8 Weeks Post Relaxer: Maintaining A Moisture And Protein Balance

For this wash day, I changed my regimen up a little because (drum roll) I did a protein treatment. I felt it was time. I've been focusing on moisture a lot and protein only a little, so I wanted to do a hard protein treatment now and another one the week before I get a relaxer touch-up several weeks from now. This way I can help balance my moisture and protein levels.

Related read: Why You Should Infuse Protein Into Your Hair Routine

Also, this wash day had to happen quickly as I got started at 9 pm. My church was celebrating its 14-year anniversary this week and being a church officer and choir member I was at church just about every night during the week and would be there a large portion of the weekend.

The good news is I was able to get everything done in about three hours, including sitting under my hooded dryer for an hour.

Here are the specifics:

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Prep

Before applying my pre-poo I sectioned my relaxed hair into four two-strand twists - two twists in the back and one on each side. To prepare for my protein treatment I read posts from other relaxed hair bloggers to get application tips and tricks. Most of the relaxed hair bloggers I follow section their hair and recommend doing it to make the entire wash day process easier.

Pre-poo

For my pre-poo, I opted to not do a deep condition but instead do a hot oil mix with sunflower oil, coconut oil, and green tea. After applying the mix I went over each section with Suave Natural Infusions Moisturizing Conditioner and wore my Hot Head Microwavable Deep Conditioning Cap for 20 minutes.

Cleansing

After 20 minutes I left my hair cool while I put together my shampoo mix of SheaMoisture African Black Soap Deep Cleansing Shampoo and Eden BodyWorks Jojoba Moisturizing Shampoo and diluted it with some water. I used the last of the SheaMoisture shampoo, so I think I'll purchase their Jamaican Black Castor Oil shampoo and see if I like it better than the Black Soap as a clarifying shampoo.

Protein treatment

For my protein treatment, I used the Aphogee Two-step Treatment. I put it in a spray bottle which is the application method I recommend. After spraying on the treatment I sat under my hooded dryer for 15 minutes.

In posts I've read about this treatment bloggers said their hair felt hard when it dried, I can't say the same for me. My hair didn't feel hard, but it felt stiff. Nevertheless, I didn't manipulate it at all. I let my hair cool for a couple of minutes and then stepped into the shower to rinse. The result was my hair felt heavier than normal which I took as a positive result that the treatment was a success.

Condition/deep condition

Despite the bad reviews I read I used the Aphogee Balancing Moisturizer that came with the treatment. As the reviews predicted it was terribly ineffective. I was prepared though and had my Eden BodyWorks Jojoba Deep Conditioner ready. For deep conditioning, I sat under my hooded dryer for about 10 minutes and then rinsed with cool water.

Drying

Since it was now about 11 pm I applied my leave-ins Eden BodyWorks Coconut Shea Leave-In Conditioner and Thermafuse HeatSmart Serum. Then I sat under my hooded dryer for an hour. My roots were still a little damp (the story of my life), but I cross-wrapped my hair and went to bed.

The results

In the morning my hair felt good and there was very little shedding. To style it I did two braids on each side of my head and pinned them up on the opposite side.

                                                         

What was your first heavy protein treatment experience like?