I need help!

[Neith]

I don't know what I'm doing wrong. My regimen is very good, with good quality products, but I still get breakage.

I have 4a hair. The first 4 or 4.5 inches are natural and the last 3 or so inches are texturized. I'm transitioning and will cut the ends off over time.

I shampoo weekly with Aubrey organics gpb shampoo. Once a month I add a tablespoon of baking soda in it to clarify.

After every shampoo I deep condition with honysuckle rose conditioner mixed with pure aloe vera and jojoba oil for 30 minutes under a hetaing cap. For a monthly protein treatment I use Aubrey's gpb condtioner for 20 minutes, then follow with the honeysuckle rose for 30 minutes.

In between washing I wear twist outs. I use jojoba oil, giovanni direct leave in, and aubrey's B5 gel (light hold, natural gel with lots of aloe and B5 in it). Every one or two days I moisturize, oil and retwist my hair. Once and a while I'll wait three days. Sometimes I moisturize and oil it and throw it into ponytails.

I still get breakage. It doesn't stop my hair from growing (i get good growth and I wouldn't say it's severe breakage), but I feel that it would be better if i could stop the breakage. I would say I get about 30 broken hairs every time I comb my hair and 60 every time I wash it.

Any advice for my regimen? Any words of hair wisdom?

 

[Nonie]

I am guessing the breakage is on the texturized hair? I'm no expert but I imagine having two textures can be really tricky. Chemically processed hair may need more protein but too much of it could make the natural hair hard and brittle. Then of course both textures need moisture. Also to take into consideration is the fact that older hair has experienced more wear and tear so needs more TLC. It may also be more porous and in need of more conditioning.

So until the experts in dealing with different textures come on, what I would suggest is you adopt the same practice that JJJ does which is applying conditioner to the oldest hair ie the ends. I think you can still condition all your hair but let the ends get extra treatment. Like wash your hair in plaits and apply protein to the texturized ends and squeeze so the protein penetrates the plaits. I'd leave them hanging down and DC. Then I'd rinse and apply a moisturizing conditioner smoothing all the way to the ends and leave hair hanging down when I wear the cap for more DCing. Then I'd undo the plaits and comb conditioner through and rinse....

I remember when I was relaxed, the point where the textures changed when I had new growth was a weak spot and I always felt I needed to fix the difference to stop the breakage. But there are so many people that stretch for so long, so I'm sure they've mastered the balancing act that provides both textures with their needs. But I think less manipulation will go a long way. When I wore twists, I went for months without ever using a comb. I'd wash my hair in twists and I'd redo the twists by untwisting with fingers and separating the hairs with fingers gently, then retwisting the untangled hair - usually after a good wash and DC, when my hair would be oh so soft. I didn't use leave-ins but the frequent washes, CWs and DCs seemed to keep it moisturized. My hair didn't tangle because I kept it twisted all the time, only redoing them when I had enough growth to make them messy. So perhaps limit the amount of manipulation?

ETA: I mentioned this lady, JJJ, above but forgot to give you the link to her regimen: http://jjjlonghairphotopage.zoomshare.com/8.html (Pics of her hair are at the bottom of that page and throughout the site)

 

[SleepyJean]

I don't know what I'm doing wrong. My regimen is very good, with good quality products, but I still get breakage.

I have 4a hair. The first 4 or 4.5 inches are natural and the last 3 or so inches are texturized. I'm transitioning and will cut the ends off over time.

I shampoo weekly with Aubrey organics gpb shampoo. Once a month I add a tablespoon of baking soda in it to clarify.

After every shampoo I deep condition with honysuckle rose conditioner mixed with pure aloe vera and jojoba oil for 30 minutes under a hetaing cap. For a monthly protein treatment I use Aubrey's gpb condtioner for 20 minutes, then follow with the honeysuckle rose for 30 minutes.

In between washing I wear twist outs. I use jojoba oil, giovanni direct leave in, and aubrey's B5 gel (light hold, natural gel with lots of aloe and B5 in it). Every one or two days I moisturize, oil and retwist my hair. Once and a while I'll wait three days. Sometimes I moisturize and oil it and throw it into ponytails.

I still get breakage. It doesn't stop my hair from growing (i get good growth and I wouldn't say it's severe breakage), but I feel that it would be better if i could stop the breakage. I would say I get about 30 broken hairs every time I comb my hair and 60 every time I wash it.

Any advice for my regimen? Any words of hair wisdom?

Are you putting rubberbands on the ends of your twist outs? If not, then I'm going with Nonie. Your texturized ends may just be weak, which would be expected.

 

[Neith]

Thanks for replying

I'll try low manipulation. My texturized hair and natura hir basically look the same, but they are softer, more fine and more weak. I feel dumb fir even getting teh texturizer now.

My texturized ends are weak, but I'm noticing some long broken hairs too. Most of it IS coming from the texturized ends, so you have a point.

I do put extra conditioner, leave-in and oil on the ends, but I've never thought about just coating the ends with protein.

I think I'll condition with gpb on the ends weekly before shampooing. That coupled with low manipulation could be the key.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!