I’m still loving Morrocco Method

If you’ve been with me for a while, you’ve followed me on a journey to natural hair care. There’s been twists and turns, such as ditching No Poo and using my DIY Honey Shampoo. Because I was tired of DIY hair care and ready to switch things up, I began searching for a line of holistic hair care products that met my philosophy for a healthy scalp and healthy hair. This included:

• No foaming agents. 99% of the “natural” and organic shampoos on the market contain synthetically-derived foaming agents that strip the hair of natural oils and disrupt the balance of the scalp.
• No artificial fragrances or colors. Even “natural” hair products hide a slew of chemicals behind the term “natural fragrance” on the ingredient list. I wanted nothing but the purest essential oils for fragrance.
• Clean scalp and shiny hair without harsh ingredients. I wasn’t going to compromise on efficacy of shampoo to meet my ingredient standards.

As I shared in a review post in January, Morrocco Method, a line of 100% raw hair care products, are the only products that fit my philosophy and delivered incredible results. As someone who has faced some serious hair loss due to years of illness, Morrocco Method is restoring body, volume and shine to my hair. By following the routines for healthy hair promoted by the Morrocco Method, which I will discuss here, I’m seeing a sharp decline in hair shedding and new growth all over my scalp.

For an overview of the ingredients in Morrocco Method products, as well as my experience with the shampoos and conditioners, please read my 5 Tips for Holistic Hair Care here.

The Detox Period with Morrocco Method

Once you stop using harsh foaming shampoos and switch to The Morrocco Method shampoos and conditioners, you’ll most likely experience the Detox Period, also called The Transition Period. This happens when you make the switch to any non-foaming hair care, be it Morrocco Method or DIY hair products. Remember, even if you’ve been using organic hair care, you’ve still been using artificially-derived foaming agents on your scalp, and this can really wreak havoc on the natural oil production cycles of your scalp.

According to Anthony Morrocco, here’s why we experience the detox period:

Build-up from chemical products are clogging the pores of your scalp and shafts of your hair and must be removed before you can begin your healthy hair journey. As your hair begins to “let go” of plastics, -cones, and chemicals, you will notice some changes in your hair. You may also notice some changes with your scalp as you experience detox. With the natural botanicals in MM shampoos (and lack of chemicals!) your scalp will begin to regulate its own oil production naturally. This may mean you experience an overly dry OR overly oily scalp. Give your scalp time to readjust and re-regulate its own oil production.

What does the Detox Period look like when transitioning to Morrocco Method?

• Your hair may feel oily after washing
• Your hair may feel matted, “sticky” or difficult to brush
• Your hair may feel dry

Speeding up the Detox Period

There are a few tips that I found extremely helpful for speeding up the transition period and improving the overall quality of my hair. These are also the routines that I follow to maintain the health of my hair and scalp.

Use Zen Detox

In my experience, the most effective way to significantly speed up the detox period is Morrocco Method’s Zen Detox, which you can find here. It is a unique blend of volcanic ash, plant proteins and minerals that mix with water and apply to your scalp. It’s like a mud mask for the scalp – as it dries, it draws out impurities and balances the pH of the scalp. Here are a couple of my tips for using this unique product:

• The first time you try it, don’t use it before a big date or something because it can really loosen “gunk” from your hair. I noticed a what appeared to be dandruff on my hair but was just dry skin that had been cleared from my scalp. Zen Detox provides an extremely deep and rejuvenating cleanse for the scalp! After the first two times using Zen Detox, I do not experience this release of “gunk.”
• Zen Detox provides fabulous volume!  love, love, love this. It truly is incredible to experience the natural volume without any added product.
• I’ve seen numerous bloggers use plain bentonite clay to do a similar hair detox. But I’ve never had good results using plain clay to detox my hair – it leaves my hair matted, coarse and too dry. Zen Detox contains volcanic clay, plant proteins and a proprietary blend of raw, safe trace minerals. This specific type of clay as well as the proteins and minerals not only detox the scalp but condition the hair so that hair is left soft and smooth
• The instructions for Zen Detox recommend rinsing thoroughly with warm water then finishing with a cool water rinse and I highly recommend doing this. It’s not the most comfortable, but the cool water rinse makes a huge difference in the shine and softness of my hair after using Zen Detox. 
• For maintenance, use Zen Detox once a month. For deep detox and speeding up the detox period, use it once per week for a few weeks. (One container has 3-4 uses).

Practice boar-bristle brushing

Using a boar-bristle brush is an traditional practice to create smooth, shiny, healthy hair. Thanks to a boar bristle brush, Lauren Bacall, Rita Hayworth, Katherine Hepburn and other silver screen stars were able to obtain their glamorous wavy hairstyles.

A boar bristle brush carries the sebum from the scalp and evenly distributes it to the ends of the hair. This not only reduces the oil build-up at the scalp which occurs during the Detox Period, it moisturizes the entire hair shaft since sebum is the best conditioner and anti-frizz serum ever invented.

A high-quality boar bristle brush (any of these), is more of an investment than a regular hairbrush, but one brush literally lasts a lifetime.

I’ve been using my Morrocco Method Boar Bristle + Nylon brush and following the instructions in this video with Anthony Morrocco. The nylon bristles help detangle and make it gentler on the hair, while the boar bristles distribute the natural oils.

If you have natural African hair, here’s the tutorial for you:

Practice Lunar Hair Cutting

Morrocco Method founder Anthony Morrocco encourages the practice of Lunar Hair Care, which means cutting your hair on certain days of the moon’s cycle to encourage hair growth and thickening. He explains:

For generations, nay centuries, humans have followed the moon’s cycles to determine when to plant and harvest crops; planting during a particular lunar cycle determines what the crop will yield. In other words, whether a farmer plants his seeds during a full moon or a new moon (or the waning or waxing) influences whether the crops are bountiful or sparse. This same practice can be applied to your hair. It’s called Lunar Hair Care.

I’ve been following the Morrocco Method Lunar Hair Cutting chart for the past few months (you can find the Lunar Hair Calendar here), trimming my hair on the specified dates to encourage growth and thickness. Regular trimming during the Detox Period will help reduce the “sticky” feeling, rid the hair of split ends and make the hair easier to brush. 

In the same way, the Morrocco Method philosophy holds that cutting your hair on certain days can retard hair growth. You can use this to your advantage for waxing/plucking.

The Empower Your Hair Kit

1. If you want to get started with MM, I created an introductory package with my essentials, and you save almost 30%. No coupon is necessary and the Empower Your Hair package is available here.
2. Get a bonus of Zen Detoxsample along with a travel-size Diamond Crystal Mist. Use coupon SUSTENANCE50 on orders over $50.