SOS! You've screwed up your moisture/protein balance... Now what?

[sunshinebeautiful]

I don't know why I decided to protein my hair today, but it was a wrong choice, and now my hair strands are breaking. erplexed

My question is: How soon can you correct the balance? My hair is still wet in preparation for a rollerset and I think I need to go back under the dryer for another DC.

ETA: Am I correct in assuming that this may take weeks to correct?

 

[Irresistible]

I don't know why I decided to protein my hair today, but it was a wrong choice, and now my hair strands are breaking. erplexed

My question is: How soon can you correct the balance? My hair is still wet in preparation for a rollerset and I think I need to go back under the dryer for another DC.

ETA: Am I correct in assuming that this may take weeks to correct?

girl, what caused this?

 

[Mrs. Verde]

Get those moisturizing DC's out and get to work. I would DC (and you may want to doctor this up with honeyquat or honey) overnight for the next 2-3 days. That should get you back on track. Make sure when you are using some type of moisturizing leave in, too.

 

[Irresistible]

your hair is at the point of breaking?

 

[sunshinebeautiful]

girl, what caused this?

I used Joico Kpak as a prepoo and didn't need to. I just looked at it and was like, hey, I haven't used this in awhile.

I'm probably being slightly overdramatic. It ain't like my hair is breaking off all over the place, but I don't like that I can run my fingers over my ends and have broken hairs. Well, that's being dramatic too. If I run my finger over my hair, I pull back with 1 or 2 1 inch broken strands.

Still, hair growing is serious business, and we've got to get this fixed.

 

[Geminigirl]

I agree I just did the same thing the other day and I DCed overnight and in the morning my hair was noticeably better. I say DC all day if you can with moisture and do some overnights or as long as you can under a dryer and things should be fine in no time.

 

[sunshinebeautiful]

Get those moisturizing DC's out and get to work. I would DC (and you may want to doctor this up with honeyquat or honey) overnight for the next 2-3 days. That should get you back on track. Make sure when you are using some type of moisturizing leave in, too.

I only DC'd for 15 mins, I'm back up under the dryer for round #2 for 30 mins this time. And yes, I added honeyquat to the conditioner. Let's hope it saves my hair.

I could really kick myself for this. I've been on the board long enough to know better than to randomly put some protein on my hair.

 

[Irresistible]

I used Joico Kpak as a prepoo and didn't need to. I just looked at it and was like, hey, I haven't used this in awhile.

I'm probably being slightly overdramatic. It ain't like my hair is breaking off all over the place, but I don't like that I can run my fingers over my ends and have broken hairs. Well, that's being dramatic too. If I run my finger over my hair, I pull back with 1 or 2 1 inch broken strands.

Still, hair growing is serious business, and we've got to get this fixed.

yeah squash the roller set for now and do some more deep conditioning like NOW and add some oils too! It really depends on the situation how long it could take to correct. I had one that was weeks, one that ways days and the last time MONTHS! But your hair , and hopefully its a lil bit of dramatization which I understand you dont need to see any hair breaking, but if it is, that would mean its a little further along with the brittleness. Your gonna have to stay away from all protein and keep DC almost daily and you might as well pour oil over your head with it. I know its crazy but its the only thing that will help!

 

[sunshinebeautiful]

yeah squash the roller set for now and do some more deep conditioning like NOW and add some oils too! It really depends on the situation how long it could take to correct. I had one that was weeks, one that ways days and the last time MONTHS! But your hair , and hopefully its a lil bit of dramatization which I understand you dont need to see any hair breaking, but if it is, that would mean its a little further along with the brittleness. Your gonna have to stay away from all protein and keep DC almost daily and you might as well pour oil over your head with it. I know its crazy but its the only thing that will help!

Thanks. Yeah, I did just that. Killed the rollerset and I'm going in for more DC'ing.

I'm gonna put my conditioners with protein away under lock and key. And only use them when I really NEED them and not out of my need for variety.

 

[Irresistible]

I only DC'd for 15 mins, I'm back up under the dryer for round #2 for 30 mins this time. And yes, I added honeyquat to the conditioner. Let's hope it saves my hair.

I could really kick myself for this. I've been on the board long enough to know better than to randomly put some protein on my hair.

we all have those 'what was I thinking moments' I had one too with the pressing comb!

 

[Irresistible]

Thanks. Yeah, I did just that. Killed the rollerset and I'm going in for more DC'ing.

I'm gonna put my conditioners with protein away under lock and key. And only use them when I really NEED them and not out of my need for variety.

Exactly , for now you need NONE , but later when you need some I say stick with the softer ones like wheat or silk , I swear they are just easier to predict and less worrisome! and they do even better IMO, like a soft/strength, of course they can still be overdone but its not as likely to be so major if so

 

[Arcadian]

Sunshinebeautiful

Best thing to do is to get the most moisterizing con you got and slather it on. I recommend using the hot towel method so you can really steam it in there.

My hot towel method is something I use for DC's but can work for anybody.

I microwave a damp towel for 1-1/2 minutes, I wrap that around my head, on top of that I use two plastic grocery bags (used to be only 1 when Whole Foods had plastic bags) and I let it stay that way until the towel cools...about 20-30 minutes.

When you rinse it out try cool water versus warm or hot. I found that cool rinses help retain moisture more than rinsing with hot water.

Really baby your hair and use a very moisterizing leave in and seal with oil. Some make the mistake of using too much product when hair is fragile, especially when they goof a little where protien is concerned. Use the basics, they work the best. As far as styling, the less stress the better. If your hair is brittle, especially on the ends, maybe a rollerset isn't in your immediate future. See what happens once you rinse.

Babying your hair right now going to be really what you need, and yeah it could take a week or two to get your balance back and long as you take steps now to correct it.


-A

 

[Irresistible]

Let us know how things went and how your hair is doing mama!

 

[girlyprincess23]

yeah i did that before i put my knikys in...i don't know how, i think it was a mix of using henna too much ( i was feeling the red for a little while) and not knowing which deep conditiners were moisturizers and which were mild proteins!!! so to make a long story short I was very confused then ms Aggie came along and saved me I asked her a millie questions and found out my hair wad kinda dry and breaking because I was in protein overload. She said I could come back but it would take a few weeks of no protein only moisturizing dc's and overnight baggying. So basically I baggied everynight almost (whole head) with nexxes humectress (love that stuff) and it fixed my problem. I only used nexxuss humectress because i was completely sure it was pure moisture

hth

 

[Artemis]

If it's not breaking severely, you don't need to necessarily dc all over again. Do you have a moisture based leave-in conditioner? If I slightly overdo it on protein, I just use that and go on about my business. Or I'll use Kenra Daily Provision if I need something lighter.

HTH

 

[sunshinebeautiful]

Thanks for your help, ladies!

I basically sat DC'ing under a plastic cap all day yesterday. I can still "feel" the excess protein, as in my hair feels super strong and almost wiry, if that makes any sense, but the breakage has slowed down a lot.

I will continue to use moisturizing DCs for the next few weeks to bring my hair back to normal, but for now, crisis averted.

 

[Irresistible]

Thanks for your help, ladies!

I basically sat DC'ing under a plastic cap all day yesterday. I can still "feel" the excess protein, as in my hair feels super strong and almost wiry, if that makes any sense, but the breakage has slowed down a lot.

I will continue to use moisturizing DCs for the next few weeks to bring my hair back to normal, but for now, crisis averted.

yay! Glad your out of the crisis part! now dont do that again! did you lock em up?

oh and it makes perfect sense , I hope this is one of those instances that dont take too long to overcome, not like months like it did for me, it was not pretty and nothin nice to go through that