Adjusting to fewer washings...

[CaityBear]

I'll just use my situation or else it'd take forever for me to explain properly...

So I started CO washing ... before Christmas? And I'm trying wash my hair less and less, but I'm having problems. I think I've already had an oily scalp, but people say if you keep doing it, your scalp will eventually adjust.

Does that happen for everybody? Or am I just one whose scalp will not adjust to fewer washings?

So far I can barely go two days, on the second day my scalp is looking a bit greasy but I can usually hide it, but I'm trying to only wash every second day.

Will my scalp ever adjust?

[praia98]

Yes, it takes awhile. Make sure you are rubbing the scalp well when co'ing and rinsing. Rinse more than you think you need to. Some people feel an ACV rinse helps.
Also, try C-COW-C which I really like. It's wetting the hair, applying co to the length, and washing the scalp with diluted shampoo and co, rinsing and then condition.

[icydove]

You may need to change conditioners or adjust how you CO wash to get better results. However, my scalp took a while to adjust. It took about 6 months for me to go from every other day to every third day, but then it adjusted more quickly after that. I used to have majorly oily hair. I can easily go over a week now without being oily, but my scalp prefers to be washed more often than that.

[ChloeDharma]

To cope with oily days what about brushing with a BBB to distribute the oil down the hair then wearing an updo?

Also have you tried oiling your scalp? Jojoba is apparently good for sebum balancing as is Ylang Ylang EO so adding that might be an idea.....also adding it to your conditioner might help too (plus it smells lovely )

[CaityBear]

I make sure to rub it into my scalp really good and I rinse really well. I'm always afraid I haven't done it good enough so I do it extra good.

I don't have a BBB yet. We don't have them in my town So I have to wait until I get somewhere else. Grr. But I'm looking into it.

So I guess I might just have to be even more patience.

I think I ordered some Ylang Ylang so if I did then I'll have to try that and see what happens.

[Delila]

Well, I tried and tried a ton of different conditioners and methods of CO'ing, and eventually decided that it just wasn't for me.

I just don't think it was cleansing enough for me, plus I had tons of trouble getting it to rinse off my scalp.

I've long since switched away from it, and been happy with other things.

Lately I've just been doing a more ordinary 'shampoo/condition' routine about every three days, and minimizing the amount of conditioner I put on my scalp, but I did a lot of experimenting with dilute shampoo, shampoo bars, herbal washing, other 'gentle' cleansing methods ... .

Have you tried CWC?? Basically you put some conditioner on before you shampoo and kind of dilute the shampoo with conditioner, to protect your length from too much harsh cleansing.

[eaglesflight]

I use shampoo, so I don't know how well this will apply to your situation. I found in order to train my scalp to produce less oil I had to stop over-cleaning it. I apply just enough shampoo to wash away excess oil without stripping my scalp. I used to use a dollop the size of a fifty-cent piece. Now I'm down to a dime-sized dollop. I did this gradually, so the change to my scalp was not sudden.

Like Delila, I found CO simply wasn't for me. I CWC to protect my length, just as she suggested.

[Nat242]

I've always had an oily scalp, and was a daily washer for a long time. CO did not work for me, I CWC. I now wash every second day (though sometimes I need to wash my bangs in between because they get oiler faster), and it was diluting my shampoo that really helped.

[AlleyKitten]

CO just didn't work for me, it didn't get my hair clean enough and I got buildup. I did C-COW-C for a while, which was better. What I've been trying at the moment is somewhere between the two -- I do a CO wash and condition the length with my "light" conditioner, then I apply diluted shampoo to the scalp, scrub again, and rinse out well. It gets my hair a lot cleaner than CO did, but I feel like it's not as harsh (I'm working on using less and less shampoo in my diluted mixture).

[Finoriel]

I think the key is not to expect too much in a short time.
For me it took the entire growing process (7 years) to adjust from every day washing to about 10 days, without looking greasy the whole time. If you go too far too fast it can affect your skin and make it flaky or itchy, just take your time
Diluting shampoo and acidic rinses help and you can also stretch out half-day-wise > washing in the evening instead of in the morning, for example.
The skin of the most people needs more time to adjust than 3 months. That´s normal, so don´t worry *hugs*