What Can I Do?!?!?

[butta]

well as u can see i'm new and just recently took interest in actually taking care of my hair. Before i was abusing and loosing it with all the heat and all the chemical processes. It wasn't that bad till i went to the shop to get it relaxed and after a week wearing it down i decided to wash it and a whole patch of my hair had broken down to about an inch..all of my edges and the left side. The rest of my hair felt similar to dry grass. I began to actually take care of it no heat or anything, and it was soft and managable. Well i decided to straighten it and well basically, i'm back at square one. There was hair everywhere. What could i possibly do to get my hair back in shape if anything?!?!!?!?

P.S. I kno to stay as far away from heat as i possibly can

 

[AngelicRose07]

are you moisturizing> moisture is key!

do a protein treatment then work on moisturizing daily!

 

[UmSumayyah]

Well, I would definitely lay off the chemicals for awhile. How often did you relax before? What type of relaxer? Has your stylist been overlapping you?
I second the suggestion to protein and then hit your hair with lots of moisture. Don't forget the satin caps either.

 

[butta]

Well i try to keep my hair moisturized since it gets dry fast, and i was using dark and lovely then..i switched over to optimum and i recently went to a dominican shop and they told me to relax every 5 or 6 weeks..I try to stretch that a little longer tho.

What type of products do u recomend exactly

 

[myco]

I think if you notice most of your breakage and shedding right after a relaxer, I would point to the relaxer as your main obstacle right now. How exactly is your hair being processed whenever you get it done? It sounds like continual overprocessing might be the problem IMO. I agree with everyone else that you are going to need both protein and moisture treatments for your hair. If you're using heating appliances, you might want to store them away for a good long while.

Have you tried any Nexxus products? A lot of people here like them and they are pretty readily accessible. From what people recommend most often, you might want to try the Therappe Shampoo, Humectress Conditioner for deep conditioning and as a leave-in. Keraphix and Emergencee can be used for protein treatments. The Emergencee is much more heavy duty than the Keraphix so you wouldn't use that as often. A less expensive line would be Elasta QP. You can find them in pretty much any BSS - Sally's or Asian. They have a Shampoo specifically for Relaxed hair as well as a regular moisturizing shampoo. The Breakage Control Serum gets a lot of good reviews as well as their deep conditioner. I think it's called DPR-11.

You can also do Conditioner Washes, which are just using a moisturizing conditioner in the place of shampoo.

A search on any of those should give you tons of replies.

I hope that helped.

 

[SherryLove]

Welcome to LHCF, butta....you need loads of strengthening/moisturizing conditioners...

Keep hanging out with us and taking pointers, and your hair and scalp will improve in no time...

 

[butta]

yea, i did a conditioner wash yesterday and yea, i've tried nexxus before..only twice tho and each time was a bad experience for me for some reason. I kno people who swear by it, thats who gave it to me. But my hair always comes out hard and tangled instead of silky or soft. The same thing happened to my mother and we have COMPLETELY different hair types. Her's is very fine with a nice wave pattern while mine is THICK and coarse. VERY resistant. Sometimes my relaxers don't even take.

 

[Leslie_C]

butta,
I have a similar history and what Ive found is that it takes a matter of time to see improvements in badly damaged hair. It doesnt happen overnight or with one or two uses of some miracle product. It took me cutting my hair mostly off and starting at square one to actually get a decent head of hair. Its in pretty good shape now but Im struggling with some shedding and breakage from a recent salon perm experience, and Im trying to combat that. But definitely the things that help the most are #1 laying off the heat, moisturize like crazy, and manipulate your hair as little as possible.

what is your current length and regimen? It may not be what you want to hear, but my severely damaged hair only thrived when I went ahead and cut it and then started taking better care of it. It was so short I didnt have enough hair to gather into a little ponytail to add a phonytail! You might not have to cut yours that much depending on how long it is now, but at the least I suggest a good trim. I had hair combs and bobby pins all over the place! but it really helped me to leave my hair alone for a while so I would suggest that, or braids, but I prefer the ponytail bc I could get to my own hair whenever I needed to in order to get it washed and conditioned and moisturized....braids didnt work for me at all bc of my scalp but maybe I just didnt know how to care for them back then

My hair was a mess though, I used to perm my whole head every couple of months, use heat almost daily, didnt properly moisturize, and used what was supposed to be a hair rinse but never came out of my hair. Its a wonder I had ANY hair...lol. Now Ive wised up and hopefully Im on the road to long hair! good luck and if u hang around here u will learn a ton!