What Is The Maximum Hydration Method For Super Curly Hair?

Like the rest of your body, your hair needs hydration to maintain its strength and volume. One-quarter of the weight of a hair strand is made up of water, without which, your scalp cannot stay healthy and your hair texture fails to maintain a luscious texture, per Arlington Dermatology. Hair that loses its moisture is vulnerable to dryness, breakage, and eventually hair loss. Because it is more difficult for the scalp's natural oils to cover strands from root to tips, curly hair is more vulnerable to dehydration and frizz than other hair types.

There are many ways to make hydration part of your hair care routine, such as drinking water regularly, using leave-in conditioner often, or adding an overnight hair mask once or twice per week. A treatment that's been all the rage in the natural hair community is the maximum hydration method, a hair care treatment aimed at providing low-porosity hair strands with the highest amount of moisture, per L'Oréal Paris. Invented by Pinke Cube, an active member of Black Hair Media, the maximum hydration method is a tried-and-true technique for those whose hair struggles to hold moisture (via NaturallyCurly).

If you have textured hair that tends to be dry, here's how you can use the maximum hydration method to supplement moisture to your mane.

Designed with textured hair, especially 4C hair in mind, the maximum hydration method is a six-step process, per NaturallyCurly. To prep your hair for the method, you should do a Cherry Lola caramel treatment. Named after its inventor, blogger Cherry Lola, the treatment is formulated to smooth parched hair with moisture and amino acids. This process opens the hair cuticles and grooms your hair for optimal moisture absorption. Although this step is optional for those with high porosity hair, those with low porosity hair should definitely include it. Then, when you're ready, start by applying a clarifying solution to your hair that contains half a tablespoon of baking soda and one-third cup of conditioner. Let the mixture sit there for 10 to 30 minutes, then cleanse your locks. The second step is co-washing, which involves using a hair conditioner to detangle and soften your tresses and giving your hair a good rinse.

For the third step, make a mixture of bentonite clay, raw honey, olive oil, and warm water, and apply it to your hair. Let the mixture sit there for 15 minutes and rinse it off. Bentonite clay can hydrate the hair and scalp extensively. It does this by removing dead skin cells and impurities from the strands and scalp, leaving hair elongated and defined, according to StyleCraze. Then, apply a pea-sized amount of botanical gel to your hair to lock in moisture. Packed with oils, herbal extracts, and humectants, the botanical gel gives you shiny, soft curls. Hair stretching, the final (and completely optional) step, is to twist your hair and clip it into place, per NaturallyCurly.

According to Byrdie, you can conduct the max hydration method weekly to maintain and improve the hydration of your hair. The Cherry Lola treatment, which is an intensive hair moisturizing treatment itself, is recommended to be conducted every two weeks. However, it cannot replace the maximum hydration method because the Cherry Lola treatment is all about the hair strength, while the method deals more with moisture retention and curl accentuation.

As you have gathered, this intensive DIY hydration method can take hours to complete and is not a walk in the park. There's a lot of conditioning and rinsing involved, but it's worth the time and effort if you have kinky hair that lacks moisture. One session of the maximum hydration method can keep your hair moisturized for up to seven days, per Healthy Natural Hair Products. If this process is too much work for you, you can just use a bentonite clay hair mask to moisturize your hair, or clarify your hair and scalp with apple cider vinegar, accompanied by the Cherry Lola treatment every two weeks.

On your quest to find the best cure for your hair health, you'll encounter a plethora of fads and fetishes, trends, and traditions. Some are here to stay, and some are one hit wonders. The only way to know which one is best for your hair type is to push the envelope and test everything out if possible.