How to Simplify Refreshing & Do LESS REFRESHING | Olaplex Gel
Refreshing can be such a pain, and often just makes curls look worse. You should not be having to soak your hair down and restyling
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As part of the Curly Haircare for Beginners video series, I knew I had to cover one of the most important topics: protein vs. moisture. It’s a daunting topic, because it involves science-y terms that can be confusing and overwhelming. I’m here to break it down for y’all and summarize my research to help you easily achieve healthy hair.
Hair that has a balance of protein and moisture is happy hair.
What is protein when it comes to hair?
Hair is made up of mostly protein, amino acids, and keratin. Protein gives hair is structure, strength, and elasticity. It even keeps the hair moisturized by helping it retain water. Hair products often contain protein ingredients to help with curl definition, strengthen the hair, and help it retain moisture.
What are some common protein ingredients?
Look for ingredients listed directly containing the word “protein,” hydrolyzed, amino acids, collagen, keratin. Many products will also claim on the labels to be strengthening, restructuring, rebuilding, etc.
Typically naturally-derived protein ingredients that have been hydrolyzed are: rice, wheat, soy, oat, corn, quinoa, casein, and wey. These tend to be stronger protein ingredients and can lead to overload when used too often depending on the hair type.
Smaller proteins such as hydrolyzed silk, amino acids, keratin, and collagen can penetrate the hair and are more tolerable for most hair types. These can be used more frequently.
What protein ingredients are right for me?
It’s important to understand that protein ingredients vary in molecular weight, so some are good at penetrating the hair’s cuticle, and some are larger so they sit on the surface. Larger proteins are great at filling in the hair’s cuticle, especially if it’s damaged, porous, and high porosity.
Lower porosity hair can sometimes be protein-sensitive, and higher porosity hair tolerates protein more easily. The type of hair you have also plays a role, so knowing whether you have fine, medium, or coarse hair is important. Coarse hair is more likely to experience protein overload because it’s already larger in diameter and stronger.
How often should you use each type of protein?
It depends on your hair type. Refer to the chart below for a helpful guide on how often to use both small and large proteins.
What is protein overload?
When hair that is healthy and already has enough protein receives too much protein from products, protein treatments, and/or masks. Large protein ingredients can buildup on the hair’s surface and cause it to become brittle, break, and dry.
What are signs of protein overload?
How to do a stretch test on your hair:
You can also perform a stretch test on a strand of hair. Take a hair dry, clean hair that has already shed, and gently stretch it between two fingers.
How to you fix protein overload?
Add more moisture and reduce the use of proteins in your routine to balance your hair. Depending on the severity of your imbalance, it may take more than one wash day.
Products Used in the video:
What’s the best way to incorporate protein and re-introduce it into your routine?
Avoid having protein in every product of your wash day routine. If your shampoo or conditioner contain protein, skip it in your styling products. If your gel has protein, avoid protein in your cream or leave-in. Also check where the protein ingredient is on the label, because if it’s towards the end of the list it may be low enough in concentration to not throw your hair off balance.
Gradually adding back in one product at a time each wash will allow you to see how your hair reacts to each protein ingredient. This will help you determine which ingredient your hair prefers most.
More resources:
https://genamarie.co/2015/10/protein-101-lots-of-basic-information.html
https://genamarie.co/2013/09/more-about-protein.html
https://genamarie.co/2011/08/mysteries-of-hydrolyzed-proteins.html
Leave any further questions in the comments below. Let me know if you’d like to see a video on moisture overload and hygral fatigue.
Check out the full Curly Haircare for Beginners playlist for more.
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One Response
My hair seems to knot at the neck and shed a lot in the shower when i skip a wash, much worse after I skip 2 days. It's as if it doesn't shed, sits there till it gets washed then sooooo much comes out, like clumps. Very scary. So i pretty much wash daily.