Too much protien?

[StrawberryGOLD]

So currently my hair is waist length with the bottom half bleached and dyed that i've been growing out. About a month ago I started using a leave in conditioner on my length that contains hydrolyzed wheat protien and while it appeared to be helping in the beginning i'm now noticing that my length is feeling pretty dry, crunchy and dull compared to my virgin hair. I've been using this leave in almost daily to spritz my hair and now have the opposite effect desired so i'm now suspecting protien overload. I wash my hair once a week using Head and Shoulders shampoo only on the scalp (i've struggled with dandruff my whole life) and usually use Aussie 3 MMM deep conditioner as well as the occasional light oiling of coconut oil throughout the week to tame fly aways so my question is... how often should I be using protien on my hair before it becomes over kill such as days, weeks, months as well as what could I add to my regime or do differently for my crunchy hair?

[illicitlizard]

Crunchy is never a nice feeling for ends! Might be due to the protein for sure, I'd say there's no hard or fast rule about how often you can use protein containing leave in, varies person to person so experiment and find out! (someone correct me if I'm wrong about this - I'd presume there are rules for hardcore protein treatments but not protein conditioners etc)

It could also just be general buildup, my ends start feeling dry if I haven't clarified my hair in a while. I notice the conditioner you use has cyclopentasiloxane which may build up on the hair over time if you never shampoo your ends. My first action would be to shampoo your entire length of hair including the ends, and see if that makes a difference, should help with protein or silicone or oil buildup issues.

There's also the possibility that it's due to bleach damage, waist length bleached hair is going to feel much drier and crunchier than virgin hair especially as the ends are accumulating further damage over time.

[AmyBee]

So currently my hair is waist length with the bottom half bleached and dyed that i've been growing out. About a month ago I started using a leave in conditioner on my length that contains hydrolyzed wheat protien and while it appeared to be helping in the beginning i'm now noticing that my length is feeling pretty dry, crunchy and dull compared to my virgin hair. I've been using this leave in almost daily to spritz my hair and now have the opposite effect desired so i'm now suspecting protien overload. I wash my hair once a week using Head and Shoulders shampoo only on the scalp (i've struggled with dandruff my whole life) and usually use Aussie 3 MMM deep conditioner as well as the occasional light oiling of coconut oil throughout the week to tame fly aways so my question is... how often should I be using protien on my hair before it becomes over kill such as days, weeks, months as well as what could I add to my regime or do differently for my crunchy hair?

I've been experiencing a similar thing with olaplex which I'm thinking acts like a light ish protein treatment and am also having to do some experimentation to work out when to slot different things in. So tricky with bleached ends - I feel like mine are hanging by a thread sometimes (they're not really) and I'm scared to go too wrong with them!!!

[foreveryours]

I'm no expert but how long is your hair? The last foot or so of my length seems to get "dry" (and tangly) and just feels different over the course of a few days before I wash it. Afterwards it seems normal. Nothing I use or have used in the past has protein in it. I'm currently experimenting with gelatin treatment. I think maybe ut becomes more sensitive to environmental factors with "age".

[AmyBee]

I'm no expert but how long is your hair? The last foot or so of my length seems to get "dry" (and tangly) and just feels different over the course of a few days before I wash it. Afterwards it seems normal. Nothing I use or have used in the past has protein in it. I'm currently experimenting with gelatin treatment. I think maybe ut becomes more sensitive to environmental factors with "age".

Not even armpit length yet :( That's my worry really that if I want to hang on to the length at all costs then these poor ends have a long way to go!! I know what you mean though - straight after wash they seem normal then they're just a bit rough in the following days.

[GordonMurphella]

I'll just throw out this agreement on cyclopentasiloxiwhoopeedoopy. It's a carrier, so evaporates for the most part .. but that evaporation makes my baby fine hair go all Einstein-y and feel crunchy, etc. I have no issue with other cones, and use them happily. Coconut oil also goes crunchy on me, so ... am I making any sense? Protein on the whole doesn't bother me all that much.

Toddles off to find another cup of coffee ...

[foreveryours]

+1 GordonMurphella. In addition to loosinbg effectiveness over time, vaporization of cyclo* and other "volatile" silicones have burned my eyes throughout days past when I've tried them. Now I avoid them. I've never experienced "crunchy" hair from coconut oil although, apparently, many others here have. It does begin to solidify at relatively warm temperatures (about 25C) making it not so useful to me during winter months but other than that I love the stuff.

[StrawberryGOLD]

I guess back to the drawing board for me, i'll clarify first and maybe use a different conditioner. Is it possible that the cones in the conditioner are drying out my length? I've been afraid to stop cones for a bit as they help to really seal my splits til I can tackle them as i'm growing out quite a bit of damage but if theres a chance its drying out the hair I guess thats counter productive.

[kimgeas]

If you are concerned that silicones prevent you from getting enough moisture and oils, maybe only use it at very last step (leave in serum) as sealant?

[Finda]

I like to link to these articles about the use of protein in haircare:

http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/2015/10/protein-101-lots-of-basic-information.html

http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/2013/09/more-about-protein.html

Is the leave-in the only protein containing product you use? And also, where on the ingredient list is the protein listed? It makes sense to clarify and then start slowly again to see how it affects your hair. After clarifying you should be okay to use silicones again. I have no experience with dye, but I imagine handling bleached hair without them must be quite hard.

[MusicalSpoons]

It does depend on what else is in the leave-in. It could be the protein, it could be buildup from other ingredients (including butters and waxes, not just silicones) or it could be a combination of both.

[StrawberryGOLD]

Thanks everyone! I clarified my hair really well yesterday and used a different conditioner thats more light weight and my hair feels so much better now so i'm going say it was definetly product build up!

[lapushka]

So currently my hair is waist length with the bottom half bleached and dyed that i've been growing out. About a month ago I started using a leave in conditioner on my length that contains hydrolyzed wheat protien and while it appeared to be helping in the beginning i'm now noticing that my length is feeling pretty dry, crunchy and dull compared to my virgin hair. I've been using this leave in almost daily to spritz my hair and now have the opposite effect desired so i'm now suspecting protien overload. I wash my hair once a week using Head and Shoulders shampoo only on the scalp (i've struggled with dandruff my whole life) and usually use Aussie 3 MMM deep conditioner as well as the occasional light oiling of coconut oil throughout the week to tame fly aways so my question is... how often should I be using protien on my hair before it becomes over kill such as days, weeks, months as well as what could I add to my regime or do differently for my crunchy hair?

Usually bleach loves the protein. Is there any heat damage in there, per chance, maybe it's a combination of factors? Also, when have you last clarify-washed your hair (and lengths!) because that could matter too; build-up is terrible and can get you exactly those type of ends.

Anyway, maybe just some more points to consider. :flower:

[StrawberryGOLD]

Usually bleach loves the protein. Is there any heat damage in there, per chance, maybe it's a combination of factors? Also, when have you last clarify-washed your hair (and lengths!) because that could matter too; build-up is terrible and can get you exactly those type of ends.

Anyway, maybe just some more points to consider. :flower:

Yes sadly there is heat damage too. While I have been clarifying the scalp I figured that maybe the shampoo was drying the lengths til I came across reading somewhere that protien can cause crunchy hair it just never occured to me that maybe it was products and that a good full length clarifying is what I needed. I guess less is more sometimes.

[lapushka]

Yes sadly there is heat damage too. While I have been clarifying the scalp I figured that maybe the shampoo was drying the lengths til I came across reading somewhere that protien can cause crunchy hair it just never occured to me that maybe it was products and that a good full length clarifying is what I needed. I guess less is more sometimes.

Definitely with damaged ends, I would not, like you are doing just fine, clarify the ends more than say once every 4-6 weeks. But sometimes, it just has to be done, because if you use the good moisturizing products, and maybe even styling products (oh boy those build up fast), yeah, you'd be surprised at what that can all do to your hair.

[illicitlizard]

Thanks everyone! I clarified my hair really well yesterday and used a different conditioner thats more light weight and my hair feels so much better now so i'm going say it was definetly product build up!

Glad to hear that clarifying helped!
I agree with Lapushka, protein is usually well tolerated by bleach damaged hair, definitely bear that in mind for the future :)

[lapushka]

Glad to hear that clarifying helped!
I agree with Lapushka, protein is usually well tolerated by bleach damaged hair, definitely bear that in mind for the future :)

Oh I somehow missed that post! That's great! I'm glad your hair feels better now.

[Dark40]

So currently my hair is waist length with the bottom half bleached and dyed that i've been growing out. About a month ago I started using a leave in conditioner on my length that contains hydrolyzed wheat protien and while it appeared to be helping in the beginning i'm now noticing that my length is feeling pretty dry, crunchy and dull compared to my virgin hair. I've been using this leave in almost daily to spritz my hair and now have the opposite effect desired so i'm now suspecting protien overload. I wash my hair once a week using Head and Shoulders shampoo only on the scalp (i've struggled with dandruff my whole life) and usually use Aussie 3 MMM deep conditioner as well as the occasional light oiling of coconut oil throughout the week to tame fly aways so my question is... how often should I be using protien on my hair before it becomes over kill such as days, weeks, months as well as what could I add to my regime or do differently for my crunchy hair?

Yeah, the crunchy feeling on the ends could be due to a protein overload. If you're using a protein leave-in I would only use it once or twice a month, and as your leave-in use a leave-in conditioner that gives you more moisture.