was plain full-fat yogurt. Also, yogurt and buttermilk is protein and I also added whey protein so that was more protein and whey is a milk by-product. I do not know if that contributed to it or not.

NaturalJoy: My herb mix is just a bunch of powdered herbs I've bought over the last few months in four ounce packages. I just got tired of all the little packages and dumped them all into a large container. They are irish moss, rhoussoul clay, oatstraw, kelp, rose petal powder, barley grass, nettle, burdock, rosemary, comfrey, chamomile. I think that is all.

 

[a_ caribbean_dream]

Oh, I am definitely GOING to try this as soon as I can. I am so tired of shrinkage. Don't get me wrong I love shrinkage, and being able to bounce back and forth from straight to short curly styles but I just want my natural state to be a little looser hand a little more without using a texturizer.

Too bad, today was my wash day (and when I say day I mean day! lol) I would've tried it today if I had seen this thread earlier.
​

 

[Extremus]

What brand of yogurt to ya'll use?

 

[adw425]

Plain, full-fat Dannon yogurt.

 

[dlove]

Good News, Good News, My curl has definitely loosened. I know because when I sleep with my hair loose TWA style, its usually packed down really really low and I have to manipulate it my fingers or comb to make it puffy. I took a nap and woke up with very little shrinkage. I want to give credit to the 2nd attempt, mixing whole milk and giovanni direct for one hour. I would like for it loosen even more so I will be trying the whole milk and Giovanni direct method (messy...) as a pre poo the next time I wash.
We shall see... Will post later

 

[adw425]

Dlove:

I did mine again last night and my friend from Iraq is finally home and he stopped by. I rinsed the stuff out of my hair that had been in for an hour really quickly and just pulled it back in a bun. I did not get all of it in the bun and it dried wavy and only about 20% shrinkage. If this keeps up, I will be able to wear my hair down without first flat-ironing it. I will do it once a week.

P.S. Milk can cause build-up so don't forget to clarify. I clarified yesterday.

 

[SilverSurfer]

omg..THIS WORKS!!!!. I just tried it on my daughters 4b hair and it truly does work. I am so excited. I'll post more details in a bit

 

[dlove]

Dlove:

I did mine again last night and my friend from Iraq is finally home and he stopped by. I rinsed the stuff out of my hair that had been in for an hour really quickly and just pulled it back in a bun. I did not get all of it in the bun and it dried wavy and only about 20% shrinkage. If this keeps up, I will be able to wear my hair down without first flat-ironing it. I will do it once a week.

P.S. Milk can cause build-up so don't forget to clarify. I clarified yesterday.

Hello adw425,

Did you use straight milk or did you do a mixture like me? I used whole milk and Giovanni Direct leave in.

 

[dlove]

omg..THIS WORKS!!!!. I just tried it on my daughters 4b hair and it truly does work. I am so excited. I'll post more details in a bit

Yea

Can't wait to hear about what you used and how you did it....

 

[adw425]

I used the same mixture with the yogurt, buttermilk, coconut milk and molasses mixed into conditioner, plus my powdered herbs. It was leftover from last weekend. I kept it in the refrigerator in an air tight container and it was fine.

ETA: I have either done it as a conditioner wash or after shampoo treatment. I have never done it as pre-poo.

 

[SilverSurfer]

omg..THIS WORKS!!!!. I just tried it on my daughters 4b hair and it truly does work. I am so excited. I'll post more details in a bit

Ok, so I just used some Yoplait yogurt I had in my fridge + whole milk + a few squirts of lime juice. Mixed it all up and applied it to my daughters dry 4b hair. I left it on for an hour and 15 minutes, then I just washed it out without shampoo or conditioner cause her hair was already clean because I washed it the day before but didn't get around to plaiting it up. So after I rinsed it off and towel dried her hair. At first I didn't notice any change because I hadn't combed it yet and it still looked shrunken. So when I started to comb her hair the first thing I noticed was how soft and easy to comb it was. Usually to fix my daughters hair is a struggle for both of us. So then I began to plait it into individual plaits which I don't like doing because in the past it just wouldn't look right and just be sticking up all over the place but after I did the one plait and it hung down, I was like WOW. Her hair has never hung down like that. It was like her hair was stretched out but still maintained it's texture but it was really soft. I was done with her hair in 15 minutes and she was even surprised that it took less time and it didn't hurt her at all. This is definitely a keeper, I am still in awe...when I look at her with the hanging individual plaits. My DH saw her hair and was like wow, her hair got longer.

 

[dlove]

Ok, so I just used some Yoplait yogurt I had in my fridge + whole milk + a few squirts of lime juice. Mixed it all up and applied it to my daughters dry 4b hair. I left it on for an hour and 15 minutes, then I just washed it out without shampoo or conditioner cause her hair was already clean because I washed it the day before but didn't get around to plaiting it up. So after I rinsed it off and towel dried her hair. At first I didn't notice any change because I hadn't combed it yet and it still looked shrunken. So when I started to comb her hair the first thing I noticed was how soft and easy to comb it was. Usually to fix my daughters hair is a struggle for both of us. So then I began to plait it into individual plaits which I don't like doing because in the past it just wouldn't look right and just be sticking up all over the place but after I did the one plait and it hung down, I was like WOW. Her hair has never hung down like that. It was like her hair was stretched out but still maintained it's texture but it was really soft. I was done with her hair in 15 minutes and she was even surprised that it took less time and it didn't hurt her at all. This is definitely a keeper, I am still in awe...when I look at her with the hanging individual plaits. My DH saw her hair and was like wow, her hair got longer.

Wow, I am so happy for you and your DD.
What kind of yougurt did you use? How did you apply the whole milk? It got kind of messy in my bathroom with the milk. I think I am going to try your method next. Will post results later...

 

[brittanynic16]

I found this information online:

L(+)-lactic acid is a natural constituent of
the hair. It is known to have a positive
influence on the gloss and healthy
appearance of the hair.​

In most cases hair care products contain
small amounts of acids, some of them
organic, in order to adjust the pH of the
formulation to slightly acidic. Using L(+)-
lactic acid for this purpose improves the
total performance of the end product. In
a salon test the effect of L(+)-lactic acid
was compared with that of citric acid as
pH regulator in a shampoo. The results
of this test showed that the addition of
L(+)-lactic acid results in a shampoo that
gives the hair:
• more body
• improved manageability
• better wet and good dry feel
The lactates have also been shown to
possess good moisturizing properties in
rinse-off products. In the case of hair
care products this can help in preventing
dry scalp, thereby reducing the​

occurrence of dry dandruff.

 

[a_ caribbean_dream]

Ok I might try this tomorrow so I need to get this straight:

-full fat yogurt
-some milk
-and my regular conditioner

is all i need? and how long do I leave it on for?​

 

[adw425]

Brittanynic16: That is great info. Thanks...

 

[JustKiya]

Interesting. I've been looking for a natural protien treatment for my mid-month proteining...... hrrrrmmmm. I might have to try this out.

I wonder if you can get powdered lactic acid the same way you can get citric acid - that would be hot....

 

[adw425]

Interesting. I've been looking for a natural protien treatment for my mid-month proteining...... hrrrrmmmm. I might have to try this out.

I wonder if you can get powdered lactic acid the same way you can get citric acid - that would be hot....

Snowdrift Farms has liquid lactic acid and lactic acid is also listed as a separate ingredient in powdered buttermilk in the baking section of the grocery store. I was going to get the powdered buttermilk last week, but I just went and got more plain yogurt since I have lots of powdered stuff already. Also, the yogurt mixes up well in my mixture/concoction and gives it the look of cafe au lait pudding when I add the molasses.