We all know the glorious benefits of deep conditioning (hydrated, soft, elastic hair”>, but what do we do while deep conditioning? Well that depends on the length of time you plan to deep condition and how much moisture you need. Besides just sitting under a dryer on your phone playing games, there’s a lot of more productive things you could be doing with that time. As a college student, I know the value of every precious second of the day. No one wants to be confined to the dryer for possibly hours at a time. While the heat of a dryer does help, there are also options available that allow slightly more freedom, such as portable bonnet dryers, a hot towel, etc. Here are some ideas for what you can do:
Sleep
This is one of the most moisture-rich activity of all. Why? Because it takes the longest. The longer you spend with the conditioner in your hair the more it will soak into your hair. Some naturals practice this regularly, which is called the greenhouse method.
Laundry
Anybody else hate doing laundry? No? Just me? Well this is one time where I don’t mind. Because I’m not doing anything anyway, I feel more efficient when I actually get something done that I’ve been meaning to get around to. I don’t mind putting in three different loads because that’s just more moisture for my hair. Not only that, but this is one of those tasks that you can double down on. I can get my laundry done while I wait on my hair, and some third task while I wait on my laundry. It’s a win-win!
Read
Whether it’s assigned or for your leisure, what I enjoy about this is that I can actually do it under the dryer. Some of the tasks on this list rely heavily on the heat from your scalp and time. This, however, can be as long or as short as you please because the heat will help the conditioner settle into your strands much faster.
Homework/Studying
Again, another task I’m not very fond of. Hey, it needs to be done and what better time to do it? You can do this under the dryer if you have flash cards or an e-text reading. Otherwise you can sit down for some homework and wait it out. If you have a portable dryer like this one I bought from Amazon, you can still sit under the dryer even if you’re working on homework.
Shower
I do this one a lot. I’ll use a deep conditioner but I won’t really have time to let it sit. So, I’ll start my shower with washing my hair (up to the point of applying the deep conditioner”>. I then let the deep conditioner sit on my hair for the duration of my shower with a shower cap on. The steam from the shower should be sufficient in helping work the conditioner into your hair.
This article was written by Marchay Sledge of ChayNaturals.com and published on CurlyNikki.
Do you know of any other tasks that are great for deep conditioning? Comment and ask questions below.