Too much moisturizing?

[LadyMantis]

I told my hairdresser that I condition the hell out of my hair to prevent split ends. So far, it's been working, but she warned me that if I moisturize my hair too much, it can actually dry it out. I have no idea how that's possible and it doesn't make sense. Have any of you heard this?

[Justineilie]

I have, though I heard about it when I was using the Macadamia Deep Repair Mask everyday as a conditioner. People would tell me my hair will feel like straw but I never saw these results myself.

[Aderyn]

With silicones and some other ingredients (including oils), absolutely. Too much build up can end up blocking out moisture and drying out your hair.

As for overmoisturizing, it's hard to say as it varies wildly between people (based on hair texture, porosity, products used, frequency of conditioning, etc.). If your hair starts to go limp, or mushy-feeling or stretchy when wet, those are signs that it is overconditioned and that your hair could benefit from some protein. It really just depends on the person.

[Larki]

You do need a balance between moisture and protein (switch between repairing and moisturizing conditioners, for example) and if you use heavy cones for a long time without clarifying to remove build up, that could lock out moisture and dry your hair out. Might be what she meant.

[lapushka]

Rubbish! I WCC (double condition), use ROO (rinse-out oil method) and LOC (links all in signature), and it gives it a big *BOOST* of moisture every single time. I wear my hair up for a week and it all starts over again. I have never had "overmoisturized" hair. I don't buy it. I do sometimes (not very often) use protein conditioners as my first C.

[morrigan*]

Well it happened to me, but i don't know if i would say over moisturised rather than over conditioned. My hair turned very lanky, but it wasn't dry, i just needed to use only shampoo a couple of washes and it slowly went back to previous state.

[Wildcat Diva]

Yes, haha we know the clarifying trick, so it's all good! We have no over-moisturizing worries.

[gthlvrmx]

I told my hairdresser that I condition the hell out of my hair to prevent split ends. So far, it's been working, but she warned me that if I moisturize my hair too much, it can actually dry it out. I have no idea how that's possible and it doesn't make sense. Have any of you heard this?

"Overmoisturized" hair doesn't usually cause hair to be dry, it just gets stretchy, mushy, and gummy. This rarely happens though and it is hard to get. It happens more often with people who already have damaged hair like with bleached hair. Maybe if you use silicones your hair will not be getting enough moisture because of the silicone in conditioner, but usually moisturizing your hair is a good thing. "Moisturize" means "make (something, especially the skin) less dry".

[LadyMantis]

Thanks, guys--

You certainly seem to have given me things to think about. I think I may just limit how often I use a hair mask (because I was using it every time I washed my hair, which was every other day). I have to wash my hair fairly often because I get flare-ups of seborrheic dermatitis. For example, today I HAD to use Head and Shoulders (OMG!!) because I had a flare-up and I knew using my moisturizing shampoo would cause trouble. For those of you who don't know, seborrheic dermatitis is a type of dandruff with an OILY scalp. So anyway, I'm using the mask right now and I'm sleeping with it. Hopefully that will mitigate any damage the harsh dandruff shampoo did.

Anyway, thanks again!

<3