Awful damage, what should I do?:

[Barbie83]

ok! since this is damaged hair we're talking about, toss all that talk about protein-sensitive hair out of the window: when your hair is damaged, you NEED protein even more than ever!!!

i'll warn you, though. using a heavy protein so close to a relaxer service WILL revert some of your hair. (this happened to Me, and Still A Lady, who used to post here a while back). if that isn't a problem for you, and your breakage is that serious, then i say go for it, and do an aphogee 2-step protein treatment.

otherwise, keep on doing the aphogee 2 min reconstructor. but try this instead: what i do when i do the 2 min. is completely disregard the label, and leave it on my hair for 30 minutes with heat, or 1 hour without, depending on how much time i have. when i rinse out, my hair is still soft, but has amazing strength to it. if you don't want to suffer extreme reversion like you would with the 2-step, then DC with the 2-min for at least half an hour.

no matter what you decide, your hair is damaged from the protein the relaxer took out, so you need some sort of protein to fill in the gaps in your hair. & when that's all done, follow up with a deep moisturizing conditioner. i hope that helps

This is exactly what I do with my Aphogee 2-minute, and it works soooooooo much better. My hair laughs at me tryin to leave it in for a measly 2 min.

 

[goodmorningruby]

Relaxers strip the hair of protein. hair needs protein after a relaxer. simple as that

true protein overload is only applicable when your hair feels hard or rough to the touch after leaving in a medium-strength protein too long, or after using a hardcore protein. the answer to protein overload is moisture, and as long as you deep condition with a moisturizing conditioner after heavy protein, there will be no breakage.

Protein overload can come from everyday products like leave-ins as well. It's not just with protein treatments that one can experience breakage because of too much protein incorporated into the regimen. More people suffer from protein overload than moisture overload, indubitably. If I was the OP, I would keep protein in my regimen, but in moderation, and I would use gentler proteins. And I would maintain a constant moisture in the hair by increasing moisturizing deep conditioning treatments and using water-based moisturizers with extremely little to no protein at all. (along with sealing in the moisture with a light butter or oil) I would probably be mixing the protein and moisturizing treatments with molasses too, since that also has been known to work wonders for decreasing breakage. It's all about balance. I would be more afraid to increase the breakage with hardcore protein treatments and play it a lot safer with moisturizing treatments while milder protein treatments were still a regular part of the hair care routine.

 

[yardgirl]

Relaxers strip the hair of protein. hair needs protein after a relaxer. simple as that

true protein overload is only applicable when your hair feels hard or rough to the touch after leaving in a medium-strength protein too long, or after using a hardcore protein. the answer to protein overload is moisture, and as long as you deep condition with a moisturizing conditioner after heavy protein, there will be no breakage.

My hair is definitely not hard or rough right now. I'm realising that there's a particular spot on my crown where most of the breakage took place. I'm going to saturate that area with Aphogee 2 Min and only use a little on the rest of my hair.

I have a question for the OP. Did you use a mid light-medium protein treatment after you rinsed out the relaxer, but before the neutralization process?

Yup I did, TWICE! The breakage was so much that even after the 1st time I applied Aphogee 2 Minute, I had to do it again.

 

[poookie]

Protein overload can come from everyday products like leave-ins as well. It's not just with protein treatments that one can experience breakage because of too much protein incorporated into the regimen. More people suffer from protein overload than moisture overload, indubitably. If I was the OP, I would keep protein in my regimen, but in moderation, and I would use gentler proteins. And I would maintain a constant moisture in the hair by increasing moisturizing deep conditioning treatments and using water-based moisturizers with extremely little to no protein at all. (along with sealing in the moisture with a light butter or oil) I would probably be mixing the protein and moisturizing treatments with molasses too, since that also has been known to work wonders for decreasing breakage. It's all about balance. I would be more afraid to increase the breakage with hardcore protein treatments and play it a lot safer with moisturizing treatments while milder protein treatments were still a regular part of the hair care routine.

those too! thanks for pointing them out. when i typed treatment, i meant product

 

[yardgirl]

Yeah, I was thinking, that while lack of protein is ONE common culprit of breaking hair, many people look to protein treatments immediately, especially the hardcore ones, BEFORE exploring other options, or considering a different source of the problem altogether...

And in reality this can lead to even more damage.

However, since you (OP) said that your your breakage did not start until after you did the self relaxer with lye, a good protein/moisture balance would seem like your best chance at curbing the breakage. (Since lye relaxers, as I understand them thus far, generally require the hair to have more protein than moisture, whereas no-lye, the focus should be more on moisture than protein.)

The ORS Replenishing Pak does contain moisturizing properties, but it is generally regarded as a mild protein treatment. By the way, it is a great deep conditioner...I must restock on it.

One product that I truly adore and one of the very, very few products that I can call a personal staple is BPT Wheat Germ Vegetable Protein Rinse. It's a Dominican hair product and when I used it regularly I had literally no shedding or breakage. I would co-wash with it, mix it with deep conditioners, or make a deep conditioner out of it by mixing it with oils, honey, etc. My hair is insanely strong, yet soft, when using this product. And I mean, the strength I felt in my hair from this product was like nothing I've ever felt...it trumps Aphogee 2 Min. for me by a landslide. And it felt and looked much thicker! ( I have fine strands ) I highly recommend this product. Wheat germ contains ceramides which prevent moisture loss, add moisture and aid in better moisture retention, which is what I experience with this product. Not only that, but vegetable proteins, in my opinion, are very gentle (can be used regularly provided you're not ridiculously protein sensitive, it's hard to overload) on the hair and gradually increase strength and resilience. Put them together and this product is nothing but moisture/protein balance. And the product is incredibly versatile. HTH! Good luck!

Reviews on Round Brush:
http://www.roundbrushhair.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=13

Edit: Oh, and if you're interested in buying this online provided you can't find it at one of your local stores, I buy mine from www.ibeautyny.com because it is the cheapest I could find....a dollar in difference from Round Brush Hair.

Thanks for the recommendation. They only have the 1 Gal bottle right now. While I'd love to try it, I'm not starting off with a 1 gallon bottle I'll check beautyofnewyork to see if they have it.

 

[goodmorningruby]

Thanks for the recommendation. They only have the 1 Gal bottle right now. While I'd love to try it, I'm not starting off with a 1 gallon bottle I'll check beautyofnewyork to see if they have it.

Ugh! You're kidding, right?! Looks like I'll be buying by the gallon then.

 

[Leesh]

Relaxers strip the hair of protein. hair needs protein after a relaxer. simple as that

true protein overload is only applicable when your hair feels hard or rough to the touch after leaving in a medium-strength protein too long, or after using a hardcore protein. the answer to protein overload is moisture, and as long as you deep condition with a moisturizing conditioner after heavy protein, there will be no breakage.

That may be true in some intenses, but not all, I have experienced otherwise and have known Women who have also experienced otherwise, but in any case this also is an option, I am just giving an opinion, like everyone else, no one even asked her did she assess her hair to know what state its in, as in do a strand test, these are just options to the breakage, by no means am I saying exactly what she needs, cause I am not their to assess her hair, but to lead her to believe that there is only one option to the breakage without actually knowing whats causing it would not be in her best interest.

 

[goodmorningruby]

I just checked www.ibeautyny.com and the BPT Wheat Germ Rinse is not out of stock. The conditioner comes in the gallon size, not the rinse, and the rinse is what I recommend. In fact, I'm going to be ordering a huge haul of products off of that website (including the rinse) and others very soon. I'm a little peeved that they are out of the Sebastian Deep Penetraitt, since I've been wanting to try it for awhile, but I'll just get it off of www.sleekhair.com

Also, OP, have you ever tried adding molasses to your deep conditioning treatments? In my experience, it works wonders for breakage and shedding, decreasing them by at least 90% with the first use. Black strap molasses is recommended by myself and many others on the board who have had success with curbing breakage using it. What I do is I either add it to my moisturizing and/or protein DC's or I've made my own treatment with it as a base mixed with other edible ingredients (e.g. honey, garlic juice) and oils (e.g. almond, coconut). HTH.