I’m in my third week of doing a regime inspired by the Maximum Hydration Method (MHM), which I’m calling Maximum Moisture Therapy (MMT) because I’m not following all the steps and recommended product lists. In week 1, I did a two step routine of co-washing and styling. Week 2 saw an addition of a Bentonite Clay mask along with co-washing and styling. This week, I’m taking my cue from a lady named Dubaidee4c and trying her version of the MHM with a few adjustments of my own.

My Week 3 Regime

Day 1 – Clean Slate

1. Thoroughly Detangle – Tresemme Naturals, Tangle Teezer
2. Clarify – Tresemme Naturals Shampoo (scalp and roots only) and left to air-dry about 10 minutes
3. Cherry Lola Treatment (CLT) – (Details below) covered with plastic cap (a tesco plastic bag, lol) and left in for an hour
4. Bentonite Clay Mask – Soaked Bentonite Clay mix (see previous post for recipe and instructions). Left on uncovered for 20 mins
5. Styling Products – Eco Styler Gel, Light Oil Spray (own recipe)

Days 2-7

1. Bentonite Clay Mask – Left on whilst bathing, then rinsed out
2. Styling Products – Eco Styler Gel, Light Oil spray

Cherry Lola Treatment

What is a Cherry Lola Treatment? Does it by any chance have cherries in it? What about some weird ingredient ending in ‘lola’? LOL. No, it doesn’t have cherries in it, or anything ending in ‘lola’ I’m afraid. The reason this treatment is called the ‘Cherry Lola Treatment’ is because it was invented by a YouTuber named Cherry Lola. Cherry Lola’s original version of this treatment has only 3 ingredients in it – 1) Natural Yoghurt, 2) Bragg’s Liquid Amino’s and 3) Bicarbonate of Soda. She states that the purpose of this treatment is to strengthen, tame frizz and define her curls. The MHM’s version of this treatment is a lot more complicated and is called the ‘Cherry Lola Caramel Treatment‘. It contains extra ingredients like fruit (banana’s and avocado’s), honey, molasses, eggs and ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar). Dubaidee4c has her own tweaked version of this treatment which doesn’t include some the ingredients the MHM does.

I’ve always been very apprehensive about using Bicarb of Soda in my hair as the pH is very high for our hair, which prefers a more acidic environment. But the results and reviews on this treatment were all glowingly positive, so I thought I’d give it a go. I could always do an acidic rinse (with diluted ACV or Citric Acid) to bring the pH down after the treatment if I felt I needed to!

After looking at all the different versions, I decided that the main ingredients were the yoghurt and baking soda. Everything else can be adjusted for personal preference. Based on the ingredients I had (and could get my hands on quickly), here’s my version of the Cherry Lola Treatment.

Ingredients

• Natural Yoghurt – 2 Cups
• 1 Ripe Avocado
• Glycerine – 1 teaspoon
• Phytokeratin (Hydrolysed plant protein, in place of the amino acids) – 1 teaspoon
• Bicarbonate of Soda – 2 Tablespoons

How to mix

• Add the avocado and yoghurt into blender and blend until smooth
• Strain through sieve into container/bowl/jug
• Add in Glycerine and Phytokeratin
• Add in Bicarb of Soda and mix (it will bubble up a lot so a large container is advised)

Man is this treatment messy!!!! It just went everywhere! Luckily I heeded the warning of all the YouTuber’s about how messy this is and put down towels to protect my bathroom! It was very smelly too! I think the results were ok. I wasn’t blown away or anything but my hair did feel soft enough and the clay treatment went on really well afterwards. I think I’ll play around with this treatment to see if I can make it better for my hair.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

I began noticing white flecks in my hair around night 3, which looked like gel build-up, although when my hair dries, it can’t really be seen. I wasn’t sure what was causing it. Was it because I dropped the co-washing out of the routine this week and the clay by itself wasn’t strong enough to clear the build-up? Or was it the gel itself? I didn’t notice any gel build-up last week and I’m not sure if it was because I was using the custard. I thought I wasn’t working the clay into my strands well enough so decided to really scrunch and rub the clay through my strands when washing to see if that would solve the problem. It didn’t. By night 6 it was really bad and I decided I couldn’t go another day without clarifying my hair with some kind of cleanser to remove the build-up. So a day early, on day 7, I cleansed my hair in sections with a mild cleansing conditioner (which I made using Tresemme Naturals Conditioner, Cocamidopropyl Betaine and water), rinsing and repeating the cleanse up to 3 times on the most flaky sections, did the clay mask and then used an Eco Gel Custard I made using the least amount of oil I thought I could get away with (1/2 cup gel, 1/2 teaspoon Soya Oil). Here are the results of that.

Day 7

*The white residue seen in the night pics is the custard and not build-up, which went away when it dried.

7 Day Snapshot

Conclusion

I’m really surprised how well my hair has taken to the clay only washes. It left my hair soft and silky feeling. I think the clay actually works better on my hair without co-washing it first. I’m also pleasantly surprised as to how easy it was to detangle my hair with the clay. I was able to finger detangle with ease as my fingers glided through the clay coated strands and the weightiness of the clay stopped my hair from curling around itself too much and really allowed the removal of the shed hair better then the co-washing did (in my personal opinion). The only down side was the build-up I experienced. Again, I’m not sure whether it’s because I switched from the custard to the gel or whether it was the fact that I wasn’t co-washing.

My make-shift cleansing conditioner (used on day 7) worked really well. It foamed nicely and yet when rinsed out, my hair felt ‘conditioner-soft’, not at all dry and detangled easily. The clay went on really well after that and my hair looked and felt really good once I rinsed it out and applied the custard. I really like it. This just might be my go to cleanser whenever I need it.

Next week I’m adding back in the conditioner so I can try the clarifying step from the MHM routine using diluted conditioner and Bicarbonate of Soda and see if that makes a difference. I’ll pay close attention to gel build-up and cleanse when necessary.

Join me next time for the results of that!