I was gonna look into that too but I never got round to it. I tried black soap but that my hair feel really "prickly" like the cuticles were all up or something so I stopped using that. I used to use glycerin stuff too (during my whole natural phase) but it made my hair feel kinda chalky (As did sta sof fro and Scurl). I then moved onto a Shea and cocoa (unrefined) butter mix which doesn't do much for me but leave my hair greasy and not really that soft. I have a bad case of super HIF which is why I’m so concerned about how it feels rather than how it looks.
The thing that did work for me when I first BCed until the end of summer (1 – 2.5 inches) was my glycerin mix. I put water in spray bottle, added a small amount of glycerin so it didn’t get too chalky, jojoba, coconut, and whatever else I had, oils and a few drops of some EOs I had. I’d give this a good shake and spray on my hair as a leave in – I was cowashing/rinsing daily – and during the day to soften it up. Once I got some length it stopped working
I also used shea butter mixed with jojoba and coconut oils with some glycerin for a while too but again once I got some length that stopped working too.
I’ve now moved onto castol oil. It’s not black, or Jamaican, it’s one I got from boots. I mix that with Elasta QP recovery moisturiser and use that about twice a day. My shampoo is still Aveda Sapmoss and my conditioners are still sap moss and cholesterol. I think they all have dimethicone in them, which is an agent to “smooth†things. So when you dig your finger in the cholesterol the dimethicone stops the mark from staying like in a tub of Vaseline. I’ve tried mixing honey with my conditioners but that only made my hair kinda dry feeling, as did the elasta DPR-11 that everyone raves about
I tried all natural but like I said when I was relaxed I think my hair enjoys the odd cone. I’ve tried to get SLS out of things but my toothpaste and facewash have it in them and I’m having a hard time finding substitutes. The things I put in my hair (as far as I know) don’t have SLS in them.
To sum up:
Worked: Castor oil, elasta qp recovery (has loads of oils in it and yet has enough water to make my hair coil up when I put it in), shea butter (to an extent), good old fashioned water – yes I am the black girl in the office toilets wetting her ‘fro to help it spring back!
Didn’t work: Glycerin, glycerin-heavy products, black soap, honey mixed with my conditioners