Does protein gel dry your hair out?

[kristina]

You know the brown colored gel you get in a tub. I ask because it's one of my staples. I don't use a ton but enough to get my edges crunchy. The gel says it's not unhealthly but after reading on lhcf, i'm not one to trust product labels anymore.

 

[dreemssold]

I can't say 100% for sure because I don't know what's in it; however, when I was in junior high, I remember girls using that, and every last one of them had extremely rotten hair. Rotten is the only way to put it . That always made me cool on that stuff...and anything that makes your hair "crunchy"...I don't know...probably not a good idea. HTH .

 

[kristina]

yeah, that crunchiness can't be good...but oh how I love the firm control and the ability to create waves on the sides of my ponytail.

 

[nurseN98]

I used to use that gel when I was younger and it would dry mines out. I use Fantasia IC aloe vera gel now and it works a lot better. If you put on a lot, It does get crunchy but it holds well for me and their's no protein in it. Too much protein makes your hair brittle.

 

[missvi]

In high school I use protein gel almost everyday. My hair was long, dry and crunchy (thanks for that word) I didn't use gel anymore I use foam.

 

[Nay]

Gel can be drying. When I use it, I first spray some water on my hair. Then I apply a bit of Liv hair dressing or some other "grease" or oil. Then I apply the gel. Sometimes I even mix the gel with the hair grease. It seems that it doesn't make my hair crunchy or dry when I use it with something else.

 

[Champagne_Wishes]

When I used that type of gel in grammar school, that ish was very drying. Plus washing it out was a nightmare to say the least. All that brown residue coming from my hair made me stop using brown gels. Now I can't stand most gels, saving for my Fantasia IC styling gels and some I haven't tried.

 

[kristina]

drat! I really was trying to avoid buying more products and I already have like 2 tubs of the evil brown gel...but from what I've heard I'll let go. I feel even more grateful that I have any hair now because get this...my braider used to use the brown gel on my hair to braid! So I guess that's double dryness and brittle hair for me. I will however take Nay's advice and cut the gel with a heavy duty moisturizer and see if that works. Thanks everyone. Nay- you're my idol!

 

[Nay]

Aww, thanks for saying I'm your idol :Rose:

I just checked out your latest pics, and your hair is coming along very nicely

I know what you mean about the treadmill and reversion. My hair gets kinda PUFFY after my time spent on the treadmill.

By the way, another option for waves and laying down your hair for your ponytail is using hair cream alone instead of gel. I've noticed that if I tie a scarf on my edges for about 10 minutes after I've wet my hair and applied some Liv hair dressing and lightly brushed it, that it comes out nice and wavy and flat. You just have to really leave the scarf on until the hair dries.

 

[kristina]

thanks Nay! i'm pretty hair hyper at the moment, but i'm definately going to try the cream with a scarve...wish me luck!

 

[tryn2growmyhair]

Aww, thanks for saying I'm your idol :Rose:

I just checked out your latest pics, and your hair is coming along very nicely

I know what you mean about the treadmill and reversion. My hair gets kinda PUFFY after my time spent on the treadmill.

By the way, another option for waves and laying down your hair for your ponytail is using hair cream alone instead of gel. I've noticed that if I tie a scarf on my edges for about 10 minutes after I've wet my hair and applied some Liv hair dressing and lightly brushed it, that it comes out nice and wavy and flat. You just have to really leave the scarf on until the hair dries.

Co-signing on this. A thick hair cream with a scarf always works very well for me. I use my own homemade shea butter-olive-jojoba-coconut-safflower oil-essential oil cream that I make myself. A version of it was posted by another user (I have to thank her, but I do not remember her name). I simply put my shea butter in a double boiler for about 20 minutes and then add the other oils. I melt down the coconut oil before adding it. This has been one of the few things that works repeatedly on my hair and my hair is pretty finicky. The cream comes out as creamy as a store bought cream and it is much healthier. It is a creamy as Vitapointe and the ingredients are much better for the hair.

Also, all protein makes my hair dry. That's why I only use rinse out protein treatments and then I ALWAYS add a moisturizing conditioner afterwards. I shudder to think about what a protein gel would do to my hair and I CANNOT BELIEVE that your braider was adding that ish to your hair!