• ⏰ Welcome, Guest! You are viewing only 2 out of 27 total forums. Register today to view more, then Subscribe to view all forums, submit posts, reply to posts, create new threads, view photos, access private messages, change your avatar, create a photo album, customize your profile, and possibly be selected as our next Feature of the Month.

Recovering from Heat Damage... While Still Using Heat (Desperate)

⏳ Limited Access:

Register today to view all forum posts.

Register Log in
You seem to have some heat damage, which might be impacting how you feel about your curls. If you hate your curls, you shouldn't have to be miserable. I think it looks cute and with great care, it would look awesome. But, you have to like it.

I think you may be able roller-set your hair straight. My curls are tighter than yours and my texture is more wiry and cottony, and using some flexirod sets or rollers or even braiding stretched hair gives me somewhat straight hair. Maybe that is an option for you.
 
goldenslumbers I wondered what you used to DC. Some DC's contain protein so if you used a protein DC after doing a protein treatment with the Nexxuss Emergencee you may have some protein overload which may be the reason for the "snapping". Do you have a good strictly moisturizing DC you could use?
 
Good grief! Aside from the heat damage, you have very pretty curls! It's such a shame you have so much hatred for your hair. Hair like that could very easily be manipulated without heat into any style you wanted. Now that I know where you live, I understand better how and why you got to this point with your hair. :nono:

I sincerely hope that you get that book I recommended as soon as possible; the sooner you understand how your hair is and works, the sooner you'll understand why the methods you were using took all of your hair. Although you might want to do something else to it right now, I would suggest that now that you have washed and conditioned your hair, put it away in a bun and leave it alone!!!!! If you haven't moisturized and sealed your hair yet, do that first, then put it away. Your hair is very tired now and needs a rest. It looks like you overloaded your hair with protein, and now it needs some serious moisture --and not to be handled! At your next wash, I would suggest finding an extremely moisturizing deep conditioner (the kind that you have to sit under the dryer with) and see if that stops the shedding and the breakage.

You are at a sensitive point in your hair recovery, and like most recoveries, it will look like it's getting worse before it starts to get better. After a day or so, take it down and moisturize and seal it again, then put it back up. Keep repeating this until your next wash day. Right now you need a very simple and effective regimen you can stick with to help your hair through this tough period.

Trust me, I went through severe bleach damage that broke off almost half my hair length with just four products, and I was able to grow almost 20 inches of hair in 24 months, 18 of which I retained (had micro-trims throughout the process). If you keep throwing things at it hoping for something to happen, you will only traumatize your hair and you will never know what truly works and what doesn't.

Are you able to go and find a salon that specializes in damaged, curly hair in your area? If so, I would highly recommend you go, if only for a consultation. All of us do want to help you, but if you are bombarded by dozens of opinions all suggesting different things, it can be overwhelming, and at the end of the day, none of us can actually handle your hair to determine what it needs and doesn't.
 
Last edited:
goldenslumbers said:
My mom has every supplement under the sun so I'm sure theres something with garlic in there. I'll start taking it.

My hair is still falling out like crazy... obviously did something wrong with the Nexxus Emergencee. Hopefully it wasn't expired or anything, it was left out in the sun for a while before I got it.

For now, I just have it in a low ponytail with a hair tie (hopefully this is permissible) and it's wrapped up in a silk scarf the way I had it to sleep last night. Ugh, I'm so tempted to straighten it. I HATE looking at it.

Here's a picture of it wet (after the treatment an DC'ing)



And here it is dry this morning. The sides of course are sticking straight out, just as they do when straightened. They're unintentionally a little straight from being wrapped last night.



Any possible answers to why my hair may be suddenly breaking and shedding so much?
Click to expand...

your curls are sooooo cute! The heat damage has affected them though.
You need to look at that instagram page I showed you and I promise it will encourage you to love your curls.
 
mshoneyfly Yes, that's my natural texture. To be honest, every time I wash my hair it looks different. Sometimes it's fluffier and bigger, other times the curls are more spread out like this time around.

Andrea2012 I just used the regular conditioner I had, as well as Mane N Tail Conditioner (which I later found out is a protein conditioner. Oops) and before I washed it completely out I put the Ovation moisturizing Creme Rinse on. Now that I think about it it's probably the extra protein in the Mane N Tail that did it...

koolkittychick I will buy the book once I have some more money. I spent most of it buying some new things. Oh, and don't think I'm under pressure to look a certain way because of where I live! It's actually the opposite. People are always pleading me to wear my hair curly but I don't give in... Yesterday I immediately wrapped my hair and went to bed. When I woke up this morning I sprayed some Ojon Revitalizing Mist on my hair (I'm not sure how much of a real moisturizer this is. I've sprayed it on in the past and it seemed to moisturize pretty darn well so this is what I'm using as my moisturizer for now), and sealed it with some Vitamin E oil I had around. I have then wrapped it up again where it will stay until i take it out later to moisturize it again. I ordered all the stuff I had listed on my regimen last night and it should be here by the end of the week, It includes a moisturizing conditioner.
I haven't looked into finding another salon yet, mostly because I know my mother won't take me. She's kind of frustrated with me trying out some more things because she's convinced "I've done everything already".

MixedGirl Thanks I guess. I took a look at your Pinterest boards. I can appreciate it on people who can really rock the curls, but it just doesn't work for me!

Just an edit: I found a video of myself I posted when I was 12 and I am SHOCKED at how different and long my hair was! Wow! I'll post a screenshot when I can.
 
Last edited:
Sorry for the poor quality, it's an old video, but here's what my hair looked like when I was 12. There was just a lot more hair itself!
 
goldenslumbers said:
Sorry for the poor quality, it's an old video, but here's what my hair looked like when I was 12. There was just a lot more hair itself!
Click to expand...

reminds me on andreaschoice on youtube. Have a look at her youtube, maybe she can be your inspiration?

Your curls are honestly soooo lovely. I just dont get why you wouldn't like them! They look shiny and healthy in that screenshot! wouldnt you like your hair like that again?
 
goldenslumbers said:
Sorry for the poor quality, it's an old video, but here's what my hair looked like when I was 12. There was just a lot more hair itself!
http://s329.photobucket.com/user/superdooperbrb/media/hair8_zps07d6142b.png.html
Click to expand...

Omg....so mad at you right now.....wish u hadn't posted that picture. You are gorgeous, GIRL!

Your. Natural. Hair. Is GAWGUS!

Reminds me of all those lovely ladies in Hollywood who are too pretty for words. Then they get plastic surgery and look a hot mess.

God gave to you with both hands! i hope one day you can see what we see before you mess around and lose it. :)

(Like I said. I don't mean to sound harsh. No judgements here. I wish someone had really told me before i ruined my hair trying to keep it straight. Thankfully I still have some on my head. Some women are not so fortunate....)
 
goldenslumbers - your hair looks amazing in this screen shot. Those long lush curls are so beautiful. This should be a reminder of where you were before all the heat damage. I agree that you should leave the heat alone and leave your hair alone for a while until it's in better overall health/condition. Air-drying, bunning, and other protective styles would be your best bet in my opinion. Put the heat down missy! lol! It's hard but necessary if you want to get back to where you were. What's more important to you: straight hair or having any hair at all??? I really do hope you learn to embrace your curls they are truly lovely.
 
goldenslumbers said:
Sorry for the poor quality, it's an old video, but here's what my hair looked like when I was 12. There was just a lot more hair itself!
Click to expand...
Really honey, it's not my intention to gang up on you, but *virtual smack on the hand*! How could you have destroyed the GIFT God gave you as far as your hair goes?!! Hair-wise (and all of y'all can hate me for saying this, but you know y'all are thinking this too!), this is as close to winning the hair lottery as anyone could get, I don't care what race you are!! Again, not to be mean or crude, but who in your life made you feel so bad or less than who you are for you to think you are anything other than beautiful with beautiful, beautiful hair????

Did the people around you make you feel that it was a burden or stigma to have Black blood in you to give you that curly hair? I have seen that in some biracial children who lived in mostly White communities. When I stayed with some relatives in an all White town one summer (one of my aunts married a man of German descent, and this is where his family is from), people tried to hit me hard with that mess because I was very light-skinned with kinky type-4 hair. But I wore my afro-puffs and braids with pride because that's what made me different from all of them!

My mom has hair just like yours (though not as thick), and she has never straightened her hair with anything other than rollersets in her life, so I know it can be done. You just need to get your hair healthy again and find you someone that can show you how to do that, and you will be back to that glorious mane in no time. :yep:

So sorry if anything I said offends or hurts you; that is not my intent. I just want you to know that I am glad you have come here first before you totally destroyed your hair irreversibly and then hid it away under wigs and weaves for NO reason.
 
goldenslumbers

Because I flat ironed once a week...I decided to roller set each week and flat iron my roots only. If I needed to flat iron my entire head...I only needed 1-2 passes on medium heat because the roller set straightened my hair real well.
 
I dont have the time to write something very long but I was able to recover heat fried hair

The reconstructor did the trick for me as well as regular protein treatments. So i would say to make sure you do several reconstructive treatments followed by a quality deep conditioning for several weeks with heat but no straightening. I would wait a while to try and get the thickness back and avoid straightening for quite some time.
 
You probably are one of those who cannot handle a perm or chemical product. That was first the relaxer. Then the Brazilian keratin treatment. I cannot handle the latter either. It took out my volume (many strands) over time, around 6 months later. I'm not the only one. Since you have had both, that is most likely where the problem is. The heat can exacerbate the fallout. But I believe the problem is the chemical treatments. Stay away from them. As far as styling, when your hair is stronger, there are ways to get bone straight looks without chemicals such as rollersetting and smoothing out the curls. As for keeping your remaining hair with protein treatments? I dunno, didn't work for me. I had to cut.
 
Have you considered getting a protective style, like braids or a sew in? That would give your hair a break as the damage grows out; I would suggest babying your hair a bit before doing so. Then at least you won't need to use heat constantly (maybe only on your leave out if you get a sew in).
 
MixedGirl Yes, I would like my hair to be like that again! But I still would not keep it curly like that. I'd try to maintain it then relax it or straighten it.

havilland Thanks. You don't sound harsh

Andrea2012 I've given up the heat for now and have been just wearing my hair in buns. I'll have to learn how to do protective styles, which won't be easy considering I don't even know how to braid hair

koolkittychick NO no one told me anything/made me feel guilty... Everyone loved my hair and wanted to touch it all the time. People WANT me to wear it curly and they think I'm dumb for straightening it all the time. Regardless, I don't pay attention to what anyone else says and I'm not responsive to any sort of peer pressure. I made the decision on my own that I like it better straightened, even though everyone else for some reason claims they like it curly. I like it better straight so thats the way I liked to have it. And you didn't offend me

JaneBond007 Uh oh. That must explain it then. I did trim off as much as I could within reason. I'm noticing less split ends now that I trimmed it a couple of weeks ago. The only way I'd be able to get rid of my damaged ends would be to shave my head because my "ends", due to unevenness, are just about anywhere from the tip of my hair all the way up. And I don't want to shave my head.

MsSanz92 Maybe. I'd have to find someone who really knows how to do protective styles since I'm clueless about those. i've just been keeping it in a bun. I'm trying to baby it as best I can

New Update and quite a bit of questions-
I have all my hair products now. I've got a moisturizing shampoo, a protein conditioner, a moisturizing conditioner, a light protein treatment, and jamaican black castor oil. As soon as I got the moisturizing conditioner and shampoo I re-washed my hair three days ago since I accidentally protein overloaded it. My hair wasn't breaking anymore, but still shedding quite a bit (and it still is).

I've been moisturizing and sealing my ends, probably the wrong way. I take some of the moisturizing conditioner (it can also be used as a moisturizer), put it all over my hair, because as said my ends are everywhere! It's like someone took a pair of scissors and just cut each and every hair to a different length. Then, I put some of the castor oil all over mostly the ends.

This clumps the curls (I'm not sure if its supposed to do that) and keeps it kind of crunchy. Since i'm not too good at it, I'll have several strands of more defined curls and a ton of fluff in between. I'll add pictures. My hair is still shedding a lot, and after I do this I usually have all different sizes of hair all over my shirt.

So I'm washing my hair again today, trying to figure out what to do. I can't tell whether my hair is moisturized, or it needs more protein, or it's in the middle. I did a strand/elasticity test and the hair does not break as soon as I pull it. It stretches for a bit, but not too long. My mother told me it definitely felt moisturized, but I personally can't tell. She told me my hair looked worse though. So, I'm not sure what to use when I wash my hair today- the protein conditioner or the moisture conditioner. I plan to follow up with the light protein treatment (it's REAL light, only a serum) no matter which conditioner I use. For now, I have the JBCO all over my hair and in my scalp as a pre 'poo treatment. I think I'll massage it into my scalp every night...

Here are some pictures. Definitely looks different than last time:


Wet after deep conditioning with the moisturizing conditioner



Just showing some of the weird clumpy curls I got rom probably sealing/moisturizing incorrectly.


All the hair on one side. The fronts are unintentionally straight from my hair being wrapped up.


From the back.

I couldn't thank you all enough for the help!
 
@goldenslumbers you are so sweet! keep us posted on your hair.:yep:

"So I'm washing my hair again today, trying to figure out what to do. I can't tell whether my hair is moisturized, or it needs more protein, or it's in the middle. I did a strand/elasticity test and the hair does not break as soon as I pull it. It stretches for a bit, but not too long. My mother told me it definitely felt moisturized, but I personally can't tell. She told me my hair looked worse though. So, I'm not sure what to use when I wash my hair today- the protein conditioner or the moisture conditioner. I plan to follow up with the light protein treatment (it's REAL light, only a serum) no matter which conditioner I use. For now, I have the JBCO all over my hair and in my scalp as a pre 'poo treatment. I think I'll massage it into my scalp every night..."


sounds like the perfect balance:yep:
 
Last edited:
Hey my hair looks like yours! When I was relaxing my hair I literally did the exact same things. I straightened at 450, never used heat protectant, I shampooed my hair every time I got into the shower etc. And I know my hair was to fragile for all of that foolishness. Knowing what I know now I would have straightened my hair with 250-300 heat, because our curls are so loose we shouldn't need to much heat, more so a better technique. I would deep conditioned AND used a protein treatment (Aphogee 2-min) every week. And I would have straightened one week, and wrap it so I didn't have to re-straighten, and then not straighten the next. Over the summer I wouldn't of straightened. Hopefully you can get your hair back growing and staying HEALTHY. Also our hair probably doesn't need to be relaxed in the first place.
 
Love your hair OP, despite the damage.

How often are you shampooing now? It looks like just a cpl days ago and again so soon? No matter the type, sulfate free, etc shampoo is ROUGH on the hair. Keeps it dried out and frizzy. Yours is extremely fragile right now too so it wont help.

Perhaps doing a cowash midweek would be more beneficial. I've found for me using a cheapee for this purpose with a LITTLE bit of protein at the bottom of the list like keratin, or whatever keeps me from getting moisture overload.

For your shedding, I recommend using black tea. Just make a cup, let it cool and pour it on your head right before DC and put the DC on top leaving them both on til you rinse.

I was shedding like crazy from color damage (hands COVERED in hair during wash days and styling). The tea stopped it instantly. And I mean instantly. It's now part of my daily reggie (tea spritzing as my leave in) and I hardly have any shedding at all anymore.
 
DarkJoy said:
Love your hair OP, despite the damage.

How often are you shampooing now? It looks like just a cpl days ago and again so soon? No matter the type, sulfate free, etc shampoo is ROUGH on the hair. Keeps it dried out and frizzy. Yours is extremely fragile right now too so it wont help.

Perhaps doing a cowash midweek would be more beneficial. I've found for me using a cheapee for this purpose with a LITTLE bit of protein at the bottom of the list like keratin, or whatever keeps me from getting moisture overload.

For your shedding, I recommend using black tea. Just make a cup, let it cool and pour it on your head right before DC and put the DC on top leaving them both on til you rinse.

I was shedding like crazy from color damage (hands COVERED in hair during wash days and styling). The tea stopped it instantly. And I mean instantly. It's now part of my daily reggie (tea spritzing as my leave in) and I hardly have any shedding at all anymore.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. And alright, I'll skip on the shampoo today. I'll make an attempt at co-washing. I'll use the moisturizing conditioner but also the light protein treatment. And Ooo, I'll do the black tea thing as well once I have some. I noticed as I was massaging the JBCO in only 2 little pieces of hair came out, so I think I'll be okay for this time. I'll get some black tea tomorrow.
 
Last edited:
goldenslumbers, I'm glad that taking active steps to get your hair back on track, but I think you might be doing a little bit too much right now, and you may need to dial it back a little bit. The absolute key to a good regimen that grows healthy hair is simplicity, and it's possible you may be over complicating things in order to find the quickest turnaround for your hair.

If you keep throwing product after product on your hair without giving it time (at least a week) to interact with your protected, moisturized hair, how in the heck will you know what worked, what didn't, and what combination of products worked or didn't?

As I said, my mom has hair like yours, and I developed her hair care regimen for her, and I can tell you right off the bat that the castor oil is not for you. It is too heavy for your hair to handle, and is part of the reason why your hair is feeling clumpy and crunchy. Nix it pronto.

Next, take the KISS (Keep It Simple Sistah!) approach for the first two weeks. Take the most moisturizing shampoo and conditioner you have and use only those two products for that time. That way, at the end of that time, you will have a better idea of the true state of your hair at the moment. And surprise surprise, you may find out that that is what your hair really needed, a chance to breathe after being attacked by all this heat, then all these products at once.

Next, keep wearing the bun for now, because that's what you know how to do, but take the time to at least learn how to braid your hair (maybe your mom or a good friend can show you how?). Provided you don't pull your hair tight, that is one of the best ways to hide your hair and still express yourself that there is out there.

Once you have established your hair "base" after those two weeks, then do the research, and try one product at a time to your routine, and try it for a week. This will give you the best idea of whether it works for your hair or not. If it doesn't, chuck it. If it does, keep it. Once you have gotten to about 5 products (shampoo, conditioner, deep conditioner, moisturizer and sealer) stop and give it three months to do its thing! The key to healthy hair care is consistency; you are not going to get it if you keep running to the next fix. It took some time for you to damage your hair. You are not going to fix it in a couple of treatments. Give it time. It will happen. :yep:
 
koolkittychick said:
goldenslumbers, I'm glad that taking active steps to get your hair back on track, but I think you might be doing a little bit too much right now, and you may need to dial it back a little bit. The absolute key to a good regimen that grows healthy hair is simplicity, and it's possible you may be over complicating things in order to find the quickest turnaround for your hair.

If you keep throwing product after product on your hair without giving it time (at least a week) to interact with your protected, moisturized hair, how in the heck will you know what worked, what didn't, and what combination of products worked or didn't?

As I said, my mom has hair like yours, and I developed her hair care regimen for her, and I can tell you right off the bat that the castor oil is not for you. It is too heavy for your hair to handle, and is part of the reason why your hair is feeling clumpy and crunchy. Nix it pronto.

Next, take the KISS (Keep It Simple Sistah!) approach for the first two weeks. Take the most moisturizing shampoo and conditioner you have and use only those two products for that time. That way, at the end of that time, you will have a better idea of the true state of your hair at the moment. And surprise surprise, you may find out that that is what your hair really needed, a chance to breathe after being attacked by all this heat, then all these products at once.

Next, keep wearing the bun for now, because that's what you know how to do, but take the time to at least learn how to braid your hair (maybe your mom or a good friend can show you how?). Provided you don't pull your hair tight, that is one of the best ways to hide your hair and still express yourself that there is out there.

Once you have established your hair "base" after those two weeks, then do the research, and try one product at a time to your routine, and try it for a week. This will give you the best idea of whether it works for your hair or not. If it doesn't, chuck it. If it does, keep it. Once you have gotten to about 5 products (shampoo, conditioner, deep conditioner, moisturizer and sealer) stop and give it three months to do its thing! The key to healthy hair care is consistency; you are not going to get it if you keep running to the next fix. It took some time for you to damage your hair. You are not going to fix it in a couple of treatments. Give it time. It will happen. :yep:
Click to expand...

Thanks. I am a little overwhelmed and anxious to use all these products. I think I'll skip on washing/cowashing today and won't wash it until Sunday. I'll keep moisturizing it, but I'll seal it with olive oil this time. Strange you say that about the castor oil, because as I put it on my scalp it felt pretty good and I realized very few hairs were shedding. Do you think I can still use it as a pre 'poo treatment/ for scalp massages?

So, for the next two Sundays and in between, I'll just moisturize and seal nightly (with olive oil), then keep my hair wrapped up, nothing extra. Then on Sunday I'll wash it with the moisturizing shampoo and DC with the moisture conditioner. Does that sound good? Thanks so much for the help.
 
goldenslumbers said:
Thanks. I am a little overwhelmed and anxious to use all these products. I think I'll skip on washing/cowashing today and won't wash it until Sunday. I'll keep moisturizing it, but I'll seal it with olive oil this time. Strange you say that about the castor oil, because as I put it on my scalp it felt pretty good and I realized very few hairs were shedding. Do you think I can still use it as a pre 'poo treatment/ for scalp massages?

So, for the next two Sundays and in between, I'll just moisturize and seal nightly (with olive oil), then keep my hair wrapped up, nothing extra. Then on Sunday I'll wash it with the moisturizing shampoo and DC with the moisture conditioner. Does that sound good? Thanks so much for the help.
Click to expand...
goldenslumbers, Yes, I think that would be a good plan of action. And I don't see why you can't use the castor oil as a pre-poo treatment, especially since your scalp seems to like it, but your hair doesn't (it happens that way sometimes; you just learn to adjust). Good luck over the next couple of weeks, and let us know how you fare. :yep:
 
Hey guys. I'll make a larger update post later with some more questions I have. But for now, I have a quick question. I think I'm getting quite a bit of build up from the Jamaican Castor Oil I'm using on my scalp. It looks a little funky so I want to cowash today (I shampooed and conditioned Saturday).

What type of conditioner should I use to cowash? Moisturizing? Protein? I also wanted to do it because after doing another strand test after washing my hair, it seems dry now. It's snapping almost immediately and my hair is shedding like it never has before. Not good because I'm considering straightening my hair tonight...
 
Last edited:
goldenslumbers said:
As noted in another thread, I'm 16 and I've lost a considerable amount of hair due to flat-ironing. I used to have past waist-length hair that was thicker than anything (My hair is kind of 3B/3C). 3 years ago or so, I trimmed it to mid chest length and started flat-ironing it more often. It hasn't grown back since, and in fact, it's shorter (A little past shoulder length now).

I can obviously root it back to several things. My memory is a bit fuzzy so these may be out of order. My mom put a generic relaxer in my hair. She followed the instructions very carefully, but shortly afterwards my hair started to fall out a bit. Not colossal amounts, but noticeable. I started brushing my hair out multiple times in the bath. For some reason or another 12 year old me thought that it was good to do that... I flat ironed my hair twice a week with zero heat protection at 400 degrees. Yeah. Again, pre-teen me saw no purpose in heat protection. Also, some time in between, I got a Brazilian Blowout on my hair. I honestly cannot remember at all whether it was beneficial or not, but I DO remember I loved what it did to my hair and it was $600...

So, now I have close to no hair. I even have some bald spots here and there. Almost every hair is split at the end or all the way up the shaft. My mother gave me a trim this weekend, but since my hair is so incredibly uneven in length, there are still split ends everywhere.

Of course now I am definitely seeing my faults, and I've started changing some things (some parts I started at the beginning of the year, some beginning of April)

-Eating a healthier diet- all organic, more protein
-Taking 10,000 mcg of Biotin, Probiotics, 6g of Chlorella, and Silica Bamboo Tea
-Straightening my hair ONLY ONCE a week at 350 degrees using heat protection
-Deep Conditioning my hair every wash day for 2-3 hours
-Drinking more water. I used to drink NO water at all

However, now the school year is over for me and I'm trying to not straighten at all this whole summer. I did, however, straighten it this last weekend so my mother could attempt to trim it. Despite my efforts, it looked thinner than before and was very hard to straighten due to the various wacky lengths. I did order some Nexxus Emergencee Treatment to use on my hair, and I'm also planning to use QOD Max Organiq later in the summer in an effort to repair my hair.

So, now I'm desperate. For now (the summer) I won't be using heat except for some of the protein treatments I plan on using, but I'll be back to it again in August, and I'm feeling discouraged after this past weekend.

My big question is- What was the big thing for you that boosted your hair growth and kept it strong, even while using heat on it? What else should I add to my hair regimen?

Yes, I've searched the forums but the amount of info is so overwhelming! Everyone has so many different and complicated methods. What's the key? Smoothies? Keratin Treatments? Cowashing? More protein? Ah!

Any advice is appreciated.
Click to expand...

cut the damaged hair, stop using heat.
 
goldenslumbers said:
Hey guys. I'll make a larger update post later with some more questions I have. But for now, I have a quick question. I think I'm getting quite a bit of build up from the Jamaican Castor Oil I'm using on my scalp. It looks a little funky so I want to cowash today (I shampooed and conditioned Saturday).

What type of conditioner should I use to cowash? Moisturizing? Protein? I also wanted to do it because after doing another strand test after washing my hair, it seems dry now. It's snapping almost immediately and my hair is shedding like it never has before. Not good because I'm considering straightening my hair tonight...
Click to expand...

Vo5 has a clarifying conditioner that cleanses gently that is great for co washing.

Please don't straighten your hair. I truly hope you will let your hair heal before you start to fry it again.
 
Now for an update... Can you say SHEDDING? I don't think I've had shedding like this before. I can't touch my hair without getting a fist full of hair or a ton on my shirt. It's mostly long pieces of hair but also short. I don't remember when exactly it started. Also, upon both wet and dry strand tests I find my hair is snapping immediately. However on the outside, to me, it looks better.

About two weeks ago I washed with moisturizing shampoo and used the protein conditioner. No issues or notable changes there. The week after I switched over back to the moisturizing conditioner. Since then, I've been co-washing every other day (I forgot I did it yesterday and accidentally did it two days in a row) with the moisturizing conditioner. Physically, it has helped quite a bit. My curls are considerably more defined from co-washing, and my hair appears thicker.

In latest news, my mother has suggested that I braid up my hair and get a weave. I was ecstatic about this because I previously thought she was against me doing that. I have a lot of questions about weaves, but I'll make another thread for that.

Here are some pics:


Hair wet after co-washing. Looks thicker and smoother than after shampooing and conditioning.


This is how much hair came out after running my fingers down a strand while sealing my hair.



My hair today. The right side of my head has SIGNIFICANTLY less hair. It's very odd looking...
 
I have a question for you that may seem odd but it's very relevant. Is your mother African American? If not, that may explain some things, a lot of things in fact. No black woman in her right mind would EVER tell you to weave up hair like yours (they pay EXTRA TO BUY human hair like yours) when it could be easily brought back to health with the right products.

Do you have or know any Black friends where you live? Because you are heading down a road (I saw the weave thread you started) that is only going to cause you heartache and BALDNESS FOR YOU BY THE TIME YOU ARE 20!!! And I only say this because you already mentioned you live in an area that does not have a lot of Black people and does not cater to your specific needs.

The weaves that were developed for white women are NOT THE SAME as the ones that were developed for Black women. WEAVES MUST BE PROPERLY MAINTAINED IN A CERTAIN WAY for them to be protective styles. Otherwise, you will end up with hair like this: Naomi Campell after too many weaves Is your mother willing to spend $300 to $500 to get your weaves done every 2 months so you can wear a bouffant or a 60s flip like you want? If not, I would really reconsider this plan of action.
 
Oh... I was unaware that it would be so damaging. Yes, my mother is black. Why is it such a bad idea? And do you mind telling how it needs to be maintained so it IS a protective style?

I'm aware of the priceof human hair. Isnt the higher quality (higher price) hair able to be re-applied up to two or three times? I'm probably wrong

There goes my dream of ever having attractive hair I guess.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

L
Still using heat
Replies
1
Views
906
NAY007
NAY007
L
Heat Damage?
Replies
11
Views
2K
Xcellence2
Xcellence2
Eritreladiee
  • Poll Poll
Using heat protectant for the sun
Replies
10
Views
4K
atlien11
atlien11
C
When Flat Ironing, 1 Or 2 Heat Protectants ?
Replies
15
Views
3K
PinkSunshine77
PinkSunshine77
musiclova
Heat Damage and Change of Hair Texture
Replies
22
Views
9K
Crystalicequeen123
Crystalicequeen123
Back
Top