Have Questions On The Moisture/protein Balance

[ajargon]

Hi All,
I just got this link off another site, and read the entire article. It was so informative on getting the right balance between protein/moisture (especially for those of us who are growing out our hair) and when to use each. Much of the info is stuff that you will hear from Shulta in the homemade room, and I am sure others that have hair care lines have stated this, but Shulta comes to mind first Great info in this article. I mean when one can learn why they use what they use and when to properly use stuff.... that&#39;s freedom, ya know?! Happy reading!!!! </span> the fine art of protein and moisture balancing for black hair care


ETA: just a bit more info that I plucked......

This is a quote from Artemis:

"Number 2
The Difference Between Clarifying and Chelating…

First off, please keep in mind that each hair product has a purpose. Once we learn and understand the function behind each product we own, we can move forward in making better decisions in regards to our hair...

Now…Clarifying shampoo is meant to eliminate product buildup from the hair, and shouldn‘t be used every wash. If you use silicones or greases heavily on a regular basis, you can benefit from clarifying once a month or so. Regular shampooing should be sufficient in removing regular buildup on a regular basis. It&#39;s the method of your shampooing (in conjunction with using the right shampoo for your hair type) that gets the scalp and hair clean, not just the products.

Chelating products remove product buildup, chlorine, calcium, and medication deposits from the hair, so they are more thorough. A chelating product penetrates the strands all the way to the cortex and is also ideal for balancing the hair prior to chemical services so that the results will be even. So, really these products aren&#39;t meant for frequent use unless you have a specific need for them, like if you have hard water.

So ideally, regular shampooing will get your scalp and hair clean if you do it correctly. No need to go out and buy all new stuff unless you have an extremely coating conditioning shampoo or a shampoo with a high pH, in which case, just swing by wal-mart and spend a few bucks on like Tresemme or something till you get your bearings. "
__________________


This quote is from Gymfreak336:

"Number 3

Porosity

If you are constantly dealing with dryness, you might want to also look into checking your hair’s porosity.
What is your porosity and why should I care?
Porosity is your hair’s ability to absorb materials like water into the hair. Think about it like a sponge. First of all imagine a brand new sponge. It will have tiny holes in it, and when you immerse it in water, it will soak up a large quantity, and be able to hold that liquid for a long period of time. This is because it has good porosity. Now imagine an old sponge. Its holes have become damaged and distorted. It might even be torn in some areas. When you immerse this sponge in the same amount of liquid, it will absorb far less and will certainly not be able to retain the moisture so readily. You should care about your porosity because Hair that has poor porosity will not be able to absorb or retain moisture as well as hair that has good porosity, making hair permanently dry. Poor porosity can and will cause breakage issues too.
How to test your porosity
One way- Test the porosity of your hair. In order to test accurately for porosity, use three different areas: front hairline, in front of ears, and near the crown. Grasp small strands of dry hair and comb smoothly. Hold the ends firmly with the thumb and index finger of one hand and slide the fingers of the other hand from the ends towards the scalp. If the fingers do not slide easily, or if the hair ruffles up as your fingers slide down the stand, the hair is porous.
The more ruffles formed, the more porous is the hair. The less ruffles formed, the less porous is the hair. If the fingers slide easily and no ruffles are formed, the cuticle layer lays close to the hair shaft. This type of hair is least porous, is most resistant and will require a longer processing time.

How do I fix it
In order to help correct porosity issues, you need to focus on keeping your hair cuticles as smooth and flat as possible. Clear rinses, protein treatments and watching the pH of your products will all help with your porosity.
For more detailed info check out these links "

Hair Porosity: Help for Dry, Damaged Hair (Part 1)
Hair Porosity: Help for Dry, Damaged Hair (Part 2)


Another quote from Artemis:

"Number 4
Before you start throwing out products, try simply changing the way you use them first. Many of us have thrown out stuff when we first started out, just to return to it later. Try the CWC method with your existing conditioners. Try increasing the time of your deep conditioning treatments. Try wet setting if you don&#39;t already. Change your styling tools like use a shower comb instead of a fine toothed comb. Sometimes we only needed to make small tweaks to our existing regime in the first place."

this is a quote from Gymfreak336

"Number 5


Protein seems to be one the most confusing things for alot of people. Here is some info that hopefully will help.

For starters, proteins come in different strengths. One easy way to help gauge the strength of a protein is too look at the smell, consistency and the color. In general, the darker, stinkier, and more liquid a protein conditioner is, the stronger it is


Cosmetic chemists use lots of different kinda of proteins in conditioners. Here is some info about different ones

All proteins are strengthening proteins to some degree but here are more specific characteristics of these proteins:

Collagen Proteins -- known for increasing elasticity in the hair.

Silk Proteins -- known for softening the hair.

Wheat Proteins -- a moisturizing and strengthening protein. Known for increasing the hair&#39;s ability to maintain & receive moisture.

Keratin Protein -- responsible for keeping the hair strong and pliable. This is the strongest of the (hair product) proteins and is actually the one hair is made from. This one re-structures hair that has been damaged or broken down by chemicals. It helps to replace the amino acid cysteine which is the main one lost during chemical processing. This is the heavy duty protein. If you see the following as an ingredient:

*a) Keratin protein -- the will re-structure and strengthen the hair cuticle (the outer layer only & the most important layer)

*B) Hydrolyzed Keratin Protein of Keratin Amino Acids -- this means that the Keratin molecules have been broken down and are small enough to go beyond the cuticle and penetrate the hair shaft. It will strengthen all 3 layers of the hair. That is why the term "deep conditioning" technically only refers to this kind of treatment using penetrating proteins.

*c) Hydrolyzed Human Hair Keratin -- This is an exact match for the keratin your hair has (or has lost due to chemical processing). This is the highest quality and most potent keratin that can be used in hair products.

*Vegetable protein -- Vegetable protein absorbs more easily into the hair shaft (than animal protein) and does not create build-up, leaves the hair very shiny, radiant, luxuriant, and healthy.

*Animal protein -- Animal protein breaks down into fatty acids, which coats the hair and create residual build-up.

Silk Amino Acids/Protein -- Natural Silk is the strongest, natural fiber known to mankind. Discovered in Japan and has been used for centuries in all kinds of products that require durability. Silk has a tiny molecule that can penetrate the entire hair shaft deeper than all other proteins without adding any weight leaving the hair feeling clean and non-greasy."

A quote from Artemis:

"Number 6 & 7
What’s your Hair type? Know it, Love it, Embrace it, and Find your Cousins!

No matter what your hair type, embrace what you have and work with it to keep it healthy and strong. No hair type is better than another; each type has its own strengths and weaknesses. The key to healthy hair is to learn what your hair can and cannot do, and embrace these facts. This allows you to be able to better tailor your regimen to fit your hair’s individual needs. It also makes it easier to stay consistent with your hair care.

Hair type and texture are everything and plays a part in what products and methods your hair loves and hates. While some products will work for most people across the board and are among the favorites here, when it comes to what is best for you and your hair, looking to people with your similar hair is invaluable.

For example, if you have fine hair, and you use a moisturizer that is better suited for someone with coarse hair, you may find that the product ends up being too much for your hair, resulting in breakage.

A strand of hair can generally have anywhere from 3 to 10 layers of cuticles on the shaft; fine hair on the lower end and coarse hair on the higher end…Fine hair has less cuticle layers than medium and coarse hair and many fine haired ladies tend not to use much, if any, product on their after styling. Coarse hair, however, can have as many as 10 (and sometimes up to 13) cuticle layers on the strand and has more room for the necessary moisture. Thusly, it takes a lot more product to weigh down coarse hair than fine or medium hair.

In addition to strand thickness, overall density of the hair is important to take into consideration when sorting through product recommendations. Thin hair may need more volumizing products while thicker hair may benefit from more smoothing products. So many factors come into play when searching for the right products for you, who better to help with this than your hair cousins?

Finding people who have similar hair types and concerns can help you figure which products you should try out, and which ones to just avoid. It helps narrow the search and it’ll also keep the hair care journey less overwhelming."


This is a quote from Gymfreak336

"Number 8


Wet test assessment

Doing a wet test assessment will help you diagnose your problems and help guide you in picking your products in each wash."

<span style="color:#CC33CC">
Here&#39;s a quote from Gymfreak336:

"Number 9

If your don&#39;t know what ceramides are then you are really missing out. Ceramides are like little fatty substances that help keep hair moisturized and help mantain elasticity."

[B_Phlyy]

Sistaslick (who wrote the original article) and Gymfreak336 are on another forum and those ladies really know their stuff.

Thanks for posting.

[ajargon]

Sistaslick (who wrote the original article) and Gymfreak336 are on another forum and those ladies really know their stuff.

Thanks for posting.
[/b]

Yup, they sure are!! That&#39;s why I made SURE to referance their quotes and state that this was taken off another site. This is great info and everyone should know it I and many others thanked them for sharing and I am passing the info along to my sisters here! :P

[shulta]

Yup, they sure are!! That&#39;s why I made SURE to referance their quotes and state that this was taken off another site. This is great info and everyone should know it I and many others thanked them for sharing and I am passing the info along to my sisters here! :P
[/b]

@ajargon
This is absolutely GREAT info. that you listed above and thank you ever so much for the kind comments...
I love NP I learn and continue to learn everyday from the members of this board!

Now off to speak to my chemist about porosity as I am about to reply to someone else about ACV and Baking Soda and clarifying the hair. Porosity does play a part in this..

Much :wub: to you!

[Natural Mystic]

Thanks for posting this, Ajargon....VERY informative

Shulta, what role does porosity play with ACV/Baking soda and clarifying? If you have a moment to elaborate on that it would be great.

EDIT: I just found the answer to my question in P2 of the Hair Porosity Article...last paragraph.

"Weekly acidic rinse with Apple cider vinegar (ACV) is a common home remedy for treating porous hair. Simply combine 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar with 2 cups of cool water. Pour this mixture over the hair as a final rinse after shampooing and conditioning are complete. Rinse thoroughly in cool water. This acidic rinse will temporarily reduce porosity by constricting the cuticle scales. The ACV rinse will also enhance your hair&#39;s shine, eliminate tangles, and increase manageability.

ACV rinses should never make your hair feel hard. If the ACV rinse makes your hair feel hard or tangly after rinsing, your mixture needs to be diluted with more water."

[kinkykhick]

dangnabit! I lost my post.... so again

Thanks ajorgon!
This is very timely post. I am currently suffering from over-conditioned/product buildup and shedding and I&#39;m tryiing to find that protein-moisture balance. I&#39;ve managed to slow the shedding with (3) protein treatments of varying strengths over the last couple of weeks (I almost used another protein conditioner today but decided to wait) but my hair is still not feeling like it&#39;s strong self (still too soft).

Thanks again!

[ctate5]

thanks for posting!!! for a while my hair had too much elasticity, which is weird b/c my hair tends to be dry. so i did a protein treatment, and now it seems to be a little on the dry side, maybe it&#39;s the weather and not doing protective styling. where is the happy medium? i&#39;ll definitely try the acv rinse.

[EmpressRi]

yeaaah ajargon!!! goooood lookin sis! (btw i responded to your pm but np was on the fritz so let me know if you got it k?)

this reassures me cause aphogee began using plant protein instead of animal protein and i was worried that it wouldn&#39;t work the same but plant protein is BETTER! yay!

must dash off to host this party but ill be back to read more! muah :wub:

[Spirit]

Thanks for sharing....Knowlege is the key to success!

[ctate5]

"Weekly acidic rinse with Apple cider vinegar (ACV) is a common home remedy for treating porous hair. Simply combine 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar with 2 cups of cool water. Pour this mixture over the hair as a final rinse after shampooing and conditioning are complete. Rinse thoroughly in cool water. This acidic rinse will temporarily reduce porosity by constricting the cuticle scales. The ACV rinse will also enhance your hair&#39;s shine, eliminate tangles, and increase manageability.

ACV rinses should never make your hair feel hard. If the ACV rinse makes your hair feel hard or tangly after rinsing, your mixture needs to be diluted with more water."
[/b]

i&#39;ve done ACV rinses before, but tonite i had a breakthru. i often use diluted ACV when my eczema flares up, so i keep it in the shower. i sprayed the mix on my hair, and my hair detangled super easily!!! and my hair felt great!!! i can&#39;t believe i&#39;ve been sleeping on this one, especially since my hair is color treated. yea!!!!