Dry new growth, moisturized length

[Jobwright]

I am transitioning, in my 5th month and I truly want to continue but my new growth is desert dry. I have about 6-8 inches of very moist relaxed length but my 3-5 inches of new growth is soooooo dry. What can I use to get my natural hair to be moist and comb-able? At this point I am willing to over moisturize my relaxed ends so I can keep and not break off my dry roots. I really want to continue this transition and not big chop. So for the relaxed heads that stretch for a long time, what do you use? For the transitioners, how do you deal? For the naturals, how do you keep your hair moist and not a compacted dry non combable Afro? BTW, I think I am 4a-b... still trying to figure that one out too. Also, if you can, would you post a pic (but don't let that stop you from posting a response) so I can see if you are working with what I am working with. Thanks a huge bunch in advance ladies (and gents)!

 

[ScorpioLove]

personally I use aloe/ water mix in a small tip sprayer(like those travel bottles) and spray my ng specifically then use moisturizer along the length and oil my whole hair
I have stretched 6 months several times and it helps my ng soft without my relaxed hair being too wet
hth

 

[koolkittychick]

Hi, I am a long-term stretcher (3-4 months at a time) with fine 4a/b hair and what I found helps to soften my new growth so I can manage it is this leave-in: Africa's Best Organics Olive Oil Moisturizing Growth Lotion, followed by sealing with Shea Moisture's Raw Shea Butter reconstructive elixir. Combined with gentle styling techniques, like sectioning my hair into one or two inch sections to apply my moisturizer and sealer on damp not wet hair and using my fingers to detangle large knots first, then using my detangling comb to gently comb through the section starting at the ends and working your way up to the roots, these products have helped me manage my new growth for months at a time, and could help you to transition better. Good luck on your transition, and keep up posted.

 

[Jobwright]

Thank you ScorpioLove I have been afraid to use AVG thinking it may dry my fine roots even more but I will take the plunge. I'll go by Whole Foods in just a minute and pick some up. Hope it works! What do you use as a moisturizer in your length?

 

[Jobwright]

Thanks koolkittychick Great suggestions!

 

[Guinan]

I'm a long stretcher (every 6mths to once a year). I use Scurl and Haiwaiian Silky as a mositurer and seal with avocado oil. When that doesnt work on my new growth, I baggie my whole head for an hour or two. For me, the hair in the middle always gets dry first. I will also up my cowashes. Instead of once a week, I might do 2x's a week.

 

[Jobwright]

pelohello. Thanks! I have been baggying overnight for the last week. My hair is wet in the morning so I have been cowashing with Tresemme Naturals condish in cornrows every morning and sealing with grapeseed oil. It feels good when wet but when it drys...desert. I will continue to baggy though. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[tiffers]

I'm a type 4 natural with incredibly dry hair, but lately it's been retaining moisture better than ever before due to two things:

1) Spraying my hair with rooibos tea before applying my deep conditioner, and
2) Doing hot oil treatments with butters instead of oils.

Of course you can use any moisturizing tea of your choice, but tea really makes a difference. I tried using oils for hot oil treatments, but they just weren't cutting it. Once I tried butters, there was no going back. Hairitage Hydration makes amazing butters and she's currently having a sale. BlueRozeBeauty also has a fantastic butter, Pumpkin Hair Whip. It's delicious. Perhaps you could use butter on your new growth and oil on your relaxed hair, if you choose to do the HOTs.

 

[ScorpioLove]

honestly there is no other way for me to part my hair when I am that deep into a stretch. aloe for me is a must.

i use giovanni weighless leave-in/ or giovanni 50:50 conditioner (pretty much same ingredients) as my moisturizer. I like it because its organic and its top two ingredients are water and aloe and just a dab goes a long way.
also, use bottled water in the spritz

let me know how it goes

 

[Eiano]

I'm a long stretcher (every 6mths to once a year). I use Scurl and Haiwaiian Silky as a mositurer and seal with avocado oil. When that doesnt work on my new growth, I baggie my whole head for an hour or two. For me, the hair in the middle always gets dry first. I will also up my cowashes. Instead of once a week, I might do 2x's a week.

S-Curl comes out after month 2 for me.... I agree it's awesome.
And Co-washes and deep conditioning are the truth. The only problem is the manipulation afterwards is horrible for me. Detangling can be a beast and I shed a lot..

It's important to STAY detangled throughout the week so that on wash/co-wash day you don't loose 50 million hairs.

 

[ronie]

I have 4b dry coarse natural hair. I transitioned for 11 months, and i had the same issue you have for the first 5 months of my transition until i found qhemet biologics burdock root butter cream. It is a bit pricy, but this stuff kept my ng soft, moisturized, and shiny. It is a nice creamy consistency, so it will not weigh down you relaxed ends. The only problem is it has glycerin, and it may not perform as well in the winter, if you live in cold climate area. I put it away this winter, cause i was wearing my hair out, but next year i intend to hide my hair all winter, so i can use it year long. Will post a picture in a bit.
For a while during my transition, i never sealed, cause these oils were the one making my hair dry for some odd reason. Until i found the right oil my hair liked to seal: wheat germ oil. I also use pomades, and those keep my hair soft. I use those 4 with great results: qhemet amla nourishing pomade, jane carters nourish and shine, anita grant sapote and coconut pomade, original moxie hair bling high shine pomade. I wash weekly with a sulfate shampoo, so i do not get any wax build up from the pomade.
I also agree with tiffers on the HOT's. I do not wash, cowash, anything wet my hair unless it has been properly prepood with oils. I have not tried butters yet. Thanks for the heads up girl. I needed to put my anita grant whipped butters to good use, since i don't like them as stylers.
Good luck OP.
7 month post




Close up




My recent twistout on day 2. Used brbc then ohhb to seal and twist. Did not re twist or remoisturize for 2 days. Just slept with my satin bonnet, fluffed in the morning and go. The curls were starting to fall in this picture but my hair was still soft. The picture does not do it justice.




Another one

 

[PeaceFlow]

Try African Royale Braid Spray. Its the only thing that helps me on the few days after wash day

 

[Kilacurlz]

I don't know if this will help you but I wish I had used S curl when my daughter was transitioning from texturized hair. Her hair had always been terribly dry. Thanks to positive reviews from this site I purchased some well after her bc. Like magic her hair is dry no more! Every week I shampoo her hair with the SM kids shampoo and conditioner, do a protein treatment with eggs, DC with whatever DC I have around, use a SM LI, then S curl, twist her hair and seal with CO. Repeat every week. Her hair stays soft and moisturized for the week her twists are in. I can't say enough how much I love this stuff! Thanks to all of you LHCF ladies that recommended it!!

 

[Jobwright]

I got caught up and still have not left to get the AVG! But since I am so late in leaving, and I'm in NJoy challenge, I am going to use the oil and baggy for my prepoo under my wig. Go to the store. Two estimates are coming for my deck project at 1 and 2pm so I'll keep the oil and wig on until they leave. Clarify maybe with Joico Kpak or As I Am Clarifyer? Maybe build up is causing dryness...IDK. Then DC while I cook dinner. Rinse, apply AVG, then scurl, then cornrow back up as my PS under my wig for the week. How does that sound? Oh, and if Whole Foods has the tea, I will get that too and use under my DC. Is that too much or normal?

 

[koolkittychick]

Whatever you decide to use, just make sure to keep it as simple as possible and try it for at least a week. I am lazy and I never use more than 1 shampoo, 1 conditioner, one leave-in and 1 oil at a time, and my hair likes it just fine. That way you won't get burnt out doing too much to your hair, and you will be better able to track what really works (and what doesn't!) for your hair without having to figure out which one of the 5 or six things you used at once did the trick. If it doesn't work, just move on to the next suggestion; the ladies here have given you lots of options to try.

It might also help to write down what you do, and the changes you make as you go along, at least for a little while so you can keep track of your results and progress with your regimen and finalize it when you get the results you want.

Good luck and happy transitioning!

 

[MileHighDiva]

I co-sign on Soul Glo/S Curl for NG/Transitioning dry hair when the dew point is not too low.

 

[~NanCeBoTwin~]

I use an applicator bottle and apply AVJ directly to my NG and demarcation line, several times a week. This has been my staple through all of my stretches.

 

[Jobwright]

ScorpioLove and koolkittychick
Last night I put AVJ on one side and Scurl on the other. The AVJ had no slip whatsoever. It was somewhat difficult to part and cornrow. It felt sort of like when a strong Clarifyer is used. Not quite stripped but just no slip at all. The Scurl was softer and easier to manipulate but the coating felt sticky. Does AVJ and Scurl feel the same to you? I am trying to figure out if it was my technique or the products. I baggied through the night and my hair is super wet right now. I guess I will see how moisturized my hair is once it dries. Thanks for all your help ladies!

 

[koolkittychick]

ScorpioLove and koolkittychick
Last night I put AVJ on one side and Scurl on the other. The AVJ had no slip whatsoever. It was somewhat difficult to part and cornrow. It felt sort of like when a strong Clarifyer is used. Not quite stripped but just no slip at all. The Scurl was softer and easier to manipulate but the coating felt sticky. Does AVJ and Scurl feel the same to you? I am trying to figure out if it was my technique or the products. I baggied through the night and my hair is super wet right now. I guess I will see how moisturized my hair is once it dries. Thanks for all your help ladies!

I have used AVJ before and gotten similar results, so I stopped, since my hair didn't like it. The same applied for S-curl, although my friend swears by it. Also, you might want to look at your baggy method as well. Baggying did not work for me because the salt in my perspiration that kept my hair wet through the night also made my hair rough and matted and the products I baggied with were less effective. Maybe next time just use a light oil with the AVJ or S-curl and sleep with a good satin or silk scarf and see what happens.

 

[Jobwright]

Thanks koolkittychick. Sounds like a plan! Today is one of those days where I feel like, if I just cut it all off, I could learn how to please 1 texture. Although I'm sure that comes with its own set of issues too. Pressing on...with Ming-Ming (the name my husband gave my current wig).

 

[Jobwright]

Found this on line. Maybe I'll try #3 but leave out the setting lotion. http://yournaturalhair.com/moisturizing-natural-hair-whats-in-your-spritz-bottle/

 

[Guinan]

Jobwright I forgot I use one more thing if nothing works. I use rose water. I buy a bag of roses (for a 1.00 @ one of those produce places), steam the roses for about 40min, then add some vegetable gylercin and some JBCO & let it sit until it cools off. I then remove the rose petals and place the rose water in a spray bottle and I spray my roots. I got this method from utuber: farahdhukai. You can use any oils, but try to use ones that are mositurizing.

That seems to work for me; especially for my middle section.

 

[ScorpioLove]

Jobwright did you mix with water? Please don't cut
keep trying to find what works for you

 

[Mazza64]

S-Curl comes out after month 2 for me.... I agree it's awesome.
And Co-washes and deep conditioning are the truth. The only problem is the manipulation afterwards is horrible for me. Detangling can be a beast and I shed a lot..

It's important to STAY detangled throughout the week so that on wash/co-wash day you don't loose 50 million hairs.

I third the above re S Curl my hair has always been bone dry and brittle but it laps up the S curl and I have even seen some excellent growth due to my hair not snapping off

 

[Jobwright]

@Jobwright did you mix with water? Please don't cut
keep trying to find what works for you

Ooops! Missed that step! I did not mix with bottled water as you suggested. That may have been the problem. This is my first time seeing your signature photos (I'm normally on my phone and cant see siggies)! Beautiful progress! I'm Praying for results like that!

 

[beauti]

i just posted about this in the transitioning thread! i'm also transitioning, i'm 9mos post but i've stretched relaxers up to a year in the past. I spritz (lightly) my ng with a mixture of water, aloe vera juice, and glycerin. works like a charm

 

[ScorpioLove]

Ooops! Missed that step! I did not mix with bottled water as you suggested. That may have been the problem. This is my first time seeing your signature photos (I'm normally on my phone and cant see siggies)! Beautiful progress! I'm Praying for results like that!

Thank you!!

@beauti that sounds like a great spritz. i might go add some glycerin to mine since we are in the summer months

Edit to clarify:
That last pic is not my hair its my hair goal lol underneath it says "One day"
The others say the month/year

 

[beauti]

it really is! I always stray (pj ) but deep enough into my stretch I come back

 

[lux10023]

you are treating two very differnt types of hair the same

hair that has been chemically processed will respond to certain moisturizers

and the hair that is growing out of your scalp will respond to another type of moisturizer
figuring out what works is the issue

 

[Jobwright]

beauti I tried your mix on my dd, just added some sweet orange essential oil for a nice smell, twisted all over, perfection! THANK YOU! Now to see if it will work for me. My dd is natural of course but me...I'm working on it... Thanks again!