What am I doing wrong?

[CaribbeanQueen]

Today I washed my hair and I am very discouraged and hurt.

I wash my hair weekly with cream of nature shampoo, use nexxus emergencee and then use elasta qp dpr-11. After that I may use porosity control conditioner or just move on to drying.

Most of time i air dry but occasionally i use the blowdryer on medium setting or I wrap and use a soft bonnet dryer. I am 3 months post relaxer ( i had my first relaxer in 2 years in mid october). I wear phony ponies every day and have only worn my hair out twice since getting it relaxed.

I use mangobutter as a moisturizer and sometimes i do the vaseline, baggie method on my ends. 4 weeks ago i also did an aphogee treatment.

But tonight I had a whole bunch of broken hairs in the sink. Not little bitty bits but long strands that seem to be breaking from the middle of my hair.

I dont know what to do. The last time Ihad a trim was in October and I wanted to go at least 6 months to a year without trimming. I also wanted to stretch until april but right now I am not so sure. Maybe I made a mistake by relaxing. I feel like just cutting my hair off and starting again from scratch.

 

[s_terry]

I see at lot of protein use here. Are you using apohgee everytine you wash? This is way too much and will make your hair brittle. I would say you definitely need mmuch more moisture!

 

[myco]

It sounds like you used a lot of heavy protein in a very short period of time. If I understand correctly, Aphogee and Emergencee are both hardcore proteins that work the same way. Your regimen has both of them in use in less than a month.

Do you use Emergencee every weekend or just this past weekend? The Elasta QP might not be moisturizing to give your hair any elasticity to keep it from snapping.

I would stop using the protein conditioners for a while and just focus on moisturizing conditioners only to give your hair some balance.

 

[Sistaslick]

ITA with s_terry... Waaaay too much protein. You need to tilt the balance a little more in favor of moisture. Try going into a strict deep conditioning and moisturizing regimen for the next couple of weeks.

The mango butter is a protein moisturizer so it will only add to your problems. Look for a moisturizer that does not contain protein until your moisture balance is restored. You also may want to check the leave in conditioner you are using

 

[CaribbeanQueen]

Thanks for your replies. I use Nexus weekly and I used aphogee a month ago. When I washed today i didnt use nexus (i ran out) i just washed and conditioned with elasta.

you guys are right, maybe I am using too much protien... How long should I lay off of it and what do you suggest as a better moisturizer?

Thanks in advanced for your help...

 

[Sistaslick]

I would lay off the protein until you start to feel your hair shifting too far to the moisture side. Its easiest to tell when your hair is wet b/c it will be extra stretchy/elastic and then break. Almost too soft. It will also feel sort of limp indicating it needs a bit of extra structure (protein). For me, it usually takes a couple of weeks to get my hair back on balance. Then slowly re-introduce the protein back into your regimen. HTH.

Good moisturizers to try now are ORS olive oil and S-Curl. I even use NTM silk touch leave in as a moisturizer when I've gone overboard on the protein. I'm sure some other ladies have some good protein-less moisturizers that will help you!

 

[CaribbeanQueen]

My hair thanks you sistaslick

 

[HoneyDew]

If I have 1/2 inch or more new growth, my hair sheds and breaks WAY more. It stops when I get my touch up. I don't relax bone straight, most times, though. Just enough to loosen the curl and then the breakage stops everytime like clockwork. I personally cannot stretch w/o shedding and breakage. Have you always stretched and never had a problem with shedding and breakage?

 

[madamdot]

I have the same problem. I dont know what I am doing wrong. I dont have heavy protein use and I have amped up the moisture because for a long time I have been plagued by dryness.

I ordered some Roux Porosity treatment and it hasnt showed up yet. Sometimes I worry that my hair is too moist. From too dry to too moist?

Anyway recently I have started doing some AVC spritzes which seems to have help rebalanced my hair. I hope so anyway because its really fragile right now

 

[CaribbeanQueen]

I personally cannot stretch w/o shedding and breakage. Have you always stretched and never had a problem with shedding and breakage?

Honestly, i have never been someone to relax my hair every 6-8 weeks. Not because I was stretching intentionally but because I usually wear my hair up and I never really had a problem with the two textures.

 

[blueabyss333]

It might not be the protein. I had a lot of shedding (white bulbs) when I started using vaseline on my ends and it stopped once I used a different moisturizer.

 

[CaribbeanQueen]

It might not be the protein. I had a lot of shedding (white bulbs) when I started using vaseline on my ends and it stopped once I used a different moisturizer.

Really? This might be something to think about :scratchch because I have been doing the baggie method for about 6-9 months using mango butter and had barely any breakage/shedding. But recently I switched to vaseline because I had heard good things about it and because it is cheaper.