Aphogee Protein Treatment - VIDEO!!

FINALLY!!! I did the review a few months ago (yea I know, I'm slow!) but I've finally gotten around to edit the video.  I really wasn't familiar with the editing process back then but I felt a little more confident today to give you guys a look at my process.  It really wasn't hard (the application) but you have to be quite careful because this is meant to be a professionally applied product.  With all that being said, I think I did pretty well. 

Part One - Preparation!

I followed Empress Ri's tutorial, although there were several out on YouTube that I looked at, namely Taren916.  She had a reason for everything she did, and she has a lot of hair...way more than myself, but I know I wouldn't have been able to successfully attempt a full head application all at one time.  So break it up in sections, use a spray bottle, and start with the BACK of your head.  I picked up from Taren to be careful of what you're wearing when you apply the product...your hair will get rock hard and you do not want to have to try and pull a shirt over your head!  And wearing a towel around your neck is a good idea, but remove it before blow-drying because the towel will stick to your skin/hair and again, you don't want to manipulate the hair once the protein has dried. 

 Part 2 - Application

The point of me doing this protein treatment was to see if it helped reduce shedding and strengthen my hair.  I felt this was accomplished by the protein treatment, but I would only do this again if necessary.  If you're experiencing severe breakage and have evaluated how you are managing your hair, this may be a good option for you.  But don't expect it to work if you don't follow the instructions explicitely.  And PLEASE follow this up with a good moisturizing deep conditioner.  You will also need to go through your products to make sure you're not adding any extra protein in your regimen.  You've just done a full strength protein treatment, any more and your hair WILL BREAK OFF!!  Just a word to the wise :) Anywho, I hope this helps guys! 

Lisa Michelle

Protein Treatment (pt 2)

So I wanted to elaborate on the protein treatment that I did yesterday...man I'm still pooped!! I think I was pretty successful with recording the steps that I took before, during, and post treatment, and I'm getting a kick out of watching them :) Not quite sure I'm ready to post tonight, but maybe tomorrow once I've played with them on Windows Live Movie Maker (if anyone is familiar with this program PLEASE let me know...I am NOT an editor!)

These are the steps that I took in order to do the protein treatment:

1) Because my hair was a hot mess I had to co-wash and detangle before I could do ANYTHING else

HOT mess :/

 2) In order to detangle I separated my hair into 4 sections, then again into smaller sections in order to detangle with as much ease as possible

Sectioned

 3) I saturate each section with conditioner, and detangle starting from the ends and working my way to the roots.  I used my shower comb first, then the Denman D83

With conditioner

4) Once my hair was detangled, I shampooed each section 2-3 times with a clarifying shampoo.  I coated the bottom 2/3s with conditioner and focused the shampoo on the scalp, and only on the last pass through did I use shampoo on all of my hair

Squeaky clean hair!

5) I used a spray bottle to distribute the protein treatment into one section at a time, and this really helped make the product spread through my hair.  The protein is VERY STICKY and has a not so pleasant odor.  DO start at the back of your head and work your way forward (especially if you're doing sections) and work quickly because it sets kinda fast.  I did use my shower comb to quickly for better distribution.

Applying the protein treatment

6) Once the product is distributed blow dry each section until hair is hard.  It gets ROCK HARD and there's no way you can not tell it's done...ever baked cookies too long?  Yea, your hair will be that hard! And do not, DO NOT try to mess with your hair once it's done (I did push mine around a bit but don't try to separate it or your hair can break)

Stiff hair with protein in

7) I stood under the shower for probably 5 minutes and let the water penetrate my hair and rinse the protein out...I didn't want to take any chances!  Only when my hair started feeling softer did I manipulate the hair, making sure all of the protein was rinsed out before applying the Balancing Moisturizer (step 2 of the 2-step process)  That was supposed to stay on for 2 minutes, but I think I left it on closer to 10 minutes (again, not taking no chances!)

Freshly rinsed

8) I co-washed and finger detangled with my Suave conditioner again, rinsed, then applied my Honey Suckle Rose as a deep conditioner. I let that stay on for about 20 minutes (I would've prefered to have left it on longer but I was sleepy lol!)

With Honey Suckle Rose

9) I thoroughly rinsed my hair, turning the water temp as cool as I could stand to close the cuticle and lock in the moisture.  This step really does help, and it feels good too after being in a hot/warmer shower

Twisted up

So there you have it!  I pretty much followed the instructions on the package, plus added some tips from the ladies in YouTube land and I can say I was pretty pleased with the results.  While detangling I could already feel a difference in the strength of my hair, it stretched without breaking, it was soft and bouncy, and I had way less shedding.  The product says it will continue to strenghten your hair for up to 6 weeks, so maybe I'll try it again in October (say, once a quarter)  After the process I put in 7 braids (2 front left, 2 front right, 3 in the back).  I used Kinky Curly Knot Today as my base, then used Karen's Body Beautiful Butter Love on top (coco mango scent is great, was smelling my hair ALL DAY!) and I sealed the ends with my Jamaican Black Castor Oil (if you don't know you better ask somebody...it really is thebomb.com!) This combination left my hair feeling soft, smooth, and smelling good!  I'll leave these twists in until tomorrow, maybe I'll take them down Friday.  I'll moisturize tonight with more KBB butter love, spray a little Darcy's Botanicals Coconut & Hibiscus conditioning oil on my scalp, and seal the ends again with the JBCO.  That's all I got for now folks

Have you had experience with a protein treatment?

Lisa Michelle ;)

Protein Treatment (pt 1)

It's late but I just couldn't go to sleep without at least putting a little something down about my "project". I've been contemplating doing a protein treatment after watching Richeau (Empress Ri) and Taren916 post about their experiences on YouTube (yes, I said I was a YouTube junkie!) Well, I bought the Aphogee 2-Step treatment almost a couple weeks back but just now was brave enough to try it. After seeing how crazy it looks (and about how bad it smells) I was none too enthused, but figured if it could help strengthen my hair then what the heck!

My little adventure actually started last night when I shampooed my hair. I used Suave Clarifying shampoo because I needed my hair to be thoroughly clean, as per instructions on the Aphogee treatment. I don't miss the feeling of stripped hair, although it was clean, it just felt weird! But clean lol!

My hair was ROUGH!!

With shampoo, detangled w/ Denman

After Shampoo

My Hair!

I did a video showing this stage but I'm still trying to get over my nerves...something about watching myself on video is strange and I'm not real sure about editing either.  But I used my handy dandy shower comb and my new Denman D83 brush to detangle so that was pretty cool.  I must say, although I love the ability to detangle a larger section of hair at a time, the balls on the end of the teeth can be rough on your hair.  I experienced that a few times while detangling, so I think I'll use the shower comb first, and then follow with the Denman, carefully!  That's all I can muster tonight, but I will add the remainder of my protein treatment experience tomorrow.