Why is my hair not retaining any moisture?

[chanappy]

My hair has not been retaining moisture these past few weeks, and I'm perplexed. I'm at my wits end here, lol.. I'm considering changing my regimen, tweaking it a bit. Here's my current regimen:


- i wash my hair weekly with a shea moisture shampoo, SM condish, and SM dc

- i've tried olive oil, coconut oil, and castor oil as sealants. the only oil that works for me is castor oil. olive oil makes my hair feel crispy although it softens my roots and coconut oil, while its great for my scalp and a good detangler/gives me AMAZING slip, it doesnt seal my hair well. when i try using it as a sealant, im forced to moisturize 2-3x a day, which gives me product build up

- i have low porosity hair, 4C

- when moisturizing, i use water (purified), honey, EVCO,EVOO, & JBCO as a spritz and then use a SM conditioner (it says i can use it as a leave in). i do seal my hair, but ive tried everything, from vaseline to evoo, but it doesnt leave my hair supple. it leaves it crispy.

- i dont do protein treatments. my shampoo has two hydrolyzed proteins in the first 7 ingredients, and i wash my hair 1x a wk, so i dont do PTs

- the only way my hair will feel supple/moisturized is when i baggy, but after i take the bag off, my hair will go back to feeling dry 1 hour later

- i finger detangle and i only finger detangle every 2wks. i leave my hair in (real) braids for 2 wks, then i take them down for a few days and braid them back up.



I'm considering implementing the water only washing method and clarifying every 2wks instead; I'd was my hair with water every day or every 2/3 days and when its time to take down my braids I'd clarify with my shea moisture jbco shampoo; I'd do the greenhouse effect method 5 days/wk to increase my sebum production. Perhaps that'd make my hair healthier/retain moisture easier. Idk.

[Karibana]

Short answer: you are putting too much on your hair. Also, whenever you put in anything and it leaves it crunchy, brittle and dull looking, that's a sign that it doesn't agree with your hair.

My suggestion, clarify your hair although I'd say that your shea shampoo probably doesn't clarify. I'd keep it simple and use a clarifying SLS (gasp!) shampoo and then try the products one at a time to see what works and what doesn't. With the products you use, I think it's the best way to do it, an ACV rinse may not cut it.

Also, protein isn't for everyone. You should do the snap test to see if it's for you ie take one hair, wet it and then stretch it. If it stretches continuously without breaking, you need protein. If it stretches a little and then breaks, you don't need it.

Finally, you say your hair is dry, does it actually feel dry or is it dry looking? Healthy Kinky hair doesn't reflect light like healthy straight hair does while still feeling soft to the touch. Wrap a strand around your finger and look at it in a mirror. If it reflects light, your hair is actually fine.

[OHR]

I'm with Karibana on this. The products are coating your strands, and that SM shampoo isn't powerful enough to break through that layer.

It's all trial and error, I'm afraid.

[coalblacklocs]

I agree with the first two, try a clarifying conditioner and start from scratch, with one product at a time.

If your hair hates protein, I can tell you that if your shampoo has hydrolyzed protein in it, your hair might be angry with you forever afterwards, no matter what else you put on it, until you wash the hydrolyzed protein products out thoroughly. Pay careful attention to the ingredients to all that you put on your hair, because sometimes hydrolyzed protein likes to hide in stuff. coconut oil has protein in it, so it might dry your hair out. Olive oil doesn't always agree with low porosity because it sometimes won't seep into the hair very well.

If castor oil works good as a sealant, stick with that. Also, once you avoid protein products in your shampoo and conditioner, you might find that the sealers you're trying to use work better.