Maintence and resistance for extremely damaged hair

[meteor]

After chemical treatments like that, she'll need a lot of oils and hydrolyzed proteins.
For oils, I recommend penetrating oils like coconut, olive, avocado, palm.
For hydrolyzed proteins, she could get a heavy-duty product like Aphogee 2-Step of Joico K-Pak. Or she could do a DIY mask with gelatin: http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.ca...pe-update.html

Hair that is damaged/porous allows more into hair and requires a lot more ingredients for patch-repair: http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/...dients-in.html
Ingredients in Hair Conditioners That Penetrate Hair:
Natural Hair - No Processing
-water
-hydrolysed wheat protein
-coconut oil
-cetrimonium bromide
-caffeine
-panthenol

Bleached Hair, Relaxed Hair or Damaged Hair (i.e cuticle damage)
- everything in the unprocessed natural hair list above
-some amino acids enhanced by being in a creamy conditioner (arginine, glycine, glutamic acid, phenylalanine, histidine)
-artificial peptides (similar to hydrolysed protein)
-some silicones or amodimethicones (Trimethylsilylamodimethicone)
-hydrolysed palm oil
-18MEA

[Firefox7275]

Not wise to give up commercial conditioners rich in fatty alcohols and/ or cationic surfactants IMO: these are detangling and patch repairing workhorses. Also consider *hydrolysed* protein (eg. gelatin), penetrating oils (eg. coconut, sweet almond), panthenol, ceramides and 18-MEA (no rich natural source AFAIK).

The research on oil soaks uses timescales of overnight to twenty four hours.

For gentle cleansing either conditioner only washing or soap nuts extract IF it is acidic in pH - hair has an isoelectric point of ~4.5 but this tends to be lower the more damaged the hair is. Alkaline shampoo bars or baking soda is likely to be a disaster.

Don't forget protecting the hair in the sun, bleached hair is very vulnerable.

[Rosetta]

Not wise to give up commercial conditioners rich in fatty alcohols and/ or cationic surfactants IMO: these are detangling and patch repairing workhorses.

Definitely second this. (I've found especially cones to be real detangling & protecting workhorses, but YMMV )

[ErinLeigh]

For that type of damage my suggestions would be making products with..

coconut oil or palm oil (fantastic pre wash treatment and pre color treatment, will penetrate strands and help reduce porosity)
shea butter (helps with heat, also softens and protects)
avocado/olive oil (get some pliability into hair)
hydrolyzed proteins (strengthen and help hold in moisture)
honey (moisture retention)
jojoba oil (great for sealing moisture)
argan oil (shine)

If you can make conditioners she can try alternating her normal washes with cowashes to give her hair a break.

That being said..she may need the big boys. Store bought Treatments for damaged hair. I love my natural products but I need a good dose of deep conditioning marketed for damaged hair also.
Redken Extreme Builder plus is excellent. I would suggest that to her as a monthly deep treatment.

[Nightshade]

It might depend. When my hair was at its most damaged it loathed oils. It was years before I could use them at all. Oils grab onto the protein in your hair and very damaged hair is often lacking in that. I had much better luck with conditioning butters

[earthybee]

Weekly SMT treatments over a year has brought new life to my previous colored hair (I now henna) Shea butter added to it was a huge help.

[lilin]

Thanks, guys.

Yeah, my hair can certainly live without the "patching" of 'cones. ACV is detangling enough for me. But her hair may well not be able to settle for that. Although it's outside the range of what I normally like to work with (as simple as possible, as directly related to its source material as possible, etc), I do know I can buy cationics that are reasonably natural-ish, and 'cones too. So I might still be able to make something with the benefits of commercial conditioner. May or may not be cheaper, but might be fun, and maybe better overall since I can add or subtract whatever is needed.

I do know she's moving away from the harsher anionics already as far as shampoos, so perhaps a nonionic like the soap nuts I use would be gentler. If that's still too harsh for cleaning, I have lots of shikakai that isn't getting any use (not cleaning enough for me). I may have her give those a run too, maybe mixing with coconut milk or some kind of oil to add more moisture before it gets conditioned and sealed.

Thank you!

[Ciridae]

I've had some success with my damaged hair with a homemade paste of SCI, cocoamidapropyl betaine, coconut oil, olive oil and a bit of sea salt and essential oil. I know it sounds scary and chemically and stuff, but it's actually incredibly mild, foams like crazy and for me is a great 'moviestar method' shampoo. It is loosely based on Lush's Big shampoo, which I quite like. My hair seems much healthier and has loads less build-up since I started using this blend a few months ago.

Oh and Rohirrrims, that gorgeous Alexstrasza cosplay pic in your signature gave me palpitations! <3

[lilin]

I've had some success with my damaged hair with a homemade paste of SCI, cocoamidapropyl betaine, coconut oil, olive oil and a bit of sea salt and essential oil. I know it sounds scary and chemically and stuff, but it's actually incredibly mild, foams like crazy and for me is a great 'moviestar method' shampoo. It is loosely based on Lush's Big shampoo, which I quite like. My hair seems much healthier and has loads less build-up since I started using this blend a few months ago.

Oh and Rohirrrims, that gorgeous Alexstrasza cosplay pic in your signature gave me palpitations! <3

Thanks! What is SCI?

[Firefox7275]

Thanks, guys.

Yeah, my hair can certainly live without the "patching" of 'cones. ACV is detangling enough for me. But her hair may well not be able to settle for that. Although it's outside the range of what I normally like to work with (as simple as possible, as directly related to its source material as possible, etc), I do know I can buy cationics that are reasonably natural-ish, and 'cones too. So I might still be able to make something with the benefits of commercial conditioner. May or may not be cheaper, but might be fun, and maybe better overall since I can add or subtract whatever is needed.

I do know she's moving away from the harsher anionics already as far as shampoos, so perhaps a nonionic like the soap nuts I use would be gentler. If that's still too harsh for cleaning, I have lots of shikakai that isn't getting any use (not cleaning enough for me). I may have her give those a run too, maybe mixing with coconut milk or some kind of oil to add more moisture before it gets conditioned and sealed.

Thank you!

Soap nuts should be a decent pH for hair (isoelectric point pH ~4.5). Penetrating oils do not add moisture (= water), they are anhydrous and water repellent, for overly porous hair that can be a good thing as it reduces porosity, water uptake when washing and hygral fatigue. You might consider silicones that do not build up (amine functionalised/ water soluble) alongside cleansing with cationic surfactants to 'restore' the hair's correct electrical charge.

If she is willing to spend a little money she might have a hair analysis from Goosefootprints on Etsy. Wendy will check the hair with different acids and alkalis to see the effect under the microscope. According to her Sciencey Hairblog the effects of different acids and alkalis is individual and cannot easily be predicted, tho we do know porous damaged hair has an altered pH and electrical charge.