Help Please. Demarcation line breakage!

[SouthernTease]

THIS IS HOW I USE THAT STEAM TOWEL WRAP

I did it twice a week throughout my transition.
Your hair will bow before you.

 

[Blessed_Angel]

GD, hun I was MIA for a while, sorry for delayed response.

edit: I cannot remember how much it costs, but it was moderate. The benefits to using a Dominican rinse and the Roux PC, are both to lay cuticle flat and to help with detangling. I use them both the same way: I use about the size of a quarter coin. I leave it in for about 30 seconds, detangle my hair with my shower comb, then rinse.

Here is an informative post about checking whether your hair is porous from: SistaSlick's Fotki:

http://public.fotki.com/sistaslick/sistaslicks-healthy/stylingmaintenance--1/

Pt. 1: Is My Hair Porous? 3 Simple Tests.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/367189/hair_porosity_help_for_dry_damaged.html

Pt. 2: Yes! It's Porous now Help Me Fix It!
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/375435/hair_porosity_help_for_dry_damaged.html



Some other threads:

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=186229&highlight=porosity+test

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=191287&highlight=porosity+control snippet:

Porosity is going to be one of those things you are going to constantly have to manage until your hair gets healthier and even then you might still have problems. Personally, my hair has always been porous and its because I don't naturally have alot of cuticle layers.

To manage and correct it, your goal is going to be to use products that help seal and close the cuticle. A protein treatment fills in the cracks in a damaged cuticle which will help porosity issues. You also need to look for products that have a low pH to help close the cuticle. I would always wonder why my hair would feel great wash day and then like crap the rest of the week and it was because my cuticle wasn't closed and all the moisture was just leaveing my hair as quickly as I was trying to put it in. Look for shampoo's with a pH below 6. 4.5-5.5 range. If you don't know, email the company and ask. Elasta qp and Joico both have shampoo's that have low pH's. Roux makes a porosity contol shampoo and conditioner. There are many posts here about the Porosity control conditioner. You can also try a ACV rinse after conditioning to help close and seal the cuticle. In the long term, being more gentle with your hair and reducing overall damage will improve your porosity problems.

Hey, Lady, thanks for all the info, I really appreciate it.

It's funny, I didn't have this breakage a few months ago, I am trying to figure how my hair got to this stage; in the meantime, I will learn about how to fix it.

I bought the Roux Porosity Control on Sunday. I did have less breakage this time, but I still have a problem with shedding.

Thanks again.

 

[Lady Esquire]

Hey, Lady, thanks for all the info, I really appreciate it.

It's funny, I didn't have this breakage a few months ago, I am trying to figure how my hair got to this stage; in the meantime, I will learn about how to fix it.

I bought the Roux Porosity Control on Sunday. I did have less breakage this time, but I still have a problem with shedding.

Thanks again.

Lot of ladies use garlic shampoos to curb shedding.
Cinnamon supposedly curbs it as well. I purchased Capillo's Sole & Cinnamon Rinse, and I have not had any shedding issues since.

But shedding is also seasonal too....try the garlic or cinnamon prods to see though.

 

[Xavier]

Angry Hair,

Know your limit. The stretching thing is not for everyone. Of course you have to be reasonable. I would not suggest getting a relaxer every 4 weeks, but 8 weeks is not bad at all. Many ladies have to learn the hard way when it comes to stretching and end up doing more damage than good and setting their progress back. I did a 12 week stretch this last time and my hair was matted so badly. I did a tedious detangling process before applying the relaxer but still ended up with matted hair. Thank God I was able to get the tangles out with a lot of patients and my trusty ORS RP, but some have not been so lucky. I will not be stretching past 10 weeks ever again.


Okay so if you are determined to do a stretch I would suggest a quality flat iron, rollersetting, curlformer(maybe). I am amazed at how some of these ladies are like 12 weeks post and you would think that they had a fresh relaxer. I can't remember her name now, but she is really pretty, and she just recently had two threads. One with her curlform results and the other with her successful rollerset results. I was shocked that this girl was stretching, you would not be able to tell. I know some ladies use a flat iron and it really helps to even out the two textures, which makes it a lot easier to manage. I myself am going to invest in either a Sedu or Chi because I only can handle keeping my hair in a pony when I stretch. I want to start wearing my hair down more now that I am almost BSL.

Anyway you have been given some great advice so far. Hope you can use this information to your advantage.

 

[Lady Esquire]

Angry Hair,

Know your limit. The stretching thing is not for everyone. Of course you have to be reasonable. I would not suggest getting a relaxer every 4 weeks, but 8 weeks is not bad at all. Many ladies have to learn the hard way when it comes to stretching and end up doing more damage than good and setting their progress back. I did a 12 week stretch this last time and my hair was matted so badly. I did a tedious detangling process before applying the relaxer but still ended up with matted hair. Thank God I was able to get the tangles out with a lot of patients and my trusty ORS RP, but some have not been so lucky. I will not be stretching past 10 weeks ever again.


Okay so if you are determined to do a stretch I would suggest a quality flat iron, rollersetting, curlformer(maybe). I am amazed at how some of these ladies are like 12 weeks post and you would think that they had a fresh relaxer. I can't remember her name now, but she is really pretty, and she just recently had two threads. One with her curlform results and the other with her successful rollerset results. I was shocked that this girl was stretching, you would not be able to tell. I know some ladies use a flat iron and it really helps to even out the two textures, which makes it a lot easier to manage. I myself am going to invest in either a Sedu or Chi because I only can handle keeping my hair in a pony when I stretch. I want to start wearing my hair down more now that I am almost BSL.

Anyway you have been given some great advice so far. Hope you can use this information to your advantage.

I agree with Xavier's post 100%. Stretching can be successful if you know what your limits are, and if you learn the cues your hair gives you by LISTENING to your hair. I recently purchased my first quality iron, MaxiGlide, and at 12 weeks, my hair looks really straight, and has no breakage. I learn something valuable with each stretch. For instance, I stretch better in the winter and fall. I need to wash more in the summer months.

I have decided that during the later weeks of my stretch, I am going to follow Sylver's wash routine, trying to prolong the time between washes. I notice a lot of stretchers, and ladies with the longest hair, stetch out their washes, but keep their hair DC'd and moisturized, and keep their hair straight while stretching.

 

[miami74]

I agree with Xavier's post 100%. Stretching can be successful if you know what your limits are, and if you learn the cues your hair gives you by LISTENING to your hair. I recently purchased my first quality iron, MaxiGlide, and at 12 weeks, my hair looks really straight, and has no breakage. I learn something valuable with each stretch. For instance, I stretch better in the winter and fall. I need to wash more in the summer months.

I have decided that during the later weeks of my stretch, I am going to follow Sylver's wash routine, trying to prolong the time between washes. I notice a lot of stretchers, and ladies with the longest hair, stetch out their washes, but keep their hair DC'd and moisturized, and keep their hair straight while stretching.

LadyEsquire,

How often will you wash then? 1x a week? Longer? Or what?

 

[Lady Esquire]

LadyEsquire,

How often will you wash then? 1x a week? Longer? Or what?

I usually wash 1-2 times a week. Once if its a nice and well-behaved rollerset. But with all of this new growth, I have decided to DC as normal, keep it moisturized as usual. Now that I finally have a quality flat iron, I will wash every 2 weeks and flat-iron then (only when the new growth gets unruly). In the earlier weeks, I may most likely stick to wash once or more times a week, though.

This is my first trial run with the two week wash regimen. I am 9 days into my last wash. And so far, so good. I wake up, moisturize and seal, finger-comb or lightly rake. Then at bed time I wrap with a silk scarf. Very simple. Hair looks great. Today I noticed that the hair lacked bounce. So I set in a few Caruso steam rollers, took a few mins, and I was back in business.

 

[Blessed_Angel]

Lot of ladies use garlic shampoos to curb shedding.
Cinnamon supposedly curbs it as well. I purchased Capillo's Sole & Cinnamon Rinse, and I have not had any shedding issues since.

But shedding is also seasonal too....try the garlic or cinnamon prods to see though.

My only problem was shedding...until I tried the Nutrine Garlic Shampoo. Terrible mistake! It made my hair sooo dry and tangled. I am trying to get it back to it's original state, but it's hard. Did I try the wrong shampoo? Please tell me the rinse will not dry out my hair? If not, I will order it right away.

 

[Lady Esquire]

My only problem was shedding...until I tried the Nutrine Garlic Shampoo. Terrible mistake! It made my hair sooo dry and tangled. I am trying to get it back to it's original state, but it's hard. Did I try the wrong shampoo? Please tell me the rinse will not dry out my hair? If not, I will order it right away.

I cannot guarantee that it will not dry your hair. I have learned what works for one may not work for another. This whole hair thing is trial and error. I use a small size (about size of a quarter coin), then I run it thru hair and ends, detangle with a shower comb. Rinse. You can do it after your shampoo or after your DC. I do it after DC.

 

[HappyHairDreams]

I totally forgot to follow up on this.
I really appreciate all the advice though.
The breakage I was experiencing apparently was because I wasn't moisturizing enough. I bumped up the moisture and haven't lost a hair since...ok maybe 2 or 3 every couple of days...but I can live with that.

I agree, stretching isn't for everyone. My coils are about coffee stir width and they are stubborn as can be but I'm not willing to put heat on them. I'll probably perm either at the end of this week or next week. I figure 13 weeks is enough for me...plus i'm getting sick of wearing my hair pulled back all the time.

 

[miami74]

I totally forgot to follow up on this.
I really appreciate all the advice though.
The breakage I was experiencing apparently was because I wasn't moisturizing enough. I bumped up the moisture and haven't lost a hair since...ok maybe 2 or 3 every couple of days...but I can live with that.

I agree, stretching isn't for everyone. My coils are about coffee stir width and they are stubborn as can be but I'm not willing to put heat on them. I'll probably perm either at the end of this week or next week. I figure 13 weeks is enough for me...plus i'm getting sick of wearing my hair pulled back all the time.

I'm glad you figured out the cause. That's the same situation for me with the breakage and once I increased the moisture and balanced the protein, the breakage has decreased. I am going to end my stretch at 13 weeks as well. I have 4 more weeks to go!