How I’m Balancing Protein & Moisture

I’ve complained many, many times that my hair feels protein overloaded after using even the lightest of light protein treatments? Twice now, I’ve made adjustments to my post-protein regimen with great success: I’ve been adding honey and extra virgin olive oil (evoo) to my conditioner.

Mixology: Honey & EVOO

Way back when, I added honey and evoo to everything and loved how my hair felt. Somewhere along the way, I got fancy and decided being a mixologist was annoying, time consuming and not what I wanted to be. I then started purchasing quality conditioners with the thought in mind mixing should not be required. I mean, I can understand doctoring up cheapie conditioners but quality conditioners? Nope! While this belief worked well for me, this was not the case post protein treatment. For years I’ve struggled with on again, off again protein overload. Even my best of the best conditioners were not offsetting the protein.

The Experiment:

Not so long ago the thought occurred to doctor up my conditioner to enhance the moisturizing benefits to potentially offset the protein treatment. I added several squirts of honey and several tablespoons of evoo to my conditioner. I steamed for 30 minutes and then allowed the conditioner to sit on my hair for an additional 30 minutes while watching television. End result? Soft yet strong hair!

Fast forward until my next protein use: Much like before, I mixed a couple squirts of honey and few tablespoons of evoo to my conditioner. Again I steamed for 30 minutes and allowed the conditioner to sit for an additional 30 minutes while lounging. SN: I typically steam for 30 minutes max, allow the hair to cool and rinse immediately. However, the 1 hour deep conditioning session worked so well the first time, I tried it again a second time. The end result? Soft yet strong hair again! Woot!

A few points to note:  I deep conditioned with different conditioners to test this theory.

First attempt: Aubrey Organics Honey Suckle Rose

Second attempt: HairVeda SitriNillah

Game Plan:

I’ve attempted steaming for 1 hour periods on previous post protein occasions but my hair felt dry and brittle. Therefore, I believe the addition of honey and evoo helped achieve a good protein / moisture balance. This experiment definitely rekindled my mixologist interests. While I find it annoying mixing additions to my conditioner, the moisturized feeling has me sold.

Going forward, I will mix honey and evoo in all conditioners be it cheapie or quality. Rather than looking at it as an inconvenience, I will simply consider it beneficial to my hair’s health much like the other random things I engage in weekly:  pre-pooing, tea rinsing, steaming, air drying, etc.

How do you balance protein / moisture on protein treatment day?