Protein treatments

[Erinliz]

How do you ladies know if your hair "needs" a protein treatment? And which ones do you like if you use them?

[Nique1202]

A lot of people describe hair that feels mushy or gummy as needing protein. On the other hand, some people's hair doesn't respond well to occasional heavy protein treatments, but benefits from small amounts of protein regularly. My hair never felt weird before I started using a protein-containing shampoo (I figure it leaves less behind than a conditioner, so it doesn't build up as quickly and I need to clarify less often than if I used a conditioner) but my split ends went from 20 every week down to 2-3 every week afterward with no other changes. There are lots of ways to add protein to your routine if you think you need some, depending on how much your hair ends up needing.

[Erinliz]

A lot of people describe hair that feels mushy or gummy as needing protein. On the other hand, some people's hair doesn't respond well to occasional heavy protein treatments, but benefits from small amounts of protein regularly. My hair never felt weird before I started using a protein-containing shampoo (I figure it leaves less behind than a conditioner, so it doesn't build up as quickly and I need to clarify less often than if I used a conditioner) but my split ends went from 20 every week down to 2-3 every week afterward with no other changes. There are lots of ways to add protein to your routine if you think you need some, depending on how much your hair ends up needing.

Interesting....I think protein and clarifying are what confuses me the most. My hair seems so coarse and dry, the only thing I can tell that it needs is more conditioning. And it ALWAYS seems like it can use more conditioning!

[parkmikii]

I'm using a Goldwell dualsenses rich repair conditioner. Leaves my hair pretty soft and moisturised after

[vampyyri]

My hair personally does best with a super-light protein treatment regularly followed up with a moisturizing one. I use Mane N Tail conditioner as my first conditioner in rotation with my more moisturizing no-cone ones. Beer rinses are also totally awesome, as there are plenty of hair-healthy things in it!

I don't get any warning signs per say of needing protein, my hair is pretty resilient... but it's definitely way shinier when I throw protein in!

[sumidha]

When my hair gets dull, rough and splits and breaks are super obvious I know it's time for protein. I use gelatin because it's cheap and just add it to my SMT because I'm lazy. It combines the protein + moisturizing into one step that works well for me.

[Marbles]

My hair is bleach damaged and stretches a lot when it's wet, sometimes little bits of hair are left on my hands when I squeeze the water out. When it's dry it tangles easily. I have used Aphogee two step treatment which made it feel a lot stronger. When I've run out of this I may need to try sumidha's gelatin idea though!

Personally, I can only tell if it needs protien when it's wet, if it's tangley when dry it could need either protien or moisture. YMMV