Whats the best curly hair treatment?

I have naturally curly hair. My curls are very small and tightly wound. I have been get relaxers done on my hair for years and recently (about a year ago), stopped getting any treatments done to totally grow the curls back. I want to do a treatment that won't kill my hair, will leave it curly and shiny, but also allow me to straighten it if I want to. I want to loosen the curls slightly. Any suggestions?Whats the best curly hair treatment?
I don't know what will loosen the curls. I heard that henna can loosen the curl pattern. I tried to dye my hair with it (henna) and I did notice a few curls were looser than normal (not happy about that). I've heard that baking soda and apple cider viniger (ACV) can loosen the curl pattern - I've never tried it. People use baking soda and ACV to clean the hair instead of using shampoo, which can be too drying. Here's a thread with this very question about how to loosen the curl pattern http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/鈥?/a>





Texturizing can also loosen your curl. A texturizer is like a low-grade perm. It does not fully straighten your hair so you'll have looser curls. Instead of a texturizer some people will use a relaxer and leave it on for a small amount of time so it does not fully process, or straighten, the hair.





I'm not sure what kind of ';treatment'; you want to do. I've done deep conditioning and protein treatments for different ';problems.'; I suggest you visit some natural hair care websites and message boards and you'll get the information you're looking for. All I have to do to get my hair curly is to add water + glycerin, water + olive oil (oil to seal), or a cream moisturizer (not the heavy stuff that causes build-up). When I first did the BC I had to restore my moisture balance before my hair started curling natural, without much, or any, product.





Congratulations on going natural, I went completely natural this summer. Here are some sites and message boards you can check out.





http://www.motowngirl.com


http://www.longhaircareforum.com


http://www.blackhairmedia.com


http://www.nappturality.comWhats the best curly hair treatment?
If I'm reading this right, you want to loosen your curls without totally straightening, right? I highly recommend a caramel treatment with bananas and molasses as the key ingredients. It will loosen your curl pattern some, but also condition your hair wonderfully, leaving it soft and shiny. But be warned, if you use the caramel treatment and abuse flat irons or other heated appliances, you could kill your curls. Apparently talk of the caramel treatment has been banned on nappturality, because it's too similar to a relaxer, even though it's all natural.





Here are a few links that should help you with recipes and such:





http://public.fotki.com/Micheli07/homema鈥?/a>


http://www.nappydelphia.com/search/label鈥?/a>


http://www.nappydelphia.com/2008/02/cara鈥?/a>
wHILE YOUR HAIR IS DAMP, PUT SOME PANTENE MOUSSE IN IT AND USE A SCUNCI TO PULL INTO A PONYTAIL. I USE THEM IN SEVERAL PLACES DOWN MY PONY TAIL. IT STILL HAS CURLS BUT NOT SO TIGHT. FRENCH BRAIDING DAMP HAIR ALSO WORKS. WHEN DRY, LIGHTLY RE-DAMPEN AND RUN YOUR FINGERS THROUGH IT !





BLESS YOUR HEART! I hate my curly hair!