Are these products ruining my hair?!?!!?!?

C

CheerBear

New Member
Ok. I have 4a/b hair, i always buy tons of products, usually just cause someone else said they worked. My hair is extremely dry and brittle though. Im sure it's somewhat physiological, but check these products and tell me why they aren't helping, or if they're hurting????
Shampoos:
-John Frieda Relax Total Clarity
-Mane and Tail Moisturizing and Texturizing Shampoo
-Optimum Care
-CON

Conditioners
-Proclaim cholesterol
-Dark and Lovely cholesterol
-Herbal Essences Intensive Blends
-Suave humectant
-John Frieda Relax Vital Strength
-Mane and Tail

Other Stuff:
-Olive Oil
-Hair Mayo
-BB Castor Oil
-Wonder 8 Oil
-Pantene Relaxed and Natural Daily Oil Moisturizer
-Parnevu tea tree anti breakage cream
-Ampro Restoration
-Lottabody setting lotion
-AtOne silky texture set lotion
-Isoplus oil sheen
-Just For Me Oil moisturizer
-Sulfur 8
-Dark and Lovely braid spray( i have added water to this)

and thats all that i see right now.

Im sure I should use better quality products, but im a poor college student!!! Help me pleeeeeeeeeeease.
 
You have some good stuff in those lists...a lot of times it's about HOW you're using your products, not which ones you're using. What's a typical day like for you, as far as your regimen?
 
Well a typical day involves me spraying oil sheen on my hair when i unwrap in the morn. I brush my hair with my paddle brush and call it a day until around 12 noon. At this time, if my hair is feeling or looking dry, i spray on some of my braid spray concontion and rub some oil in, tie my hair up and leave it to dry. I curl my hair about 2x's per week. This is the only regular things I do it, what I do to it depends on how it looks each day. I try not to put things in it too often or curl it to much, but i do have a bad habit of just combing it for no reason several times a day.
 
I dunno...I'd recheck those parnevu products. They made my hair sooooo dry! I think I remember the mane and tail doing the same thing for me as a 4a. It's hard to say really unless you pare it down. Painful, yes, I know...I LOVE hair products too. *dreamy look*
 
I'd also take a look at the Proclaim Cholesterol. I remember that stuff left a nasty film on my hair. Maybe give some other cholesterols a try since they are all so cheap.
 
[ QUOTE ]
CheerBear said:
Ok. I have 4a/b hair, i always buy tons of products, usually just cause someone else said they worked. My hair is extremely dry and brittle though. Im sure it's somewhat physiological, but check these products and tell me why they aren't helping, or if they're hurting????
Shampoos:
-John Frieda Relax Total Clarity
-Mane and Tail Moisturizing and Texturizing Shampoo
-Optimum Care
-CON

Conditioners
-Proclaim cholesterol
-Dark and Lovely cholesterol
-Herbal Essences Intensive Blends
-Suave humectant
-John Frieda Relax Vital Strength
-Mane and Tail

Other Stuff:
-Olive Oil
-Hair Mayo
-BB Castor Oil
-Wonder 8 Oil
-Pantene Relaxed and Natural Daily Oil Moisturizer
-Parnevu tea tree anti breakage cream
-Ampro Restoration
-Lottabody setting lotion
-AtOne silky texture set lotion
-Isoplus oil sheen
-Just For Me Oil moisturizer
-Sulfur 8
-Dark and Lovely braid spray( i have added water to this)

and thats all that i see right now.

Im sure I should use better quality products, but im a poor college student!!! Help me pleeeeeeeeeeease.

[/ QUOTE ]

My thoughts:

-I've heard that Mane N Tail products can be drying.
-Not everyone's hair likes olive oil
-Hair Mayo has been said to make some individuals hair dry
-Pantene R&N Daily Cream Moisturizer: I've heard many say that it made their hair feel dry and brittle, etc.
-Isoplus oil sheen is mainly mineral oil which can make the hair feel dry to some.

These are just my thoughts on some of the products you listed from either my own experiences or the experiences of others.
smile.gif
 
I don't use alost any of the products that you use, but I have tried them, and I have the same hair type so here goes...

The mane and tail-too drying
None of the oil moisturizers/sheens work for me
I think the herbal essences is good, but only for condition washes. Smae thing for the suave humectant.
Parnevu tea tree anti breakage cream-it sucks
Only setting lotion that I like is the pantene R&N

Here's some cheaper things in my regimen that you may benifit from...

Elasta qp shampoo for relaxed hair-2.99
Hollywood Beauty carrot creme-around $4
Wild growth oil-7.00
Elasta qp DPR-11 5.00 (this is the best stuff! mix with olive oil, or any oil and deep condition!)
IC reconstructor- 4.50
S-curl- 4.00
razac leave in- 5.00
motions nourish leave in- 4.00

I also advise you to make a real, concrete regimen and follow it. Your hair would benefit from it. I actually have mine on the computer
smile.gif
 
I like the John Frieda Relax line but I love other products. Its not nearly as moisurising as 3 or 4 other shampoos I have. When I finish these bottles I will not repurchase. There are just better products out there for me. It works best if I sit under a dryer for 20 min.
 
I always hated proclaim products. I used the cholesterol and it felt like spackle on my hair and did absolutely nothing. I think Queen Helene is better IMO.

Wonder 8 oil has parrafin in it if I remember. Can someone please verify? I would ditch that and try either hot six oil or africas best herbal oil.

Mane N' Tail - from my memory these were too drying and didn't do anything for me.

Lottabody setting lotion - too drying. Perhaps make a more dilute solution?

Also you didn't mention a leave in conditioner.

To combat dryness, try using something mixed with water like a leave in conditioner and then add your oil. you can do this twice a day if you wish.

HTH
 
Hmm, let's see if I can answer all the questions in one, I sometimes forget to drink water for days at a time, and i stopped taking my vitamins because they gave started making me sick, so yeah, that probably is a big problem. I don't use a leave in, no particular reason why. Ok, well I am a hair novice and can't do anything right to my hair except comb and brush it. Can anyone suggest any more products or regimens for me, just to get me started until I can figure something out.
 
I would say break your routine down to only a few products. A shampoo/deep conditioner/leave-in/moisturizer. If I were you I would invest in a nice leave-in when I was relaxed my hair liked "Always oil leave-in moisturizer" (something like that). You might be using way to many products in your hair-so you might actually have build-up which can make your hair act crazy. If thats the case wash your hair (with a gentle shampoo), deep condition with something really creamy I like Lekair (green kind)rinse your head with one part Apple cider viniger and 4 parts water (some folks use this to clarify their hair and bring hair back into normal PH level) Then put in a leave in.Then I would suggest that you start drinking more water on a regular basis (your hair needs to be hydrated from the inside out). Also did you say that you use a clarifying shampoo. Clarifying shampoos are fine to use everyonce in a while (to my knowledge) most people use them to remove product build-up not on a regular bases. I would also stop using the curlers twice a week until my hair was back to normal. Challenge yourself to find a hair style that you could do that would keep your hands from constantly being in your hair, i.e, buns, a 60sec weave peace, exc.
 
[ QUOTE ]
CheerBear said:
Ok. I have 4a/b hair, i always buy tons of products, usually just cause someone else said they worked. My hair is extremely dry and brittle though. Im sure it's somewhat physiological, but check these products and tell me why they aren't helping, or if they're hurting????
Shampoos:
-John Frieda Relax Total Clarity
-Mane and Tail Moisturizing and Texturizing Shampoo
-Optimum Care
-CON

Conditioners
-Proclaim cholesterol
-Dark and Lovely cholesterol
-Herbal Essences Intensive Blends
-Suave humectant
-John Frieda Relax Vital Strength
-Mane and Tail

Other Stuff:
-Olive Oil
-Hair Mayo
-BB Castor Oil
-Wonder 8 Oil
-Pantene Relaxed and Natural Daily Oil Moisturizer
-Parnevu tea tree anti breakage cream
-Ampro Restoration
-Lottabody setting lotion
-AtOne silky texture set lotion
-Isoplus oil sheen
-Just For Me Oil moisturizer
-Sulfur 8
-Dark and Lovely braid spray( i have added water to this)

and thats all that i see right now.

Im sure I should use better quality products, but im a poor college student!!! Help me pleeeeeeeeeeease.

[/ QUOTE ]

Do you blowdry?? Use the curling iron or flat iron a lot? I now only get wet sets and then I finger comb my hair in and out of a wrap set. Then I go to my stylist to let her wash, condition, and wet set my hair all over again. She uses BB Pine Tar for dry scalps, BB Super Gro for Hair&Scalp. Since doing this regimen, my hair has stopped that annoying shedding I was getting.
grin.gif
 
I've heard mane n'tail leaves bad buildup on the hair, which would account for it being dry perhaps: no moisture can get in. I'd take it back down to basics for a while then add stuff in. Say for instance, start withthe CON (do an olive oil pretreat on wet hair first) then try just an overripe avocado or some jojoba or olive oil added to Pantene relaxed N'Natural conditioner. Rinse, but leave a little of the conditioner in for easy combing and try airdrying your hair in bantu knots overnight with a scarf for a few days.
HTH
 
I do use clarifying everytime i wash, but thats only because I put so much stuff in it between washings to get it managable.
 
I only blow dry it I wash during the daytime and have to be somewhere very soon after, which is almost never. I wrap it and tie it down and let it air dry overnight. Since I have EXTREMELY thick hair, sometimes it's still wet in the morn and I may run the blowdryer over it for a couple minutes. I always curl my hair right after I wash it. Is that bad????
 
I have 4 a/b hair and mane and tail did nothing for me. Try the Keracare Humecto Conditioner line and see how tha works for you. Moisture is the key. Also, too much cholestrol drys my hair. Don't forget to clairify. Too much product can build up on your hair and then NOTHING will work!

Also, carefull with the curling. It will dry your hair out.
 
Do you deep condition (moisturizing) every week? My hair was very dried out years ago and I found a great stylist that helped me and one thing they said was deep cond. was very important and I REALLY noticed the difference even now if I don't deep con
( almost never happens) I feel it, it's like somethings missing....

Also, getting my hair wet set helped with day to day styling.....I'd get a wet set ( rollers) then the would blow it all the way or only at the roots depending on what i wanted...I could have my hair "fresh" looking for a week...

I'd wrap it at night if I wanted it straighter looking or clip it up loosely if I wanted the curls at the end and always a silk scarf. Hope that made sense....
 
http://www.ourhair.net/snips_bottom_nooil.htm

From my experience Oil of any kind just drys out my hair. Oil is not for everyone, it just seems to coat my hair blocking out moisture.

If ever I use oil on my wet hair to gain a particular look I must shampoo it out the following day. You seem to use alot of oil. I agree with the ladies, start a fresh and clarify then use a one thing at a time to be able to tell which is affecting you.
 
Pantene Relaxed and Natural Daily Oil Moisturizer
___________________________________________________

I found that product to leave a film, and to not moisturize at all. It also contains some 'questionable' things, such as mineral oil.
 
I second the advice on deep conditioning. Cheap but good conditioners are listed in a thread here, you may want to do a search. Good ones I like: Motions Moisture Plus, LUST (Loreal Unfrizz Smoothing Treatment: costs approx $7). Aubrey Organics GPB is also really good, its a protein conditioner but it TRULY does moisturize as well, its at The Vitamine Shop for approx $8 though but you do get what you pay for. Le Kair Cholestrol (the peach one) is also really good. Leave any of these on for a good 30 mins or longer if you have time, either cold with a shower cap or under a warm dryer with the cap on. I sometimes add olive oil to them too (not much, just a touch) to increase the moisture level). Use a moisturizing leave in or some of the same rinse out conditioner too and seal with Hot Six Oil (I LOVE THIS STUFF!). It truly seals in the moisture. Concentrate on the ends.

Do this deep conditioning once a week if you can. More often is even better. If you blowdry or use curling irons, it'll draw out all the great moisture you put in. Be careful.
 
I third the deep conditioning advice. I also like Elucence Moisture Balance Conditioner (found at www.pleasantimage.com). You can use it as an instant conditioner, a deep conditioner, and a moisturizing leave-in. It delivers a great amount of moisture to my hair. I love this product!

I also thought, Cheer Bear, if you clarify everytime you wash to counteract product buildup, why not increase your washes (*without* the clarifying shampoo)? That will cut down on the amount of product you have while also increasing the amount of moisture to your hair. Water is the ultimate moisturizer. If you live in an area with hard water, like I do, you can buy distilled water (I pay about 89 cents/gallon) at the grocery store. I was delightfully surprised at the difference in the moisture level and softness of my hair from the very first use.

Good luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

4mia
if you could choose.....
Replies
29
Views
4K
brucebettye
brucebettye
Poohbear
(!!!) List Products that make your Hair DRY (!!!)
2 3
Replies
79
Views
9K
wheezy807
wheezy807
FemmeCreole
Let's talk products
Replies
12
Views
1K
vainღ♥♡jane
vainღ♥♡jane
Chaya
Has anyone used these Keracare Products?
Replies
9
Views
1K
Britt
Britt
C
How can I make these work for me
Replies
4
Views
986
Leslie_C
Leslie_C
Back
Top