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View Full Version : How Much Longer To Stretch Washing?



Dark Star
October 2nd, 2013, 03:06 AM
Some of you know my hair predicament (suspected protein overload and maybe some additional dryness caused by denatured alcohol in products--not sure). So before all this, up until a year ago, I washed my hair daily. I did that for years. Then I cut back to five days a week (I work out HARD so my hair can need washing more often). I recently cut back to twice a week because of my current predicament. So, this week, on Sunday I washed and conditioned. Monday, I conditioner-washed then conditioned again. Still a fan of shampoo so conditioner-washing is not to become a routine for me once I am through this, methinks. Tuesday (yesterday), I was too tired and grouchy to shower at all--busy too (writers can be unkempt people! :p).

I woke up today and holy moly, my scalp is a little oily (a good thing in my case!) but my hair is LESS straw-like feeling (one of the lovely effects from the protein o.d.) and my ends are looking more sane again. I have not even deep conditioned in nearly a week either! I have stretched washes over the past few weeks as I have been trying to cope with this, but I also gave up some (denatured) alcohol-laden products only over the last week. I was going to shampoo today--now something tells me not to. Maybe tomorrow? Should I just rinse my hair? Put a little conditioner on it before doing that?

I find that my hair usually likes being wetted daily really. But then I did not wet it one iota yesterday. I went to bed with it feeling just awful and upon arising some hours later, it is a little happier. This change has completely thrown me but my hair seems to change on a constantly basis during this crisis.

I have recently ordered a new VERY simple, all-natural conditioner and some argan oil. I do not want to do too many changes at once. Today, I am a little hopeful I might get through this when the other day, I was ready to chop off all my hair! The "Honeysuckle Rose" conditioner I used really pissed (can I say that word here? I have a bit of a potty mouth! :p)my hair off and proved to be a setback.

Mind you, my hair is, by no means, itself again but it is improved by having done absolutely nothing to it today. I think the natural oils from the scalp can prove indispensable in curing dry, breaking hair whether it is due to a protein-overload or not. My hair is breaking more this week but I have not deep conditioned as I said and have been working with a conditioner that is not quite to my liking while I wait to try this replacement.

But yeah, my hair is more lush today, moisturized and is feeling more like--well, hair. Now the new "Moby" cd needs to come in the mail and I just might be less grouchy today. Here's hoping I do not end up with a shaved head like him either! ;)

Alright, I am going to shut the heck up now.

Firefox7275
October 2nd, 2013, 06:39 AM
Protein is a humectant, if you've managed to wash enough times to get it down to a sensible layer on the hair AND you have not been using drying alcohols that could explain the change - not sure about where you are but the dew points/ humidity here are changing on a daily basis which affects the hydration of the hair. If your hair looks and feels decent IMO just leave well alone, you don't have to be specially stretching washes for a specified number of days just listening to your hair.