Help: weird greasy, limp hair

[ilovelonghair]

Lately my hair goes greasy in 2 days! If I wash with shampoo it becomes all limp, so I use soda bicarb after washing with poo, that gives a bit more volume at the roots. But I have this weird yucky greasy stuff on my scalp that I only can get off with shampoo and brute force. It's not that that stuff is shampoo left overs, I rinse really well and then wash it again with soda bicarb to make sure my hair doesn't go limp and rinse again real well.
I only get this stuff at the top of my scalp, especially near my forehead and on the parting. I have this problem on and off, it can go away for months and then come back with a vengance (sometimes it's so bad it's kind of like plastic looking, eeew)

[manderly]

Sounds like you're throwing your scalp out of balance and it's temporarily overcompensating. BS is very drying. Over-drying your scalp will lead to it producing more oil to compensate.

I would go easy on it for a bit, it will be a greasy mess for a while but it will balance itself back out.

[ilovelonghair]

I didn't know that! It's good to know, got to be more careful with that :)
I had this actually happening before I started using BS more. I think my shampoo is too rich, so I switched to a shampoo for limp hair, but it still makes it go limp and stringy.
I just got to find the perfect routine :), but whenever I find one that works, it stops working after a while.
My hair either looks limp and stringy or fried. Kind of strange.

[Kirin]

I competely agree with the advice you've gotten, the BS is extremely drying, and some scalps do NOT like the alkaline enviornment that BS creates. My hair is one of them.

If your shampoo is making your hair "limp" and lifeless, check the ingredients, it could contain a cone you are unaware of, or high levels of Panthenol (a vit b alcohol) that coats the hair and acts like a silicone in some cases.

I too have a very oily scalp/hair, and found that not shampooing never stopped it, however, you may try that route. It does work for some, such as conditioner only or water only. I can express conditioner only I do use between shampoos and it does a good job of cleaning the scalp (yet hair is limp).

I've found that for volume and less oil/scalp gunk, a good gentle shampoo that is sulphate free works best. I would start there, some good sulphate free shampoos (and affordable!) are Creme of Nature and Queen Helene Mint Julip.

For conditioner only washing, I would recommend for my experience, V05 Kiwi Lime Squeeze clarifying conditioner or LaBella Placental conditioner. These worked great at "grease busting" on my hair.

[ilovelonghair]

it could contain a cone you are unaware of, or high levels of Panthenol (a vit b alcohol) that coats the hair and acts like a silicone in some cases.


Aha! That's it, it's in the shampoo. It works wonders on my bf's hair though, but he's got dry chrunchy hair. So he can have it from now on. I think I just go back to my old shampoo that I liked. Hopefully my scalp will behave! I hate that greasy roots feeling :(

[Katze]

I would stop the BS and maybe try an SMT. The honey will cleanse, but the rest will get moisturized and softer, hopefully.

The shampoo could also be a problem.

Having struggled a LOT with similar problems, I feel like my hair has often needed a "reset". These days, I am doing that with heavy shampooing and (*gasp*) no conditioning other than a leave-in on the ends only. Otherwise my hair does not get clean, and starts getting weird. What helps me is either blow-damping (gentle blow drying on damp hair just to speed the process) then putting it up - in a Ficcare or claw, NOT an elastic - while damp, with a bit of leave-in on the ends and aloe throughout.

good luck, hope you find a solution! :flower:

[ilovelonghair]

What is SMT?

[Vitalai]

What is SMT?

Snowymoon's Moisture Treatment (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=128)

[Eryka]

Oh yeah, I had this. Feels like you have wax on your scalp and your hair is never clean. My scalp felt dry but my hair felt greasy.

What happened was a layer of buildup accumulated on my scalp. Dead skin, oil, products, etc. The baking soda seems to help not because its a clarifyer, but because of the rough texture. What worked for me is doing scalp massages every night. Devote at least 10 minutes to really rubbing the heck out of your scalp. A HUGE amount of white flakes will be on your shirt the first few times. Over time though the buildup will go away and then you just do scalp massages to maintain. I recommend doing them with oil because it moisturizes and makes the gunk stick together like glue to its easier to wash out.

[ilovelonghair]

These tips are worth a try :). My scalp isn't kind waxy and non oily, it just gives of oil very quickly. I wash my hair and a few hours later I can already feel the oil! I do scalp masages, but it makes the oil go mental!

[tina1025]

I have very oily hair. I wash my hair every other day and on the second day i have to put my hair up. i have tired differnt shampoo bar but i think rosamary and nettel is working for me.