The Archives: The Merged NW/SO/WO Thread

[LaceyNg]

I've been strict WO since Jan 1, with some time prior to that interrupted with only one diluted shampoo on the roots avoiding the scalp. Yet my hair has still not transitioned. My hair looks like it was styled with hair wax that was never washed off! I'm not so sure what to do. The smell isn't very pleasant I must say. I really want this to work for me but I don't think it will. My scalp produces lots of oil and my hair looks dull at all times. I can hang in a bit longer with the use of hats but I'm very self conscious about my hair not smelling pleasant. I preen, scritch, do the whole thing. Do any of you have some tips to cover the smell without using products that could build up? Thank you.

you may just need some more time, McFearless-- i know for some people it can take months and months for the transition to be fully over :/
i'm having smell issues as well. *I* dont smell anything but the regular sebum-ey smell, but DH says i smell. rose water helps, but the good msell doesnt last more than a few hours. however, it DOES make my hair feel nice, and has given me no buildup

my next plan is to try some EO's mixed with water sprayed on my hair-- either lemon, lemongrass, or a rose something-or-other

Oops- forgot to add that bit in... I used citric acid. I had major smell issues last time around, so am avoiding almost anything that may leave a scent (the occasional EO in water excepted). I like the citric acid rinse- my hair feels much better, but now that is has dried, it is still too waxy to be considered good but it is better. I might do another rinse in a couple of days and see how it feels. I concentrated on scrubbing scalp with the citric acid in, and my ends now feel worse then my scalp! I BBB'd and my BBB still got gummy, but not as much.

I do know from past experience that I could get my hair almost "shampoo clean" with acid rinses (I was using vinegar then) but it is drying. After WO didn't work for me, and I went on a whirlwind adventure trying to find natural products that moisturised. Like some others have mentioned, oils don't seem to absorb into my hair, just sit on top. LOTS of things are cleansing (acid rinses, BS, eggs if you don't have hair that clings onto smells for dear life ) but I am yet to find a natural moituriser that works as effectively as conditioner.

have you thought about rose water? i hate to keep bringing it up over and over, but since you odnt want to use oils i think it woudl be good for you. makes my hair feel softer, for sure!

What completely solved the wax/sebum problem for me was an extremely dilute wash (3 drops prell in a half gallon water). I soaked the hair first in warm water then worked the rinse through followed by a long cold water rinse. I applied 3 drops of MO to length and ends while damp.
I do this every 2 - 3 weeks; no wax, no smell, no fuss.
I realize sls shampoos and reactions to them are why you're here in the first place, but it's very different when diluted this much, it cleanses without stripping.
Most importantly my sebum production has gone way down;
Not much manipulation required anymore. It gets better all the time.

vety interesting, proo! i can see this working well for a lot of other people who want to be WO but have sebum issues!

Bright cadmium yellow. Almost scary.



Sorry, I haven't seen your post; wasn't following the thread for a few weeks.

not a problem at all! thanks for getting back to me! (and WOW, that IS yellow!)

Still going well!
I seem to be able to bring the sebum down my hair a little easier,so it does not appear so stringy! YAY!
So overall I'm happy! I really do love WO!

glad to hear it's going well for you!!!!

So...rinsed my hair, left it bunned and wet, it smelled weird.

Left it overnight.

DH stuck his nose in it this morning and said, "Your hair smells nice"

Me: ???? *sniff sniff*

Hair now dry, and smells...of not much at all.

HOORAY! IT WORKED!

Right, back to washing my hair twice a week if it's lucky.

I love WO, it's a pain getting it started but then, for me at least, it's so low maintenance.

very good to hear! i'll report back after my DH smiff-test too

I'm new to TLHC and I joined because of this thread which I've been lurking for the past 6 weeks. I've been WO for 3 weeks (as of 1Apr12) when I used to S&C every 2 days.
The first week was not great, but WO washing more often and making an effort to massage my scalp made a huge difference. I'm finding it a bit strange that every time I wash I get a different result as my hair is changing. I'm BBBing in sections before washing and using a little jojoba oil on the ends/length to beat the dryness...the other day my hair was (literally)squeaky clean when I detangled post-shower.
Overall I'm liking the WO experience...It's a bit liberating not using products. The things I don't enjoy so far are...
1. I have a side fringe (or bangs whatever you'd like to call them/it) which I used to straighten with blowdrying and straightening iron and I'm struggling to get used to it being curly and sticking out all over the place, so I'm pinning it back more often.
2. It doesn't seem like the sebum is moving down the shaft very fast with BBBing. I'm beginning to get into more preening and using fingers/water in the shower to help it along, but I'm scared about breakage doing this. Or maybe I'm just pulling my hair too hard.
3. I was also hoping/still am hoping that frizz would be less of an issue, but it doesn't seem to go away. Although, today is a fairly good day. Any ideas for frizz tackling other than jojoba which I'm already using? Too much jojoba makes it all oily and limp as expected.
But it's awesome to be here and not alone on my WO journey.

1-- have you thought about wrapping your bangs/fringe? as in, pinning them back while they're wet so that the dry straighter? just a thought
2-- some people use a moist cloth to help drage the sebum down the length with. i keep meaning to try it but havent yet.... i hear its great though
3-- i dont have so much frizz anymore as i do general fly-away hairs that arent yet long enough to stay with the pack. you'd think w/ WO theyd stick to the others more, but they dont. DH actually pointed them out

[LaceyNg]

it figures that as soon as i'm ready to upload my pics, LHC would be having problems

here goes (i hope these show up, i always seem to have trouble posting pics here!)

length shot:


and just some other shots to show color more acurately and show the condition:


(please excuse the flakes!)






this is after about 5 months or WO, these particular shots just after a honey treatment ans WO wash (the next day after it had dried)

[PrairieRose]

LaceyNg...Wow! your hair looks great It really has grown too!

[LaceyNg]

LaceyNg...Wow! your hair looks great It really has grown too!

thank you!

i know it looks longer in some pics rather than others.... but i think part of what actually has made it seem longer to me was trimming off the super thin ends a while back. unfortunately, my growth rate isnt really all that impressive :/

[soniqui]

Jojoba oil is quite waxy and doesn't penetrate the hair shaft well. You could try a more penetrating oil and your hair might like it better. I'd try coconut oil for a while and see if that helps. Then I'd try olive oil for a while and see. Then maybe sunflower and mineral oil. Whichever works best will give you an idea of the kind of oil your hair likes best.

Coconut oil is one of the most penetrating oils and is excellent at reducing hair loss and damage (from UV or hair treatments). Shea and cocoa butters are also high in saturated fats making them pretty penetrating, though less so than coconut oil. Olive, almond, hazelnut, avocado, and canola oils are high in monounsaturated fats and are pretty good at penetrating. Flax seed, safflower, and sunflower oils are high in polyunsaturated fats making them not very penetrating. Jojoba oil, lanolin, (and sebum) are waxy and not very penetrating. Mineral oil is made from hydrocarbons and is not penetrating at all.

I've been researching oils recently! I put more info here.

Thanks for the info, your research is very thorough. I think I'll try Olive Oil as I've already got some in the house. Still a bit hesitant with any oils and will only use tiny amounts at a time. Will let you know how it goes though, as I really don't like the squeaky clean sticking-to-my-fingers-while-i-detangle feel.

I find finger preening before I shower works well for me. I also use my BBB, but I don't think it's enough by itself, at least not in the beginning.

Thanks PrairieRose. I've heard others say the same in the past couple of days so I'm starting to try use my hands more. I definitely agree a BBB alone is not enough.

1-- have you thought about wrapping your bangs/fringe? as in, pinning them back while they're wet so that the dry straighter? just a thought
2-- some people use a moist cloth to help drage the sebum down the length with. i keep meaning to try it but havent yet.... i hear its great though
3-- i dont have so much frizz anymore as i do general fly-away hairs that arent yet long enough to stay with the pack. you'd think w/ WO theyd stick to the others more, but they dont. DH actually pointed them out

Thanks LaceyNG...p.s. your hair is absolutely gorgeous!
1. This is what I actually did today. I don't like the way it looks pinned back but I will see how it goes as it is most likely the best solution.
2. Last two washed I've been just using my bath towel to do this, only it's mostly dry at the time. Maybe I'll try a damper towel and see how that goes too. I'm not sure if towelling too much contributes to my frizz issues, as I've read that it can.
3. Oh dear... That would definitely bother me if my DH commented on my frizz or flyaways. I'm hoping earthnut's oil suggestions may increase my hairs clumpability (it's totally a word), And I know I am still transitioning. End of May is when I'll review the frizz and overall WO feel.

[LaceyNg]

<snip>
Thanks LaceyNG...p.s. your hair is absolutely gorgeous!
1. This is what I actually did today. I don't like the way it looks pinned back but I will see how it goes as it is most likely the best solution.
2. Last two washed I've been just using my bath towel to do this, only it's mostly dry at the time. Maybe I'll try a damper towel and see how that goes too. I'm not sure if towelling too much contributes to my frizz issues, as I've read that it can.
3. Oh dear... That would definitely bother me if my DH commented on my frizz or flyaways. I'm hoping earthnut's oil suggestions may increase my hairs clumpability (it's totally a word), And I know I am still transitioning. End of May is when I'll review the frizz and overall WO feel.

thank you!

do you take the pins out after your bangs are dry, or do you just leave them in? i guess it would be the reverse of heatless-curls. heatless straightening instead

i hear people use microfiber cloths, and only run the hair going downwards, so it actually smoothes out the hair, as opposed to towel drying hair when it gets tossled all every which way usually

i love "clumpability" it DID bother me when DH mentioned it. moreso that he realized, i think. and since i believe most of mine is new growth, theres really nothing i can do but wait. being WO i'm very reluctant to add anything else to my hair, as i'm sure you understand! i admit i'm pretty excited about trying an EO spray though... i just have to figure out how to buy some w/out DH noticing-- i feel like an addict or something! but i know he would say "did that forum tell you to do this?!?!"

[soniqui]

thank you!

do you take the pins out after your bangs are dry, or do you just leave them in? i guess it would be the reverse of heatless-curls. heatless straightening instead

i hear people use microfiber cloths, and only run the hair going downwards, so it actually smoothes out the hair, as opposed to towel drying hair when it gets tossled all every which way usually

i love "clumpability" it DID bother me when DH mentioned it. moreso that he realized, i think. and since i believe most of mine is new growth, theres really nothing i can do but wait. being WO i'm very reluctant to add anything else to my hair, as i'm sure you understand! i admit i'm pretty excited about trying an EO spray though... i just have to figure out how to buy some w/out DH noticing-- i feel like an addict or something! but i know he would say "did that forum tell you to do this?!?!"

I've left the pins in so far today as I'm at work. Will remove and check when I get home. But it probably means I will be able to leave them out tomorrow.

I don't have a microfibre cloth I don't think but I can rummage through some old stuff and see if I can find one. At the moment I flip my head upside down and grab sections with the towel and squeeze from root to tip a few times. I never thought that how I dry my hair could contribute to how it looks when it dries, but I have learned this is definitely true, among the million other things I've learned since deciding to go WO. How do you dry?

I'm lucky in that so far I haven't had any hair smell issues apart from a mild paranoia which causes me to ask DH daily, or sometimes twice daily, "does my hair smell?" So I can understand how you feel. You can bet that if he ever discovers that it does smell bad the first thing I will be getting is some EOs and a spray bottle! I'm excited to hear how your EO experiments go.

[LaceyNg]

I've left the pins in so far today as I'm at work. Will remove and check when I get home. But it probably means I will be able to leave them out tomorrow.

I don't have a microfibre cloth I don't think but I can rummage through some old stuff and see if I can find one. At the moment I flip my head upside down and grab sections with the towel and squeeze from root to tip a few times. I never thought that how I dry my hair could contribute to how it looks when it dries, but I have learned this is definitely true, among the million other things I've learned since deciding to go WO. How do you dry?

I'm lucky in that so far I haven't had any hair smell issues apart from a mild paranoia which causes me to ask DH daily, or sometimes twice daily, "does my hair smell?" So I can understand how you feel. You can bet that if he ever discovers that it does smell bad the first thing I will be getting is some EOs and a spray bottle! I'm excited to hear how your EO experiments go.

i let my hair air dry, 100%. after i turn off the shower i stand there for a minute or so and squeeze out as much water as i can. then i dry my body off and wrap myself in a towel. i just let my hair drip down onto the back of the towel for a bit while i put on face creme, etc. and then even after i get dressed it still drips a bit onto the back of my shirt. after i'm dressed i tilt my head back and use my fingers to gently separate/fluff my hair off of my scalp. if i dont do that my hair just dries looking sort of helmet-like, and doesnt have ANY volume near the roots :/ and then i just leave it be!sometimes when it's 90% dry i'll run my fingers through it to gently de-tangle it a bit, but thats it. when i used conditioner in the past if i combed it while wet my hair would get SUPER straight, and i want to keep as much waviness as possible, so i try not to mess with it too much.

as far as i know, when people use the damp microfiber cloth, they do it on dry hair though.

i asked DH last night if my hair smelled. i'd just done a honey and cinnamon treatment, so to ME it smells delicious. he said the length didnt smell good, just "ok", and that my root area really smelled bad. not like too much cinnamon or anything, but like sweat. i dont smell anything though! i wish so badly that i could smell my own scalp! b/c the length smells just like cinnamon. so i guess off to the store i go, to get some EO! i'll update you guys after a few days or so, once DH has dont another sniff test with the honey, cinnamon, and lemon i'm going to smell like a cookie. a DELICIOUS cookie

[Bedhead]

LOL!! Yeah, sometimes it comes in handy if you can make up your own story by not speaking the language Funny that you have the patience to watch videos in a language you don't understand ...

Yes it can.
I actually live somewhere that is definitely not the culture I grew up in and very few of my friends speak English as a first language. I'm also attempting to learn two languages, one of which is the primary language here (not German though), so I'm kind of used to it.

As for the events on my head - I washed (with rhassoul) today, and it feels as though the pimples are already receeding... As I'm not particularly dogmatic about my hair routine I'm still quite happy about the fact that I went 9 days without washing and with my hair looking quite ok. All I need to figure out is what's plugging up my scalp...

I'm wondering if you have high acidity. Have you considered your diet as far as acid vs. alkaline (ph level)? Maybe it's all that nutella and pancakes you've got going on over there?

As a little girl I always dreamt of being a pirate. I associated it with utter freedom and lots of travelling and adventures. Later in life I came to love the music of Kurt Weill (The three penny opera) and so piratejenny seemed a fitting screen name.
</hijack>

Ah ha! Aye! Aye! Piratejenny! I hope you follow your dreams of far off lands!

[Bedhead]

Checking in.... My hair has continued to do well. I ate tomatoes, though, a couple days ago, and I'm allergic to tomatoes, so both my skin and my hair reflected this. There was a subtle but higher level of sebum that wasn't quite as nice smelling as it has been for the past week, but it was what it smelt like before last weeks sudden shift - luckily that lasted only a day and a half and it's back to smelling pretty again.

As it is now, my hair is smooth and soft, maybe a bit too smooth - I've been having trouble keeping my buns in because it's so smooth (I use a stick). but I'm not complaining.

I realised I've gotten to a point where this hair care regime has become part of my normal rhythm and routine i.e. it's not such a big deal anymore, and feels more natural. I've gotten used to my hair texture too. I've decided it feels like a really soft expensive paintbrush; that seems to be the best description for it.

This spring has brought , once more, a shedding spree, only this year instead of hundreds of hair, possibly close to 500 at times during the shedding season, it means tonight my cleansing of my hair resulted in the loss of about 10 hairs (it's possible there's a few more I didn't see). And since I have a lot more baby hairs, yet again, in comparison, I'm looking forward to having all my hair back again, and can't wait until it grows into the length - so far they're about 6" long and shorter.

Anyway, all is good on this corner of the world! I'm thinking about writing a mini-blog about my SO experience.