**New Curly Perms Thread** After 2 Years

 

This sounds like my hair! I got a CFC in November. My stylist cut my hair into a bob. At first it was beautiful, thick, & healthy. After about 7 weeks, I've noticed a lot of breaking. When I went back to get my touchup 2 weeks ago, my hair was so much thinner. My hair has grown in length; it's almost back to its initial length before the bob cut, but it's still so thin & limp. The stylist said that my hair was so soft because I used so much moisture. She gave me an Aphogee protein treatment after my retouch. I thought it helped, but within a few days, my hair was breaking off a lot again. My stylist told me to only use the curl activator (no other moisturizer) and Queen Helene Cholesterol as a DC. I'm a bit hesitant to buy the QH Cholesterol because don't like some of the ingredients in it, but maybe I'll listen to her and give it a try.

 

I want to get my thickness and fullness back. I think my hair needs more protein. I washed my hair today for the first time since my retouch. I used Aubrey's Organics J.A.Y. shampoo. Then I did a 1-hour DC of Hask Henna & Placenta mixed with Africa's Best DC. All of these products have protein in them, so I wanted to do a moisture DC after everything. I remembered that garlic is supposed to stop shedding... so I used Suave Humectant Moisturizing Conditioner, and in every handful I added a bunch of garlic powder. I just took pure garlic powder from my kitchen cabinet & added it to my conditioner. I just poured the powder on. I could feel the grains as I rubbed it in my hair lol. I left this DC in my hair for about 2 hours. It tingled a bit, but nothing too bad.

 

When I rinsed it out, I still had some breakage. However, it was much much less than usual. I applied moisturizer to my hair once it dried, and I only had a few strands in my hands, as opposed to clumps of hair. So I'm hoping this really works! The real test will be tomorrow when I apply the curl activator.. Hopefully it doesn't break off too much. My hair is so frizzy! I hope the curl activator also gives it the curl definition back. Next weekend I will follow the same routine because it might take more than 1 wash to see much improvement.

 

These are all products I already had. When I run out, I am thinking of buying Aphogee 2-min reconstructor to use once a week before I DC. I also want to buy a leave-in hair mayo to use 2-3x a week. However, if I see this routine helping my hair, I might just buy the same products over and continue with it.

 

I will update again within the week to say whether or not the breakage happens. Wish me luck!

 

BTW Melodina, are you still seeing breakage?

I sent gina my longggg testimony about the process, and products I use with my gina curl (she wanted me to write about the products I use and even took an interest in the kinky curly gel I used =D)

I will link to it when she has a the video and before and after pictures up of my hair since it was pretty long >.< but for now I will talk about the nEWWWWW! shea moisture product I bought xD lol and the aphogee leave in that I have been using to keep my protein levels up but not go overboard since I had that heavy protein treatment done at the salon last month.

Anyways the shea moisture product I bought was the "anti-breakage masque for thin/fine hair"

While my hair isn't thin one bit, the strands are very fine so I thought "hey this is probably going to be just a moisturizing as their moisture milk for thin/fine hair!" ......I should add that I now have the 'complete' green-label "thin/fine hair" line from shea moisture, the shampoo, moisture milk, and now the anti breakage masque.

So I used the green label shampoo - and then tried the masque, it glided on well, but I think I may have used alot more than I needed since when I detangled with it and twisted the hair alot of product was on my hands XD lol it's cool though since now I know that you don't need alot to coat the hair with this stuff. haha Anyways it glided on nicely UNLIKE the deep treatment masque that I hated, and it didn't have MEGA slip, but it had enough for me to detangle now, while I don't have a ton of new growth just yet. But I would not use it for detangling if I have more than half an inch of new growth.

So I detangled, applied, and put on my plastic cap. I sat under the dryer probably for a little over 30 minutes, getting up multiple times because I was drinking tea and reading :P lol so I lost track of time haha. Then I went to rinse, I could feel rinsing how moisturizing this masque was, it was ODDLY moisturizing, but at the same time my hair felt really strong also, I read the ingredients to see if it had any protein, it has veg. protein which explains the name 'anti-breakage masque' ...I would compare this masque to Aubrey Organics GPB conditioner only alot more moisturizing, and a better smell. =D I really like it, and can see myself using it as a staple DC if I didn't have two other DC's that I love just as much XD

I've kind of given up looking for the perfect DC, for now I will just need an uber moisturizing one, a good protein DC, and a nice balanced one..that I just can rotate whenever I feel like I need one or the other. ^__^

After DC'ing I used my new Aphogee Pro-vitamin leave-in spray. I put mine in a different spray bottle that sprays way better, I reallyyyyyy like it....I've discovered lately that with my hair, less product results in better styling and less build up of course, my hair also seems to absorb lighter thin products better. =D

I also bought the small bottle of the aphogee two step protein treatment (I didn't buy the shampoo or moisturizer)....I wont be using that until maybeeee...two months from now. =D I couldn't find the aphogee two minute :(

 

I am still getting breakage with my CFC. It seems that the first few days after I DC my hair, the breakage is minimal. But 3 days later, clumps are coming out again when I touch it. I washed my hair on Sunday night and didn't put any products in it. On Wednesday, it was breaking again, even though I didn't use any products since the wash. So it's not the [weight of the] products making the hair break off. I don't know what to do. Maybe I should DC my hair more often then? I still think my hair needs protein.

 

A lot of people have complained about breakage with the curly perm. I guess I will read through this thread again to see if anyone had any success to stop the breakage.

 

 For some reason, I think my hair needs more protein. I'm afraid of protein overload though, so I'm only using protein once a week when I wash and DC. At one point, I was using MegaTek every other day, but I remembered that MT may cause/increase shedding, so I stopped using it. Now I wash with Aubrey Organic's J.A.Y. shampoo (contains protein) and DC with a protein condish, followed by a garlic/moisture DC.

 

I notice that for the first few days after my DC, my hair is fine. Then it starts breaking again halfway through the week. So maybe I need to DC my hair more often? I may up this to twice a week instead of just once. Or maybe I should use a protein leave-in every other day (like I did with MT before I stopped using it)?

 

My stylist told me to DC with Queen Helene Cholesterol. I've been hesitant to use it because of some of the ingredients. I might just go out today and buy it though, because nothing else seems to be working. I also want to try the Aphogee 2 min reconstructor. If I DC twice a week like I said above, I might use the Aphogee one day and the QH Chol the other day.

 

To answer your questions:

When wet, my hair feels fine. It is not mushy (which means hair is over-moisturized and/or needs more protein). It's not rough either. My hair is great when wet; it doesn't tangle or anything.

 

The clumps are coming out whenever I touch my hair. Thankfully, my hair doesn't seem to tangle. But if I put my hands through my hair, whether wet or dry, it just comes out in clumps. I seem to notice way more breakage on the left side of my hair though.. It's so weird.

 

I only apply curl activator to my hair. I only apply it on days that I'm going out, or when I notice that my hair needs it. I don't use it everyday, maybe 3-5 times a week. I wash and DC once a week. I use a protein DC then follow with a garlic/moisture DC. It takes me forever to apply the products to my hair too lol.

 

I really dont know why my hair is like this. My hair is usually so thick and strong and grows so nicely, so the fact that it's like this is KILLING me! I wanted to cry today when I parted my hair and saw how much thinner it is now. Maybe my hair is overprocessed? I just dont know..... This week, I started taking my vitamins again and will begin to DC more often, etc., so hopefully my hair will improve. I will give until time for my next touch up to see if my hair improves. If not, I may just have to try another hair style. I don't want to go bald, but at this rate, it seems like that's probable.