Hair & Scalp Care in High Desert... TIPS?!

[Jimothea]

Hi everyone!

I've just moved and was just wondering if anyone has any tips for hair and scalp care in a high altitude desert. My hair and scalp usually want opposite things...

My hair here in the desert is a solid 2a/i and tawny blonde. The hair itself actually cooperates a lot easier out here where it's dry instead of humid (where I'm a solid 2c/i), but my scalp hates stretching washes and nor can it handle CO out here. I am assuming it's the climate behind the change but maybe that's more a nutritional/hormonal thing? I've been eating very well lately; really!

Because of my hair color I wash it at least a little bit pretty frequently, spot-washing really, so my hair doesn't look that weird stained khaki color, but true washes only happen once or twice a week. I've also diluted my ACV rinses all own to practically water b/c it seems to dry my hair out so much here. After this batch is used I don't think I will continue with it. It is, however, the one thing I've found that calms my SD flareups...

As a former wurly my ideal wash process was a CO followed by a medium-level dilution of ACV to water, or if I was needing it, CO-Shampoo-CO, with or without ACV rinse. The conditioners I used for this are either no-cone or lightly coney. When in drier climates I usually switch to a fair-to-middling strength coney conditioner to combat how light and floaty my hair can be. That's really the only stride I've made into desert haircare.

Hair Care right now: Suave Daily Clarifying for occasional shampoo; Suave Green Apple for regular CO and John Frieda dark blonde CO for second CO. It does seem to combat the dark greases a bit better. Usually followed by super diluted ACV rinse. Wash 1-2 times per week but scalp wants it 1 a day (know what I mean by that?)

Main problem: How to balance more moisture for my hair with less irritants to my scalp AND without looking that awful dingy blonde color.

Secondary problem: Our shower is preposterously tiny, with very little pressure or heat, so complicated or time consuming hair washes must be do-albe in a sink.

Any ideas? If I missed the appropriate thread for this question, please direct me, and either way thanks in advance!

[meteor]

If you can't stretch washes, have you tried pre-poo oiling?
How to make pre-wash oiling work for your hair: http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.ca/2014/03/oil-pre-shampoo-or-pre-wash.html
(http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.ca/2014/03/oil-pre-shampoo-or-pre-wash.html)
Also, you could do scalp-only washes in your sink, if your hair is long enough to bun or braid.

I'd really recommend "sealing in" moisture by using LOC method (liquid leave-in + oil + cream conditioner) or any "sealing" oil (mineral "baby oil" works well, for example) or a silicone serum. To prevent hair from drying out, it's important to use occlusives (oils & silicones primarily) on damp or wet hair.

Also, try to be careful around humectants in the desert, since humectants draw moisture in high humidity but can sometimes draw moisture to themselves out of hair in extremely low humidity. Humectants are good to use in normal humidity though, as well as in the shower - so combining an SMT with a steamer can be a good deep conditioning treatment from time to time.

Also, maybe consider getting a humidifier. Your skin will thank you for it, too. :)

[truepeacenik]

I posted a long and wise post, and the Internet ate it.

So, recap:
What is your average humidity?

Things that worked for me in the Colorado High Country
CWC, I got down to weekly with a scalp wash thrown in, making it say, six washes in a month.
ACV weaker solution, which made no sense. Hard water! It may have been that my oh so precise measurement, the Glug, was too rich to start.
soap based bars made by desert/high desert dwellers. It mattered.
Eventually I went to Shikkai shampoo (made in California) diluted at least half.

Hats. For sun and sight.

oh, and honey was a huge failure. Same for most humectants, unless, and this is big, you get access to a high humidity environment: indoor pools, steam sauna, etc.

[Anje]

I'd suggest that you try diluting your shampoo, and if your scalp wants more washing, feel free to give it to it. More dilute shampoo will be less hard on the length, but your scalp will still get cleansed.

When you say that your scalp no longer handles CO washing and such since moving out to the desert, what's changed? Is it more oily now? Irritated? Shedding? Seborrhic dematitis? I'm just curious because knowing my scalp, I would probably end up with increased oiliness in such a dry environment. As is, I've got a history of my scalp getting greasy every winter when everything drys out from forced-air heat. (I'm very curious to see what happens this year; I've moved to a house with a whole-house humidifier connected to the furnace.) In my case, it seems to be its way of protecting against drying out, and it's annoying!

It's seemed less popular around here lately, but misting hair lightly a few times a day with distilled water or water with a bit of whatever (aloe, conditioner, catnip tea, EOs, you name it) dissolved in it has gotten a lot of credit for moisturizing hair. Usually it isn't enough to make hair damp, just create a local area of higher humidity for your hair, so it shouldn't dry out as readily. This might be the only way you can use a humectant-rich conditioner without it becoming counter-productive on your hair's moisture levels.

Sealing in moisture with a light layer of oil over damp hair is another wise suggestion that I'll happily echo. You need to slow evaporation. (Silicone serums tend to dry out my hair, probably due to the volatile silicones, so I would personally avoid them. But I don't know how they affect you. Just consider oils if serums don't work.) Bunning hair also helps slow down the whole drying-out process (as you know if you've ever tried to let your hair dry in a bun rather than loose). Use it to your advantage!

[neko_kawaii]

Folks have already hit most of the points I would. Remember aloe is a humectant, avoid it when the humidity is low, but how low may depend on your hair. I seem to be fine with it as long as the humidity is in the upper teens or higher.

What I do is preoil from ears down (usually over night) and then apply diluted condish, let that sit 20 min and rinse, scalp shampoo, conditioner from ears down (my scalp appears to dislike condish).

I have yet to find any leave in product that defines but doesn't make my waves look greasy, but that's fine because I wear it up. Lots of low styles can be worn under a hat, some hats will accommodate high styles. Covering your hair outdoors is another way to protect, hats also provide shade to your eyes, face, and neck, all parts that can easily get too much sun.

[irodaryne]

I'm from Phoenix, Az, so there's not so much high altitude but let me tell you, the dryness. Stretching washes may not be an option (depending on the time of year) so moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. Keep that hair well oiled and moisturized or it'll start looking really, really gnarly at the ends. That was the biggest issue I had when I lived in Phoenix was that the ends would get so dry and brittle that it just looked absolutely terrible.

[Amapola]

I live at about 8,000' and about 16% humidity. I've lived here for a long time so my hair is used to it. When my hair starts to act up, I've found that cones help me out a lot. My hair is so fine and fragile and it is SO dry here. For me, the protection of cones works really well but it may not for you.

I wash my hair twice a week in the shower. That works for me.

Hats are great and I've considered getting a buff. So far though I simply put my hair up for protection. I also favor things with hoods on them... it is a very good idea though to keep your hair covered if you can.

For oils, I've had good luck with coconut oil. I sometimes oil my ends on the night before a wash. However, I have to say... the coney conditioner I've been using has been doing an excellent job so far this year. We shall see when winter is in earnest!

That is what works for me. Of course everyone is different but it looks like your hair type is not *wildly* different from mine. Good luck with this issue! :flower:

[Quasiquixotic]

I would second the no aloe. I used some in Florida (like 100000000000% humidity) and tried the same stuff for the next wash in Colorado and my ends were crispy right away. :(

[Jimothea]

Thanks so much for the info, everybody!

I'm considering returning to pre-wash oiling, as well as heavily diluted shampoo for my CWC, maybe even some shikaki; my hubby and I have been eyeballing Bronner's shikaki soap but don't need more soap yet. :) Day-wear mineral oil didn't agree with hair or scalp (well, scalp was already angry) and I looked pretty dingey, so I think I will skip that but maybe see if I can find a nice alternative. And I am a bunner and a braider, definitely.

As far as CO not working so hot any more, I moved from an Alaskan sea level rainforest to a mountain town in the high desert, down here, right at season change. Shedding always increases at season change/moves for me, plus I was manually hard on my hair this summer...so I'm shedding maybe a tiny, tiny bit more than I normally would. But my scalp grows more irritated here; i do have SD and the flare ups are worse right now. I admit there is a very fine happy medium (at best) in more humid environments, where I can juggle washing and wash stretching to keep my scalp not too dry and not too oily, and have my hair still look decent. SD seems fueled by stress and sugars for me, and I'm only about regular-level stressed (ha!) and have cut lots of refined sugary crap (delicious crap!) from my diet entirely...

Temperatures in AK ran 45-55 every day and night, with minimum 70-90% humidity every day and night (lol, i am happy to see the sun again), year round. Hair/scalp looked and felt great with both CO, and in the cases of needing it, CWC was great too.

Temperatures here, now, are about 60-80 daytime, 30-40 nighttime, for late-summer/early fall, that is, with probably about 10% humidity. I'm ball parking all this; we did just have a rain/snow storm. Soon it will be winter and I've got to get my routine nailed down before winter hat season starts or my scalp will throw a fit. lol.

In fact, Amapola, I live just on the other side of the mountains from you! It snowed! YAY!

My hair does love silicones and always has, and it does like some oils (at least in humid environments but I'll have to keep experimenting out here) but I assumed it would be overkill to combine them, because I thought silicones pretty much sealed the hair so the oil couldn't reach it, and oiling followed by a conditioner would just remove the oil, right? Are those correct assumptions or...? Maybe I could do CWC with coconut oiled shampoo in the middle step?

Thought: my face, especially out here, loves the OCM. Is there an equivalent of OCM for scalp and hair? Not oil-followed-by-conditioner, but oil-followed-by-something-like-hot-watered-washcloths to clean and moisturize at the same time? Actually, I bet an OCM on my head would feel amazing if I could make it work properly....anyone tried a version of this?

Yeah, humectants and I only get along when its humid. Used the crap out of aloe and sugars in both AK and the midwest, but no mas.

[AutobotsAttack]

Maybe you could try moisturizing your hair from the ear down and then sealing with a good oil. And when you wash, try braiding your hair and then shampoo our scalp only then rinse so that you aren't stripping your hair so much. OR you can saturate the length of your hair with a good thick conditioner and then shampoo your scalp only, then rinse. I think that would be a really good way to retain your moisture while also getting your scalp clean :) hope this helps.

[meteor]

My hair does love silicones and always has, and it does like some oils (at least in humid environments but I'll have to keep experimenting out here) but I assumed it would be overkill to combine them, because I thought silicones pretty much sealed the hair so the oil couldn't reach it, and oiling followed by a conditioner would just remove the oil, right? Are those correct assumptions or...? Maybe I could do CWC with coconut oiled shampoo in the middle step?

I think it's not a problem at all combining silicones and oils. Both are occlusives but they don't create an impermeable barrier, only a light permeable one. Also, it's virtually impossible to coat every strand with hair still looking presentable anyway, so you are probably leaving just a tiny layer behind, and primarily on canopy hair only.

CWC can be a good option for protecting the length, but do watch out for build-up in the long run, since the products are designed to be used in specific "S then C" order (unless it's a 2-in-1 product), and the negatively charged surfactants in shampoos are designed to be followed up with positively charged ingredients in conditioners. More on this here: http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.ca/2014/01/deep-conditioning-part-i.html But pre-poo oiling can be a great alternative: more specifically, oil overnight + shampoo + conditioner for a few minutes


Thought: my face, especially out here, loves the OCM. Is there an equivalent of OCM for scalp and hair? Not oil-followed-by-conditioner, but oil-followed-by-something-like-hot-watered-washcloths to clean and moisturize at the same time? Actually, I bet an OCM on my head would feel amazing if I could make it work properly....anyone tried a version of this?

I like to think of pre-poo oiling as a bit of an "OCM for hair". :)
Also, something else reminds me a bit of OCM: the Indian Ayurvedic approach of using coconut oil overnight and then washing it out with a conditioning mix: methi (fenugreek) or a cleansing herbal mix (shikakai and soapnuts, for example). This works when the hair isn't too dirty and the oiling isn't too heavy. :) Watch out for build-up though, it might be drying or you might still need to clarify from time to time.

[ravenreed]

My hair does better when I don't stretch washes. If I go more than two - three days, not only am I a grease monster, I have bone dry ends too. CO washing does best for me here, but I have to use very specific conditioners to make it work. As others have said, humectants can do more harm than good. Especially as we move into winter, humidifiers will become your best friend. I usually run one in my bedroom and one in the livingroom, and the air is still dry.