As a follow up to my 7 day moisturizing & sealing challenge, I want to let you into the part of the story I didn't share in that post. I sang the praises of how daily moisturizing preserved my hair during the pre-poo manipulation process. I was so happy with the results, I thought nothing could go wrong. After pre-pooing, I jumped into the shower to wash and prepare for the deep conditioning. Once complete, I stepped out of the shower, allowed my hair to partially dry and began to apply the conditioner section by section.
Here's where things seemed to go wrong. With every application of product, I would look at my hand and find broken pieces of hair. Some short, some longer. How in the heck did that happen? Just minutes prior I was patting myself in the back for a wonderful experiment which seemed to create the most amazing outcome. Now, suddenly, I was brought back full circle.
The first thing I did was analyze why this was happening. Why was my hair responding poorly to a simple thing like applying product. The only answer the came to me was the possibility that my, already moisturized hair became over saturated with moisture after the wash. All the conditioning/protective product was washed out when I shampooed, leaving swollen strands of hair. Then, as I applied thick conditioners, my fragile damp hair succumbed to the pressure. I'm not sure if my theory holds true but I'm willing to practice rule #2 in setback avoidance and act fast! After I rinsed the conditioner from my hair, that breakage I was experiencing seemed to go away. It was like the product protected my hair during the wet manipulation.
The very next wash day, I'm going to conduct a dry pre-poo/deep condition. Meaning I will apply product to my dry hair, then steam and use my conditioning iron. Then, I'll step into the shower, rinse, and use cleansing conditioner. For my scalp, I will apply some essential oil during the pre-poo step when I have the most access to my scalp. If this works out, every 2nd or 3rd wash I will clarify to keep product build up at bay. Actually, dry deep conditioning was something I did previously but somehow, I gravitated towards the more traditional approach. But after last week's experience, I think I'm ready to go back to the non-traditional route. Keep you updated!
Labels:
Deep Conditioning,
moisture
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Thanks so much for posting this! I used to be a dry deep conditioning fanatic but fell off as of late. My hair is definitely susceptible to overmoisturizing, and I didn't even consider that changing the position of my DC back might address the issue.
ReplyDeleteI will try out your theory next weekend :)
I have always dry deep conditioned simply because I don't like to get in and out of the shower and my hair gets a tangled mess hanging it upside down in the sink. It has always worked out for me. Anything else is just too much manipulation and too much work. Happy growing!
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you try a protein treatment?
ReplyDeleteGreat question Anon, I actually added protein to my conditioner and still experienced breakage. I think it was related to the overalls swollen strand. This weekend I repeated the same experience but dry deep conditioned and saw the breakage reduce dramatically.
ReplyDeleteSince starting my HHJ I have done DC'g on wet hair "maybe" three times. Each time, as you, I have noticed more shedding. I didn't know that could be one of the reasons. I DC either overnight with a plastic cap or as my prepoo step during the day. I love the way my hair feels afterwards and it has helped me retain the length I've gained. Thanks for this article!
ReplyDeleteIm new to the HHJ & a bit confused on deep conditioning..i thought i dc after every shampoo.How would i dc on dry hair if i hv to shampoo first? How many times do i dc wkly? Do i hv to shampoo first when i dc or cn i jus dc, moisturize& seal?
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