Sunday, February 27, 2011

My Aphogee 2 Step Protein Experience...



Well...well...well! Okay, so I have been hearing about this protein vs. moisture thing for months now. For the most part, I thought my hair was equally balanced, but I am new to this so I wasn't completely sure. I've been using a lot of moisture rich products, so I thought...what the heck, maybe I should do a protein treatment. So a few months ago I tried Aphogee 2 minute protein treatment(which is a light treatment) and everything went fine! So a few days ago I got the "genius" idea to "kick it up a notch" and try an even harder protein treatment...the infamous Aphogee 2 Step protein treatment. This stuff has been known to make chemically treated and damaged hair bounce back to perfect health. It has also been known to make healthy hair fall out..yikes! Now, I don't have any damage. However, I DO have relaxed ends left on my head, so I thought a nice protein treatment would help keep my ends strong. Especially since I am a long term transitioner, and I need to keep those bad boys around until I am ready to cut them off. But anywho, so I tried the treatment a few days ago, and it led to a major "Oh hello no!" moment! This is how it went down...

It was a pretty simple procedure. I washed my hair as normal with Aussie moist 2 in 1 shampoo, and then applied the Aphogee 2 step to my wet hair. The treatment was very runny and I had to use 2 packs on my hair. OMG, it was soooooooo funky too! It smelled like pickled pig's feet mixed with dog poop, vomit, and spoiled milk. Yes...it was that bad! But I pushed on through it for the sake of beauty. Once I applied the product, I got under the hooded hair dryer for about 45 minutes to an hour. The treatment dried VERYYYYY hard. It was LITERALLY as hard as cement, and you could probably knock on it. My hair definitely felt like something other than hair...it was weird. In fact, it was so hard, that touching it could cause the strands to break in two.

I then rinsed the product out in the shower only to find that it left my hair feeling horrible! I certainly had an "Oh hell no!" moment right then and there lol! My hair felt very hard, but I thought that doing a moisture treatment would bring it back to normal. So I immediately did the Aphogee moisture treatment that came with the protein treatment. The moisture treatment did NOTHING for my hair. It still felt like crap! So I then tried a doing an extreme moisture treatment by Ion(which smelled like heaven btw). I left the Ion treatment on for a few hours, and only to rinse it out and discover that it also did nothing for my hair. My hair was still just as hard as it was immediately after the protein treatment. I then decided to use my staple product, Aussie 3 minute miracle deep conditioner. This product has never failed me, and it leaves my hair feeling like silk everyyyyy time. Well, that didn't work either! I decided to just detangle my hair the best I could and move on.

Detangling was HORRIBLE! My hair was so tangled and etc. It was never like this before! I can normally comb it with my fingers and be good to go in less than two minutes flat. This time it took like 5 minutes or more to comb through, and it still wasn't fully detangled. I also lost a lot of hair trying to comb through it. I was going to just wear my hair in a wet bun, but my curls were not themselves. They were hard, shriveled and dry looking lol. I then decided that the best way to style it was to just flat iron it. Whew!


So, I flat ironed it and it has been okay since. It feels a bit more "textured" than normal, but looks nice in this state. I will NEVER do another Aphogee 2 step treatment again. I guess my hair just doesn't need hard core protein like that. I will probably have to do several deep conditioning moisture treatments in the future to get my hair balanced again...sigh! I will keep you all posted on how this goes on my next wash day!

11 comments:

  1. Hello Martina. I am completely natural. I too had heard of the Aphogee Protein 2 step as the miracle cure. I washed my hair with my Giovanni shampoo applied the protein and sat under the dryer for 30-45 minutes. My hair was beyond recognizable. The detangling process was a nightmare. Not to mention the loss of strands. YIkes!! I've heard of another protein conditioner call Rapunzel. I'll be trying that next. I don't believe its as harsh. So many friends of mine have tried this and sing its praises. I'll keep you posted.

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  2. Make your hair look good by adding nutrients.

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  3. OMG i just did this treatment for the first time yesterday and the EXACT same thing happened to my hair... i'm so disappointed that i want to cry thinking about how much of my hair came out while combing and how dry it is!!! :'( NEVER EVER again!!! I'm with you on this!

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  4. I too tried this product and it left my hair dry and gummy. I just decided to try before I dyed my hair plus I wanted to heal the breakage but it made it worse

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  5. Just a suggestion:

    Mistake number one was using Aussie 2 in 1 shampoo. It contains dimethicone which leaves a film on the hair.
    If you are going to do a treatment of any kind, start with clean hair. Use a shampoo that removes all build up. Then do the treatment, and finish with a moisturizing conditioner with or without a cone in it.

    Of course it could just be that the treatment you need is a less intense one that contains more emollients.

    To Anonymous: You can not "heal" breakage. The ends need to be cut off and freshened up. Then you'll need to balance your protein to moisture for your hair. Normally, hair will feel gummy from being overly damaged. In which case the only solution is to lay off whatever it is that is causing the damage. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize, and use a moisturizing conditioner with some protein in it to give your hair a good dose of balance between protein and moisture. The protein treatment should have been done a week or two before coloring your hair.

    Nothing you put on your hair will repair any damage. It's like putting concealer on a pimple. It's a temporary solution. You can help prevent, and maintain.

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  6. Why did you use two packets? That seems like it would only cause the solution to be more concentrated which is probably why your hair was super hard. I agree with the above anon that using a shampoo with a -cone in it was a bad idea. Hair needs to be clean. No cones.

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  7. Please please please, no one (african american hair) use the aphogee treatment. It is cheap and your hair will break off. My hair has been in recovery mode since a hair stylist used that crap on me. The good news is that I have a new head of hair only because the old fell off or broke off with aphogee. Use any kind of moisture treatment. No protein.

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  8. I think you may have left it in too long only 10 to 15 minutes should do it....

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  9. My results were nothing like that. I used it for the first time & loved it. I used Pantene for natural hair then I did an apple cider rinse. After that I used the protein treatment. I combed it through my hair with a wide tooth comb then used a regular hand dryer (cause I don't have a hooded one) I may have dried it for no longer than 15 minutes. It didn't take that long for it to dry. Perhaps 30-40 minutes was too long. Then I rinsed it out completely. My hair was already soft even before I used the 2nd step. Not sure if you are willing to give it a 2nd chance. if not, I understand.

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  10. I used the Aphoghee 2 in 1 today and I love it. I am completely natural with a medium afro, and my hair was not feeling like itself, so I took a trip to the local beauty supply store. The clerk recommended the 2 in 1 and warned me of the stench. After going online and reading both pros and cons about the product, I decided to give it a go. Yes it stinks! Yes it hardened my hair! Yes, after I rinsed off step one, I felt a film on my hair, but it says that the protein fuses to the shaft, so I have it a second rinse to be sure I got it all. BUT I loved step two! The feel, the scent and the final rinse. I finished my hair with my usual shea butter and braids. I took before and after pics, which I will probably put on FB, BUT I am very pleased with the product. I guess every product doesn't work for everybody.

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  11. Maybe your hair don't need hard protein treatments? For some people it's enough with light protein like mayo, eggs, mane n tail. I actually wanted to try it but I think I'll skip. It's not worth the risk lol

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