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View Full Version : Different types of Sebum.



Nadine <3
July 10th, 2014, 11:14 AM
I don't really have a specific question, it's more of an observation really. I've noticed a different variety in sebum types and I find it interesting, and it makes me wonder. When I was younger, my sebum was super greasy, oily...gave my head a wet look. Now that I'm older (and stopped washing everyday, so my head has a chance to get oily) I've notice the sebum isn't at all what it was when I was young. It's more...powdery almost? The hair around my ears and temple looks slightly wet-ish, but the rest of my head when it gets oily just kinda looks flat and dull. So, what kind of Sebum does your head produce? :silly:

Madora
July 10th, 2014, 11:33 AM
Gosh, I hardly notice it at all, unless I go a LONG time w/o washing. Then it does feel slightly oily.

Stormynights
July 10th, 2014, 11:43 AM
My hair never feels oily, but my hair I know it is time to shampoo when my hair hurts when my bun get a little too high. .

Baby
July 10th, 2014, 11:49 AM
My hair gets more waxy when I do WO. It gives the hair tons of volume and that is the main reason I do WO, I wash it with an sls free shampoo every two-three weeks though. My hair used to be more on the oily side and less waxy when I washed it every day with regular shampoo, before lhc.

Sharysa
July 10th, 2014, 01:07 PM
My sebum is also sort of waxy/powdery. It turns to flakes if I go too long without washing, and in the shower I usually need to scrub my roots to get it off. Flaky sebum is NOT good for black hair. Ugh.

My sebum doesn't actively harm my hair, but it doesn't really do much either. Its resting state is "stuff that gets under my nails." Doesn't spread, doesn't melt or distribute. Maybe it's because I can't brush or I'll get frizz.

molljo
July 10th, 2014, 01:42 PM
I've actually been thinking about this a lot lately, too. I used to get way more straight up oil, but now it seems to be a mix of oil and grit, I guess? Waxy sand? It only gets dirty at my front hairline as well, basically my temples and bangs. The back of my head is never greasy or gritty. I think I would have to skip washes for a month until that section started looking visibly dirty.

Carolyn
July 10th, 2014, 02:11 PM
Interesting thread. 99% of the time I wash my hair in the morning. 12 hours after washing I'll have the beginning of slight greasiness at my front hairline. When I get up the next day, 24 hours later, my hair is really starting to get piecey. It looks like I've done a scalp massage with a couple drops of oil. At 36 hours my hair is super piecey looking and really looking bad. It's also starting to smell bad and I have an itchy scalp. At the 48 hour mark, my hair really stinks, it's lank and hangs in separated chunks around my face and my scalp is starting to get sore. If I go longer than that I will have super sore spots on my scalp. Washing every other day keep these nasty things at bay.

martyna_22
July 10th, 2014, 02:33 PM
Ugh, I have one of these greasy scalps, so my sebum is really oily, and when I touch my scalp with a finger just before washing (I do it every other day) my sebum leaves a greasy mark on my finger. My temple areas are the worst!

Nadine <3
July 10th, 2014, 02:37 PM
I've actually been thinking about this a lot lately, too. I used to get way more straight up oil, but now it seems to be a mix of oil and grit, I guess? Waxy sand? It only gets dirty at my front hairline as well, basically my temples and bangs. The back of my head is never greasy or gritty. I think I would have to skip washes for a month until that section started looking visibly dirty.

This sounds exactly like mine. It feels like I have a powder in my hair...I don't think the back of my head has ever been dirty either.


Interesting thread. 99% of the time I wash my hair in the morning. 12 hours after washing I'll have the beginning of slight greasiness at my front hairline. When I get up the next day, 24 hours later, my hair is really starting to get piecey. It looks like I've done a scalp massage with a couple drops of oil. At 36 hours my hair is super piecey looking and really looking bad. It's also starting to smell bad and I have an itchy scalp. At the 48 hour mark, my hair really stinks, it's lank and hangs in separated chunks around my face and my scalp is starting to get sore. If I go longer than that I will have super sore spots on my scalp. Washing every other day keep these nasty things at bay.

You sound like a friend of mine, her sebum is very, very oily as well.

PinkScarf
July 10th, 2014, 02:48 PM
The back of my head is never greasy or gritty. I think I would have to skip washes for a month until that section started looking visibly dirty.

I'm the exact opposite, the crown of my head is the first thing to need a wash (well, that and my bangs). I have a memory foam pillow and I sleep mostly on my back, so maybe it's caused by sweat or something? Gross.

mira-chan
July 10th, 2014, 02:49 PM
I have very dry sebum, it used to be even worse a couple of years ago. It does not move down the hair shaft on it's own or with brushing. Even at my worst "oily" teen years I got a little bit of that oiliness around ears, after a week. I can go a month without wash/ water and my hair looks more dried out than oily. The sebum stays on the scalp and cause itching because it's coating instead. I oil before washing to make sure to break it up a bit so my shampoo can actually remove it. Without the oiling it can't be removed all the way without scrubbing so hard it hurts. The sebum is a waxy powder when scraped with a nail.

mamaherrera
July 10th, 2014, 03:17 PM
I have this too, and more now, I"m getting terrible itching. But always I find that around my temples, it always looks greased/oiled, and wet. Which I hate, why it happens, don't know!

Larki
July 10th, 2014, 03:31 PM
I guess mine is more oily than waxy. About 48 hours after washing, the sebum has moved like 8 inches down the hair shaft.

nymbuss
July 10th, 2014, 03:34 PM
My hair gets more waxy when I do WO. It gives the hair tons of volume and that is the main reason I do WO, I wash it with an sls free shampoo every two-three weeks though. My hair used to be more on the oily side and less waxy when I washed it every day with regular shampoo, before lhc.

same here. i remember from when i was young[er] that my hair was oily like it was wet, and ive changed so many shampoos that every time i got a different kind of sebum. lately, ive been using a tea-like shampoo, with potassium based substances, and the sebum became waxy and kind of ruined clean hair for me. now im trying w/o and for the first few days the hair was very waxy, it was even difficult to comb, but now ive managed to spread it using a bbb and it looks more manageable.

i think the type of sebum is influenced on the one hand by hormones and diet, and on the other hand by the products we use.

jupiterinleo
July 10th, 2014, 06:54 PM
My sebum is also sort of waxy/powdery. It turns to flakes if I go too long without washing, and in the shower I usually need to scrub my roots to get it off. Flaky sebum is NOT good for black hair. Ugh.

My sebum doesn't actively harm my hair, but it doesn't really do much either. Its resting state is "stuff that gets under my nails." Doesn't spread, doesn't melt or distribute. Maybe it's because I can't brush or I'll get frizz.

I have oily and flaky sebum, but it definitely leans more towards this flaky sebum type. It sorta gets better when I use my BBB with nylon bristles; it takes a lot off my scalp, making it less itchy (and the massage feels amazing, especially having the itchies after going a week without washing) but at the same time it distributes the flakes throughout my hair. :nono:

Sharysa
July 10th, 2014, 07:01 PM
I finger-comb normally and I use a horn comb twice a week. Fantastic for my scalp, but I always need to wipe my comb off once I'm done because it goes white/gray from the sebum.

Yeah, I don't think brushing would be any better. :(

chen bao jun
July 10th, 2014, 08:02 PM
My scalp never ever has gotten oily. when I used sulfate shampoo it used to get miserably dry and I always had flakes like snow all over. I thought it was dandruff but it was dry scalp flaking off like a sort of eczema. Now I do CWC with a very mild non sulphate shampoo. I wash every week to 10 days. By day 3 my scalp is very dry and I have to oil it, but it doesn't get flaky anymore. The oil goes into my scalp by the next morning when I oil at night. I washed today and due to one thing and another I hadn't washed for more than two weeks. I was slightly uncomfortable with a slight beginning of itchy but definitely not oily at all--more going towards getting too dry. My friend smelled my hair yesterday and said it smelled nice.
If I washed every day I think the dryness would kill me.
I tried washing every three days when I first started LHC and did it for a few weeks but it was a pain to have to detangle so often and by the time my hair dried, it was time to wash again, so I went back to every week pretty quickly. I have washed once a week all my life. We had a routine where we did it Saturday nights when I was a kid, probably this is what my scalp is used to? My mother insisted we wash once a week. We knew people who would stretch and stretch due to pain in the neck of straightening hair with a hot comb and not wanting to do that every week, but still have straightened hair, but my mom felt that was unhygienic, so we washed what I always thought of 'more often'--I was surprised when I learned that some have to wash every day.

nymbuss
July 12th, 2014, 05:23 AM
I finger-comb normally and I use a horn comb twice a week. Fantastic for my scalp, but I always need to wipe my comb off once I'm done because it goes white/gray from the sebum.

Yeah, I don't think brushing would be any better. :(

im experimenting with water only now and i used a rare toothed comb at first [to avoid damage], but i saw it wasnt doing anything on the grease even if some of the sebum clinged to it. i then moved to a brush and a lot of sebum stuck on it, i could remove the goo from its edges, and now i have a bbb and it really does wonders spreading the oils. i say its worth the shot, at least for the fact that it has more hairs for the sebum to cling to. [it also helps with the flaky look]

GetMeToWaist
July 12th, 2014, 06:18 AM
My hair is soooo oily... itsreally greasy and ugh, even though its basically curly, i try to wash it every 3 days but it is absolutely rank on the 3rd day, practically looks wet. Do you think i should just wash it every other day?

Laisik
July 12th, 2014, 07:12 AM
My hair is soooo oily... This is almost certainly because I'm 15 haha. But its really greasy and ugh, even though its basically curly, i try to wash it every 3 days but it is absolutely rank on the 3rd day, practically looks wet. Do you think i should just wash it every other day?

How long have you washed it every 3 days? When I first started stretching my washes, it definitely took a week or two for my hair to adjust. Or maybe it's just the summer weather, as my hair seems to get greasy much faster than in the winter. :) But if it's more comfortable for you, then you don't have to wash every 3 days.

Johannah
July 12th, 2014, 09:18 AM
My hair tends to get oily too instead of waxy.

Nadine <3
July 12th, 2014, 12:06 PM
My hair is soooo oily... This is almost certainly because I'm 15 haha. But its really greasy and ugh, even though its basically curly, i try to wash it every 3 days but it is absolutely rank on the 3rd day, practically looks wet. Do you think i should just wash it every other day?

When I was 15 there was no way I could go that long. I washed everyday during the week and slacked off during the weekend. I would wash my hair every night and by the time I got home from school the next day my hair was feeling greasy and looking just nasty. Just pay attention to your hair... I got so in the habit of washing everyday I didn't notice when my hair and scalp got ridiculously dry and I started washing my hair to death lol Now, at 21 I can go 3-4 days between washings fairly comfortably. That and my sebun isn't as oily as it used to be. It's more of a power and it doesn't make my hair look wet like it used too.

Nadine <3
July 12th, 2014, 12:08 PM
My hair is soooo oily... This is almost certainly because I'm 15 haha. But its really greasy and ugh, even though its basically curly, i try to wash it every 3 days but it is absolutely rank on the 3rd day, practically looks wet. Do you think i should just wash it every other day?

When I was 15 there was no way I could go that long. I washed everyday during the week and slacked off during the weekend. I would wash my hair every night and by the time I got home from school the next day my hair was feeling greasy and looking just nasty. Just pay attention to your hair... I got so in the habit of washing everyday I didn't notice when my hair and scalp got ridiculously dry and I started washing my hair to death lol Now, at 21 I can go 3-4 days between washings fairly comfortably. That and my sebun isn't as oily as it used to be. It's more of a power and it doesn't make my hair look wet like it used too.

clairenewcastle
July 12th, 2014, 02:28 PM
The sebum on my scalp changed when I gave up cones, it went from being waxy to greasy - probably because the cones were causing beuild-up on my scalp.

Rinna
July 12th, 2014, 03:00 PM
I have oily skin in general and the scalp is no excepion. It's always oily. Somehow, though, my hair doesn't look greasy, and I wash it only once a week. Guess since it's curly and I never brush, the oil doesn't travel.

GetMeToWaist
July 13th, 2014, 04:55 AM
How long have you washed it every 3 days? When I first started stretching my washes, it definitely took a week or two for my hair to adjust. Or maybe it's just the summer weather, as my hair seems to get greasy much faster than in the winter. :) But if it's more comfortable for you, then you don't have to wash every 3 days.

I've been doing it for like six months now lol. Seems like my hair just wants to be washed all the time.

winship2
July 14th, 2014, 08:06 PM
Mine has definitely become more waxy and less oily since joining LHC, though I can't connect it to any particular change in hair care. How odd! But easier to stretch washes for 1 or 2 days, which is a big deal for me!

MINAKO
July 14th, 2014, 08:23 PM
My sebum is also waxy/gritty and i prepoo with an oily mix to sort of soften it before the conditioner and srubbing can do their work to remove it. I do wash once a week, because my hair needs to be atleast rinsed with water to get the dust out or it will tangle, but i actually like the smell of dirty hair at that point, lol. Since i stopped smoking i never felt as if i have to wash it simply because it smells

meteor
July 14th, 2014, 08:26 PM
I think the quality of sebum is highly dependent on genes, hormones (driven by age, gender, etc) and diet.

I definitely notice that when I eat exclusively clean, unprocessed food rich in natural fats, the sebum all over my body is more liquid-y, less waxy, more balanced and I get less break-outs/irritation and need to wash less.

Drosmand7
July 14th, 2014, 08:40 PM
I think the quality of sebum is highly dependent on genes, hormones (driven by age, gender, etc) and diet.

I definitely notice that when I eat exclusively clean, unprocessed food rich in natural fats, the sebum all over my body is more liquid-y, less waxy, more balanced and I get less break-outs/irritation and need to wash less.

I definitely agree. My hair gets oily waxy when it passes the 5 day mark. It gets especially oily when it's close to that time of the month.

Drosmand7
July 14th, 2014, 08:47 PM
I think the quality of sebum is highly dependent on genes, hormones (driven by age, gender, etc) and diet.

I definitely notice that when I eat exclusively clean, unprocessed food rich in natural fats, the sebum all over my body is more liquid-y, less waxy, more balanced and I get less break-outs/irritation and need to wash less.

I definitely agree. My hair gets oily waxy when it passes the 5 day mark. It gets especially oily when it's close to that time of the month.

MINAKO
July 14th, 2014, 10:02 PM
Honestly i'm a bit embarassed that i seem to be within the minority of people (or even the only one, lol) who never tries to get their hair sqeaky clean and doesn't clarify at all, i mean i'm not into the oily look, but mine just doesn't get limp or stringy looking anyways and i always imagine that stripping all of the sebum is the eqivalent of peeling the foil off a phone screen, hahaha, i know the comparison doesn't make sense at all. :confused::p

spidermom
July 14th, 2014, 10:38 PM
I used to try to go one week (7 days) before washing. Sometimes I would notice that my sebum seemed more liquid and would move on down the hair shaft, which made it easier to wait 7 days. Other times it was concentrated right at the roots of my hair, and there was no way I could wait even 2 days to wash it. I couldn't figure out why it was so different from week to week.