After work I decided to do my normal routine of co-washing and DC'ing. I decided to use an old favorite of mine for a DC...biggest mistake! Up to this point I had been solely working on a trial-and-error basis, trying new products and making a determination as to whether my hair actually responded in a positive basis only after already applying the product...another mistake! I co-washed my hair w/ HairOne Olive Oil cleanser (which my hair actually LOVES! this product provides soooooo much slip when detangling in the shower) and DC'd w/ a mixture of ingredients.
DC Mixture:
- Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner
- 1 tsp of vegetable glycerin
- 1 tsp of castor oil,
- 1 tsp of pure honey
- a shot of V05 Moisture Milk
After co-washing and applying my DC mixture in sections (I use four sections and apply the DC from root to tip, twisting each section w/ ends clipped and pointing towards the top of my head) I sat under a table hair dryer for 20 minutes, alternating between high-low heat. I chose to alternate between heat settings after noticing that my dryer had significant areas of concentrated "hot" spots and I feared that I would create a new problem--heat damage--if ignored.
I chose the ORS Conditioner because I had used this product plenty of time...but there were a few things I failed to consider or even take the time to acknowledge: 1.) I had never used this product w/ heat and 2.) I wasn't fully aware of where this product stood on the moisturize-protein spectrum. I had never had problems using this product before but all of my uses involved DC'ing without any heat sources.
After co-washing my hair felt wonderful! I thought I was on the right path and things could only get better w/ the addition of DC'ing. My two months post relaxer hair felt great even after I applied the DC mixture...until I washed it out. While rinsing I immediately noticed that my hair was unmanageable, hard, and tangled. I couldn't comb thru my hair even under water w/ my shower comb. I was literally freaking out! That's when I recognized that I might have overloaded my hair w/ protein but this was still only a theory since I hadn't even read the ingredients on the back of the ORS Conditioner bottle. I tried to counteract whatever was happening to my hair by co-washing again w/ my HairOne Olive Oil Cleanser. This had minimum effect.
After reading the ingredients I realized that ORS Conditioner contains protein and is more on the protein side of the moisture-protein spectrum. I immediately started reading reviews and hair blogs (thanks Hairlista and K.I.S.S. for all the help!) and realized that protein overloads, depending on the severity, cannot be corrected immediately. Realizing that there was nothing I could do at the present moment to reverse the damage I had already done I went on w/ my normal routine...applied my Neutrogena Leave-In, S-Curl Moisturizer, sealed w/ coconut oil and applied JBCO to scalp in sections and finished w/ a damp bun.
The next day I noticed a few short strands of breakage which were very easily distinguished from the normal strands of shedded hair I normally see. This only exasperated my fears. Touching my dry hair I could tell my hair did not like all that protein...it felt a little hard, definitely did not feel soft to the touch and I had a ton of spots that were frizzy.
This mistake forced me to take ALL my hair products and build a product ingredient dictionary so that I can access exactly what side of the moisture-protein spectrum my products REALLY were on and to build a database to categorize my products so I'll know right away which product to use for which purpose. I'm still working on this product and will post as soon as it is finished. More importantly though, this brought up a whole new issue...even w/ the many, many products I have, I didn't have a true moisturizing shampoo or conditioner. No wonder my hair seems to not be making much progress compared to the beginning of my journey.
Lessons learned! :)
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