Dry Dry Dry Hair. Help!

Lately, my hair has been really dry and nothing helps. I've tried co-washing, DC'ing, sealing with every kind of oil known to man but nothing helps. I did an Ayuverdic co-wash yesterday and my hair was so soft and silky but today... it's dry as the Sahara desert. Someone PLEASE help me!

Have you tried baggying overnight? Have you clarified, then DC'd? Hopefully you'll be able to figure it out....

Sad to say, I don't think my hair like baggying. I've tried baggying with oils, curl moisturizers, Cantu leave-In. Nothing works. I used the Kiya fizzy last week , that helped but two days later, it was dry again. I clarified about 2 weeks ago with baking soda and water.

Ditto to JustKiya... clarify and DC w/ plastic cap & low-med heat (maybe there's build up preventing the condish/moisturizing products from really penetrating...) I'm a 4b & my hair tends to be a bit on the dry side... it has responded well to Cantu Shea Butter Leave In. Have you tried it?

Love your siggy... too funny!

hope you get it under control. i know you tried co washing but have you tried it everyday. have you tried steaming? i heard that was good.

Scratch the Cantu... I just saw your response to JustKiya!!!

aw, I'm sorry, I really wish i can help. maybe you can try the elasta QP mango butter. I like the way that feels. Or have u tried that glycerin and AVJ that everyone has been talking about?

Do you seal with oil after you moisturize?
How do you let your hair air dry? Is it in twists? Braids? Or out?
Do you have hard water? (From what I've been reading lately that could be a culprit)
(stupid question but..) Is the moisture-protein balance in your hair on point?
Have you considered a porosity treatment? Your cuticles may be very porous and open which can cause dryness.

What are the ingredients in products you use?

What about coconut oil? That stuff always works for me.

Platinum said:

Sad to say, I don't think my hair like baggying. I've tried baggying with oils, curl moisturizers, Cantu leave-In. Nothing works. I used the Kiya fizzy last week , that helped but two days later, it was dry again. I clarified about 2 weeks ago with baking soda and water.

Click to expand...

Ahh, I meant like - DC'ing overnight, I guess would be a better word/term. Just put your DC in, wrap up your head, and go to sleep. Do that for a couple of nights a week (maybe every other night) and your hair should 'build up' a moisture storage that'll get you through the days.
Also, are you using humectants to help pull some moisture into your hair? What are you sealing with after you DC to help try to keep the moisture in?

chebaby said:

hope you get it under control. i know you tried co washing but have you tried it everyday. have you tried steaming? i heard that was good.

Click to expand...

I don't co wash everyday but I may have to try it. I've never steamed my hair before. I may try to look at some steamers this weekend.

amazing said:

aw, I'm sorry, I really wish i can help. maybe you can try the elasta QP mango butter. I like the way that feels. Or have u tried that glycerin and AVJ that everyone has been talking about?

Click to expand...

I haven't tried the glycerine and AVJ. I'll check on that.

Bri505 said:

Do you seal with oil after you moisturize?
How do you let your hair air dry? Is it in twists? Braids? Or out?
Do you have hard water? (From what I've been reading lately that could be a culprit)
(stupid question but..) Is the moisture-protein balance in your hair on point?
Have you considered a porosity treatment? Your cuticles may be very porous and open which can cause dryness.

Click to expand...

I don't remember sealing with oil after moisturizing. I seal after cowashing. I've only used my blowdryer once since April (?) and I haven't worn any braids or weaves since July. I stopped wearing my wigs because summer heat was making it uncomfortable and I thought maybe the wig had something to do with the dryness. I'm a truck driver so I get a lot of showers on the road so I may run into hard water areas sometimes. As for the protein, I use Mega Tek only on my scalp, I don't use cholesterol condish because I was scared of protein overload. I have a small bottle of Roux Porosity Control so I may use that the next time I wash.

Oneya said:

What are the ingredients in products you use?

Click to expand...

I've been using mostly cheapie moisturizing condishes. I've been sealing with Coconut oil lately. I've been trying to cut back on using so many products because I thought I suffered from product buildup. I plan to try an Ayuverdic regimen for a while, (I've got plenty of powders and oils).

Thanks for all you suggestions,Ladies.

Platinum said:

I don't co wash everyday but I may have to try it. I've never steamed my hair before. I may try to look at some steamers this weekend.



I haven't tried the glycerine and AVJ. I'll check on that.



I don't remember sealing with oil after moisturizing. I seal after cowashing. I've only used my blowdryer once since April (?) and I haven't worn any braids or weaves since July. I stopped wearing my wigs because summer heat was making it uncomfortable and I thought maybe the wig had something to do with the dryness. I'm a truck driver so I get a lot of showers on the road so I may run into hard water areas sometimes. As for the protein, I use Mega Tek only on my scalp, I don't use cholesterol condish because I was scared of protein overload. I have a small bottle of Roux Porosity Control so I may use that the next time I wash.



I've been using mostly cheapie moisturizing condishes. I've been sealing with Coconut oil lately. I've been trying to cut back on using so many products because I thought I suffered from product buildup. I plan to try an Ayuverdic regimen for a while, (I've got plenty of powders and oils).

Thanks for all you suggestions,Ladies.

Click to expand...

I think it is the cheapie conditioners with the harsh ingredients. I like coconut oil but castor oil works better for me.

Platinum said:

I've been using mostly cheapie moisturizing condishes. I've been sealing with Coconut oil lately. I've been trying to cut back on using so many products because I thought I suffered from product buildup. I plan to try an Ayuverdic regimen for a while, (I've got plenty of powders and oils).

Thanks for all you suggestions,Ladies.

Click to expand...

Hrm - what's your DC of choice?

JustKiya said:

Ahh, I meant like - DC'ing overnight, I guess would be a better word/term. Just put your DC in, wrap up your head, and go to sleep. Do that for a couple of nights a week (maybe every other night) and your hair should 'build up' a moisture storage that'll get you through the days.
Also, are you using humectants to help pull some moisture into your hair? What are you sealing with after you DC to help try to keep the moisture in?

Click to expand...

I tried DC'ing for 36 hours. That was an accident but it helped. Two days after rinsing it out, DRY hair again. My base conditioner in my Ayuverdic cowash is Suave Humectant. I was sealing with coconut oil but I may have to try sealing with Amla or Brahmi oils or HBCO.

try mixing aloe with your conditioner

I think the porosity control will help.... this is what I was going to suggest. Let us know how it works for ya

Platinum try Wen Cleansing Condtioner in Fig. It will keep your hair moist!

Platinum....have you done a float test for your hair?

From what you have posted here, you need to test your porosity first and then

1. Clarify if you haven't in a while
2. Deep Condition with a high quality moisturizing deep conditioner
3. Leave it alone for 3-4 days and then deep condition again.

It seems as if like gorgeous hair said, your porosity might be off base. If your porosity is off, no matter how much moisture you give it, it won't hold on to it.

Another thing to consider is that you may be using products with ingredients that are too harsh/drying for your hair. I used to have hit or miss good and bad hair days until I fugured out that my hair couldn't handle silicone. The silicones would coat my hair and actually hamper my attempts to keep it moisturized (my moisturizers would only coat versus penetrate).

Second, try shampooing with non-sulfate shampoos. They are less drying to the scalp and hair. I no longer have a dry/itchy scalp and my hair doesn't get as dry after shampooing. I like ABBA Pure Gentle Shampoo (nice doses of Yucca and Aloe) - but there are many others that you could look into trying.

Once I eliminated those two ingredients from my regimen, the moisture in my hair increased 100%.

HTH

Have you tried doing an oil rinse? Oil rinsing really helped my hair feel more soft and moisturized after I washed my hair...even after airdrying without a leave in.

Try Neutrogena Triple Moisture Deep Recovery Hair Mask. You won't regret it!

Sorry I didn't respond sooner. I don't know why I couldn't access LHCF yesterday. I'm not sure if it was a technical issue with the site or something else. Anyway...

gymfreak336 said:

Platinum....have you done a float test for your hair?

From what you have posted here, you need to test your porosity first and then

1. Clarify if you haven't in a while
2. Deep Condition with a high quality moisturizing deep conditioner
3. Leave it alone for 3-4 days and then deep condition again.

It seems as if like gorgeous hair said, your porosity might be off base. If your porosity is off, no matter how much moisture you give it, it won't hold on to it.

Click to expand...

I haven't done a float test. I'll do a search so I can try it. Thanks!

AngieK said:

Another thing to consider is that you may be using products with ingredients that are too harsh/drying for your hair. I used to have hit or miss good and bad hair days until I fugured out that my hair couldn't handle silicone. The silicones would coat my hair and actually hamper my attempts to keep it moisturized (my moisturizers would only coat versus penetrate).

Second, try shampooing with non-sulfate shampoos. They are less drying to the scalp and hair. I no longer have a dry/itchy scalp and my hair doesn't get as dry after shampooing. I like ABBA Pure Gentle Shampoo (nice doses of Yucca and Aloe) - but there are many others that you could look into trying.

Once I eliminated those two ingredients from my regimen, the moisture in my hair increased 100%.

HTH

Click to expand...

Thanks. The last shampoo I used was a chelating poo that I used after relaxed on 9/1. Other than that I cowash and I clarified with baking soda and water about 2 weeks ago.

JustKiya said:

Hrm - what's your DC of choice?

Click to expand...

I was using Queen Helene cholesterol until I started using Mega Tek. I stopped using it after I keep hearing about protein overload. The last DC I used was Dry Hair Healer by Dark & Lovely.

Thank you all of your suggestions.

If you decide to incorporate a steamer into your hair care, your hair will change almost instantly, trust me. Over the complete course of relaxing my hair, I've always had steam treatments, but I've had to depend on hairdressers so I haven't always been consistent with my treatments. Since buying my own steamer I can obviously choose when to steam my hair. I steam my hair twice a week and my hair retains moisture so much better, no more sahara deserts...

I'm getting another apartment this week so I'm going to be on a tight budget for a while. I'm going to look at the facial steamers this weekend and see if I can use that. Thanks Ladies.

Sounds to me like your hair feels soft and moisturized while wet, but becomes dry and hard as the moisture evaporates. So your hair is accepting the moisture, but it can't hold on to it.

I agree with other posters that mentioned your porosity. If you can't get hold of the porosity control, there's always ACV or a baking soda rinse. I believe the Kiya Fizzle has some cuticle smoothing properties as well.

The biggest difference in my hair moisture level was Sodium PCA, Kiya Fizzle (with ORS Replenish Paks), my glycerine/aloe vera spray, and sealing with an oil and/or serum. Maybe you need a heavier oil to seal the moisture - like castor as opposed to coconut? A oil under a serum might help too -- when I seal this way I don't have to moisturize for days at a time, so I don't worry about the product build up either.

I always airdry with my hair restrained, or tied down. When it's wild and free it just gets huge and angry. If it dries smooth and sleek it tends to hold moisture longer as well. HTH

Soliel185 said:

Sounds to me like your hair feels soft and moisturized while wet, but becomes dry and hard as the moisture evaporates. So your hair is accepting the moisture, but it can't hold on to it.
I agree with other posters that mentioned your porosity. If you can't get hold of the porosity control, there's always ACV or a baking soda rinse. I believe the Kiya Fizzle has some cuticle smoothing properties as well.

Click to expand...

My hair does this .

Platinum, I am also a profound 4B, to the point where my hair looks like a TWA and it's almost shoulder length. After you have obtained porosity control of your hair (which sounds like it might be one of the problems) there are 5 products I would like to recommend to you:

1. Miss Jessie's Buttercreme (or, if you are so inclined, check out the homemade recipes for it). I use Miss Jessie's every single day and it has been good to me for the past 2 years.
2. Qhemet Biologics Burdock Root Creme
3. Amla and Olive Heavy Cream. These are fantastic products for 4B hair.
4. Castor Oil - an emollient oil.
5. THIS IS THE REAL KICKER: Vegetable Glycerine.

Let me tell you my daily routine:

1. Co-wash with Wen (Thank you January Noir; you're the best!!!) and Trader Joe's Nourish and Shine Conditioner. (I leave this combination on my hair for 5 minutes while I wash everything else).
2. Detangle with Jilbere comb
3. Rinse
4. Lightly towel dry - I find that if I keep my hair sopping wet, the products actually don't stay on.
5. Use about 2 tablespoons of Miss Jessies - I put it on my hair and distribute it throughout.
6. Then, use either Burdock or Amla cream - about a tablespoon (I use a lot because my hair is coarse and quite dense)
7. Put one teaspoon of Castor Oil and one teaspoon of vegetable glycerine together. Distribute through hair. (I think I use more than this but this is just an estimation)
8. THINK THIS IS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT STEP: I haven't heard of anyone doing this but you have to do what works for you. I pour the vegetable glycerine directly onto my hair and distribute throughout my hair, ends first.

With the exception of the castor oil/vegetable glycerine combination, I don't dilute my vegetable glycerine. When you have 4B hair you have to bring out the big guns!

Also, if it is at all possible you, do not use cheapie conditioners. They do your hair no good. As someone else mentioned, it might be silicones jacking you up all kinds of ways.

Good luck, friend!

Platinum said:

I'm getting another apartment this week so I'm going to be on a tight budget for a while. I'm going to look at the facial steamers this weekend and see if I can use that. Thanks Ladies.

Click to expand...

Girl look up Samantha's method of steaming without buying a steamer. Just get 2 turban towels and 2 plastic caps and your dryer. It will work like a charm.