How long after protein treatment do you moisturize?

[Fiferstone]

Hi everyone, done a bit of searching, and I think I've figured out the following: if your hair likes protein, it will help to prevent it from being overly stretchy, right? If your hair doesn't particularly like protein, protein will make it crunchy, brittle and sticky, right?:confused:

Well, I've been using coconut oil the night before washday (protein treatment) and I've noticed that my shed hairs (dry) are quite "stretchy." They stretch a good deal before breaking, so that means my hair needs more protein (I think), so oiling before washing is probably the right thing to do.

I understand that moisture treatment should follow protein treatment, but my question is, do you do the moisture treatment right after the protein treatment, or do you alternate a pre-wash moisture treatment with protein treatment? I'm oiling before wash day, so does that mean that every other wash I should use SMT or something similar?

Thanks in advance for your help/advice:pumpkin:

[Lemur_Catta]

The fact is that coconut oil is not a protein treatment. Coconut oil, in fact, is an oil, so it only contains fats. It can enter the hair shaft and prevent protein loss, but it does not add protein to your hair.
Good protein treatments, other than the ones you can buy which are usually very expensive, are made of proteic foods: eggs, mayo (which contains eggs), soy sauce, coconut milk (milk, not oil!), yogurt and so on.
After a protein treatment, you can use a SMT or other moisturizing treatment.

[jojo]

My hair tends to look dull if I use too much protein, a SMT is all i need to get it back to normal.

I normally do a moisture treatment the day after a protein one.

[rogue_psyche]

When I decide I need protein, I wash my hair and then use my Sally's knockoff of K-Pak. I leave it in for a few minutes, then rinse. I then use my Sally's knockoff of Biolage, leave it in, and rinse. I haven't had any real problems doing it this way and the stretchy-ness goes away without the straw-like quality that protein overload gives.

[sweetstaste]

This is what I have been doing - a protein treatment followed by moisture treatment. Too much protein in your hair (as you rightly said) will make the hair dry, brittle and break easily. It is said that coconut oil can minimize the loss of protein to the hair brought on by the regular use of shampoos etc. Bear in mind that hair is made up of keratin, and coconut oil is closely linked to these hair proteins due to its medium chain triglycerides (MCT). This ability enables the coconut oil to penetrate the scalp easily, providing sufficient nutrient for the hair to grow and prevent hair fall.

[Fiferstone]

Thanks everyone, I'll definitely try adding protein specifically to my routine and see how that goes.