Step 0 in the Maximum Hydration Method is the yummy and delicious Cherry Lola Caramel Treatment that my hair absolutely loved.

Step 0 – Cherry Lola Caramel Treatment

When you are first starting the MHM regimen, you do the Cherry Lola Caramel Treatment (Step 0) instead of Step 1 (Clarifying with B.S or ACV). Please note that it is done INSTEAD of and not in addition to Step 1.

You will need:

• 2 Cups Greek Yoghurt (or plain yoghurt)
• 2 TB Bicarbonate of Soda (what Americans call baking soda)
• 2 TB Organic Apply Cider Vinegar
• 2 TB Raw Coconut aminos or Soy Aminos (not available in most African countries)
• 1/2 TB Raw honey
• 1 TB Unsulfured molasses
• 1/2 an overripe banana or plantain
• 3/4 TB of avocado
• 1 egg (optional)

Other Important Points to Consider

1. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, no one should go out there and buy baking powder. It is NOT the same thing. Baking Soda is Bicarbonate of Soda
2. Soy Aminos is the one ingredient not available here in Zambia. It is available online from a South African retailer, but the website escapes me. So although I would normally have ordered it online, I decided not to this time in solidarity with my ZedHair readers. Lol. In truth, it was just too expensive and so not worth it. Looking at all the other ingredients, I think they are great and will do the job. I have tried researching substitutes, but I have not found a satisfactory one that would work here, so I am fine with not having this one ingredient
3. I have no idea what raw honey is, but in Zambia our honey is organic, so I am going with that. If you live in South Africa, your honey is super processed (tastes like syrup), so you will need to go to a health food shop to get proper unprocessed honey
4. I have no idea what unsulfured molasses is, but what we have available in this country is Blackstrap molasses
5. You can find plantain in some supermarkets and at Tuesday market in Lusaka. To overripen bananas, put them in the freezer overnight (baking trick for banana bread)
6. I am going to use the egg because I missed out on the protein content from the soy aminos

Method

1.Blend well in your blender. As someone who has suffered with bits of banana stuck in their hair after a deep condition, I cannot emphasise this enough. Blend, blend, blend.

2. Completely saturate your hair with this mixture, being sure to cover root to tip.

3. Put on a plastic cap and allow the mixture to sit for 1.5 to 2 hours.

4. Rinse with warm water. Make sure you rinse it all out.

5. The next step is to deep condition overnight. You do this immediately after rinsing out the Cherry Lola Caramel Treatment. This is essentially Step 2 in the regimen, which is co-wash and detangle (steam or deep condition).

How did I do?

I basically followed the instructions above. I used the whole banana instead of half because what was I supposed to do with half an overripe banana? The recipe calls for 3/4 (I read three quarters) of a TB of avocado. I was sure that was a mistake and was supposed to be 3-4 TBs of avocado, so that is what I did (4 TB to be precise). Later, when I came back and looked at this draft, I saw that the recipe said 3/4 of a TB. I don’t think this is a big deal is it was so nourishing. Again, I didn’t know what to do with half an overripe avocado as I eat mine firm, but ripe.

As mentioned above, this was a yummy mixture. I was excited to put all of that goodness onto my hair. However, the website says to apply it onto dry hair. I didn’t think this was important because I really felt that I wanted to start with clean hair and take a picture of it in order to do an adequate comparison of the MHM’s effects on my hair. This is good, but try to do this a week before you start the challenge. Pictures are your own proof and evidence that you will not only use to encourage yourself, but others too. However, if you put this yummy mixture on your wet hair, it will drip drip drip drip and drip and then drip some more all over everything and for ages and ages. You are supposed to stay with it for 1.5-2 hours or overnight. Learn from me and be sure to do this on dry hair. If your hair is free of too much product, reduce the bicarb as mentioned on the site here.

My hair felt lovely afterwards and I was excited to move onto the other steps. Tomorrow I will share how I did the baking soda rinse, which is Step 1.

Here are the Steps in the Maximum Hydration Method regimen

• Step 0 – Cherry Lola Caramel Treatment
• Step 1 – Clarify – Baking Soda/Apple Cider Vinegar (B.S/ACV)
• Step 2 – Co-wash and Detangle (steam or deep condition)
• Step 3 – Clay rinse
• Step 4 – Leave-in
• Step 5 – Botanical gel

Click to read the introductory post in this Maximum Hydration Method challenge here.