HELP, Hair yucky

[Ashlbee]

Hi guys!

So, as a previous short hair, learning about long hair care is totally new to me. I've been experimenting a lot and not getting good results.

My current routine is:
*daily diluted VO5 shampoo on scalp followed by VO5 conditioner on all of hair and scalp

*coconut oiling the ends every few days

But my hair isn't any better than when I used to just shampoo and condition with regular, coney stuff.

It looks dry and it feels like there is residue on my hair :( While my hair is straightish with a bit of a wave, it has never had the silky shiny look to it. It gets tangled and matts at my neck very easily.

I last clarified a week ago.

I'm going to do an olive oil deep condition treatment Friday because I think my hair likes olive oil and hopefully that will help with dryness.

Could there be too much protein in my hair? Maybe the coconut oil isn't doing me any good? I'm going to switch to Suave to see if that helps with the residue issue.

Any help would be much appreciated! Thank you!

[TeaEarlGreyHot]

I've had to experiment A LOT with my hair care routine. The thing that makes THE biggest difference in my haircare is knowing I have very hard water. My hair doesn't respond well to Suave and V05, nor shampoo bars or natual shampoo (like Toadstool on Etsy). I've found that ONE kind of sauve naturals rosemary mint conditioner does the best on my hair only if I rinse with very very diluted water/lemon juice mix (and I don't rinse this out) after. Once a week I use kinky curly (my hair is neither kinky, nor curly) clarifying shampoo because it doesn't strip natural oil and it has citric acid added to it (I do not need lemon juice rinse).

Before my once a week kinky curly clarify I overload my hair with coconut oil (scalp too) and leave on over night. When I jump in the shower I do a prewash with the sauve naturals conditioner and then clarify (then add suave just on the ends). Once or twice a month I'll use a protein treatment but I have to moisturize before and after with coconut oil to get the best results.

Basically I spent a year experimenting and who knows? In a month what I'm currently doing might not work anymore!

Do you know what your water is classified as? (Hard, very hard, soft, normal?) How damaged is your hair? Any prior heat/dye/bleach damage?

[DinaAG]

daily shampooing looks a lot hard on the hair dear :(

[Siiri]

I agree with TeaEarlGreyHot, it could be the water. You should check the hardness and if there's metals in the water (old pipes?). To remove metal properly, you's need a chelating shampoo. A citric acid or lemon rinse would also help to remove metals, but they don't really chelate, I've gathered.

[lapushka]

But my hair isn't any better than when I used to just shampoo and condition with regular, coney stuff.

If a change in your routine doesn't work, then take a step back, go back to your old routine, re-evaluate, and make one small change at a time.

[spidermom]

I agree with lapushka. I've tried a few shampoos/conditioners that left my hair kind of yucky. Luckily, shampoo makes awesome bubble bath, and conditioners are good for leg shaving.

[WaitingSoLong]

Sometimes I think I have clarified but really have not done it thoroughly. I also discovered (took me ahwile) that doing a DCT just before shampooing is some horrible combination for my hair. I have to shampoo first, then do it, followed by a conditioner rinse. I cannot CWC. I swear there is some chemical reaction. Luxepiggy explained it once and I at least know I am not crazy.

I did find the easiest way to clarify is to use antibacterial liquid dial handsoap. Any fragrance I feel like. I don't know what magical properties it possesses but my hair residue will be gone and my hair so soft and slippery (I follow with my regular S&C) that it will not stay in braids, stick updo's, or anything.

A lot of the stuff I tried that is popular here just doesn't work with my hair. I tried so many things, but only one at a time as othes have said. Sometimes it is the order of things, like CWC, and it really can be quite a long term science experiment and what works one month may just not work anymore the next month. It can be frustrating.

All that to say, clarify again. Olive oil is especially hard to get out of my hair and I won't ever use it again. Coconut is not as bad but does much better when actually mixed with my shampoo and not applied directly to my hair.

After all these years I have gone back to the basics. I use Pantene S&C and a sleeking serum in between washes if it needs to be tamed. If it is really dry, I will wash it then do a DCT and rinse. If it is really greasy, I will clarify. If my ends are velcroe, they need clarified. Most my issues are resolved with a good clarify but not every "clarifying" treatment works for me like it is supposed to. Handsoap may be harsh, but it works. And I rarely use it. Maybe once every 3 or 4 months?

Oils just don't like my hair. They seem to do ok at first but in the end I have basically divorced them.

Sorry for the novella.

[Ashlbee]

Thanks for all the advice!

I do need to wash daily as my scalp is just really oily (though if I'm at home with no one to see I can stretch a day or two).

I just clarified and then conditioned with Suave. I think it helped a lot! (not sure yet, hair still wet) I think the VO5 was a big part of the problem, it just has a really residue feeling with my hair, I think Suave likes me better.

Hopefully I can start CO with the Suave and then try coconut oiling and regular olive oil deep conditioning treatments with clarifying as needed and my hair will like that routine. Yay expirimentation!