Contradicting scalp and hair!

[aloewurly]

I thought I'd make a thread for those of us that have finicky scalps and/or finicky hair that seem to contradict each other... Feel free to delete if this is a duplicate.
My case is: my scalp needs strong sulfates or it turns oily, painful and flaky (waxy, thick flakes). There are absolutely zero workarounds around this, so there's no need to suggest any :lol: Shampooing often enough to keep my scalp happy sometimes leads to dryness flakes, and any shampoo ingredient list that doesn't resemble straight up dish soap leads to a flareup. I have just resigned to having a dry scalp, because it's better than the alternatives.
My strands are extremely porous, delicate and coarse. Lots of gaps in the cuticle, both by nature and by the "attacked with sulfates nearly every two days" thing. I don't shampoo my lengths, but it still seems to take a toll on them. My wurly hair looks beautiful when I use moisturizing conditioners and stylers like gels and leave-ins, but these build up very quick (despite all the sulfates) because of the aforementioned gaps in the cuticle, and most of the time lead to an itchy scalp (oils give flareups, and often products make me itchy without good reason). My hair can either look good or feel good, apparently :lol:
Use this thread to complain, share your experience or ask for advice! I can't be the only one:confused:

[Diana Prince]

Oh, this thread feels like it was made for me :lol:.

My scalp is very oily. I need to shampoo everyday or every other day (but that means using dry shampoo and, if I use it too often, it makes my scalp itchy). On the other hand, my hair is very fine and fragile, easily weighted down, prone to tangles. So I must use a conditioner/mask that has a great detangling power, but isn't too heavy, because after the shower my hair will look the same as before showering.

I tried sulfate free shampoos, and they made everything worse. Horrible breakouts on my scalp. I, too, must wash with strong sulfates, which make my scalp feel so good, but inevitably tangle the hell out of my lengths.

I recently found out a technique to make my life easier: I try to wash only my scalp (and maintain the lengths dry in the shower). It only takes me a couple of minutes: I put my hair into a tight high bun, put a plastic cap over it, secure it with many scrunchies and then I proceed to wet my roots. I then shampoo the roots and rinse. I try to alternate: today I'll shampoo and condition my hair as usual, and tomorrow I'll do a scalp wash only. And so on and so forth. This cuts out the conditioning, rinsing, drying and styling time so much, I'll probably try to do more scalp washes only in the future than the full WC routine.

[aloewurly]

Oh, this thread feels like it was made for me :lol:.

My scalp is very oily. I need to shampoo everyday or every other day
History of my life pretty much! My scalp isn't that oily, but it turns waxy and gets SMELLY if I go longer than a day. Even two days is pushing it! Stretching washes simply doesn't work for me. I think that people that can stretch washes succesfully have a drier scalp that was only overproducing oil because of irritation, not a naturally oily scalp. But I might be very wrong :lol:

[ExpectoPatronum]

Oh hey, I belong here.

My scalp would love nothing more than to be washed every other day with harsh sulfates. My hair wants to never be washed and regular sulfate use dries my ends out like no other.

I compromise by washing 2-3 times per week with a sulfate-free tea tree oil shampoo for my scalp, and I make sure to pre-poo with an oil for my hair and letting it sit for a bit. If I don't do that, I deep condition. Sometimes I do both. My scalp isn't 100% happy with this arrangement, but it keeps it from being too bad.

Plus, truth be told, I just don't have the time to wash my hair every day so my scalp needs to get over it :lol:

[lapushka]

I have had SD (seborrheic dermatitis) since I was a wee babe. In my 30s I discovered that the harsher the sulfate, the better, and get this, now all these big companies like Pantene & Herbal Essences (the harshest among us) are making their formula, yes their overall formula, much gentler. Here in the EU at least they have taken SLS out of the equation. Well, I think the anti-dandruff Pantene one isn't bad, and my "old" Aqua Light (thank God for my backstash) is still OK.

Other than that Nizoral 2% sometimes has to go to the rescue.

I just double condition to combat dryness in my lengths, and it works. I do stretch my washings to a week, and that seems to be fantastic, without bothering my scalp too much.

[Obsidian]

I also have SD and need to wash with a strong sulfate. I'm also not able to use any conditioner or plant based oils.
The one saving grace is mineral oil based products, they don't cause a flare and help keep my hair elastic/soft.


aloewurly have you ever seen a doctor? It sounds like you could possibly have SD.

[aloewurly]

I also have SD and need to wash with a strong sulfate. I'm also not able to use any conditioner or plant based oils.
The one saving grace is mineral oil based products, they don't cause a flare and help keep my hair elastic/soft.


aloewurly have you ever seen a doctor? It sounds like you could possibly have SD.

I haven't seen a doctor specifically for SD, but i know my body has issues with fungal overgrowth as a whole. So far frequent washing keeps that in check, if I get a bad flareup I use an antifungal and it calms back down! Its down to a very manageable level. I just need consistency and not trying to skip or stretch washes