What you need to know about Bentonite clay wash.

Hi Beaus,

Of course you are a beau coming back here after my hiatus. Now this hiatus also affected my hair. It went on a sabbatical which is highly recommended if you are at that point with your hair where you just can’t deal with it. My hair is back and the heart did grow fonder. I’m sure you are wondering how it went on a sabbatical. Lol. I put it in protective styles for 13 weeks straight and a wash in between. I know, I know. That’s harsh. Well we are fine now. Thanks for caring.

Now back to business at hand. Before I continue, I should let you know everything I write here is my opinion and results from a well conducted research. And these are things you should know before you join the bentonite clay wagon which is fast increasing as i have been seeing on social media.

WHAT IS BENTONITE CLAY?

Bentonite clay is a clay mined from the earth. Bentonite, also known as montmorillonite, is one of the most effective and powerful detoxifying and healing clays known to man. It’s composed of aged volcanic ash weathered with water and comes in two varieties – sodium montmorillonite and calcium montmorillonite.

It has a high negative charge which allows it to be able to attract toxins from your body to displace the sodium or Calcium in it to your body. In simpler terms, it removes toxins from your body and gives you Sodium or Calcium. I discovered that of the two varieties, the best detoxifying bentonite clay is the sodium bentonite clay because it has a higher negative charge.

HOW I USED BENTONITE CLAY

Please note that before i used the clay, i just loosened a protective style of 6 weeks meaning I had a lot of build up, oils etcetera and i had just detangled my hair with Okro gel and coconut oil.

I mixed half a pack of Bellz NHCC’s Bentonite clay with 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and waited for it to aspirate because it had a foamy thing going on, 3 tablespoons of water and a teaspoon of Coconut oil.

I tried as much as I could to get it all in my hair. I started from the roots and went all the way to ends then I covered my hair with a processing cap. I used the left over on my face too.

MY OBSERVATIONS

After 25- 30 minutes I rinsed and these are my observations :

My hair was not squeaky clean as they said it would be. I wasn’t surprised though. I did have my reservations about how a mudwash could clean 6 weeks of build up of oils, butters and the okra gel.
The clean parts were mostly my edges which weren’t that dirty because I had been cleaning them through the 6 weeks with Apple cider vinegar.
It dried up the pimple on my forehead which was amazing.

MY THOUGHTS AND INFERENCES ABOUT THE MUDWASH

My decision to try Bentonite claywash was because of the oh so squeaky clean reviews i saw people gushing about on instagram.

According to the natural haven bloom, using clay wash to clean, I repeat CLEAN your hair is similar to a cowash( using conditioner to wash the hair ). She had microscopic slides that showed oil residue on hair washed with both rhassoul and bentonite clay. Black girl long hair also has a similar review with microscopic slides of experiments carried out on dirty hair. So if you have very oily hair with so much build up and you are searching for oh so squeaky clean effect of your hair, No. Clay wash is not for you. You might feel clean but that’s probably the detoxifying effect on your scalp.

Don’t feel discouraged yet. Bentonite clay is still a good thing to incorporate into your regimen for weekly or biweekly washes. It’s great and has other benefits as I also discovered it has a way of clumping curls so you have this popping curls on 4c hair. I must also add that if left in hair for a looong time, it has been known to cause dry hair. So be like Naptural 85 and some moisture loving naturals, add a few drops of your best oils to it and mix with Aloe juice which according to Curly Proverbz is good for mixing ayurvedic herbs and clay. I think its also a bit milder than Apple cider vinegar.

Here is where my two pence ends. Do a lot of research before joining bandwagons. Also note that the effect of a product on Miss/Mr Natural A may not be the same effect on Miss/Mr Natural B. But it is good to have a general idea of what to expect.

NOTE IMPORTANTLY that you should not take metals close to your clay as this displaces the negative charge thus rendering your clay useless. Also buy clays from reputable source and trusted sellers.

Until later, be good.

Imisiayo.