Battling dry hair without weighing it down?

[NaiyaAi]

I'm relatively new to my HHJ, and when I first started, I was moisturizing with Motion's Anti-Breakage Hair Lotion. I believe it's part of their CPR line. It worked perfectly at first, but a few weeks ago, my hair started to look/feel/act weird. I finally figured out that it was the moisturizer causing my hair to act weird, so I switched to something not aimed at breakage. Right now I'm using Neutrogena Triple Moisture leave-in to moisturize, but I think it's too light, in the sense that I normally moisturize at night before bed, and by late afternoon the next day, my hair is feeling sort of dry. Can anyone recommend something a little heavier that'll keep my hair moisturized all day without leaving it feeling weighed down? I wear it out once or twice a week and I just hate having it feel stiff and heavy.

Another option would be to moisturize twice a day, but I'm not sure if this would be too much product on my hair, since I only wash once a week. What do you think?

 

[topnotch1010]

How do you wear your hair daily?

 

[NaiyaAi]

Well I wear it down about once or twice a week, and when it's not down it's either in a chopstick bun or a banana clip bun.

 

[LaidBak]

Water followed by a creamy moisturizer followed by grape seed oil will keep you soft and moisturized. I use Miss Claudie's Satin Moisturizer.

 

[NaiyaAi]

LaidBak When you say water, would I be spraying it on with a bottle, like as if I were rollersetting it?

 

[princezzLeia]

What are you sealing with? Maybe you could try a heavier oil? If you do try this, be sure to only get the ends though. My forehead and EVOO got into a fight last week. Lol

 

[Aireen]

At the start of my journey when my hair was really dry, I used to pre-poo and overnight DC a lot. I usually mixed extra virgin olive oil with Tresemme Moisture Rich Conditioner to get really intense moisture.

 

[virtuenow]

You need to find a product that allows your hair to retain water moisture. A spritz w/water, aloe vera gel/juice, and oil is the best. You can seal w/oil or conditioner (or mix it in). In other words, water should be the focus. Moreover, you need a deep conditioner that will take care of your moisture for the week. If you are DCing weekly, it should be so moisturizing that your spritz & seal is just supplementary and almost optional.

 

[LaidBak]

LaidBak When you say water, would I be spraying it on with a bottle, like as if I were rollersetting it?

Sorry, I should have clarified. So on wash day, when my hair is already wet I apply a creamy moisturizer (Claudie's Satin) then seal w/grapeseed oil. Typically I air dry, but if I have somewhere to go I'll blow dry/flat iron. This combo gives me soft, moisturized, but not weighed down hair.

During the week, before bed I lightly mist my hair with a liquid leave in or plain water, apply a bit of creamy moisturizer to my ends, then seal with grapseed oil. I can do this every night and my hair won't be weighed down at all.

I also have a bottle that is water and grapseed oil mixed. Sometimes in the morning I just use that. A light spritz usually does the trick.

I'm not an expert, but I'm not sure that the order of application is really that important. But I do know that for me, the combination of water, creamy moisturizer, and grapeseed oil do a great job at keeping my hair moist without greasiness.

 

[kinkycurlygurl]

I spread the sebum that my scalp produces on my hair and spritz with water. My hair stays moist and flexible.

 

[ajargon02]

You need to find a product that allows your hair to retain water moisture.

A spritz w/water, aloe vera gel/juice, and oil is the best. You can seal w/oil

.

In other words, water should be the focus.

Moreover, you need a deep conditioner that will take care of your moisture for the week. If you are DCing weekly, it should be so moisturizing that your spritz & seal is just supplementary and almost optional.

Yup I agree! I mist my hair with distilled water and a couple drops of essential oil. I then mix jbco (jamaican black castor oil) w/ jojoba, sweet almond oil or my whipped shea butter, and seal in the moisture that way.
The castor oil (and it doesn't have to be jbco, you can get the regular stuff in the laxative section of most stores) seems to not be too sticky or weigh down my hair when mixed with carrier oils properly. Even if you add it to your moisturizing dc (like aubrey organics honeysuckle rose) and dc under the dryer or hot towel for 30 min, or overnight dc, or just dc w/ a plastic bag on while doing chores.

When you jump in the shower, just get it wet, then shampoo the conditioner mix out. You should see a difference immediately.

I have no clue what's in the products you are using, so you may want to start fresh with a clarifying or chelating shampoo if needed.

 

[NaiyaAi]

I just wanted to give a great big thanks to everyone who posted. I tried water followed with that new ORS Intense Moisture Creme, and my hair is feeling much better now. Not at 100%, but I definitely notice a drastic difference. And all this time, I thought water was the enemy... Who knew?

 

[virtuenow]

I thought water was the enemy too! For almost 5 years of my natural journey I wondered why my hair never thrived. Now I use castor oil rinses and Aubrey Organics GPB deep conditioner that helped revive my hair and give water to the core. I just made one year of healthy hair care w/my consistent watering routine! Now my hair can accept water. By the way, I also buy jugs of distilled water for my spritzes (the faucet water is hard here)

 

[miss cosmic]

I'm relatively new to my HHJ, and when I first started, I was moisturizing with Motion's Anti-Breakage Hair Lotion. I believe it's part of their CPR line. It worked perfectly at first, but a few weeks ago, my hair started to look/feel/act weird. I finally figured out that it was the moisturizer causing my hair to act weird, so I switched to something not aimed at breakage. Right now I'm using Neutrogena Triple Moisture leave-in to moisturize, but I think it's too light, in the sense that I normally moisturize at night before bed, and by late afternoon the next day, my hair is feeling sort of dry. Can anyone recommend something a little heavier that'll keep my hair moisturized all day without leaving it feeling weighed down? I wear it out once or twice a week and I just hate having it feel stiff and heavy.

Another option would be to moisturize twice a day, but I'm not sure if this would be too much product on my hair, since I only wash once a week. What do you think?

i had unbelievably dry hair until i started using the LOC method to moisturize. this means Liquid Oil Cream. this is the ONLY thing that has kept my hair soft - to the extent that my family has forgotten what my hair was like and now say things like: 'well YOU can go natural cos your natural hair is soft' i'm like huh?? everyone used to make fun of my dry hard hair and now it's like they all have some kind of selective memory loss.
i use a home-made moisture spritz which is 50%water, 25%glycerine and 25%aloe vera juice. i used to do a 3rd of each but i found that that amount of glycerine made my hair sticky and i like my hair to be touchable. after spritzing with water i i apply a light coating of grapeseed oil, and then a light coating of a creamy leave-in on top of that. i know it seems counter-intuitive to apply the cream after the oil, but the reverse does not work at all FOR ME. experiment with different methods and find which one works for you.

i even stopped baggying cos it was no longer necessary - a satin pillowcase is enough for me now, my hair stays soft and touchable.
oh, and i wash my hair every 5 or 6 days.