Fine, Dense, Low Po Hair - REGIMES

Savagegirl

Fine, dense and Lo Porosity hair girls! It seems that we are a rare breed.

Can you tell me your hair routine? I am really hoping to learn how to avoid heavy products and flat hair. I have only used DevaCurl so far and I do feel that maybe it is too heavy for my hair?

wavydaze

My hair isn't dense, maybe about medium density.

I stay away from polyquats, esp the guar hydro.... chloride one. That can be incredibly hard to do as almost all CG products have that one. While it's now easy to find silicone-free products, it's really hard to find silicone-free and polyquat-free products.

I also try to stay away from waxes (like cetyl esters) or jojoba oil (technically a liquid wax), or use products that have them lower in their formulations.

Same with oils and butters. I find my hair does well with an occasional coconut oil soak and some products can have those ingredients... depends on the formulation but usually I like products that aren't too heavy in these.

Jelly stylers are really really great for fine hair as they don't weigh it down and allow some nice "bounce." Flax seed and okra gels also won't build up. You can make these yourself or order from Sweet Curls Elixirs.

Hard hold gels are also great for me, especially when it's really humid out. My favorite is Volumax Mega which is now discontinued and BRHG (which is also now being discontinued???)

My fine hair LOVES protein. I like PTs, rinse-out conditioners and stylers with protein. HTH

Therese1

I use a low poo twice a week and a clarifying shampoo (usually Kinky Curly Come Clean) once every month or two. My go-to for regular washing has been Intelligent Nutrients Harmonizing shampoo and conditioner, because they are very gentle and moisturizing but do not contain protein. Unlike wavydaze, I find that my hair easily gets overloaded with protein. It makes my hair superstretchy and overmoisturized. I can handle a protein-containing product (rinse-out conditioner or a gel) once every couple of weeks. More than that, and I experience frizz, overly stretchy hair, increased breakage, and straighter hair overall.

After I wash, I use a little bit of leave-in (usually Intelligent Nutrients Straight Hair Serum, which is really just a moisturizer, or As I Am), probably just a dime-sized amount for my whole head. Then I put in some volumizing foam (2-3 pumps) and a hard-hold gel (about a quarter-sized amount). I generally rake these through my hair and then add water back in afterward to get the clumps back. I'm still experimenting with the best way to apply products to my hair.

My hair used to be higher porosity than it is now, and I have to say that the biggest change I notice is that I need to apply much less product. I can use the same products, but I need less. I also require much less protein than before. My hair still likes shea butter, just in smaller amounts. The shea butter coats the hair and creates volume for me.

You could try just using less of your Deva products to see if that makes a difference. If it doesn't, you can put them aside for now and use them during winter, when the humidity is lower (if that is the case with your climate). A lot of us on the forum have at least two sets of hair-care products, one set for when the weather is humid and one set for when it is dry.

One thing that I found helps with the flat hair is to apply my styling products right at the roots of my hair. I also avoid putting my leave-in conditioner right at the roots.

Savagegirl

I am in Toronto which is high humidity in the summers. Particularly this summer, hottest and most humid summer I remember. Great time to learn how to deal with my natural hair, at its most difficult! lol

I tried using a suite of Curl Junkie products today and I got really nice spirals but almost zero volume. I will try less products next wash... I did try using less of the Devacurl products and it looked like I had nothing in it at all and zero clumping. Just didnt manage to find a good balance throughout that whole DevaCurl set.

Another issue is obtaining some of the products I would like to try! Canada doesn't have everything, alas.

How do you know if you need a protein treatment or a deep conditioning treatments?

Therese1

If your curls are not very strong, then some people try a protein treatment. I think the best way to try it out is simply to use a conditioner that has protein high on the ingredients list. Especially when you have fine hair, it doesn't take a lot of protein to make a difference. If your hair gets rough and tangly when you do the protein treatment, then that is a sign that your hair already had enough protein.

If your hair is dry and tangly in general, a deep treatment is a good idea. A lot of people also follow a protein treatment with a deep treatment, since sometimes protein can have a drying effect on the hair.

In all honesty, I think the best way to go about it is just to try either a protein treatment or a deep treatment, whichever you think your hair might need, and see how it responds. So much of this is trial and error. It's really trying lots of different things on your hair and seeing what happens.

Myrna

I like SM Jamacian Black Castor oil shampoo, the Superfruit shampoo, and the Fruit fusion shampoo; Giovanni Smooth as Silk conditioner (my current favorite conditioner); and FSG from Sweet Curls on Etsy. I really love her hard hold formula but I have also used the coarse hair formula with LALSG.

Wavydaze, are you sure we are not related??:tongue5::tongue5: