Hair feels like wool! (Maybe gelatin result?)

[ChloeDharma]

I seem to have made some big mistake with my hair. Usually it at least feels silky and soft but recently that has gone. It feels really grippy and the tangles are just awful!
There are two things that are different, the first is I did a gelatin hair treatment, the second is I started using Shea Moisture yucca and plantain conditioner.

Initially after the gelatin treatment my hair felt good, admittedly not as smooth as usual but thicker and it had a bit more swing to it. I did it in a hurry and didn't do a long moisturising treatment afterwards but it seemed to cope ok, at first.

The Shea Moisture conditioner seemed to do wonders after the first time I used it but only initially. I can't quite remember when the grippy issue first got bad but now even straight after washing it, as it dries it just feels more and more like wool. Last night I washed it but added my usual Mane and Tail moisturising conditioner for my 2nd conditioner step (I usually WCC) usually I can rely on this to give me good slip. The shampoo I used is the same, I have two that I use Alpecin or Aubrey Organics peppermint.

The thing is my hair is very fragileand this tangly gripping wool like hair is just snapping off, I now have loads of breakage and even more thinning down the length which has really annoyed meas my hair was doing really well. It may well look ok once I've got this sorted out but I'm still going to need to cut a few inches off.

I'm thinking this started with the gelatin treatment, I was a bit arrogant and didn't pay attention to how long it was on for as my hair has never been sensitive to protein before so I left it on for the duration of a shower, maybe half an hour or so. I'm also wondering if the SM conditioner is contributing to the problem as from what I understands it adds to the hair shaft with the intention of reducing breakage (oh the irony!). I do want to use this conditioner again as it does feel good but I'm going to leave it alone until this problem is sorted out.

I'm guessing the best course of action is to clarify and then do an SMT as a first step then see how that effects things. I have misted my hair and applied some emu oil to it. Right now I have to keep it oiled as if I don't then every time I try to move my fingers through it or god forbid, comb it, I just hear snapping and have to usea lot of force to get through the hair, even being careful, starting at the ends and doing it in sections. Even once detangled the comb still grips the hair or my fingers just won't run through it.

I mainly started this thread to get this off my chest and as a warning to people to go carefully with gelatin/protein treatments. If this sounds familiar to anyone reading this then it would be great to read your experiences and what worked for you in trying to correct it! Thank you for reading this far :)

[Horrorpops]

Oh no!!! Sorry to hear that :(

The clarify+ SMT sounds like a great start to me! Maybe buy a cheap conditioner with no protein in it for the next few washes if the Shea moisture one is potentially causing trouble. I also heard mane and tail has protein in it but I'm not 100% sure but if so that could be not that helpful in the short term if this is protein overload.

Hope your hair is feeling back to normal soon! :grouphug:

[ChloeDharma]

Oh no!!! Sorry to hear that :(

The clarify+ SMT sounds like a great start to me! Maybe buy a cheap conditioner with no protein in it for the next few washes if the Shea moisture one is potentially causing trouble. I also heard mane and tail has protein in it but I'm not 100% sure but if so that could be not that helpful in the short term if this is protein overload.

Hope your hair is feeling back to normal soon! :grouphug:

Thankyou :flower:
Yes I'll have to check what conditioners I have that I can use or as you suggest, buy a cheap protein free one. I know Mane and Tail are known to contain protein in their regular formula, not sure about the "moisture" one but I suspect it might have it in. I'll probably look for some cones too to help me through this.

[lapushka]

Yes just a simple S/C should be enough to rectify it, if it won't work once, then do it again when it's wash day again. I'd go protein free (no Mane 'n Tail either). Good luck. Hope it will be better soon! :flower:

[diddiedaisy]

Hmm, I recently had a similar problem but fortunately my hair wasn't breaking. It turned out to be the shampoo I was using so it could well be the shea moisture rather than the gelatine. It took two weeks for the shampoo to turn my hair funny, and come to think it, it did feel like wool when it was wet but it felt ok when dry. It very quickly went back to normal when I ditched the shampoo. If I was you I would temporarily stop using the shea and see how you go, you'll know very quickly if it was that causing the problems.

[Beborani]

Shea butter builds up-- I would not use that shea moisture line for a while.

[meteor]

Sounds like a case of build-up. Clarifying + SMT (or any light conditioner that you liked in the past) does sound like a good approach. Be careful not to manipulate your hair too much until you wash all that build-up off. :flower:

That Shea Moisture conditioner is labelled as "Anti-Breakage Strengthening Conditioner" and looks pretty heavy (*) indeed, more like a deep conditioning treatment, rather than a regular product for F type hair IMHO, and combining it with a gelatin treatment that was left on for too long was probably a bit too much. :flower:

Going back to the regular routine after clarifying should probably help. :) The fact that these products worked wonderfully in the past probably point to the fact that they shouldn't be used too frequently due to build-up potential. (I'd probably still keep them for infrequent deep treatments though. ;) )

* Ingredients:
Deionized Water, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Sorbitol Esters, Magnifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Yucca Filamentosa Extrct, Vegetable Protein, Glycine Soja (Soybean)Oil, Adansonia Digitata (Baobab) Extract, Biotin, Rosemary Extract, Bamboo Extract, Lonicera Caprifolium (Honeysuckle) Flower (and) Lonicera Japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle) Flower Extract (http://www.sheamoisture.com/Yucca-Plantain-Anti-breakage-Strengthening-Conditioner_p_1246.html#close)

[Pearly~91]

I recently tried my first gelatin treatment and I think that I am starting to have similar symptoms. I think that with my hair the moisture balance just needs to be readjusted, so I'm planning to add a little extra moisture when I get the chance.

In your case the problem seems more complex. You may be missing some moisture, and at the same time adding too much protein as both the Shea Moisture and Mane n Tail have protien. Plus, both conditioners have coconut oil and the shea moisture has other somewhat heavy butters/oils, so you might be getting a build-up rather than your usual slip. (I've found that build up accumulates faster after I've had a protein treatment for some reason.)

If I were you, I would clarify to make sure there isn't product build up and switch to protien free conditioners for a while. I think you would see quite a change after 2 or 3 wash cycles.

[Horrorpops]

Thankyou :flower:
Yes I'll have to check what conditioners I have that I can use or as you suggest, buy a cheap protein free one. I know Mane and Tail are known to contain protein in their regular formula, not sure about the "moisture" one but I suspect it might have it in. I'll probably look for some cones too to help me through this.

No worries! :o

That sounds like a great idea! Let us know how your hair is feeling after that! :)

[ChloeDharma]

Well the emu oil has helped so much, this stuff is AMAZING! I misted it and put a little bit all through the length and scalp then put it in a bun and kept a sleep cap on only detangling a couple of times since I applied it. I have noticed in the past that it's very softening but now my hair is no longer breaking and feels silky again. I expect this benefit is temporary as the problem is still underneath the oil but at least it solves my immediate breaking problem. I checked the ingredients and yes, as we suspected the Mane and Tail moisture conditioner still contains protein as does the Alpecin shampoo and the Avalon Organics one. So that leaves me with Sulfur8 shampoo which I had planned to use to clarify with. I also have some Treseme naturals shampoo with aloe and avocado that looks protein free so I will use that.
I'm not using oils containing coconut just for now but like I say, the emu is doing wonders so at least for the next wash I will use that. I'm hoping this is resolved within the next couple of washes otherwise I will have to start going CO again as that Sulfur8 would be far too stripping for my hair.

This has been a very strange experience as I've never had a problem with protein before, hence not taking care with the timing of the gelatin treatment and stupidly not making sure I had time for an SMT afterwards. I've certainly learned from this though! I'm hoping the SM conditioner can be used after this has all been sorted out though as the first application was great but like Meteor suggested I will probably not use it every wash.

Thank you everyone who has replied :flower: I will update after my next wash :)

[Horrorpops]

That's great news about the emu oil! And yes, the tresemme aloe and avocado oil one is great and protein free to my knowledge. It was a long term fav for me, although I also like their new coconut oil one. Both are very moisturising but not proteiny.

Anyways happy to hear things are getting better! :o

[ChloeDharma]

So I washed my hair again after letting it soak in the emu oil (which is AMAZING!). I lathered up twice wth the sulfur8 shampoo and my hair felt really stripped, which is ok as that's what I was going for, except the last couple of inches or so which still felt like it had stuff on it. I did a version of SMT wth the conditioner I mentioned but I added a squirt of emu oil plus essential oils and left that on for an hour. I then finished up with an ACV rinse.

This has helped a lot, my hair is not quite as silky as usual but it's a lot better. I will probably do another SMT with my next wash but maybe dilute the shampoo as it's so strong.

[Horrorpops]

So I washed my hair again after letting it soak in the emu oil (which is AMAZING!). I lathered up twice wth the sulfur8 shampoo and my hair felt really stripped, which is ok as that's what I was going for, except the last couple of inches or so which still felt like it had stuff on it. I did a version of SMT wth the conditioner I mentioned but I added a squirt of emu oil plus essential oils and left that on for an hour. I then finished up with an ACV rinse.

This has helped a lot, my hair is not quite as silky as usual but it's a lot better. I will probably do another SMT with my next wash but maybe dilute the shampoo as it's so strong.

That's great news!! It sounds like your hair is on the road to recovery :)