heavy conditioner creates excess poof?

[Obsidian]

I though using too heavy conditioner would weight you hair down, make it greasy and limp. Why in the world did it make mine go crazy fluffy? After flat ironing my hair yesterday, I thought I should give it some extra attention.
I oiled it overnight with grape seed oil, rinsed out this morning then I used a deep treatment pack with argan oil and protein. Rinsed the pack out, gently washed my roots with sulfate free poo and let it air dry. I might as well have blow dried it up side down then teased it with a comb, it was terribly fluffy but also very gunky feeling. Not oily at all but it definitely had a nasty film. I couldn't stand it anymore, had to clarify it to get all the gunk out. I think that was my last attempt at a deep conditioning treatment.

[Anje]

Protein can make things rather voluminous and it makes my hair feel rough and coated. Clarifying probably helped, but I'd do a deep moisture treatment if your hair is still being weird.

[lapushka]

It also doesn't help that your hair is still quite short - it doesn't help the "poof". It will get better with length. Why not experiment with different washing methods while it is still very easy to wash (CO, CWC, WCC, etc.)? I think that might be a great idea. I WCC + LOC as my styling method and it is awesome. It doesn't weigh my hair down; I mean it isn't "heavy" or "coated" feeling. And I like it because hey, no "poof".

[Obsidian]

Thing is, it wasn't rough at all, just coated like it would be if you used too much leave in. This was the first time I used protein since I cut all my damaged hair off 8 months ago, think I will stick to my protein free products for now on.

Lapushka, I've tried different routines but really the only thing that keeps hair and scalp happy is just using shampoo, any kind of conditioner that touches my hair usually ends up on my scalp and causes a SD flair. I can use a few choice oils for overnight treatment but since they seem to do nothing for my hair, I'm stopping that. I did finally find a leave in that I like, I alternate using it with plain argan on the ends. I also use ACV rinse if I remember.

I am still trying different shampoos, sulfate free doesn't clean enough and continuous sulfate use irritates my SD. I'm experimenting with blending different cleansers to see if I can find a good middle ground or at least figure out how often I can use sulfates before I have a problem.

[meteor]

Yes, it's pretty counter-intuitive and it does happen. :agree: I don't know the exact mechanism behind this, but I suspect that it's just a form of build-up, especially when it sort of dries up in hair.

Personally, this happened to me in the following cases:
- too many humectants (especially honey, glycerin and aloe - for example, overdoing SMT or honey+oil pack),
- way too much protein or protein with molecular size which was too large (hydrolyzed wheat protein in my case; more on protein size here: http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.ca/2013/09/more-about-protein.html),
- with tea rinses (possibly drying effect from tannins, I'm not too sure...),
- too much oil (by overdoing the "oil rinse" or pre-poo oiling) or using way too much oil that is inherently "heavy" - e.g. olive oil, in my case and using too much "drying" oil, like grapeseed, without clarifying. (More on drying capacity of oils here: http://ktanihairsense.blogspot.ca/2011/12/understanding-drying-capacity-of-oils.html)
^ I should note that all these things do work for me in moderation, but I used way too much at once, so I had that effect, and this may be pretty individual reaction, of course.

I think this is very YMMV, and it's important to remember which ingredients and in which combinations and amounts cause this for you. :)

[lapushka]

Lapushka, I've tried different routines but really the only thing that keeps hair and scalp happy is just using shampoo, any kind of conditioner that touches my hair usually ends up on my scalp and causes a SD flair. I can use a few choice oils for overnight treatment but since they seem to do nothing for my hair, I'm stopping that. I did finally find a leave in that I like, I alternate using it with plain argan on the ends. I also use ACV rinse if I remember.

I have SD too, so I get it. I don't let my products (except the shampoo) touch the scalp. :)