What’s the best timing for moisturising and stretching hair on wash days?

[bb09]

I wash/condition my hair, then either:
a) Moisturise on wet hair, airdry with scarf method
= breakage while applying the moisturiser, from my strands latching on to each other
= the middle takes forever to dry

b) Leave my hair down to fully dry, then moisturise
= breakage while applying the moisturiser (from dry hair)
= hair shrinks by a lot

Has anyone else dealt with this? I can’t really moisturise damp hair either, since the outside of my hair always dries first, and the inside or middle of my hair's still wet anyway..

 

[CurlsBazillion]

If your getting breakage either way maybe something else is the culprit. I recently found out my new DC (SSI banana brulee) was why my hair was breaking...I dropped that and my breakage has all most came to a halt. I did see most of the broken hairs when I moisturized, if I were you I would look at switching things up a bit to see if you get the same results.

 

[Rocky91]

I would a good way to do it would be to part hair in four sections, moisturize each particular section, and then braid or band each one.
I'm assuming you are relaxed, right? are you looking to airdry relatively straight or just soft and manageable enough to bun or something?

 

[bb09]

If your getting breakage either way maybe something else is the culprit. I recently found out my new DC (SSI banana brulee) was why my hair was breaking...I dropped that and my breakage has all most came to a halt. I did see most of the broken hairs when I moisturized, if I were you I would look at switching things up a bit to see if you get the same results.

Thank you. My hair's texlaxed though, so when I wait for it to fully dry before moisturising, I think the breakage is kind of inevitable, since I get a lot of shrinkage.

And then with wet hair, I expect it to, since my hair latches on to the other, and I have to separate it to get moisture in.

I'm just wondering, when Should I actually moisturise it then, and how can I stretch it.

 

[bride91501]

You should not be experiencing serious breakage from gentle manipulation of wet or dry hair.

Your strands may either be lacking moisture, and are dry and popping as a result (maybe too much protein?), OR, your hair may be over-moisturized and feel mushy to the touch, which will also result in breakage. Do either of these sound familiar?

In either event, I would suggest that you consider evaluating your products and current moisture-protein balance. The latter has done wonders for my retention.

HTH

 

[bb09]

I would a good way to do it would be to part hair in four sections, moisturize each particular section, and then braid or band each one.
I'm assuming you are relaxed, right? are you looking to airdry relatively straight or just soft and manageable enough to bun or something?

@Rocky91 -Yep I'm relaxed -underprocessed. At the bolded, I want both tbh. My hair's soft and relatively straight a few days After I wash it, so I'm trying to get that from the get go.

Thanks for the section suggestion !! The only thing is, the mohawk section of my hair tangles the worst -so I might try and do 5 sections. I'll get breakage where I put the hairbands as well. I guess I'll try to slide them out slower..

 

[Rocky91]

bb09, sunshyne from hairlista has air-drying relaxed hair down to a science-I her hair. here's an older video where she explains her method: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2pj4tm5GG0 HTH!

 

[Nonie]

bb09 Because I wash my hair in several plaits, undoing and combing then rebraiding during the shampooing part of my wash, during the rinse, during the conditioning, and during the next rinse and also the final ACV rinse, and so finish my was with my hair in braids, I usually let it airdry in that stretched state. My hair is always fully detangled, so when I undo it to moisturize, I have stretched out strands that are not tangling so breakage isn't an issue.

This image shows you a section of my airdried hair after it's taken out of braids:

...and you can see the braids I used to airdry in on the left. The smaller the braids, the better the stretch, but you don't have to make them that small. Since I combed the hair while washing, the strands are nicely separated so finger separating to moisturize after drying in braids is a breeze.

I usually moisturize small sections at a time (That is, if the braids were big, I will take one of the braid section and moisturized even smaller sections and comb through stretching them out as I pass a comb through. It's like the comb chase method only this time my fingers stretch the hair and the comb "chases"). I will usually rebraid after moisturizing that whole section so shrinkage and tangling don't happen while I work on another section.

 

[bb09]

You should not be experiencing serious breakage from gentle manipulation of wet or dry hair.

Your strands may either be lacking moisture, and are dry and popping as a result (maybe too much protein?), OR, your hair may be over-moisturized and feel mushy to the touch, which will also result in breakage. Do either of these sound familiar?

In either event, I would suggest that you consider evaluating your products and current moisture-protein balance. The latter has done wonders for my retention.

HTH

Thanks @bride91501. I think my retention's alright, considering the hair probs I used to have (e.g. matting -ugh).

It's definitely not over-moisturised, and I don't think the breakage is serious serious. My hair always looks (and feels) fine days later (not on washday or the day after). It's just, do I have to go through manipulating fully dry hair; or having to really separate my hair /pull the strands apart to moisturise it.

I just want my hair to dry stretched and moisturised. I’m prolly more interested in how to get stretched hair.

 

[bb09]

@bb09 Because I wash my hair in several plaits, undoing and combing then rebraiding during the shampooing part of my wash, during the rinse, during the conditioning, and during the next rinse and also the final ACV rinse, and so finish my was with my hair in braids, I usually let it airdry in that stretched state. My hair is always fully detangled, so when I undo it to moisturize, I have stretched out strands that are not tangling so breakage isn't an issue.

This image shows you a section of my airdried hair after it's taken out of braids:


...and you can see the braids I used to airdry in on the left. The smaller the braids, the better the stretch, but you don't have to make them that small. Since I combed the hair while washing, the strands are nicely separated so finger separating to moisturize after drying in braids is a breeze.

I usually moisturize small sections at a time (That is, if the braids were big, I will take one of the braid section and moisturized even smaller sections and comb through stretching them out as I pass a comb through. It's like the comb chase method only this time my fingers stretch the hair and the comb "chases"). I will usually rebraid after moisturizing that whole section so shrinkage and tangling don't happen while I work on another section.

Nonie, thanks! I've tried washing in plaits before. It was more work . The problem was once I took the plaits out once I finished everything (one by one), it tangled minutes later. !

So when I wash or dc my hair now, I just find it easier to do it in 2 sections -since my problems don't come until I'm out of the shower.

 

[bb09]

@bb09, sunshyne from hairlista has air-drying relaxed hair down to a science-I her hair. here's an older video where she explains her method: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2pj4tm5GG0 HTH!

Thank you. This is what I've been doing, when airdrying it 'out'. It just doesn't work on this hair though. Her hair's bone straight so dries straight. Mine just becomes puffy, and ends up with quite a bit of shrinkage.

 

[Nonie]

@Nonie, thanks! I've tried washing in plaits before. It was more work . The problem was once I took the plaits out once I finished everything (one by one), it tangled minutes later. !

So when I wash or dc my hair now, I just find it easier to do it in 2 sections -since my problems don't come until I'm out of the shower.

That's the thing, it is more work, but it pays off coz maintenance after that is a breeze. I never have to spend any time detangling when I do this. It's as if my hair never tangles. That sacrifice is well worth it. But coz I don't feel like doing that all the time, I live in twists or braids, wash in them, and no combing is necessary. So it's all a matter of where you want to spend the most time. I prefer to spend it in the prevention state.

The reason you don't have problems until you're out of the shower is coz you finish the shower with hair that isn't stretched out enough. Perhaps then in your final rinse with water running through your hair, you should put in the effort to divide that large section into smaller sections that you comb through under water and braid up firmly enough...so you leave the shower with your hair in like 10 or 12 braids which you allow to dry fully. If you then undo them, the hair should be wavy and easy to separate, and you can then part thin sections, apply moisturizer and comb through...and so on till that section is moisturized then braid it. Do the same to the others. Depending on what you're using to moisturize, your hair may keep that stretched look or curl up again. If you don't want it to curl up, find moisturizers that aren't full of water. Perhaps you can focus on getting your moisture just from DCing and then let the leave-in you use be some sort of balm (like an oil) that coats your strands to protect them w/o making them shrink up.

 

[bb09]

That's the thing, it is more work, but it pays off coz maintenance after that is a breeze. I never have to spend any time detangling when I do this. It's as if my hair never tangles. That sacrifice is well worth it. But coz I don't feel like doing that all the time, I live in twists or braids, wash in them, and no combing is necessary. So it's all a matter of where you want to spend the most time. I prefer to spend it in the prevention state.

The reason you don't have problems until you're out of the shower is coz you finish the shower with hair that isn't stretched out enough. Perhaps then in your final rinse with water running through your hair, you should put in the effort to divide that large section into smaller sections that you comb through under water and braid up firmly enough...so you leave the shower with your hair in like 10 or 12 braids which you allow to dry fully. If you then undo them, the hair should be wavy and easy to separate, and you can then part thin sections, apply moisturizer and comb through...and so on till that section is moisturized then braid it. Do the same to the others. Depending on what you're using to moisturize, your hair may keep that stretched look or curl up again. If you don't want it to curl up, find moisturizers that aren't full of water. Perhaps you can focus on getting your moisture just from DCing and then let the leave-in you use be some sort of balm (like an oil) that coats your strands to protect them w/o making them shrink up.

That Explains it!!! I was gonna put a light bulb, but it wasn't My lightbulb idea lol. Thank you. The only thing is, how do you get all product out? I plan to leave the plaits in.. I can definitely take out and re-do plaits once I'm applying conditioner, but after shampooing in the shower, my arms will kill.

I just Wish I had some kind of a balm right now..

 

[Nonie]

That Explains it!!! I was gonna put a light bulb, but it wasn't My lightbulb idea lol. Thank you. The only thing is, how do you get all product out? I plan to leave the plaits in.. I can definitely take out and re-do plaits once I'm applying conditioner, but after shampooing in the shower, my arms will kill.

I just Wish I had some kind of a balm right now..

@ your arms dying from being up. Girl, welcome to the world of DIY haircare. You just have to train your arms so they can handle it. What if I were asking you to put in over a 100 mini twists or braid extensions?

How I get all the shampoo out is I first rinse with plaits in squeezing them to get product out. Then with water running through my hair, I undo comb through and rebraid. That ensures all product is out. Same thing with conditioner. If you bend over when doing this, your arms don't tire as much as if trying to keep them up as you stand upright. My suggestion would e to wash in 4 or 6 plaits. Two just seems like tangles in hiding. Unless your hair is pretty long--like MBL--but even then, I think 4 plaits would be better. I honestly feel overwhelmed at the thought of dealing with half the hair on my head at once.

If you aren't undoing to comb through during the wash, then any shed hair just stays caught up in the braids, hence the tangles. By combing through with product in it, you ensure you remove all shed hairs.

But you can take baby steps. Do what you normally do and then undo and comb during the conditioning step coz hair is nicely slippery then and easy to comb. Remember to rebraid right back after combing before undoing another plait. Undoing and combing also ensures all strands are coated. Keeping the hair braided without undoing to comb until you finish the wash IMO leaves many strands a bit neglected, which could explain the tangles--in addition to shed hair not being removed. Take a break as you need it. But just think of the benefit of getting your hair right at the interim so that you don't have much to do later.

 

[CurlsBazillion]

@Rocky91 -Yep I'm relaxed -underprocessed. At the bolded, I want both tbh. My hair's soft and relatively straight a few days After I wash it, so I'm trying to get that from the get go.

Thanks for the section suggestion !! The only thing is, the mohawk section of my hair tangles the worst -so I might try and do 5 sections. I'll get breakage where I put the hairbands as well. I guess I'll try to slide them out slower..

@bb09
Off subject, but on subject...I just learned from another thread...wish i remembered which one and who said it.....anyway, i learned that if you bun to not always bun in the same place on your head everytime because it causes breakage because of the stress that is put on those same hairs in that pony holder. With that in mind what if your putting those snug headbands in almost the same place every time? Same with your ponytails and buns...that may explain some of the reasons your hair is breaking.... Just a thought