Recommendations for coarse and porous?

curlicarly

Hi! I got my analysis back from Goosefootprints, and it turns out my hair is coarse (not surprised) and highly porous at the ends. At the roots it has low porosity, and the middle is normal porosity. This seems like a difficult combination of properties, so I'm looking for guidance.

What conditioners and other products have worked for you? I reallllyy need a relatively inexpensive conditioner because I can go through a bottle in a couple weeks, and as a college student, I cannot afford to spend upwards of $50 on my hair a month.

I realize the ends of my hair probably need some sort of protein, so recommendations for that would be appreciated as well. Thanks!

Greatcurls

I like Herbal Essences The Sleeker the Butter Smoothing conditioner. It has lots of slip and softens the hair. Concerning protein, the Protein Filler from Sally's has good reviews.

rbb

be careful with protein on coarse hair -- it is mostly protein, so adding more can make it like straw. not to say a little protein in other products isn't good, but go slowly and easy if you are doing a protein treatment, like maybe leave it on for a shorter time??? does she recommend protein treatments on her analysis? if so, then do it.

if it is coarse and porous, it sounds like it needs moisture and a sealant, especially on the ends. you can only seal the ends if you want, but i would definitely seal at least the ends. so maybe i would do the moisture leave in and sealant for a few days, then try a protein treatment if you don't see any improvement.

Mliesa

HI I also did the Goosefootprint analysis and have medium/coarse hair with high porosity. I am okay with proteins every other week, you could try the EO keratin conditioner (hibiscus and coconut). They sell it at iHerb and I find it to be nice and moisturizing with a good slip.

greencup13

Hi ::waves:: I got my analysis back today and I'm also coarse and high porosity on the ends.

The whole protein thing confuses me as well. I always thought I was protein sensitive and now I know that's because of the coarse hair. Has anyone had any luck with certain proteins or products

Moisture. I now know my hair need more moisture but how. I haven't found an oil my hair likes or idk how to use it correctly. I've tried coconut, Shea, jojoba, evoo, and grape seed. My hair seems to do better with grape seed. I don't know how often or when to add the oil.

Fimu

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rbb

my hair is on the coarse side of medium, and it does not like any type of oil in whatever way i use it. but, it loves butters! so try butters. i would only use it on the ends if your roots are low porosity. i randomly use either spiral solutions emollience or jane carter nourish & shine. for the past 3 months i have been using spiral solutions emollience exclusively. my hair seems to like it better.
even with similar hair properties everyone's hair is very different. you may have to play around for a while to find what it likes.

greencup13

rbb wrote: »

my hair is on the coarse side of medium, and it does not like any type of oil in whatever way i use it. but, it loves butters! so try butters. i would only use it on the ends if your roots are low porosity. i randomly use either spiral solutions emollience or jane carter nourish & shine. for the past 3 months i have been using spiral solutions emollience exclusively. my hair seems to like it better.
even with similar hair properties everyone's hair is very different. you may have to play around for a while to find what it likes.

Never really know what people mean when they say "butters" Shea butter?

rbb

some people use straight shea butter. as i said in my post, i use ss emollience or jc nourish & shine, both of which have shea butter in addition to other butters.

Fimu

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greencup13

Smoothie weighed my hair down and left its greasy and built up 😔 curls looks good for about 1 hours.

greencup13

I've been using grape seed oil on my hair. I wash at night and wake up to damp hair and I'll put a tiny amount on. Hair is soft and shiny BUT halfway through the day my beautiful ringlets turn to straight waves

sixelamy

I have coarse and porous hair too. I really like Yes to Blueberries conditioner, and it costs around $7 at the drugstore.

You do have to be careful about protein, but I find I need it in my styler or my curls fall a bit flat. You may benefit from some protein treatments early on if you're just starting out. I needed protein for about 3 months until my hair really started becoming a bit healthier. I also straightened my hair for years and had practically no cuticle on the ends.

I also highly suggest scrunching some type of oil into your ends when soaking wet. I do this after my conditioner and before my styler. I really like the Shea Moisture Reconstructive Elixir - and it smells absolutely amazing.

sixelamy

Fimu wrote: »

Does anybody here has experience with the Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie?

This stuff made my hair super soft, but left it a big frizzy undefined mess after consistent use for a couple weeks. I couldn't figure it out until I dropped all the Shea Moisture products I was using and it went back to normal.

greencup13

I think I'm going to experiment with silk protein. I remember back in the day when I started CG I used VO5 champaign strawberry (or something like that) and it had silk protein. I remember my hair always being soft like butter in the shower when I used it.

greencup13

Anyone have and recommendations on what proteins/ products to try with protein for coarse and porous.

Fimu

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greencup13

Fimu wrote: »

Hydrolyzed keratin and collagen were recommended for my hair.

Have you tried any products yet?

BeinDeb

Greencup, try Renpure's Brazilian Keratin Straightening Conditioner. My hair loves keratin, and this product. Don't let the name fool you. There's not a hint of straightening! It's also very reasonably priced at my local Walgreens. An added bonus for me, is the smell.

greencup13

My whole CG time I've been struggling for protein free products and now I'm struggling to find products with protein lol (keratin and collagen)

Fimu

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greencup13

Just checking in. I started using the LOC method and using hydrolyzed keratin 1-2 times a week.

What a difference the oil is making on my hair! I'm using grape seed oil that came in a mist bottle. I never knew how to use oil and what a difference! My hair is so soft and silky!!

Also the hydrolyzed keratin I think is helping a lot. When I use it my curl pattern really tightens.

What have you ladies been trying?

Fimu

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greencup13

Fimu wrote: »

Glad that it works for you!
How long do you do the PT?

Currently I'm in search for a slippery oil, but I was thinking to buy Grapeseed oil anyway.

Idk if I would call it a PT or not. I'm just using vo5 free me freesia conditioner as a co wash or a RO and only leaving on for 1-2 minutes. I'm starting out east and light to see how my hair reacts.

I would like to find a different product that had hydrolyzed keratin or collagen in it but I had a real hard time.

BeinDeb

Greencup, I recently purchased Mill Creek's keratin shampoo and conditioner. Although I've only used it once, I'm on third day hair. My hair likes it! The price was right...on sale online at Piping Rock. I also snagged free shipping, although I don't know if they still have that deal going on. Keratin was the 3rd listed ingredient on the all natural shampoo, and was 2nd on the conditioner.

I was looking for another keratin based product and this certainly filled the bill and the budget.

Fimu

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curlypearl

What is the LOC method?

rbb

CP - you must know the loc method is about sealing, right???? i think the letters stand for the order you do it in -- everyone does it differently. some seal first (oil or butter), then leave in, then styler. i think most do leave in, then seal, then styler, or leave in, styler, seal.
i personally use butters (SS emollience) as my sealant. first i apply my leave in, then SS emollience, then gel if i am using a gel that day. sometimes i use a curl cream so then i do the sealing after the leave in and curl cream.
not everyone seals, i think the more porous your hair, the more likely you need to seal. i seal in winter for sure, and most, but not all, days in other seasons.
not sure if you were asking this in a general way or the specific exact way for loc.????????????

greencup13

Has anyone noticed after days of loc that your hair is stringy and weighed down? I wash daily and have been LOC daily. Seems like days 1-3 are great then my hair will become straight and so greasy. I used a low poo and my hair was still greasy so i had to low poo two days in a row. Hmmm I think I need to find a good ratio. Maybe LOC one day and skip the next. Any suggestions?

Fimu

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curlypearl

Thanks, RBB. I actually haven't tried this method but very eager to see what happens! Thanks for responding - I keep missing things.