Is this too much protein?

[AspenSong]

Ok, so for the last few months I've had the same routine pretty much. CO wash, a little jojoba oil for flyaways and on my ends and coconut oil in my hair overnight once every week to 10 days. Also been cone-free all this time and my hair has been great, and doing vinegar rinses as well.
Well I did my usual thing last night with my coconut oil....I got up, CO washed and when it was all rinsed out I felt something that took me back to the long past days of my "dye years" - My hair, felt....Fried. It was horrible. Instead of freaking out, I remembered someone mentioning too much protein can make hair feel crunchy, so I'm asking the experts what your take on it is and what I can/should do about it? =/

[maxzeen]

You might have some build up. I CO wash and that happens to me sometimes too. To fix this I will usually just use a clarifying shampoo to get all the buildup out and I will usually do a deep treatment (like SMT) afterwards. I find that I have to do a clarifying shampoo once a month to get all of the buildup out.

Hope this helps!

[Ash]

I would suggest not using the coconut oil for a while and see if it makes any difference. It is possible that with the colder weather the coconut oil is solidifying on your hair making it harder to deal with but it could also be that your hair does not like coconut oil any more. Perhaps you could try another oil like olive, avocado, or walnut for overnight oiling?

What you described was exactly what happened to me after a long while of using coconut oil and when I stopped my hair went back to normal. I tried to use it again a long time later and the one use caused it to get crispy and dry. I think coconut oil helps hair retain protein and if the hair does not like protein then it would be a bad thing.

[Kirin]

I would recommend, if the Co you CO with has protein in it, switch to a different brand. Clarifying certainly won't hurt, but its possible with changing climates, if the air is very dry in your house, it may be leading to this problem. My hair's been absolute shyte for weeks now until I put a humidifier in the house. Ahh, back to hair goodness.

[beez1717]

I don't know if this is the right suggestion but would an acid rince get rid of protein? If it does then that's my suggestion.

[Hummy]

I also suggest clarifying plus moisture treatment. Also, I noticed that the dry heat from the radiators make my hair and skin very dry. I didn't buy a humidifier, but I placed a jar of water with a few drops of lavender essential oil on the radiator. It makes a difference.

[AspenSong]

Thanks guys. I did clarify a couple days before this happened, so I think I might try giving another oil for a while a try (figures, I just bought a huge new jar of Coconut oil...lol) and see what happens.
I have some grapeseed oil I bought as a carrier oil for the jasmine oil I use as a body scent, is grapeseed good or okay for hair? Haven't seen much on it really....

BTW - No protein in my CO wash conditioner. So who knows. I just know it freaked me out feeling my hair like that! It hasn't felt like that since I was dyeing it nearly three years ago. *eek*

[little_cherry]

Did you do a deep moisturising treatment after you clarified?

Also, you'll still get buildup even if you're using a cone free, protein-free conditioner. Oils and butter will gradually build up on the hair over time.

Grape seed oil is nice. Like everything, one person my love it and one person may hate it.

I'm interested to know which conditioner you're using..

[AspenSong]

I did do a deep moisture treatment after the clarifying, as usual.

Conditioner - I use V05 Strawberry Cream for my CO washing, and Natures Gate Organics (I think the new one I got yesterday was the Pear one...) and a Jasons Organics with Aloe for my other conditioning at the moment.

Other than this one time, my hair has been so much softer since getting rid of the shampoo and such.