I've been trying to get this black rinse out of my hair for over a month. I really think my hair gets addicted to rinses because it doesn't act right when I don't regularly put them in after a while. I still want to use rinses, but I want to go a little lighter. Last week I decided to finally try clarifying my hair with baking soda. Besides being too black, my hair felt a little weighed down, so it seemed like a good idea.
I didn't pre-poo with my usual Organix conditioner. Instead, I put a little vatika oil in my hair in the morning. That evening, I mixed about a half tablespoon of baking soda in a large water bottle mixed with room temperature water. I got in the shower, soaked my hair with water, and applied the baking soda mix. I let it sit in my hair for a few minutes, massaged my scalp and rinsed. Instantly, my hair felt better. It felt like I really got a lot of gunk out of my hair, but it didn't feel stripped at all. I did it one more time, then shampoo'd once with CON shampoo. When I got out of the shower, I applied an Adore medium brown rinse and sat under the dryer for 15 minutes. I rinsed and deep conditioned with ORS Replenishing. After I rinsed out the conditioner, I rollerset as usual.
My hair feels so much better. I was 7 weeks post relaxer and it felt like I was only 4. My hair was soft, manageable, and looked good. I won't have any trouble going another 2 weeks without a relaxer. It still looks black, but that's okay for now. I'm just happy that it's so soft and easier to do. I will try to do the baking soda treatment once a month from now on.