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View Full Version : I've got sebum - now what?



ReptilianFeline
February 5th, 2018, 04:24 AM
After about nine months of washing my hair in different versions of no-poo mixes, and settling down for a base of chickpea flour and juniper water, my hair and scalp is changing. The dry flakiness is gone. My hair closest to the scalp has some oiliness to it that it hasn't had since I was little. I seem to have sebum... maybe not a normal production yet, but getting there for sure.

I am at a loss though when it comes to using it and caring for my "new" hair and scalp.

I've read about BB brushes, but it seems a little difficult with my hair. Someone suggested I use my hands and fingers, but I'm not sure how. People mention preening, but never describe how.

Is it different depending on how you wash your hair, or is sebum manipulation the same no matter what?

I don't like oily waxy sticky hair, so my sebum has to behave.

So... advice please :)

Simsy
February 5th, 2018, 05:29 AM
The general idea is to distribute the sebum down the length of your hair. The BBB basically does exactly that, depending on hair type of course. Preening is much the same idea, using fingers instead.

Actual techniques however, I’m not much help for since I don’t use the method myself. There is a thread for no water/sebum only care that might be able to help you a bit better?

lithostoic
February 5th, 2018, 07:19 AM
I just massage my scalp with my fingers and then distribute the sebum with a fine toothed comb. I make sure to detangle first!!!

ReptilianFeline
February 6th, 2018, 07:11 AM
I wish someone could properly explain the different methods to me. With the BBB I can brush what is on my head, but once I get past my neck, I'm not sure what to do. Do I brush with the hair against my body, my hand? When I flip my hair/head upside-down my hair gets tangled again, and if I detangle upside-down, my hair gets tangled when I flip it back. That's a lot of detangling!

MusicalSpoons
February 6th, 2018, 07:30 AM
I'm not WO or NW or anything like that but when I BBB I part my hair all down the middle (as if to do bunches/pigtails) and brush each side separately, which means no tangling for me. So I guess that counts as brushing down against my body, though you could do it against your hand if you wish. Basically, you'll probably have to find what works for you (took me a few attempts to find a way of BBBing that worked). I guess we all have different ways of ordinary brushing/combing depending on our hair and physical capabilities, so this is similar. One thing I learned very quickly was that doing single strokes all the way from root to tip was definitely best, as doing a brushstroke part of the way down then starting another stroke from the roots ended up in many tangles. You definitely need to be gentle and patient when using a BBB :)

Oh, and parting my hair like that was the only way I could reliably get through the hair to my scalp. Also, afterwards you have to be very gentle in combing the hair all together too, to avoid tangles.

melikai
February 6th, 2018, 08:15 AM
This website: http://justprimalthings.com/2014/10/20/the-ultimate-water-only-hair-washing-routine-no-shampoo/ is funny and helpful, and describes in detail the steps for preening and scritching and so forth. I don't preen the same way she does though - I use my fingers in a more 'pointed' shape, while dragging the sebum downward. She uses them flat, as you can see in the gifs. It's a good starting point though.
BBB's don't work for everyone, and your hair may be too wavy-curly for them. Some people also really like to use wood pin brushes.

ReptilianFeline
February 7th, 2018, 11:46 PM
Thanks MusicalSpoons and melikai! It really helps with finding a way that works for me :)

FrayedFire
February 8th, 2018, 01:22 AM
There's several different ways to do it, and I don't use the same methods every time, but you don't actually have to use the bbb all the way down, you can use it for the canopy and then switch to your fingers for the length. My preening usually happens along with finger detangling or braiding, but if you flip upside down to do it, you'll probably want to bun from there, so you don't have to detangle multiple times. Gives great volume, too!

ReptilianFeline
February 8th, 2018, 02:12 AM
FrayedFire - I'll try and bun from having my head down and see if there is a change in how my scalp reacts... I used to get headaches from the hair being pulled in the wrong direction.

Ophidian
February 8th, 2018, 06:44 AM
There are many ways to preen and different people prefer different ones, but my favorite is to smooth my hands from scalp to ends under running water in the shower. My hair is pretty thick so I like to part it horizontally across the nape of my neck, holding up my hair above the part with one hand and preening with the other. Then I part again a little ways up and continue like that until I reach the top of my head. Like shingles. When I use my BBB (which is pretty rarely) I use the same method but with dry hair. This probably sounds more complicated than it is.

FrayedFire
February 8th, 2018, 03:02 PM
FrayedFire - I'll try and bun from having my head down and see if there is a change in how my scalp reacts... I used to get headaches from the hair being pulled in the wrong direction.

Don't do it so tight -- I do too, and I can only wear buns for longer if they're high enough up on my head (which I prefer regardless, both for aesthetics as well as being able to rest my head against stuff) but after a few days of loose top buns, I got accustomed to it and only get headaches if it's too tight for too long in the wrong spot now.

ReptilianFeline
February 10th, 2018, 08:06 AM
There are many ways to preen and different people prefer different ones, but my favorite is to smooth my hands from scalp to ends under running water in the shower. My hair is pretty thick so I like to part it horizontally across the nape of my neck, holding up my hair above the part with one hand and preening with the other. Then I part again a little ways up and continue like that until I reach the top of my head. Like shingles. When I use my BBB (which is pretty rarely) I use the same method but with dry hair. This probably sounds more complicated than it is.

I think I understand your explanation. Is this something you do before washing your hair or after?

Appart from figuring out what to do with my sebum, I also have to figure out how to keep my hair in a bun now that my hair has so much more slip. It seems to unfurl itself during the day and then I have to redo the bun.

I have trouble cleaning my brushes... they look clean when wet, but when they dry I can still see some sebum and herbal residue on the tines. Very prominent on the black tines of my denman types brush and my tangle teaser typed brush. Should I use some oil to help lift the sebum from the brush or find some harsh detergents?

Ophidian
February 11th, 2018, 02:53 PM
I think I understand your explanation. Is this something you do before washing your hair or after?

Appart from figuring out what to do with my sebum, I also have to figure out how to keep my hair in a bun now that my hair has so much more slip. It seems to unfurl itself during the day and then I have to redo the bun.

I have trouble cleaning my brushes... they look clean when wet, but when they dry I can still see some sebum and herbal residue on the tines. Very prominent on the black tines of my denman types brush and my tangle teaser typed brush. Should I use some oil to help lift the sebum from the brush or find some harsh detergents?

I usually do it in the shower if I am just doing a rinse or WO wash, otherwise, if I'm washing with S&C I tend to do it on dry hair between washes.