Protein. Apparently I still haven't learned.

[Sarah4983]

Sooo.... 2 weeks ago I tried to figure out if my hair needed protein or a deep moisture treatment by clarifying and letting it air dry.
I posted pics on here, and with everyone's help, decided I need both.
I bought protein packs and GVP conditioning balm and tried both with decent results.

Fast forward to today.

I wanted to do a deep conditioning mask for my hair as I'm trying to help it recover from years of coloring and heat styling abuse. I found an egg yolk and extra virgin olive oil recipe, and so I mixed 2 egg yolks and about a tbsp of eevo together and applied to my hair. I left it in under plastic for about 2 hours.

I went to rinse it out in the shower and my hair felt like... oh man... how can I even explain this...... like.....a stiff clump of dryness that I didnt even feel comfortable touching while knowing that THIS IS MY HAIR.

Just, horrifying results.

Panic ensued and I immediately decided I've had WAY too much protein and I rinsed it out as best as I could, clarified with shampoo and applied a heaping load of the GVP conditioning balm which is currently on my wet hair wrapped in plastic as I type this. What's the deal... Should this tell me I just need to stay away from protein altogether?

Upon applying the gvp cond balm my hair felt better..... however, is it possible that this treatment did damage to my hair somehow?? I'm being honest when I say this - I didn't think hair could feel like that!!!*shudder*

I'm scared to rinse out the conditioning balm at this point.

Any advice?!

"Woosa......"
:meditate:

[myotislucifugus]

Perhaps it was just protein overload. My suggestion would be to clarify and the deeeep condition. Maybe mix some honey in with your current conditioner, bag it, and leave overnight.

It will all be ok, I promise:p

[Madame J]

The protein article does say that any damage caused by overloading protein is reversible (I just reread a bunch of articles this weekend). So you'll probably see improvement when you rinse out the balm, although you might need more treatments before it's back to normal. Have you tried the commercial protein pack yet? It could be there's something in the eggs that freaked your hair out other than protein, since I've heard that food protein tends to be too big a molecule to enter the hair shaft. Maybe if you diagnose a need for protein again, you can try one of those protein packs you found at the store.

Hope your hair feels nicer this time! *hugs*

[Spring]

I'm curious, and maybe some of the ladies here can answer this, but is it safe to clarify after a protein treatment was pretty harsh or is it better to just go right into a very deep conditioning treatment? It seems the clarifying would be drying the hair out even more, making it longer for the hair to recover. Does anyone know how clarifying shampoos work with protein on the hair?

[Sarah4983]

Thank you, ladies :)

I am going to take myotislucifugus' advice try to leave the balm in overnight. I'm sure the longer I leave it in the better.

Madame J, the protein pack didn't really seem to help or hurt my hair. I bought two and still have 1 and a half left so I guess I'll just save them for if I feel my hair needs protein in the future.

Spring- that is a great question; I thought the same thing and while in the shower I literally picked up the shampoo, set it back down, and picked it up again because I couldn't decide if it would be good or bad. I decided to use it because I felt like I wouldn't have gotten the yolk completely out any other way... I just wanted everything out. Ugh.

So, plan B is leaving this conditioner in overnight and keeping my fingers crossed

[Flynn]

If you over-protein, you can balance with moisture. If you over-moisturise, you can balance with protein. I think you probably just overdid the protein, so the conditioning treatment should bring it back to balance.

[Sarah4983]

You can over moisturize?!?

I have SO MUCH to learn... :confused:

[Spring]

Sara, I'm glad you're leaving your conditioner in for a long time, and maybe in the morning things will be back to normal. I have to be careful with protein, even cholesterol w/protein doesn't seem to agree with me. If I do an egg protein in the future, I think I'll do it with conditioner and a ton of oil all mixed together, then another deep conditioning after that :). I hope your hair is at least extra beautiful, to make up for the protein scare.

[Flynn]

You can over moisturize?!?

I have SO MUCH to learn... :confused:

Yup; your hair feels really stretchy, and it stretches and breaks leaving a messy, stretched, ruined spirally hair. Think what happens when your hair is soaked with water. Opposite of too much protein, kind of, which leaves it feeling dry and brittle.

I think it's harder to over-moisturise than to over-protein, though, so I wouldn't worry too much about that one.

[rogue_psyche]

Yup; your hair feels really stretchy, and it stretches and breaks leaving a messy, stretched, ruined spirally hair. Think what happens when your hair is soaked with water. Opposite of too much protein, kind of, which leaves it feeling dry and brittle.

I think it's harder to over-moisturise than to over-protein, though, so I wouldn't worry too much about that one.

I only get that when I use moisture-only for a prolonged period of time. I believe that the stretchy feeling doesn't come from too much moisture, but instead not enough protein. I've never gotten the stretchy, weak hair when I keep an eye on my protein but still use tons of moisture.

[missfortune9335]

yowza, so all you gurus out there, how often should you use protein? or should you not mess with it unless there's an obvious need for it? It sounds a little sketchy!

[Elphie]

I don't know what works for anyone else's hair other than my own. I use a conditioner with protein so my hair gets some in fairly regular but small doses. I don't use any other protein treatments and I don't experience any negative effects from it.

[Spring]

yowza, so all you gurus out there, how often should you use protein? or should you not mess with it unless there's an obvious need for it? It sounds a little sketchy!

Yeah, I like the small amounts of protein in conditioners like Suave and will do a stronger protein conditioner like Aphogee, 1x every 3 months or so. Even Damage Control by Suave I use occasionlly, but after I do, I love the way my hair feels.

[spidermom]

My hair turned into steel wool when I tried baking soda to clarify, and it took 2 weeks of conditioner-only soaks (with aloe vera gel and honey) to return to normal. But it did recover, and your hair will too.