Newbie- Help!!! Dry n Itchy

[Nicole4rc]

Hi Ladies-

First, I want to say thank GOD for you all. I don't know a lot of people with my hair texture and I've been stalking these threads for weeks. I finally gave in and gave myself an Aphogee protein treatment, learned to baggie, and even air dried. But my hair is still dry! As soon as it touches air POW! dryness. I'm becoming discouraged. Worse the baggie technique is making my hair tangled and seems to break even if I run my fingers thru. I don't know what else to do. I read about over/ under moisturizing, but I'm still confused.

I just want my hair to be strong and stop breaking. I relax my hair every 6 weeks, but I really want to learn to stretch. Any suggestions on keeping my hair moist (especially the back) would be great and aiding the strenthing?!

I may never air dry again after this week, its been rough, and my scalp is ITCHY.

 

[hOnii]

do you have a daily moisturizer? it's good to use one regularly (i prefer nighttime so that the hair can soak it up and not be too oily). This should improve the moisture level in your hair significantly.

do some deep conditioning treatments to moisturize/strengthen on a deeper level.

keracare makes a shampoo & conditioner combo called dry and itchy scalp that does well to eliminate dandruff and well, a dry & itchy scalp ;-)

good luck

 

[Nonie]

Do you deep condition with heat using a moisturizing conditioner? After a protein treatment, a moisturizing treatment is a must. (I'll let folks recommend good moisturizing conditioners as I'm clueless on products). But even when you don't do a protein treatment, DC (deep conditioning) is something you have to make a habit of.

Also drink lots of water and take a supplement of essential fatty acids (Flaxseed, Cod Liver Oil, Evening Primrose Oil; eat oily fish like salmon). And when you rinse your hair after shampooing or conditioning, make sure you rinse well as residue on your scalp can cause itching. ACV rinses always conclude my washes and ensure that my scalp is residue free, not to mention the bonus of making my hair cuticles lie flat.

Also the leave in you're using could be the problem. Again, I'll let the experts touch on that for you. It might help if you give more info on your haircare regimen so folks can be able to tell you where you're going wrong.

 

[camellia]

Hi Ladies-

First, I want to say thank GOD for you all. I don't know a lot of people with my hair texture and I've been stalking these threads for weeks. I finally gave in and gave myself an Aphogee protein treatment, learned to baggie, and even air dried. But my hair is still dry! As soon as it touches air POW! dryness. I'm becoming discouraged. Worse the baggie technique is making my hair tangled and seems to break even if I run my fingers thru. I don't know what else to do. I read about over/ under moisturizing, but I'm still confused.

I just want my hair to be strong and stop breaking. I relax my hair every 6 weeks, but I really want to learn to stretch. Any suggestions on keeping my hair moist (especially the back) would be great and aiding the strenthing?!

I may never air dry again after this week, its been rough, and my scalp is ITCHY.

You mentioned that you used Aphogee, but did you follow with a moisturizing conditioner? Protein will make you hair stronger but too much can make it hard and brittle.

I'd suggest a good moisturizing deep conditioner for starters. I really like Humectin and Hemp Hydrate, but there are loads of good conditioners out there. Look for one that has little to no protein in it.

 

[Nicole4rc]

The simple things I forgot to include. Yes I did follow up with a moisturizing treatment. I did not do it under heat. I did the Aphogee moisturizer then put evoo, honey, and a suave conditioner in my hair. I use the Kera care but its as if my whole head is itchy. But, I don't have dandruff. Never have, but maybe its the wetness.

Oh, thanks for the quick responses!

 

[Nonie]

Sounds to me like you're itching because of product residue on your scalp. I take forever rinsing my hair, especially when I'm wearing extension braids. Then on top of that I dunk my head in a solution of ACV and massage my scalp with my head submerged. I could swear my head's breathing when I'm done. That's how far I go to make sure I have no residue that could make my head itch.

 

[Nicole4rc]

I'm sorry what's ACV? I need to catch up on a lot of abbreviations. Do you think I should dry my hair from now on to stop the tangling and breakage? I'm not even that great at braiding my hair. The women on here have some amazing photos but there hair always seems dry and mine is rather damp. Thanks to the baggie and night technique then wrapping with a scarf. That's my regimen after I apply shea butter and olive oil moisturizer and then seal with African Pride hair oil.

 

[Nonie]

ACV = apple cider vinegar rinse. Many people add about a 1/4 cupful to a basin of water and use the solution to rinse their hair. Some after shampoo before conditioner. Some at the very end of their wash after rinsing off conditioner (I'm one of the latter). I was trying to find a thread in which there were lots of links to discussions about ACV rinses, but I couldn't find it. So here's one. If you do a search for threads with ACV in their titles you might find other discussions of it.

ACV not only seems to remove any left-over products on my scalp, but it also has the benefit of closing down the hair shaft cuticles. (The topmost layer of your hair strands looks like scales and when you use alkaline products like shampoo, the cuticles open, ie are raised. This leads to tangles and dull looking hair and the raised cuticles could start to tear off as they rub against each other or your comb leading to split ends.) ACV or any acidic environment helps hair get close to its normal pH and helps close the cuticles. This helps your hair reflect light better and makes the strands smooth so that there's less tangling.

I do my ACV at the end of my wash and not before because I believe conditioner enters my hair better when cuticles are not closed. Then afterwards, I do the ACV rinse to seal the goodness inside and leave my hair as smooth as possible.

 

[Nicole4rc]

Thanks for the great tip. And I was wondering when that new Harry Potter movie was going to come. So I learned a lot today.