I just got into heavy sealing over the summer. Jojoba & coconut oil just weren't cutting it for me anymore and my ends were feeling horrible. I started using Nubian Heritage Evoo & Moringa hair butter. My hair felt so much more moisturized and soft. Now I'm going to be using some Tasti kiss hair butters, made with shea butter.
I have always avoided pure shea butter in my natural hair journey b/c I felt like it would be too heavy. But I'm starting to think my hair loves heavier moisturizers. Esp. as my hair grows longer and my ends get older.
YES!!! Same here!!!
When I first BC'd I used to twist my hair with aloe juice, jojoba oil mixed w/all-natural raw shea butter as a sealant, and my hair LOVED it!!
My hair was thriving and it was growing like a weed! It also very rarely felt dry.
But then I went to this lady's salon who specialized in natural hair, and when she heard that I use shea butter on my hair she was totally against it! She said that it's too "heavy" for my fine natural hair, and that it was actually CLOGGING up my hair strands and not allowing any moisture to come INTO my hair.
So, she told me that it wasn't doing my hair any good.
So...I stopped...
Fast forward to NOW... I've now since moved over to the West coast and the weather/climate is MUCH dryer than what me and my hair are used to, and I've long since stopped the shea butter regime years ago and just bought the butters and creams to twist my hair.. LEt me tell you, my hair is now DRY as a bone, it breaks so easily, and it no longer shines or holds moisture like it used to.
When I saw this thread it's like a lightbulb went off in my head!
I need to get back to my OLD regimen!
I think I'm going to try the Blue Magic castor Oil hair grease and seal with that instead of the raw shea butter. I'll give the castor oil a chance first. If THAT doesn't work, I'll go back to my tried and true raw shea butter.
The moral of the story is:
Do what works for YOU and YOUR hair. Don't listen to what everyone else (even your stylist) says.
I think the reason why grease may work better for some women could be based upon your hair porosity. Grease tends to fill in the holes of the cuticles while oils don't fill in the gaps and holes in the cuticles in some hair textures. Higher porosity hair tends to have more holes and gaps in the cuticle structure.
While heavy sealing may be the rescue to dry hair it is critical for us to also be aware of hair practices that could be contributing to creating more holes and gaps in our cuticles. For example, extension braiding with synthetic hair puts microscopic holes in your hair and draws out the moisture. So women who use extension braiding as a primary style and for many years tend to have hair with more of these holes and heavy sealing may work however it is only a temporary solution and can leave your hair greasy and with facial breakouts. This type of hair looks drier, accepts less water and has a hard time accepting sealants. So protein treatments must be paired with sealants. Heat damage can also do the same in terms of putting more holes in the cuticle structure causing hair too look rough and frayed. The finer the hair the more apparent this will look as opposed to someone with a thicker hair structure.
I used to braid my hair a lot and I heavy sealed which worked but it left me with very greasy hair, but now that I transitioned from my relaxer in 2013 and decided to shave it off and stop wearing any extension braids, I don't have to heavy seal though I must make sure to get every area of my hair because my hair is densely packed.
I actually like grease to stretch the front of my hair which is more porous. I blame this on getting an aveda color three months ago which literally sucked out my natural oils and caused my front to be more porous than usual. But I am working on that........
Best,
Almond Eyes
Thanks for this info!
I think I may wash with some Roux porosity control this week, do a deep condition, and try this "sealing" method and see if I notice a difference.
Goodness knows I need to try
SOMETHING new in this DRY, California winter weather...
My hair is like parched...
erplexed