AVOCADO HAIR PACK
Deep conditioning the hair is a good idea just before plaiting, weaving or heat styling etc to strengthen the hair. Especially if you are going to do a harsh style such as fishtail (can be brutal on the hair line), or the dreaded Masai twists, which look great but ruin your hair, when you take them down.
Avocados are rich in oil, protein, B vitamins and vitamin A, and they are super-hydrating to dry, damaged hair. They contain more protein than any other fruit, and their abundant natural oil will coat your hair and form a protective barrier, keeping your hair well hydrated, soft and flexible.
Ingredients
1 ripe avocado, mashed
2 tablespoons sour cream
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Directions
Stir all of the ingredients together until you have a smooth paste, using a fork or blender. Apply the entire mixture to your head and massage it into your hair and scalp. Wrap hair in a warm towel or put on a shower cap and leave the treatment on for 20 minutes. Rinse well with warm water, then shampoo as usual.
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Source: stylelist.com with a few edits. Picture from herbalhouseholdremedies.com
Did you try this? Let us know how it worked for you in the comments section.
ZedHair 
Stuff from our kitchens could be the cheapest natural products we can lay our hands on. But I ask myself how would a woman struggling to feed her family afford to put some of these things like honey, olive oil, mayonnaise on her hair? I know avocados grow in almost every back yard in Zambia and so could make a good alternative depending on one's hair type. The one and only time I did a mayonnaise hot hair treatment at home using mayonnaise from my kitchen, I was questioned by my husband and domestic help on how ethical it was. The mayonnaise I used was a supermarket brand which did not cost me more than £2. Should one start to conclude that in some places keeping natural hair is for people in a certain class? Think about it in relation to what you wrote in one of your posts that to look good in natural hair accessorizing is a MUST. Just how affordable are accessories to some women?
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Great points Chanda. I will respond to your comment on using foodstuffs in a specific post.On accessories, when I had my TWA, I had to make sure I ALWAYS wore earrings. But, this is primarily because I don't wear eye make-up (except eyeliner). Neither do I wear lipstick, so my face is quite plain. Also, I don't wear much other kinds of jewelery such as necklaces, pendants, bracelets or rings. So, when I went natural, I took a walk to the market and bought bigger, dangling earrings that were more flamboyant. This is especially important when your hair is boy short, like mine was at the time. As it grows longer, accessorising is not as much a factor
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Hi Chanda,you raise some very important questions that need to be addressed. To begin with, I firmly believe that as African women, our hair is our crown and glory and we go to the necessary lengths to treat it as such. In these DIY posts, I pick things that could be found in any house and backyard, and while not all of the ingredients are as readily available, some of them are. In the amounts that are needed to put together any of these deep conditioners, one need not risk their family's well-being. That's important. So the point is, if one is buying 5 lemons at the store, or honey on the road, or getting quaterpela from a neighbor, buy a little more or ask for "mbasera" to keep aside for a hair treatment. None of these DIY home solutions cost as much as a professional deep conditioning treatment, in or out of Africa.Note also that we do not claim that any of our perspectives or recommendations are right for everyone, not all all. What we try to do is provide alternatives for people that want to do things differently. We are information providers, each person must make decisions in their own interests.That leads me to my next point, I most certainly do not believe that keeping natural hair is for people in a certain class. As a non-natural, I know its highly probable that I spend more money on treatments for my hair than people with natural hair do. The point Masuka is trying to make, is that natural hair frames one's face differently and highlights different features and so it will do a person well to play with accessories to find the look that works for them. For some people it's no accessories at all, for others it maybe something different. I personally think everyone should use accessories anyway, but that's my fashion aesthetic. In the same breath, that doesn't mean I use accessories all the time. And accessories could be anything from a flower plucked at no cost from the garden and tucked into the hair or behind an ear, to a chitenge/wrapper tied artfully on the head, or worn around the neck. The point is, just because one's hair is natural now doesn't mean their whole look falls into place, you have to work with it to see what is most flattering. Another point is that accessorizing will make a person feel less like the "schoolgirl." Long story short, work with what you've got to rock your look. One doesn't have to go out to buy new things, just to learn to use what they have differently, wearing their hair differently, their earrings differently, wearing necklaces as bracelets– finding their look.
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iNky, There is truth in what you have pointed out. Working with what you have depends on what you have in the first place. When I went natural, I had a sizable collection of various assessories. However, the collection worked well when I had a perm and with braided hair. I believe natural hair – short or long calls for dedicated assessories.
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