I am so disappointed *LONG POST*

[larry3344]

I was getting my hair done and as I was moisturizing and combing it, i realized my texture is not just 4b. I have just noticed that my kitchen is somewhere between (its a huge patch too) 3c and 4a . The front is I believe 4a it turns into a bunch of pen springs and the sides have random coils but since it is still a little short it lacks more defenition and the rest is 4b. Now my problem my coils harden after a while so I figured I would share it with my mom who'v taken care of my hair my entire life. As soon as I told her her, she asked me if I had a texturizer, I said no and followed by asking what can I do to alleviate the hardness of my coils.
Unfortunately I made the mistake of telling her about trying the baking soda treatment, (it helped a lot my hair is softer now) and she went on tirade to stop following this site that people here have "different" hair than we do.
Now I dearly love my mother but the things that she said utterly disappointed me. My mom herself is a 3c/4a/4b her hair tends to be softer. She always cuts its into a twa sometimes even as close as a fade he says the only way she can soften her hair by relaxing. Which is untrue her hair is very soft already she just doesn't like to deal with it.
I don't know why but I am utterly disappointed want my hair to grow fast so she can see for herself that it isn't true.


P.S: Right now my biggest struggle in retaining length is handling with dryness, does anyone have a moisture regimen??

 

[MCMLXXII]

P.S: Right now my biggest struggle in retaining length is handling with dryness, does anyone have a moisture regimen??

I don't mean this in a not nice way, but please use the search portal in the upper right-hand corner and search the site.

LHCF is extensive. I'm sure you'll find the answers you need with a quick search.

 

[larry3344]

I have I was just looking for some immediate input but thanks

 

[Faith]

What is your current regimen? What are you using/doing?

 

[larry3344]

Right now I dc once a week apply megatek ever 3 days and my growth mix every four days and daily moisturizing and sealing. My hair is still in the twa stage so the only I do is daily spritzing aloe vera juice, use a moisturizer and seal with a pomade or oil. Although I am considering laying off the magatek for a bit and use a growth oil instead.

 

[titan]

you can't always follow someone else's regimen because it may not be what is right for you, and I do believe your mother had a point. I have to say that you must devise your own hair care regimine that best suit your hair type, you'll be thankful in the long run.

 

[Faith]

Your mom is right to a point but if you feel the BS isn't the issue then the plan has to be to figure out why it's dry. My hair is inherently "not as soft" as everybody else's and yours may be like that as well. I learned to deal with what I have. You need to make sure it's not product.
Which moisturizer are you using? Which DC? I'm glad you stopped the MegaTek, that was probably not helping you.

 

[larry3344]

Thanks ladies and I will try to figure out what needs to be done for my hair, although I was not trying to follow other ladies' regimen but was just looking to find methods that could help reduce my dryness

 

[MissLawyerLady]

You should search the threads for co-washing (or conditioner washing), deep conditioning, moisturizers, sealing. You should come up with a lot of information so you'll have plenty of hours of reading, but you should be able to come up with some ideas of how to combat your dryness.

Just don't try anything too drastic; take it slow and don't jump on every bandwagon.

 

[SmartyPants]

My hair used to be extremely dry. It has taken a solid year of consistent hair practices to finally get my hair fully moisturized. I co-wash my hair twice a week and do a full shampoo wash once a week. I now do the Samantha Jones turbie twist steam treatment with a moisturizing conditioner once a week (the day I shampoo wash); but, when I was trying to add moisture I did that steam treatment two or three times a week (my hair was REALLY dry).

Since you are using MT, most people advise you not to add extra protein. However, my hair likes protein so I use Motions CPR once a week. If your hair likes protein, you can still do a protein treatment but make sure you do a deep condition to follow that up to maintain balance.

BTW... when I do the turbie twist steam treatment, I sit under the dryer for a full hour (an hour and a half if I've used protein that day). Look up the "home grown steam treatment" for instructions on how to do this.

 

[supermodelsonya]

Hey guys,

I'm not speaking for the OP but I think she wanted us to list our moisture regimens. She may not copy the same things that we do, just so that she can see what the rest of us are doing to incorporate her own regi.

OP...am I right?

Now, for my moisture regimen....I moisturize with ORS olive oil lotion and seal with Wild Growth Oil. I co-wash at least 1x a week and DC 1-2x a week with ORS Pak or SIlk Elements DC.

cowashing, DC'ing, moisturizing and sealing are great ways to moisturize your hair.

 

[FlawedBeauty]

Maybe the megatek could be adding to ur dryness issue?? could be having protien overload? my hair cant take too much protien and gets dried out. i would say just keep up with the dc'in.

 

[Faith]

Well I figured sometimes it's easier to list what products are being used then advice can be given. If we all list all 50,000 products we're using it's a little overwhelming (imo) and may invite PJism..

But OP, if you wanted a list of products then here goes:
Do a prepoo of coconut oil

If you must shampoo use a really moisturizing one (all natural or one of the CONs). My hair actually prefers the nontraditional stuff like shikakai powder

For DC: Elasta QP DPR11, ORS RP, AO HSR, Kenra MC, Kenra Emollient Treatment, I personally LOVE Aveda DR IRT for DCing even though it has quinoa protein in it. You can add brahmi and amla powders to really kick up the moisture.

For leave in that makes hair like butter try lacio lacio.

For oils: wildgrowth makes my hair soft, kemi oyl isn't bad and gro aut is pretty good
For creamy moisturizers I don't mind Qhemet products

If you are not allergic to it or your hair doesn't turn against you...try glycerine based products like scurl to soften your hair before sealing.

HTH!

 

[prettynatural]

also, try to stay away from silicones. I never knew that was my problem with dryness until recently. When my hair dried, it was something awful, crispy and everything after i had deepconditioned. The silicones block moisture. Try some silicone free conditioners and extra virgin coconut oil, the cooking kind will go a long way for moisture. I notice with megatek I have to moisturize a lot so, you may wanna do it once a week. Your hair will grow, just give it time and have healthy hair practice, low manipulation and low to no heat and you will have long hair soon!

 

[kaykaybobay]

maybe trying out anothers method isn't a bad idea, heck that is what I had to do. No harm in trying. I had to try so many methods as well as products to discover what works.

 

[larry3344]

Thank you supermodelsonya, I don't want to copy anyone's regimen I just wanted ideas on how to combat dryness and thanks again to all, for your input

 

[msa]

Well, if you're using MT you need a super moisturizing DC to counteract the dry/hardness you may get from the protein.

I'm a 4a/b and I rinse my hair with water every day for moisture. Then I add castor oil throughout. The castor oil keeps the water from evaporating too quickly and my hair is always soft soft soft.

I barely DC, because I'm lazy, and I wear a puff everyday, also because I'm lazy. I don't really need anything else but water and castor oil. I do baking soda rinses to wash my hair, followed with coconut milk straight from the can as conditioner, about once a week.

You may be feeling dryness from the baking soda, especially if you're not balancing your ph afterward and closing your cuticle. You may want to try an acv rinse after your baking soda rinse to see if your hair feels better. Make sure you really dilute the acv though.

And please don't trip off of what other people have to say. I stopped telling people what I do to my hair because folks always have something negative to say. Now when people ask me all I say is I rinse my hair with water. People were trying to down me about using only natural ingredients (baking soda, coconut milk, caramel treatment, etc. etc.) so I had to stop saying anything about them. It's your hair, enjoy it. Don't even worry about "showing" other people that you're making progress, because no matter what most will find something negative to say even if your hair was booty length. Hair is a personal thing, so don't try to drag other people along on your journey, especially when they're not interested, it'll just make things harder for you.

 

[Nonie]

OK, I do agree that not everything that works for others will work for you. For example, I am 4B and HATED baking soda. Used it once and it left my hair rock hard. I had to do some extra conditioning to get it to feel normal. And when I thought about it, it made total sense that it should leave my hair like that, because as an alkaline, all it did was open my hair cuticles leading to rough hair that looked very dull. I have since returned to "normal" shampoos that I can find at the drugstore with ease and my hair has never been as hard as that day. Also why you have to find out what works for you is because you may find that you will dance better to the beat of your own drum. For instance, I do not use ANY products as a leave in, and if I undid my twist you'd be surprised to feel how soft my hair is. My regimen is just shampoo twice a week followed by conditioning and then ACV rinse. Then CW anytime in the week I wish to wear my hair uncovered. (I love hats and wraps so I tend to wear them over my plastic cap a lot.) Sleeping in a plastic cap keeps my hair from drying up. While I'm sure it would feel like butter if I applied something to it, I love the softness I have now without any stickiness. I love that I can lean back on furnishings without worrying about staining them.

The other thing I would like to suggest is to keep it super simple. Using too many things because you heard someone else does that isn't the way to go. Look at some of us 4B's who have minimal products. Msa is my current idol coz she uses water to moisturize and Castor oil to seal. I love how simple that regimen is, and if I ever consider a change--although I don't change things when they're working OK--then that's one way I might go. When I wear my hair out, S Curl is all I used. But I would have to baggy for at least one night to feel its effects. And after that night's baggying, no more application would be necessary till wash day. I used S Curl when I had a TWA because I wore my hair combed out daily and S Curl provided slip and a softness that made my hair pop.

 

[1Aleeesha]

Deep conditioning really often like at least twice a week keeps my hair in great shape... I know a lot of other ladies have said the same thing

 

[larry3344]

bumpppppppppppppppp

 

[MeechUK]

I always thought Megatek was a protein laden product, perhaps your hair was overloaded with protein!