Any natural ingredients to use a pre\post co-washing to moisturise my VERY DRY hair?

[lole18]

I have reeeeaaaaaalllyyy DRY hair thats low porosity and breaks like crazy! What are the top 3 ingriedients in yur opinion that moisturize and help tigten the curls and prevent breakage in low porosity hair? iheard of yogurt but they say it stretches the curls! And i my hair is less than wavy now though it was curly before.. I WANT SOMETHING TO HELP ME GET MOISTURIZED HAIR AND BRINGS BACK MY CURLS AND PREVENTS BREAKAGE! MY HAIR IS LOW POROSITY :)

[ErinLeigh]

When my hair feels dry I co wash with honey. I feel like it was honey that stopped my crazy breakage issue.

I just tried doing a thick cone free leave in conditioner on damp hair (Pantene Shining Star) with avocado oil layered over it and the next day it felt like I had new hair. It corrected some dryness I was feeling on my ends.

SMT's over clarified hair were famous for bringing my hair back from being very dry as well. Those were the first thing I tried when I came here and they made a huge difference.

If you use cones a good deep conditioner I have found is Loreal Mega Moisture.

I would say just always make sure to put a good leave in on damp hair and then seal the moisture in with an oil or a cone. It seems to make a difference. There are some great videos on youtube with lovely springy curls. I have noticed most of them tout the LOC method for happy moisturized curls. (leave in-oil-creme) These videos always show the products that are used.

so for me personally ..top 3 ingredients for moisture are honey, oil and conditioner (aloe running in 4th)
These ingredients may not tighten curls per say..but getting some moisture in will bring the curls back once hair is balanced.

[lole18]

When my hair feels dry I co wash with honey. I feel like it was honey that stopped my crazy breakage issue.

I just tried doing a thick cone free leave in conditioner on damp hair (Pantene Shining Star) with avocado oil layered over it and the next day it felt like I had new hair. It corrected some dryness I was feeling on my ends.

SMT's over clarified hair were famous for bringing my hair back from being very dry as well. Those were the first thing I tried when I came here and they made a huge difference.

If you use cones a good deep conditioner I have found is Loreal Mega Moisture.

I would say just always make sure to put a good leave in on damp hair and then seal the moisture in with an oil or a cone. It seems to make a difference. There are some great videos on youtube with lovely springy curls. I have noticed most of them tout the LOC method for happy moisturized curls. (leave in-oil-creme) These videos always show the products that are used.

so for me personally ..top 3 ingredients for moisture are honey, oil and conditioner (aloe running in 4th)
These ingredients may not tighten curls per say..but getting some moisture in will bring the curls back once hair is balanced.

thank you so much! You're really helpful!!! How can i co-wash with honey? also what kind of honey should i use? i don't know why the LOC method seems wrong to me i never tried it but aren't you supposed to put the cream then the oil to seal it? i don't know! So if i used the lock method i could use the water as the liquid\leave in then a little coconut oil then some sort of cream like garnier? :) and what kind of oils do you think works best for low porosity hair?\moisturizing hair and preventing breakage in general? by aloe do you mean the gel or the oil and how do you use it? sorry i have so many questions lol! :)

[Anje]

SMTs are my magic bullet for dryness. Link is in my signature.

[UP Lisa]

How long would you say the effects last from a SMT?



SMTs are my magic bullet for dryness. Link is in my signature.

[Anje]

How long would you say the effects last from a SMT?
For me, maybe a week? If someone's really dry and finds it helps them, it can be used as a CO wash for every wash. I've done that when trying to recover from bad protein overload; if you want to be silly, since I haven't had that problem since, I suppose that means I've had good effects from that lasting for years. :cool:

[ErinLeigh]

A good SMT lasts me a week. Maybe longer as my hair isn't dry anymore. But I still do them weekly. I mix a generic Biolage Conditioning Balm purchased from Sallys into a tupperware bowl and take it into the shower. Then I wash (Suave Daily Clarify), squeeze out excess water, apply the SMT, bag my head with a shower cap...take a looong shower and then rinse after 10 minutes. 30 is optimal if you have time to step out and back in. Anything more than 30min is a waste I find. I clarify as I find I get the most impact on really clean hair. The SMT sinks right in. Plus the clarifying really removes the weeks worth of cones or oils I use. I find the Suave Clarifying Shampoo to be pretty mild and it doesn't dry my hair out

My hair was breaking off like crazy before I started SMT's and adding honey and oils. I mean a lot. I had it badly damaged with a keratin treatment. I have a picture I will show you of what it looked like before if you want to see it.

As far as LOC if you find it heavy then use a leave in spray instead of creme conditioner. Then add favorite oil and styling creme. You don't have to over saturate hair with the oil and cones can work as well. Basically you are just trying to seal that water and conditioner in. Just a few drops can work wonders. The C is just your favorite style creme for curls but that step can be optional I am sure. I don't like a heavy oily head myself :) When I am hone at night though sometimes I mist hair with water until damp and put in a good thick leave in conditioner and seal it with a lot of oil. I just cant go in public like that. When I co-wash that out the next day though my hair feels so moisturized.

My favorite oils change often but right now I am loving Avocado Oil. It is said it can penetrate the shaft and I am hoping that research is true. I save coconut for a pre shampoo treatment or a pre co-wash.

When I do an SMT I use raw honey, but for my honey cowashes I use store bought regular honey and mix it with V05 conditioner. About 70/30 mix with honey being the 30. It really cleans my hair and keep it moisturized.

The aloe is Aloe Vera Gel. Fruit of the Earth brand bought near the suntan oil section of any walmart, target, or drugstore.

Here is my thought on oils for what it is worth
Avocado - lush..make hair feel wonderful and moisturized (is said to be able to penetrate the shaft)
Jojoba - feels like natural hair oil so a few drops are excellent for defrizzing. Too much tho and it looks like I didn't wash hair. This oil is easy for me to overdo as it feels so good.
Emu - feels great rubbed into scalp and is said to restart stalled hair growth
Olive - good for shine and makes a great detangler (is said it can penetrate shaft)
Coconut - great for strength and makes an excellent pre-poo. It helps hair not lose so much protein in the wash (this one is proven to penetrate shaft. Can also be used before dying hair to prevent some damage) - There is a youtube video from Heidi W that shows how she applies it. Once I watched it I realized I was over-doing it so its a great video to search for.
Grapeseed - good heat protector and nice for frizzies if used lightly. It is loaded with natural ceramides so works great on the damaged parts of the hair. There is talk that it builds up so I don't use it daily.
Neem - great for dandruff and dry scalp and adds shine (stinks though)
Sesame - not heavy, not light. Hair likes it but not sure why. Used for de frizz sometimes on me
Hemp - makes my hair look nice. I use it once a week faithfully. Also has lots of natural ceramides. I love this oil since is rates 0 on the pore clogging scale so I know if it gets on my scalp or face I will not have breakouts.
Castor - is said to help hair grow and thicken. I cannot attest to it but I do use it (cut with another oil as it is soooo thick, olive is a good mix)
I tend to rub this on my hairline where I would like to thicken up the hair. It makes a good pre-cowash treatment. I use it just to coat the hair so it gets less damaged from water so sometimes I apply to my weaker parts of hair before a wash.

Basically I like to use all oils just because it is fun for me to try them out. I struggle with wearing them though if I want to have hair look good in public so i use them mostly for pre shampoos or once I am in for the night on misted hair as a hair treatment. If I use them when going out I have to be really careful just to use 2 drops as my hair is very light and fine. I wash my hair almost daily so I am able to do a lot of oil experiments. My hair just doesn;t do well if not washed often. If you don't wash a lot I would save heavy oilings for the night before a shampoo (or co-wash)and keep the leave in type oilings to a few drops only.

I uses cones sometimes. Mostly if I really want hair to look good. I do not use them in shampoo but will use in a conditioner. My preference is simply in a leave in sprayed onto damp hair. I do this for shine, de frizz and to hold in moisture. I notice cones remove my waves but nothing makes hair shine more. I also feel cones prevent a lot of mechanical damage and split ends. I am about to experiment with mineral oil next and see how that works.

Once a month I deep condition for 30 minutes using Loreal Natures Therapy Mega Moisture. It has cones but wow does it bring a deep condition to my hair. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CPIMNA/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I found getting my moisture level back reallly helped me in frizz reduction. I had really dry, frizzy, damaged hair 45 days ago and doing SMTs and oiling made a huge difference. My hair looks healthy and frizz free now which is a big deal considering I live in Florida. Once you get your moisture balance i think you will find you hair cooperated a lot better and those curls will make their way back. Good luck with it. I know how frustrating hair can be when its not moisturized.

[Naiadryade]

ErinLeigh, that is an awesome list and description of oils! Perhaps it should be saved somewhere, like in the articles. It's useful! :flower:

As for the OP's question, the Shea Moisture line of products completely transformed my chronically dry hair into soft, moisturized hair! Specifically, I use the Moisture Retention Shampoo and the Deep Treatment Masque. I use the masque as conditioner, as an ingredient in deep treatments, and as a leave-in. As a leave in, although it makes my hair wonderfully moisturized, it does also straighten my waves a bit... But your hair might react differently. I'd definitely suggest at least trying it! (As a bonus, these 2 products are also all-natural by my decently strict standards!)

[meteor]

Lole18, I see that a lot of the posts suggest heavy use of humectants (honey and aloe in SMTs, for example).
Just a quick word of warning, that depending on where you live (dew points, humidity), it may or may not be a good idea.
People who live in humid climates, will definitely see an increase in moisture if they use humectants.
But if you are in cold dry climate, humectants can dry out your hair, because they will attract moisture from the hair, when the air doesn't have enough. Even if you rinse humectants out very well before leaving shower, some still remain on hair. I have to save SMTs till spring for that reason. I think it's best to experiment and see how your hair reacts.

Oils are anti-humectant/occlusive and add emolliency, which is very useful to seal moisture in hair. Silicones have a similar effect but have a tendency to dry out hair if they are not removed regularly.

A very experience LHC member heidi w. made a very useful Youtube video showing how to lightly oil hair (it's good for straight, low-porosity hair that doesn't need much product): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjVwPKMQDYk

You mentioned that your hair is low-porosity, and that usually means that you don't need much patching that oils and silicones tend to provide, but I still recommend experimenting with a light oiling to see how your hair does. Low-porosity hair usually means that you just need to cleanse your hair and use light products. Low-porosity hair tends to get easily overwhelmed with heavy products. However, you also mentioned curls... what is your hair type? The reason I'm asking is that curly hair usually is not low porosity due to twists in curly pattern. Curly hair and straight hair need very different routines. If your hair is curly, I recommend exploring the Curly Girl Method. It's excellent at keeping curly/wavy hair well moisturized!

As for yogurt that you mentioned... yes, lactic acid is probably the agent that temporarily straightens the curl a bit, but I recommend trying it anyway. Even if your hair will straighten a bit, the effect is only temporary (washes out with one or two washes) and you might like what it does to hair. I find it adds shine and smoothness. Diluted vinegar / lemon rinses are good for this purpose, as well.

Also, silk (especially with satin weave - i.e. charmeuse) pillowcases and sleep caps are great at keeping hair from losing moisture too fast over night, because silk is non-absorbent, unlike textiles like cotton.

Also, I wanted to give a link to information on conditioning agents that are proven to penetrate hair, so you can look for them in conditioners:
http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2012/10/deep-conditioning-what-ingredients-in.html
"Natural Hair - No Processing (usually Low Porosity Hair)
-water
-hydrolysed wheat protein
-coconut oil
-cetrimonium bromide
-caffeine
-panthenol

Bleached Hair, Relaxed Hair or Damaged Hair (i.e cuticle damage) (High Porosity Hair)
- 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"