lilin
September 10th, 2015, 03:41 PM
Hey guys! So after I did The Big Shave, I decided to see how long I could go WO, and switch back to soapnuts if I needed a real cleanser, which worked wonderfully for me in the past.
At a few inches, WO scrubbing just got to be too intense with too little pay off. So, back to soapnuts.
...Except now they aren't working.
In the time between last using soapnuts and now, I moved from Minnesota to London. London has some of the hardest water imaginable -- so hard it's completely off the end of the scale of most hard water charts. We're talking floating bits of scale in the tea kettle if you go a couple weeks without cleaning it.
Soapnuts not only stopped working for my hair, but also for our clothes and dishes (we used it for both). It just can't cope.
Yes, I tried clarifying. Yes, I tried adding and taking away other ingrediants. Yes, I tried a shower filter. Yes, I tried using it different ways (on dry hair, on wet hair, before conditioning, after conditioning, with a thickener, without one...).
Unfortunately, soapnuts are the strongest DIY cleanser I know of. I have tried all the others. None of them did the job for me in Minnesota, so I don't need to try again to know they won't here.
I think I have to give up on DIY hair care. No choice, with this kind of water. Has this happened to anyone else? Just in case I'm missing something, does anyone have a solution?
But in the mean time, I need to clean my hair.
I can't use SLS. It gives me cystic acne and, if the concentration is high, a rash on my jaw. So I went for SLES... and it's starting to do the same thing to me. Not as bad, but my face definitely broke out.
*sigh*
I am getting so frustrated with the simple task of trying to clean my hair, at this point.
So, my flatmate let me borrow her bottle of WEN cleansing conditioner, which she doesn't use -- too heavy for her fine, straight hair.
I am a rare curly for whom co-washing never went extremely well. I didn't expect it to go any better, with the kind of water we have here. But why not -- it was there, and there was nothing else in our shower that worked without offending my face, so whatever.
For some reason, WEN worked well for me. My hair feels really nice, and what little curlies I have at pixie length are actually quite nicely shaped. If anything, I think I could get away with leaving it on a little less time for less cleaning power.
I am so deeply confused by this, but whatever! Apparently my hair is insane and likes or doesn't like things based on whatever is the opposite of my expectations.
I know WEN is exceptionally expensive, so I don't plan to buy any more once I've used this up. Does anyone have good CO suggestions available in the UK? I tried the much-loved VO5 Naturals in the US, in two different states (thus different water), and I didn't like it. It didn't rinse well and pulled out my curl. My hair is generally very grabby and I have a tough time getting most conditioners out of it.
Altneratively, is there any hope for a DIY solution? I'm guessing not, but maybe someone has some kind of suggestion I haven't thought of yet.
I just want a routine that will work and to stop having to mess with stuff! Thanks, guys.
At a few inches, WO scrubbing just got to be too intense with too little pay off. So, back to soapnuts.
...Except now they aren't working.
In the time between last using soapnuts and now, I moved from Minnesota to London. London has some of the hardest water imaginable -- so hard it's completely off the end of the scale of most hard water charts. We're talking floating bits of scale in the tea kettle if you go a couple weeks without cleaning it.
Soapnuts not only stopped working for my hair, but also for our clothes and dishes (we used it for both). It just can't cope.
Yes, I tried clarifying. Yes, I tried adding and taking away other ingrediants. Yes, I tried a shower filter. Yes, I tried using it different ways (on dry hair, on wet hair, before conditioning, after conditioning, with a thickener, without one...).
Unfortunately, soapnuts are the strongest DIY cleanser I know of. I have tried all the others. None of them did the job for me in Minnesota, so I don't need to try again to know they won't here.
I think I have to give up on DIY hair care. No choice, with this kind of water. Has this happened to anyone else? Just in case I'm missing something, does anyone have a solution?
But in the mean time, I need to clean my hair.
I can't use SLS. It gives me cystic acne and, if the concentration is high, a rash on my jaw. So I went for SLES... and it's starting to do the same thing to me. Not as bad, but my face definitely broke out.
*sigh*
I am getting so frustrated with the simple task of trying to clean my hair, at this point.
So, my flatmate let me borrow her bottle of WEN cleansing conditioner, which she doesn't use -- too heavy for her fine, straight hair.
I am a rare curly for whom co-washing never went extremely well. I didn't expect it to go any better, with the kind of water we have here. But why not -- it was there, and there was nothing else in our shower that worked without offending my face, so whatever.
For some reason, WEN worked well for me. My hair feels really nice, and what little curlies I have at pixie length are actually quite nicely shaped. If anything, I think I could get away with leaving it on a little less time for less cleaning power.
I am so deeply confused by this, but whatever! Apparently my hair is insane and likes or doesn't like things based on whatever is the opposite of my expectations.
I know WEN is exceptionally expensive, so I don't plan to buy any more once I've used this up. Does anyone have good CO suggestions available in the UK? I tried the much-loved VO5 Naturals in the US, in two different states (thus different water), and I didn't like it. It didn't rinse well and pulled out my curl. My hair is generally very grabby and I have a tough time getting most conditioners out of it.
Altneratively, is there any hope for a DIY solution? I'm guessing not, but maybe someone has some kind of suggestion I haven't thought of yet.
I just want a routine that will work and to stop having to mess with stuff! Thanks, guys.