Rough hair

[tetisheri72]

I've been co-washing for a couple of months. I shampoo every 3 washes or so. The last 10 days or so, my hair has felt rough and dry-ish. I clarified Saturday. I co-washed last night. It still feels kind of rough. When I detangled my hair, I grabbed on of my sheds, and it snapped with absolutely no stretch at all.

I have started oiling my hair before a shampoo, but that was after it already felt rough. I haven't changed anything else. I do use a leave-in on the ends, and up to about the middle of my hair.

I'm not noticeably shedding more. I do have hypothyroidism, and I'm going in for a check with my doc tomorrow, but I don't think it's that. Better to rule it out though.


Any suggestions? I'm thinking I want to do one of those protein treatments you can pick up at Sally's, and I probably need a good moisture treatment. I was thinking a SMT, but I don't have a microwave, and I am kind of worried about heating it up on the stove. I really don't want conditioner in any of my pains.

So, please help my poor hair?

[Zesty]

Disclaimer: not an expert on protein. However, generally speaking if your hair is snapping with no stretch, protein is probably bad. That usually indicates that you need moisture. I'd clarify again just in case it's some sort of super evil buildup, then SMT (you could maybe boil water in a pot and put a bowl over that, to avoid putting conditioner straight in your pots/pans). I'm sure a non-heated SMT wouldn't be terrible. I'm thinking maybe the stuff you put in your hair might be preventing moisture from penetrating your hair? Just a guess though. Others will probably have better advice.

[Zesty]

It also might be helpful for the purpose of troubleshooting if you were more specific about your products. Cones/no cones, what kind of oil, specific brands, even.

[tetisheri72]

Suave naturals coconut and Aussie moisture are my regular conditioners, and i use an Aussie leave in, split end protection I think. I used Suave Daily Clarifying shampoo, and followed it up with the Aussie conditioner.

[Anje]

Try rotating out the Suave Naturals Coconut for a different Suave Naturals. (I like the Aloe and Waterlily.) The coconut gives me nasty rough protein-overloaded hair, which sounds exactly like what you describe.

I'd suggest an SMT as well, but use one of those other conditioners rather than the coconut for it. I think it'll help. You don't have to heat it up if you don't want to, but you might want to use a sugary syrup other than honey then if you don't want to risk any hair lightening. (Realistically, 30 minutes on your head won't lighten hair noticeably anyway with those honey concentrations, but many people prefer to avoid any risk of it. Me, I'm just cheap enough that I don't want to waste yummy honey on my hair.)

[tetisheri72]

I can switch out. My husband is going to the store. He can pick up some strawberry for me. I'll have him grab some aloe gel too.

Hair lightening wouldn't bother me one way or the other.

[Johannah]

Try to switch up and see if it goes better. If it stays like this, you probably need protein. It sounds exactly like my hair some months ago. I started CO'ing and my hair got over moisturized with chronic dryness as a consequence. Protein solved it completely.

Keep us updated how it goes with your hair next wash ;)

[tetisheri72]

I certainly will. I want to get my hair back to the nice shiny and soft that it was.

[hbicmaya]

After washing you can seal the moisture in with your still wet hair on the ends with an oil, stops the moisture leaving, like a type of treatment and can dry very nicely aswell. I've been doing this recently and its working well,Good luck with your hair xx

[tetisheri72]

I'm just now starting to really move into using oil.

[Athena61]

Disclaimer: not an expert on protein. However, generally speaking if your hair is snapping with no stretch, protein is probably bad. That usually indicates that you need moisture. I'd clarify again just in case it's some sort of super evil buildup, then SMT (you could maybe boil water in a pot and put a bowl over that, to avoid putting conditioner straight in your pots/pans). I'm sure a non-heated SMT wouldn't be terrible. I'm thinking maybe the stuff you put in your hair might be preventing moisture from penetrating your hair? Just a guess though. Others will probably have better advice.

I don't understand the statement about protein being bad (hair snapping) and it being an indication of needing moisture. I thought that was 2 different approaches. If hair isn't elastic and snaps it needs protein. If hair is dry it needs moisture. Could someone explain? I'm new at this. Thanks.

[sourgrl]

The only thing I have found for me that prevents that rough feeling is damp bunning/wrapping. I shower at night. Once my hair has dried enough to not be dripping wet I bun it with spin pins and then wrap it with a satin bandana; specifically this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00694GSWK/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1410444941&sr=8-2&pi=SY200_QL40. I imagine it would work with a sleep cap too.

I know it's the damp bunning/wrapping because #1. I only oil my length but my hair is soft from root to tip #2. On the rare occasion I don't do this, most recently last Saturday when I had to shower in the morning, my hair is rough.

Down side is it causes me to loose volume at the roots... And my hubby calls me Aunt Jemima ;)

[chen bao jun]

You do sound over proteined to me, too. Someone else can weigh in with a list of ingredients that in products which are protein, but besides coconut oil, I'm suspecting the Aussie moist split end protector may have it? Look for hydrolyzed protein, silk protein and as I said, there are other ingredients which are protein and not obvious. Some hair is VERY sensitive to protein and you can use very little in it. From my experience, too much protein makes the hair hard, rough and tangly and causes it to snap off easily, while too much moisture makes the hair stretchy and spongy--and it also breaks off easily. So although both situations cause breakage, to me its sounds like you have too much protein in your hair.
And yes, coconut oil alone can be too much protein for some hair.
Are you fine, or coarse? Coarsies often have trouble with protein, though we need SOME.

[tetisheri72]

I don't understand the statement about protein being bad (hair snapping) and it being an indication of needing moisture. I thought that was 2 different approaches. If hair isn't elastic and snaps it needs protein. If hair is dry it needs moisture. Could someone explain? I'm new at this. Thanks.

I don't always get it either.


The only thing I have found for me that prevents that rough feeling is damp bunning/wrapping. I shower at night. Once my hair has dried enough to not be dripping wet I bun it with spin pins and then wrap it with a satin bandana; specifically this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00694GSWK/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1410444941&sr=8-2&pi=SY200_QL40. I imagine it would work with a sleep cap too.

I know it's the damp bunning/wrapping because #1. I only oil my length but my hair is soft from root to tip #2. On the rare occasion I don't do this, most recently last Saturday when I had to shower in the morning, my hair is rough.

Down side is it causes me to loose volume at the roots... And my hubby calls me Aunt Jemima ;)

My husband would think it was funny to do that too. I want to get a bandana or sleep cap. My son likes to go sit in my room and watch TV, and I know that he would mess up any satin pillowcase I had. Not on purpose, but he is just kind of naturally destructive.


You do sound over proteined to me, too. Someone else can weigh in with a list of ingredients that in products which are protein, but besides coconut oil, I'm suspecting the Aussie moist split end protector may have it? Look for hydrolyzed protein, silk protein and as I said, there are other ingredients which are protein and not obvious. Some hair is VERY sensitive to protein and you can use very little in it. From my experience, too much protein makes the hair hard, rough and tangly and causes it to snap off easily, while too much moisture makes the hair stretchy and spongy--and it also breaks off easily. So although both situations cause breakage, to me its sounds like you have too much protein in your hair.
And yes, coconut oil alone can be too much protein for some hair.
Are you fine, or coarse? Coarsies often have trouble with protein, though we need SOME.

I split the middle. I am a medium. I used to think it was fine until I came here and actually typed it correctly. I haven't tried coconut oil yet, because I keep forgetting to get it when I am at the store. I've been using some of the extra virgin olive oil I had here. I get just enough to get my hands shiny and then start rubbing it in.

I will check my leave in tonight to see if there is any protein in it.

[Anje]

I don't understand the statement about protein being bad (hair snapping) and it being an indication of needing moisture. I thought that was 2 different approaches. If hair isn't elastic and snaps it needs protein. If hair is dry it needs moisture. Could someone explain? I'm new at this. Thanks.

This is a description that always made a lot of sense to me. (http://web.archive.org/web/20080926112118/http://blackbeautyblackhair86911.yuku.com/topic/511/t/Hair-Breakage-and-Shedding-101.html)

[tetisheri72]

Thank you!

[chen bao jun]

This is a description that always made a lot of sense to me. (http://web.archive.org/web/20080926112118/http://blackbeautyblackhair86911.yuku.com/topic/511/t/Hair-Breakage-and-Shedding-101.html)
Yep, over protein makes it dry, rough and snap off and over moisture breaks but is stretchy and spongy--especially when wet. The two problems feel VERY different. And you can get over proteined without giving yourself a protein treatment because so many hair products have protein in them, and some people are sensitive to it. HOWEVER, the first thing to check when you get dry and rough is actually if you need clarifying because too much buildup can look like over protein, but isn't. I see however that the OP already clarified and this did not solve her issue.

[GetMeToWaist]

EVOO treatments were a godsend for me. They just made my hair unexplainably silkier. My hair is annoyingly coarse and just naturally feels rough, so what seems to work for me is doing an EVOO, co-washing it out with a cheap no cone conditioner and then damp braiding in two neat dutch braids with leave in conditioner.

[Anje]

HOWEVER, the first thing to check when you get dry and rough is actually if you need clarifying because too much buildup can look like over protein, but isn't. I see however that the OP already clarified and this did not solve her issue.
Definitely. It's also worth making sure that when people clarify, they're actually shampooing all their hair from root to tip! I regularly find that some folks are so stuck on the "only shampoo your roots" thing that they only clarify their roots. That doesn't work too well, since it's the length and ends of hair that tend to get the most conditioning and therefore the most buildup. For clarifying, those are the portions that really need cleaned!

[tetisheri72]

I made sure to clarify all the way down. I kept reminding myself to do it because of long ingrained habits.