Please Tell Me Where Did I Go Wrong with this Breakage?

[dlove]

I allowed by DD's 4a/b natural hair to air dry after washing and condioning in plaits, sealing with wheat germ oil and Kimmaytube leave in conditioner (KCKT, Aloe vera inner leaf gel, castor oil, and jojoba oil) then detangling and placing hair in 6-8 twists. I allowed her hair to air dry so that her plaits would not look so short because of the shrinkage. I attempted to part her hair to style it as gently as possible but she cried because her hair was so tangled, especially at the ends. I then applied Alba Unprotroleum as a moisturizer before combing. This helped some. I certainly did not expect to loose so much hair because I detangled while wet with WGO and leave in. I just dont understand why her hair shedded again. After all, she lost about 4-5 oz of hair.
What in the ham and cheese did I do wrong?


In an attempt to follow the plan of the mother of this young waist length child,
http://bglhonline.com/2010/01/mom-grows-out-daughters-kinky-natural-hair-to-waist-length/

I styled my daughters hair in 35-40 box plaits and plan on washing and conditioning her hair in the plaits. I am just not sure about what to do after the wash and conditon in the plaits. I read what mom in the blog does, but I cant see my self undoing 50-11 plaits in the tub, detangling, then redoing. It already took me 3 hours to do the box plaits.



Suggestions any one?

 

[steffiejoe]

I'm not familiar with Alba Unprotroleum. Is it a heavy or light moisturizer?
If it"s light maybe you should try something heavier like Qhemet's Amla & Olive Heavy Cream.
Also Beemine products are very moisturizing .

Sounds like the products used may not be moisturizing enough for her hair.

 

[dlove]

Un-Petroleum has the consistency of peanut butter or more like petroleum jelly.More info on Un-Petroleum:
http://www.amazon.com/Un-Petroleum-Multi-Purpose-Jelly-tube-Pack/dp/B002N2OYFA

I read a review of an AA that used it on locs and that it rinses well ( I was concerned because of the beeswax) I gives hair a nice shine and styling hold.

The review from Amazon:

VaNessa June 23, 2010 at 1:28 am
Review by VaNessa for Un-Petroleum Multi-Purpose Jelly 3.5oz
Rating:
This is by far one of my most favorite products now! I purchased this from another website (Vitacost.com) at a good price. I was searching for a product to use as an all-over moisturizer (literally, from head to toe) and I came across this product on that website. From previous purchases of Alba products, I already knew that the product would be all-natural, which is what I wanted it to be. I also wanted it to not contain petroleum or any petroleum-based products, such as propyl glycol, mineral oil, etc. I am a medical doctor and a former chemist, so please allow me to give you a brief scientific/health perspective. At the microscopic level, applying petroleum to your skin is like wrapping it in plastic; your cells are unable to breathe. Petroleum is really toxic to our skin, but it is cheap to manufacture, which means that more products can be made from it and sold at cheaper prices. Hence, the multi-billion dollar beauty industry which has clearly profited so much from developing and distributing petroleum-based products. I wish to God, I had heard about and began to use this product years ago! Apparently (as mentioned by the other reviewer), Alba’s Unpetroleum has been around for at least 10 years! Well, after the overnight results I have seen in using this amazing product, it will become a regular household staple. I use this as a baby lotion and hair moisturizer for my son. I use it on my hands, my feet, and more importantly, on my scalp for my hair. It is a great moisturizer for the skin/scalp, especially for African descendants because we tend to have dry skin/scalp. There is absolutely NO oily residue or build-up in your hair. I have dredlocks. So, I have replaced using other products, which may have contained petroleum and/or mineral oil (like Murray’s beeswax), in place of this. This product contains the following ingredients: castor oil, coconut oil, beeswax, and Vitamin E. THAT’S IT! All natural ingredients! It does have a slight smell of castor oil, which is not overpowering and the smell of it fades within a minute or so after applying it. The texture is JUST LIKE any petroleum jelly that you are familiar with. But, it contains absolutely no petroleum! I love this product and highly recommend it.

 

[bride91501]

What shampoo and condish did you use? My DD hair will tangle if any type of protein-based product touches her hair. Even after a co-wash and DC.

HTH

 

[lovegymnasts]

My suggestion is to forget about the shrinkage and style her hair wet with the moisturizer and sealed with the oil. It appears that her hair does not like to be combed dry.

I definitely will not comb my hair dry. I also re-wet and spray with my moisturizing mix almost every day which takes care of some of the shrinkage issue and keeps my hair moisturized.

 

[Fhrizzball]

i feel that plaits instead of twists with help keep it stretched and detangled more. You needn't do it in so many plaits as well. Also instead of detangling wet detangling damp may be less stressful on the hair.

 

[lboogie2679]

My daughter's hair is super thick natural and about mbl. I do everything to her hair while it is wet. Her hair does not cooperate when its dry so I rewet it as necessary. If I am trying to achieve a style that stretches the hair then I will lightly blow dry it. Combing while dry equals breakage and pain so I stay away from it. HTH

 

[dlove]

What shampoo and condish did you use? My DD hair will tangle if any type of protein-based product touches her hair. Even after a co-wash and DC.

HTH

I used Eluence moisture balance shampoo and Aubrey Organics White Camillia smoothing conditioner. Both do not contain protein...I think...

 

[dlove]

I hope this has taught some one a lesson. I sure learned one. Thanks a lot ladies.

 

[changingSeasons]

Maybe you can try Porosity Control, to smooth out her ends. Good Luck!

 

[Nonie]

Dlove, I don't know if this will work but I'm wondering if you might consider washing your daughter's hair is bigger plaits, so you can undo comb through to remove shed hair while shampoo is on, working on one at a time. Then do the same during conditioning. Then rinsing and finish with a very dilute aqueous solution ACV rinse to smooth out strands. When you plait the hair, plait to the ends so that even they get stretched, especially at the very last step.

This is where I am not sure what advice to give you because I don't use products unless I plan to comb my hair out and my product of choice is a shrinkage enhancer (S Curl). However, once my hair has been combed during the wash and then airdried in plaits, and it has no product on it, it is so easy for me to finger part and then twists into smaller parts. I just wonder if that might be what you need to do? That is, put down the comb and use only fingers. I wouldn't worry too much about the partings except maybe the part that will show when she styles. For that, part during the wash and make sure you keep checking that it is straight so that once the hair dries, you do not need to mess with combs at all for that section.

That's what I did when I put my braids in. I washed my hair in plaits that sort of had various parts I thought I might used in styling my hair once I had put in extensions. I made sure not to disturb those parts during the wash:
Before the wash:

After the wash:

And worked on my hair one section at a time, finger parting the hair to add extensions. But no one can tell since those parts are hidden by the braids.

Here's an example of my hair washed in plaits during which time I combed and rebraided at each step of the wash. I then let my hair airdry and unplaited it with fingers. My hair was nicely stretched and easy to separate strands. I then parted into smaller sections using my fingers (no comb once my hair was dry) and twisted with no problem at all.

No product was in my hair but that didn't seem to bother me much. I wonder whether you couldn't add product after you braid. Methinks if hair is well conditioned, and moisturized from the inside out, then that's so much better than adding stuff to it. And I would not touch beeswax. To me that's just hair glue and would make it hard to comb hair. Also ends that need trimming tend to tangle more.

 

[ms.blue]

I agree with Nonie about washing in bigger plaits. Also maybe the shampoo and conditioner does not agree with your daughter's hair. Eluence mb use to give me awful itchy scalp. Also you made need heavier products to air dry to help keep and retain moisture.

 

[tHENATuRALhAiRpRoJEcT]

everyone's hair is so different... i've learned that

but my hair detangles best WITH SHAMPOOS
it seems as tho' i lose a ton of hair if manipulating with conditioners
the other way is about 75-80% dry and using a detangler like mane n tail

 

[curlicarib]

I wouldn't use ANYTHING with beeswax. In the caribean, beeswax is used to loc hair. And it works really well.

 

[southerncitygirl]

most people don't even use beewax for locs anymore as it can trap moisture and the hair can mildew(i've smelled this its gross), it also leaves buildup on the hair and scalp....you'd be better off using evoo, or unrefined melted shea butter mixed with a little evco,evoo, grapeseed, apricot kernal,and/or sweet almond oil. try co-washing with tresemme naturals condish its super slippy and jason makes a kiddie poo/ consid that detangles nicely too. i wash my hair in 4-6 plaits and take them down to condish then twist eash section and rinse. then i detangle each section by breaking it in sub- sections...when i co-wash i do this in about 5 mins or so when i poo and condish it takes about 10-12 minutes.

 

[bella_boucles]

OP, I dont know if you are still having this issue but I learned the HARD way
(literally) abour wheat germ oil. I tried to use it as a sealant when I moiturized and it was a tragedy. The ceramides in this oil impart great strength into the hair very much like a heavy protein. try using a slip friendly oil like olive or castor oil. i only prepoo with wheat germ now. it has the same effect as coconut but 10 times stronger. it may be the culprit in your situation...HTH!

 

[dlove]

OHHH...you know what? I suspected that. My hair and my DD's hair does not like coconut oil = hard hair, so...wow.

I only use it in my Kimmaytube leave in that I use for detangling right after washing. Daily, I use my spritz with peppermint oil and seal with jojoba oil. Kimmaytube leave in is KCKT, castor oil and wheat germ oil mixed. I also think the aloe vera was making my hair hard.

Side note: I wonder if my Kimmaytube still has a ph of 4 without the aloe vera? Regardless it is working well.