Hair help!!!

[moniquerenaud]

Hi I'm pretty new here! My hair is a few inches past BSL, and my goal is waist. I need help with a good routine to get me there asap. My hair is 1a/1b, f/m, I/ii . It has oily roots and dry ends, and I get blonde highlights This is my current "routine":

shampoo-macadamia oil brand (only because it's sulfate free and I do not know of any other good ones, im
open to suggestions!)
conditioner- whatever I can find at my house ((I need new stuff asap but I don't know what to buy!)) I use ones with cones, looking for a good one without cones! My most recent conditioner is sulphate free morracan oil conditioner? It's ok
oil-recently every night before a I shower (I shower in the mornings every other day) I oil my hair with a mix of coconut oil and peppermint oil.my coconut oil is spectrum refined because I need to use it up before I can buy the unrefined, is it still ok?
I also use morracan oil after my showers as a leave in
i take omega 3 pills (been about 2 weeks)


I would love love any suggestions you have to help me keep healthy hair and reach my goal:)

[kerbear]

Hi Monique, welcome to the forums! I'm also around BSLand and am STILL fine tuning my routine after roaming around these forums for over 2 years (although I did start out fairly short and have made great progress!) LOL.

Do you wear your hair up every day or most days?
What kind of pillow case do you sleep on/do you sleep in a cap?
How often do you wash your hair?
Do you have a wide tooth comb?

Most of your routine looks like you're diving right in and doing a great job of finding better substitutes for products that you might have been using before! Hopefully someone else can respond that is more experienced with taking care of hair at this length, these were just the first questions that popped in my head when I read your post.

Happy growing! :joy:

[biogirl87]

Monique, first of all I am sorry you have not receive any replies. I think your routine is fine as it is, but there are some things I would like to suggest.

As far as the shampoo and conditioner go, the ones that are good are the ones that your hair and scalp like. If your scalp does not object to you using shampoos with sulfates in them to wash your hair, normal sulfate shampoos would be perfectly to wash your hair with. Same thing with conditioner - if your hair likes silicones (some members here have hair that likes silicones in conditioners), by all means use them. Since you say that you get blonde highlights, I would guess that your hair may be a little damaged (just a guess though since I have not colored my hair yet, so would not know about how much damaged highlights cause, but I have heard they highlights cause less damage than all over chemical color), then silicones in conditioners may be beneficial for your hair.

Now, on to oils. I think you might be overdoing it with oiling your hair every night before a wash, but if you wash your hair as often as you do, you may need it. With washing your hair, have you tried stretching out your washes to washing your hair twice a week (going an extra day between each wash)? I ask this because it can be the cause of oily roots and dry ends as the scalp tries to overcompensate for the sebum that is being stripped of with each wash. With the scientific research that has been done regarding refined vs. unrefined coconut oil, it does not really matter if you use refined coconut oil if your hair does not object to it. The only difference between the refined and unrefined coconut oil is that unrefined coconut oil has a coconut smell to it, so if you do not like the smell of coconuts, you may want to continue using refined coconut oil.

Also, just so you are aware of this: if hte Moroccan oil that you use as a leave in is a leave in that you buy at regular drugstores, it is likely not a pure Moroccan oil but mostly silicones with a tiny bit of oil in it. Since you oil your hiar with coconut and peppermint oils between every wash, you may be overdoing it with the leave in. Maybe try decreasing the frequency of using one or the other on your hair.

The one time I tried taking vitamins for my hair, they cause a negative effect on my body and I stopped using them. I am not sure how helpful the Omega 3 pills would be if you have a healhty diet.

I know this turned out to be a long post, and I hope I did not lose you in it. One word of caution with changing routine would be this: when you start changing things in your routine, change only one thing at a time and do each "change" for a week or two to see how your hair responds to the change. The reason you need to change only one thing at a time is that it gives you a way to tell what is working and what is not working if something does not work for you. Ultimately though, it comes down to what your hair and scalp like. If your hair is doing well with your current routine, but all means continue using it. Just because someone on LHC says that you should not be using something on your hair does not mean you need to stop using it. For example, I know there are members here on the forums (and on other hair sites as well) who say that you should not be using sulfate shampoos and brushes when you have wavy hair but my hair requires me to use sulfate shampoos and ball-tipped brushes, the only kind of brush that goes through my hair gently, detangles it, and gives me the much-desired volume (it becomes a greaseball three days after I have washed my hair if I condition it in any way and gets limp if use a comb on it and combing wet in the shower with conditioner in my hair makes even more hairs come out in the shower - I think I get less than 50 hairs come out in the with just shampooing, 75-85 hairs come out with shampoo/conditioner but no combing in the shower, and around a 100 to 120 with shampoo/conditioner and combing my hair wet in the shower with conditioner in my hair - just gives you a sense that sometimes what our hair likes is what the rest of the hair would say is wrong for your hair).

[Madora]

Informative article by former LHC member Ktani re: Drying Capacities of Oil:


http://ktanihairsense.blogspot.ca/search?updated-min=2011-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&updated-max=2012-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&max-results=3

Using oil as a pre-wash:

http://ktanihairsense.blogspot.ca/2012/11/using-oil-or-conditioner-as-pre-wash.html

Video by LHC member Heidi W on how to oil hair and other good tips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjVwPKMQDYk

I don't oil myself so can't offer any tips except this: less is more! And remember that oil will attract every single particle in the universe..and that not all oils work for all hair types.

I do like mineral oil (Johnson and Johnson Baby Oil) as a detangler when I shampoo. I use it in place of conditioner (4 drops only on damp hair).

[spidermom]

I think your routine sounds fine; I really have very little to add.

[moniquerenaud]

Thank you soooo much:) So do you think that washing every other day is still too much? once in awhile I can get away with every 3 days but thats only if i'm lucky!

[moniquerenaud]

thank you :D

[biogirl87]

Monique, I just think it would be helpful if you could stretch out your washes over time. You do not have to do all at once, just try to go an extra day between washes for a few weeks and see how your hair feels. With your hair being a few inches past BSL, it should be easier for you to keep it up than it was for me. Maybe it's because I am so used to washing hair only once a week, but to me even every other day feels like a too much. Then again, it might be be because my hair is wavier. I think washing hair too much/too often is just as bad as not washing it often enough. But ultimately, if your hair likes being washed every other day and if your hair likes your current routine, by all means keep doing what you're doing.

[Madora]

I'm with Biogirl87..the more you can stretch your washes, the better for your hair. Frequent washing will eventually strip your hair of it's natural oil (unless you do something to restore it.

Stretching does not happen over night. Try to stretch to once a week and do that for a month. Then try stretching to every 8 days, and so forth.

Stretching your washes (at least for me) was a 5 month time frame...from once a week to once a month. You stretch your washes by keeping your hair clean with daily brushing with a clean brush (if you use a brush) and keeping your hair as free of oil as possible (daily oiling is not a crime but it can attract every tiny bit of stuff in the universe to your hair, which leads to needing to wash more frequently. Also, protect your hair when you go outside..wear a scarf or hat. I always wear a double scarf when housecleaning.

[HintOfMint]

I wash every other day to every two days and, as long as I do a pre-wash oiling, my hair is perfectly fine. Try stretching washes if that's something you feel like trying, but don't feel as though your hair will be ruined if you can't. :blossom:

Other than that, your routine sounds quite alright, just pay attention to your hair. If a routine or product leaves your hair limp, dry, crunchy, or any undesirable quality, you don't have to stick with it just because it worked for other LHC members.

[Flor]

Frequent washing will eventually strip your hair of it's natural oil (unless you do something to restore it.

Ok, I've gotta ask this: ain't ANY washing stripping hair of its natural oil? Frequent or not? And suggesting stretching washes to once a month to someone who feels like they need to wash every other day? Once a month shampooing is borderline sebum-only routine already and it is not for everyone, nor should everyone feel the need to attempt it.

[biogirl87]

Flor, I do not think Madora meant that everyone should try a sebum-only routine or even a once a month shampooing. I do not think of once a week shampooing is frequent at all. Also, I do not think that Madora meant that no washing technique strips hair of its natural oil. All washing techniques (except maybe water only and sebum-only, which require too much manipulation in my opinion) remove natural oil from hair to some except.

If you remember or read my first post in this thread, I suggested to the OP that even stretching washing to one more day would be better.

[tigereye]

I'd advise stretching washes a little too. If your scalp gets used to washing so often you can get typical oil-pit scalp that doesn't have enough time to spread (which is why medora says it strips the oil from your hair - your length and ends end up never getting any) and absorb into your hair since there's just too much when your sebum glands are in overdrive. Even just a day or two more and eventually (though it takes time) the oily-scalp/dry-ends might improve slightly.

Are you using cones? (Including if it's in the Morroccan oil treatment etc.) I ask because you don't seem to use sulphates. Without something like SLS to remove them, certain silicones can build up (ammodimethicone is the worst in my opinion for that), and in my case, build up tends to dry my ends out massively (well cones dry my hair massively anyway, since they trap moisture out of my hair instead of in but that's just my hair). With SLS, and cones, you usually need both or neither.
I'm not saying to start SLS again (I'm allergic to SLS and SLES, and eliminating them was the best choice I ever made), just to be aware of what other products you use.

[Flor]

biogirl87, my apologies if I misunderstood, but I was referring to the exact quote by Madora, which said just that "Frequent washing will eventually strip your hair of it's natural oil". I'm either being slow here, or that statement is not properly worded, or it's simply not accurate.

And again, maybe I misunderstood, but it seemed to me Madora was addressing the OP and suggesting stretching washes first to once a week and then further more? It's a bit of an overkill in my opinion, considering that OP mentioned she feels like she could do 3 days tops.

There's definitely a push on this forum to stretch washes as long as possible or even go all natural and sebum-only and I'm happy for those who manage to do it. But it does not work for everyone, nor should everyone feel the pressure to do it, in order to grow long hair. There are plenty people here who shampoo daily and have gorgeous long hair. Ultimately, yes, less frequent washing is better, but let's not get fanatical here.

[tigereye]

Flor, about the stretching to once a month, I think she was rather demonstrating the time it takes to stretch washes by her own experience, rather than pushing that infrequent washing. That's how I read it, anyway.
What I got from the "stripping the hair" was that, as I said above, that with over-frequent washing, your natural oils don't have the opportunity to be spread down your length and absorbed, so your length never gets any and so is effective "stripped". I (and the OP) use sulphate-free shampoos, and I find they are somewhat less strong as the other shampoos. If I only shampoo my hair (no conditioner - I did that once when my conditioner ran out) my hair definitely doesn't feel stripped of all its natural oils like it did when I used sulphates AND conditioner, but if used fairly frequently, I can see how it could still strip it all out. I even get that feeling when the hair-dresser double-shampoos my hair with my own stuff (since I'm allergic to all their shampoos). Putting back artificial moisture from conditioner after stripping away every last bit of oil from your hair gives a totally different feeling to your hair. Both moisturised, but different, which suggests to me that one wash (I wash once a week, always have since I was a kid) doesn't actually strip all your oils out, but rather just most of them.

[biogirl87]

biogirl87, my apologies if I misunderstood, but I was referring to the exact quote by Madora, which said just that "Frequent washing will eventually strip your hair of it's natural oil". I'm either being slow here, or that statement is not properly worded, or it's simply not accurate.

And again, maybe I misunderstood, but it seemed to me Madora was addressing the OP and suggesting stretching washes first to once a week and then further more? It's a bit of an overkill in my opinion, considering that OP mentioned she feels like she could do 3 days tops.

There's definitely a push on this forum to stretch washes as long as possible or even go all natural and sebum-only and I'm happy for those who manage to do it. But it does not work for everyone, nor should everyone feel the pressure to do it, in order to grow long hair. There are plenty people here who shampoo daily and have gorgeous long hair. Ultimately, yes, less frequent washing is better, but let's not get fanatical here.Flor, I think tigereye worded well what Madora meant by frequent washing eventually stripping hair of its natural oil as frequent washing does not allow sebum to move down to the ends of the hair before the next wash day.

[Madora]

Ok, I've gotta ask this: ain't ANY washing stripping hair of its natural oil? Frequent or not? And suggesting stretching washes to once a month to someone who feels like they need to wash every other day? Once a month shampooing is borderline sebum-only routine already and it is not for everyone, nor should everyone feel the need to attempt it.

Flor, I apologize if my post confused you.

Here is what I meant to say:

Frequent washing of your hair (i.e. every other day or daily) - over a period of time - will strip your hair of its natural oil and leave it straw like.
However, if you frequently wash - and do something to restore the oil you washed out - then your hair will not be deprived.

Weekly shampooing is fine so long as you use gentle shampoos and conditioners.

Shampooing on a weekly basis (which I did for decades) does not strip your hair. I brushed every day with a pure bbb and never oiled. My scalp is dry.

If someone feels they need to wash every other day because of lifestyle (heavy exercising, polluted environment, dirty job, etc.) then by all means, shampoo your hair.

And for what it is worth, I do not believe in sebum only or water only when it comes to my hair. I know others here DO, and that's fine.

Hair needs to be shampooed..i.e. cleaned when it becomes tacky or smells. I do not believe in pre-treating with conditioner or oils. I shampoo twice with my George Michael pink creme shampoo, rinse well, then use MO as a detangler.

I hope this clarifies my post. Thank you!