Hair drying out...what am I doing wrong?

[Flossiebell]

Hi All

ive noticed over the past couple of months that my hair seems to be getting drier. When I say that I mean I wash my hair and use leave in/oil and the next day it’s ok-ish but the day after it is a really dry tangly mess. Like it’s ok on day one but then starts drying out from there onwards. It never used to do this. It’s weird. So I put oil on it to try and moisturise but I have silicone in the leave in that’s already on my hair. Surely the silicone wouldn’t be drying it out would it? I’m using same products I’ve used for over a year with no problem (Pantene volume s& comes, Regis ultimate radiance leave in and organix Argan oil penetrating oil + olive or coconut oil when needed). I’m stumped!

I know my hair has bleach/dye and hot iron damage but I’m sure I’ve gone through this years ago without this happening.

does this mean I need to wash my hair more than twice a week so it gets moisture that way? How can I fix this? Am worried that it gets so dry and tangled it’s going to cause more damage trying to comb it out.

[lapushka]

Hi All

ive noticed over the past couple of months that my hair seems to be getting drier. When I say that I mean I wash my hair and use leave in/oil and the next day it’s ok-ish but the day after it is a really dry tangly mess. Like it’s ok on day one but then starts drying out from there onwards. It never used to do this. It’s weird. So I put oil on it to try and moisturise but I have silicone in the leave in that’s already on my hair. Surely the silicone wouldn’t be drying it out would it? I’m using same products I’ve used for over a year with no problem (Pantene volume s& comes, Regis ultimate radiance leave in and organix Argan oil penetrating oil + olive or coconut oil when needed). I’m stumped!

I know my hair has bleach/dye and hot iron damage but I’m sure I’ve gone through this years ago without this happening.

does this mean I need to wash my hair more than twice a week so it gets moisture that way? How can I fix this? Am worried that it gets so dry and tangled it’s going to cause more damage trying to comb it out.

How long has it been since you clarify-washed?

But OTOH, dye and bleached hair can be(come) very dry the more damage there is.

Has something in your routine changed at all?

[Flossiebell]

I last clarified it about a week ago. Didn’t make any difference. I did try silicone free about 3 weeks ago to see if that would help with moisture but it didn’t do anything either. So now back to usual products. What worries me is that I had trouble with dryness and tangling before and had to cut about 12 inches off it was so bad. But I had thought that was due to henna. Maybe it’s just more damaged than I thought?

[Ylva]

Bleach damage (I don't know about all types but this is what I have experience of) can take months to show up.

[MusicalSpoons]

What exactly do you do when you wash? What I mean is, do you shampoo + condition + leave-in? When and how do you use oils afterwards? It might be that you need more moisture in your routine. If you tell us exactly what you do now then we can help suggest ways to add more in :)

[Flossiebell]

What exactly do you do when you wash? What I mean is, do you shampoo + condition + leave-in? When and how do you use oils afterwards? It might be that you need more moisture in your routine. If you tell us exactly what you do now then we can help suggest ways to add more in :)

Ok so I shampoo and condition (twice) twice a week, then when damp I use leave in, Argan oil and serum and leave to air dry. I used to add a drop of Argan oil after it had dried, but that doesn’t seem to do much so now using evoo when dry but I have to use a couple of pumps (it’s an evoo spray bottle) and still the ends seem very dry.

[MusicalSpoons]

Ok so I shampoo and condition (twice) twice a week, then when damp I use leave in, Argan oil and serum and leave to air dry. I used to add a drop of Argan oil after it had dried, but that doesn’t seem to do much so now using evoo when dry but I have to use a couple of pumps (it’s an evoo spray bottle) and still the ends seem very dry.

In that case I recommend leaving conditioner on for longer if at all possible (I CWC and put my first C on a few hours before getting in the shower; I don't know how long a C after shampooing can realistically be left on for without dripping too much!),

and the rinse-out oil method. The link to the full thread is in lapushka's signature but basically at some point after the shampoo you use a few drops of an oil on your ends / lengths / however much you want - usually best to start with just the ends but maybe for you however much of the length gets the driest - then either put conditioner on straight over it, or rinse it then put conditioner on. It's a game changer for many of us :) But literally use a few *drops* to start with, you can always use a little more each time until you get it right. Pretty much any oil would do.

[spidermom]

Silicone products can be kind of tricky. They can help hold moisture in, but too much and they keep moisture out. (I'm not talking absolutes but in general.)

Increase the amount of water you drink.

Oh, and I notice you mentioned clarifying but not a deep moisturizing treatment. Try following the next clarifying wash with that.

Sometimes it takes more than one clarifying wash to remove buildup. Years ago when my hair was around tailbone length, I went through a period of it being so dry that I thought I'd have to cut a couple of feet from my length. Then one day I was handling my big python and got stinky snake musk in my hair. I washed it 4 times in a row with clarifying shampoo to get the stink out. After that, my hair was back to normal. Go figure! Maybe snake musk is really good for hair (lol).

[Laurab]

So, this is going to be an answer based off of something I learned about skincare, not haircare. It might not work 100% the same way for hair, but it makes sense in my head.
So with skincare you can hydrate the skin and moisturize the skin. Hydrating means you're bringing the moisture from the air and deeper layers of skin to that surface layer and plumping up those cells. Moisturize means to have some sort of oil creating a barrier to stop the moisture from leaving your skin into the air.
I've read a lot about what oils just seal the hair and what oils penetrate, and honestly I still don't know, it's very confusing.
Anyway point is, I noticed you mostly talked about oils a lot, not a lot of humectants or conditioners that would bring moisture into the hair.
There's a popular treatment on here called snowynoons moisture treatment that I've tried and would recommend. I've also recently tried flax gel, and my ends feel way better (though I've done other treatments concurrently, so I'm not sure it gets all the credit). A good deep conditioner could also do the trick, I love the Garnier one minute masks.
Oh, and the humidity in the air can make a difference with this stuff, having dry air means you need conditioners with your humectants I think? Not sure, I'm a floridian, it's always humid.
Good luck!

[lapushka]

In that case I recommend leaving conditioner on for longer if at all possible (I CWC and put my first C on a few hours before getting in the shower; I don't know how long a C after shampooing can realistically be left on for without dripping too much!),

and the rinse-out oil method. The link to the full thread is in lapushka's signature but basically at some point after the shampoo you use a few drops of an oil on your ends / lengths / however much you want - usually best to start with just the ends but maybe for you however much of the length gets the driest - then either put conditioner on straight over it, or rinse it then put conditioner on. It's a game changer for many of us :) But literally use a few *drops* to start with, you can always use a little more each time until you get it right. Pretty much any oil would do.

Thanks for explaining. I sometimes feel so repetitive. :lol:

But it is a method I myself use, have been using... for... years! Many years, and it's the only thing that keeps my ends moisturized for the week.

[Flossiebell]

Ok, so have just washed my hair using the rinse out oil method. Will update on progress:)

[lapushka]

Ok, so have just washed my hair using the rinse out oil method. Will update on progress:)

Ooh remember less = more. You really only need like 10/15 drops of a natural oil.

[Flossiebell]

Ok so, update time! I have had to oil my hair again today as was dried out and more tangly again. But I did notice when I washed it yesterday that it felt loads better when I washed off first condition. However when I conditioned again (using same product) it lost a lot of slip and felt drier instantly. So next time I wash it I might just shampoo, oil and then condition once and see how that goes. Thanks for the help! :)

[ynne]

As spidermom suggested, you might benefit from doing several applications of clarifying (but it will definitely need extra treatment after that). Hair can get drier and tanglier with mineral build-up, so regular clarifying might not be enough.

From what you said in the update, it sounds to me your hair may no longer like this specific type of conditioner? So I would maybe try skipping it completely and see if your hair feels better/worse.

Good luck!