Low Porosity Support Thread

[Jobwright]

genesislocks was just telling me about cassia this week. I think I will order some. How do you use it blairxO? What brand, mix ratios, time left on, etc if you don't mind me asking. Is their a good YouTube video about it?

 

[Blairx0]

I wrote about my use of cassia here: http://herampersandhim.com/2013/05/29/my-love-affair-with-cassia/

that many answer your questions. As far as brand I have purchased from Mehndi and thought the powder was great. But i wasn't using it regularly so I found it to be expensive. When i decided to try again I bought something cheap just to test my commitment.

 

[faithVA]

I don't know if there is an answer, but regular use of cassia has negated many of the issues I used to suffer from being lo po

I agree. Not sure if there is an answer, like a permanent fix. There are work arounds. Many of the ladies here have found work arounds.

 

[Jobwright]

I ordered some cassia and Kapur. It should be delivered by tomorrow. If this does not work, I may have to step off the transitioning train and relax. The relaxer definitely cured all lo Po issues for me. I never had these issues of dry hair before. NEVER. Do I want to struggle just for the sake of saying I don't use chemicals? Is it really worth it? Can I make my hair goals as a transitioner? And even if I do, the shrinkage won't even allow me to really appreciate making growth goals. I may have a bigger poof, but I just don't know how to get this 4bc hair defined into beautiful curls, defined kinks or textured waves. I need to be happy, enjoy my hair and feel good when I leave my house. My lifestyle requires me to excrete positivity in all that I do. So, why am I torturing myself?

I just needed to say it out loud to get it off my chest. At the end of the day, I can do braid outs, twist outs, Bantus and all the other styles as a relaxed head too. Just easier and, in my opinion, on my head, easier. Lord help! I may be taking this waaaaay to seriously.

 

[Evolving78]

i used Silk Dreams products for my wash and style day. i set my hair on rollers. i couldn't get under the dryer, so i decided to airdry. normally my hair doesn't take too long to air dry. it takes a 3-5 hours in rollers. well yesterday, my hair wouldn't dry to save my life! my hair was just way too moist and it was humid as ever! so i decided last night to do some flat twists for a twistout. i dreamed about it all night and couldn't wait to take the twists down. i also used SD products to moisturize and seal with for my twists. i made sure i put some of the satin cream on my ends. my hair was so soft and moisturized this morning. i have never had products to moisturize my hair like this!

SD makes my hair soft and subtle and Nairobi makes my hair strong and silky!

 

[classoohfive]

I ordered some cassia and Kapur. It should be delivered by tomorrow. If this does not work, I may have to step off the transitioning train and relax. The relaxer definitely cured all lo Po issues for me. I never had these issues of dry hair before. NEVER. Do I want to struggle just for the sake of saying I don't use chemicals? Is it really worth it? Can I make my hair goals as a transitioner? And even if I do, the shrinkage won't even allow me to really appreciate making growth goals. I may have a bigger poof, but I just don't know how to get this 4bc hair defined into beautiful curls, defined kinks or textured waves. I need to be happy, enjoy my hair and feel good when I leave my house. My lifestyle requires me to excrete positivity in all that I do. So, why am I torturing myself?

I just needed to say it out loud to get it off my chest. At the end of the day, I can do braid outs, twist outs, Bantus and all the other styles as a relaxed head too. Just easier and, in my opinion, on my head, easier. Lord help! I may be taking this waaaaay to seriously.

Jobwright

I'm in the same position. I posted about my situation a few pages back. I thought transitioning would be easy since I had my texlaxed routine down but my texlaxed hair is normal with some high-po (I was told that the high-po areas may have been caused by my hair tools). So pretty much every product and technique that worked before no longer works with my natural hair and I'm learning everything all over again. After 57 weeks post I feel stuck and frustrated. I want to go natural to do something different with my hair and because I was bored of relaxing, but this lo-po issue is making things difficult. The only reason I haven't stopped my transitioning is because I've gone this far and I'm hoping I find something that works. I would be full BSL and on my way to MBL by now but I've experienced a lot of breakage since I can't satisfy my natural lo-po hair. Part of me wants to texlax before I lose more, the stubborn part of me wants to keep going since I've already suffered so much

Some people said they had success with perm. dyes, but I've never dyed my hair with another other than BAQ henna so I'm really afraid to try it. Plus, I'm still mostly texlaxed so I'd be worried about the dye causing the need to do an early BC. I've considered VERY mildly texlaxing again, just as far as I need to in order to raise my porosity and keep as much as my natural curl as possible.


And I don't think you're taking this too seriously. Even though "it's just hair", it can get really frustrating. I look forward to hearing how the cassia and Kapur work.

 

[classoohfive]

Jobwright

Did you ever try the cassia and Kapur?

 

[faithVA]

I don't know if I ever mentioned this before but this is something I have been doing and it helps some. When I rinse my conditioner out, I take a section of hair and cup it between my palm and my fingers and I take the pads of my fingers and pressed them toward my palms pushing water into my hair. And as I do this my hair makes a squishing sound. I may do each section 8 to 10 times. I start the count when I hear the first squish. And I do this starting at the root and work all the way down the section of hair.

When I finish the last section, I let water run on my head for a while. Then I shake my hair a bit and put on 2 plastic caps. I don't use a towel or t-shirt at all. If I'm dripping I put the t-shirt over the plastic caps. I sit with the plastic cap for 15 minutes, often under a heat cap to help my strands expand and absorb water.

This had improved my moisture quite a bit.

I'm still working on sealing properly but now it can stay moisturized 2 to 3 days vs the 0 to 1 days I had before.

Squeezing the water into the hair has really helped. Let me know if any of you try it.

 

[divachyk]

Do any of you baggy or GHE to pump moisture into the hair? Product selection and technique helped me on this struggle.

 

[Saludable84]

Do any of you baggy or GHE to pump moisture into the hair? Product selection and technique helped me on this struggle.

I've done both. GHE works the best, but it was uncomfortable for me as it only worked overnight. I didn't mind the moist hair, and it lasted for a couple of days, it was just the sleeping factor that bothered me. I might pick it up again for the hot summer.

Please excuse my iPhone; it's trying to get it together

 

[faithVA]

Do any of you baggy or GHE to pump moisture into the hair? Product selection and technique helped me on this struggle.

I baggy after conditioning and before I style. I have not gotten it to work for me yet mid-week. Even when I seal after my hair seems to dry and then becomes hard and wiry. Still playing around with sealers. It may be a heavy butter but not sure yet.

 

[CocoGlow]

Do any of you baggy or GHE to pump moisture into the hair? Product selection and technique helped me on this struggle.

@divachyk

I have yet to see the need to baggy but then again things may change for me during the dry Winter months.

I totally agree with product slection & technique.

I've been doing things unconventionally for a few months now and it seems to be working. I do NOT seal with a butter/oil. I do NOT moisturize my hair when wet/damp. I have found success with waiting until my hair is dry, then saturating it with SCurl No Drip Curl Activator, then applying a Leave-in/Moisturizer of choice (I guess this is my sealant but since it's water-based my hair does not feel greasy & dry afterward). My hair is very soft & stays moisturized! For the first day after wash day I need to moisturize again but depending on how my hair feels I can do this every other day until wash day again.

I think as the humidity & temperature drops my hair will not be so easy to deal with and I'll need to revisit the baggy idea - I think the humidity in the air is doing what the baggy does - my hair transforms when there is moisture in the air LOVE it!!

 

[Evolving78]

Jobwright

I'm in the same position. I posted about my situation a few pages back. I thought transitioning would be easy since I had my texlaxed routine down but my texlaxed hair is normal with some high-po (I was told that the high-po areas may have been caused by my hair tools). So pretty much every product and technique that worked before no longer works with my natural hair and I'm learning everything all over again. After 57 weeks post I feel stuck and frustrated. I want to go natural to do something different with my hair and because I was bored of relaxing, but this lo-po issue is making things difficult. The only reason I haven't stopped my transitioning is because I've gone this far and I'm hoping I find something that works. I would be full BSL and on my way to MBL by now but I've experienced a lot of breakage since I can't satisfy my natural lo-po hair. Part of me wants to texlax before I lose more, the stubborn part of me wants to keep going since I've already suffered so much

Some people said they had success with perm. dyes, but I've never dyed my hair with another other than BAQ henna so I'm really afraid to try it. Plus, I'm still mostly texlaxed so I'd be worried about the dye causing the need to do an early BC. I've considered VERY mildly texlaxing again, just as far as I need to in order to raise my porosity and keep as much as my natural curl as possible.


And I don't think you're taking this too seriously. Even though "it's just hair", it can get really frustrating. I look forward to hearing how the cassia and Kapur work.

you are doing a good job for 57 weeks post. i am the type of person that i gotta do what makes me feel best. i would have cut off the relaxed ends along time ago. my natural hair and relaxed hair are two different animals. trying to keep both textures happy would drive me crazy and i would have some serious breakage.

 

[Evolving78]

Do any of you baggy or GHE to pump moisture into the hair? Product selection and technique helped me on this struggle.

i do an oil treatment with coconut oil/baggy for a few hours to soften my hair and give it some slip before i shampoo. i never mean to keep the oil in more than 30 mins, but i always get side tracked.

 

[divachyk]

Saludable84, I love baggying and GHE equally with the right products. I can baggy with any moisturizer with success. Glycerin based moisturizers work wonders. I like GHEing by spritzing with water & topping with evoo. I place a doo rag over my plastic cap to make it stay in place and that minimizes discomfort and noise.

faithVA, do you try to comb your hair after applying products to distribute it through. Hard and wiry? Are you air drying when getting this feeling? Do you get this feeling when you baggy and don't air dry? Just trying to do process of elimination.

shortdub78, I love evco as a prepoo. Nothing compares!

 

[faithVA]

divachyk[/USER];18715593]Saludable84, I love baggying and GHE equally with the right products. I can baggy with any moisturizer with success. Glycerin based moisturizers work wonders. I like GHEing by spritzing with water & topping with evoo. I place a doo rag over my plastic cap to make it stay in place and that minimizes discomfort and noise.

faithVA, do you try to comb your hair after applying products to distribute it through. Hard and wiry? Are you air drying when getting this feeling? Do you get this feeling when you baggy and don't air dry? Just trying to do process of elimination.

shortdub78, I love evco as a prepoo. Nothing compares!

Not sure what you are asking but I will try to answer your questions. I never baggy with lose hair that would be a no no. My hair would draw up to an inch of its life I am always bagging with twists and I do not take them down afterwards. That would be too much. My hair isn't that long to put it bag up easily. Yes I am air drying. I always air dry. My scalp cannot take the heat of a dryer so I always air dry.

I wasn't aware that those that were baggying with twists were taking their hair down. That is something new to me. Most accounts I heard they were baggying either with or without adding producting and then some seal after they take off the plastic cap. That is how I understood it whether they were calling it Gheing or baggying.

 

[divachyk]

@faithVA, sorry lady. Didn't mean to confuse you. I baggy with my hair loose if doing a 2 hour baggy but I pin it in a loose bun if doing o/n baggy or GHE.

So, my technique for....

Baggying: lightly spritz hair with water (to add slip to strands), add moisturizer, lightly comb product through hair to distribute and separate the strands as my hair tends to clump together. Seal after baggying is complete.

GHEing: spritz hair with water, comb hair to separate strands, apply evoo, baggy. I comb before adding oil because I get less breakage this way.

My hair would dry hard and wiry if I didn't apply product as I don't generate enough steam for that to stand alone as my moisture. The baggying or GHEing generates steam and magnifies the products I use, thus giving my hair good moisture.

HTH.

 

[faithVA]

I'm not sure how to modify that to work for me. I have no way to take my hair down mid week.

I have tried baggying with water, no water, with product no product, sealing with oil, sealing with butter, not sealing. I generate enough steam, my hair is usually soaking wet in the morning. I have tried it with just a plastic cap and I have tried it with the plastic cap over a bonnet. But it eventually dries hard. It also makes my hair frizz.

Probably if I could take my hair down mid-week I would probably just cowash which would resolve that issue. But I probably have another year before my hair is long enough to take it down mid-week.

I will leave the baggying to the pros

 

[divachyk]

faithVA, pro status is being too kind. A lot of trial and error, mainly error.

 

[classoohfive]

I agree with this. Henna and semi-permanents have done a job on my hair. Before LHCF I colored my hair every month and my hair was just fine. Then when I came to LHCF I tried to do the right thing and go with all natural products. My hair has been in a shambles since. I am back to permanent color again. I color my hair because it is graying. I don't know that I would recommend coloring the hair just to raise the cuticle even though it does work. Because along with coloring the hair you also have to add in additional protein treatments.

However, I do feel like my hair maintains moisture better with the color and protein combination. I will see how my hair does over the long haul though.

faithVA

Which brand of perm color do you use? I'm going to spend another month trying out some of the tips in this thread before I try it, but I think this will be my next option. I just really hope my texlaxed hair handles it well, I'm trying not to BC for another year... Or two.

 

[faithVA]

faithVA

Which brand of perm color do you use? I'm going to spend another month trying out some of the tips in this thread before I try it, but I think this will be my next option. I just really hope my texlaxed hair handles it well, I'm trying not to BC for another year... Or two.

The last time I used the Naturatine hair color. It worked well. My hair was soft after. I have tried a few: Bigen ION Softsheen Carson. I thought I liked those but have not retried them since the henna.

I will be purchasing Shea Moistures next. I hope I like it. I only color my hair because I am graying. I probably wouldn't otherwise. And I color my roots every 12 week or so.

Hopefully you can find other answers for your hair.

 

[classoohfive]

The last time I used the Naturatine hair color. It worked well. My hair was soft after. I have tried a few: Bigen ION Softsheen Carson. I thought I liked those but have not retried them since the henna.

I will be purchasing Shea Moistures next. I hope I like it. I only color my hair because I am graying. I probably wouldn't otherwise. And I color my roots every 12 week or so.

Hopefully you can find other answers for your hair.

Thank you. If I go this route I'll try the Naturatine.

I've had some gray hairs since I was a teenager. I started doing henna a few years ago. I wanted to color them without using chemicals since I was already using a relaxer. I'm okay with using chemicals in my hair, I'd just prefer not to go through the process if possible. I think I'll be okay dying my hair once I BC, it'll take less time than the henna then indigo treatments I was doing for coverage.

 

[Jobwright]

Jobwright

Did you ever try the cassia and Kapur?

It's still sitting in my dresser. I want to sooooo bad but nervous a little. I ran out of Tresemme Naturals condish (my fave) so I would have to mix with ELASTA QP Intense or ORS Replenish condish. Maybe I can build up some nerve to do it tonight for a rinse in the morning. Do you use it?

 

[faithVA]

Thank you. If I go this route I'll try the Naturatine.

I've had some gray hairs since I was a teenager. I started doing henna a few years ago. I wanted to color them without using chemicals since I was already using a relaxer. I'm okay with using chemicals in my hair, I'd just prefer not to go through the process if possible. I think I'll be okay dying my hair once I BC, it'll take less time than the henna then indigo treatments I was doing for coverage.

I picked up the Shea Moisture Medium Brown Hair Color last night. Not sure if and when I will color but I have it if I want it. I'm actually trying some Gray Away pills which are actually working. I haven't taken them consistently though to know for sure.

 

[classoohfive]

It's still sitting in my dresser. I want to sooooo bad but nervous a little. I ran out of Tresemme Naturals condish (my fave) so I would have to mix with ELASTA QP Intense or ORS Replenish condish. Maybe I can build up some nerve to do it tonight for a rinse in the morning. Do you use it?

I haven't used it, I was considering purchasing some so I checked in with you first

I have a very small sample I received a few years ago to test on shed hairs. I never used any of it, I ended up liking my results with my henna samples so I stuck to that. That was before I began transitioning. I'm thinking about testing it on some shed hair before I purchase more, but it may be too old to use.

 

[classoohfive]

I picked up the Shea Moisture Medium Brown Hair Color last night. Not sure if and when I will color but I have it if I want it. I'm actually trying some Gray Away pills which are actually working. I haven't taken them consistently though to know for sure.

Wow, I didn't know they had pills for that. I know what you take can alter your hair, but I didn't know it could do that!

I went ahead and henna'ed my hair. I know it's not the best option for LO PO hair, I was just really tired of those gray hairs and I'm still too scared to use other dyes. I made sure to sleep in my DC and now I'm babying my hair with moisture. It's actually not as dry as I expected and my texlaxed hair is happy.

 

[faithVA]

Wow, I didn't know they had pills for that. I know what you take can alter your hair, but I didn't know it could do that!

I went ahead and henna'ed my hair. I know it's not the best option for LO PO hair, I was just really tired of those gray hairs and I'm still too scared to use other dyes. I made sure to sleep in my DC and now I'm babying my hair with moisture. It's actually not as dry as I expected and my texlaxed hair is happy.

It depends on why you are gray. If you have gray hair due to stress then these pills provide the enzyme catalase which is the enzyme that gets inhibited by stress and causes the hair to gray or more specifically hydrogen peroxide to be introduced in the system and bleach the hair.

I didn't know it either until I was reading online one day. When I use them more consistently I will do a review and take pictures.

 

[FelaShrine]

Found out my LP fate couple of days ago

Crazy cos for a while Ive been wondeirng about my relaxers not taking as much. I always blamed myself cos Im fine haired and wanted to keep texture so I dont let them keep it on for long and only used mild relaxers but still after the first week of nice smoothness it';s back to the looking all fuzzy and bushy nonsense. On Sunday gonna be 4 weeks post and frankly the hair looks 9 weeks already. Thank God for wigs

Defini\ely gonna look into baking soda rinses.
started hot oil steaming 3 weeks ago before DCs with a Secura steamer..that has helped abit..although Im so over having to turn my face to the steamer to get my nape..gonna get the standing one sometime soon.

Will only keep the Roux I bought before for after relaxing or something.

Tried the GHE on my hair after moisturizing and sealing last night.(Darcy's LTC and SSI Defrizzer with Castor Oil) after 2 hrs before bed..put scarf..in the morning hair was frizzy and ends bushy..I would considerng doing GHE overnight but I so see my hair getting mushy

No more cold rinses

Looking to start using demi-perm colors

I tend to stretch til 16 weeks..gotta find a way to keep my hair looking nicely moisturized for more than a day after rollersets(even sometimes after taking the rollers out the day of a set, it alreayd looks kinda fizzy) and figure out what to do to get relaxers to "take" next time I touch-up..I might shorten this stretch to 14 weeks

I REALLY hope to get an Komaza analysis done in a month or so.

 

[faithVA]

Found out my LP fate couple of days ago

Crazy cos for a while Ive been wondeirng about my relaxers not taking as much. I always blamed myself cos Im fine haired and wanted to keep texture so I dont let them keep it on for long and only used mild relaxers but still after the first week of nice smoothness it';s back to the looking all fuzzy and bushy nonsense. On Sunday gonna be 4 weeks post and frankly the hair looks 9 weeks already. Thank God for wigs

Defini\ely gonna look into baking soda rinses.
started hot oil steaming 3 weeks ago before DCs with a Secura steamer..that has helped abit..although Im so over having to turn my face to the steamer to get my nape..gonna get the standing one sometime soon.

Will only keep the Roux I bought before for after relaxing or something.

Tried the GHE on my hair after moisturizing and sealing last night.(Darcy's LTC and SSI Defrizzer with Castor Oil) after 2 hrs before bed..put scarf..in the morning hair was frizzy and ends bushy..I would considerng doing GHE overnight but I so see my hair getting mushy

No more cold rinses

Looking to start using demi-perm colors

I tend to stretch til 16 weeks..gotta find a way to keep my hair looking nicely moisturized for more than a day after rollersets(even sometimes after taking the rollers out the day of a set, it alreayd looks kinda fizzy) and figure out what to do to get relaxers to "take" next time I touch-up..I might shorten this stretch to 14 weeks

I REALLY hope to get an Komaza analysis done in a month or so.

How did you figure out you were low porosity? What happened a few days ago that made you realize it?

 

[Saludable84]

FelaShrine

Join the Club:

Crazy cos for a while Ive been wondeirng about my relaxers not taking as much. I always blamed myself cos Im fine haired and wanted to keep texture so I dont let them keep it on for long and only used mild relaxers but still after the first week of nice smoothness it';s back to the looking all fuzzy and bushy nonsense. On Sunday gonna be 4 weeks post and frankly the hair looks 9 weeks already. Thank God for wigs
I got really damaged bone straight hair because this. I would have to smooth 5-6 times before it got straight and since my crown is lower porosity, I would need to smooth about 7 times. I gave up on my crown years ago, but when my hair started breaking almost 2 years ago, I just smooth once now and Im fine with that. Air drying, now thats a different story


Definitely gonna look into baking soda rinses.
My only hesitance is that their rumored to be a bit abrasive

started hot oil steaming 3 weeks ago before DCs with a Secura steamer..that has helped abit..although Im so over having to turn my face to the steamer to get my nape..gonna get the standing one sometime soon.
I put a towel over my steamer and it gets the nape pretty well. I don't really get nape breakage though, so i don't worry so much about the nape unlike my crown and areas closer to my ears

Will only keep the Roux I bought before for after relaxing or something.
Please do that!

Tried the GHE on my hair after moisturizing and sealing last night.(Darcy's LTC and SSI Defrizzer with Castor Oil) after 2 hrs before bed..put scarf..in the morning hair was frizzy and ends bushy..I would considerng doing GHE overnight but I so see my hair getting mushy
So you need to be careful with LTC. It has aloe and the 411 on aloe is that it can close the cuticles so it will just make LP hair worse. I use the LTC as a leave in when my hair is slightly damp or I spray it with some water, rub some on, then seal with oil. As a moisturizer, it doesn't help. GHE is good if you have a good water based moisturizer, but honestly, I stopped bothering. If its that dry, I just conditioner steam.

No more cold rinses
Something between cool and warm is good, but cold can harden the hair erplexed

Looking to start using demi-perm colors
No comment. I used Bigen with a protein treatment once and it was good, but its too much work getting color in with LP hair.

I tend to stretch til 16 weeks..gotta find a way to keep my hair looking nicely moisturized for more than a day after rollersets(even sometimes after taking the rollers out the day of a set, it alreayd looks kinda fizzy) and figure out what to do to get relaxers to "take" next time I touch-up..I might shorten this stretch to 14 weeks
Get a good leave-in. Something with Silk or Ceramides would work best.

I REALLY hope to get an Komaza analysis done in a month or so.
Update how that goes.