If SMTs dry out my hair, how can I get my moisture fix?

[millyaulait]

So, SMTs dry out my hair a bit. My hair becomes tangly, dry, very limp & unhappy. I've tried both reducing & omitting the AVG and honey at different points, but no dice. I tried with different conditioners, with molasses and such, but my hair still doesn't like it.

I also have an issue with conditioners, even cone-free conditioners, and ones with relatively short ingredient lists, leave me with coated hair 99% of the time.

I've been trying to CO wash but build up seems to either happen immediately after a very thorough rinsing of a CO, or after a few uses.

I have a low-sulfate shampoo that I've been using to get rid of the build up, the grease, the yucky, the lanky, the residue.

The problem is that my hair is seriously lacking moisture, especially at the ends. This is probably due to me having to shampoo so often, which is really only once a week or less, but either way, my hair is hating it & rebelling.

I oil as much as I can, but I feel like it's not doing enough. Oil is there to seal moisture in but there's no moisture to seal! Ack.

Are there any sort of treatments that might help me? I have been looking into Cassia because I heard that it is a 'sort of' conditioner.

My hair is creeping up towards waist & I'd just love to actually feel like my hair is healthy by then.

[longNred]

Catnip tea rinses? KTani has a fairly extensive article on catnip here, probably archived. I've been trying it, and gotta say, loving it. It's a super cheap one to try anyway. I got a bag of organic catnip for around $5.

[millyaulait]

Thanks! :D I will go look for that article.

[Zesty]

Out of curiosity, have you tried SMTs in all different weather conditions? My hair doesn't like them in the (dry) winter weather, but does much better in (humid) summer weather. What is your climate like? The other thing I might suggest is using mineral oil on damp hair. A lot of people have success with that, and doing it damp would solve the problem of "not having moisture to seal in."

As far as preventing dryness in the first place, have you tried other washing methods other than CO and low-sulfate shampoo? Egg washes have done wonders for me.

[millyaulait]

Out of curiosity, have you tried SMTs in all different weather conditions? My hair doesn't like them in the (dry) winter weather, but does much better in (humid) summer weather. What is your climate like? The other thing I might suggest is using mineral oil on damp hair. A lot of people have success with that, and doing it damp would solve the problem of "not having moisture to seal in."

As far as preventing dryness in the first place, have you tried other washing methods other than CO and low-sulfate shampoo? Egg washes have done wonders for me.

I've tried them all throughout the year, but I get the same results every time. :(

I forgot to mention I've been doing the mineral oil thing on wet hair! Sorry :o

I've always been scared of egg washes, just because of the protein content... but... I am going to try it out! :D

[Naiadryade]

It sounds to me like your hair hates shampoo and conditioner... so my advice is, stop using them! If the egg washes don't work out, try doing just water-only washes. You may find that without your natural sebum being stripped frequently, your hair moisture balances out. Granted, this usually takes a month, during which you have to put up with some greasies (better than dry hair IMO)... but after that I think you will find that it balances out. Or even that it makes it so things like oils, aloe, honey, etc actually work to moisturize your hair.

In addition, you could try moisturizing tea rinses. Catnip is great, as has been mentioned. Hibiscus is also really nice. Rose... there are a lot of things really, hiding in threads on the herbal haircare board. And in articles, but I don't think we can see those right now. ETA: you may find hour-long treatments with these or using them as the final rinse (leave-in) may be even more effective.

[Pantsless Amy]

I second the egg wash. When smts weren't doing anything for me I tried a mixture of egg and olive oil. It was amazing. Turns out my damaged ends needed protein not moisture. hth

[ravenreed]

I find that if I don't wet my hair at least every other day, my ends dry out. No matter what oil I use on the ends, I still need to wet it, and it is better if I do a full cleansing than just spritz it for some reason. I follow my CO routine with a catnip/hibiscus leave-in rinse that is helping with my chronic split ends.

ETA: My hair hates SMT's. It also hates any non-SLS shampoos. They make my hair very, very dry. That may be part of your problem. I CO only until my hair starts to feel dry-ish and kind of tangly. When that happens, every month or two, I use regular SLS-shampoo. My hair always feels soft and happy when I do that, and I am good to go for a while.

[Natalia]

Does you hair like honey at all? When i had the energy i used to end my shower with a honey rinse about a tablespoon in 2 cups of water my hair liked that. Do you oil wet or dry? My ends like it wet the rest likes it dry. Catnip tea, calendua tea, ect....

[spirals]

I have never done an SMT because my hair hates aloe. It's not a moisturizer. It's an astringent. My foolproof fix is a good coconut oil soak overnight before washing. I use 1 to 2 tablespoons in my waist-length, iii hair. I make it look unbelievably greasy, like I put Crisco on it. :lol: In winter the air can be really dry, and yet this works for my dry, curly hair.

[melusine963]

I oil as much as I can, but I feel like it's not doing enough. Oil is there to seal moisture in but there's no moisture to seal! Ack.

Have you tried using coconut oil? This is the only oil that I know of that actually soaks into the hair shaft, rather than just sitting on the surface and acting like a barrier. It's helped my dry ends a lot. I usually apply a liberal amount to my hair a few hours or overnight before washing it, and then a much smaller amount after I wash to act as a leave in conditioner/detangler. In that case I'm careful to only add as much as I know will soak in, because otherwise it makes my hair look stringy and oily. I oil from my chin down, paying special attention to my ends. The hair near the roots gets enough oil from my scalp, so I have no need to add extra.

[Natalia]

If you dont like heavy oilings how about a coconut milk soak. I did one after my trim and it made the reamining damaged bits feel great

[Luminaria]

Have you tried baggying or the greenhouse effect? Basically, you dampen your hair with water and cover it with a shower cap or bag. You can place the cap or bag over your whole head or just the end of your ponytail. You can also add conditioner, oil, honey, glycerin, etc. to your hair for a more intense treatment. Here's a link about it: http://www.curlynikki.com/2011/06/what-is-baggy-method.html

[Aredhel77]

A lot of people here have had success applying a couple of drops of mineral/baby oil to damp hair as it literally does seal in moisture. My hair responds well to this. It's super cheap too.

[Zesty]

I second the egg wash. When smts weren't doing anything for me I tried a mixture of egg and olive oil. It was amazing. Turns out my damaged ends needed protein not moisture. hth

For the record, I use olive oil also when I wash with eggs. I use two egg yolks and two tablespoons of olive oil diluted in water and let it sit for 20-ish minutes, then CO out (you could probably skip the CO). I've never done an egg wash with the egg whites so I can't comment on that, but my method is super gentle and leaves my scalp clean and hair soft.

[millyaulait]

Thank you for all the suggestions everyone! :)

I do a lot of oiling so I'll definitely keep up with that. I'm going to try an egg wash next week, if that doesn't work I'll try tea, then possibly venture into WO.

:flower:

[spidermom]

My dry ends are responding well to Regis Designline Hydrating Balm. It's like a miracle!

[millyaulait]

My dry ends are responding well to Regis Designline Hydrating Balm. It's like a miracle!

Googling it! :D