Hair Protein vs Moisture: Find the Right Balance
Just like you need water to stay hydrated, and protein to build and repair muscles, your hair needs the same! Moisture keeps your hair hydrated and improves elasticity, and protein strengthens and repairs your hair.
Balancing the moisture and protein level can be a difficult task just like consuming a healthy and balanced diet.
Moisture
“Moisture” is probably the most dominant word, when it comes to getting healthy hair. Moisture hydrates the hair shaft, contributing to its flexibility and elasticity. Hydrated hair is less prone to breakage, split-ends, and dryness.
Moisturizing ingredients to look for are humectants (glycerin, aloe vera, panthenol, etc) and emollients (oils, butters, and fatty alcohols like cetyl alcohol). You will quickly realize that all hair products contain moisturizing ingredients.
The wavy, curly, and coily hair type requires a lot of moisture due to the curling texture making it difficult for natural oils on the scalp to travel down the hair and hydrate the hair lengths. Others are highly porous and coarse hair.
Protein
Hair is made out of 91% protein giving it strength and structure. The protein of our hair can be damaged by stresses such as coloring, chemical treatments, heat styling, sun, etc. Not to worry, some of the damage can be reversed by introducing protein-rich hair products.
You can identify protein ingredients simply by looking for “protein” in the name, others are amino acids, keratin, and peptides. What is important to notice is where the protein ingredient is located in the ingredient list. Among ⅓ of the ingredient list means high protein level, ⅔ balanced in moisture and protein, and blow is very low in protein.
Fine, highly porous, color-treated, and damaged hair is often the one needing the most protein.
Moisture or Protein Overload
Moisture Overload
Your hair feels overly soft, fluffy, mushy, and is very elastic. If you have natural curls, they will be less defined and limp. Frizz and especially wet-frizz are common.
Stretch Test: Take a dry hair strand and gently pull in each side, opt to wrap it around your fingers for extra grip. If your hair keeps stretching and does not bounce back, you have moisture overload.
Resolution: Use products with protein until your hair is balanced. Pause your deep conditioning, use a conditioner and leave-in conditioner / curl cream with protein.
Protein Overload
Your hair feels stiff, crunchy, rough to the touch, and looks dull. If you have natural curls, they will be more defined but very frizzy. You experience a lot of breaking and shedding.
Stretch Test: Take a dry hair strand and gently pull in each side, opt to wrap it around your fingers for extra grip. If your hair stretches a little and breaks, you have protein overload.
Resolution: Use products without protein and deep condition until your hair is balanced.
Balanced
Your hair is strong and hydrated. It is shiny, soft, bouncy, frizz-free, and doesn’t break easily.
Stretch Test: Take a dry hair strand and gently pull in each side, opt to wrap it around your fingers for extra grip. If your hair stretches gently and bounces back, you are well balanced.
Keep up the good work and balance! Use conditioners and hair masques balanced in moisture and protein. Deep condition and experience with leave-in conditioners or curl creams with protein.
# PRO TIP: Do the stretch test before every hair wash to adjust the hair products in your routine to moisture and protein.
How to find the right products?
The answer is easy: the Compar App. In the app, our AI hair care advisor will help you identify your unique hair features and suggest the right products for your hair from a variety of brands in all price ranges. Download the app and let the perfect match find you!
