Help! sulfate free, no proteins, and no silicones

[~honeyflower~]

Help me find a shampoo and conditioner that is has no sulfates,protein,or silicones. My hair is very dry right now and I think it might be protein sensitive. If you cant think of any,would you mind telling some product- free ways to wash hair that you know that wont be drying?

Some things to know: I have hard water so I use vinegar for every shower,1tbls vinegar and 16oz of distilled water.I live in high altitude so some things will suck out the moisture in my hair.
Please recommend something that I can find in health foods store or Walmart. Shipping can be expensive sometimes.

Thank you! I hope my search will finally be over soon. I'm tired of my miserable hair and cant wait to find something that works for once.

[biogirl87]

Honeyflower, I know Loreal has several lines that are sulfate-free. As to how silicone-free and protein-free they are, I'm not sure as I haven't used them (I think the conditioners might have silicones in them). If you don't mind having shampoo and conditioner be from different brands, Suave Naturals and VO5 both have quite a few protein-free conditioners and all their conditioners are silicone-free. The only Suave conditioner that has protein in it is Suave Naturals Tropical Coconut. The protein-free conditioners by VO5 are Island Coconut (which I just finished using last week and liked a lot), Free Me Freesia (recommended for dry hair), Ocean Refresh (this is a moisturizing conditioner, just like Island Coconut). I think the VO5 Sun-Kissed Raspberry, Split Ends Anti-Breakage, Tea Therapy Blackberry Sage Tea, Tea Therapy Healthful Green Tea, Tea Therapy Vanilla Mint, and Kiwi and Lime are protein-free as well but I'm not sure (I don't want to say whether they're protein-free or not based only on the ingredients that can be found on the web as sometimes ingredients listed on the actual bottle differ). Since you say your hair is dry, I would say go with VO5 as it has more vitamins that help hair grow healthy. Also, with VO5 the Vanilla Mint and the Kiwi and Lime shampoos are clarifying, but I don't know how this would apply to conditioners.

[~honeyflower~]

Thank you Biogirl87, I remember that I used V05 blackberry and tea in the fall. I saw sulfates in them and I tossed it out. Maybe I'll go back since I now understand that it might be those very gentle cleansers.

[biogirl87]

I think the Blackberry and Sage Tea shampoo has sulfates in it though and you might want to check the actual bottle for the ingredients of the conditioner to see if it has protein in it. I know Giovanni shampoos have been mentioned here as being sulfate-free, but I haven't tried them personally as they'd be out of my budget.

[Firefox7275]

Do you have high or low porosity? Have you done a chelating wash lately even tho you use vinegar? Have you considered conditioner only washing? Be careful with humectants in very high or very low dew points, especially glycerin. Vinegar can be drying, is it possible for you to have a shower filter fitted or use distilled water for your final rinse instead? As you say coarse hair doesn't tend to do well with protein.

[~honeyflower~]

Do you have high or low porosity? Have you done a chelating wash lately even tho you use vinegar? Have you considered conditioner only washing? Be careful with humectants in very high or very low dew points, especially glycerin. Vinegar can be drying, is it possible for you to have a shower filter fitted or use distilled water for your final rinse instead? As you say coarse hair doesn't tend to do well with protein.

Lets see...I have low porosity. I haven't done a chelating wash but I clarified today using baking soda and my hair felt as soft as a cottonball. So I guess baking soda helped with build-up? or whatever it is. I'm going to try CO on my next wash. I went on a camping trip recently and we didn't use the distilled water so I will use that.

[Firefox7275]

Lets see...I have low porosity. I haven't done a chelating wash but I clarified today using baking soda and my hair felt as soft as a cottonball. So I guess baking soda helped with build-up? or whatever it is. I'm going to try CO on my next wash. I went on a camping trip recently and we didn't use the distilled water so I will use that.

Would be worth doing a chelating wash, there are sulphate free products (ION Swimmers, Malibu C sachets). Baking soda is alkaline so damaging to both skin and hair, it's as harsh or more harsh than sulphates. If you want a sulphate free clarifier use something containing cocoamipropyl betaine but the ION swimmers shampoo will clarify as well as chelate anyway. If you want to stick with something shampoo-like but totally natural you might try soap nuts or soap wort extract, they are both acidic unlike baking soda and traditional soap.

Coarse low porosity hair in a dry climate is a real toughie because you cannot use much protein nor the more potent humectants nor penetrating oils, I suspect the best you can do is not dry out your hair with harsh shampoo and or alkaline cleansers and use water soluble conditioners that don't build up (cationic surfactants and fatty alcohols). You might try products containing panthenol and ceramides, they will patch repair any damage and help maintain elasticity and can act as weak humectants. Also choose products at pH ~4.5 to encourage the cuticle to lay flat without so much drying vinegar.

[~honeyflower~]

Thanks for your help FireFox, I wish I knew better about the baking soda,vinegar and my hair most of all :( Today, I took a step forward and took your advice about the cheleting shampoo and finding a protein free conditioner and trying CO. I got the cheleting shampoo that you recommended and got White Rain Ocean Mist (non protein,conefree,water based,has panthenol). I stopped using vinegar,oil, proteins and the baking soda...it was my first and last. My rinse is now distilled water.

So my routine is now
white rain conditioner for CO
ION cheleting shampoo once every few months or depending when buildup occurs
Distilled water as rinse
Scritching
fingercombing
Sleeping on silk pillowcase

Wow...that's it?

Yelp,guess I will see very healthy roots next month!

-again, thanks for your help:o