Suggestions for oily hair

[cocolover]

I was hoping to get some help from some of you with oily hair. DD and I are both growing our hair out together, but we have hair that is completely opposite and I don't know what to do for her! Mine is med/coarse, curly and DRY; DD's is fine, straight, and oily :) My hair hardly ever tangels and DD's is crazy after a washing! So, what can I use to detangle? If I put conditioner in her hair it looks horrible for days, so oily and it just hangs there. Any good recommendations? Also, to add, we don't use any hair products with chemicals in them, so unless I make it myself, I usually buy Aubrey's Organics. Thanks.

[spidermom]

Put conditioner on her length. Dilute the shampoo in a squirt bottle, then squirt it all over her scalp and stroke it through her hair. Rinse. Do not condition a second time. Be careful not to muss the hair all about while it's wet, and the tangling should be at a minimum. You could loosely braid it.

[MsBubbles]

I hereby declare myself posterchild for 'just hangs there'...I have been working on this problem on myself now for what, 30 years or so. My first step (since growing my hair out this year) was to start cwc (of course conditioning the ends only), and really really diluting my horton's whoberry shampoo. My next step was to quit washing every day in the hopes that stripping the oil from my scalp every day was actually making it produce more oil. My next project was to switch to Aubrey Organics (or pick your own gentler, non-drugstore/supermarket brand) shampoo and conditioner. I noticed the first ingredients included oil, and believe me, I did not see how that could possibly help me but it seems to be helping. I have managed to buy myself an extra half a day of non-greasy hair. By the third day I need to wash again if I want to be presentable in public.

My next and current step in this quest for a less oily scalp is my diet. I am cutting down on animal fat, pretty much giving up beef, pork, bacon, sandwich meats, egg yolks, and cheese, plus all those things that include them, and am eating fresh veg and fruit, wholewheat grains, and hardly any sugar and no deep fried stuff. If this seems to bring amazing results I will definitely post about it!

My hair is so thin, fine and straight, that the slightest drop of oil saturates it, so I know a lot of this is just a fact of my life, unfortunately. My hair will never stand away from my scalp and will always 'just hang there'!

I have also drastically reduced combing my hair. I now only comb it to detangle after washing it, and try not to do so again until the next wash. I know this sounds silly but I have also stopped running my fingers through my hair at my forehead and if I have to touch it, only do so at ear level or downwards.

I hope this helps your daughter enjoy her hair. Took me until I was 41 to appreciate mine!

[StephanieB]

Well, I have extremely oily, super baby fine, thin hair that "just hangs there", too.

My niece, when she was years younger, told me once that I had "Severus Snape hair". :eek::mad:
She's now 17, and would never say anything like that now, she's not a mean person.

The trouble is, even when she was unaware of how that might have been taken poorly... she was't lying. She has ALWAYS been a strictly-honest kid. lol


For the past 4 1/2 months, I have quit using shampoo for the most part.
It is quite true that most shampoos for oily hair strip the scalp of all oil too harshly, and your scalp then goes into overdrive to make much more oil, to compensate.

I started with the CO method (Condition Only) for several weeks early this summer. That didn't work so well for me.

I then tried Chaz Dean's WEN cleansing conditioner (the cucumber aloe) and I'm very happy with that.

Some people here have seen no difference between regular conditioner CO and the WEN CO... but I have. So, for ME, it's worth the extra expense. There is also a WEN-knockoff that someone else here sells, but I can't tell you how that works in comparison with WEN CO or plain CO.

I used to HAVE to wash ever day, or was unfit to be seen out publicly, so oily was my hair if I didn't wash each day.

Now, I can wait 3 days between washes... and more if I wear it up so the roots don't show so much.

Every time I wash, I use the WEN cleansing conditioner. Most of the times I wash, I also use the WEN moisturizer stuff in the ends of my hair.
Once every 2 weeks, I use the WEN ReMoist - a deep conditioner - and let it sit under a cap for at least an hour, and I try for 4 or more hours. Then, I wash as usual.
If I don't wash my hair by the 3rd day, I have to use a little talc rubbed into all hair roots at the scalp and let it sit for 10 minutes before I wash as usual with WEN. Just CO washing with the WEN at that point won't get all the oiliness out of my roots... and it's not nice looking even after I wash & dry it.

Also - I use ONLY a very smooth plastic large wide-tooth comb or a similar-sized buffalo horn comb (so nothing can snag at my hair and break it) and carefully detangle my hair when it's spooing wet, right out of the shower or wash sink.
I only put it into a Diva towel (one brand of microcloth towel) after I've detangled it carefully!

And once it's dry... I only air dry it... I go thru it once more with the same wide-toothed detangler comb before I use a smaller-toothed comb and style it.


The plastic comb is a Goody that I got from a drug- or dime-store cheaply.
BUT you have to pay close attention, coz not all cheap plastic combs are completely smooth like this one! Many aren't, and tear your hair! The same is also true of wooden combs - beware and inspect carefully.

Buffalo horn combs & wooden combs are obtainable at moderate prices on the Internet.

I hope some of this has helped you. :)

[cocolover]

Thank you for the responses, it has given me lots of ideas. I currently wash her hair twice a week and that seems fine, it is just the detangling thing that has me puzzled. My response would be to dump on the conditioner so it isn't tangly, but that doesn't even see me to avoid tangles and then it makes the hair gross. Should I try something more like a cream rinse for oily hair? I just don't have the tangles, so it stumped me a bit!

[Juneii]

I'm skimming over everyone's suggestions and they seem so complicated! @__@ a bit too tired to take all of it in right now

my suggestion would be clarifying shampoo. I use Suave because it's cheap and the only shampoo for oily hair that I found. it works really well, my hair isn't stringy and limp anymore!

[AngelInDisguise]

Another one here for hair "just hanging down". My hair is thin, rather delicate and I still have an oily scalp.

Washing the hair twice a week to mee seems fairly well.

As said before I also would rather use a very mild shampoo than a clarifying. For me these did not work. The scalp produced a lot more oil and the lengths were nearly impossible to detangle.

I would suggest to use a rather light coditioner and only on the lengths. As already written a rinse might be just the solution. I found coconut oil worked best for me - aditionally to shampooing and conditioning. It's easier to dose than other oils and detangeling my hair is a lot easier.

[Dolly]

Instead of piling on the conditioner, you might also try a mild vinegar rinse with a small dollop of conditioner in it and use that after the wash. That has helped immensely with my tangles. If I still have tangling after that, I use Assie's Hair Insurance leave-in.....it is a very lightweight spray.....it helps detangle really well, and doesn't weigh hair down.

[cocolover]

Dolly, that is a great idea about the vinegar rinse with the dollop of conditioner, I'm going to give that a try. We tried a straight vinegar rinse and the tangels seemed worse. Thank you all for your responses :D

[heidihug]

I have thin, fine hair and very oily scalp and skin, and I wash two to three times a week. I always use coney conditioner, so your results may vary, but I never do anything but a light finger-comb when I get out of the shower. I only detangle after my hair is completely dry. Much much eaiser than trying to detangle my hair.

Other things to keep in mind:

Don't flip hair forward to wash or rinse. It makes tangles that much worse.
Don't flip hair forward to wrap in your towel after washing. Also makes unnecessary tangles.
When applying any leave-ins (oils, conditioners, etc) after washing, don't flip hair around or rub it briskly between your hands. Apply it gently, like the hair is a fine wet silk.Good luck!