The Cherry Lola Treatment is ideal for dry and damaged hair and helps restore moisture to the hair.
I covered amino acids in general in Liquid Amino Acids for Stronger and Healthier Hair Growth.
In that article, I shared the benefits of liquid amino acids, the best amino acids for hair, and how to use amino acids for healthy hair care.
This DIY amino acid treatment article will discuss:-
- Benefits of Cherry Lola treatment
- Cherry Lola treatment on relaxed and natural hair
- Cherry Lola treatment steps
- Modified Cherry Lola treatment
- Cherry Lola treatment for protein sensitive hair
- Cherry Lola treatment for high porosity hair
What is the Cherry Lola Treatment?
The Cherry Lola treatment was developed by a blogger of the same name back in 2009 as a treatment for low porosity hair.
Unfortunately, the blog is no longer active. I discussed low porosity and high porosity hair in these previous articles:-
- What is Hair Porosity & How to Check Your Porosity Level
- 57 Best Hair Care Products for Low Porosity Hair
- 50 Best Hair Care Products for High Porosity Hair
The Cherry Lola treatment is an easy DIY amino acid hair treatment that works wonders on hair with only a few ingredients.
These ingredients include plain yogurt, baking soda, and liquid amino acids.
I’m not a big fan of putting baking soda on my hair as it tends to throw off the pH balance of my scalp and lead to intense itching.
However, there isn’t enough of it in the Cherry Lola treatment to make my scalp crazy.
Benefits of the Cherry Lola Treatment
- The Cherry Lola treatment helps to get back moisture into chronically dry hair and extend the lifespan of hairstyles without the need to repeat your regimen from scratch.
- The Cherry Lola treatment helps reduce frizz in hair and promote shine and softness.
- It works well for all hair textures including 4C and can make detangling hair a breeze.
- Remember, the Cherry Lola treatment includes liquid amino acids. This liquid amino acid contains 17 amino acids including arginine, cysteine, lysine, and methionine – all needed for stronger hair.
- Like the Max Hydration Method, the treatment promotes curl definition and loosens curls but only slightly. The Cherry Lola treatment cannot make your hair straight.
- The Cherry Lola treatment is not just for natural hair. It can be used on relaxed hair as well as transitioning hair since it can strengthen hair.
Cherry Lola Treatment on Relaxed Hair
If your hair is treated with chemicals or colored with chemical dyes, the Cherry Lola treatment can be beneficial.
If you color your hair with henna and indigo, the Cherry Lola treatment can also keep the color vibrant.
Use a few days after the color has already taken to your hair for the best results.
Cherry Lola Treatment Steps
Ingredients
- 2 cups of plain or Greek yoghurt
- 2 tablespoons of baking soda
- 2 tablespoons of liquid amino acids
Benefits of the Ingredients
- Greek yogurt contains lactic acids and other properties that help condition, repair and soften hair.
- The many benefits of the liquid amino acids were covered in Liquid Amino Acids for Healthier and Stronger Hair Growth.
- Baking soda helps loosen up the curl slightly as well as open up the cuticle so the treatment can work better. As mentioned above, it cannot straighten your hair.
Directions
- Mix all the ingredients in a clean plastic bowl then pour it into an applicator bottle like this one. This will make the application less messy. You can also use an immersion blender to blend the ingredients together thoroughly but don’t overdo it so the mix isn’t too liquified.
- Section clean hair into 4 – 8 parts and apply the treatment.
- After application to each section, work through with your fingers from root to tip and twist the section.
- When your whole head is covered, pin-up all the twists them cover with a disposable cap.
- Leave on for up to 30 minutes. Do not leave on your hair for longer than 30 minutes as it can lead to damage in the long term.
- Afterward, co-wash the treatment out of your hair or rinse out with lukewarm water.
- Follow up with a good deep conditioning treatment which includes hair steaming.
You can repeat this treatment once a week until your hair feels stronger, has stopped shedding, and retains moisture better.
Afterward, you can drop trying out the Cherry Lola treatment to once or twice a month.
Related Content: Hair Steamers for Natural Hair
You can view the original version of the Cherry Lola treatment, which includes baking soda, in the below videos:-
Modified Cherry Lola Treatment
There are several modified versions of the Cherry Lola treatment with the original 3 ingredients remaining a major component of the recipe.
Below are some other ingredients you can include in the recipe:-
- 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon of raw honey
- 1 tablespoon of unsulphured molasses
- Half an overripe banana or 1 small jar of banana baby food like this one
These ingredients are optional and it’s up to you if you want to try different variations to see how your hair will respond.
For instance, I throw unsulphured molasses and banana food into my recipe and my hair loves it.
Some people even add 1 egg yolk to the treatment but that seems like overkill to me.
Cherry Lola Treatment for Protein Sensitive Hair
The Cherry Lola treatment is an intense protein treatment.
If you have protein sensitive hair, then this might not work as well so what do you do in this case?
Do not apply the treatment more than twice a month and reduce the time it spends on your hair to 15 minutes max. This should solve the problem.
Cherry Lola Treatment for High Porosity Hair
For high porosity hair, do not use this treatment more than once a month and keep on for only 10 minutes.
Alternatively, I would recommend trying out bentonite clay treatments instead of the Cherry Lola treatment.
Read The Power of Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay for Hair for more on using bentonite clay for hair.
Buy Cherry Lola Treatment Ingredients
Arm & Hammer Pure Baking Soda
Braggs Liquid Amino Acids
Braggs Organic Apple Cider Vinegar
Nature Nate’s Pure, Raw & Unfiltered Honey
Whole Sweeteners Unsulphured Organic Molasses
Gerber Purees 2nd Foods Banana Pouch
Soft n Style Applicator Bottle
Cherry Lola Treatment Recipe
Eliminate dryness, condition, repair, and soften the hair with this basic Cherry Lola treatment recipe.
Materials
- 2 cups of plain or Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons of baking soda
- 2 tablespoons of liquid amino acids
Tools
- Balloon whisk or immersion blender
- Clean plastic bowl
- Applicator bottle
Instructions
- In a clean plastic bowl, pour in all the ingredients and whisk until smooth.
- Pour it into an applicator bottle like this one. This will make the application less messy. You can also use an immersion blender to blend the ingredients together thoroughly but don’t overdo it so the mix isn’t too liquified.
- To use, section clean hair into 4 – 8 parts and apply the treatment.
- After application to each section, work through with your fingers from root to tip and twist the section.
- When your whole head is covered, pin-up all the twists then cover your head with a disposable cap.
- Leave on for up to 30 minutes. Do not leave on your hair for longer than 30 minutes as it can lead to damage in the long term.
- Afterward, co-wash the treatment out of your hair or rinse out with lukewarm water.
- Follow up with a good deep conditioning treatment which includes hair steaming.
Notes
Recommended Products
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If you’re sensitive to any of the ingredients or unsure, conduct a patch test a few days before you apply the full treatment.
Have you tried the Cherry Lola treatment before? How did your hair like it? Did you modify it with any ingredients? Share in the comments section.
Abi is a curly hair expert and author of the successful Healthy Hair Care Series. She is also the founder of Healthy Natural Hair Products & Natural Oils for Hair & Beauty. Learn more…
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I had my doubts before trying this because I cautious with my low porosity hair. I have to admit this made my life easier and better. I am in love with this method because it has allowed my hair to grow and my hair is no longer frizzy. Less frizz=less knots. Thank Youuuu
Blessings! You’re responses to others have been very helpful. 2 questions: 1. If the shortened method is just as beneficial as the long one, what’s the purpose of doing the long one instead? 2. Can Fenugreek be used at any step in this treatment?
The short one is after your hair has achieved max hydration after the longer version. So if you do the longer version 3 – 4 times and you achieve curl definition from root to tip, then you can switch to the shortened version. I’ve never tried fenugreek in this recipe so I can’t recommend it. Why would you want to include that?
All I know is my hair loves these natural DIYs! In 2020 I learned of fenugreek’s nutrients & benefits & started using it in all my diy Hair care from spray, blending soaked seeds into mask, even added to my FSG. It helps with slip, strengthens, & moisturizes. My hair has definitely grown fast but I do use other natural hair care. Just didn’t know if adding into CLT made a difference (Tho I’m sure I did, either way Loved it!). Thanks for your contribution to natural world! 🤔 Do you have any preference btw CLT & Henna?
I prefer henna and indigo but I do the CLT too from time to time. Thanks for visiting.