Is over-moisturized hair healthy or not?

[pelicano]

My hair is fine and dry, but very prone to over-moisturization. This took me years to discover, but when that happens, my hair feels incredibly soft (and actually silky when wet), but flyaway and dry looking.

Basically it looks awful, but I just wondered if over-moisturization is good for the hair's condition or bad? :confused:

[julliams]

I contacted Kevin Murphy once and asked a question about this. Here was his response:
"I did a little more research and found that over moistursing thick hair made it frizzy, and the big issue was stiffness and brittleness so I wanted to make a formula that gave the hair more softness and flexability."

I found this interesting myself. The product he is talking about his new Luxury Wash and Luxury Rinse. It's the first time I considered that my hair could be over-moisturised instead of dry like I had thought.

EDIT - just realised you said your hair is fine. Sorry - this product wont work for you as it is designed for thick coarse hair. Sorry I shouldn't have been so quick to post!

[Messyhair]

Hmm.. based on the previous post, if over-moisturization does make the hair more brittle, then it could be a bad thing. I always find my hair is just extra greasy when over-moisturized... or is that different?

[Tiina]

What do you overmoisturize with? Are you sure it isn't just a sign to clarify or a sign that your hair doesn't like what you are using (protein maybe)?

[smileycat]

My hair is fine and if over-moisturized (SMT, ugh, and I tried it TWICE), it likes to snap. I fixed it by clarifying and using a protein conditioner. My fine hair does like the occasional protein.

[Yosha]

I'm not sure what you are saying, are you experiencing your hair stretches a lot and is not dry, only looks dry?
When my hair is overmoisturized it stretches way more than usual and seems to miss strength and I just oil it a little less and use something with proteins in it to compensate. The difficulty is not all my hair is overmoisturized at the same time, it's usually just the middle length. When combing it will stretch too much, which is not good for the hair, so yes it can be damaging. A lot of my hair snapped when I was still using a boar bristle brush that was too much of a pull to my hair when it was overmoisturized.

[Cheeks1206]

No, I can't imagine that over moisturizing is a good thing. As PPs have stated, it can cause stiffness which can lead to breaking ot tangling. Conversely, it can cause a mushy feeling for some people. Of course, I've never done research or extensive reading in this area so I'm certainly not a wealth of knowledge on this subject. That and the fact that I've never managed to over condition my hair. My curls looove moisture.

[Intransigentia]

I've had the same experience as Yosha above. Over-moisturized hair is stretchy and very easy to damage. I'm thinking not a big deal if its just during a deep treatment you'll wash out, but if it's going to be like that long term, it's not going to take well to combing or brushing or handling at all.

[cataphract]

I didn't even know you could over moisturize! How do you tell if it's over moisturized, besides snapping... Is it only stretchy when wet, or does it get stretchy all the time?

[Intransigentia]

For me, when it's dry, it's as stretchy as it would be wet, and wet, it's like a bunch of fragile elastics just waiting to get sproinged.

[pelicano]

Thanks for all the replies - makes sense. :) Yes, I think it's stretchier than usual, so I don't want to damage it. The worst part about over-moisturized hair for me is how horrible it looks! I also find if I use protein I get the same over-moisturization. Plus the movie star method gave me the same results.

I think I'm better off with a mild shampoo and a not-too-rich conditioner.

[Yosha]

Ok, I would recommend to use a product with a bit more protein in it, or use less oil (try both out, but not at the same time) but unfortunately that doesn't work for you either:( I'm not familiar with the movie star method, maybe it's a good idea to mention it in that thread too (if you haven't already) to see if it's related and if you can continue using this method and adapt it a little?
Yup, when my hair is overmoisturized it is very stretchy when dry and I have to take action (or leave some action out lol) so it doesn't get mushy when wet.

[Dark Queen]

Oh my! I also didn't know it was possible to over-moisturize. You learn something new every day :). I wonder if that's what's going on with mine at the moment. I usually have to worry about dryness since it's not terribly humid where I live, but if I accidentally put too much oil, I notice it's just kind of sticky for lack of a better term. Though the last time we had that heavy rain around the holidays, I noticed my hair seemed really nice. Now I'm confused, lol! :o

[Cleopatra18]

over moisturised hair is mushy,and while extremly soft it's extremly brittle and that's defently not good.

[Cirafly24]

When I over-moisturize, my hair goes flat and limp, and it feels a LOT thinner than normal. I also notice I have tons of flyaways when I over-moisturize, too. When it's wet it feels mushy, stretchy, and very hard to detangle safely.

[cataphract]

When I over-moisturize, my hair goes flat and limp, and it feels a LOT thinner than normal. I also notice I have tons of flyaways when I over-moisturize, too. When it's wet it feels mushy, stretchy, and very hard to detangle safely.

Weird - that's what it feels like when I use conventional conditioner. I guess that would explain some things...

[Dark Queen]

Hmm, I haven't experienced any of that, so I guess that rules it out. I CWC'd two days ago with some oil after and right now it feels great, so I'll stick with that. I haven't been doing the CWC method very long, so maybe it was just regular dryness due to Southern Cali air.

[HairColoredHair]

Over Moisturizing makes my hair mushy...

Over Protein-ing-ing... :ponder: makes it brittle, dry looking, and flyaway...

[jojo]

I over moisturised a while back and my hair went mushy feeling. I use a protein treatment, if you have a TJ Huges near you and I can't remember the brand name but they do different flavours coconut, peaches and cream, strawberry yoghurt any of these will help with over moisturised hair or even a mayo or plain conditioner.

Its about finding a happy balance, id try a protein treatment just a light one and see how your hair reacts. It maybe that your hair is beginning to prefer protein to moisture but remember not to overdo protein as it can cause hair to go dry, brittle and prone to splits and breakage!

[born_confused90]

hey!
I think i know exactly what you mean... My hair has felt that way - supersoft way beyond the standard silky and i loved it!- even though it looked like i'd just gotten up from bed throughout the day. I think that as long as you're sure its not due to product build up, which can be bad for the scalp and makes products you put on your hair less effective, then it's fine! My hair didn't feel weak or unhealthy at all when it was that soft :)

[jojo]

I didn't even know you could over moisturize! How do you tell if it's over moisturized, besides snapping... Is it only stretchy when wet, or does it get stretchy all the time?

it feels "mushy" when wet, stretches a lot when wet, you hear that horrible snapping sound when combing when wet. If its too much protein theres not much stretch and it feels dry and crunchy.
Normal hair has some give but will go back to its original state when stretched wet.

It also makes your hair over delicate, so more prone to damage

[jaine]

How can hair be "too soft"? I thought soft has was a good thing.
I put a lot of effort into making my hair feel soft and usually I am successful, unless there's not enough humidity in the air.

[jojo]

Theres a difference between soft and too soft. Over moisturised hair gets very fragile, very quickly and damaged. The hair gets mushy, gummy and less manageable. Its about finding a balance, if your hair when wet (a strand) when pulled seems more stretchy and can double its length but not spring back to its original state; its over moisturised and needs more protein. If it snaps as soon as you pull it, it needs more protein.

Hope that helps.

[littlenvy]

Theres a difference between soft and too soft. Over moisturised hair gets very fragile, very quickly and damaged. The hair gets mushy, gummy and less manageable. Its about finding a balance, if your hair when wet (a strand) when pulled seems more stretchy and can double its length but not spring back to its original state; its over moisturised and needs more protein. If it snaps as soon as you pull it, it needs more protein.

Hope that helps.
THAT! :)

I'm totally with jojo on this.

[ericthegreat]

Theres a difference between soft and too soft. Over moisturised hair gets very fragile, very quickly and damaged. The hair gets mushy, gummy and less manageable. Its about finding a balance, if your hair when wet (a strand) when pulled seems more stretchy and can double its length but not spring back to its original state; its over moisturised and needs more protein. If it snaps as soon as you pull it, it needs more protein.

Hope that helps.

I agree totally. Too often, you see hear about the opposite problem and people left and right will talk about how dry their ends are, so this can lead to the misconception that you can't possibly moisturize your hair enough.

Hair like everything else needs a proper balance. As jojo already mentioned hair that is too soft is actually in a more vulnerable state. Its actually weaker and is prone to breakage because the hair will stretch too much and it also isn't able to spring back to its original state. If you ever find that your hair is overmoisturize, first I would do a good thorough shampooing to remove all the previous extra coatings of conditioner, then apply a protein treatment to help your hair regain some hardness and grip to it.
And then also you can switch to a lighter, less rich conditioner and use that in the mean time while you get your hair back to a more optimal state.

[Fufu]

Stirking a balance can be really challenging.

For me, if i feel my hair is greasy, I most likely over moisturize my hair. But i always know that I will never over moisturize my hair ends.

[Lilli]

Maybe it depends on how porous or damaged one's hair is. Mine is pretty healthy, and if I use a ton of conditioner every day, the worst that will happen is that it looks greasy, but it never gets springy or mushy. Maybe if one's hair has a lot of heat or chemical damage, it allows a lot of moisture to get in and makes it weaker.

[Mesmerise]

Hmm is that springy mushy like when you over bleach your hair?? Cause the only time I remember having hair that sort of did that was when friend was bleaching it for me! It got stretchy and odd and broke when stretched too much... sort of errm gelly feeling...

I don't think it's ever happened when I've moisturised though... the thing with mine is it looks too frizzy even though I moisturise it well and condition it deeply... so maybe it's something different with different hair? I'd like to get my nice silky hair back... and I thought extra moisturisation would do it... but maybe not!

[jojo]

Maybe it depends on how porous or damaged one's hair is. Mine is pretty healthy, and if I use a ton of conditioner every day, the worst that will happen is that it looks greasy, but it never gets springy or mushy. Maybe if one's hair has a lot of heat or chemical damage, it allows a lot of moisture to get in and makes it weaker.

My hair was all vigin when this happened to me and was very healthy and still is come to that!. I was under the impression that it wasnt a problem to over moisturise, I found out the hard way, luckily I got my hair back to a healthy state.

Your hair is also still fairy short, so should be very healthy it has not had as many moisturising treatments as say somebody whos ends are a lot older. Its like split ends, you shouldnt really see any until your hair is getting long say past apl. My ends are like 5 years old and others with very long hair could be 10 years plus, which makes a lot of difference!

If you also think of your hair as a piece of elastic, if the elastic is new (compared to a healthy strand of hair) it can be stretched and will always go back to its original state, however pull that elastic past it boundaries, too many times (over moisturise your hair, time and time again) the fibres within that piece of elastic will break and unravel causing the elastic to be damaged, it will stretch but will not go back to its original state because its been push passed its capabilities. With hair over-moisturise and it will do the same, the fibres within the hair, get too soft that they are unable to stretch back, with a full head of hair damage is more likely to occur because the strands are too soft and the fibres likely to break. This is why you need protein, protein is the main make up of the hair, by doing a protein treatment you are helping fix the broken strands. Even the healthiest of hair can become over-moisturised; trust me ive been there. Porous hair is normally under moisturised as it is more likely to snap, if offered moisture porous hair is more likely to drink it in.

[BunnyBee]

My hair was all vigin when this happened to me and was very healthy and still is come to that!. I was under the impression that it wasnt a problem to over moisturise, I found out the hard way, luckily I got my hair back to a healthy state.

Your hair is also still fairy short, so should be very healthy it has not had as many moisturising treatments as say somebody whos ends are a lot older. Its like split ends, you shouldnt really see any until your hair is getting long say past apl. My ends are like 5 years old and others with very long hair could be 10 years plus, which makes a lot of difference!

If you also think of your hair as a piece of elastic, if the elastic is new (compared to a healthy strand of hair) it can be stretched and will always go back to its original state, however pull that elastic past it boundaries, too many times (over moisturise your hair, time and time again) the fibres within that piece of elastic will break and unravel causing the elastic to be damaged, it will stretch but will not go back to its original state because its been push passed its capabilities. With hair over-moisturise and it will do the same, the fibres within the hair, get too soft that they are unable to stretch back, with a full head of hair damage is more likely to occur because the strands are too soft and the fibres likely to break. This is why you need protein, protein is the main make up of the hair, by doing a protein treatment you are helping fix the broken strands. Even the healthiest of hair can become over-moisturised; trust me ive been there. Porous hair is normally under moisturised as it is more likely to snap, if offered moisture porous hair is more likely to drink it in.

*small thread hijack*

What protein treatment would you recommend? Something I can get in Boots preferably :)

[praia98]

hmm.... when my hair gets that weird gummy feeling I've given it a good washing and then conditioned. I think my hair is porous, so that means it won't be as easily over-moisturized? I think my hair has flip-flopped between the too-stretchy to the snap-easily phases.

[christine1989]

My hair wouldn't be over moisturized if I dipped it in a vat of oil- it can soak up massive amounts of oil and moisturizing products and still want more. If I put too much oil on it though it loses quite a bit of its elasticity...that can't be good.

[jaine]

Theres a difference between soft and too soft. Over moisturised hair gets very fragile, very quickly and damaged. The hair gets mushy, gummy and less manageable. Its about finding a balance, if your hair when wet (a strand) when pulled seems more stretchy and can double its length but not spring back to its original state; its over moisturised and needs more protein. If it snaps as soon as you pull it, it needs more protein.

Hope that helps.

Hmm, I suppose my hair just hasn't ever been over-moisturized ... the description makes sense but it doesn't sound like anything I have ever felt in my own hair. After blonde highlights my hair felt very strange in the shower but I doubt that was from over-moisturizing... it was probably just damaged. Other than the highlights, my hair has always felt the same, soft ... except when the air is dry and then my hair feels ... dry. I wonder if some hair can't be overmoisturized ...

[milagro]

Hmm, I suppose my hair just hasn't ever been over-moisturized ... the description makes sense but it doesn't sound like anything I have ever felt in my own hair.
Me as well. Though I've recently found my hair despises aloe vera, and it is considered as moisturizer. It wasn't gummy but brittle and definitely less manageable.

[BunnyBee]

My hair wouldn't be over moisturized if I dipped it in a vat of oil- it can soak up massive amounts of oil and moisturizing products and still want more. If I put too much oil on it though it loses quite a bit of its elasticity...that can't be good.

Are we talking about over-moisturization or over-conditioning? As I understood it, oil cannot moisturize because it doesn't contain water.. Oil acts as a conditioner to sit on the outside of the hair, protect and give it slip.

Only water based products (or water itself) can moisturize i.e: get inside the hair to the cortex.

This stuff is confusing but I'm damned sure there's a difference between moisturizing and conditioning.

Someone correct/agree with me please lol

[Nymph]

Oooh, so that might be what is so wrong with it! I had a hair mask sit for several hours this morning, and now it's dry and it really feels kind of funny. It's like silk in my hands but it looks like it's super dry and needs a cut badly - and instead of being shiny it looks actually pretty dull. Individual strands seem to have this miniscule wave in it, as if it was relaxed hair but then less pronounced. Which kind of makes it stick together.

I'll try to use something with proteins next washing/treatment and I'll report here if it helps.

[Lilli]

My hair was all vigin when this happened to me and was very healthy and still is come to that!. I was under the impression that it wasnt a problem to over moisturise, I found out the hard way, luckily I got my hair back to a healthy state.

Your hair is also still fairy short, so should be very healthy it has not had as many moisturising treatments as say somebody whos ends are a lot older. Its like split ends, you shouldnt really see any until your hair is getting long say past apl. My ends are like 5 years old and others with very long hair could be 10 years plus, which makes a lot of difference!

If you also think of your hair as a piece of elastic, if the elastic is new (compared to a healthy strand of hair) it can be stretched and will always go back to its original state, however pull that elastic past it boundaries, too many times (over moisturise your hair, time and time again) the fibres within that piece of elastic will break and unravel causing the elastic to be damaged, it will stretch but will not go back to its original state because its been push passed its capabilities. With hair over-moisturise and it will do the same, the fibres within the hair, get too soft that they are unable to stretch back, with a full head of hair damage is more likely to occur because the strands are too soft and the fibres likely to break. This is why you need protein, protein is the main make up of the hair, by doing a protein treatment you are helping fix the broken strands. Even the healthiest of hair can become over-moisturised; trust me ive been there. Porous hair is normally under moisturised as it is more likely to snap, if offered moisture porous hair is more likely to drink it in.

I think I am coming to realize that I have very nice hair, b/c when it was long (BSL+) 10 years ago, I had no treatment regimen, always wore it down, and had no split ends. Benign neglect.

[gthlvrmx]

Theres a difference between soft and too soft. Over moisturised hair gets very fragile, very quickly and damaged. The hair gets mushy, gummy and less manageable. Its about finding a balance, if your hair when wet (a strand) when pulled seems more stretchy and can double its length but not spring back to its original state; its over moisturised and needs more protein. If it snaps as soon as you pull it, it needs more protein.

Hope that helps.
I think she meant if it snaps when you pull it, it needs more moisture, right? I barely noticed this. I was confused :confused: