What do you use to keep your moisture levels up? What type of hair? My type 4 hair is terribly dry without oils and butters. It’s like a rats nest. Super tangled and breaks.
I have type 4 natural hair - 4a, b, and a little bit of c. I now use water based products (rather than oil-based). No oil/butter in the top 5 ingredients. My hair loves humectant products with aloe vera or glycerin in it that draw moisture in from the environment. These are well-formulated products that, in truth, do contain some amount of oil/butter in the product formulations, just lower on the ingredient list.
As my hair stylist explained, then it's not necessary to apply additional oils/butters. It can create a layer of buildup that prevents water from entering the hair strand and it doesn't necessarily shampoo out easily. Over time it creates a dryness issue. She says she's seen ladies in the salon that have used lots of oils over the years and she's shampooed 3, 4, 5 times and the oil build-up layer is still there. It eventually comes off after discontuining oil-based products, but it may take several wash days.
I used to be a LOC girl. Mostly because I didn't know what else to do since it was so advised on the internet, forums, and growing up we used lots of oils in the hair. A day or two after wash day, my hair was dry again, just with a layer of oil/butter on top. I was naturally skeptical of this new method at first, but I was also frustrated enough to try it out in the event that it did work. It only took a few weeks before I noticed a difference.
All I do to keep moisture levels up is wash once per week (because water naturally evaporates from the hair strand as days go by), use water-based products, and I'm good through the week. I've been doing this for 6 months now and cannot see myself going back. It wasn't an immediate "try it one time" difference, but a cumulative process that as the weeks go by allows your hair to accept and retain more water over time.