preventing breakage

[Mena]

What should I do?

I relaxed my hair about 3 weeks ago with ORS. However, it seems like my hair is always dry. I out ORS olive lotion on it and it doesn't seem to help. I cowash at least once a week. I did a protein treatment last week. I am not sure what else to do. I do not like breakage!

 

[SignatureBeauty]

Did you use no lye? I noticed that no lye relaxers were making my hair dry and brittle and leading to breakage. Just try to keep it moisturized with a good moisturizing lotion. Hopefully someone else can come chime in.

 

[naturalgurl]

I would wet it and seal with coconut oil daily and wear in a bun for about a week. This should moisturize your hair and bring it up to par to use the other moisturizers you have. HTH

 

[PinkPebbles]

^^^^agree that no lye relaxers dry your hair out.

Do you have any split or damaged ends? If so that can cause excessive breakage.

If the length of your hair is dry and or brittle up your moisturizing DC with a quality conditioner.

 

[Mena]

I use Redken Smooth Down to DC

I do have some split ends that I have noticed recently.

I am not sure what to do.

I will try wetting it daily and using coconut oil!

 

[SignatureBeauty]

So do you use No-Lye?

 

[Mena]

yea i used a no lye ORS relaxer

 

[dcprdiva]

Buy the Aphogee 2 Minute Keratin Reconstructor and use it with every wash once a week until you see improvement. It usually works IMMEDIATELY. Also try to use the Mizani Overnight Treatment - it is called H20 Intense - that works overnight too.

 

[Mena]

Buy the Aphogee 2 Minute Keratin Reconstructor and use it with every wash once a week until you see improvement. It usually works IMMEDIATELY. Also try to use the Mizani Overnight Treatment - it is called H20 Intense - that works overnight too.

I did this last week but I will try it again!

 

[MsKipani]

I would wet it and seal with coconut oil daily and wear in a bun for about a week. This should moisturize your hair and bring it up to par to use the other moisturizers you have. HTH

I agree...I don't know anything about managing relaxed hair, but using coconut oil on my hair has worked wonders!

 

[SignatureBeauty]

Next time try a lye based relaxer and see if that help you out, I am sorry you are going through this, I had this issue only because I used a No-lye relaxer, Not saying this is your issue LOL!! I hope the coconut oil work for you! Keep us posted.

 

[gymfreak336]

Since you used no-lye, try chelating to remove any possible minerals if you havn't done so already.

Also, I like butter treat too but IMO, smoothing products are not designed to restore moisture levels, at least not in the same degree as a pure moisturizing conditioner. Smoothing products have more occlusive agents are are used to help seal the hair to prevent humidity poof and to aid in styling. Try alternating it with something else.

 

[MuslimahTresses]

I went through the same thing with ORS no lye. I tried using a Redken Chelating shampoo, Aphogee 2 minute Reconsturctor,Silicon Mix, Joico Moisture Recovery and bunch of other things to stop my breakage and dryness over the last few weeks.

All that did nothing for my hair except for the Silicon Mix. I guess that helped becasue of the ceramides in it or something.

I just went back to pre pooing and co washing every other day. My hair is way more moisturized now then it was before I started the every other day co washing and pre pooing routien.

Try it and see if it stops the breakage and help increase your moisture level.

 

[The Princess]

Instead of the ORS lotion (I use that and it did nothing for my hair) try the ORS Olive Oil cream in the jar. WHen I used to use no lye this was the only thing that helped me with my dryness and seal it with coconut oil.

 

[Mena]

i bought coconut oil!

its hard ..do i need to melt it and then put it on my hair?

 

[The Princess]

You can zap in in the microwave, or put it outside. It will soften up.

 

[dcprdiva]

Yea girl, keep the coconut oil on hand. I have a tub of it. Relaxed heads usually love it! Good luck.

 

[likewtr4chklit]

I agree with the coconut oil, and bunning (or phony pony), it will protect your ends from futher drying from the air. I also agree that you need to get a serious moisturizing DC (try Joico K-Pak, it's like $16 but you need it), BUT I don't agree that you need more protein with every shampoo if your hair is already dry and breaking. Protein overload will only make it worse! Cut down the Aphogee to maybe one or twice a month to balance out the moisture. Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[praisedancer]

May I ask what type of hair products are you using? It may be that the products consist mainly of alkaline which can be very harsh on relaxed hair causing it to lose it's elasticity and break very easily. You may want to use acid based products and something that's specifically for your type of hair (chemically treated). I would also suggest a protein treatment because it increases the diameter of hair and replaces lost keratin which will help it to increase porosity (hold moisture) and elasticity.

 

[Mena]

oops i forgot ive been using Redken All Soft

 

[Brownie518]

What should I do?

I relaxed my hair about 3 weeks ago with ORS. However, it seems like my hair is always dry. I out ORS olive lotion on it and it doesn't seem to help. I cowash at least once a week. I did a protein treatment last week. I am not sure what else to do. I do not like breakage!

Have you tried a really good moisturizing deep conditioner? You could clarify and try that and make sure your cowashes are moisturizing, too. Maybe changing up that ORS lotion, too. Maybe the Olive Oil in the jar, like The Princess said.

 

[Aggie]

What should I do?

I relaxed my hair about 3 weeks ago with ORS. However, it seems like my hair is always dry. I out ORS olive lotion on it and it doesn't seem to help. I cowash at least once a week. I did a protein treatment last week. I am not sure what else to do. I do not like breakage!

I believe that ORS olive oil hair lotion has mineral oil in it and all this does is coat the hair but doesn't penetrate the cuticle very well. You need something without mineral oil in it. I think Kids Organic shea butter leave-in or BB moisturizing hair lotion with castor oil are great for moisturizing hair and does not contain any mineral oil in them. Remember to seal with an oil. You might want to baggy your hair with it for about a week or two to increase the moisture level.

You might also have protein overload. To check if you do simply gently stretch a strand of your hair, if it keeps stretching too long before it breaks, then you need to increase your protein treatments, now if it breaks almost immediately with little to no stretch, then for sure, you are suffering from protein overload.

Now another thing, you might want to consider switching to lye relaxers as they really suck the moisture out of our hair like a vacuum. It's really hard to maintain the hair's moisture levels once you use no-lye relaxers. They left my hair really brittle, dull-looking and dry. I had to do a corrective relaxer with a lye relaxer to get my hair back on track. It's been a year and a half now since the switch and I will tell you this, I will never look back to no-lye relaxers again. Basing the scalp well is critical when using Lye relaxers though. I never get burns.

I will recommend using Pantene Relaxed & natural hair Conditioning mask as a DC if you have protein overload. This mask does not have any protein in it and it's loaded in coconut and jojoba oils which are both good for our hair. Hope this helps.

 

[Aggie]

Since you used no-lye, try chelating to remove any possible minerals if you havn't done so already.

Also, I like butter treat too but IMO, smoothing products are not designed to restore moisture levels, at least not in the same degree as a pure moisturizing conditioner. Smoothing products have more occlusive agents are are used to help seal the hair to prevent humidity poof and to aid in styling. Try alternating it with something else.

Cosigning with this post Gym.