5th) Protein vs. Moisture: Make it or break it

As I've showed you before, on my 4th #CurlyFriendTip the right amount of protein and of moisture is key to perfect curls. Therefore, the question is: what is the right amount. Oh curly... I wish I knew!

Anyway, let us start from the begining:

1) What are the key variables that may influence my hair?

1.1.) It's enrichement in the 2 components: protein and moisture;

1.2.) It's porosity: note that the time the components take to get inside or out the hair strings is related to the amount and size of hair pores (tiny wholes on hair surface);

1.3.) The season: the needs of my hair in terms of moisture actually vary with the season (e.g. during winter time my hair needs way more moisture than in spring).

2) What are those components and what are they good for in my hair?

- Proteins are complexes made of amino acids that can be found in hair strings and are responsible for giving it its shape. As they are big rigid molecules it is harder from them to penetrate and leave the string pores;

- Moisture is a subjective concept that can be seen as a mix of water and oils. They are responsible for the softness and flexibility of the hair strings. Hence the fact that we're talkig about fluids, they can enter and leave the string more easily.

3) What can be my hairs signs when it has to much of either one of those components?

3.1.) To much protein:

- weird curls that refuse to bind to their equals converging to a FRIZZY MESS

- dull hair

- brittle strings

- at some point, if the protein amount is way to much of if the proteins I am putting in are too heavy, my hair can become weightened down. This is why some straighting techiniques are made using keratin which is a heavy structural protein.

3.2.) To much moisture:

- looser curls that can easily turn into waves

- shiny hair

- to flexible strings

As you can see by now, one can only achieve perfect bouncy curls if the have just the perfect balance going on.

For me, finding that perfect balance is just like walking on a thin wire on top of a 100 feet building - one step wrong and forget it! - Well, perhaps less dramatic, but you know what I mean!

4) So what do I exactly do to try and keep that balance?

Now that is winter, I know my hair snuggles with fuzzy sweaters and gets all frizzy, besides the cold and dry wether, so I know I need to enforce the moisture.

Therefore:

4.1.) Every washday I'll do a moisturizing masque such as Cantu's deep treatment masque - This is my holy rule - and then style using products with protein.

4.2.) Every other week I'll do a protein masque to make sure that the curl pattern is mantained and style the hair with products enriched in water or glycerin (instead of protein).

Of course this timelines will always depend on what my hair needs so I may vary the treatments according to what I feel is necessary.

I know this is some dense reading but it was the simplest I could do that was also complete enough to explain you everything about this very demanding relationship. If you have any questions and/or thoughts on this feel free to come and ask me!

Remember that what works for my hair may fail to work in yours but the key to sucess is to always listen to your own curls!

Thank you for reading the all thing!

Hope to help you Curly!