deep condition vs. re-constructor?

They're different.

Reconstructors deposit protein onto severely damaged hair.  They help rebuild the hair shaft from the inside out.  You need a reconstructor if your hair is frizzy when dry, gummy and stringy when wet.  Reconstructors will leave the hair feeling slightly dryer from the protein deposits, but isn't a damaged dry.

Deep conditioners help smooth cuticles down and moisturise your hair--so they are always required after a session of reconstructing.  You need a deep conditioner if your hair feels dry to the touch and snaps when it's pulled.

A good test for damaged/dry hair is to take a strand and pull between two fingers until it breaks.  If the ends of the hair curl when it's broken, it's relatively healthy inside and should only need a bit of deep conditioning.  If the ends of the hair remain relatively straight when broken, there is damage that needs reconstructing.

wait are all reconstructors necessarily labeled "re-condtructors"?
Because I just used cholesterol protein creme and my hair went from just snapping to snapping then curling. And it had that dry after effect too.
I'm just wondering because I have a abundance of products in my shelf that say protein but no re-contructors.

How curly are we talking? I tried the pulling apart hair test and it did more a wavy or kink, did not stay straight though.

From what I read, a healthy hair should curl under itself at the point of the break.  If it goes kinky or wavy, it's a bit damaged and if it stays straight it's very damaged.

Roxy, any protein treatment should help reconstruct the hair, as it will deposit protein onto the cuticles.

I have bleach-damaged hair, so when I was in Boots yesterday, I decided to buy some
Dark and Lovely cholesterol conditioner from the Afro-hair section - it's £1 something, abd you only need a tiny, tiny bit because it's fairly heavy. The results were really good, it smells a bit chemical, but you don't notice when it's dry 🙂 or just slather mayonnaise and olive oil on your hair. 🙂

And now I've re-read your post, I can see you've already used it. 😛

One more question I think:

Do you use a re-constructor before or after you dye your hair a new color? (over already bleached hair)

I wouldn't do it right before dying the hair with a semi, as any product on the hair (even natural oils) will create a barrier and the dye won't penetrate.

But I do use it once every couple weeks to keep my hair in good condition.

When you use a re constructor it can leave your hair a bit dry or so as people say but can you use a deep conditioner or just a conditioner straight after the re constructor?

Yes, I always deep condition right after reconstructing : 3

Thank you! Imma give it a go tonight!

i just tried that strand test and mine went curled!
never knew that meant it was healthy
so woo loads of exrtreme and intensive conditioners worked in a month lol

ah cool Ive tried that and my hair curled so even after the 2 bleaches and colours its ok 😀

I recently tried this test at two different points on my hair--when I pulled it apart on the ends, it went a bit kinked, but farther up it curled under.  So the ends still need some love.

It's made me decide not to bleach the bottom of my lengths and mix my leftover cupcake with my turquoise for dip dye purple on the bottom.  (Which I was thinking of doing anyway, but it's strengthened the decision.)