Crispy Hair After Shampooing

Ok, I'm still learning how to handle this natural hair of mine. Its been a little over a month since I took the sew in out and decided to ditch the flat iron altogether. But I can't figure out why my hair was so dry and brittle after shampooing.

I shampooed my hair and conditioned with a pretty high end shampoo and conditioner (well, it cost me a pretty penny), and after rinsing the conditioner I applied Cantu Shea Butter all over my hair as a leave in and twisted it in about 10 twists. The next morning after drying, the twists had shrivled up to about a 1/4 of my length and were extra crispy. What did I do wrong??? It took about 3 days before my hair started looking somewhat moisturized and heavily applying Wave Nouveau.

Should I have allowed my hair to dry before applying applying the leave in and twisting?? [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Is your shampoo sulfate free?

No, the shampoo has ammonium lauryl sulfate. Is that the reason why?

Yes: http://www.curlynikki.forumotion.com/general-f3/cowash-vs-sulfate-free-shampoo-t3209.htm?highlight=ammonium+lauryl+sulfate

Ok thanks

One other thing, you may want to try to leave a bit of conditioner in the hair, add the leave-in and seal with oil. That may help to hold some moisture also.

yea, I don't use it (yet) but I heard the cantu was good for sealing. You probably need a leave-in between your hair and the cantu.

Thanks guys. I've started letting my hair air dry before twisting it and then leaving a little Hello Hydration conditioner in before applying the cantu leave-in and I found that this has helped alot.

HHydration is one of my favorite condish's too. u dnt need to spend a pretty penny on poo's n condish to get stellar results. i get some of my best from cheapies!

i actually use sulfate poo's but i dont have a major effect from them becuz i make sure i take strict precautions to ensure "moisturization" (my new word, lol) for example; if i use MJ buttercreme i make sure i use sulfate poo's to remove any gook n build up from the product...anyhoo..

you may be experiencing dryness becuz u've been applying heat for so long u gotta shock it back into its natural state (so to speak) and train ur hair all over. even with a consistent reggie after my bc my hair was still dry for a good 4 months.

try pre-pooin with oils; i've been consistently doing this for the past 3 months and i notice a major difference in keeping up with moisture with this method. if i dont pre-poo even for one week it just doesnt feel the same....again consistency is key!

also try adding oils to your condish; people mainly use evoo

another method to combat dryness...oil rinses! i looove the results from oil rinses too. i mainly do an oil rinse if i didnt pre-poo

protective styles have helped me stay moisturized especially since i use pretty moisturizing stylers. sometimes i use a leave-in, sometimes i dont but u just gotta be patient [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I apply my leave in right after my final rinse! mind you all of the above works for me. i learned all of this from trial and error over the past 9 months! good luck [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Thanks for the great tips Nubie but what exactly are oil rinses? I don't think that was in the handy natural hair dictionary. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

An oil rinse is similar to a pre-poo but after you have cleansed. After cleansing apply your oil mixture to your hair and only the hair.

1. Rinse (or shampoo) your hair
   
2. Generously coat hair in your favorite oil (I've used EVOO, EVCO, Ayurvedic oils.) I divide my hair in sections to make sure my hair is coated good root to tip.
   
3. Rinse with warm water
   
4. Apply conditioner
   
5. Rinse
   
6. Apply leave-in
   
7. Seal and style as usual.
   

Hope this helps.