Hair Porosity, Silicone, Masks?

[Mrstran]

I have extremely damaged hair and and am looking for recommendations for silicones. This may be hard to believe but I have no clue what pruducts actually have this in them. What are your favorites? What ones do you acoid? Is there a such thing as too much on the lengths of your hair?

You all have taught me so much on here. I couldn't possibly be more thankful. I had to chop off my hair after paying $600 to fry it. I've sworn off of heat and dye for good.

[Mrstran]

Sorry about the repeat posts. I thought one didn't post so I made another. :(

[animetor7]

My favorite coney serum is biosilk will therapy serum. It's pretty heavy though, I only need about a dime sized amount for relatively thick hip length hair. A lighter coney serum that I like is the Garnier fructose silk and shine serum.

ETA oops forgot to mention I have high porosity hair. But if these don't weigh my hair down, they're unlikely to weigh high porosity hair down.

[pailin]

You might check out http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com
There are articles on the different silicones (including lists of them according to solubility), on buildup, and lots of other things too.
That said, you will have to figure out which ones work for you. But silicones are very useful for damaged hair, to decrease mechanical damage from manipulation (ie detangling). Most conditioners marketed for dry damaged hair or for split ends do have cones.
You may need to clarify periodically if you are using silicones - but this is also something that needs some experimenting; some people do it once a month, others once a week, and some never need to.

[lapushka]

For serums, I have a nice one from Aldi (was a one-off). If you're looking for serums to leave in on damp hair, then you have the IC Fantasia ones that are not that expensive and great. There's also Chi Silk infusion but that's expensive but there's a "generic" one available, I believe. Other than that, any serum will do. It probably will have silicones!

For conditioners, the Herbal Essences Hello Hydration is a good detangler, for me in any case.

I would not recommend silicones in shampoos, but that's only because I can't risk it due to my SD (seborrheic dermatitis).

[kidari]

I have "damaged" hair as it has been bleached and colored multiple times. But it doesn't look damaged and is still easy to care for. My favorite conditioners are the 3 minute miracle moisture renewal from Pantene and Ion effective care conditioner from Sally's (I interchange them). There are many good ones out there but these two are pretty cheap and work as well as more pricey versions. The key is to balance protein with moisture and use products that provide good slip and protection. For leave ins I like to use a coney serum followed by a cream on the ends. I pretty much like most silicone serums I've tried and I've tried a ton over the years. As for leave in creams some of my favorites are AG fast food, garnier sleek and shine Brazilian smooth flat iron express (I never heat style, I just use this as a leave in), silk elements mega silk leave-in moisturizing creme. The leave in creams tend to have shea butters and other similar type emollients in it. Silicones are not an issue with buildup so long as you chelate or clarify once in a while. I try not to use too many protein treatments and always make sure to do a deep moisture mask at least once every two weeks. If I stretch washes my ends I get dry so I mist the ends and bun it for sleep. You can use a leave in spray conditioner, plain water, or search for "Kimberlily's defrizz spray" it has been my saviour for combatting dry ends for years. Using this to do heat free curls, tossing out my heat tools, and never using styling products with drying ingredients like salt and drying alcohols have helped me have decent long-ish hair even though it's bleached and colored.

Lately I've been mixing a silicone serum with some of my AG fast food leave in conditioner and using that as my only step post wash. It gives me a nicer result than applying it in two separate steps plus it makes wash day go even faster.

[Alissalocks]

I live and die for my Hask Argan oil Shine Treatment, but I'm not sure if it's coney. Not the packets but the little brown bottles. It acts likes cones on my hair, so very slippy and shiny and smooth! And it's cheap, and easy to find in the US.

Also, although this isn't a thread about oil, I noticed a huge difference in my hair once I began oiling it overnight once (or twice) a week. My hair seems to be average porosity, and thus far I've never had to clarify despite being a regular coney conditioner CWC girl, but I've noticed my shampoos do have sulfates so maybe that's enough for my hair (?).