Combating Dryness

Recently, I've experienced some dryness.  My texture has changed from moisturized to a frizzie dry mess.  I wondered what I had done differently and what new products or new mixtures I was using on my hair for it to react this way.  The first thing I thought it was my products that had glycerin as an ingredient.  I immediately rushed home and put all my homemade products that I add glycerin to in the freezer.  Then I mixed a bottle of aloe vera juice and castor oil to see if that would add the needed moisture along with a cream I made weeks ago for the LOC method.  I tried my mixture for two days to no avail. My hair still felt and looked dry and crunchy.  WHAT COULD IT BE? Then I realized it must be this cream I made out of a hair milk and an Aloe Vera Jelly.  That had to be it.  That is the only thing I did differently this month.

The Aloe Vera Jelly had the following Ingredients: Organic Aloe Vera Juice, Vegetable Glycerin, Witch Hazel, Phenoxyethanol, Carbomer, Triethanolamine, Tetrasodium EDTA, Citric Acid

Witch Hazel is a natural astringent known to remove excess oil, Phenenoxyethanol is a preservative, Carbomer  is a thickening agent and emulsion stabilizer, Triethanolamine is an emulsifier and surfactant, Tetrasodium makes hard water become soft and Citric Acid is a common ingredient used as a preservative.  

Most of the ingredients listed in this jelly are preservatives, emulsifiers and thickeners. Witch hazel is known to remove excess oil.  Although research indicates witch hazel is not damaging to the hair, it can remove the natural oils and added oils needed to keep my hair moisturized.  

Another ingredient that may cause a problem is Vegetable Glycerin. Glycerin is a humectant and draws moisture from the air.  Supposedly, if there is no moisture in the air, it draws moisture from your hair leaving it dry.  I've used glycerin since I became natural and have never noticed dryness.  This maybe due to the fact that I live in the state of Florida which is known for it's humidity.  Since the weather is cooler in Florida in November, i've limited my use of glycerin simply because the humidity is significally less now due to the cooler weather. 

I learned a valuable lesson.  "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".  What I was doing with my hair was working perfectly fine.  I just wanting to mix a cremey "leave in" that I didn't have to refrigerate.  In reality, I should have just stuck to what was already working for my hair.  Not everything will work for your hair. At the first sign of dryness, figure what you have done differently that could be causing the dryness.  Not all homemade or semi homemade products will work on your hair.  I had no problem throwing my mixture away because its absolutely did not work on my hair.