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dimocks04
March 24th, 2014, 09:34 AM
So I have been trying to get my hair to a healthier state. My hair used to fall out by the hand fulls in the shower, lots of breakage. I started getting very concerned and knew i needed to change a few things. (Already had my thyroid checked and it is not that). Knew I was just not taking care of my hair. Used alot of heat and pony tail holders etc.

I have changed to using Coconut oil treatments once a week, taking vitamins and have changed my shampoo and conditioner to Organix brand (love them) and using a leave in conditioner once I get out of shower. I have only been doing this for 2 weeks now and I must say that I see a HUGE difference in my hair coming out in the shower, of course some still comes out (it is healthy to lose a certain amount a day) but NOTHING like it used to.. which I am sooo thankful.

SO I want to try the CO washing that I have been reading alot about. My main question is, does it clean out all the hairspray/gel/freeze it spray and such that is in your hair? I am not planning on going to CO washing all the time, just figured I would try it with every other wash.

dimocks04
March 24th, 2014, 09:38 AM
Oh and one more thing.. does it not leave your scalp real oily?

dimocks04
March 24th, 2014, 11:39 AM
Any help/advice would be appreciated!

Khiwanean
March 24th, 2014, 11:52 AM
You may find you need something stronger than CO to clean that much product off your hair. CO is great at removing oil, but heavier silicones not so much. I don' t use much of any product besides conditioner on my hair, so maybe someone else will have more personal experience to share on that front.

Lots of people go through an adjustment period when starting CO. Usually it will involve a greasier scalp for a little while before the scalp stops ramps down its oil production. The theory is that one's scalp to overproduces oil in response to harsh cleansing methods that strip all of the natural oils away. CO doesn't leave the hair and scalp completely stripped of their natural oils, so the scalp doesn't need to produce as much oil and adjusts accordingly.

Weewah
March 24th, 2014, 11:56 AM
Co-washing will get out styling products and it doesn't leave the scalp oily. It's like a gentle shampoo, try to stick to products that don't contain ingredients that are known to build up, like cones etc.

Nope
March 24th, 2014, 12:02 PM
I think CO could work for you as an in between washes deal, but you will have to use a shampoo to get styling products out. I would personally recommend not using styling products in general, but I understand that everyone has their preferences.

dimocks04
March 24th, 2014, 12:09 PM
I only use styling products 2 times a week (for when I go to church) :) The rest of the time I do not!

Steffid87
March 24th, 2014, 01:02 PM
So when you say that when starting CO that the hair needs time to adjust, would doing CO every other wash not get that adjustment time? I've considered doing the CO, maybe helping my grease-ball scalp while keeping my dry ends moisturized, and right now if I just stopped shampooing then it might be a disaster. However, if I can slowly work it in and get my scalp to adjust with occasional shampoos, I might be able to work it that way. I didn't know if it needs to be a cold turkey thing or not...

arr
March 24th, 2014, 01:17 PM
I would go ahead and just try it, thats the only way to find out if it works for you. Without knowing the ingredients in your styling products, its hard to say for sure if it will remove them. As long as there's not tons of silicones, it should work fine. Buy a cheap bottle of suave or vo5 silicone free conditioner and just do it. You wont be out much money and nothing bad will happen to your hair. For me personally, i felt like CO never left my hair feeling as"clean"and fluffy as i liked and weighed my hair down, but many people love it, especially curlies. You may find you love it too. There is a thread you can read about CO washing full of helpful suggestions and how-to's.

alishaxmarie
March 24th, 2014, 01:18 PM
So when you say that when starting CO that the hair needs time to adjust, would doing CO every other wash not get that adjustment time? I've considered doing the CO, maybe helping my grease-ball scalp while keeping my dry ends moisturized, and right now if I just stopped shampooing then it might be a disaster. However, if I can slowly work it in and get my scalp to adjust with occasional shampoos, I might be able to work it that way. I didn't know if it needs to be a cold turkey thing or not...
You can CO wash any time your scalp feels greasy, as long as you leave the conditioner in for 5-10 minutes then your hair should look clean after the wash. Over time, you can choose to stretch CO washes if you desire but there's no reason you can't CO wash daily/every other day while your scalp adjusts to the less harsh cleansing.


I only use styling products 2 times a week (for when I go to church) :) The rest of the time I do not!

You can't CO with silicones (organix has dimethicone if I remember correctly) long-term unless you plan to clarify occasionally (the coco betaine in the organix shampoo would prevent the dimethicone from building up but if you won't be shampooing much and there's silicones in your styling products, then some of the 'cones may be left behind to build up). How much your products may build up, even if they are 'cone-free, highly depends on your hair so you may need to clarify every month or every few months, you would just have to monitor how your hair is behaving over time. But you're not planning to completely give up shampoo so I think it would take longer for you to get build up if you get it at all on this regimen (symptoms of build up include limp, flat hair sometimes the ends get really tangled together despite being split-free, or the hair just won't behave as usual, sometimes it won't absorb moisturizing treatments because they can't penetrate through the product build up coating your hair). As with most things related to hair care, YMMV (your mileage may vary).

P.S. You may want a cheap silicone-free conditioner (V05, White Rain, Suave Naturals, etc.) to do your CO washes with. They will do better to cleanse the greasiness and won't weigh your hair down although you should still use your organix on the length/ends after your cleansing CO-wash so that your ends are still given the slip they need to prevent tangles and whatnot. As suggested before, feel free to check out the Official CO-washing thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=2898) for more info!

LauraLongLocks
March 24th, 2014, 01:52 PM
When I started CO-washing I worried I would have a greasy scalp. It matters what conditioner you use. I haven't had good luck with VO5, but Suave Naturals Tropical Coconut has worked well for me. I just posted on the CO-wash thread which products I've used and how, so check it out, there is a wealth of information/personal experiences available on that thread.