2018 Hair Regimen Development: Design, Rationale, Revision, Reflection

In the winter and fall I protective style and spring/summer I wear my hair out.

This might change slightly now that I wear a hard hat at work. I might do a light not heavy protective style In the warmer months. Something like kinky twists. I don’t want a whole lot of hair weighing me down.

I usually spray my scalp every day (Xcel or Shescentit scalp boosting botanical spray) and oil it with whatever oil blends I have. Rotating by what’s in front of me. Once a week I use ACV to cleanse my scalp and that’s it.

I protective style no more than 6 weeks. Then rest 2 weeks and start again.

I’ll be incorporating Qhemet Biologics moisturizers this year as well as some more Ayurvedic rinses.

Just planning and ordering my stock first
 
Rationale-
Ok so I wash my hair frequently. And I always deep condition after every wash. I use sulfate and non sulfate shampoos. Sometimes my hair is coated with oil before I shampoo.
I always follow up with a leave-in conditioner. I usually use a liquid and a light cream, or I use a serum.

Now here is the catch. 99% of the leave-ins I use contain a humectant. I usually avoid liquid/cream products with glycerin, soy, castor oil, aloe (it’s mostly made up of water) in the top 5 of the ingredients list. But there are other ingredients that are humectants as well that I didn’t realize acts just like glycerin. I spray this stuff on my hair, and after a few minutes my hair dries out. The serum, or cream is suppose to seal and create more slip for me, but we gotta remember how glycerin behaves.

It doesn’t matter what you seal your hair with, since glycerin will take moisture from within the hairstrand. This is another reason why I don’t want until my hair is 50% dry to detangle after my washing/dc’ing process.

So with all of that being said, where can I find the moisture/hydration for my hair? Lol

Should I cut it all off and drink a ton of water and water like foods to see if that will work? I know I need to cut back on the washing, but just because glycerin isn’t on the list, is there truly a humectant top 5 free hair product for me?
 
shortdub78 said:
Rationale-
Ok so I wash my hair frequently. And I always deep condition after every wash. I use sulfate and non sulfate shampoos. Sometimes my hair is coated with oil before I shampoo.
I always follow up with a leave-in conditioner. I usually use a liquid and a light cream, or I use a serum.

Now here is the catch. 99% of the leave-ins I use contain a humectant. I usually avoid liquid/cream products with glycerin, soy, castor oil, aloe (it’s mostly made up of water) in the top 5 of the ingredients list. But there are other ingredients that are humectants as well that I didn’t realize acts just like glycerin. I spray this stuff on my hair, and after a few minutes my hair dries out. The serum, or cream is suppose to seal and create more slip for me, but we gotta remember how glycerin behaves.

It doesn’t matter what you seal your hair with, since glycerin will take moisture from within the hairstrand. This is another reason why I don’t want until my hair is 50% dry to detangle after my washing/dc’ing process.

So with all of that being said, where can I find the moisture/hydration for my hair? Lol

Should I cut it all off and drink a ton of water and water like foods to see if that will work? I know I need to cut back on the washing, but just because glycerin isn’t on the list, is there truly a humectant top 5 free hair product for me?
Click to expand...

The video I linked in the 3rd (?) post of this thread discusses the glycerin environment topic in depth. It's a long video. I'm not sure any longer where the glycerin topic is discussed. Here's my post: https://longhaircareforum.com/threa...ale-revision-reflection.830165/#post-24508871

I finally achieved long lasting moisture by applying
  • water,
  • HairVeda Red Tea Heavy Cream (glycerin-containing), then
  • Jakeala Shea Amla Hair Parfait
to each section.

This order of layering does not permit the glycerin to draw water FROM my hair. I believe it is because Shea butter is THE BUSINESS as a sealant, like nothing I've ever used before.

I'm also wondering if the other ingredients in the HairVeda Red Tea Heavy Cream make a difference, such as the argan oil.
 
Now I have never used flaxseed gel, okra gel, aloe Vera gel before. I have used aloe Vera juice and it worked nicely for a bit, then turned on me. So maybe if I used a mixture of water, a gel, with some fat soluble oils, I wonder would that help?
 
YvetteWithJoy said:
The video I linked in the 3rd (?) post of this thread discusses the glycerin environment topic in depth. It's a long video. I'm not sure any longer where the glycerin topic is discussed. Here's my post: https://longhaircareforum.com/threa...ale-revision-reflection.830165/#post-24508871

I finally achieved long lasting moisture by applying
  • water,
  • HairVeda Red Tea Heavy Cream (glycerin-containing), then
  • Jakeala Shea Amla Hair Parfait
to each section.

This order of layering does not permit the glycerin to draw water FROM my hair. I believe it is because Shea butter is THE BUSINESS as a sealant, like nothing I've ever used before.

I'm also wondering if the other ingredients in the HairVeda Red Tea Heavy Cream make a difference, such as the argan oil.
Click to expand...
Thank you! I will check all of this out. Now I wonder if I use Shea butter on my relaxed hair, how would that work? I’m coming to the realization that I just don’t have enough hair to straighten to look presentable, so I will be staying in a bun.
 
shortdub78 said:
Thank you! I will check all of this out. Now I wonder if I use Shea butter on my relaxed hair, how would that work? I’m coming to the realization that I just don’t have enough hair to straighten to look presentable, so I will be staying in a bun.
Click to expand...

I can't say this layering would work for anyone else. I just wanted to share an example/testimony of someone's success with sealing in a humectant.

I forgot to mention: The video discusses SEVERAL other humectants.
 
YvetteWithJoy said:
Some of the ladies in @Chicoro's Shea Growth thread are relaxed.
Click to expand...
I’m gonna lurk some more in there! Lol I applied some QB moringa tree to my ends, then I sealed my hair, since it was still damp with this whipped Shea stuff I got from the BSS store. My hair feels fine so far and I have it in a bun. I will see how it feels tomorrow.
 
shortdub78 said:
Rationale-
Ok so I wash my hair frequently. And I always deep condition after every wash. I use sulfate and non sulfate shampoos. Sometimes my hair is coated with oil before I shampoo.
I always follow up with a leave-in conditioner. I usually use a liquid and a light cream, or I use a serum.

Now here is the catch. 99% of the leave-ins I use contain a humectant. I usually avoid liquid/cream products with glycerin, soy, castor oil, aloe (it’s mostly made up of water) in the top 5 of the ingredients list. But there are other ingredients that are humectants as well that I didn’t realize acts just like glycerin. I spray this stuff on my hair, and after a few minutes my hair dries out. The serum, or cream is suppose to seal and create more slip for me, but we gotta remember how glycerin behaves.

It doesn’t matter what you seal your hair with, since glycerin will take moisture from within the hairstrand. This is another reason why I don’t want until my hair is 50% dry to detangle after my washing/dc’ing process.

So with all of that being said, where can I find the moisture/hydration for my hair? Lol

Should I cut it all off and drink a ton of water and water like foods to see if that will work? I know I need to cut back on the washing, but just because glycerin isn’t on the list, is there truly a humectant top 5 free hair product for me?
Click to expand...

YvetteWithJoy said:
Some of the ladies in @Chicoro's Shea Growth thread are relaxed.
Click to expand...

I don't think that you need to use a humectant based product to get moisture, specially if you live in a very dry climate. In dry climates, humectants "theoretically" draw moisture from the hair into the environment. In humid places they draw moisture from the environment into the hair. Their effect depends on their concentration however.

Some good moisturizers have no humectants or have humectants low down in the ingredient list. Have you tried CRN moisture milk? I think it's really good.

For dry hair, sealing is important. If you are wearing your hair in a bun, don't shy away from heavy sealing. You liked my bun the other day. It was heavy sealed. I had two leave-ins generously applied topped with an oil, my shea butter mix and my gel. And btw it had multiple layers of the shea butter and gel applied because I moisturized and sealed a number of times during the week. This is the beauty of buns. You never fear that your hair will be weighed down. And with whipped shea butter, it won't even feel excessively oily or greasy to the touch. Such is the magic of shea butter. Shea butter and oils also play well with gel, so your bun won't look flaky or whitish even if you reapply both products a few times. You might not need to wash till after 7-14 days.

And my hair is texlaxed/relaxed with natural roots. So my hair is rather similar to yours.

I can't give advice about moisturizing straight hair worn out because I only wear buns or wash and gos but in the shea butter thread some ladies wear their relaxed hair down with shea butter in it.

ETA: when I M&S my bun, I use water or herbal tea or a thin leave-in (my favourite method) to remoisturize before sealing with the shea butter mix and gel.
 
shortdub78 said:
Ladies do you think I should toss all of these products with glycerin, or propylene glycol in them?
Good grief I have so many and this stuff isn’t cheap! Lol
Click to expand...
I'd say don't toss them yet. I highly doubt that it's the humectants alone that are causing your dryness. You might need to tweak your technique a bit and see if they still don't work for you. Or at least keep them until you find better products.

Can you give us a few names and their ingredient lists?
 
Alma Petra said:
I'd say don't toss them yet. I highly doubt that it's the humectants alone that are causing your dryness. You might need to tweak your technique a bit and see if they still don't work for you. Or at least keep them until you find better products.

Can you give us a few names and their ingredient lists?
Click to expand...
Oh dear! Lol
Ok I will name them, then come back later with a few of the ingredients.
Design Essentials Bamboo & Silk HCO spray

It’s a 10 leave-in
Mizani D’tangle
Mizani 25 miracle milk
Keracare leave-in conditioner

Mizani Butter Blends Moisture Whip
Mane & Tail The Detangler

It’s a 10 miracle silk smoothing balm

CON Argan Oil heat protector smooth & shine blow out Creme

L’Oréal Air Dry It un-done style cream medium to coarse hair
 
shortdub78 said:
Oh dear! Lol
Ok I will name them, then come back later with a few of the ingredients.
Design Essentials Bamboo & Silk HCO spray

It’s a 10 leave-in
Mizani D’tangle
Mizani 25 miracle milk
Keracare leave-in conditioner

Mizani Butter Blends Moisture Whip
Mane & Tail The Detangler

It’s a 10 miracle silk smoothing balm

CON Argan Oil heat protector smooth & shine blow out Creme

L’Oréal Air Dry It un-done style cream medium to coarse hair
Click to expand...

I haven't had a look at all the products but the first 5 of them seem to be sprays?
I don't consider sprays to be moisturizers because whatever substance in them that is supposed to be moisturizing must be very diluted in order for the product to be sprayable. So for me all these sprays are basically just water.
Water on my hair does not moisturize. It hydrates/wets/dampens but is very quick to evaporate and leave the hair drier than it was. When I was starting to care for my hair I was convinced that my hair hated water. In fact it would take me several days for my hair to soften after washing, rinsing or wetting with water. I read a lot of "help! my hair hates water" articles and threads on the internet and discovered that some hair types need water to be sealed in promptly. If it evaporates off naked hair, it takes away more of its moisture. I also learned that for naturally dry hair types like mine creamy leave-ins are a must. The thinner the less moisturizing. Sprays are just water. You will then need to find the balance between too heavy and too thin a leave-in. Personally I can get away with using my thickest leave-in immediately after cowashing. But for repeat moisturization I will need to use something thinner or diluted with water. In my post above I mentioned that I prefer this to M & S with pure water or herbal tea because water can still dry my hair out if I don't seal adequately and/or tie my hair down to control the rate of evaporation.

Having said this, some heavy leave-ins did not work for me, so you will also need to find the creamy leave-in that agrees with your hair but this should not be difficult to locate. And if you find that you NEED to moisturize with a spray or plain water, then make sure that you promptly and adequately seal.
 
Alma Petra said:
I haven't had a look at all the products but the first 5 of them seem to be sprays?
I don't consider sprays to be moisturizers because whatever substance in them that is supposed to be moisturizing must be very diluted in order for the product to be sprayable. So for me all these sprays are basically just water.
Water on my hair does not moisturize. It hydrates/wets/dampens but is very quick to evaporate and leave the hair drier than it was. When I was starting to care for my hair I was convinced that my hair hated water. In fact it would take me several days for my hair to soften after washing, rinsing or wetting with water. I read a lot of "help! my hair hates water" articles and threads on the internet and discovered that some hair types need water to be sealed in promptly. If it evaporates off naked hair, it takes away more of its moisture. I also learned that for naturally dry hair types like mine creamy leave-ins are a must. The thinner the less moisturizing. Sprays are just water. You will then need to find the balance between too heavy and too thin a leave-in. Personally I can get away with using my thickest leave-in immediately after cowashing. But for repeat moisturization I will need to use something thinner or diluted with water. In my post above I mentioned that I prefer this to M & S with pure water or herbal tea because water can still dry my hair out if I don't seal adequately and/or tie my hair down to control the rate of evaporation.

Having said this, some heavy leave-ins did not work for me, so you will also need to find the creamy leave-in that agrees with your hair but this should not be difficult to locate. And if you find that you NEED to moisturize with a spray or plain water, then make sure that you promptly and adequately seal.
Click to expand...
Thanks! This all makes sense. You know I used to heat style a lot and I have fine hair, so I stayed away from heavy products. I do have QB which is a leave-in cream that doesn’t have glycerin in it.
 
shortdub78 said:
Thanks! This all makes sense. You know I used to heat style a lot and I have fine hair, so I stayed away from heavy products. I do have QB which is a leave-in cream that doesn’t have glycerin in it.
Click to expand...
The few times I had my hair pressed, it was soft and bouncy without the need for product. I think that straightened hair is another entity altogether. We need moisture to soften our coarse natural hair but heat straightened hair is already soft to the touch. I have to say that I know very little about the need to moisturize it and how to go about it.

If your new leave-in is creamy and you are already sealing with shea better, I expect that you will be pleasantly surprised. You may also incorporate a little bit of oil underneath your butter to increase the number of sealing layers.

Can't wait to hear about your results.
 
Last edited:
I’ve decided to re-vamp my reggie based on the needs of my hair.

I’m natural with mostly 4a hair with 4b and a little 3c in there. My hair is coarse with (mostly) thick and some thin strands throughout. I think my hair is high porosity.

Braids (and the like) and weaves are no longer protective styling options for me. My crown cannot handle it. Part of the reason that I went natural was due to my crown... well the issue still exists and I can no longer just hope it catches up. I have to be proactive! Sidebar: The crown going all the way down to the middle of my nape used to be extremely damaged (over-processed). My nape and the middle section are fine now... it’s just this darn crown!

My hair has always done well with protein. Therefore, I’ve decided to give weekly mild protein treatments a try again. My hair is currently straightened and although it’s extremely soft, it doesn’t feel strong to me. Also, some spots are thinner than others.

Monthly
Inversion

Weekly
Wash/Co-wash... no staple
Use Aphogee 2 Min and a Moisturizing Con or AU GPO.... with heat.
Apply Leave-in. Tension blow dry on low.
Moisturize, Seal (Shea Butter Mixture), Gel (Eco Style Castor and Flaxseed oil), and then 6 cornrows for daily braid out.

Daily
Crown - Massage with growth stimulant. Will probably use Xcel on the crown area only.

Supplements - Marine Collagen

Moisturize, Seal, and rebraid hair nightly.

I’m going to try this for at least a month.
 
shortdub78 said:
I put them all in a big plastic storage container for now. At first I was going to play hair Santa Claus to my friend! Lol
See I like detangling sprays and creams are just too heavy to detangle with for me. Idk.
Click to expand...
If they detangle very well for you you can try either detangling with them then topping them with a real moisturising leave-in. Or if they are truly drying, wash them out after you finish detangling and use other products to LOC your hair.
Or you can try using a slippery conditioner to detangle in the shower.
Btw is your new QB MTDG not a detangling creamy leave-in? It. Might be able to do both functions for you.
 
Alma Petra said:
If they detangle very well for you you can try either detangling with them then topping them with a real moisturising leave-in. Or if they are truly drying, wash them out after you finish detangling and use other products to LOC your hair.
Or you can try using a slippery conditioner to detangle in the shower.
Btw is your new QB MTDG not a detangling creamy leave-in? It. Might be able to do both functions for you.
Click to expand...
It is but it doesn’t function like that for my relaxed hair. If I was natural, it would. QB used to be my go to products when I was natural.
I need watery like liquid sprays. It’s just the glycerin thing. I did find two in my stash that doesn’t have humectants in them.
 
OnmyJourney13 said:
I have been testing out a new leave in (Aphogee curlific) and my hair is not feeling it. My consistently good wash day results over the past 6+ months are nowhere in sight. Detangling is a chore and, although the breakage is very minimal, I am not here for it. I have an HG and just need to stick with it.
Click to expand...

My hair didn’t like that leave-in either. Plus, it left a residue on my hair!
 
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