My hair Recovery

Im noticing a change in the amount of Breakage. Its back to almost none. My hair is looking as full as ever and I think I am going to go back to Wave Nouveau Finishing Lotion and pray that the light protein it has doesn't overload my hair like the hardcore Mayo treatments I was doing weeks ago. When I use WN though I will not use EVCO alone with it. EVCO bonds to the Protein on your strands of Hair. I am happy after washing my hair with how it looks and feels.Now I learned my lesson. Too much Protein will break your hair off. I will never use Aphoghee products not because they aren't good, but I am not confident on how often to use them,what to use them with and I know how my hair reacts to Protein and I don't need to use those products at all in my Regimen.

Thursday- 3/31/11

DC with ORS Replenishing Pack and Mane and Tail Conditioner under dryer for 30 minutes

Shampooed with Neutrogena Triple Moisture Shampoo

Conditioned Tropical Coconut Suave Conditioner w plastic cap no heat for 20 minutes.

Rinsed w cool water

Applied NTM leave in and Motions Nourish Leave In

Apply scarf ,also blow dried on Cool

When completely dry,I moisturized with Wave Nouveau Moisturizing Finishing Lotion

and Sealed with Indian Hemp/EVCO

Wednesday

Today I kept spritzing my hair. I was supposed to wash it but ended up not doing it. Will wash tomorrow.

Moisturized with Neutrogena Triple Moisture leave in creme
and sprayed Motions Nourishing leave in

Sealed with Hot Six oil
Tied down w Scarf

My New Revised Regimen

More Info about Moisture/Protein Balance- Getting Deep Into it! Part D

I'm Balanced- Now What?

Now once your hair is balanced and the breakage has minimized you can try to maintain the balance for as long as you can by interchanging your products. It doesn't have to be on a particular schedule. It is a constant struggle to balance these two. Ladies, I remember when I first started trying to get a growth regimen going- I planned out all my treatments on the calendar. Now, I've found that this method just doesn't work. Sometimes you need more protein, sometimes none at all. Sometimes its more moisture! You have to listen to your hair to know what do when. So you could say, I'll use protein every other week...but what do you do when your hair decides hey! I want to act brittle and dry and break (a sign of too much protein) the week you are due for more protein? Balance is the word! You'll know how to handle it as you gain experience.

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WHEW! And that's only the tip of the iceberg of what I've been cooking up over here. I know its long, but I sincerely hope this helps! If even one person benefits, it will have served its purpose.  

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Okay-- Here is the product breakdown. This list is by no means exhaustive, but its a good start. It'll help you see which side you've been leaning on product wise and which side you need to incorporate products from to achieve your balance. Please feel free to help me add products if you don't see one you use up here- and help me put them in their proper placements. I've included strength indicators for most of the protein products- but those are only based on my hair and what I have used. If you've used a protein product, make sure you indicate the strength so that can be added too! If see something and you think its on the wrong side, let me know! 

Types of Protein Products:

Specialty Treatments
Nexxus Emergencee (moderate)
Nexxus Keraphix (moderate)
Aphogee 2 Min Keratin Recon. (mild/moderate)
Aphogee Treatment for Damaged Hair (heavy)
LeKair Cholesterol (mild/moderate)
Dudley�s DRC
Motions CPR(mild/moderate)
ORS Mayo (moderate)
Elucence Extended Moisture Repair
KeraCare 5 n 1
Joico K-Pac (mild)
Elasta Qp Anti Breakage serum


Protein Conditioners
Motions Moisture Silk Protein conditioner
Mane N Tail (shampoo)
Aubrey Organics GPB
Mane N tail (moderate/heavy)
Garnier Fructis Long N Strong (mild)
AtOne Botanicals Reconstructor w/ Moisture Recovery* (light)
Any Instant Conditioner like Suave and V05 (light/mild)
Got2B Soft 1 Minute Emergency (light/mild)
Rusk Sensories 60 second Revive
ORS replenishing pak (light/mild)

Protein Moisturizers
Cantu Shea Butter Break Cure
Cantu Shea Butter Grow Strong
Elasta QP Mango Butter
Profectiv Mega Growth and Healthy Ends

Protein Leave Ins:
Infusium 23
Cantu Shea Butter Leave In
Salerm 21(moisture w/ protein)
Nexxus Headress (moisture w/protein)
Mane N Tail (Conditioner can also be used as leave in)
Profectiv Break Free Leave In


*So light, this can double as a moisturizing conditioner.

Types of Moisturizing Products:

*Note* Some of the products listed as moisturizing do contain small amounts of protein�but in my opinion, their moisturizing abilities override any protein overuse concerns. 


Moisture-Based Conditioners
Cr�me of Nature Nourishing Conditioner
Herbal Essences Replenishing Conditioner
Nexxus Humectress
Kenra Moisturizing Conditioner
Dove Intense Moisture
Neutragena Triple Moisture Daily Conditioner
Neutragena Triple Moisture Deep Recovery Mask???
Elucence Moisture Balancing conditioner
Keracare Humecto
Mizani Moisturefuse


Moisture-Based Moisturizers
ORS olive oil
ORS carrot oil
S-Curl
StaSoFro
Hollywood Beauty Carrot and Olive Oil
Most Braid Sprays
*moisturizing leave ins can be used as waterbased moisturizers- especially cr�me based ones)

Moisturizing Leave Ins:
Neutragena Triple Moisture Silk Touch Leave in
Profectiv Anti-Tangle Leave In

More Info about Moisture/Protein Balance- Getting Deep Into it! Part C

For those of you just starting out on your journey to healthier head of hair, I recommend you begin with a more moisture friendly regimen before you incorporate the protein aspect. The reason being, many of us (before our hair care awakening) have naturally moisture deficient hair care routines and regimens- especially those with no regimen at all. Rarely have I seen a woman have hair problems that are a result of over-conditioning her hair and too much moisture. I can guarantee you that almost 99% of the time, poor moisturizing and conditioning are the issues that spawn our hair care interventions. 

When the Balance is thrown off by too much protein:

Hair that is shifted too far on the protein side will break easier, both wet and dry, because it lacks elasticity. Hair that breaks with very little tension or stretching is moisture deficient. Any type of stretching or tension will break it because the protein goes in and adds structure to the hair. Too much structure will make the hair rigid, decrease its elasticity, leave it brittle and prone to breakage. This was the issue with Kim�s hair. She was feeding her hair more protein than she needed to maintain a healthy balance. If this describes your hair at any time listen up! To correct this imbalance, you will need to go into a simple deep conditioning and moisturizing regimen. You may not be doing "protein treatments" per se, but you may be using other products that are protein heavy ingredient wise. I would watch out for protein in common products like leave in conditioners, moisturizers,gels, and instant conditioners like Suave and V05. Protein hides in alot of everyday products- so avoid those for a few weeks until your moisture balance is corrected. This will give your hair a chance to even out the protein/moisture balance.

Should I schedule my protein treatments in advance?
I do not advise "protein-ing" on a specific schedule, simply because our hair is seasonal. Setting aside a week or two in your regimen for protein conditioning is just not effective at addressing your hair needs as they arise. It doesn't know or understand our "schedules". It's needs and wants change from day to day, week to week. The only product you must adhere to a schedule is the Aphogee Treatment for Damaged Hair because it can only be used every 6 weeks or so because of its strength. The other treatments in between that one should only be done as you need them. Sometimes that might be weekly, other times it may be every 2 or 3 weeks! Only your hair can dictate that to you. I'm sure you've seen the threads where I discuss how to tell when your hair needs more protein- or when it needs more moisture. There are very specific ways to tell =) Once you get to know your hair more and more, it will be like second nature! Scheduling is good for when you are just starting out and getting into the groove, but you'll soon start to see that your hair often has its own plan for when you need different things for it! Then, scheduling kind of becomes useless in the grand scheme of hair care things. It also prevents you from truly developing an understanding of your own hair because instead of looking for certain cues and signs, you are looking at the calendar. Protein-ing on a schedule can eventually lead to protein overload if you aren't careful! It is so much harder to bounce back from an overload of protein than it is an overload of moisture/conditioning.

How much is too much? 
I totally agree that relaxed ladies need more protein. If you are relaxed or color treated, those processes have compromised the protein structure of your hair--so you kinda need the supplemental protein. Not everyone needs protein though, some naturals can live without it... 

For the relaxed ladies though, It's like we've all sustained different degrees of "damage" from the relaxing processes. Some people's hair is more protein deficient by nature (from the coloring/relaxing) so they require more to keep the balance in tact. Relaxing and coloring breaks protein bonds so depending on the type and degree of relaxer and level on bond breakage you will need more or less protein than someone else. So you can't say weekly, daily, or monthly protein is too much or too little because we do not know the true condition and specific needs of your hair to start with. At the end of the day, you must experiment and get to know your own head of hair.
Some proteins are stronger than others, but daily or even weekly use of even the milder protein treatments may result in an imbalance between the protein and moisture levels within the hair strands in some people. But honestly, its almost too hard to even go by the "types of proteins". You never know the percent composition of these products so though it may have a specific protein down the ingredient list, it might not be as strong as if it were higher on the ingredient list(greater percent composition). The protein in question could be 30% of the product or 0.3%! Who knows! You have to play around with different products to know how strong it is on your hair. You can't really say "Oh this is wheat protein so its gonna very light!" Or "this is animal protein, so its gonna be very heavy." It would be nice if that were true all the time, but because the product percent composition really plays such an important role, label reading can only do so much. For example, every product with keratin isn't going to feel the same way across the board. Just like every product that contains glycerine or water isn't going to feel the same! You must experiment and find your hair tolerance and it will vary from product to product, not necessarily protein to protein.

For example, some people think Aphogee 2 minute is a mild to tough protein, but my hair tends to laugh at it and feel the exact same after using it. For me, I just experimented using different combinations of products to find out what my hair tolerance is. 

When the Balance is thrown off by too much moisture:

Yes! There is such a thing as �over-conditioning� the hair and Trina found that out the hard way. Hair that is shifted too far on the moisture side will be "super-elastic" and stretch more because it lacks a sound protein structure. Many ladies describe the feel of over-conditioned/over-moisturized hair as �mush-like� or �overly soft� when wet. It has almost a weak, limp spongy feel to it. Protein deficient hair will tend to pull and stretch along with the comb and then break. It will always stretch first then break which is the result of very low supplemental protein in the regimen. When this is the case, you will need some kind of protein to give the hair structure which will make it feel rigid (stronger) again. If your hair is stretching without returning, even if its not breaking you should use a light protein to correct this. When your hair stretches, the strand "thins" and becomes weaker across the cross section. It may not break right then at that very point in time, but stretched out of and beyond its shape, it is compromised and will eventually break at some other point. Your hair should be springing back to position. If its stretching and stretching without breaking it may be your hair's way of telling you, "Hey, I need a little structure (protein) here! I'm getting waaaay too elastic, but not yet enough to break-- so do something now!" This is where a preventive maintenance protein application would come in. You don't have to wait for breakage to act. Your hair is telling you now Start light, and work from there. You may not need a heavy treatment just yet. 

And, you don't have to get all of your protein from a "treatment" per se or conditioner either. You can always throw in protein based leave in conditioners like (Infusium23) or waterbased moisturizers like (Cantu's Breakcure/or Elasta QP mango butter) to help you maintain the balance within your regimen. This way you can get a little or a lot without relying on one product. 

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More Info about Moisture/Protein Balance- Getting Deep Into it! Part B

Protein

Protein is what gives the hair its strength and structure. Hair is about 70% keratin protein by nature. Protein is found most prevalently in products like instant conditioners (bargain brands like Suave and V05), leave in conditioners, protein conditioner treatments, and even some moisturizers. 

Moisturizers

Moisturizers are products that are water-based and nourish your hair deep within the strand. Water is the ultimate moisturizer so waterbased products are best for really getting the best moisture benefit. Products with moisturizing properties tend to be your conditioners and other water-based products. Moisturizers may also be protein-based, but these protein based moisturizers do not have the moisturizing benefit that moisture-based moisturizers have. Good moisturizers will not contain ingredients like petrolatum, mineral oil, or lanolin. These are cheap product fillers. Be wary of products that claim moisturizing benefits and contain these ingredients. There is nothing moisturizing about them! Petrolatum and mineral oil are sealants and have the potential to suffocate the hair and scalp and seal out the moisture it needs. 

Sealing in your Moisturizers:
Our hair naturally contains moisture, but because our hair is also naturally porous, keeping the moisture inside is a difficult task. Sources of outside moisture, or external moisture supplementation is a must for black hair. Water molecules and moisture from these supplemental moisturizing products easily passes into the hair shaft, but they pass out just as easily. The moisture you apply needs to held in by something. Oil. 
A light coating of oil on top will help seal the moisture inside. Oils are made of large molecules. These molecules are too large to absorbed by the hair strand. Applying oils to the hair and scalp will coat them and trap moisture that is inside on the inside and moisture that is outside on the outside. The key is to lock in the moisture within the strands with your oil. If you use oils without a moisturizer or before one, the oil will seal the moisture out of the hair strand and lead to eventual dryness. This technique of moisturizing and sealing has really been helpful to me and is a resonating hallmark of my regimen. Moisturizing success is all in the order in which you apply your products.

REMEMBER! Oils DO NOT Moisturize. 
Perhaps a words like �nourish� would be better than moisturize. If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me to recommend a good oil that moisturizes, I would be rich! Oil alone will not and cannot moisturize within the hair shaft. An oil can only coat the outside of the strand, and give it shine- the illusion of moisture. Again, the molecules that make oil are much too large to penetrate. Oil molecules are �hydro-phobic� which means they repel and do not readily mix with water. Remember, if you apply an oil product to your hair before you have added a moisturizing product, you have created a seal on your hair strand that water and moisture cannot penetrate. 

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When the Balance Tips, You Must Wet Assess

Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. Hair is not exempt from this old adage. Growing out your hair is a constant battle between maintaining an even protein and moisture balance. Breakage is the result of the hair chemistry being thrown off balance. . Remember Kim and Trina from the beginning of the section? Hair that is shifted too far on either side of the balance (too much protein or too much moisture) will break. 

The Importance of Wet Assessment

Though health assessments can be performed on dry hair, determining your cause of breakage is often easiest on wet hair. Hair in its wet state exudes the basic properties of hair---elasticity and strength�excellently. In fact, these qualities are often exaggerated on wet hair. Thorough and frequent wet assessments will help you maintain your hair�s health and condition. 

Hair in its optimal condition will not break when wet unless undue stress is placed upon it through aggressive combing or detangling. A balanced and healthy hair strand will stretch and break only under undue, or unusual types of pulling stress. Balanced hair will feel soft and supple, yet strong while wet. When you comb through it when wet, it should resist excess stretching and will hardly break if you are careful. Over time, and with trial and error, you will be able to tell what is normal stress for your hair.
If your hair does indeed break when wet, the way the hair breaks under these conditions will give you a sure indication of wether more moisture or protein is required to regain the proper balance. 

How Do I Perform a Proper Wet Assessment?

It will be difficult for you to wet assess your hair by holding a single strand and pulling on both ends. That type of stress would be considered "undue" stress, because no single hair is ever really subjected to that sort of tension at one time. Any strand of hair (healthy or not) that you pull on by both ends has the potential to snap depending on the pressure you apply to it. Hair should be wet assessed by the normal act of combing though it or touching-testing it. 

Wet Assessment Break Down

If your hair: 


(Wet or Dry) Stretches slighty/returns to original length /no breaking= you are balanced just stick with maintaining!
(Wet ot Dry) Stretching a little more than normal then breaks= more protein 

(Wet or Dry)Stretching, stretching, stretching/no breakage yet= more protein

(Wet)- Weak, gummy, mushy, limp hair= more protein

(Wet or Dry) Very little/no stretching then breakage= more moisture

(Dry) Rough/tough/hard/tangly/brittle hair= more moisture


Unsure= err on the side of moisture

Moisture/Protein Balance- Getting Deep Into it! Part A

As we all know, breakage and growth  and hair health go hand in hand because with breakage, health and  growth potential are greatly reduced.

I've shared this info on the Ezboard site I frequent, and I've decided to share a bit of what I've been writing with you all too. Some of you will recognize alot of this because I've been saving many of the posts I've done on various boards.   Please excuse the millions of typos as well-- I haven't had the chance to go through and truncate the repetition or correct for spelling. Forgive me ahead of time, it is still a work in progress and this is only an excerpt.

I believe this information will help the newbies, and the vets sort out their breakage issues and give them some useful background information so that they can get a better sense of the direction they should aiming product and technique wise. Ladies, feel free to add to this thread. We want to share and provide each other with as much information as possible. 

Breakage and Shedding

Understanding the difference between breakage and shedding is an important part of any healthy hair regimen. Many people use these terms interchangeably to refer to any hair that falls from the head. In its true sense, shed hair is hair that has reached the end of its growing cycle and naturally falls from the scalp along with its root attached. The root is a tiny white bulb on the scalp originating end. If a hair does not possess this white bulb, then it is not a naturally shed hair�rather, a broken one. Shed hair tends to be longer in length than broken hairs which are generally short pieces of varying lengths. If you have stretched your relaxer for a great number of weeks, your shed hair will have the curly new growth present on the area next to the scalp, and you will be able to see where the relaxed hair begins. Some find that garlic shampoos or products with garlic extracts help curb shedding. But remember, shedding is a natural, internal process and may not respond to topical, external treatments. So don't be alarmed if nothing works for you. Changes in diet, hormone imbalances, birth control pills, and pregnancy can also affect the rate at which hair is shed.

Breakage on the other hand is not natural, and is an indication of an imbalance of important forces within the hair strand. Broken hairs do not fall naturally from the head, but are typically a sign of mishandling or abuse. The proper treatments, will help stop breakage in its tracks.

Protein and Moisture

Scenario 1: Kim�s hair is breaking like crazy and feels like a brillo pad. Every time she touches it, pieces seem to just pop right off. Snap, crackle, pop. Combing is impossible without tons of little hairs covering her sink and back. Her hair feels hard and rough even when wet. She�s given it protein treatments because the product says its supposed to stop breakage in its tracks and rebuild the hair, but so far nothing is working and her problem is getting worse.

Scenario 2: Trina�s hair is breaking like crazy as well. Her hair feels dry, looks dull, and is very weak. Her hair is too weak to withstand simple combing. It feels extra stretchy when wet and almost follows the comb as she pulls through to detangle. She�s deep conditioned and done hot oil treatments on her hair once a week. Since her breakage began, she�s stepped up the conditioning but her problem has gotten worse. 

Both of these women have issues with breakage, but the solutions to their individual problems require two very different approaches. Before you go shopping for your hair care product arsenal, you must understand the difference between protein and moisture and what they mean for your hair. Protein and moisture are the key cornerstones of great hair care. Maintaining a proper balance between these two entities is critical for the healthiest hair growth possible. The two scenarios above perfectly illustrate what happens when the balance between protein and moisture is tipped too far in either direction. This section will teach you to effectively recognize the difference between protein based and moisture based problems and help you can organize your hair regimen to effectively combat these issues as the arise. 

I figured out my breakage problem!

I was using alot of Protein and on top of that EVCO. EVCO works with protein and breaks the hair! Ahhhh!!!!! so I will use EVCO when I am NOT using products with Protein.

More breakage at the hairline

I've noticed my hairline slightly on the left has broken off completely.I know I did have a Protein Overload but this is also telling me that I can no longer use the EVCO directly on my hairline or skin w/o my hair being moisturized. To be on the safe side, I will seal with EVCO or DC only.I will lightly apply a drop or two to my scalp when needed,but I will no longer apply EVCO by itself.Evidently this is why my hair is still breaking.

Additional Co wash today

My hair feels so greasy. I used way too much EVCO 2 days ago, so Im going to Cowash even though wash day is tomorrow. I just don't like how my hair feels right now.

Cowashed with Tropical Coconut Suave Conditioner, focused on the scalp and my ends
Sprayed Motions Nourishing Leave In and Applied Neutrogena Triple Moisture Leave in..put on scarf
Sat under bonnet dryer while hair is scarfed on Hot then cool.

Moisturized with ORS Moisturizing Lotion and sealed with Indian Hemp/EVCO oil

Tuesday, March 29th,2011

I spritzed my hair with Water this morning and thats pretty much it. I am beginning to think that my Hair does better with Low Manipulation. If that's the case I'm going to start bunning on Wash day and leaving it until Sunday CoWash day

Moisture Vs. Protein Balance in hair- Part 2

Breakage Even Though Your Doing Everything Right

If you answer yes to 1 or more of these....This is what you should do..

1. Hair won't hold moisture
2. Products you usually use stop working..
3. Hair appears dull
4. Doing everything right and still getting breakage ( Build up on hair causes breakage)
5. Clarified and still experiencing build up

Some would answer you should clarify... Well your almost right.. Build up on the hair will cause all of the above... When your hair won't hold moisture its usually due to build up on the hair or porosity issues ... Also unexplained breakage is almost always caused by two common problems...That is Build up or Moisture and Protein balance being thrown off.. Clarifying only removes certain kinds of build up.. So when clarifying doesn't help..I recommend using a chelating shampoo ?

What is the difference between Clarifying Shampoo and Chelating Shampoo ?

Clarifying Shampoo removes styling products, such as hair mousse, hair gel, hair spray, conditioners, and even daily shampoos etc....

Chelating Shampoo removes mineral deposits , removes metal , copper, iron and toxins, chemical and calcium build up ( what causes this ?.. Hard water and chlorine) It removes green hair from swimming and removes chlorine...( yes it removes product build up as well)

So it is a pretty big difference in the two types of shampoos.

If you live in a hard water city then the hard water you are using to shampoo your hair is leaving these types of build ups on your hair that most clarifying shampoos can't remove...You would need to use a chelating shampoo..

This type build up will cause breakage or your hair won't hold moisture... I always say listen to your hair.. Problems like these you want to catch before it causes damage... Clues that you need to use a chelating shampoo ....

• You live in hard water cities... If you do I would consider using a chelating shampoo 1x a month
• You hair will not retain moisture no matter what you do
• Dull Hair
• Products that usually work for you stop working

Don't wait till you start getting getting breakage...

You should not use a chelating shampoo more than 1x a month .. If you use a chelating shampoo you do not need to use clarifing shampoo's..

Another option you have is to buy a water softener for your shower from Home Depot or Lowes...They are pretty inexpensive

My favorite Chelating Shampoo is Joico K-Pak Clarify Chelating Shampoo !!!