I'll be honest, a few years ago I didn't think much about Protein treatments. Yes, I remember putting egg in my hair before, I even recall a beautician charging me a few extra dollars for a protein treatment. I did not put any thought into what a protein treatment was nor why I needed one. Now I realize the importance of adding a protein treatment to my hair care routine.
A Protein treatment is applying a generous amount of protein to your hair strands, letting that protein sit and process into the hair. A Protein treatment adds protein back onto your hair strands.
The hair is made up of protein. Over time, the everyday manipulations, heat, chemicals, clothes, dyes, combs, brushes, car head rest, did I say Heat?, all of these things over time break down the protein in our hair. Without protein our hair is weak, fragile and easily broken. Proteins add strength and elasticity to our hair, making it less prone to breakage.
While protein treatments are very beneficial for a healthy hair care regiment, Protein treatments can lead to damage if not used correctly. Here is why, protein treatments add protein back to your hair, alone, protein treatments will leave your hair hard and dry. Of course when your hair becomes hard and dry, it becomes easier to break. It is important to remember to ALWAYS follow up with a MOISTURIZING deep conditioner after a Protein Treatment.
Some people are Protein sensitive, in some cases they could use a light protein treatment(conditioners) but a more heavy protein treatment(Intense protein treatments) would be too strong for their hair. If you have never tried a Protein treatment and do not know if you are protein sensitive, Use a test strip of hair first. I would apply some protein treatment to a small section of hair. Wait a week or two to notice how your hair reacts to the protein.
While it is always recommended to simply cut the damaged ends off your hair, protein treatments have been known to replenish damaged hair. That concept makes perfect sense when considering most damaged hair is weak and broken down. If hair is made up of protein, and that protein gets broken down, add more protein.
As wonderful as I think protein treatments are, too much if a good thing, is not good at all.
Q. How often should I do a protein treatment?
A. If your hair is in a healthy state, once a month would be ideal. If your hair is suffering from heat damage or chemical damage, I would recommend doing a protein treatment bi weekly.
Recommendations:
Homemade Protein Treatment : Homemade protein treatments are cheap and usually already in your kitchen.
2 spoonful of Mayonnaise
1/2 spoonful of Honey
1 egg
1 spoonful of Olive Oil
Mix these contents together
Then I add a conditioner of my choice, enough to make the mixture texture thicker.
Apply to Clean Hair in sections
Place under plastic cap for about 25-30 Minutes
Rinse Thoroughly
Then Deep Condition.
When applying my homemade protein treatment, I can immediately tell the difference in my curl definition. That is what you would look for in a protein treatment. The hair appears much more healthy as your curls naturally clump up together on their own. The down side of homemade protein treatments are the type of protein used. While you are applying tons of protein to your hair and you will see the results, these particular proteins do not actually penetrate your strands. They stick to them instead. So the affect of the protein treatment is short last. If you are going to do homemade protein treatments, for the results you want, you would have to apply them every other week because of the short lasting affects.
Conditioners
There are conditioners that have protein in them, that can be used for a protein treatment. The Cantu Leave In Conditioner Repair Cream and the Organic's Hair Mayonnaise are two well known protein conditions. But their are a lot of others out there, most will contain the ingredient Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein. While I recommend protein conditioners, I do not use them for a protein treatment. I use Cantu as a styler from time to time but I prefer the homemade protein treatment if I don't need an Intense treatment. Intense Protein Treatment
For an Intense Protein Treatment, I would always recommend the Aphogee 2 Step treatment. This treatment is sold at Sally's with the protein treatment itself along with a Moisturizing conditioner. This treatment is costly, however, it is worth every penny. Sally's does carry the sample pact of the treatment and conditioner, so if you want to take the less expensive way to try it out, I totally understand.
Before you apply the treatment to clean hair, Make sure your hair is well detangled. As you add the treatment you will notice your hair harden up. You want to apply quickly and not manipulate your hair because your hair will become hard, very hard. Scary hard!
I have heard so many wonderful things about the Aphogee 2 Step Treatment, I tried it for myself. And the first time I tried it, I was so sad. I was sad that I had been living all this time without this protein treatment in my life. I now apply this treatment to my hair once a month and the difference has been amazing.
I recommend anyone try this Product that has not. Rather you are natural or relaxed. Let me know how scared you were when your hair was hard as a brick. Definitely tell me how much your hair changed after just one treatment. I spoke briefly on protein treatments in Dear Ole Friend, by the way, today makes a full month since the no heat challenge, Are you still with me?
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