Contents:
- So what’s the maximum hydration method?
- Why is clumping important?
- What does the regimen consist of?
- The 5 Steps
- Does it really work for 4c hair types and will it work for you?
- Points of concern
- My own results
Why is clumping important?
Putting aside the aesthetic appeal of visible curls, clumping serves a very important purpose. It keeps your hair separated and organized which cuts down on tangles and breakage usually associated with wearing frequent wash and gos or allowing your hair to shrink after a wash.
Further, because many of your curls will be curling in the same direction it increases moisture retention and shine the former of which is a huge benefit to kinky* hair which tends to dry out faster than other hair types. More clumping means more moisture retention which ultimately means softer hair!
Curl uniformity aka clumping will only come about when your individual strands are full of water.
What does the regimen consist of?
The regimen appears to have originated perhaps on hair forums although it is unclear who actually invented it. Ultimately the maximum hydration method is a hybrid of the curly girl method with the added use of clays, particularly Bentonite Clay*, and other natural treatments like The Cherry Lola Treatment and The Caramel Treatment.
The main idea is that the regimen consists mainly of wearing your hair in a wash and go sealed with a botanical gel. Oils have a very low emphasis on this regimen.
This is clearly a world away from your more common natural hair regimens that include washing, deep conditioning*, and sealing using the LOC method.
Basically, you will be going from a regimen where oil is king to one where gel is king. It’s worth emphasizing here that the focus is on natural botanical gels that don’t harm your hair instead of your run-of-the-mill cheap gels.
The regimen can be a touch labor-intensive in the beginning as you try to achieve ‘maximum hydration’ and this is especially true for those coming from regimens where silicones and combs are used regularly. Yes, you will have to give up both of these to really get this method to work. Combs generally break your curls apart increasing the frizz factor so for those with naturally kinky* hair that doesn’t clump easily, combing is a big no-no. The workload reduces significantly once you are at maximum hydration, however.
A first-timer would start off with a deep treatment that is a combination of the Cherry Lola Treatment and the Caramel Treatment as follows:
Ingredients:
2 cups of greek yogurt
2 tbsp of baking soda
2 tbsp of organic apple cider vinegar*
2 tbsp of Braggs Aminos
1/2 tbsp of raw honey
1 tbsp of unsulfured molasses
Half of an overripe plantain or banana
3/4 of a tablespoon of avocado
1 egg (which is optional)
Blend all ingredients together into a smooth paste and saturate your dry detangled hair with it and allow the mixture to sit in your hair for 1 1/2 to 2 hours then rinse. Proceed to cowash* with a Curly Girl friendly conditioner leaving some of it in your hair to serve as a leave-in conditioner*. Proceed to style your wash and go by sealing your hair with a botanical gel.
This treatment will really open up the cuticles of low porosity hair types allowing for maximum absorption of your conditioner and styling products and allowing you to begin to see some better curl definition.
Bear in mind that the aforementioned would be what you would do the very first time you start the regimen. From then on, your normal regimen would consist of the following 5 steps:
MzWanda says
This is interesting. I do W&Gs 95% of the time and I always redo my hair on day 3. Many naturals and “gurus” alike say that’s way too much manipulation on my fine 3c/4a coils. I do this because I don’t use gels at all (can’t seem to find one my hair likes). I use KCKT. I have the KCCC, but again, I don’t like the way my hair looks when I use the gel. Great article. I will continue my process and perhaps play around with the KCCC to see if I can get better results.
Titi says
I was hoping to see a picture of your own hair too as you testified that it is working for you. Could you do that please?
Alma Ruddock says
I certainly will in the next post Titi 😉
Mary Howard says
I enjoyed your article/blog and having so many different options that works best on natural hair. I do have one suggestion: PLEASE STOP USING INITIALS WITHIN YOUR ARTICLE. For newbies and others, It’s very confusing and not knowing what they mean makes you want to pull out your natural hair 🙂
This suggestion would go for all who write blogs/articles. Using INITIALS just slows down everything when trying to learn about all the suggestions.
Blessings
Alma Ruddock says
Actually Mary, when you hover over hype initials you get the full definition of what the initials mean
Jesslyn Hendrix says
I don’t see a definition for CG as in “Again use a CG friendly leave…”, nor for acv or a couple of the others. Perhaps I’m using the wrong browser, but Chrome isn’t showing any mouseover text.
Tiffany L. Tillis says
I gotta try this. I’m about ready to give up on my natural hair. Smh
Tiff Dizzle says
Lord that is just way to much to do….. I’m good…
nubiennze says
But…what if I don’t want to wear WNGs…?
Quez says
Read the last 4 or at the very least very last paragraph… smh
Max Hydration Method says
Hi Nubiennze, You can complete all the steps and just style how you wish. That’s how many transitioners are doing this method. Whether you choose to braid your hair as you go along or do a rollerset or twistout, that is up to you. Some people do all the steps and braid their hair and wear a wig on top.
The Max Hydration Method says
Thank you so much for this feature and article Alma Ruddock and black hair information! This is Pinke Cube, by the way and yes I am the founder of this method. Thank you so much again!
Alma Ruddock says
Thanks for responding Pinke cube! And kudos on the method 🙂
LaToya B says
I’m on day 3 of this and I’m loving it already. My hair is mostly 4a and I was having so much trouble with my hair retaining moisture. I just couldn’t figure out what it was. I’ve been natural for 2yrs next month and I can truly say that in the two years I’ve been natural I have yet to find and product or method that could moisturize my thick hair up until now and I’m only on day 3. Don’t knock it until you’ve given it a real shot. Meaning, follow it exactly how it’s written without short cuts. I’m not a “curl definition: chaser but I have been chasing moisturized hair since the beginning of my journey. Having curl definition is just the result of having moisturized hair.
Juanice Crenshaw-Moses says
MHM is a game-changer… my 4C hair is being transformed! Glad to word is getting out!
Dee Kay says
I love MHM, I have been natural for 5 years and I finally feel like I have a great relationship and understanding of my hair. Great Article enjoyed the in depth explanation.
Synamon says
I was just wondering…how do you know if your hair is moisturized enough? So curl definition is one way, and of course no breakage. Any other ways? Please enlighten me!:-D
Tracy says
I found the article interesting, but agree with Alma about the concerns. I have fine hair that looks wavy wet, but dries into pen size spring coils when dry. I’ve tried WnGs in the past, but the style only last a day or so because I cannot pineapple my hair. Then I came across Embrace Natural Beauty on YT. Abena’s concept is also about moisture, but differs in that we allow moisture to escape if we don’t take the steps needed to trap the moisture. Basically , you apply your leave -in, styler, and gel in the shower. While I didn’t do everything in the shower like she did, I did apply my leave-in on soaking wet hair before getting out of the shower to finish adding my styler and gel. Doing this has made a tremendous difference in my hair.
Max Hydration Method says
Hi Guys, I just wanted to add my thoughts on acv + bakingsoda. It’s been shown and proven in scientific studies that ph’s in a range of 4-9 do not effect the hair shaft, other that to temporarily lift or close the cuticle. That’s the same thing warm and cold water does to the hair naturally. Clay also has a similar ph to bakingsoda, but no one makes it an issue. And aloevera juice has a similar ph to acv. Ph’s in that range can be already be found in hair products. There are many conditioners can have a ph of 8-9 some conditioners have a ph of 4. Some people have tap water with a ph of 9. So really it isn’t as much of a risk as people believe. I’ve been doing this for 5 months, no issues. In fact many of the issues I was having before have been solved. I agree with what you are saying about applying product on soaking wet hair and being sure to seal in the moisture, That is also emphasized in MHM as well as it really makes a difference. Hope that helped!
Coils says
What conditioners are you referring to which have a PH of 8 and 9 that is absurd. No one should use a PH that high. Nor should tap water be that high, that would require a water filter because continued use of that type of water will lead to damage. The problem with the continued use of a regimen like this is the hydra fatigue of the hair and your hair eventually breaking from weakness. Mostly when you do back to other styling. This happens with curly perms….. Baking soda should not be encouraged to be used on the hair at all. ACV is fine. Yes the weather changes the PH but that is a natural process. Anytime you apply product to the hair and it is way over the normal PH of the hair you will cause damage and over a period of time you will lose hair. All ingredients for this regimen sound fine just the same regimen which has been around for awhile. Just a combo of regimens already out there. But the baking soda is a no no and it should not be used on hair. Hair can get moisture without using baking soda. Type 4 hair is not that hard to mange.
Belinda says
I wouldn’t imagine that hygral fatigue would be an issue if your hair hasn’t become max hydrated, right? I’m mostly thinking about how your hair absorbs the water and then retains it.
There’s been a lot of back and forth about baking soda and hair, part of me thinks it might be one of those agree to disagree things. But I’ve looked at the before and after results on pinterest and instagram and those that are using it seem to be flourishing. Time will tell, I guess.
Max Hydration Method says
People say even simply cowashing daily is a cause for hygral fatigue so look up anyone doing the cgmethod. Aketafitgirl has been doing it for 2 years, cowashing every 2-3 days.. And doing things done in this regimen. She’s long such long, healthy, strong moisturized hair.
I honestly have never actually heard of any type 4 natural suffer from hygral fatigue even though it is thrown around so much. Mainly people seem to have issue with dry hair, and breakage from dry hair, which this regimen directly addresses and gets rid of. Dry hair is more of a risk factor and if you want to see it, you can find many naturals suffering from it.
Dry hair means you hair develops sharp bends and twists called kinks along the hair strands, preventing your hair from forming a uniform curl. These kinks are weak spots in the hair strand that actually can weather similar to how you are claiming hygral fatigue does to the hair, and can cause breakage. Why do many 4c naturals have hair that must literally be worn in protective styles 60-90% of the time in order to retain length? Our hair has the most weak points.
This is something you can actually visibly observe that many real people actually suffer from. This regimen hasn’t caused anyone problems long term, but actually is doing the complete opposite of what you are saying. But I should be expected to stop what I am doing because of a theory that has no visible evidence of ever having happened to anyone? And here you have all this visible testimony telling you the complete opposite.
Max Hydration Method says
Btw, Belinda only half of my comment above was directed toward you, the other half was directed at the user coils.
Max Hydration Method says
One conditioner I know of that has a ph of 8-9 is the Trader Joes tea tree tingle. There are also some shampoos that have a high ph, like Oyin Honey Wash, Aubrey Organics GBP, Karen’ Body Beautiful Cool Clarifying Shampoo. If you wash your hair with a soap bar or castille based shampoo, the ph is going to be in that range. Just because tap water shouldn’t be that high by your standard, doesn’t mean some ppl who do not have filters don’t have to deal with it. And many people do not have shower filters and are fine. Like I said, ph from 4-9 has already been studied, the behavior on the hair has been proven to do nothing but lift and close the cuticle.
Also, if ur against bakingsoda, by that logic you are against acv too. After all acv on the hair is also a chemical reaction that causes the cuticle to close instead. So there is no point to be made about the weather being a natural process then. Aside from weather, there is deep conditioning, GHE, steaming, and the like, that lift the cuticle due to heat. By your logic all those could cause hygral fatigue, and yet people do those daily with no issue. I infact GHE’d 24 hours a day continuosly for 3 months straight. Not only did I not get hygral fatigue, my bald spot (from breif experience with ecostyler gel) grew back finally after being there for almost a year. And this 4c hair grew out of my scalp coiling from root to tip.
You also didn’t address what I mentioned about clay having a ph of 8-9 as well. Which by the way you can find plenty of people having used long term with out issues. Why the fixation on bakingsoda. Despite the myth that keeps people paranoid about bakingsoda, it is not a relaxer. It having a high PH means nothing, it cannot break the hair as hair protein has a natural resistance to ph’s in the range I mentioned.
I have used both clay and bakingsoda on my hair for the past 5 months, regularly and very often. Not only am I not losing hair, areas that were thin and felt dry have actually grown in and have been retaining length. I can detangle my hair in 5 minutes, and basically wear my hair everyday with out having trouble retaining length, like most type 4 naturals. Several people doing this regimen actually report that.
Baking soda is not a no no for me or anyone else who can benefit from it just because you have a differing opinion or discomfort. Whether or not my hair is manageable enough for me is my own experience, and many people share that experience. Not everyone wants to protective style and stretch their hair all the time to retain length. In fact many protective styles require long terms of time with out properly clarifying and moisturizing the hair which caused issues for my fine strand 4c hair.
At the end of the day this method works too, for both me and many, many, people documenting their experience. It has proven to be the most beneficial thing I have done to my hair in my entire 7 years of being natural. Despite your argument there is no legitimate reason you came up with why not to use it when it is already being shown to be beneficial and also proven no to do harm by actual scientific studies.
Teayah says
Hi Pinke Cube,I have another question to ask
where can I purchase the molasses,does it have to be
organic?
Ariel says
I just wanted to add to the comments about the Ph of tap water. I live in western Washington state where we have plenty of good water. I garden a lot and have a ph meter that I frequently use to check my water. Usually it is around 7-8 but I have seen it be as low as 4 and as high as 13.5. Which is a crazy high number the ph scale goes from 0-14. The water is clear nothing ever seems wrong with it and it seems to be perfectly drinkable (although when I see the ph that high I dont lol) but Im sure i do drink and shower with the ph being high as I dont measure the Ph that often, especially in winter. I also dont have any of the hair problems associated with having hard or bad water or mineral deposits/discoloration in my shower.
Teayah says
Pinke Cube
I’m a pretty lazy girl,every 3 days to keep this going,is there another way to do this? Does it have to be every 3 days or can you just GHE after the third day,or will the hydration completely leave from the hair?
Thanks
Teayah says
I was just on your site,how do you know when you are up to maximum hydration?
Is this for low porosity hair? And are you planning on writing a book on this method?
Chinyere says
Where are you supposed to find these ingredients? I really need this method but I wish it was simpler.
Charlene says
Is there a vegan friendly version of this?
Gillian says
I am so glad that we are finally realizing what our hair is capable of! I have a kinky texture as well and wash and go 100% of the time. I don’t use the MHM, but I’ve seen my hair take off once I began doing wash and gos regularly. I think the main takeaways from this article, which I also emphasize on my blog are:
1) Don’t underestimate what your hair can do. People always tell me their hair is “too nappy to do that”. But what does that really mean? Don’t knock it ‘til you try it and really put the effort into it.
2) There is a wash and go regimen for anyone who wants to wash and go whether is MHM, CG method, or our own.
3) Frequent wetting and conditioning of your hair will dramatically increase the hydration of your hair over time.
4) Twist outs and braid out are options for wearing your natural hair, but not the only way.
Mitral says
So after you have completed mhm, How do you go about styling your hair if you do not want a wng. Do you use your regular styling products, such as twisting butters, lotion etc, or do you just braid or twist right after this method without adding products.
Terry-Ann says
Hi Alma,
Will you please do a youtube video so we can see the results on your hair and any alterations you made to the regimen. Additionally, it would be nice to see a clearer video of someone with a kinkier texture than your.
I would really appreciate it.
Thanks
Zina Jackson says
Thank u so much for this post! I want to start the regimen and it seemed daunting until I read this. Thank you thank you thank you!
Tanisa Brown says
I have been going the MHM for about 2 months now. While I do like 1) how my hair is hanging more 2) the tea tree conditioner and 3) the fact that I don’t have to use oily products anymore, this regime is VERY HIGH manipulation on the hair. I have already noticed a lot of breakage and tangling. At this point, I not remotely interested in having my hair curl from root-to-tip. Seeing the curls at the tip and midway up the strand works for me. Why? Well for one, hair sheds daily. So after a while, at least for me, the sheded hair gets trapped in the curl and I DON’T like that which hence, has been the reason for a lot of tangles I’m having (some of which I had to cut out with scissors).
I have been growing my natural 4b hair since 2009 and of all the hair videos and blogs I’ve read about growing natural hair long, LOW manipulation has been maintained the key. Not sure what to do because I want to reach max hydration, but I’m definitely having a real concern about all this manipulation. I mean come on, this regime has you going in the shower (or putting your hair under the faucet for those with shorter hair) 3 times!!! Sorry, but that’s a lot. Not to mention, due to the length of my hair (when my hair is stretched, it’s about bra strap length), it takes me 3-4 hours to do the MHM! I am not a fan of spending a chunck of my time, especially on my days off, doing my hair. I have more important things to do you know.
I guess I just have to figure out to how to modify this regime if I want to continue doing it. Other than that, I have been wearing my hair in low protective styles using no heat or combs to again, manipulate my hair as least as possibly because as is, I’m handling my hair too much. Any suggestions anyone? And btw, with as much patience I can possibly muster, I try to detangle my hair using a lot of conditioner and only my hands. Still, I am seeing a lot of tangles and as a result, breakage.
Andrea says
Hi! I’ve been rather inconsistent with the NHM for my 8 year old because it’s so hard to get everything done and her hair dry before bedtime each night with school–her hair is SO thick that it will not (and I repeat WILL NOT) dry under the hooded dryer. She can sit under a hooded dryer for 2-3 hours and it’s still soaking wet underneath. So I pull out my blow dryer and go to work and can get it mostly dry after about 40 minutes of sweating (me) and my arms tired.
So the NHM method has been like torture for her and me. The first night that we tried it, we started at 6PM. By 2AM, she came from under the dryer with her hair still soaking wet underneath and I finished blow drying it by 2:40AM. I had to let her stay out of school the next day and call in to work because we had not gotten ANY sleep. The next problem is that when she wakes up in the morning, it’s all smashed into a 1970s afro! The next few nights, I was able to go faster and be less precise and finish in about 3 hours. However, it’s still all smushed into a 70s fro in the morning. After all that work on both of our parts, it’s so discouraging to find the cute little curls ruined the next morning.
I know this isn’t for everyone but before we give up, I just wanted to post this question on a few blogs to ask for tips on drying, as well as preserving the curls overnight. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated, and thanks for taking the time to make this post!
Kayla says
Hi! What was your previous regimen that allowed you to grow waist length hair?