Typical Dry Natural Hair! I've tried it all! I need MAJOR help!

[brianna-alyssa]

Hello, I'm smartblackchic I have a serious issue. I BC'ed in November 09 after an almost two month transition. I'll be three months natural soon, & I'm still dealing with the problems of D R Y natural hair. I've literally tried it all, V05 strawberries & cream, suave tropical coconut, trader joe's nourish spa, trader joe's tea tree tingle conditioner, aussie moist, kinky curly knot today, oyin honey hemp conditioner, karen's body beautiful hair milk, curls curls milkshake, shea butter, coconut oil, jojoba oil, olive oil, castor oil, avocado butter, mango butter, aloe vera gel, aubrey organic honeysuckle rose, aubrey organics white camellia, apple cider vinegar rinses, baggying, rosemary oil, tea tree oil, patene nature fusion conditioner, herbal essences long term relationship & so on & so forth. My hair is still dry! My hair always feel nice, soft, & like a cloud when it is wet but, as soon as it dries & I rub my hand over my natural hair, it cuts me! It's ridiculous, hard, crusty, & dry. My regimen consists of, moisturizing twice a day with shea butter, coconut oil, & aloe vera gel. I rinse daily when I take a shower & I cowash once-twice a week. When I shampoo I use dr.bronners castile soap. I'm just so fed up ): I started using all natural products about a month after my BC. Now I feel the need to go to try some new commercial products. I also don't use sulfates but I feel I may need to since my hair is so dry. Somone, PLEASE, give me suggestions.

 

[westNDNbeauty]

i'd hate to add another product to the dozens you've already listed, but silk elements megasilk moisturizing treatment is great. i've gone through a boat load of conditioners myself. megasilk moisturizing treatment is the ONLY conditioner i've found that i can use without adding anything to it. sally's carries it.

if it doesn't work for you, you can always return it to sally's. no money wasted.

HTH

 

[Poohbear]

I think your hair is probably dry because you are using too many products on your hair all at once. Try Aussie Moist Conditioner alone as a leave in on your hair and see how your hair behaves.

 

[ms.blue]

I'm trying to find something for my dry hair also. I'm was using all these moisturuzing conditiners (bought locally) & none of them work. I realize my hair don't like glycerin. I hope you get answers cuz I wanna know too!

 

[SignatureBeauty]

I agree with PB! my hair always stayed dry, my hair hates oils & shea butter so using them made my hair worse, I think if you can find a good leave in you will be good, I too have tried everything and I mean everything, but my hair is happier using just a leave in. Castor oil doesn't even work. But when the hair gets longer it gets better with the moisture issue. I am also hydrated on the inside so it is just a dry thing LOL!!

 

[Duchesse]

This is the story of my life. I think I'm destined for hay hair.

 

[Platinum]

Hey there. I remember when you BC'd. Very pretty! Anyway, I have a question. When was the last time you clarified? You may have product build-up. This may be the reason why your conditioners and moisturizers aren't penetrating the hair shaft. Try using a baking soda and water solution (probably 1 tsp baking soda to 16 oz water ratio) or maybe a clarifying shampoo. If you live in a hard water area, try a chelating shampoo atleast once a month to remove product build-up and mineral deposits. Hopefully your moisturizers and conditioners will be more effective if you clarify or chelate. I hope this helps.

 

[LadyAmani]

I was in the same place as you are now and nothing worked for me until i mixed Roux Porosity Control with some moisturizing conditioner and left in in my hair for 15 mins, my hair became moist and soft and my breakage stopped immediately.

 

[robot.]

I know when a lot of ladies first BC, retaining moisture is a big issue, even for months sometimes.

Are you DC'ing regularly? Frequent washing can also dry the hair out. How's the weather where you live? Humectants like honey and glycerin can dry out your hair in the winter months. And maybe nix the aloe vera for a while. AVG has proteins in it, which isn't what you need to concentrate on at the moment.

 

[SignatureBeauty]

This is like the Number one issue when most of us Big Chop lol!! DRYNESS!

 

[southerncitygirl]

are you mositurizing and sealing at least every other day? winter is tough on hair no matter what type. pre-pooing on dry hair with a heat cap before co-washing or poo and condish may be helpful.

imo, you own way too many products so its hard to tell if any of them may be giving you trouble.

since you have kbb hair milk i reccomend moisturizing with it and sealing(daily)one or a mix of the following in your stash:
coconut oil
shea butter
mango butter
avocado butter

after you make your mix add a few drops of essential oils of your choosing.


you can do a pre-poo mix of stuff you already have in your stash and in your kitchen( mayo, eggs, molasses, honey) on dry hair cover with a conditioning cap then apply an heating cap, soft bonnet dryer or regular hardhat hair dryer for 15mins-1hour. I see you have alot of conditioners so are you co-washing? Co-washing isn't for everybody and some folks save it for summertime or cut back when it gets cold.

 

[SignatureBeauty]

You know what now that Robotxcore mentioned it, I haven't been doing any deep conditioning regular, everytime I went natural I never done it on the regular at all. I always done it when relaxed. But I will be doing it weekly now sitting under my dryer.

 

[PPGbubbles]

moisturizing twice a day with shea butter, coconut oil, & aloe vera gel

I had to ditch shea butter as a "moisturizer" yes it coats and adds hold but it still left my hair dry. The same with aloe for me.

your conditioners seem fine....keep them for your regular DCs.....But I found that I always need something more than my conditioner

I found that coconut oil alone is very good 4 my ends and you may have to search 4 a leave in. I am falling in love w/ water based leave in/ creamy leave in combo.

I spray or mist the hair w/ the watery leave in then coat w/ creamy one and seal the ends w/ coconut oil.... This keeps my hair soft for days on end...but I do it daily if I can

Water based options:
-infusium 23
-Ahogee green tea/ keratin leave in
-Ahpogee provitamin leave in

Creamy leave in
-herbal Essense Long term relationship
-Paul Mitchels the conditioner
-Sally GVP for paul mitchell

Mind you it took me a while to find a winning combo you may need to search to see what your hair likes

 

[lwilliams1922]

my natural hair tends to be very dry as well.

I just discovered WEN and Hair One. They are all in one products and so far my hair and my kids hair loves it.

I cleanse with it, use it as a leave it, make a moisture spritz and DC.


Before that out of all the things I tried my hair seemed to take to oilve oil.

 

[robot.]

You know what now that Robotxcore mentioned it, I haven't been doing any deep conditioning regular, everytime I went natural I never done it on the regular at all. I always done it when relaxed. But I will be doing it weekly now sitting under my dryer.

DC'ing can easily work miracles! I was suffering from dryness like OP, until I decided to really give Izzy (my fro) a good DC. I blogged about it here: http://curlypop.blogspot.com/2009/12/its-not-your-hair-its-you.html

 

[Sondice]

Maybe its the castile soap. When I was natural I used it cause I figured hey, all natural, organic products, why not right? But castile soap has really really high pH, alot higher than the average shampoo, or even your hair's normal pH around 4. So maybe this is why the hair cant keep moisture. The higher the pH of your hair, the more open the cuticle layer will be, therefore allowing all of the moisture from your strands to escape. I noticed once I took out the castile soap of my reggie, my hair felt alot better, try and switch it for like a sulfate free shampoo. Good Luck

 

[SignatureBeauty]

Anybody have any good deep conditioning recs? Thank You Robot! off to read your blog!

 

[ceecy29]

My hair is like this and that's just how it is. The sooner I realized this, the better for me, my hair and my pocket. It's been 2 years.

 

[Ediese]

Yep. So sorry to hear that. I definitely know where you're coming from though. I bought L'Occitane and Quemet products. As soon as I try them, I'll give a review.

 

[BlkOnyx488]

Did you try water?
keep a spray bottle with you and spritz it periodically throught out your day.
at night apply a moisturizier and then baggie your head.

 

[likewtr4chklit]

Hey there. I remember when you BC'd. Very pretty! Anyway, I have a question. When was the last time you clarified? You may have product build-up. This may be the reason why your conditioners and moisturizers aren't penetrating the hair shaft. Try using a baking soda and water solution (probably 1 tsp baking soda to 16 oz water ratio) or maybe a clarifying shampoo. If you live in a hard water area, try a chelating shampoo atleast once a month to remove product build-up and mineral deposits. Hopefully your moisturizers and conditioners will be more effective if you clarify or chelate. I hope this helps.

This is exactly what I was thinking when I read the list of great products she has in her arsenal. Too much product but no clarifying= waste of product and little results. I second the baking soda wash then a dc rinsed with cool water and then a rinse with ACV mixed with cold water (to seal cuticle). Use a water based moisturizer (could be a leave-in or rinse out condish) and SEAL with shea butter or coconut oil (or mixture of both). Technique matters. Now if you still need a little help there's nothing wrong with carrying a spray bottle with your choice of moisturizer of moisturizer mix (condish,aloe juice, & water for example) to spritz your hair throughout the day (if you still need it).

 

[newports]

before you buy another product...have you tried browsing the natural haven? this website has saved me a lot of time, damage & money too.

i was jumping on a lot of bandwagons, using unnecessary products & doing some crazy things to my hair but now that i'm learning why my hair is the way it is...a lot has changed.

 

[brianna-alyssa]

Thanks to EVERYONE for the answers & compliments. I deep condition every week with the aubrey organics conditioners (alternating between honeysuckle rose white camellia every week)& sometimes I layer with coconut oil. I will try the baking soda for clarifying, that worked well on my relaxed hair. I live in Los Angeles, so the weather is warm during the day & cooler during the morning & evening. I rinse in the shower daily because, it seems like if I don't my hair isn't conducive to distributing & applying product. I have to use more product & it feels drier than if I had wet it. I'm going to try using the KBB hair milk & sealing with shea butter (when I sealed with jojoba oil it was a fail & I tried that for an entire week & moisturized twice daily. I'm also going to eliminate the castile soap. I'll just use a baking powder mix until I can find a nice sulfate free shampoo alternative. Can you ladies tell me what you think about this new regimen? Co wash every week. Clarify/wash every two weeks with baking soda mix. Moisturize & seal once a day with, KBB hair milk & shea butter. Continue DCing with the aubrey organics conditioners.

 

[likewtr4chklit]

Can you ladies tell me what you think about this new regimen? Co wash every week. Clarify/wash every two weeks with baking soda mix. Moisturize & seal once a day with, KBB hair milk & shea butter. Continue DCing with the aubrey organics conditioners.

The only thing I'm not too sure of is the wash frequency. I also deal with dryness. I moisturize twice daily and do a DC & baking soda wash with acv rinse every week. Mainly b/c it seems like when I would try to go for two weeks my hair would be really dry but coated with product (if that makes any sense). I use baking soda b/c it's a gentle but surprisingly effective cleanser/clarifier. I don't even use poo, even the ones without sulfates seem to make the hair feel "squeaky" clean.

 

[CurlTalk]

Try Qhemet Amla and Olive Heavy Cream. It's a bit heavy in regular size amounts for my own hair, but my mom's hair (her hair is a bit dry) loves it.

 

[robot.]

Thanks to EVERYONE for the answers & compliments. I deep condition every week with the aubrey organics conditioners (alternating between honeysuckle rose white camellia every week)& sometimes I layer with coconut oil. I will try the baking soda for clarifying, that worked well on my relaxed hair. I live in Los Angeles, so the weather is warm during the day & cooler during the morning & evening. I rinse in the shower daily because, it seems like if I don't my hair isn't conducive to distributing & applying product. I have to use more product & it feels drier than if I had wet it. I'm going to try using the KBB hair milk & sealing with shea butter (when I sealed with jojoba oil it was a fail & I tried that for an entire week & moisturized twice daily. I'm also going to eliminate the castile soap. I'll just use a baking powder mix until I can find a nice sulfate free shampoo alternative. Can you ladies tell me what you think about this new regimen? Co wash every week. Clarify/wash every two weeks with baking soda mix. Moisturize & seal once a day with, KBB hair milk & shea butter. Continue DCing with the aubrey organics conditioners.

I reviewed the AOHSR on my blog not too long ago. As a DC, I found it didn't deliver unless I doctored it up with a lot of extra goodies. Maybe try a new DC? I love Pantene's R&N mask; I've used it both natural and relaxed and it gave me great conditioning every time. And it's cheap too!

Also, you don't need to clarify every two weeks - that'll be way too much and you don't want to risk drying out your hair any further. A good shampoo I like to use is actually african black soap. If you like, I can give you a chunk - I have more than enough. It lathers very well, and gets your hair and scalp squeaky clean without stripping (but I also prepoo before hand) and it's all natural.

Before you invest money in more expensive things like KBB and Qhemet, try tweaking smaller things like how and with what you DC, how often you wet your hair, and what you're washing your hair with.

I BC'ed before you did, but I know exactly what you mean about dryness! A lot of newly naturals (especially those who BC) have issues with retaining moisture.

 

[SignatureBeauty]

And the Dryness was the #1 reason why I kept running back to relaxers!

 

[Aviah]

Could it be scab hair? You did a really short transition, it could very well be. Obviously cutting it off even further is a last resort, just throwing it out there as a possibility...

 

[SignatureBeauty]

Yeap! Aviah is also right scab hair is a mess and can last awhile.

 

[carolinetwin]

I had dry hair, until I discovered JBCO. Don't sleep on it, go get yours. Trust me, it will solve your problems. Alternative is a leave in conditioner, mixed with vit e oil apply to your hair and spritz with water.