Molasses is the Healthy Natural Hair Growth Product you want to Start Using for Definite Results
Molasses is a great hair food for hair growth and thickness and is one of the true superfoods that help hair growth.
Withthegoodhair wants you to take It out of your pantry, and use it to positively aid your length retention journey. In time you will see molasses renews your hair health inside and out.
NaturalHairZone.com outlines several easy ways you can use molasses to see increased hair health and help you along in your length retention journey by discussing:-
*Pssst, for a comprehensive list of all the natural hair lingo to know when you embark on your exciting Journey, NaturalHairZone.com’s Natural Hair Glossary can bring you up to speed on the top 50 natural hair buzz words.
1. What is Molasses?
Molasses is a thick sweet syrup that is made from processed sugar cane.
Molasses has a lot of minerals that are beneficial for your health, such as manganese, zinc, potassium, iron, magnesium and selenium. These minerals are also essential for ageing gracefully and contain great free radicals that are so good for our bodies in general and in particular, our hair.
Also, molasses contains copper, which is essential for melanin production. This mineral is one of the reasons why people who have utilised this product for their hair have reported reversed greying.
{ Read our guide on high-porosity hair }
2. What Molasses to Use?
You should use Black Strap Molasses to help increase your natural hair growth!
Un-sulphured blackstrap molasses is preferred to drink, should you choose to get the benefits of molasses by drinking it.
However, if you are watching your sugar intake, tweak your lifestyle to consider this additional calorie. You can switch your favourite soft drink or daily tea to this molasses drink. NaturalHairZone.com Secret Tip: watch your teeth! – Long Term consumption of Molasses can discolour your enamel, so you may opt to swallow your molasses supplements via capsules.
Did you know you can probably get un-sulphured Black Strap Molasses capsules at your local health store?
3. Why is Molasses Great for Natural Hair?
Molasses is great for most natural hair types, from wide-defined corkscrews to tighter coils, because it is a humectant. Molasses can help naturals with low-porosity hair to keep their hair moisturised.
All naturals know that any humectant is the holy grail for any type 3 and 4 natural and should form part of any effective regime for natural hair growth.
What is a Humectant?
A humectant is a product that attracts water to the hair strands, allowing it to achieve a higher moisture content, thus, keeping the hair moist.
This is why more often than not, you will find a humectant in a daily leave-in moisturiser or hair moisturiser, such as glycerine.
Why does natural hair, specifically type 4 hair, need to trap moisture?
The above has to do with the shape of the hair shaft and the way in which the cuticles are arranged.
The Importance of Moisture in Black Hair
Did you know that if moisture is not consistently reintroduced and sealed into the hair shaft, your hair can become dry over time, making it prone to brittleness, split ends and breakage?
4. Drink your Molasses
Molasses has many great health benefits.
Add a tablespoon or two to your cup of warm or boiling water and take this daily. Alternatively, you can add it to tea or coffee as a sweetener instead of sugar. This makes Molasses an easy and affordable natural hair growth product to use on a daily basis.
Should you drink this every day consistently, you will surely see increased hair growth; some people have even reported a reversal of greying.
Thus, it is important to be consistent and do this for a sustained time to see results.
However, this needs to be approached with caution. In my experience with drinking molasses daily, I saw my hair get thicker, and my growth rate increased significantly.
But there was a downside. Unfortunately, my teeth got discoloured from drinking molasses daily, and I had to stop drinking it. I started using the capsules!
Drink your Tea through a Straw
This is not necessarily the universal experience, as some have not experienced teeth staining; however, it is important to bear this in mind when contemplating introducing iron into your natural hair regime.
One suggested way to avoid this is to drink molasses through a straw to prevent teeth staining.
Overall, molasses as a daily drink is great, not only for its health benefits but also for thickening thin black hair.
{ Read Nqobile’s awesome Q&A about caring for afro hair at home }
5. Apply Molasses as a Deep Conditioner
Molasses is a great hair conditioner, and not only does it give hair a glossy, shiny look, but it helps to make it smoother.
Some people have reported their grey hair changing to a coppery hue following the continued use of molasses as a deep conditioner.
Seven Steps to turning Molasses into a Deep Conditioner
To use it in your weekly/ monthly deep conditioning treatment, you should follow the following seven steps for stronger growing hair:-
- Scoop two tablespoons of molasses into a glass jar
- Add a tablespoon of pure virgin olive oil
- Add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
- Mix this into a smooth paste
- You should add two dollops of yoghurt (as an option)
- You could also add any essential oil (only a few drops), if you think this will help
- Stir into a smooth paste.
After you have created the paste, apply it to your washed hair.
Washed or Unwashed Hair?
Some naturals use it on unwashed hair; however, at NaturalHairZone.com, we prefer deep condition on clean hair.
You could spritz your hair lightly before adding the molasses mixture or apply it directly. Be sure to work fast and avoid any spillage. (Also, wear an old tee to prevent staining your clothes in the event of spillage).
After evenly coating your hair, wrap it in a plastic cap (or an old clean plastic shopping bag 🙂 )
To add heat, rinse a face cloth in hot water and place it over the cap, then cover it with another layer of plastic.
After 20 – 30 minutes, rinse your hair off in the shower, co-wash or shampoo it with your preferred product.
Clarifying your Scalp
WTHG must stress that clarifying your scalp – after deep conditioning with molasses – is important.
You can do this by spraying a 2 to 1 part Apple Cider Vinegar / Water mix, leaving it on for 2- 3 minutes and then rinsing it off.
After that, you can LOC/ LCO your hair, depending on your regime.
The last word
To reap the benefits of the above homemade conditioner remedy, ensure molasses becomes a regular part of your length retention and hair growth regime.
If you do this, your length retention journey is sure to see you hitting hair milestone after hair milestone.
Let us know your experience using molasses in your natural hair journey in the comments section below…
