How did you overmoisturize?

[Cassie 123]

I understand that hair can be overmoisturized, but I am having a bit of trouble imagining how this could happen. I do an SMT literally every time I wash, once a week - the SMT is the wash - and I'm not seeing any mushiness or odd stretchiness. My hair is coarse and (since a recent cut) virgin. Is it even possible to overmoisturize coarse, virgin hair?

So, for those who have done it - how did it happen? Exactly which products caused it, used how and how often? I'd like to know so that I don't inadvertently do it!

Full disclosure - I actually did experience mushy, stretchy hair once about 15 years ago, but my hair had been bleached to white, dyed repeatedly in rainbow colors, and stripped with Clairol Metalex. I don't think that counts though because at that point it could scarcely be considered hair anymore. :o

[lapushka]

IDK... trying to imagine hair that's been moisturized too much. I'm guessing too much moisture might equal: becoming too heavy with product. Hair that's really heavy, weighed down. I can't see a negative side to it, other than the weighed down part.

[Cassie 123]

IDK... trying to imagine hair that's been moisturized too much. I'm guessing too much moisture might equal: becoming too heavy with product. Hair that's really heavy, weighed down. I can't see a negative side to it, other than the weighed down part.

As I understand it, overmoisturized hair somehow becomes very weak, prone to stretching and breakage. Newbies with hair problems are often directed to articles which help them figure out whether their hair has had too much protein (brittle, breaking) vs. too much moisture (mushy, stretchy but weak). I did experience the latter, but not before maybe 75% of my cuticle had been stripped away!

[Anje]

My personal, uninformed suspicion is that it's really only possible for hair that's been depleted of protein by heat, rough handling, or chemicals. Certainly, some people report a loss of volume with lots of moisture, but I think that's more personal preference for fluffy rather than sleek hair.

[littlenvy]

I overmoisturize on occasion and its always due to product.
This is why I don't use Suave conditioners, they have the tendency to overmoisturize my hair.
In order to achive this undesired state :p you have to keep the hair wet with conditioner for at least 5 hours.
Once you rinse it off, the hair turns elastic. You have hard time brushing/cumbing it. It just streatches and snaps. It also clings together so you get much less volume than usual. But it sure is soft!!

BTW, I have very fine thin hair.

[coneyisland]

:o I was so affected from having touched some badly abused hair (of another person) that I baggied several times during the next two weeks. First I used up what I had remaining of a Loreal brand conditioner, and then I used Tresemme' Vitamin E Moisture Rich conditioner, and twice I used a mix of castor, olive, and coconut oils. I tire very easily and I must rest much of the time, so each of these times I slept with my hair baggied. When I had washed out the last heavy oiling, I followed with the Tresemme' conditioner for several minutes. I combed my hair very gently, and among the shed hairs were many more hair fragments. I tested one of those fragments and found it was very stretchy.

[Merkaba]

I have your hair type and I was able to overmoisurize using AO Honeysuckle Rose in 4 DT's over 2 weeks. The coconut oil base must have been too much even for my thick, porous hair.

Hair is soft but clumpy, doesnt brush well, stretches and snaps....basically what littleenvy said. Mine also looked lanky and flatter than normal and it was in fact "mushy".

[Celebrian]

I've never heard of over-moisturisation - and I moisturise heavily, frequently and see no mushiness, stretching or snapping. I know that too much protein can cause crunchy, snappible hair -so you should use these together for balance quite often.

Concerning over-moisturisation, would you be talking about cone or no cone conditioners?

I will watch out now for this problem, but haven't met it before.

[lapushka]

As I understand it, overmoisturized hair somehow becomes very weak, prone to stretching and breakage. Newbies with hair problems are often directed to articles which help them figure out whether their hair has had too much protein (brittle, breaking) vs. too much moisture (mushy, stretchy but weak). I did experience the latter, but not before maybe 75% of my cuticle had been stripped away!

Yep, now I remember the protein / moisture thing. Hair breaking off / being stretchy.

Can't say I experienced stretchy hair before, except many years ago, when it was bleached to death - exactly what you mentioned. I guess that's why bleached hair is thankful for protein.

[WaitingSoLong]

Ok, I thought stretchy was good? (elasticity?)

The only over-moisture I cn imagine is soaking wet in the shower. LOL.

eh hem.

[Panth]

Ok, I thought stretchy was good? (elasticity?)

Stretch a bit, then return to (or near to) original length when the tension is taken off - that is good.
Stretches like silly putty, just more and more and more until it snaps, plus never returns to its original length - that is the bad sort - overmoisturised.

IMO overmoisturising is probably mostly a problem with damaged hair, or maybe with fine hair. I don't think I've ever really experienced it ... but then the only thing I've really experienced with the whole protein/moisture thing is too little moisture, due to dry air, which just results in static and masses of split ends.

[CurlyMopTop]

I've done it without even knowing. I have 100% virgin hair that's had very little heat styling in the last 3 to 4 years. Since I've found LHC I use none. Before I found LHC, I was using cones and sulfates, blowdrying a few times in the winter.

One of the first things that I tried when I found this site was the SMT because my hair was soooo dry (after a clarifying wash of course). The results were sooo good that I started doing them once a week. I also came to the realization that cones built up on my hair very quickly, so I went cone and sulfate free. Then I added in a light oiling here and there. Then I tried CO washes. You get the idea right? Too much too fast.

Some time over the summer, my hair started acting up. It got super tangly, developed cotten candy looking frizz even when wet, shedding worse than normal when CO washing ect... At that time I didn't know that there was such a thing as overmoisturizing hair either. Once I learned about it, I realized that was the problem with my hair. I did 1 protein treatment using Ion's Reconstructor leaving it in for an hour, rinsed, and my hair was great again! The shedding stopped immediately, the tangles gone, cotten candy frizz gone! Yeah!!!!! The treatment didn't even dry my hair out, and I didn't follow it with a moisture treatment either. During this time, I learned that I have fine, low porosity, regular thickness, 3a/3b hair that demands I keep a balance of protein and moisture. I've also learned that my scalp doesn't like CO only washes, but my hair does, so I rotate how I do my washes now using diluted shampoo and I replace my rinse out conditioner with the reconstructor treatment at least once a week. I only smt now if I feel that my hair needs it and discovered that my hair doesn't like oil on its own. Products do not soak into my hair very well, they have a tendancy to sit on top. I'm still experimenting with different products and different techniques, but a little slower now and I'm much more careful about it. I'm still a newbie, what can I say? :D

The time frame from finding LHC (let the experiments begin) and the overmoisturization incident was somewhere between 2 and 3 months. ;D Sorry for all of the rambling, but if it helps someone else, I guess that it's probably worth it.

[Kristin]

I always thought that it wasn't that the hair was OVER-moisturized, but that it was protein-deficient; the problem isn't that you have too much moisture, it's that you need protein. Maybe I was confused...

[CurlyMopTop]

Sorry, I missed the products part. For my smt, I was using GV conditioning balm. For the CO washes it was VO5 of some type for the wash, then various thicker conditioners for the condition. The oils that I played with at the time were coconut, Jojoba, olive, and almond (not all at once though). :)

[CurlyMopTop]

You could be right Kristin, because I have to say my hair seems to love both. Just so you guys know, I eat a healthy diet full of fruits vegies grains and protein, I take a multivitiman daily along with biotin and msm. I also don't get stressed easily and have to admit, I don't get much exercise. :)

[Audrey Horne]

So I guess I'm the minority here.
No, too much moisture is NOT good, it feels and looks weird. At least half of my length isn't damaged at all, it isn't an issue. I believe it is a question of texture and porosity. When I came to LHC I thought my hair lacked moisture because you hear a lot about the importance of it. Well, I overmoisturized because I found out that my hair doesn't really lack it (only my damaged parts do). Doesn't mean that I don't do SMTs and the like BUT I have to attack it with proteins from time to time. Once I'm not careful enough it takes forever to get to my normal usual hair condition.
It goes limp so what can be good about it? there is no volume next to the roots.

[einna]

I got overmoisturized hair once. I did not get the mushy feeling, but it felt limp and when I did a strand test in the shower, it stretched very much and snapped. I always do strand tests in the shower now, hehe.
I have pretty healthy, almost all virgin, fine/medium hair that is naturally dry and porous. My hair needs a lot of moisture, it takes it easily, but also looses it fast. It also needs protein.
I overmoisturized during my second SMT (cone free) with a little oil thrown in too. I kept it in for about 2 hours. Now I usually just keep it in for 15-30 min, and do regular protein treatments, sometimes with the protein in the SMT.

[gthlvrmx]

I did, i use my suave conditioner as a leave in so my hair is pretty conditioned. But i dont worry about over moisturizing until maybe.......a full year later, because i only wash my hair once a week or more, it doesn't receive more moisture than it can take.
But then i decided to use olive oil and BAM. The first time was fine. Nice and soft. After that, no. I had this mushy hair, super soft, and it felt weak. I can't explain it well, it didn't dry fast enough and it had so many kinks that grabbed onto my other hair and tangled. Not good at all.

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

I feel like i could have possibly over conditioned my hair, for my length is very oily. Its either that or my hair really doesnt like cones! :-(

[YepLilly]

My personal, uninformed suspicion is that it's really only possible for hair that's been depleted of protein by heat, rough handling, or chemicals.

This is how I understand it too.

That said, sometimes hair is lacking both, protein and moisture. I'm not sure what exactly causes that.

[Mairéad]

I could never imagine being able to over moisturize my hair. Even at chin length it takes ages to become oily. I oil and condition every day where as I wash once a week, usually due to coconut oil anyway. This is just how my scalp is. It's not like I'm subjecting my hair to abuse. It's just dry. :o

Thought, the way I care for it keeps it pretty awesome looking/feeling.

[Cassie 123]

Thanks for all your replies - it certainly sounds like it is possible to do. I will definitely avoid leaving SMT's on for multiple hours at a time.

As a clarification - overmoisturized hair is usually a separate issue from over-oiling, which is unsightly but not damaging. I have heard of people having special problems from overdoing olive oil specifically as gthlvrmx mentioned, however.

[Lady Neeva]

My hair always stays the same: slightly dull.
Celebrian, are you a Padme Amidala Fan? (This sounds unconvential, but I'm a Palpatine fan!)

[yukinohana]

I have fairly fine hair, but I have trouble with coneless conditioners because they give me too much moisture. Basically, any extra moisturization is too much! And unless I'm using coneless conditioners, I don't need protein, so it's not that my hair lacks protein, either.

As for how it feels...Well, it feels gross, mushy, and stretchy, and it loses all its curl.

[Yozhik]

I don't think my hair gets mushy, but if I overmoisturize my hair, it takes f o r e v e r to dry and doesn't really like to be combed at all. If that happens, then I just wash my hair again and use more cleansing agents on the length, and that usually resets it. :)

[LadyCelestina]

I have a feeling I once overmoisturized AND overprotein(ized?) at once :-D
It happened to me when my hair was virgin and a lot shorter (around APL when wet).It was very shiny,fluffy,it didn't tangle at all,just felt kinda like wet wool and held no shape whatsoever.

So I added protein.Big mistake.Hair was all dry,poof and tangle.

I had to use coney conditioner for a week to make my hair turn back to normal.

[Audrey Horne]

I don't think my hair gets mushy, but if I overmoisturize my hair, it takes f o r e v e r to dry and doesn't really like to be combed at all.

yes, this!

[teal]

Huh, this is an interesting thread. I did an SMT once and ended up with what, to me, felt like too much moisture. Especially on the ends, which have some heat damage (no chemical damage, though). I had left the SMT on for several hours. I never tried it again because I didn't like how my hair responded, but since some of you are reporting success with a short soak time I might try it again.

[gthlvrmx]

Thanks for all your replies - it certainly sounds like it is possible to do. I will definitely avoid leaving SMT's on for multiple hours at a time.

As a clarification - overmoisturized hair is usually a separate issue from over-oiling, which is unsightly but not damaging. I have heard of people having special problems from overdoing olive oil specifically as gthlvrmx mentioned, however.
So wait, over oiling cannot cause overmoisturized hair? Maybe the oil just made my hair too bendy, i would find hook ends on my hair everywhere. I assumed that was because of too much moisture. My hair did stretch out more than usual and didn't stop until i used the Mane n Tail original conditioner that has lots of protein.

[Cassie 123]

So wait, over oiling cannot cause overmoisturized hair? Maybe the oil just made my hair too bendy, i would find hook ends on my hair everywhere. I assumed that was because of too much moisture. My hair did stretch out more than usual and didn't stop until i used the Mane n Tail original conditioner that has lots of protein.

I wish I knew. :shrug: Moisture means water and oil is oil, but that doesn't mean that both can't be overdone at the same time. I just know that olive oil has a reputation for great tenacity when applied excessively.

[gthlvrmx]

I wish I knew. :shrug: Moisture means water and oil is oil, but that doesn't mean that both can't be overdone at the same time. I just know that olive oil has a reputation for great tenacity when applied excessively.
Thank you though for all that :)

[littlenvy]

So wait, over oiling cannot cause overmoisturized hair? Maybe the oil just made my hair too bendy, i would find hook ends on my hair everywhere. I assumed that was because of too much moisture. My hair did stretch out more than usual and didn't stop until i used the Mane n Tail original conditioner that has lots of protein. Some oils are humectants, like olive oil, which draw moisture from air into the hair. So if you oiled your hair on a humid day its quite possible that the oil drew a lot of that moisture into your hair.

[einna]

Some oils are humectants, like olive oil, which draw moisture from air into the hair. So if you oiled your hair on a humid day its quite possible that the oil drew a lot of that moisture into your hair.

And also, if I understand it right: If you oiled wet hair, the oil would seal water inside the hair. This might have been to much moisture for your hair.

[littlenvy]

Right einna! :)

[gthlvrmx]

And also, if I understand it right: If you oiled wet hair, the oil would seal water inside the hair. This might have been to much moisture for your hair.
So if i oiled my wet hair two washes in a row, i must have gotten too much moisture in my hair, yes, makes sense. :) Thanks!

[ssjhotau2]

My hair has become over moisturized every time I have used olive oil on its own or in conditioner.
However when I've mixed it with avocado, egg, or protein conditioner my hair comes out super soft and shiny.

[getoffmyskittle]

I wasn't even able to overmoisturize my hair until after I had been on LHC for a couple years. I had to let the dryness and damage grow out.

Anyway, now I can do it by COing with rich, heavy conditioner on top of oiling regularly. It doesn't get mushy, just very limp, shiny, and gets greasy quickly. ("Limp" is weird for my hair because it's usually big and fluffy. :))

[mora]

I'm still not entirely sure what being overmoisturized means but I have on separate occasions either felt that my hair was mushy or very limp and shiny. This was earlier this year when I got overly excited to try things I'd read about here (not all at once). I think the very limp and shiny was during catnip treatments. The mushy may have been while trying shampoo bars or maybe just a different stage in the catnip trials. I have never done a SMT or deep conditioning for more than an hour, though, since having conditioner near my scalp makes it itch so that couldn't have been the cause.

[Lianna]

CO-washing twice a day, and too many oilings (not oil overload). Too much pamper I'd say. :p Nothing that a little more shampooing didn't fix.

[Enigma]

The stringiness being described here that some of you associate with over-moisturization has only occured for me after excessive damage from multiple bleachings, which resulted in that hair snapping.

My hair is 1a & fine. Even though I oil (castor/avocado/coconut) and condition (cone conditioner) every day, it doesn't take on the characteristics of that stringy, damaged hair I had from bleaching.

Perhaps over-moisturization has to do with humidity? I live in a rather dry climate, I don't forsee my hair ever having "too much" moisture.