I mentioned in a previous post that I use brown sugar to get rid of product build-up in my hair. “Tell us more,” you all said. “What is this homemade miracle of which you speak?”
For the last seven years I have been using Lorraine Massey’s regimen for curly hair, which she describes in her book Curly Girl. You can find it in my Amazon link on my sidebar (there are five “pages” of links in that Amazon box, so you might have to click the numbers at the bottom of the box to see it). Her hair care methods allow us curly girls to keep our hair’s natural oils, which might not sound like much, but has been THE DIFFERENCE that means I have decent looking hair on rainy days. When it storms, I no longer need to choose between a brown halo of frizz around my head or hair so gel-covered it looks shellacked.
I cannot speak highly enough about her book.
Anyway, since I no longer strip my hair with detergents, I have to take measures against the build-up of product on my hair. Product build-up looks dull and makes hair heavier, and sometimes flakes off and looks like dandruff. The very best way I have found to get rid of build-up without returning to the crispy days of yore is do the following occasionally in the shower:
1. Skip the shampoo.
2. Instead, slather your hair thoroughly with conditioner.
3. Open the little tupperware container of brown sugar that you brought to the bathroom just for this purpose. Scoop some into your fingers and rub it into the roots of your conditioner-slathered hair. Go lock by lock until you have brown sugar evenly distributed all over your scalp. Rub it in with your fingers.
4. Rinse thoroughly. Make sure you get behind your ears. You do not want to be pestered by insects all day because they discovered a secret stash of sweetness by your ear.
That’s it. The slight abrasiveness of the brown sugar scrubs all the build-up off my roots like a tiny gentle brillo pad, and it melts in the warm water to rinse away clean. It works for me.
This is modified from Massey’s original idea, which was to mix brown sugar in your conditioner. That does not work. If you pre-mix it into your conditioner, the brown sugar just dissolves and it doesn’t scrub.
In a pinch, you can use white sugar instead, but it is much harder to hold, and more likely to make a mess in your bathroom.
I do this once every other week or so. My curls are usually extra shiny and manageable on my brown sugar days.
You can find more helpful ideas for making life easier at Shannon’s Works-for-Me Wednesday.
12 responses so far ↓
1 World's Greatest Mommy // Jun 11, 2008 at 10:32 am
I never would have thought of this. It might work for my daughter’s curly hair, and I’m sure I need that book.
Thanks for the tip.
2 NOBLE PIG // Jun 11, 2008 at 10:58 am
Well now we know….do you use golden or dark brown sugar? Does it matter! Ha!
3 JulieC // Jun 11, 2008 at 2:36 pm
I am intrigued! My hair is stick-straight and fine. I’ve always secretly kind of wanted curly or at least naturally wavy hair. Someone brought a hair straightener to my house one time (I’m not even sure if that’s what it’s called–it was like an iron for hair!) and I thought, “Why would you do that to your hair on purpose?”
Anyhow, I have a little secret envy of curly-haired women. At least your hair DOES something. Mine just lays here and taunts me to try to make it interesting.
OK, now you know way more about me than you ever wanted to!
4 Cindy H // Jun 11, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Well, for heaven’s sake!
Who would have thought!?
Now I have another good use for brown sugar! :o)
5 Minnesotamom // Jun 11, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Aha! The mystery revealed. I don’ t have thick, curly hair, but I certainly wouldn’t mind a natural product to get rid of build-up. Maybe I’ll try it!
6 Julie // Jun 11, 2008 at 9:46 pm
My sister also swears by the Curly Girl treatment. I have opted for a more drastic but ultimately simpler solution: cutting it all off.
7 gretchen from lifenut // Jun 11, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Fascinating!
I have naturally curly hair and usually blow-dry it straight because I hate dealing with the frizzier areas of my hair.
I think I’ll give this idea a whirl.
8 regina doman // Jun 12, 2008 at 1:31 pm
What a great idea! I have curly hair: I’ll have to check this out.
9 Beck // Jun 12, 2008 at 5:21 pm
My hair is straight. Very, very straight. And yet I am intriqued with the idea of washing my locks with brown sugar - and should I get hungry, I could gnaw at my hair.
(can you email me? I can’t find your email address and I need to talk to you about something!)
10 cyn // Jun 13, 2008 at 1:20 am
I have very straight hair but one of my daughters has VERY curly hair. I have recently been on the quest to find cheap and easy ways to tend to it. I just am at a lost. I am so happy to read about this.
11 Patience // Jun 14, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Wow. My daughter has very curly hair, and I will definitely suggest this to her.
12 Tracey // Jun 25, 2008 at 1:21 am
Wow! I have super curly hair that is constantly frizzy due to the humidity here. I am dropping by the store this afternoon to grab some. Thanks for the great tip!
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