There are two types of women: Women who have no idea how to style, maintain and take care of their hair and those that do. Fortunately, I’m one of the latter.

I was raised by a mother who found women who run to the salon for just “a wash & style” pitiful. It’s one thing to go to the salon to get styled for a special occasion, or chemical processes or haircuts — even just to treat yourself once in a while is a-okay. But, to have to go to the salon every week for basic services because you can’t do your own hair? Inexcusable in my mom’s eyes.

And I’m so thankful.

I’ve been relaxing hair since about age 11. Started cutting my own bangs and ends around age 13. Coloring and highlights? No sweat. Been doing that since my late teens. Hot curling, flat ironing, blow drying, roller-setting? I’m pretty darn good with all of them. As the Southern belles would say, “I have a hand for hair.”

As far as daily maintenance, the more natural & organic products I use and the less I go to salons, the better my hair looks. I will go to the salon for the big stuff: chemical treatments, multi-tonal permanent coloring, trendy haircuts and professional blowouts. But, it’s not uncommon for me to go months without seeing my hair stylist. My sporadic visits don’t always make me the most popular client, but they do make me one of the clients with the healthiest hair.

Over the years, I tried and tested numerous products and homemade concoctions on my hair. I’m a kitchen beautician in every sense of the word. If one more friend tells me that I need to write a book, you know, I’m just going to have to sit down and do it. Until then, I thought I’d share some of my secrets with you.

Hair Tip #101 — Deep Conditioning Treatment for Dry/Fried Hair

If your hair is dry/fried due to weather or overuse of styling instruments, don’t waste your money on the overpriced “salon deep conditioning treatments.” Just follow these instructions and you should notice a drastic difference in your hair’s condition after one or two weekly treatments.

Shopping List:

• Aubrey Organics “GPB” Glycogen Protein Balancing Conditioner
• Aubrey Organics Islands Natural Replenishing Conditioner (both available at www.aubrey-organics.com, many health food stores and The Vitamin Shoppe)
• 100% natural Jojoba oil (available at most health/vitamin stores)
• Twinlab Na-PCA (with AloeVera) liquid spray (available at most health/vitamin stores)
• Mild moisturing shampoo of your choosing (I would recommend a low/no chemical product like Carol’s Daughter Rosemary Mint Shampoo w/ Sea Moss available at www.carolsdaughter.com and Sephora stores.)

You’ll Also Need:

• Plastic conditioning cap
• Hand towel
• Plastic hair clips
• Large-toothed comb
• Small toiletry bottle for storing watered-down shampoo

Steps:

1. Comb through your hair to detangle. While hair is DRY, rub AO’s GPB Conditioner all through your hair making sure to cover all strands well, especially dry hair ends. Pile your hair on top of your head and clip in place.
2. Put on a plastic conditioning cap. Take a hand towel, wet completely with hot water and wring. Wrap the towel around your head and clip in place. Leave on for one hour. (As the towel cools down, you can wet it down again with hot water and reapply.)
3. After one hour, using lukewarm water, rinse conditioner completely out of your hair (rinse for at least 3 minutes).
4. Shampoo your hair making sure to concentrate on the scalp area, do not add shampoo directly to your ends or any dry parts of your hair. Massage the shampoo into your scalp and squeeze the suds throughout the rest of your hair. Wash well, so you do not have to shampoo twice. (If your shampoo creates lots of suds, try to water it down first before applying to your hair. Shampoos can be drying, often a ratio of 2 parts water to 1 part shampoo is all you need.)
   
5. Rinse your hair well with cold or lukewarm water making sure hair is clear of all shampoo residue.
6. Apply AO’s Island Naturals conditioner to your hair making sure to cover all strands well, especially your ends. Gently comb through your hair (starting from the ends up!) to detangle. Loosely gather your hair together and clip in place. Put on the conditioning cap and leave conditioner on your hair for at least 30 minutes.
7. Rinse conditioner out of your hair with cool water. (It’s okay to rinse less for this step as there is no harm in having a little bit of the conditioner remain in your hair.)
8. Lightly squeeze water out of hair. Do not towel dry!
9. Spray a generous amount of the Twinlab Na-PCA spray on your hair. Make sure you coat your ends. (This liquid has the consistency of water and you will not feel any residue on your hair when dry.)
10. If you had a problem with dry ends, put a pea to dime-sized amount of Jojoba oil in your palm and rub your palms together until your fingers and palms are shiny. Gather your hair ends and smooth your hands over your damp hair ends to lightly coat them with the oil. Run your fingers through the length of your strands to add a light coating of oil to the rest of your hair, if desired.
11. Put any other leave-in conditioners or stylers you normally use in your hair as long as they are not drying.
12. Air dry your hair, if possible. If you must blow dry or roller-set, use a low setting.

That’s it. Once dry, your hair should feel remarkably softer. The dry, straw-like feel should be less so, if not entirely gone. You can repeat the process in a week if you feel you need it. For maintenance, you can use AO’s Island Naturals conditioner after shampooing whenever you wash your hair (leave on for 15 minutes or so). Use AO’s GPB conditioner when you feel your hair needs a deeper conditioning.

Note: Aubrey Organics GPB conditioner is a PROTEIN conditioner and therefore should not be used all the time. Hair needs protein for strength and mending, but if used too often, you can overload your hair. Use in moderation. If my hair is in good condition, I only use AO’s GPB about 1-2 times a month.