Suggestions for hair and skin like mine?

[calaren]

Hi everyone!
I'm all about natural hair and skin care, and have lurked mostly in this section of the forums since I joined. I have seen (on here and other sites and in books) mostly suggestions for people with dry hair and skin, but those won't work for me, I'm afraid. Thus my plea for advice.
My hair and skin are giving me fits and making me generally unhappy - I'm open to absolutely any suggestions at all.
My hair is wavy, coarse, thick, frizzly, and extremely greasy (just like my mother's - she affectionately says we have "horse-butt hair"). It's been years and years since I've used regular shampoo, conditioner, "product", or hair "appliances", and I don't dye it. What I DO do is this:
I wash my hair with a shampoo bar (something from Chagrin Valley or JR Liggett) and follow with an ACV rinse (I'm now using a bottle of organic ACV that I steeped organic rosemary and sage in for about 6 weeks). I use about 100ml of vinegar to 900 ml distilled water. This seems to work alright as long as I wash my hair every day or every other day at most. By midway through the second day, my hair is stringy and very, very greasy to about shoulder level. From there down to the ends, though, it always seems rather dry.
I'd like to try baking soda to wash my hair regularly (if I can consistently make it work with very hard water) and/or see if I could go longer between washes. I've used baking soda a few times before and it seemed like my hair liked it, but I'm terrified of a greasy transition period. Too, I'd like to find something natural to use to detangle my hair - the ACV makes it softer, but it still tangles like crazy though I try to be very careful with it. I'm understandably a little hesitant to use oils on my hair as my scalp is already ridiculously greasy
As for my skin - it's a mess. It, like my hair, is extremely greasy. It is also rough, red, irritated, scaly (I can peel off large "scales" of dead skin - it's not like the flakiness of dry skin) and riddled with acne (massive numbers of large blackheads and the occasional pimple). I've tried using acne products and they just irritated my skin all the more. I've tried using supposedly gentle things like Cetaphil, but even that felt "burn-y" as I washed and made my skin very irritated, scaly, and tight. I've tried oil cleansing (as per http://theoilcleansingmethod.com) using different ratios of organic jojoba and/or grapeseed oil (the two oils I usually have) to organic castor oil, and, though it didn't irritate my skin, it did leave it flaky and tight feeling and during the month or so I used it, it gave me several large, deep bumps - not whiteheads - that I now have scars from. I'm now using Ivory soap to wash with (once a day - least irritating thing I have found) and using a drop or two of organic jojoba oil afterwards. Still, my skin usually is itchy, irritated, red, and scaly. And greasy. While my current routine isn't making my skin worse, it sure as heck isn't getting better!
Wow, sorry that was so long! Now that that is all out of the way, I'd like to beg for suggestions for my hair and/or skin. If there are any herbs/EOs/oils or such that could possibly help, I'm all ears. Any sort of change in routine that could help ... anything at all, really, that you can suggest! If this helps (or any of it can help me!), here's what I normally have on hand: organic olive, coconut, jojoba, grapeseed, and castor oils, a good number of different EOs, organic ACV, French green clay, organic rosemary infused olive oil, organic lavender hydrosol, rose and orange flower water, Chagrin Valley's seabuckthorn oil salve (got it to try on scars), various Dr. Bronner liquid soaps, and all the usual kitchen stuff like baking soda, oatmeal, eggs, honey, etc. I don't know if I'm using the wrong things or the right things in the wrong way.
I'm of a scientific bent, so I'll be meticulously recording what I try and the results - I don't know why I didn't think to sooner! Maybe that will help me see patterns in what my hair and skin like, what to change, etc.
I'm really looking forward to hearing any suggestions at all - and I apologize for this monster post!

[julierockhead]

I have found that OCM for my skin and regular oiling of my scalp have balanced my skin in terms of oil production. I'm a lot less greasy, and my acne is pretty much gone, except for the occasional hormone induced zit. I know it seems illogical, but there it is.

You may need to try other oils. There are many! And you may need to give it a little longer to work. My acne got worse before it got better.

Have you been to a dermatologist?

[calaren]

Thanks so much for replying, julie!
May I ask you for the details of your OCM and scalp oiling?
When I tried OCM, first I mixed about 75% grapeseed oil/25% castor oil. Like I said, this didn't irritate my skin, but it did leave it tight and scaly. I then tried reducing the amount of castor oil and mixing in jojoba oil - still my skin felt the same way. What oils/ratios did you use? I have noticed that since I've been using jojoba oil after washing my face, it is still greasy, only a little less so. But hey, that's something, right? Also, if your acne involved blackheads, have you noticed any reduction in them? I have pimples sometimes, but clogged pores that give my skin a lovely grapefruit peel texture are my biggest nemesis. And the constant irritation, too. I wonder if adding tiny amounts of EOs could help?
Regarding scalp oiling - can you tell me what you did there? (Here come the questions...) What oil(s) did you use? Did you oil your scalp before washing? After? both? Length, too? I was wondering about scalp oiling, actually, because it seemed like when I washed with baking soda, and thus didn't strip the oils from my scalp and make my hair squeaky clean, I was able to go two or even three days before needing to wash my hair again. I would go back to that, but I'm vaguely worried that I might have trouble doing it long term as I have very hard water. Gosh, I'm inquisitive!
I hate to sound like I want a ready routine to follow and expect to work perfectly - I'm just looking for suggestions to tweak (hopefully) into something suitable for myself since I know nothing works for everyone!
I do really appreciate your suggestions, julie - thank you, thank you, thank you again!

[calaren]

Whoops, I forgot to say (I can't edit my post) that no, I haven't seen a dermatologist. I suspect, due to some other symptoms I'm having, that I may have some sort of hormonal problem which is also contributing to my skin and hair issues. I haven't seen a dermatologist or had my hormones investigated as I have no insurance and precious little money. Booo sucks to be poor.

[Ocelan]

For my face I now am trying OCM (atm with 1/4 castor oil and 3/4 almond oil) most evenings and in the mornings (and some nights) I wash my face with a mixture of manuka honey and jojoba oil (about 50/50) with a dash of ACV and sea salt added in occasionally. Manuka honey is naturally antibacterial and many have gotten good results from washing their faces with it. Also other honey works for some but it isn't as antibacterial.
I started out with just the manuka-jojoba mixture morning and night but with the amount of blackheads I started tryinng the OCM. Atleast it hasn't made my skin worse (though I have gotten some scaly rash next to my nose which I've had for years before and had been clear for some time now but I think it might be because I've been using pure lemon juice on my face and back to get rid of acne scarring.) I tried OCM with half EVOO and half jojoba and it gave me such awful deep sore cysts on my skin so I had to stop it after less than a week and the cysts took weeks to heal.
So it really is about what oils you use even though I can't really say if my current OCM is making things better. My face atm is really clear compared to before. I still get the occasional pimple now and then, but before it used to be one coming up here and another or others coming up there before the first one healed. Even the hormonal pimples I used to get a lot at that time of the month don't necessarily show up at all!

For the hair I may have a little less advice, but I'll try. My hairtype is quite different to yours, however.
The shampoo bar and ACV treatment sounds rather good, but I would probably add some sort of conditioner to the ends since you feel your ends are dry. You don't have to put it near your scalp if you fear it will grease up your hair faster. Maybe try it from the point down where you feel your hair is dry instead of greasy? If you do not want to start using conditioner, maybe do a moisturising hair treatment like SMT once a week to see if there's any change.
I also use ACV to get shiny hair and balanced scalp, but my mixture is a lot weaker than yours, though I do add nettle, parsley and rooibos in my mixture. I use about 8 tea spoons (40 ml) of ACV in 2 liters of water.
Some people (including me) have gotten good results from rooibos tea on scalp cutting the greasiness. I don't use it very often but sometimes when I need another day of less grease before I have to wash, I dab cooled rooibos tea on my scalp and let it dry there. I also used to have to wash every day but then I started stretching the washes and now I wash about every 4 days (well usually wednesday and saturday which are our usual sauna days even though not every time I feel I even quite need the wash then yet). Rooibos also really helped me stretch up to that point. Before my hair felt really greasy after not being washed in a day and a half, now I get atleast 3 clean hair days before I feel greasy.

Oh wow that turned into a novel, but I hope there was something that might help you.

[BunnyWabbit]

My skin and hair have changed a lot over the years - my skin has become less dry and sensative and has become more oily. While it doesn't sound like it's as difficult as yours, my one tip that might help, especially for spot treatments of acne of all types (I've found it most effective on red spots before they erupt with a white head though) is tea tree. I switch back and forth between 100% tea tree and a mix with vitamin e oil. I find the vitamin e oil one works very well because it reduces the brown spots produced sometimes by my zits. It does tingle but especially the one with the e oil, I would not say it 'burns' by any means. you can also mix it with other oils to lessen this feeling (its sort of like breathing a minimal amount of menthol) if it's too harsh. Product wise I will also suggest Alba botanicals - again there is a tingle factor for me, for my sensitive skin, it does not burn and it does not leave it red or hot like some face washes will. But for some, the minty feeling might be too much. It's pretty inexpensive at Target so it might be worth a try. I feel like it equalizes my skin out a bit.

General tips - although your skin is oily, find a really light weight moisturizer. I started skipping this step when my greasyness started and I found that my skin got worse and was more prone to spots. When I reintroduced it, my skin has been more manageable.

I noticed you said you also have hard water, there are some great filters that go on to the shower faucet head. When I had bad water I used one and found any acne on my back cleared up really quickly! Depending on the type you get (units that must be replaced entirely or ones that have just an insert to replace) they can be pretty inexpensive for the results they get IMO.

[ratgirldjh]

Have you tried using turmeric and yogurt masks? This really helps some people with oily skin and blackheads.

Also scrubbing lightly with baking soda (make a paste with water) and then using an acidic toner like either ACV/water or rosewater helps a lot of people too.

I am probably not the best person to ask but even with my dry aging skin I love the turmeric mask. It took away some cystic pimples that had been there for ever!

[syrahna]

Ratgirl, do you ever find the turmeric to stain your skin? I'm so fair skinned that I'm scared to try it -- but I know it's a marvelously powerful plant, and I've got some, and I've got yogurt... Can you recommend a proportion or recipe?

Have you tried using turmeric and yogurt masks? This really helps some people with oily skin and blackheads.

Also scrubbing lightly with baking soda (make a paste with water) and then using an acidic toner like either ACV/water or rosewater helps a lot of people too.

I am probably not the best person to ask but even with my dry aging skin I love the turmeric mask. It took away some cystic pimples that had been there for ever!

[GrowingGlory]

We have the same hair type. My hair hated baking soda (even organic at any dilution) and any vinegar solution makes it snap and split. It loves dilute organic soap nut liquid, either as a rinse or as a wash (left in, then rinsed out with tepid, then cold water). My skin loves this, too. For me, organic soap nut liquid and my two brushes are enough hair supplies. Sometimes, trying too many approaches (and overly vigorous scrubbing, very hot water, overly drying products can lead to rebound oil production and more clogged pores) at the same times just makes matters worse. Step back from the situation and reassess. What is wrong now? How can I resolve this? Tackling issues one at a time makes them shrink into their proper proportion and significance. Best of luck to you!

[calaren]

Wow, thanks so much for the suggestions everyone!

Ocelan, I agree - it must be all about the oils used for OCM. I tried various mixtures of organic jojoba, grapeseed, and castor oils, but they all made made my skin feel tight and scaly. I wondered, "How can OIL do that??" Also, as happened to you, I got cysts, I believe - hard, deep bumps that weren't whiteheads and took weeks to heal. My main problem is blackheads which make my skin look rough and pitted. I think I will try again with some other oils and see what happens. If I can ever find Manuka honey, I'll be sure to give that a try, too!
Hair-wise, I'm going to try diluting my vinegar more and sticking with the baking soda for a while and seeing what happens. As for my dry ends, I'd like to find something to moisturize them without using commercial conditioner. My hair seems to do OK with using a tiny bit of coconut or jojoba oil, so I'm going to experiment and see what happens. I'd like to also try the sort of "preening" that I've seen people talk about in reference to water-only washing - trying to work my hair's own oils down to the ends and see if that helps. Oh, I found it odd, but when I do the baking soda/ACV thing, I find my hair seems ... waxy feeling. Not greasy, and not bad, but different, and it makes my hair take forever to dry!

Bunny, I do use tea tree oil a lot on the acne I get on my shoulders/chest/back - it's those areas that I get nasty pimples/whiteheads on, rather than my face. I find it works really well at helping the bumps heal up quickly and seemingly with less scarring. I keep trying commercial cleanser after cleanser and I can't find any that don't really irritate my skin. I don't know why I seem to be so sensitive to them now (over the past couple of years this has developed) - I mean, I used to wash my face and body with Lava soap as a teenager and never had a problem! I use jojoba oil as my moisturizer for the same reason - commercial lotions seem to irritate my skin and make it much more oily, especially ones with sunscreen, which I cannot use in any form. I will definitely be looking into some sort of filter for my shower and see if that helps, too.

Ratgirl, how do you do turmeric and yogurt masks? I had a big (pound, I think) bag of organic turmeric that I just got rid of, and now I want to kick myself! I have pretty fair skin - would it stain my skin, do you think? It seems like every time I mix curry spices, I end up with yellow fingers for a week! I have tried using baking soda to wash my face. I really wanted it to work since I can always find baking soda and it's cheap. However, it felt like I was sandpapering my face off. Maybe I was using it in the wrong way? I just made a paste with bs and water, with a couple of drops of jojoba oil and boy did it make my face red and sore.

GrowingGlory, I think you're completely right - I want to look at every facet of what I'm doing now and see what I can change or do better. I want to approach it scientifically - change one variable, observe, and go from there. I think if I can ever get my skin to not be so very irritated, that would be a huge step, right there. I just don't know what to do to heal the irritation to start with. If I could just get rid of the itchy, red, scaly irritation, I could then start looking at, say, how to lessen the blackheads I have, improve the texture of my skin, etc. Or maybe I'm just asking too much!

Thank you again, everyone, for responding! I've got a lot to learn and a lot of things to try out - here's to hoping I can get on the right track!