Greasy length....but not scalp. WTH?

[sarahthegemini]

I posted this in the official stretching washes tread, but managed to stump them so thought I'd ask here! Basically, as you're probably aware, I'm stretching washes from every other day to every 3rd day (sometimes 4th if my schedule allows it!) Anyway, my scalp is adjusting, albeit slowly. It's a lot less oily. My length however, is greasy. Wth?! Today it is especially bad, it's quite piecey, dull but with a greasy sheen and also feels dirty. I don't know if this is even logistically possible?! I use a leave in conditioner and no other products. And I only use the LI after washing my hair (I don't use it between washes) I do touch my hair a lot, but is that really a contributing factor?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

X

[Naiadryade]

Wow, interesting! It could be your leave-in for sure. I don't think touching it a lot would make that much of a difference... unless you have particularly sweaty/greasy/clammy hands. (No judgement if you do!)

Have you tried brushing well with a boar bristle brush to spread the sebum/leave-in through your hair? That might help it be less piecey and shinier. :shrug:

[sarahthegemini]

Wow, interesting! It could be your leave-in for sure. I don't think touching it a lot would make that much of a difference... unless you have particularly sweaty/greasy/clammy hands. (No judgement if you do!)

Have you tried brushing well with a boar bristle brush to spread the sebum/leave-in through your hair? That might help it be less piecey and shinier. :shrug:

I don't know what to do, I thought of forgoing the leave-in but my hair needs the protein (it won't be as effective if used as a RO) I'm stuck! I have tried using a BBB in the past but because of my fine hair, it didn't work out. It just made my hair stick to my head!

[excentricat]

Do you spend time in an area that could cause your hair to get dirty faster? Such as working in a kitchen, or construction? Your leave in and touching are also likely culprits. The BBB might work if you just used it on the length that was greasy looking. Avoiding the roots might keep it from sticking to your head.

[sunflowersmiles]

Mine does this sometimes. I don't know what causes it though. I have always thought it was the hard water in my area not rinsing the product out all the way. I usually clarify at that point and it helps a little.

[Anje]

Just to rule out the obvious, you're not oiling the length, are you?

My other thought is that maybe your leave-in is attracting grease, as has already been suggested. :-\ Might be a full-blown protein treatment will do more for your hair than a leave-in, but my hair is so notably biased against protein that I can only speculate.

[red-again]

Mine did this when I used a leave in from toadstool (etsy). It might be worth finding a richer conditioner for a rinse out. Might also be worth trying one without protein. Maybe your hair doesn't needed the protein as much now you are co washing and stretching.
I clarified, dropped the leave in and just used rinse out and it was back to normal service

[Lyv]

Mine did this when I was using leave in (it was from Toadstool too) and when I stopped using it the greasiness went away. Maybe try switching brands or using less?

[florenonite]

I feel your pain. I had this issue for a really long time, with my length being greasy by the time it had dried.

First things first, have you clarified? Often greasiness like this can be a sign of build-up, especially if there are cones in your leave-in.

Secondly, I see your hair's fine. As a finey myself, I've never found leave-ins to work well, because my hair just doesn't absorb it properly and it sits on the surface. Like a PP, I'd suggest instead you do protein treatments (maybe once a week? I don't really know the frequency of this kind of thing) and nix the leave-in. You may find you don't need a conditioner at all.

That being said, my problem is just as bad whether I use a leave-in or no conditioner (and slightly improved with a rinse-out). Really, the only thing that works for me is a 2-in-1 shampoo. I think this is because my hair is fine and doesn't readily absorb conditioner, but at the same time without conditioning it clings to the water when I wash it and has the same greasy results I get when my hair takes too long to dry, as for instance when I tie it up when wet. I know a lot of people don't like 2-in-1s, and I kind of see it as a last resort, so if you get rid of the leave-in and it doesn't solve your problem, I'd recommend a lightweight rinse-out conditioner instead.

[Night_Kitten]

If your'e using hand cream, it could be the culprit... I noticed that if I put hand cream and then touch my hair some of the hand cream "sticks" on the hair...
The other "main suspect" is definitely the leave-in...

I often notice that the section from a bit above nape to shoulder tends to be greasier than the rest of my hair and scalp towards the end of the week (I wash on weekends), I always assumed it's because that section of hair is always at the base of the updoes and close to the scalp so it "collects" the oiliness, if that makes sense?

Hope you find the routine that is best for your hair and solves the problem :)

[sarahthegemini]

Wow, quite a lot of replies! :) So the general consensus is that the leave in is the culprit. Righteo, today is wash day so I'll leave that out and see what happens.

To answer some of the questions - nope I'm not oiling the length! The hand cream theory is interesting b/c I obsessively apply hand cream, and although I try to avoid touching my hair immediately after, I do still touch my hair a lot. I use a fairly rich RO (I use Giovanni Smooth as Silk) and that has protein in, it just feels like my hair can never have enough! I'm also going to start doing coconut oil pre-wash treatmets (i've been saying that for weeks now!) so hopefully that will prevent protein loss in the hair strand so I don't need a protein rich LI.


Eta: I totally just remembered something ... I've been using about the same amount of LI possibly even a smidge more, but scrunching less with my towel after. Now, if scrunching removes some of the product, then by not scrunching, I'm removing very little product, right? So perhaps, as I'm not scrunching much anymore I need to use even less. The greasy length has ony been a real issue the past few washes which coincedently is when I cut down on using the towel!