Noobie - 1st Post HEEELLLP

[soulglo]

Hello Beautiful Ladies of LHCF. I've been browsing threads for awhile and just recently decided to sign up.

I am having major issues with split ends, ssks and dryness.
​

• I am in TWA phase. I do not use heat at all. I am scissor happy .

This week, I did 2 deep conditioning treatments. 1. with AOHSR and the other with 2. Shea Moisture Raw Shea Conditioner

• I mainly seal with coconut oil or oyin pomade but my hair remains dry and even crispy. I just got my order in for my Aubrey GPB conditioner and Bee Mine Serum 2oz Mango

• My hair type is 4a/4b I see a curl pattern but my curls are very tight

• I'm looking to use up my stash or get a couple of new products

List of The Products that I have
-----------------------------------

Regular Conditioners
- Trader Joes Tea Tree Tingle
- Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter
Shampoo
- Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter
- Elasta QP Crème Conditioning Shampoo
- Suave Clarifying Shampoo
- Kids Swimming Shampoo
Styler
- S curl
- Shea Moisture Curling Souflee
Sealer
- Oyin Homemade Sugar & Berries Pomade
Deep Conditioners
- Aubrey’s Honey Suckle Rose
- Aubrey’s Gpb
- Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Masque
Oils
- Coconut
- Tea Tree
- Bee Mine Hair Serum
Other
- Mega Tek
- Vitatresses Biotin Shampoo
- Suave Humectant
- Herbal Essence Totally Twisted Shampoo
- Packets of Hair Lotion ORS, African Pride
- Oyin Shea Butter
- IC Sparklites Gel
- Fantasia heat protection
- Williams thermal spray stuff
Out of
- Juices and Berries
- Oyin Honey Dew
- Jamaican Black Castor Oil
- Jojoba Oil

Vitamins
- Trader Joes Prenatal
- Nature Valley MSM

I will attach a picture of my hair when my phone sends it to my email

 

[TheNDofUO]

How long do you condition? Do you condition with heat? Have you clarified/chelated?

 

[Je Ne Sais Quoi]

Your hair sounds like mine. Have you tried green housing?

 

[soulglo]

I deep condition with a plastic bag and a heat cap for 1 hour
I leave the conditioner on my hair when co-washing for about 5 minutes
I have no clue what green housing is


Regimen
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I usually wash once a week with Shea Moisture Raw Shea Shampoo
I switch between Shea Moisture and AOHSR for Co-Washing
I use Trade Joes Tea Tree Tingle when my scalp is itchy but I do not want to shampoo

I've been co-washing almost everyday this week
I also clarifyed this week to see if that would help

 

[NappyNelle]

Welcome!

I think you are doing too much too soon, and my, you have a lot of products! (Not a bad thing; I used to be a Product Junkie too. )

Since you are experiencing dryness, I would cut shampooing to twice a week. What are you using to co-wash with? Many of the lighter conditioners you have listed actually contain protein, which may be more harmful than helpful at the time.Coconut oil as a sealant can also act like a protein, particularly on dry hair, so I would stop using it for the time being. (I prefer to use it on damp hair.)

Things you can try:

• After your cowash or deep conditioning, moisturize your hair with S-Curl or the SM Souffle. Monitor how your hair feels, looks, performs for the rest of the day. Needs something extra? You can use a little of your Oyin SBP to 'seal' the moisture in. If there is no change in your hair's condition, your hair may not like S-Curl or SM.
• After your cowash or deep conditioning, try a little coconut oil on damp hair. If your hair feels hard, or overly greasy, leave the coconut oil alone for a while.

The idea is to try various combinations to find out what your hair likes and dislikes. Right now, I believe you have too many protein heavy products in your stash; that just means you may need to brand out and purchase some light conditioners that are mainly moisturizing.

For those of us with dry hair, we moisturize after conditioning treatments and then leave our hair in some kind of style. If you're wearing your TWA loose, then it's more prone to dryness; your strands may need a little refresher during the day to maintain proper levels.

I'm happy that you have tried AO conditioners, because I highly recommend them. I hope the HSR works well for you. For the moment, I would not try the GPB because you need more moisture. Also, I would restock the Oyin JB spray if you like it; my hair loves the herbal water and tiny touch of glycerin. Of course, there are other spritzes on the market that can function the same way, and you can even make your own. Did your hair respond well to the Oyin HD? Because this is an oil based product, I would recommend that you use it on damp hair. Another great moisturizer from Oyin is the Whipped Pudding... but of course you have countless options when it comes to moisturizers. (Sorry, I'm a big Oyin fan.)

To be fair and economical, I hope you can work with the products that you have an determine their efficacy on your strands and come back with your findings. From there we can product shop from your stash, and add suggestions for when to use some the things you have.

OMG This post is loooong. Sorry girl! lol

ETA: WOW your hair is thiiiiick. Thanks for including the photos.

 

[soulglo]

Thanks Nelle!!! Your post isn't long but I appreciate the detail
I'm going to lay off of the coconut oil.

- I don't really use the products I listed as other lol no doubt I am a product junkie but I am also almost out of all my products (oyin pomade, s curl, shea moisture conditioner)
-there are some products that i'm not a huge fan of (shea moisture masque, souflee [makes my hair so soft but my hair still lacks moisture])

I'm almost out of a number of the products I use ... except for shampoo because I dilute it with water

Do you have any recommendation for moisturizing conditioners that do not contain protein?

I have mixed feelings about juices and berries. I think I like the greg juice better. It makes my hair kind of soft but it makes my hair feel weird.

I am getting my hair braided tomorrow so I'm going to dilute the shea moisture conditioner as a leave in.

- I only shampoo once a week with Shea Moisture Raw Shea Shampoo
- I usually co-wash with either Aubrey's Honey Suckle Rose or Shea Moisture Raw Shea Conditioner 1-3x a week


sidenote: i thought that the aubrey's honeysuckle rose does not contain protein ... and same with the shea moisture raw shea conditioner (ohhh wait i see that the shea has b-5)

 

[APrayer4Hair]

plz join us in the TWA support thread!!

 

[SEMO]

You mentioned being scissor-happy and it's possible that if your cutting shears aren't sharp enough you could be doing more harm than good and encouraging splits. I learned this the hard way myself recently. Just one more possibility (besides maybe having too much protein in your regimen).

Btw, welcome to the forum.

 

[lucy]

I like AO HSR as a moisturizing conditioner, I alternate that with HE HH or Oyin Honey Hemp Condish.

The one product that I believe is a miracle product though is AVJ. Aloe Vera Juice changed my hairs life. I use it as a spritz in a bottle mixed with a lil (hempseed/grapeseed/or wheatgerm) oil. I do twists daily after spritzing with that and sealing with a butter or cream.

 

[soulglo]

Hey Ladies just wanted to update you on some things that helped my hair feel softer and more moisturized (but oily some what oily due to the curling souflee)

*i'm now in individual braids*

- Dced 1 hour with Aubrey's GPB on dry hair with my heat cap and no plastic bag this time
- Let my hair air dry
- Mixed Shea Moisture Curling Souflee and Oyin Whipped Pudding and Applied
- Used up the last of my S curl and applied
- Added some more of Oyin's Whipped Pudding
- Lastly Added Suave Humectant Conditioner

So... the layering of products seems to help

 

[hola_lo2002]

You might want to switch your leave-in. Personnally my hair gets super dry when I use a leave-in that has shea butter as the main ingredient ( it sucks because I can't use any of the styling products from Shea Moisture...). I don't know if you have other leave-ins that you might want to try and see the comparison between them. If you're into oyin, check out the samples for Hair Dew.

 

[Monaleezza]

Am I correct in thinking Shea has protein?
If you're switching to moisture, maybe cut out all the Shea products and focus on solely moisture products and see if there is a difference.