Lost my curl pattern | Advice needed | Newbie

[Pistachio Cake]

Hello blessed ladies!

I've finally decided to join this lovely site. I'm so happy there's still some activity in here. I've never joined a hair site before so I hope I'm posting in the correct forum and can get some help from you girlies! Long post ahead.

Now what's my problem?
I lost my curl pattern over a year ago, hair breakage and split ends. (Though the split ends have reduced by 97%. My hair continues to break like crazy.)

How?
I had been using several "hydrating shampoos" mixed with my DIY ACV mix as a prepoo. I left it to marinate on my head approximately 45min 2-3x in a week. I was also using some anti-dandruff shampoo to cleanse my scalp. So I was rotating shampoos.

What prompted this?
PRior to my terrible experience, let's say the beginning of 2025, I started out wanting to simplify my hair routine, figure it out by myself. I would shampoo my hair every 2-3 days and use Blue Magic + S-curl curl activator spray. Braid, unbraid my hair. That's it. Then I started looking up info online, learning about pH balance, clean scalp, hair massages, tucking in ends etc.

MY routine was working for me some months, then I suddenly had this urge that I wanted my hair to feel super super soft. I remembered that back in the days rose water+ACV+glycerin would do this trick for me. I fooloshly thought that mixing that to my shampoo would be a great idea as a prepoo. It was not. A year later and I'm still not seeing any curl in sight.

My hair became super gummy, I could pull one thread of hair and it would continue to stretch like there was no tomorrow. When wet, my hair would feel as if I had relaxed it but when dry it would make that incredible crunchy sound. My hair continued to LOOK like an afro but behave like doll hair.

CUrrently...
I've been able to reduce the unhealthy elasticity of my hair. It no longer has this endless stretch to it. I continue to wash my hair as often as possible so 3-6 times a week. I noticed that SLS shampoos exacerbate my issues, they make my hair feel flat, gummy, like rubber...so now I use Garnier Magic Charcoal and Black Seed oil. However, I noticed that the following 3 products will create some curl definition on some parts of my hair:
1.Olaplex 4 Shampoo
2.Shea Moisture shampoo
3.ORS replenishing conditioner.

BUT the little but of hope I get after using those problems doesn't last long. As soon as I leave the shower and comb my hair, it disappears. My routine is mainly washing my hair/scalp with Garnier shampoo and occassionaly I'll add some Blue Magic to my hair. Nothing more.

my first post and it's super long. I hope that it's clear enough for you and if not please do let me know. I want to make an appointment with a trichologist but it's above my budget. I also live in Western Europe of that matters.

Some pictures to show you what my situation looks like.

I'm looking for ideas here because now I just want to go balded bald and start over. It's been over a year of this. I can't even braid my hair as it looks 60 days old, there's no hold to it anymore.


UPDATE:
In this post are pictures of my hair currently.
You can see how "vague" my hair is in the plait I made. In the other post you can see my braids are defined, visible and clear even if the lines aren't super clean my hair acts normal vs what you see here. To me, I went from a type 4 hair to a type...???

 

[Chicoro]

@Pistachio Cake



You have posted in the right place. Some of us LOVE, long, detailed posts!

Hey
@Angel of the North and
@Lylddlebit
@snoop



@Pistachio Cake has some questions and needs some help with her hair!

 

[Chicoro]

@Pistachio Cake

Do you have photos to share with us of what your hair ‘used to’ look like? Perhaps the comparisons can give us some visual clues to better help you!

Thanks for posting and sharing your situation. It helps a lot of people.

 

[Pistachio Cake]

@Pistachio Cake

Do you have photos to share with us of what your hair ‘used to’ look like? Perhaps the comparisons can give us some visual clues to better help you!

Thanks for posting and sharing your situation. It helps a lot of people.

Thank you so much for the welcome ;-)
I'll be back at my place tomorrow and will add my before pictures.

 

[Crackers Phinn]

CUrrently...
I've been able to reduce the unhealthy elasticity of my hair. It no longer has this endless stretch to it. I continue to wash my hair as often as possible so 3-6 times a week. I noticed that SLS shampoos exacerbate my issues, they make my hair feel flat, gummy, like rubber...so now I use Garnier Magic Charcoal and Black Seed oil. However, I noticed that the following 3 products will create some curl definition on some parts of my hair:
1.Olaplex 4 Shampoo
2.Shea Moisture shampoo
3.ORS replenishing conditioner.

BUT the little but of hope I get after using those problems doesn't last long. As soon as I leave the shower and comb my hair, it disappears. My routine is mainly washing my hair/scalp with Garnier shampoo and occassionaly I'll add some Blue Magic to my hair. Nothing more.

Hi @Pistachio Cake

We have similar hair types and while what works for me may not be an exact fit I would suggest the following things based on the bolded above.

1. Reduce the number of times you wash your hair to 2-3 times per week and spritz your hair in between washings if it needs moisture. 3-6 times/week a lot of manipulation that could be leading to breakage which keeps your hair the same length.

2. If you want curl definition that is going to last you're going to need an extreme hold gel to keep it lasting past your hair drying.

3. Don't comb your hair. Either finger detangle or use a detangling brush to preserve the curl pattern. Combing will lead to frizz.

Hope this helps.

 

[Pistachio Cake]

HEre are pics of my hair before. The way my hair behaved for the past 30+ years. You can see the natural way my ends curled when braided. :-( the 3 first pictures was after I took out my braids. These pics were taken when I had been sticking to a regular routine of braiding my hair every 2-4 days. My hair was showing so much promiss in this moment smh.

@Crackers Phinn @Angel of the North @Chicoro

 

[Angel of the North]

Thank you so much for the welcome ;-)
I'll be back at my place tomorrow and will add my before pictures.

HEre are pics of my hair before. The way my hair behaved for the past 30+ years. You can see the natural way my ends curled when braided. :-( the 3 first pictures was after I took out my braids. These pics were taken when I had been sticking to a regular routine of braiding my hair every 2-4 days. My hair was showing so much promiss in this moment smh.

@Crackers Phinn @Angel of the North @Chicoro

I would agree that 4 -6 times a week is a lot, especially with the manipulation that comes with it. @Crackers Phinn has given you some good advice, I would see how you go with that, especially if you have similar hair types.

 

[Chicoro]

Those curls and braids are lovely @Pistachio Cake !

 

[Pistachio Cake]

Those curls and braids are lovely @Pistachio Cake !

Thanks!! I noticed that for my hair, it helps to retain length better this way and lessen the breakage of my crown area. I can't wait for my hair to look like that again

 

[Pistachio Cake]

Hi @Pistachio Cake

We have similar hair types and while what works for me may not be an exact fit I would suggest the following things based on the bolded above.

1. Reduce the number of times you wash your hair to 2-3 times per week and spritz your hair in between washings if it needs moisture. 3-6 times/week a lot of manipulation that could be leading to breakage which keeps your hair the same length.

2. If you want curl definition that is going to last you're going to need an extreme hold gel to keep it lasting past your hair drying.

3. Don't comb your hair. Either finger detangle or use a detangling brush to preserve the curl pattern. Combing will lead to frizz.

Hope this helps.

I'm going to work on that. At the moment the shampoo is really my only main consistent product. Occasionally I'll use thr Blue Magic or Cocoa Butter but alright.

Hmmm for gel? Would something like flaxseed be a good idea or best to go for something store-bought?

 

[Chicoro]

I'm going to work on that. At the moment the shampoo is really my only main consistent product. Occasionally I'll use thr Blue Magic or Cocoa Butter but alright.

Hmmm for gel? Would something like flaxseed be a good idea or best to go for something store-bought?

Please ensure you are using conditioner after every wash. Their is a chemistry to shampoo and conditioner. They work in tandem with one another as a complete unit. Using shampoo only can cause more harm than good.

 

[Crackers Phinn]

I'm going to work on that. At the moment the shampoo is really my only main consistent product. Occasionally I'll use thr Blue Magic or Cocoa Butter but alright.

Hmmm for gel? Would something like flaxseed be a good idea or best to go for something store-bought?

I find that oils, greases and butters just sit on my hair and make it frizzy. I can’t vouch for flaxseed gel because I’ve never tried it.

I use the max hold olive oil eco styler and add a few squirts of the got2be ultra glued gel for definition.

 

[Angel of the North]

@Pistachio Cake I edited my previous reply and deleted the last bit of my comment, I thought I was in a different thread and I mixed it up in my mind, but it was the right thread.

What I wrote was that, you should do a search on lost curl patterns, reversing heat damaged hair restoring curl pattern. Some people have had success reviving their hair. The main ways I've seen this demonstrated is by doing hard protein treatments like the Aphogee 2 step and doing regular DCs alternating between moisture and protein. I would personally always follow a protein treatment with a moisture DC in the same wash session.

I used to do a protein DC and follow it with a moisture DC in the same wash day, now I would just use a balancing DC which contains both protein and moisture. If I were trying to regain curl pattern, I would probably opt for doing separate DC. If you were to opt for 2 wash days per week, you could try alternating moisture and protein for each wash day.

 

[Pistachio Cake]

@Pistachio Cake I edited my previous reply and deleted the last bit of my comment, I thought I was in a different thread and I mixed it up in my mind, but it was the right thread.

What I wrote was that, you should do a search on lost curl patterns, reversing heat damaged hair restoring curl pattern. Some people have had success reviving their hair. The main ways I've seen this demonstrated is by doing hard protein treatments like the Aphogee 2 step and doing regular DCs alternating between moisture and protein. I would personally always follow a protein treatment with a moisture DC in the same wash session.

I used to do a protein DC and follow it with a moisture DC in the same wash day, now I would just use a balancing DC which contains both protein and moisture. If I were trying to regain curl pattern, I would probably opt for doing separate DC. If you were to opt for 2 wash days per week, you could try alternating moisture and protein for each wash day.

At first I did look those videos up and bought 2 shampoos claiming to be strengthening but at the time it only made my hair more elastic. My hair wouldn't stop stretching with the hydrolyzed silk, keratin etc. It seemed to only make matters worse. Hydration or even hair grease...just anything. I haven't tried Aphogee (yet). My hair's response really confused me then I tried another shampoo from Lidl (of all places lol) but one ingredient it had was collagen and I believe that helped with deminishing the stretchiness of my hair.

Now I think I can try some sort of keratin again.

What's interesting to me is how pre this disaster my hair HATED keratin with a passion. Anything "strengthening" would make my hair very stiff. So I stayed clear from those types of products. Now, my hair is so depleted it doesn't really matter it seems.

 

[GGsKin]

Hi @Pistachio Cake, the advise about using a protein treatment to try and re-establish the integrity and elasticity of your hair is where I would start. Whist not consistently required, protein also helps the hair to accept moisture. Based upon the description of your hair, one good treatment might be needed, following up with a hydrating/ moisturising conditioner- maybe adding steam, if you find it doesn’t work so well on it’s own.

I would also advise to find a good leave-in conditioner, and focus on using that regularly, rather than any more shampoo. Some good leave-ins I have found that work well on my (and others) coily texture are; Amika Hydro Rush, Redken Acidic Bonding Concentrate, Adwoa Blue Tansy Leave-in. I’ve listed in order of looser consistency to thicker. I would apply any one of these individually (or layered runny to thick), generously and liberally. I also like the Doux Twist + Curl Cream as a moisturiser. Then perhaps a gel to seal that moisture in, until it’s time to wash again.

 

[Angel of the North]

At first I did look those videos up and bought 2 shampoos claiming to be strengthening but at the time it only made my hair more elastic. My hair wouldn't stop stretching with the hydrolyzed silk, keratin etc. It seemed to only make matters worse. Hydration or even hair grease...just anything. I haven't tried Aphogee (yet). My hair's response really confused me then I tried another shampoo from Lidl (of all places lol) but one ingredient it had was collagen and I believe that helped with deminishing the stretchiness of my hair.

Now I think I can try some sort of keratin again.

What's interesting to me is how pre this disaster my hair HATED keratin with a passion. Anything "strengthening" would make my hair very stiff. So I stayed clear from those types of products. Now, my hair is so depleted it doesn't really matter it seems.

It sounds like you have/had a serious case of moisture overload and that prior to this your hair was sensitive to certain proteins.

If you think the collagen is helping keep using it, you could look into products that contain the main ingredients that are currently working for you.

I highly recommend the Aphogee 2 step protein treatment, this is what I used for years before moving on to the Affirm 5 in 1 reconstructor. I made this change because I wanted to avoid any mess and stickiness that comes with the Aphogee, @Chicoro showed us how she whips the Aphogee into a cream (Luscious Healthy Ends 2026 thread), which avoids the issue and the product still works.

My hair likes the silk/keratin proteins, but I have to be careful as I can get protein overload very quickly especially with stronger proteins or ingredients that my hair responds to like proteins so I also avoid anything strengthening and rely mostly on my DCs to add protein or maintain a perfect moisture protein balance.

 

[Angel of the North]

Hi @Pistachio Cake, the advise about using a protein treatment to try and re-establish the integrity and elasticity of your hair is where I would start. Whist not consistently required, protein also helps the hair to accept moisture. Based upon the description of your hair, one good treatment might be needed, following up with a hydrating/ moisturising conditioner- maybe adding steam, if you find it doesn’t work so well on it’s own.

I agree that it's likely that a good heavier protein treatment would be helpful here. When I had moisture overload and my hair was like elastic bands, this is what helped me to get my hair back normal and healthy.

One treatment, followed by a moisture DC, I also added the Aphogee Green Tea leave in to my products, which I used with moisturising leave ins. I used the green tea leave in about 2 - 3 times a week, I'd check the elasticity on a shed hair every week and then give my hair whatever I felt it needed, if it was still too stretchy, I would use a protein DC, if it felt like it was too tight, I'd use a moisture DC.

I would also advise to find a good leave-in conditioner, and focus on using that regularly, rather than any more shampoo. Some good leave-ins I have found that work well on my (and others) coily texture are; Amika Hydro Rush, Redken Acidic Bonding Concentrate, Adwoa Blue Tansy Leave-in. I’ve listed in order of looser consistency to thicker. I would apply any one of these individually (or layered runny to thick), generously and liberally. I also like the Doux Twist + Curl Cream as a moisturiser. Then perhaps a gel to seal that moisture in, until it’s time to wash again.

@Pistachio Cake That's good advice, leave ins are also helpful when trying to maintain the optimal moisture protein balance, check the ingredients to make sure they are exactly what you need or want for your hair's condition.

I'd also double check the ingredients of your styling products just to make sure there's nothing that could be adding to the moisture overload. I also second the Amika Hydra Rush, I've not used the others you mentioned, but I'm sure they're also great for maintaining hydration and moisture.

 

[GGsKin]

@Pistachio Cake, without knowing the specific ingredients of your shampoos, I don’t want to make any sweeping statements but reading back over your post, (and being an avid user of ACV in the early days of my natural hair journey) I know first hand how frequent use of ACV (among other things) played a part in messing with the integrity of my hair. What were your dilutions of ACV that you added to your shampoos? It’s easy to forget how acidic it can be in a solution. After some time, I realised that only a few drops were required, rather than spoonfuls (or more) that are often recommended by some.

After years of experimenting on myself, I am less likely to doctor up ready-made products these days, but I wouldn’t think that shampoo would require much tinkering, other than just diluting with water.