Serenity_Peace
Genius never dies!
I must say that I have mixed opinions. I don't think her products are anything to write home about, but then again, perhaps there's a better way to use them.
Here's what I did last night:
1. Pre-poo with rosemary, olive and castor oils. Used my heating cap for 20 minutes.
2. Shampoo with Elucence Moisture Balance. I love Elucence! I only shampoo once, as she suggested.
3. Added Cathy Howse Conditioner, concentrating on my 17-week post new growth and especially the ends. I wanted to stop most breakage.
4. I returned to my heating cap for the conditioner and conditioned for 20 minutes, as Cathy suggested. I must say that I really love the tingle that the conditioner gave. I felt like it was working.
5. Then, I went for my shower, rinsing the Conditioner out thoroughly. I then added Elucence Moisture Balance Conditioner. LOVE THIS STUFF! It's a moisturizing conditioner that I love. Left the conditioner on while I did my business in the shower, then rinsed.
6. I used Cathy's Moisturizing Spray, then her creme moisturizer and attempted to detangle. Those products weren't horrible but they were great and didn't detangle much at all.
7. So then I turned to my trusted and beloved Mane N' Tail Moisturizing Detangling Leave-In and my K-Cutter ran effortlessly through my hair. The bad news is that I did lose a fair amount of hair due to shedding, not combing, and I experienced some breakage still even after the protein treatment.
My conclusion is that while the products are fine, they are not the cure for stopping breakage, detangling, and I didn't get the sense that the moisturizers were good enough. My hair does not respond kindly to protein. Therefore, perhaps I conditioned for two long with her Conditioner and therefore needed to have a stronger moisturizer.
I will try her products once more in 3 days, as she suggested. Only this time without the use of heat and for no longer than 15 minutes. (She suggests 15 to 30 minutes.) I will deep condition afterwards with a stronger moisturizing conditioner.
How has your experience been using Cathy Howse's system? Does anyone have any suggestions on how to use this system more effectively without causing so much breakage and shedding? Her system was supposed to stop most of that, but it didn't.
Here's what I did last night:
1. Pre-poo with rosemary, olive and castor oils. Used my heating cap for 20 minutes.
2. Shampoo with Elucence Moisture Balance. I love Elucence! I only shampoo once, as she suggested.
3. Added Cathy Howse Conditioner, concentrating on my 17-week post new growth and especially the ends. I wanted to stop most breakage.
4. I returned to my heating cap for the conditioner and conditioned for 20 minutes, as Cathy suggested. I must say that I really love the tingle that the conditioner gave. I felt like it was working.
5. Then, I went for my shower, rinsing the Conditioner out thoroughly. I then added Elucence Moisture Balance Conditioner. LOVE THIS STUFF! It's a moisturizing conditioner that I love. Left the conditioner on while I did my business in the shower, then rinsed.
6. I used Cathy's Moisturizing Spray, then her creme moisturizer and attempted to detangle. Those products weren't horrible but they were great and didn't detangle much at all.
7. So then I turned to my trusted and beloved Mane N' Tail Moisturizing Detangling Leave-In and my K-Cutter ran effortlessly through my hair. The bad news is that I did lose a fair amount of hair due to shedding, not combing, and I experienced some breakage still even after the protein treatment.
My conclusion is that while the products are fine, they are not the cure for stopping breakage, detangling, and I didn't get the sense that the moisturizers were good enough. My hair does not respond kindly to protein. Therefore, perhaps I conditioned for two long with her Conditioner and therefore needed to have a stronger moisturizer.
I will try her products once more in 3 days, as she suggested. Only this time without the use of heat and for no longer than 15 minutes. (She suggests 15 to 30 minutes.) I will deep condition afterwards with a stronger moisturizing conditioner.
How has your experience been using Cathy Howse's system? Does anyone have any suggestions on how to use this system more effectively without causing so much breakage and shedding? Her system was supposed to stop most of that, but it didn't.
There is no line or system that is the 100% answer to breakage, since there are really two main possible causes: protein deficiency or moisture deficiency. Usually a line is good for addressing one or the other of those causes, not both. It's up to you to decide the cause and pick a line that specializes in that addressing cause. 
You are always right on time for me and for others here. Now that I think of it, I may have in misdiagnosed my problems. If it is true that Cathy Howse's moisturizers have protein in them, then I did more damage than good. Realizing that my hair simply does not protein, I should have avoided her spray and cream. I looked at the two and they do in fact have proteins in them. But the moisturizing detangler I used does not, which explained why my hair turned around once I added that product. My hair also loves Elucence and I saw an immediate improvement with them. I also didn't have an incredible amount of breakage and shedding prior to the treatment, but I did have some. So, I will try again, leaving the protein treatments alone. They are not necessary, as my hair is still pretty healthy. For the next wash, I'll just focus on deep conditioning and more moisture, which my hair already loves!!!
I thought because I had started seeing a stylist on the regular that that was what was best for my hair, but not in this case. 
