By Toia Barry

Within the natural hair world, we tend to talk a lot about moisture. And yes, moisture is very important for textured hair, especially tighter curls and kinks. But we don’t want to rule out another factor in the health of your natural hair: protein.

Hair is largely made up of a protein called keratin, and there are factors that contribute to protein loss that you may not be aware of. While it’s not hard to tell when your hair is thirsty, you may not be quite sure when your hair is in need of protein. If you have asked yourself, “Does my hair need protein or moisture?” you have come to the right place. To help you out, we've listed five signs that you need to include a protein treatment in your hair regimen.

To help you out, we've listed five signs that you need to include a protein treatment in your hair regimen.

Hair Feels Gummy

Not sure how to tell if your hair needs protein? If you've ever been in the process of wash day and felt that your hair was a little TOO soft, almost mushy feeling, then this is a telltale sign that your hair is going through hygral fatigue. Essentially, your hair is over-moisturized. Strands that feel gummy and limp need protein to help to strengthen them.

Loss of Elasticity

When it comes to learning how to know if your hair needs protein, check its elasticity. A loss of elasticity can also be a consequence of over-moisturizing the hair. Again, while moisture is important, there needs to be a balance of moisture and protein, especially with curly hair. Healthy hair strands will return to their natural state after being stretched. If you find that your hair doesn't spring back to its normal state, or that it snaps when you stretch it, then your hair is lacking strength. Mielle’s Babassu Oil & Mint Deep Conditioner gives you the moisture-protein balance that you need to heal dry strands, while also infusing it with strength to prevent hair breakage.

High Porosity Levels

High porosity hair takes in and releases moisture quickly due to gaps that are present in their outer layer. This leads to curly hair that tends to feel dry shortly after being moisturized. A protein treatment can help to temporarily fill in those gaps to strengthen the strands and allow them to hold moisture longer. The almond component of our Mint Almond Oil is a protein that binds to the hair strand and seals in moisture, making it perfect for hair with high porosity.

Color Treatments

We know how important regularly moisturizing and deep conditioning color-treated hair is to prevent hair breakage, but protein is especially important for hair in this state as well. Color-treated hair is highly porous and more susceptible to damage. Strengthen it by implementing hair protein-infused products like those mentioned above.

Excessive Hair Breakage

As you may know, shedding is a natural part of the life of hair. We can lose up to 100 strands per day naturally. But if you find that you're losing hair that isn't coming from the root (has a white bulb at the end), then this is breakage, and it needs attention if you want to prevent hair loss. Breakage could be a result of lack of protein as much as a lack of moisture, and, again, can be linked to elasticity issues. Regular protein can prevent this unnecessary hair loss.

Does your hair show signs that it needs hair protein?

Start rebuilding it today and support natural healthy hair with Mielle Organics hair products!