Protein Moisture Balance 101
Figuring out the right protein moisture balance is one of the biggest struggles most curly girls encounter. It is important to balance a mixture of the two so that hair isn’t weighed down or overly fragile.
CURLY HAIR AND PROTEIN MOISTURE BALANCE
Curly hair is inherently dry, due to the way it sprouts from the scalp. The fact that the strand turns on itself rather than falling straight makes it harder for the natural oils on our scalp to travel down the hair length and keep the hair moisturised. That’s why moisture is absolutely key to healthy, luscious hair, and that’s why this is always the first thing we recommend to focus on when you start your healthy hair journey.
However, protein cannot be overlooked. Protein is what 91% of our hair is made of. It’s what gives it strength and structure. Daily wear breaks down the protein in our hair, and if we don’t replenish the loss with the correct products the hair will become weakened and fragile.
DOES MY HAIR NEED PROTEIN OR MOISTURE?
In order to keep your hair balanced and healthy, you always need to maintain a correct balance of both protein and moisture. It’s like a healthy diet. You need to eat a bit of everything to remain healthy, and so does your hair. Make sure you drink plenty of water and eat enough protein-rich foods to create the right foundation for healthy hair growth.
Everyone’s hair is different, so a protein moisture balanced routine will look different depending on your individual hair porosity. The more porous and damaged your hair is, the more protein-rich products (like the ones in our Strength Recipes) you should use.
IS MY CURRENT ROUTINE BALANCED?
Since every one of us has unique needs in terms of protein moisture balance, you might wonder how to find out if your routine is balanced or if you are using too much of one or the other. Luckily there is an easy test that helps us assess our hair elasticity, which is a direct indicator of protein or moisture overload.
Take a strand of dry hair end gently pull at the sides:
- If your hair stretches gently and bounces back, you are well balanced.
- If the hair doesn’t stretch, or even snaps and breaks, you are in protein overload.
- If the hair keeps stretching without bouncing back, and eventually falls apart, you are in moisture overload.
How to Restore Protein Moisture Balance
Depending on whether you are suffering from protein overload or moisture overload, you will need to use different products. However, each hair journey begins with melting away build up and resetting the hair. For this, we love using our Wash & Scrub Detox Pro-biotic. It includes a very fine scrub that helps to exfoliate any excess residue left on your scalp, as well as pro-biotics that support the microbiome of your scalp, creating the perfect environment for the follicles.
When it comes to fixing protein overload, you’ll want to focus on protein-free products that will help restore your hair’s moisture. We recommend using a deep conditioner, such as our Double Cream Quencher, to achieve ultimate hydration.
Moisture overload requires using protein-rich products that focus on strengthening the hair. Our Strength Recipe collection, including the Bond Curl Rehab Salve will give you just this.
About Curlsmith
We are a gourmet haircare brand that specialises in curly hair. We created an expert range of curl loving products including leave in, deep conditioners, scalp care essentials with kitchen cupboard staples and clean vegan ingredients. Feed your curls and achieve your curly girl goals.
