Newbie with a few questions

[cynd]

Hi Everyone,

I'm newly committed to taking care of my hair (i.e., about 2 months) and have learned quite a bit from lurking on great forums such as this one so I finally broke down and joined. I'd truly appreciate it if I could get some opinions/advice on the following:

First, I've been moisterizing daily and sealing with oil (either ev coconut, wild hair growth, castor, etc.) but lately I'm seeing breakage when I rub on the oil. I can apply moisturize (neutrogena triple moisture, keracare, etc.) without losing any hair but the minute I apply the oil my hand is covered by broken hairs. Does this mean that my hair doesn't like oil? Am I using too much? Help!

Second, I understand that you need to seal the moisture in with oil and that after the oil is applied no moisture get into the hair shaft. So my question is if you repeat this the next day without washing your hair, why doesn't the oil you applied the day before block the moisture? Is it that the oil you apply only lasts for a short period and after that the hair can accept more moisture?

Thanks for your patience.

Cynd (aka "lateboomer")

 

[FlawedBeauty]

hello and welcome!!!

do you have a bit more information on your regimen and products that you are currently using? heat usage? relaxed/natural?

 

[silenttullip]

your hair may not like castor oil, mine downs't either.
as for moisturizing and sealing after a few days or one day the moisture evaporates.
even if it doesn't you don't want your hair to dry out.
some people like butters better than oils and check your protein make sure you have enough.

 

[cynd]

Hi and thanks for the reply. I had a relaxer applied professionally in July but before that averaged a couple times a year doing it myself. My hair was mess and basically stayed the same length and was very thin. The relaxer in July didn't really take in the back so in October I relaxed myself using ORS. It's better but by no means bone straight (in fact someone asked me yesterday if I was natural). I cowash or wash a couple of times a week and moisturize daily. Each time I wash my hair I use apoghee 2 minute protein or mizani moisturefuse with an egg in it always followed by 60 minute deep conditioning. I'm trying not to use heat and have used it only 1-2 times in the last 2 months.

I love your screen name BTW.

Cynd (aka "lateboomer")

 

[cynd]

your hair may not like castor oil, mine downs't either.
as for moisturizing and sealing after a few days or one day the moisture evaporates.
even if it doesn't you don't want your hair to dry out.
some people like butters better than oils and check your protein make sure you have enough.

Thanks silenttullip. I hope it isn't the castor oil because I've convinced myself that it's making my (serious thin) hair thicker, but you may be right. It's crazy how my hair just comes out when I barely touch it if I have oil on my hand but I can rub away with no problem otherwise.

Cynd (aka "oldboomer")

 

[tiffers]

Welcome, cynd!

My first question is how often do you clarify? A lot of members ended up getting breakage when they consistently used NTM Leave-In as a moisturizer. I would suggest either cutting it out of your regimen or clarifying more frequently.

Your hair may be similar to mine because I get more breakage when I seal too. I've figured out a way to combat this: Combine the moisturizer and oil together in your hands, rub together and apply that way. I get much better results by mixing the two than I ever did with sealing.

The reason that you need to re-apply moisturizers and oils is because they wear off/evaporate due to weather and rubbing against things like your satin bonnet and things of that nature.

Hope I answered all of your questions! Good luck!

 

[FlawedBeauty]

what kind of hair do you have naturally? is it fine or thin? mine is very fine and castor oil is much too heavy for my hair and it hates coconut oil. you may be getting too much protein which can cause your hair to break. hows your manipulation? are you combing and brushing daily. low manipulation and very little heat has been key to retention for me. also, when is the last time you clairified to remove product build up?

Hi and thanks for the reply. I had a relaxer applied professionally in July but before that averaged a couple times a year doing it myself. My hair was mess and basically stayed the same length and was very thin. The relaxer in July didn't really take in the back so in October I relaxed myself using ORS. It's better but by no means bone straight (in fact someone asked me yesterday if I was natural). I cowash or wash a couple of times a week and moisturize daily. Each time I wash my hair I use apoghee 2 minute protein or mizani moisturefuse with an egg in it always followed by 60 minute deep conditioning. I'm trying not to use heat and have used it only 1-2 times in the last 2 months.

I love your screen name BTW.

Cynd (aka "lateboomer")

 

[reeko43]

Welcome! I could be the oil or it could be how you are applying it. Try different oils and keep note of what gives the best results. Also, make sure you are gentle with your application.

There are days I have to remoisterize and seal because my scarf, air, etc have soaked up the moisture and oil I may have applied the day before. If your hair feels like it needs attention, when you moisturize and seal again, you won't be blocking anything.

 

[sunnieb]

Hey there newbie!

How often do you do protein treatments? Protein is essential to relaxed hair to make it stronger and less prone to breakage.

I know that my hair is naturally dry, so I have to moisturize 2x a day every day. However, I don't oil my ends daily because I don't need it. I'm currently using Castor Oil for the fall/winter and it's so heavy that I can still feel it in my hair even though I'm constantly applying moisturizer.

Check out this thread on oiling relaxed hair:
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=575217


Here's one about moisturizing:
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=570837


And here's another one with a more info on relaxed hair in general:
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=570837

 

[cynd]

Welcome, cynd!

My first question is how often do you clarify? A lot of members ended up getting breakage when they consistently used NTM Leave-In as a moisturizer. I would suggest either cutting it out of your regimen or clarifying more frequently.

Your hair may be similar to mine because I get more breakage when I seal too. I've figured out a way to combat this: Combine the moisturizer and oil together in your hands, rub together and apply that way. I get much better results by mixing the two than I ever did with sealing.

The reason that you need to re-apply moisturizers and oils is because they wear off/evaporate due to weather and rubbing against things like your satin bonnet and things of that nature.

Hope I answered all of your questions! Good luck!

Thanks Tiffers! I use mizani shampoo every other time I wash, but I'm not sure if that qualifies as clarifying. Just bought 3 bottles of NTM (and I love the smell) so I really that isn't it but I'll put it aside for awhile and see if that helps. I'll also trying your suggestion of mixing the moisturizer and oil. Thanks again!

Cynd

 

[cynd]

Hey there newbie!

How often do you do protein treatments? Protein is essential to relaxed hair to make it stronger and less prone to breakage.

I know that my hair is naturally dry, so I have to moisturize 2x a day every day. However, I don't oil my ends daily because I don't need it. I'm currently using Castor Oil for the fall/winter and it's so heavy that I can still feel it in my hair even though I'm constantly applying moisturizer.

Check out this thread on oiling relaxed hair:
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=575217


Here's one about moisturizing:
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=570837


And here's another one with a more info on relaxed hair in general:
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=570837

Wow sunnieb! Thanks so much for the links. Tons of useful info. I'm officially overwhelmed at this point. No wonder I haven' t been able to grow my hair. I feel like I have to catch up but I'm trying to hold myself back from ordering every product I read about. I guess it will just take time for me to find out what works for me and have the faith to stick with it. Thanks again.

Cynd

 

[cynd]

Welcome! I could be the oil or it could be how you are applying it. Try different oils and keep note of what gives the best results. Also, make sure you are gentle with your application.

There are days I have to remoisterize and seal because my scarf, air, etc have soaked up the moisture and oil I may have applied the day before. If your hair feels like it needs attention, when you moisturize and seal again, you won't be blocking anything.

Thanks. That makes sense.

Cynd

 

[sunnieb]

Wow Toy! Thanks so much for the links. Tons of useful info. I'm officially overwhelmed at this point. No wonder I haven' t been able to grow my hair. I feel like I have to catch up but I'm trying to hold myself back from ordering every product I read about. I guess it will just take time for me to find out what works for me and have the faith to stick with it. Thanks again.

Cynd

Hey cynd! It's me, sunnieb. I replied to you upthread. Toy just thanked my post, so that's why you thought she replied to you.

Don't get overwhelmed. Take time to read and ask us any questions you may have. I was stuck at a dry, broken, SL for 20 years, and I'm BSL now, so YOU can do it too!

Do NOT, I repeat, Do NOT jump from product to product too quickly! I've been using the exact same daily moisturizer since I started my HHJ. If it ain't broke, don't "fix" it!

 

[cynd]

Hey cynd! It's me, sunnieb. I replied to you upthread. Toy just thanked my post, so that's why you thought she replied to you.

Don't get overwhelmed. Take time to read and ask us any questions you may have. I was stuck at a dry, broken, SL for 20 years, and I'm BSL now, so YOU can do it too!

Do NOT, I repeat, Do NOT jump from product to product too quickly! I've been using the exact same daily moisturizer since I started my HHJ. If it ain't broke, don't "fix" it!

Sorry about that sunnieb! I'm not the most tech saavy person but hopefully I'll get better. I went back and edited my reply to you. I started out with one jar of ev cononut oil and I thought I was doing well. I now have a small box full of products and the end result is that I can't figure out what's working well and what's causing me problems. I think you're right. I need to simplify. Thanks.

Cynd

 

[cynd]

what kind of hair do you have naturally? is it fine or thin? mine is very fine and castor oil is much too heavy for my hair and it hates coconut oil. you may be getting too much protein which can cause your hair to break. hows your manipulation? are you combing and brushing daily. low manipulation and very little heat has been key to retention for me. also, when is the last time you clairified to remove product build up?

My natural hair has always been extremely thin with a very tight curl pattern (major shrinkage). My sisters call it cotton candy hair because it swells at the slightest hint of moisture if it isn't relaxed (and it goes limp when relaxed). I use both protein and moisture each time I deep condition (separately) because I read someplace that thin hair needs that. I'm staying away from heat and work from home so I have luxury of not having to manipulate my hair too much on a daily basis.

Cynd

 

[divachyk]

Agree with @sunnieb re: protein. Check your products to see if any contain -cones. They are known to block moisture for some. Lack of moisture will lead to breakage. Too little or too much protein will also cause breakage.

ETA: products evaporate, some at quicker rates than others. You will have to get a feel for how long your products linger in your hair to know the proper moisturize/seal schedule. I moisturize daily and seal as needed.

 

[cynd]

Agree with @sunnieb re: protein. Check your products to see if any contain -cones. They are known to block moisture for some. Lack of moisture will lead to breakage. Too little or too much protein will also cause breakage.

ETA: products evaporate, some at quicker rates than others. You will have to get a feel for how long your products linger in your hair to know the proper moisturize/seal schedule. I moisturize daily and seal as needed.

Thanks divachyk. My hair's extremely dry and so far I'm been moisterizing and sealing daily. After a couple of months of doing this consistently, I'm finally beginning to see it hold moisture a little better.

Cynd

 

[cynd]

Welcome, cynd!

My first question is how often do you clarify? A lot of members ended up getting breakage when they consistently used NTM Leave-In as a moisturizer. I would suggest either cutting it out of your regimen or clarifying more frequently.

Your hair may be similar to mine because I get more breakage when I seal too. I've figured out a way to combat this: Combine the moisturizer and oil together in your hands, rub together and apply that way. I get much better results by mixing the two than I ever did with sealing.

The reason that you need to re-apply moisturizers and oils is because they wear off/evaporate due to weather and rubbing against things like your satin bonnet and things of that nature.

Hope I answered all of your questions! Good luck!

tiffers: I tried mixing a little moisturizer with my oil when I sealed this morning and it cut down on the number of broken hairs tremendously -- only had 1 or 2 instead of a handful. Thanks so much!!

Cynd

 

[tiffers]

cynd Yay! That's awesome!!!

I'm really excited for you!