What's going on with my hair?

[blue_eyes]

I've got dye & bleached ends that I've been babying as I grow out. My typical routine when I wash my hair is to use shampoo, use a coney conditioner, dry it a bit until it's damp, and then put a leave-in product on the ends. I switch my leave-in products around, but they are usually meant to make hair soft or shiny and prevent it from tangling.

I was getting frustrated because no matter what I did, my ends would be horrible. My hair is naturally very straight and silky, it never tangles, but the ends felt very dry and each strand seemed to be kinked 10 times in a hundred different directions, making it a tangled, puffy mess. I sort of thought "wow, if this is how bad the ends are with the leave-in products, I can't imagine how bad they'd be without them!"

Out of curiosity I decided to just wash my hair with shampoo & use my regular conditioner, and skip putting in any leave-in stuff. I let it air dry and couldn't believe the result. My hair is fantastic! It is soft and silky and the ends aren't tangling at all. What on earth is going on? Was it the products that were making my ends so awful?

I'm not complaining, the less stuff I have to use the better! I'm just curious if anyone knows the reason or science behind what's happened.

[Johannah]

Did you use that leave-in before with other results? What is the products and what are the ingredients?

[blue_eyes]

I only have the ingredients for one, I just used up & threw out the other a few days ago and can't remember the name or brand.

"Cyclomethicone, Dimethiconol, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Buxus Chinensis (Jojoba) Oil, Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil, Limonene, Fragrance, Linalool, Citral, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Geraniol, Citronellol, Eugenol, Isoeugenol"

I've had mixed experiences with both. Neither were ever outstanding, but I just kept using them because I thought my hair would be 10x worse without them. I feel like I may have had a few days using them when my hair looks pretty good, but it wasn't very often. Most days I was usually wondering why my ends were such a nightmare.

[GetMeToWaist]

That's very cone heavy, it might be silicone buildup. Or maybe just the way you are sleeping or friction on the ends?

[Lyv]

My ends are awful with leave in too. It makes them feel like wire no matter what product I use so I just stopped trying lol

[Johannah]

]That's very cone heavy, it might be silicone buildup.[/B] Or maybe just the way you are sleeping or friction on the ends?

I was thinking of this too. I've got the same thing in the past, my hair just couldn't handle (a lot of) silicons when I used them as a leave in.

[nakima]

my hair does'nt seem to like leave ins either.

[Nadine <3]

I'm guessing since you use cones in your rinse out and cones in the leave in, you just had to many cones and it was building up. I would try using a clarifying shampoo all the way down to the ends to get it off.

[lapushka]

I'm guessing since you use cones in your rinse out and cones in the leave in, you just had to many cones and it was building up. I would try using a clarifying shampoo all the way down to the ends to get it off.

Smart answer. ^^ This. I would clarify-wash properly. Bleached ends usually also love protein. Maybe try and do some treatments for it that way (conditioners with protein).

[HintOfMint]

Sounds like you had a classic case of buildup and the shampoo did a basic clarifying job, and removed the excess product. It doesn't mean that leave-ins are bad, it just means that every so often, you'll have to lay off the product and just do a simple wash and conditioning (clarifying). For many of us, hair routines are cycles, rather than the same thing over and over.

[blue_eyes]

Thanks for all your help! I had wondered if it was the cones, but having never experienced it before I wasn't sure. I haven't used any leave-ins for over a week now, and my ends are still feeling great! :)