I am relaxed, (bone straight). I love AO HSR!!
If u have been in braids for 6 weeks, I would think you probably need a good protein treatment. My hair would mush up too just a few days post protein treatment. I was so scared of overload, I would not use the light treatments often enough. I keep a little pocket calendar to keep track of everything and I was using light protein every 2-3 weeks. It was NOT enough. When I upped it to once a week, it really turned my hair around.
Also, to help combat dryness, I searched for the perfect leave-in, and one night, deciding to use up all the conditioners I had sitting around from my early PJ days, I started just using dc's that I had tried and were just "ok, but not great" as a leave in. When I discovered AO HSR, that's all I want to dc with. I LOVE using the dc's as a leave-in!! i just use a quarter-sized amount and seal with EVCO. LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!
It really turned my scraggly ends around and uses up all this stuff I have.
What protein treatment(s) are you using?