permed, then straightened and now mushy stretchy hair.

[melrose1985]

So I did a bad thing and decided to perm my hair. I got it so it was wavy not curly…. But I realized that I hated it like 2 days later. So I bought a home straighten kit and had my mom do it tonight. After I did it I put some condish in my hair let it sit like 30mins and washed it out. As it was drying I noticed that the ends of my hair (especially my bangs) where very stretchy and when I pulled slightly that is had a good stretch to it and that when I let it go it scrunched back up. And after leaving it to air dry the ends were all dry, crunchy and all scrunched up. So of course I’m freaking out… so I go to Wal-Mart and get some nexxus KerapHix and nexxus Botanoil. I came home and washed and condished my hair with this and put some of the Henna & Placenta leave in. Not much has changed at this point. When I pull slightly (which I have stopped doing) on my ends it looks like when you pull cheese off pizza.

Reading though stuff on here it (to me and I can be so wrong) that I need protein for my hair. I don’t know what to do at this point. I was planning on doing some eggs in the morning when I shower, but I don’t want to make this problem worst then it is. I don’t want to cut my hair, PLEASE HELP ME OUT!!! I really want to cry because I feel like the only thing that will fix my mess is to cut it off, up till now I have been working so hard on growing it out.:(

[Julesn]

Sorry for your hair troubles :( It will get better over time. Believe me, we've all done things like this at one time or another.

I am a hairdresser & I would suggest buying some Redken Extreme deep treatment (it comes in a tube). Do this treatment 2-3x per week & sit under a hooded dryer if you can w/a plastic cap on your head for about 15 minutes. I would also suggest not shampooing for a few days to let the natural oils from your scalp activate a little. I would also use coconut oil on your hair at night. Unfortunately, you may have to cut some of your hair off. Just do it a little at a time, though, so you won't be too upset. Also avoid any heat styling at all costs. Just air dry & put your hair up.

HTH!!

Julie :)

[melrose1985]

Thank you. I forgot to say that with my hair wet/damp it's wicked gummy feeling like i put a ton of styling wax or something.

[spidermom]

Your hair isn't going to be very happy for awhile, but with deep treatments and regular small trims, this too shall pass.

[Arctic]

I have no advice, but it sounds like some good proteinfilled deep conditioner, something that says reconstructing, or rebuilding, would be in order. After the protein treatment, a moisture treatment is usually recommended, not sure if this is the case in your situation?

Good luck, don't panic! I'm sure more wiser members come to help you soon!

[kwaniesiam]

The best thing you can do right now is treat it like antique lace, do lots of deep treatments, and look in to oiling as well. A lot of members here sing praises of coconut oil, including myself. You can't do it all at once though, just try to space it out and let your hair rest. Sorry to hear you're having problems, it will get better though :flowers:

[wintersun99]

..............

[Honey39]

When I've overdone it, the thing that works for me is to pretty much LEAVE IT ALONE!!! So, like the others have said, deep treatments (but being gentle, not pummelling at it), and using no heat on it, not too much product, oil (if your hair likes it), and then putting it up and letting it rest.

It will sort itself out, but don't bombard your hair with treatments either. I would also avoid tearing a hair brush through it, but being very gentle with it,and letting it recover.

It will be okay, you'll be surprised at how quickly it will feel good again, a few small trims, lots of TLC, and no chemicals/heat for a while...

[melrose1985]

Small update:

Thank you all so much. It really does make me feel better.

This morning my hair looks fried. The ends like like fried and kinky.

[melrose1985]

as you can see in my picture.... my hair actually looked nice because i was taking advise on keeping it healthy....and then i do this.... I'm a nut!

[Xandergrammy]

as you can see in my picture.... my hair actually looked nice because i was taking advise on keeping it healthy....and then i do this.... I'm a nut!


Nah, you're not a nut- you sound pretty normal to me. Most of us have done crazy thing to our hair and been very unhappy with the results. All you can do now is pamper your hair and whenever you get the urge to do something "crazy" (as in- something damaging to your hair), then come here and we'll talk you down. :grin:

[Arctic]

Don't worry melrose1985, like Xandergrammy said, we've all done things to our hair that we've regretted. Sometimes if we are very imotional, we take that to our hair, same thing with boredom, or being a controlfreak in a situation that we have no control over, etc. Next time use the "Two Week Rule" if you feel like doing something drastic to your tresses. :grouphug:

[melrose1985]

I really do thank everyone for the advise and support. I've always messed with my hair but never had this problem. So i think i have finally learned my lesson about being careless with my hair. I think i may just cut it because i dont know if i can deal with how nasty it looks and feels. But either way it can't get worst, only better from here on.

Many thanks.

[Avrilon]

Hi there :waving:

Just so you know why your hair might be feeling mushy right now... When you perm hair it breaks down the bonds that make hair straight in the first place - then "resets" the bonds to make it curly. When you then straightened it, it did the same thing, breaking down the curly bonds to make your hair straight again. So, the bonds of your hair are very weak right now and might be why your hair stretches like cheese. I used to get perms all the time and loved them, but when I started coloring my hair on top of the perm, my stylist warned me it would be too much for my hair to take. Did I listen? Nah! And my hair turned to straw. :shake: So, we all do silly things sometimes. For me, I had to cut the damage off. I did it slowly but surely until it was all gone. You've gotten some good advice above; you'll just have to be patient. Some damage can't be repaired. But some can!

Good luck!

:)

Avrilon

[MeMyselfandI]

Melrose,

The way you describe the stringiness, it sounds like the protein(keritan) bonds in the hair are broken. Other then being really gentle, do not wash often, do not handle often etc, I would recommend neutral protein filler (has keritan in it) (Sally store) and use it as a reconstition conditioner. The instructions are on the bottle.

I would consider doing a vinegar rinse (2 teaspoons vinegar in 4 cups of water) to close any hair shaft that may have been left open causing any roughness. I doubt this is the case though since you mention mushiness.

I wish you the best.

If worse comes to worse, you may need to cut it a bit. It may just break like mine did when I bleached once to often. We live and learn and start over again. It is hair and it grows, even if it grows way to slow for my liking. I once had a bad perm experience over 25 years ago, I had to cut off about a foot of hair. I did not use any chemicals on it for 25 years until I started to tint and bleach it. I will learn one day.

[Blueglass]

What about a keritan treatment at a salon? Along with a lot of trimming?

[Delila]

A deep treatment regimen that I used to do ...

Shampoo, then:
1) Protein Treatment (Nexxus Emergencee)
2)Deep moisture (Paul Mitchell's Super Charged Moisturizer)
3) Porosity Control (Roux Porosity Control Conditioner available at Sally's Beauty)
4) Oil (I liked VO5 Hot Oil Shower works, but other similar products are fine too, don't shampoo it out, just rinse, rinse, rinse.)

Keep the first three stages in your hair 15-20 minutes each, with heat, if you can manage it, then rinse each out and move on to the next.

After you've rinsed out the porosity control, apply the hot oil treatment, leave it in one minute, then rinse thoroughly.

I know it's not an all-natural routine, but if your hair is trashed, it might be a good thing.

I used to do this about once every month to six weeks.

[EbayBeautyQueen]

How about doing an Aphogee 2 step protein treatment and following with lots of moisture afterwards? I think your hair would really benefit from Aphogee.

[Arctic]

How is the hair feeling today? Any improvement?

[Shanarana]

Are you able to wear it up for a while and just forget about it? Sometimes that helps along with all the great advise already given.

I colored my hair once, than the next day went in for a perm and walked away horrified with the results. It took some time, but my hair did recover. Hang in there.

[Sarahmoon]

Sad to hear what happened to your hair Melrose.
This seems a silly suggestion but take a picture of your hair, write down on a piece of paper exactly how your hair looks and feels like right now. Save it and look it up every time you feel like chemical/heat styling your hair.

I don't know much about all the products suggested in this thread (I just wash my hair with egg when I think it needs protein) but I'm sure it will work great. I hope your hair will be in good condition again soon.

[melrose1985]

First off.... many thanks to all, even if you didnt have advice, the support helps a lot :p

As for now. Yesterday i got my hair cut about 1 1/2 to 2 inches cut off all over. So it's a little pas my shoulders. I was having second thoughts and wanting to chop my hair again this morning but it has passed. So other then my bangs have a little bit of the fried feeling to them (rest of the hair just feels kind of dry) it's not to bad. I know i shouldn't do this but after it's dry i just touch then end of my bangs with the straightening iron to smooth it. I would have cut more of that hair off but my bangs would be way to short. once they get a little longer then I'll cut them.

So as of yesterday this is now the NEW start to my hair self challenge. Next may would have been my year, but it will just be August- so not to bad.

Again thank you all!

[melrose1985]

BTW I know people are going to cringe at my asking this..... But does anyone think using a semi- less permanent hair color would be really that bad? I got almost all the damaged stuff cut off but that chemical straighten stuff took some of my color out (or lightened it) and i want my dark hair back at the very less..... Or if anyone one wants to suggest something else to help me get darker with out killing my hair.

[Anje]

Honestly, I think you should leave the color alone for the time being. Give your hair at least a few weeks of TLC (protein, moisture, protein, moisture) before you think about adding any chemicals to it.

While your hair is recovering, check out the henna/herbal haircare section for information on indigo or the henna+indigo combination. That results in a very hair-friendly dark brown to black color, which is probably what you want, given your avatar. An ammonia-free, peroxide-free deposit-only hair color probably wouldn't cause too much damage either, but I think you should give it at least, say, 3 weeks before you touch a hair color bottle.

[groque]

just curious did you get all the mushy feeling part off? I had done that once and I didn't want to cut it off but it ended up all breaking off and had breakage wherever the mush part was. now I know to be extra careful with the chemicals and know that if I see any damage just to go ahead and cut so that I don't get breakage later.

[sipnsun]

I did this same thing last year (May 07) and it took a couple of months for my hair to feel like hair again. I did lots of protein treatments with Redken CAT, and lots of deep conditioning treatments with Redken Extreme. I've only cut a few inches off since then, but my hair did return to feeling and looking like hair after awhile.

[darl_in1]

Is it possible that you've overdone the protein treatments? I know that many people have said that protein makes their ends crunchy. Maybe you need to use a good clarifier?

[lora410]

Sounds like you need a good protien treatment!!

[melrose1985]

groque (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/member.php?u=4986)- I cut it out of my hair. My hair felt so nasty and was breaking everywhere. So since cutting it off there is like one of two parts that are nasty feeling but my hair would look weird if i cut it so i'll wait till that gets long to cut it.

As for the hair dye... I know i should wait and i am going to wait. I just wanted to ask. I thought about the henna stuff, it just seems like it's hard to get out of your hair later on, but i'll have to read up on it in the other threads.

[FrannyG]

melrose1985, I think there are a high percentage of us LHCers who have had an experience similar to yours. When I had my disaster, I sooo couldn't live with the mush that I ended up with an inch and a half of hair all over.

So, you're doing a lot better than I did. :)

I would think twice about henna, as it seems to be even more difficult to remove than dark hair dye. There have been a lot of people who have had to cut off their hair in order to successfully remove henna.

Why don't you just try to put colour out of your mind for a while, and concentrate on moisture treatments, protein treatments, and pre-wash oil treatments for a while? Your hair will never return to normal, but it will get a lot better, no question.

Perhaps you could revisit the idea of a semi colour in a few weeks. I hope you're feeling better about everything. Just remember; you're not alone. :blossom:

[Curlsgirl]

With all the damage already done to your hair I would not even consider any kind of dye but henna any time until ALL of the damage is gone. I usually don't say that because I color my hair but I also don't have the damage you do to start with. Leave it alone and try to get out of the habit of having to do something to it all the time. That's my advice. If you can put it up, then do that for a while and try to forget about it, if you truly want long hair that is.

[melrose1985]

coloring my hair will always be in my mind.... But i can hold off. I mean before the whole perm it had been a good while since messing with.

I'm going to look though the henna threads. I plan on keeping my hair darker because it looks better one me anyways. I jsut need to see about doing henna then then if i wanted to use a box dye over (keeping it dark) and what not.... So i have a lot of time to think..... And reflect! I did see some stuff on herbal brews doe darkening hair so maybe i should try that.

[HaiirPEACE]

when hair becomes mushy like that it's from over processing and in beauty school i was told there was no way to reverse over processing unless you cut it off.

but hopefully i'm wrong this time

good luck!!

[AveSantaMaria]

Did you find a solution? :) If not, you might try Aphogee Two Step Treatment, Nexxus Emergence, and Roux Porosity Control. Aphogee and Nexxus are hard-core protein treatments. Since chemical services remove the protein from your hair these treatments may sometimes - temporarily - repair hair by filling in the missing protein. Roux Porosity Control acidifies hair which might be useful if your chemical treatment made your hair more alkaline and might also help close the hair cuticle, protecting your hair more.

[jojo]

Ive done this to my hair in the past too, I agree protein is what you need. Mega tek has lots of this in and is supposed to be great for damaged hair, plus it promotes growth!

If this is not an option lots of SMT would help get your hair back to reasonable condition, but don't fret its not what you have done like we can't turn back the clocks but what you do from now on what matters. {{{hugs}}} xx

[Kuchen]

In the archives (somewhere) a member called (I think) WholeHeartMom wrote a thread about having a perm and the long diary of recuperating her hair. She did it (despite a few disasters along the way). Have a look and see if you can find it!

[suicides_eve]

you story is similar to the condition of my hair before i said screw it and chopped it off. There really is no saving it once its mushy... believe me i tried for 6 or so months.

in my album on the last page shows my hair and how damaged it was. Maybe it's best to start fresh and learn not to mess with it as i ultimately have

[melrose1985]

I hadnt even realized people were still looking at this.. Sorry i didn’t get back faster!

Sept 9 of 2008 i cut my hair into bob style that got rid of all the junk on the length. I still was straightening it because the bob style hair cut and about month later stop all of that. I knew i was still wrecking my hair, so i made the commit to make it better.

Now- I keep it simple. No cones, i use Mega Tek 3 times a week, only shampoo the bang/roots when i work out, Use suave natural coconut (which is saving me SO MUCH MONEY) and then coconut oil from the ears down. I bobby pin my bangs back and finally can get the rest back in a pony tail.... so i keep it all up and back now. It’s the best way for me to forget about it and not damage it with hair dye and all kinds of crazy stuff.

After i messed my hair up that bad, I FINALLY learned to stop messing with my hair. i finally got the clue that i can't keep doing stuff like that if i want long hair.

[melrose1985]

Did you find a solution? :) If not, you might try Aphogee Two Step Treatment, Nexxus Emergence, and Roux Porosity Control. Aphogee and Nexxus are hard-core protein treatments. Since chemical services remove the protein from your hair these treatments may sometimes - temporarily - repair hair by filling in the missing protein. Roux Porosity Control acidifies hair which might be useful if your chemical treatment made your hair more alkaline and might also help close the hair cuticle, protecting your hair more.


I used to use the Nexxus stuff... I before on my making my hair look nice but it didnt work on the mushy perm/straighten hair.