First post :)

**ArtificiallyRed** · August 20th, 2015, 02:15 PM

Hi there!

I'll start with a brief hair history

I am an artificial redhead (as my username suggests!) and have been on and off for years. Last September I started growing my hair after having years of short, jaw-length hair. Right now it's bra strap length which is the longest it's ever been and I'm very proud of my locks, I never want short hair again! My goal is waist or hip length hair, preferably in a vibrant auburn/red!

My hair has seen years of dye. It's been orange, yellow, pink, purple, etc but I've always come back to artificial boxed red. I've tried henna in the past and had a short love affair but it always just seems to go bright orange then settle to a warm brown, not the vibrant auburn-red I was looking for.

I have a terribly dry,scabby, itchy scalp and hair that manages to get oily whilst losing moisture at the ends. I don't have too many problems with damage. I recently had a trim of my ends because of dryness from a brief flirt with bleach and a few split ends but have still retained my bra strap length

My hair routine at the moment is washing every 2-3 days with E45 shampoo followed with Garnier Ultimate Blends Colour Illuminate conditioner and coconut oil on the ends if I need it. I'm looking into CO washing as a means to help heal my sad sad scalp and also alternatives to chemical filled box hair dye

I discovered the forum whilst searching for co-washing and also separate searches for henna troubleshooting

I look forward to contributing to the community

**lapushka** · August 20th, 2015, 02:18 PM

Are you suffering from SD too, perhaps? Because there's a Seborrheic Dermatitis thread on this site esp. for dry, itchy, flaky, scabby scalps. I use Nizoral shampoo for it when I get bouts of it and it helps *hugely*.

Anyway, enough rambling, welcome!

**ArtificiallyRed** · August 20th, 2015, 02:30 PM

Thank you for the reply & advice!

I'll have a look, sounds about right.

**Groovy Granny** · August 20th, 2015, 03:25 PM

Welcome

Good luck with your issues; Lapushka and the girls are very helpful!
Looking forward to pics of your pretty red locks!

**ArtificiallyRed** · August 21st, 2015, 06:20 AM

Thank you very much! I look forward to contributing

**Arctic** · August 21st, 2015, 06:28 AM

Welcome, your username caught my eye; I like it

I used to be artificial red head too, until wanting to see my real colour before going grey won. I always love red hair though, whether natural or helped by human interactions