The Archives: The Merged NW/SO/WO Thread

**embee** · December 31st, 2010, 08:13 AM

I'm still here, SO since 24 Oct. I never leave my hair down and my hair seems stringier than ever when I take it down to brush, comb, or preen, but that does not matter to me. Can't say preening is working very well between not much sebum and rough fingertips.... The updo story is fine. My hair easily goes into a bun and stays without sliding out or fuzzing away. I love the "no cold water dripping down my back" part of SO in winter!

I do wash the brush and comb frequently, to get rid of any flakes or fluff or lint.

**frizzinator** · December 31st, 2010, 09:08 AM

Naturegirl321, wouldn't the removal of deep conditioning and hot oil treatments require at least a water rinse, and probably the use of more products to get the treatment out of the hair?

~

Embee, for the first time over my nearly three and a half years of SO practice, I'm struggling with rough skin on my fingertips and it is nearly impossible to preen. I noticed there are a few products for cracked skin that look like they might help. Then the next problem is how to use it on the skin but avoid getting it on the hair.

Shea butter and coconut oil did not help my rough fingertips, but I found a product that seems to be working, called "Gloves in a Bottle". My mother likes it because it goes on dry and not greasy. In fact she uses it all over her body. She says it's the best lotion she has ever used. Which is a pretty good recommendation, judging from the quantity of half-empty lotion bottles covering every horizontal surface in her bathroom.

I acquired new responsibilities over the past 6 months which require washing my hands many times a day, and I usually forget to reapply hand lotion. But when I remember to use it diligently, I can tell that this lotion works better than anything else I've tried. I just need to remember to put a bottle of it at every sink where I wash my hands. $$$ !

I bought it over the internet from the manufacturer's website, which also has a page listing the local stores that sell it.

**naturegirl321** · December 31st, 2010, 08:55 PM

I suppose you could use powder shampoo though

**GrowingGlory** · December 31st, 2010, 08:59 PM

Maybe raw honey would help your hands to heal.

**frizzinator** · January 1st, 2011, 06:30 AM

GrowingGlory, have you used honey to heal cracked skin? Isn't it sticky?
How many times would it typically be used to heal cracked skin?
Is it a night time treatment?
Do you cover with plastic gloves?

**GrowingGlory** · January 1st, 2011, 09:35 AM

My skin doesn't ordinarily crack, but raw honey does accelerate the healing process. I've used it on other skin problems (cuts, blisters, blemishes) and it works quickly and thoroughly.

**Gem** · January 1st, 2011, 11:54 AM

Originally Posted by ATrixie

I'm liking the wurls these days too (if I've worn it in a bun, the wurls stay pretty nicely - my hair never curled good before, except if braided or with sugar water as a kid!) So it's a cool by-product!

I don't scritch and preen every day though, usually just once or 2x a week.. I call it my 'lazy NW/SO'!

I don't know if I'd still have the wurls if sp-ing every day - maybe if sp in the evening, hm? Frizzinator, do you get wurls?

Not frizzinator, but I get some pretty good bun waves and braid waves. I'm only a little over three months in though. ETA because replying didn't make sense without this information: I scritch and preen daily - I'm not so good at the massage bit though.

**Noula** · January 1st, 2011, 01:20 PM

I've been reading through this thread for the past couple of days and finally got to the last page. I've saved the archived thread linked a couple of times in another tab to read next, though I may need a break from it to process what I've already read.

SO seems so elegant and simple and when you think about it is has to be the most natural way of taking care of your hair and scalp. Before starting WO late April or early May 2010 I had been stretching washings from every day to every third over a couple of years time. Since started WO I've used shampoo twice to see if it would improve my scalp at all (it didn't), and more regrettably tried conditioner three times in the week leading when I normally washed with water once a week. This was practically the first time in my life using conditioner and while it didn't do much of anything for my hair or make my scalp any less dry it did burn fiercely. Fortunately the conditioner didn't contain any silicones or plastics as far as I could determine so it should rinse out with just water.

Based on what I've read in this thread I'll probably need to do long rinses through all of January and possibly February, if I stick to a once a week schedule, to get all of the conditioner out before I can stop rinsing altogether.

I tried the scritching, massaging and preening routine for the first time last night and then again this morning and have been at it again this evening. It's very soothing and seems like a good routine to get into before bed no matter what you do with your hair. This morning my scalp felt better than it has in ages despite being a bit sore last night. There's more build up on my scalp again tonight, possibly related to washing my hair this morning, and I've noticed/come to the conclusion over the last couple of months that the sebum seems to dry on my scalp in bands rather than spread over it evenly, the scritching and massaging should help with that.

Which brings me to the reason I want to try SO and hope it'll work for me; I have dry and sensitive skin in general but for the past 13ish years my scalp has been horribly dry, itchy and flaky the majority of the time. I've tried H&S, expensive salon shampoos, anti-fungal solutions and shampoos and nothing works. H&S was most effective at removing buildup, but even their 'dry scalp care' shampoos were incredibly drying and made things worse in the long run. With WO it was still itchy but the flakes eventually got smaller, but since I was only at it for six months it could have just been normal cycling through different stages.

So, frizzinator, I really hope your theory that scalp and hair issues are caused by products and washing is correct and that by going SO my scalp can stop itching.

**GrowingGlory** · January 1st, 2011, 02:34 PM

About raw honey: I guess that I didn't answer all of your questions. I just dab a little bit of Really Raw Honey onto the affected area. It sinks right in, but any excess could be rubbed in gently. Works for me!

**Monsterkitti** · January 4th, 2011, 01:23 AM

Im in a bit of a dilemma about NW/SO.
I thought my flakies issue was due to NW/SO but after 3 different washes over my Christmas break Ive got to conclude its not.

Ive almost never had scalp issues before so i think im putting this down to my new implant. My skin is reverting to 15yr old acne so it seems reasonable to conclude its the same problem.

To continue with NW/SO or use shampoo to clear the scalp till everything stabalises hormonally? Meh it was all going so well