Kitchen Testimonials: Cpj

Subscriber, Cpj, had this to say about maintaining mini twists:

I agree. In order to preserve any protective style when washing gentle handling is a must! Aside from maintaining the look of the style, I find that gentle handling avoids extreme tangling. What methods have you all found to be helpful in maintaining your twists and other protective styles?

DIY Recipe: Accidental Herbal Hair Rinse

I've been on a quest to make an all natural hair lotion that isn't too greasy but has a thick creamy texture. The inspiration for this quest is my fond memory of Luster's Pink Lotion- you know the one! I looooved this stuff, and swore it transformed my texture each time I slathered it on. Of course it did not, in fact it just created build up and attracted dirt because I piled it on daily. But that first application... on clean hair... with a hard boar bristle brush... couldn't no one tell me I didn't "have Indian in my family." o_O

I don't want to live in that delusional world anymore, but I do want to find the perfect recipe for a thick creamy lotion. The one I'm about to share with you... is not it! I found a recipe online that was inaccurately described as a nettle hair lotion. Then I personalized it by adding horsetail and chamomile. The consistency was not at all creamy... it was basically tea. It did however make a wonderful hair rinse to use after conditioning and I did see an increase in sheen and strength in my strands after using it for about a month. Check it out and tell me how it works out for you!

I used 2 teaspoons each of dried nettle and horsetail leaves.

I added in 2 teaspoons of dried chamomile flowers.

I placed all of the herbs in a tea bag and steeped in boiling hot water for about an hour (long enough for the mixture to cool down).

I used this mixture on one of my "mega-cleaning" days. I also decided to try the condition-first method. I rather liked it. This was my regimen:

- pre-poo castor oil treatment

- coconut honey avocado deep conditioner

- baking soda rinse

- ACV rinse

- herbal rinse

Have you tried any herbal hair rinses? Have you tried any other recipes for hair lotions? Please share them with us!

Kitchen Testimonials: Ellie and Unathi

While hanging with my homegirl Ellie we got onto the topic of hair care regimens (duh!) and she mentioned that she had been making her own cleansing and conditioning products for hair and home. I asked (ok, nudged) her to share what has been working for her and this is what she shared:

Since we're having "church" in the kitchen salon, I thought I'd share another testimonial with you. This is from Unathi who attended my first kitchen salon class at NYC's Cuchifritos via The Trade School. Seems like it wasn't too bad... maybe I should try another?

Have any of you tried some of the recipes from the blog? Let us know what worked, and even what didn't work! If you have a recipe, question or comment send it to submissions.thekitchensalon@gmail.com.