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View Full Version : How do you give hair moisture, in a 0% humidity environment?



cathair
July 17th, 2019, 01:04 PM
I was wondering, how do you give hair moisture when there is no moisture in the air?

When I think about moisturising hair, I always think about humectants. They won't help if there is no moisture in the air, but I don't know/can't remember how you can moisturise hair without them.

Going to be spending some time in a hotter climate and was pretty surprised to hear it was 0% humidity there.

Ylva
July 17th, 2019, 01:11 PM
Wet it with water, lock that water in with oils or serums, or LOC/LCO, and don't use humectants.

milosmomma
July 17th, 2019, 01:18 PM
I agree with Ylva. Dont use the humectants at all in very dry environments because from what I understand they will cause drying and pull moisture away from your hair. I deep condition and use a ROO every wash and think that might be a good solution for very low humidity as well.

-Fern
July 17th, 2019, 03:59 PM
I use aloe gel and oil to seal moisture in. :o

NeonPink
July 17th, 2019, 04:39 PM
I've always wondered about something related to this, almost all products with humectants come mixed with water, its usually part of the ingredients, isn't that enough to absorb into the hair so the humectants won't have to pull water from the air?

CherryFrizz
July 17th, 2019, 04:41 PM
You might like the Mister Bottle thread - lots of ideas for water+sealants in one bottle.

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=1064

Ylva
July 17th, 2019, 05:07 PM
I've always wondered about something related to this, almost all products with humectants come mixed with water, its usually part of the ingredients, isn't that enough to absorb into the hair so the humectants won't have to pull water from the air?

Water is generally always the number one ingredient in all creamy products, let alone watery ones. The humectants will draw water out of the hair and into the air, if the air is drier than the hair. If the water is already in the hair, you don't need humectants.

JennGalt
July 17th, 2019, 07:27 PM
I've always wondered about something related to this, almost all products with humectants come mixed with water, its usually part of the ingredients, isn't that enough to absorb into the hair so the humectants won't have to pull water from the air?

No. Eventually that water will evaporate because the air is drier and will pull the water away from the product. Then the humectant will start pulling water from the hair. How quickly this happens will depend on a few different factors, like how dry the atmosphere is, how porous your hair is, how sensitive to humectants, etc., so it could be a few hours or even the next day before you notice a problem. If this is allowed to go on for a long time or happens to already damaged hair you might even see breakage.

Not all humectants are equally likely to pull water out of your hair in low humidity situations. Humectants that work by forming a film on your hair like aloe or flaxseed gel are far less likely to pull water from your hair than hygroscopic humectants like glycerin. Weaker humectants are less likely to cause trouble than strong humectants (glycerin is a very strong humectant). Rice and silk proteins are weak humectants and film formers, and I never had a problem with either even when living in a desert with naturally dry, very porous hair. Though if the humidity were really 0% I’d probably avoid them all.

In very low humidity environments, it’s best to spritz with water as needed and seal it in with an occlusive like shea butter or a sealing oil (i.e. argan, grapeseed, castor) and keep your hair in a bun as much as possible. You may need to prioritize hair health over appearance until the humidity goes up at least a little bit.

NeonPink
July 20th, 2019, 08:11 AM
Thank you both for your replies! I just figured after an hour or so that the humectants would stop pulling water but I guess maybe not. I'll be more careful about it when I'm in dry places :)