Causes for hair to be really dry/stiff while wet/washing

[Sinthia]

For the past few weeks this has been happening, and it is really annoying lol!! Whenever I wash my hair, it just feels REALLY dry, stiff, and brittle. It dries alright and is still DRY but not overwhelmingly so ( well considering I dye my hair, and its damaged from treating it bad in the past ..it doesnt seem worse than usual)

I co wash only. Some days I will use a conditioner that has one cone in it, and wheat protein, and other days i will use suave strawberry, kiss my face volumizing conditioner, and/or biolage conditioning balm, which do not have cones.

I also sometimes use the spray in jaico product that has protein and cones in it.

Do you think that this is a protein issue? Or something else?

I clarified a few days ago, and it only made it feel worse


Thanks for looking!

[Firefox7275]

Could be over proteined, most people don't need much protein at the roots. The Kiss My Face has coconut oil as the second ingredient, again most people don't need a penetrating oil at the roots, some do report a 'dry' feeling when they overdo coconut oil.

Perhaps less likely could just be using too many humectants overall for the dew points/ humidity, Biolage is loaded with propylene glycol, Kiss My Face is rich in glycerin and aloe - neither strike me as ideal co-wash material since they aren't super rich in the major emollients/ emulsifiers.

Why are you using silicones if you co-wash exclusively? Try chelating and then clarifying again, depending how bad the build up is you might need a few washes to shift it. TBH you are using so many products it's practically impossible to identify the cause.

[Sinthia]

Honestly its just because it is what I have had laying around the house, so just using what I have. Ive bought different kinds in bulk before I started really caring about my hair.

Is there a conditioner you would recommend for co washing? The ones that I see people recommend like vo5 and suave just do not moisturize my hair well :( Do you think using that as a first wash, and then using kiss my face on the length would be alright? And maybe the biolage a few times a month for deep conditioning?

Thank you for the reply. I am going to try the chelate+clarify

[Firefox7275]

I use and love Inecto for conditioner only washing, as you know V05 and Suave Naturals are popular. Oftentimes a product that is an effective cleanser is not the best conditioner unless your hair is super short and/ or virgin.

Co-washing is not supposed to 'moisturise' your hair, it's supposed to effectively cleanse your root area without stripping in place of shampoo. You then use a wash out conditioner and/ or a leave in conditioner to provide softness, slip and suchlike for the lengths and ends. AFAIK the Biolage is not sold as a deep conditioner and doesn't contain any penetrating ingredients. The Kiss My Face would probably work better as a deep conditioner - being rich in oils including some penetrating ones - or would likely be fine for general conditioning of the lengths if you have damage.

[Sinthia]

Thanks so much! I will give another try to the suaves/vo5s and look in to inecto. Could anyone else recommend a good moisturizing cone free conditioner please? Thanks!