Products make hair rough while wet but moisturized when dry

I have tried a few products that immediately after I put on don’t really make my hair soft, but a bit rough and dry to the touch. But somehow once my hair is dry it feels soft and d moisturized. At first I didn’t have high hope for these products. But found myself pleasantly surprised when my hair dried. The two products that do this the most are Kinky curly knot today and Shea moisture curl enhancing smoothie. The only thing I can think of is that my hair doesn’t like some of the ingredients but I really don’t know what’s going on.

I mean I do seal after I put in a leave in but that’s about it. Normally I use olive oil, castor oil, jojoba oil or hemp seed butter. I wonder if the seal aspect helps protect my hair against the dryness or what.

Has this happened to anyone else before? Does anyone know what causes this? Is there anything I can do to combat this problem

Products that are heavy with emollients like oils and butters do that. Oil and water repel each other so you get kind of a stiff coating while the oil is sitting on your wet hair unable to penetrate. As your hair dries though, the water on the surface evaporates and lets the oil sink in. All of the oil cannot be absorbed...what's left on the outside gives your hair that soft coating.

Softness is directly related to what you've put on your hair. It may not feel exactly as soft as you want during every stage of the wash process, but as long as you like the look and feel of the end result, you're good to go!

Thanks! I thought my hair was broken or something because I had never really experienced the dry rough feeling while wet and soft while dry.