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View Full Version : Hair routine and protein treatments?



lauren_n
July 30th, 2012, 06:40 AM
Hey :) I apologise if this has been asked loads of times, but I think my hair might be a little bit over moisturised and I'm confused about protein treatments.
I have fine, thin, wavy hair and currently my routine is:
Saturate with a mixture of olive oil, coconut oil and conditioner (cone free)
Wash out after at least a few hours with a very light shampooing (scalp only, no sulfates, parabens etc.)
Thoroughly condition with the same cone free conditioner
I do this once a week and it's been working really well on my very damaged hair, but my hair is a little bit stretchy coming out of the shower. However, I washed it yesterday and at the moment it's feeling a bit dull and crappy and it doesn't have any shine. I almost certainly need to clarify it, and I've been lazy with the ACV rinses that I used to do every time I washed. Do you think if I did the rinses each week, I'd still need to clarify occasionally? I'm sort of reluctant to use sulfates or anything with such damaged hair, because they don't work well for me. And should I try a protein treatment? Where is it best to fit this into my routine? Like, do I do it before a wash and skip the oil treatment but deep condition afterwards? How often is the norm? I don't really want to go to the effort of a protein treatment if it's going to do more harm than good so I'm not sure it's even worth trying or if I should just relax a little bit and not get so intent on doing everything perfectly haha. After all, I do want to enjoy my hair and not overthink it
Anyway, thanks for reading that ramble and sorry for the plethora of questions, any advice is much appreciated :)

Anje
July 30th, 2012, 08:45 AM
ACV rinses don't fully replace clarifying. If you're using a product that ACV won't take off, it'll still build up. If you don't want to use sulfates to clarify (though they're not evil unless you're allergic to them), you can fully dissolve a small amount of baking soda (bicarbonate) in water and use that to wash your hair. Don't expect it to foam like shampoo, because it doesn't. Follow with an ACV rinse and condition. However, many people feel baking soda is harsher than sulfates, so chose carefully.

Protein treatments -- don't overthink it too much. If your hair feels overly stretchy, give it a try. Deep condition afterward, definitely. Or just get a conditioner that contains a bit more protein and use that in your normal routine. Personally, I'd skip the oil and use it instead before conditioning, but I'm not a huge fan of oiling before a wash anyway, for my hair.

lauren_n
July 30th, 2012, 08:54 AM
Thanks! I know sulfates aren't evil haha, I just lately have been a bit weird about using and consuming things with heaps of chemicals (I don't know why, actually, it's pretty unlike me to worry about that sort of stuff) but in this case I'll definitely clarify with the sulfate shampoo that I have.
Thank you for your help :)

Amber_Maiden
July 30th, 2012, 09:21 AM
Don't over think it. I suggest looking over the LHC articles about protein, clarifying, etc.