Actually moisturized or just coated?

[TreesOfEternity]

My length has past dye damage and I live in a very dry climate, so my hair tends to lose a lot of moisture between washes.

I refresh my hair between washes with a leave in cream or spray with cones and some oil once a day, and it feels great, but is there a way to know if I’m actually nourishing my hair or if it’s shiny just because it’s coated with cones and oil? And if so, do you think it’s also a way of protecting it anyway of is it counterproductive/deceiving?

[LadyCelestina]

Hmmm... usually the ends of my hair tell me the truth. If they feel smooth but also kinda roughish under my fingers... like I can easily slide a strand between fingers with no snagging, but you can feel that although the strand is fairly smooth, it has this rough, grabby quality to it...

Like if you had dry ends and oiled them! They would be slick but you would still feel the dryness underneath the oil.

[Ylva]

I personally can't really "hide" the condition of my hair. I can improve it, but if it's bad, it's going to feel bad no matter what I put on it. If my hair is properly moisturized, I can tell, regardless of silicones or lack thereof. It's like, they add slip, yes, but the hair is still for a large part what it is.

[TreesOfEternity]

Yes, the part about feeling the real texture underneath makes sense to me now that you guys mention it. I remember when my ends were terrible and one way to know it was looking at them on the mirror with a good lighting, you could see white-ish dots at the ends and although slippery they were stiff and rough.

[JennGalt]

I also live in a super dry climate, and my hair isn’t dyed (well, it’s had multiple henna applications tbh) but it’s quite porous and doesn’t like to hold moisture. It may be different for you, but my experience is that coating the hair to protect it is helpful and even important. However, if it gets too dry beneath the coating I can still have breakage. Things that soften, like shea butter and olive oil, seem to help minimize breakage due to dryness by keeping my hair from getting too brittle when it dries out. I’d still recommend misting with water and regular clarifying. Cutting out certain humectants helped a lot too, as in very dry weather they can actually pull moisture out of your hair; I can’t use any leave ins containing glycerin or they exacerbate dryness.

Hope that helps :)

[lapushka]

Silicones "coat" the hair, just as oils or butters and waxes "coat" the hair. One isn't better than the other... necessarily.

I think moisture needs to come from your washes, and from conditioning well. I put stylers on after washing but it seals in what I have put effort in putting into it during my wash. If that makes sense?

[TreesOfEternity]

Jenn I’m not sure about having used products with glycerin or not now that you name it! I’ll definitely check out, as our hair seems to behave quite similar.

Masques with shea butter work very good for me as well, and oils keep my ends flexible so yes that’s a bonus to prevent breakage I guess :) I’m still figuring out my clarifying schedule though, right now I only do it when I feel my hair is quite “meh”, but maybe I shouldn’t wait that long.

Lapushka yes it definitely makes a lot of sense! After a DT I find that using a good oil on damp hair helps a lot maximizing the results of the treatment.

If I overdo, though, it becomes instantly Velcro and dull when dry, defeating all the purpose of washing + conditioner so I have to be really careful with the products AND the amount I use. I should remember sometimes less is more haha but it’s hard.

[lapushka]

Lapushka yes it definitely makes a lot of sense! After a DT I find that using a good oil on damp hair helps a lot maximizing the results of the treatment.

If I overdo, though, it becomes instantly Velcro and dull when dry, defeating all the purpose of washing + conditioner so I have to be really careful with the products AND the amount I use. I should remember sometimes less is more haha but it’s hard.

I am definitely heavy-handed when it comes to moisture, but my lengths are sooo dry compared to my scalp. They need it.

If your hair is more moisturized on its own, or not as dry, yes, definitely watch out how much you use. LOL. I totally get it, though!

[blackgothicdoll]

Silicones "coat" the hair, just as oils or butters and waxes "coat" the hair. One isn't better than the other... necessarily.

I think moisture needs to come from your washes, and from conditioning well. I put stylers on after washing but it seals in what I have put effort in putting into it during my wash. If that makes sense?

Not necessarily! Some oils and butters are proven to actually condition and sink into the hair strand. While I don't disagree that washing the hair is important, to start fresh, remove built up product that is preventing other moisture from getting in, the difference between oils and silicones can be helpful in deciding what products to use in between washes.

Here is the reference I use for oils that are proven to penetrate the hair strand and moisturize:

http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/oils-which-ones-soak-in-vs-coat-hair.html

My experience meshes with JennGalt, leave-ins with glycerin are a huge no for me. For the oils, like many people coconut oil at room temperature does not seem to absorb, so I skip that one and only use with heat for pre-shampoo. My favorites are sunflower oil and shea butter - now I know shea butter may be too heavy for straighter hair types, but dabbed between the palms and patted onto the ends seems to work for some people. I find olive oil too heavy but like extra light EVOO in small amounts.

[TreesOfEternity]

Wow sunflower oil?? I would have never guessed! Here we see it as a very “second class” oil, so that idea always made me think it wouldn’t be that good for my hair, but I am so going to try it tomorrow! :)

When I have more free time I’d like to make some kind of diy hair salve with Shea butter, so it’s more suited for my texture than just plain Shea.

[JennGalt]

Silicones "coat" the hair, just as oils or butters and waxes "coat" the hair. One isn't better than the other... necessarily.

I think moisture needs to come from your washes, and from conditioning well. I put stylers on after washing but it seals in what I have put effort in putting into it during my wash. If that makes sense?

Moisture absolutely should come from washes, but if you’re in a hot, dry place with single digit humidity and central air conditioning everywhere you go, you’re probably going to need to add moisture between washes as well. I’ve noticed everyone with hair longer than a couple cm has dry ends where I live. Misting and sealing between washes is a must for naturally dry long hair in a desert, IME.


TreesOfEternity, you may want to keep track of how your hair behaves with different humectants. Mine likes film forming humectants like AVJ and flaxseed gel as moisturizers most of the time, but can’t handle glycerin unless the humidity shoots up above 60% as it does on stormy days. Film forming humectants can actually help seal in moisture by forming a coating of their own. I only had a problem with aloe during one week when the humidity plummeted to almost nothing, the temperature was around 40 C, and the dew point was hovering around -12 C. Misting with water and sealing with JBCO saved my hair that week!

Also note that you may need heavier occlusives like cones or castor oil or shea butter if it’s really super dry. For me, olive oil isn’t quite up to the task of sealing in moisture in extremely dry conditions, and sometimes I skip it and reach for the JBCO instead or blend the two. I don’t worry about how my hair looks on those days, because the curls are going to flatten out anyway and it’s wiser to simply focus on preventing breakage at that point and keep my hair in a bun. If your hair is acting up, check the weather reports, pay attention to what’s in your products and sealing stuffs, and clarify if you need to. It may take a bit to learn your hair’s preferences, but it’s well worth it.

Here’s a link you may find helpful :) Everyone's hair is a little different, but these guidelines might help you figure out the connection between weather and product ingredients. And humectants in your rinse out products should be ok as long as you rinse well, so don’t worry about those.

https://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/wavy-hair-type-2/the-411-on-dew-points-humectants

There’s also a thread floating around somewhere about how desert longhairs retain moisture. I’d look for it, but I need to go get ready for work. Might be helpful.

[lapushka]

I never had to add moisture in between washes, so that is totally alien to me. :flower:

[JennGalt]

Never?! I’m jealous :p I’m happy if I can skip a day of remoisturizing once in a while, lol.

[blackgothicdoll]

Wow sunflower oil?? I would have never guessed! Here we see it as a very “second class” oil, so that idea always made me think it wouldn’t be that good for my hair, but I am so going to try it tomorrow! :)

When I have more free time I’d like to make some kind of diy hair salve with Shea butter, so it’s more suited for my texture than just plain Shea.

I should have mentioned, I use white shea butter and cut with sunflower oil 50/50. My hair doesn't like anything too heavy so I can't use it straight out, and definitely no yellow shea (but my skin loves it!) So perhaps for you, a higher oil to shea ratio would work.

[AutobotsAttack]

Wow sunflower oil?? I would have never guessed! Here we see it as a very “second class” oil, so that idea always made me think it wouldn’t be that good for my hair, but I am so going to try it tomorrow! :)

When I have more free time I’d like to make some kind of diy hair salve with Shea butter, so it’s more suited for my texture than just plain Shea.

There’s also:

Shea Nilotica
MuruMuru Butter
Cupuaçu Butter
Mango Butter
Mafura Butter
Kokum Butter
Cocoa Butter

Of all that I listed MuruMuru Butter and Cupuaçu butter have the lowest melting points. You don’t even need to cut them with an oil, they will turn into a bit of an oil state just by the heat of your hands. They go on the lightest, and don’t weight your hair down.

If you’re interested.

[RottenMango]

For me, when my hair is truly moisturized, it will feel soft. If it isn’t and I just apply product on top, it will get a greasy feel to it while also feeling crunchy or crispy underneath the coating of oil.