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View Full Version : Help for hair in the dry dry desert



MongooseSpy
April 14th, 2014, 09:46 AM
Let me start by saying I've read the threads on the basics and from others with similar problems, and I have learned a ton. I'm convinced if I'm going to find help, it is here. Long post ahead...

I have never had very long or remarkable hair...it's never been that important to me for my hair to be anything more than presentable. But two major events in my life have inspired me to change my ways. The first: I am getting married in about 6 months. The second: I moved from the Northwest US to the high desert of the Southwest about 6 months ago. My hair has become very, very dry and damaged. Well, all of me is dry, but my hair is what I don't know how to fix.

My hair: by the type guidelines on this forum, somewhere in the 2 spectrum, maybe even 3a. My hair has two "layers"--a courser, wavy under layer and a finer, curlier upper layer. It is often "big" because I don't style it to be curly so I get poofiness, but my ponytails are pretty small in circumference, probably around an inch. I have the full range of fine to course strands in equality. Current length: shoulder blade, but I just noticed my last cut gave me a short layer, probably at my jaw now.

My situation: It is dry, dry, dry here. It is sandy and dusty. It is crazy windy very often, especially now that it is spring. This is the high desert, and it's still well below freezing overnight. Our water is really hard, so hard that when we boil water on the wood stove to humidify the house, there is a thick mineral coating on the inside of the water pot. We rent. We have to buy bottled water to drink. We can't afford for me to wash my hair with bottled water.

In the fall I noticed my hair starting to get dry so I bought a thicker cocoa butter conditioner. I got a haircut, and started getting split ends after two weeks. In the winter I bought a Shea butter shampoo because it was cheap. Within a couple weeks my hair was completely zapped. I got rid of the shampoo, scaled back my washing to 2-3 times a week. Didn't help. Got another haircut complete with talking-to about using better quality products, bought a heavy leave-in, which I used and it didn't help, got split ends in a week. Finally found a shampoo conditioner a couple weeks ago that are slowly helping bring moisture back to my hair. But I still have mega split ends and lots of breakage, especially on the upper layer.

My goal: to get my hair as long and healthy as possible by my mid-September wedding.

I'm avoiding humectants, no heat to dry, wash 2-3 times a week. Hair greasebombs if I wash less than this.
Also trying to eat flaxseed--does this really help?

What else can I do? Should I try an apple cider vinegar rinse? Aloe Vera? How do I do a pre-shampoo oil treatment? How to protect my hair from the wind? My hair does not hold a braid or bun. I use cheap no-metal elastics to pony or knot it most of the time. I hike, run, bike, lift, garden, walk the dogs... Last thing--I live in an extremely rural, extremely low-access area. I can order online but the nearest city is a 2.5 hour drive.

Please, please help me figure out my hair strategy!!! Thank you!

ARG
April 14th, 2014, 10:18 AM
Have you tried some lighter oil, like coconut, olive, or even avocado? You could try after showering using a very small amount of mineral oil (baby oil) though your ends to lock the moisture in. My guess is the mineral oil will help lock moisture in, and try shampoo bars, which can be very moisturizing.

Nope
April 14th, 2014, 11:12 AM
Since you mentioned having really hard water, do not. Try shampoo bars. They will likely cause some buildup issues. Something you could try is co washing followed by an ACV rinse to help with the mineral buildup; or maybe try a shampoo with an acidic ph. Also try leaving conditioner in your damp hair under a shower cap for 30+ minutes while running a hot blow dryer on it. Heat really helps moisture penetrate, especially if your hair is low porosity.

oatmealpie
April 14th, 2014, 11:16 AM
I also live in the desert and have hard water. I recommend ACV or ascorbic acid rinses to address the hard water. Aloe Vera is a humectant, so it doesn't work well on my hair in the desert. Try overnight oilings with CO washes to remove them in the morning. Coconut, avocado, and olive are the three oils that can actually penetrate the hair shaft, so I recommend trying them out.

Anje
April 14th, 2014, 11:35 AM
It might be worth chelating your hair. There are chelating shampoos, or even these little purple packets from Sally that you can use for a chelating treatment for your hair. Get the minerals off, in case you have buildup.... Once that's done, it might be worth making a point to do a final rinse with diluted vinegar or citric acid to help keep the buildup away. "Miracle water (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=1689&p=33368&viewfull=1#post33368)" is a good recipe using small amounts of citric and ascorbic acid that a lot of people swear by.

I'll also go on record as not recommending shampoo bars at this stage. Some people like them, a few even can make them work with hard water, but they're tricky in many instances and prone to causing soap-scum buildup on your hair. If you want to try them, try them after you've solved the current issue.

I'm curious what's in all these heavy conditioners you're smearing on your hair, because I'm suspicious that if your hair is sensitive to proteins, they might be making the problem worse. (This is very much a "different things for different people" issue, so it's worth considering and also ignoring if it doesn't apply to you.) My hair happens to be very protein sensitive, and it will get dry, rough, and starts breaking at the tips if I use protein-based products with any sort of regularity, and many heavier "damaged hair" conditioners add lots of protein to them. They're useful for many people, particularly those with dye or perm damage or hair that likes that kind of thing, but if your hair doesn't like it, it's a recipe for crispy velcro hair that gets worse the more you try to fix it.

How are you currently wearing your hair most days? A really simple solution (if you're not doing this already) would be to bun it gently most of the time. Keep the wind from getting to it and drying it out by tucking your freshly moisturized ends deep inside, and hold it with something hair-friendly like hairsticks, U-shaped hair pins, even a claw clip. (Elastics as bun-holders are bad news for those of us with more fragile hair. Scrunchies are marginally better, but they still tend to not distribute the weight well and often end up gripping at the more delicate ends, when the whole point of bunning was to protect them.)

LanaBanana
April 14th, 2014, 01:39 PM
I also live in the dry southwest and have hard water, but I've been here my whole life so this all seems normal to me! As I've been researching ingredients lately, I've discovered that humectants are everywhere! It's frustrating to realize that the products I've been using for years have probably just been pulling moisture out of my hair. The products I've recently found that have worked well for me are shea moisture products, and l'oreal oleotherapy conditioner. I would recommend chelating, and then co washing and using an acv or citric acid rinse like Anje said. On the days that you don't wash, add some diluted conditioner to your ends to keep them from drying out. And I'll echo Anje again, and recommend not using elastics for buns. Elastics completely ruined my hair! If you can't find hair sticks in your area, you can always use a smoothly sharpened pencil or a knitting needle. For pre wash oilings, I add oil (lots of people like coconut oil but I get the best results from Olive oil) to my hair at night, enough that all strands are coated but not dripping, put it in a braid for the night, then I co wash it out the next day. Super simple and it makes a big difference with my hair texture. Sometimes I mix the Olive oil with conditioner before applying. I would stay away from aloe, and use conditioner with oil afterwards to lock it in as a leave-in.

jeanniet
April 14th, 2014, 01:53 PM
I definitely recommend trying the miracle water (minus the ascorbic acid if you have well water). We have hard well water, and citric acid rinses have really helped me with mineral buildup. I also use a chelating shampoo, but not more than once or twice a year.

You may also benefit from using some leave in (it can be a small amount of your regular conditioner), with a little oil on top to seal. And definitely watch the humectants.

ravenreed
April 14th, 2014, 02:00 PM
I also live in the dry, dry desert. We have antihumidity. I CO wash every other day. If I go longer my ends get dry. I avoid humectants, use an ACV rinse with every wash. I don't oil because oil attracts lint and dust to my hair rather than helping. Aloe vera, IIRC, is a humectant. I avoid it because using it leads to insta-split ends for me. The only other thing I can suggest is that if you have the heater on, run a humidifier. It will help your skin, your hair, your sinuses, everything.

Katrine
April 14th, 2014, 02:04 PM
Living in the southwest can present some challenges regarding hair. In spite of having a water filter the water is still hard here. I've noticed that when the temps are cooler there are more issues with dry hair. Deep conditioning with heat which was already mentioned is helpful. I have found that sweet almond oil and argan are lighter oils that can penetrate the cuticle. My hair doesn't like a lot of oil so I use it sparingly. Before I started diluting shampoo, sometimes I would add a drop or two of my favorite oil. Or I would add it to my conditioner.

In the warmer months I found I had good results with a horsetail hair butter. Sometimes I would add a drop or two of oil and then the hair butter over that.

Maybe diluting your shampoo with distilled water may help. I dilute mine quite a bit, you could experiment and see what works best for you. Try to avoid getting a lot of shampoo running through your length. That may cause drying as well. HTH :)

Anje
April 14th, 2014, 02:13 PM
Maybe I'm weird, but I never noticed a problem with humectants in any weather. Ever. My hair loves them, even in the depths of winter when everything is at about 10% humidity and you can't touch a cat without being zapped.

ErinLeigh
April 14th, 2014, 02:25 PM
My hair went thru such a dry period when I lived in Colorado.
I didn't really know about products, ingredients and all that so it was baffling at the time. I knew my skin was ultra dry but for some reason I didn't think about the same effect on my hair.

The best thing I can advise is sealing in moisture anytime you can.
For skin that is oils, butters or lotions applied on damp skin. Same for hair. No matter what wash method you choose to do (cowashing could help greatly in dry climate) make sure to seal in moisture. After washing try a leave in conditioner and then Apply your oils, cones or butters on top of it to lock that moisture in.

There is a specific method called LOC method that can give you some idea.

As far as hard water, a vinegar rinse can help. Citric acid is good also. These occasional rinses can help loosen some buildup. A chelating shampoo (even swimmers shampoo like ultra swim) used once a month to keep mineral buildup at bay will help a lot.

ravenreed
April 14th, 2014, 04:26 PM
Some days the humidity is so low here that the weather people can't get a reading at all.

OP- I thought of something else. Because hard water makes everything build up on me over time, conditioners, oils, you name it, I do clarify somewhat frequently. I know it is time when my ends feel dry even after CO washing. I scrub well with an SLS laden shampoo with a bit of baking soda (I add 1/4 teaspoon to an ounce of water and mix well. Then I add an ounce of shampoo and wash with the mix) added and condition well and my hair is back to normal. I currently clarify at least once a month, and sometimes as frequently as every two weeks. I let my hair tell my when it is time.



Maybe I'm weird, but I never noticed a problem with humectants in any weather. Ever. My hair loves them, even in the depths of winter when everything is at about 10% humidity and you can't touch a cat without being zapped.