Why is my hair like this?

[kdm310911]

For some reason, my hair is annoyingly greasy at the roots, but the ends are dry. I'm sure this is due to a past razor cut. I try to S&D as much as I can, but just a day after I feel like the ends are all freshly trimmed, it's tangly and dry again -- but I can't use moisturizing products, because it makes it even greasier up top , and then it's a limp on top, dry, frizzed out on bottom MESS! This really frustrates me and my hair isn't even long.

Tell me, does it LOOK damaged? I don't do anything majorly wrong to it. I blow dry for about 60 seconds once in awhile to get the last vestiges of dampness out but I don't do any other obvious damage. Why is my hair like this?

Here's some pics. Ignore the facial expressions, I take strange photos sometimes.
http://i36.tinypic.com/10756d5.jpg

http://i38.tinypic.com/2n7o560.jpg

It's really annoying me. I'm going to cosmetology school next year, interested in becoming a hairstylist--and can't figure out my own hair issues! :confused:

[sahiba]

To me your hair does not look damaged .But if you feel that the ends are dry why not oil them , I mean just the length. Most of us here oil just our lengths. But then I am not an expert so lets wait and see what others have to say.

[Katze]

I don't see damage or grease in those pics.

What you describe is very normal and many of us experience it. For years, I thought I didn't have to use conditioner because my scalp was so greasy! Well, as your hair grows it gets less and less of this "grease" (aka sebum - the natural oils your hair and skin produce to help keep you protected from elements).

Your hair is probably too short to need S&D, unless it has been severely bleached, heat-treated, or otherwise damaged in its relatively short life.

In fact, from what you describe, you may just be in need of clarifying. Get a nice strong sulfate-containing shampoo and wash once or twice. Then skip the conditioner (at your length you have very little to condition anyway - ears down is the best way of conditioning most hair). You will very likely be pleasantly surprised.

good luck!

Katze

[EvaSimone]

Your hair doesn't look greasy at all to me. It took me awhile to train myself to realize that having hair that was completely stripped of all natural oils wasn't normal and that shampooing it every day was bad for it. I think in your case it might need to be a mind over matter type of thing since maybe you are so used to having totally stripped hair.

How often do you wash your hair? If you wash it every day you should try to switch to a gentle non sulfate shampoo and then only use sulfate shampoos every so often to clarify.

I agree with Katze that you probably don't need to S&D with your current length but if you have splits then cest la vie I guess.

As far as the dry ends go they need moisture, you could do a deep treatment before shampooing so that it doesn't make your hair greasy. Or you can try to get conditioner just on the ends.

[Aditi]

I agree with sahiba. Apply conditioner or oil only on your length, that way the dry part will be taken care of without adding much greasiness on you scalp.

[kdm310911]

In fact, from what you describe, you may just be in need of clarifying. Get a nice strong sulfate-containing shampoo and wash once or twice. Then skip the conditioner (at your length you have very little to condition anyway - ears down is the best way of conditioning most hair). You will very likely be pleasantly surprised.

Katze
I'm going to give that a shot, since I hope that's all the problem is. :) Thanks.

[Dolly]

I agree.....try a good clarifying.....Suave clarifying shampoo is my fave.....it's dirt cheap, and it gets out all of the stuff that may be causing tangles.

As far as how you describe your hair, mine used to be the same way....oily scalp, brittle ends. Actually, over-stripping my scalp was causing my scalp to over-produce oil. So, I re-trained it. I started doing conditioner-only washes, and yes, I went through a period of about 4 wks of seriously gross, greasy hair. BUT, I'm glad I suffered through it, because my scalp soon learned that it didn't have to work overtime and keep on pumping out the oil. Now, my scalp behaves normally. I can go for at least a day (sometimes two) between washes.

You don't have to ONLY do CO to get your scalp to do this, either. You can do the same thing by using a mild sulfate free shampoo, and also trying to skip some days in between washes.

[spidermom]

Clarifying is a good suggestion. Let us know how that goes. When your scalp area gets oily, put some oil on the ends of your hair. That will protect the ends when it's time to wash the scalp.

[LisaJaney]

I'm with Katze: clarify well. IF you use conditioner afterwards (I always do, after clarifying) then just don't get it on the scalp. In fact, try to keep it off the first few inches of hair. That will help the scalp-greasies.

I don't believe that dry ends have anything to do with a past cut. Dull scissors (whatever) can make a wretched, non-clean cut that can leave the end of the hair frazzled and prone to split/break, but I am not sold that it will make it DRY. What *I* believe makes hair dry is...well, products. Shampoo, in particular. My hair was dry on the ends until I quit washing the living daylights out of it all the time. Actually, what I was washing out of it was the natural oils that HELP it maintain moisture. This does not mean I walked around looking like you could lube a car with my head, but it does mean that I quit lathering the hair to the ends, AND it also meant I washed less frequently, but the BIGGEST thing it meant - for me - was that I learned a new way to CLEAN my hair that doesn't strip every last vestige of oil from the hair shaft itself.

Conditioner (especially cheap, light, kinda runny ones, I prefer 'em withOUT 'cones in them. That means look for ingreds that end in -one or -cone and avoid those ones) has surfactants in it that loosen and lift dirt and excess oils, but they don't strip everything out of your hair like shampoo can. ALSO, they don't LIFT the cuticle of the hair, like shampoo tends to do. So, my hair gets CLEAN, without getting stripped and without getting the cuticle lifted. That all helps keep more moisture in the hair-shaft for me.

I like White Rain Extra Body conditioner myself, but others like Suave products or VO5, and here while I'm in Germany for the semester, I use something I got at Real grocery called...oh who knows, it's TIP brand and it's just cheap condish. Anyhow, I put on plenty of it, enough so that every strand is slick. And yeah, I put it clear to the scalp. (I know, I told you earlier to not put condish on the scalp: those were the after-shampoo-types. This type, you HAVE to put all the way to the scalp, and you have to work it in well) Put enough so that every strand is slick and massage the scalp well with it and work that stuff in GOOD. Then leave it alone for a few minutes while you do the rest of your "showerly duties" (whatever those may be. Me, I wash the important stuff, maybe shave my pits or not, and then I'm ready to tend my hair again) Then I get my hair under the shower-spray for a second to re-wet the condish and work it in again and begin rinsing. You have to rinse a LOT.

Rinse and rinse and rinse. You gotta get all that conditioner OUT of your hair. And when you think you've got it all out, rinse another 45 seconds or something. THEN you can be done. :)

This gets my hair clean, and my hair STAYS cleaner longer with conditioner-cleaning than it does with shampoo and conditioner. I also have more body in my hair this way. The ONLY times my hair hasn't felt clean are when I either:
Didn't use ENOUGH conditioner. EVERY strand and the whole scalp has to be slick, man!
Didn't RINSE well enough. You gotta get it ALL out!!!
Didn't use a cheap-o enough conditioner. I got one here in Germany that was cone-laden and BOY that crap was horrid. Light, cheap, extra-body ones are great for this, because extra body generally means it's not going to weigh your hair down and super-condition it.


IF, after cleaning with conditioner, you want to splurge on a "good" conditioner, then just put it on the hair "from the ears down" like Katze said, avoiding the scalp and first 2" of hair, then rinse out. I also like to just splash some vinegar into a pitcher of water, pour THAT over my clean hair and rinse that out.

I think if you get the hair clarified that will help with the dryness feeling, and then largely keep the shampoo off the length, you'll do well. With my washing routine, I clarify about once a month. My hair sees shampoo maybe twice a month is all. It's VERY happpy this way. :) Let us know how you get on, and what works!

[spidermom]

It's water that lifts the cuticle, not shampoo.

[heidi w.]

For some reason, my hair is annoyingly greasy at the roots, but the ends are dry. I'm sure this is due to a past razor cut. I try to S&D as much as I can, but just a day after I feel like the ends are all freshly trimmed, it's tangly and dry again -- but I can't use moisturizing products, because it makes it even greasier up top , and then it's a limp on top, dry, frizzed out on bottom MESS! This really frustrates me and my hair isn't even long.

Tell me, does it LOOK damaged? I don't do anything majorly wrong to it. I blow dry for about 60 seconds once in awhile to get the last vestiges of dampness out but I don't do any other obvious damage. Why is my hair like this?

Here's some pics. Ignore the facial expressions, I take strange photos sometimes.
http://i36.tinypic.com/10756d5.jpg

http://i38.tinypic.com/2n7o560.jpg

It's really annoying me. I'm going to cosmetology school next year, interested in becoming a hairstylist--and can't figure out my own hair issues! :confused:



I can't see the pix when at work.

But your post makes clear that anything you're doing to "even" out the problem is actually a simple problem to fix.

You are applying a 'fix' to all of the hair. If your ends or length are dry, then you need to treat only this zonage, not the scalp hair.

Trimming hair will not solve dry end, or dry length, or dry hair problems. This would be applying the wrong solution. It will remove damage that is CREATED BY too much dryness (one thing that can create damage), but it doesn't solve the core problem. So stop trimming of any sort, unless you want to remove splits and other types of damage, such as white dots. But don't imagine this solves dry hair problem.

If hair is dry then it needs moisturizing somehow, not removal. The splits is a response to overly dry hair for too long a time but this trim only solves the latter symptom of the problem, not the core problem.

Ok, first....
Do you condition your hair closest to the scalp when you hair wash? If yes, stop. Condition only length, not hair that touches the scalp skin.

If you have a "greasy" top then you have very active sebacious glands (the gland near a hair follicle) which emits sebum to help maintain the acid mantle. This would mean that your scalp skin and hair are then receiving plenty of coating of this waxy ester to protect that hair, and you don't need to add more by conditioning this zonage.

You can condition close to the scalp skin without touching the skin by leaning the head to one side or the other, and then applying conditioner up quite high, yet not on the top of head or side of head or scalp skin anywhere.

Sebum, in your situation, within a day or so will begin to show, and probably around day 3 is likely pretty thick, and hair is really separating. You don't have any itchiness or bumps or bleeding spots or anything like that associated with your sebum production, right? If so, this would indicate a possible case of Seborrheic Dermatitus, but I won't go there until I hear something indicating this issue from you.

IF you're a curly/wavy hair type, applying some version of a leave-in will prove important, especially while hair is still damp after a fresh hair wash. This can be a purchased product that's a leave-in (read the directions carefully and ensure proper usage, proper amount in application, and that this leave-in is for your hair type) OR you can oil (some do both, but it's typically not necessary). IF an oil doesn't work, and you're quite coarse and very curly, then you might like cholesterol or shea butter that you can typically find in the ethnic hair care section of a drug store or grocery store, or at Sally's Beauty Supply.

In applying oil, a little goes a long way, but usually curly/wavy types will need a bit more than straight hair types. Coarseness and texture of hair counts too in this matter. So some experimentation is needed til you find a good balance.

For knowing how to apply or utilize cholesterol or shea butter products, read the jar's label. Also here on RECIPES section there is Snowymoon's SMT recipe and Fox' Shea Butter recipe are good starter kits for deeper conditioning treatments.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=128
SMT recipe in first post!

Fox' Shea Butter recipe doesn't seem to be on LHC. She is the webmaster of Long Hair Loom, so you can write (free registration) on the guestbook, putting her name in the subject line, such as FOX: Your Shea Butter recipe please!, and you'll get a reply from either her or others. It may be elsewhere on the LHL site, too.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=15793
Hot Olive Oil Treatment (be careful using VO5 (I have one I've done mixing VO5 and Jojoba Oil, since VO5 often has protein added in -- on warm wet hair that is maintained in a warm condition, as is the oil)

To solve your problem, I would begin with a deep conditioning treatment to apply to length and ends.

Also, under articles there's an Oiling Tutorial which I recommend you read if you don't know how to oil.
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=71
I recommend reading all the input. It runs the full gamut of experiences.

I would focus my efforts on ensuring my conditioner is of good quality and suitable for my hair type and apply only to the length (for example, if you color, then you need shampoo and conditioner that is suitable for helping to hold the color and infuse with yet more conditioning). I would also consider oiling or some other version of a leave-in. Oiling can be added daily in needed spots.

I recommend looking into the conditioning of Biolage's Conditioning Balm as perhaps a heavier conditioner to use for a deep conditioning session, where you leave it on for a bit wrapped in a cap and come back and rinse out later. I use this conditioner every full hair wash.

Another few tips:
Learn to scalp wash. I just described a how-to this morning:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=16337
Post #7. (see upper right corner of each poster) - thread Winter Woes
The benefit of scalp washing is you can wash the length less frequently
Here's instructions on how to do a full scalp wash...I gave a shortened version for shorter hair lengths.
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=85


For winter, dryness can affect many of us, especially those of us living in snow country where the air becomes quite dry, devoid of water or humidity, during the winter months. I recommend using a HUMIDIFIER in the sleeping area of the home, and possibly also in the main living area. It will help skin and nostrils and hair. It won't be a big noticeable change, but if you have fly-away or static in addition to dryness, the heat from warming a room/house/apt plus the lack of moisture in winter air all contributes to a drier hair condition. I know some use this year round in the sleeping room.
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=16252
My post is on page 2, #11

This should be a decent starter kit for resolving your dry hair problem. Some of this may stem from the hair type you have, such as the combo of curly and coarse: this combo tends to be dry more easily.

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

In fact, from what you describe, you may just be in need of clarifying. Get a nice strong sulfate-containing shampoo and wash once or twice. Then skip the conditioner (at your length you have very little to condition anyway - ears down is the best way of conditioning most hair). You will very likely be pleasantly surprised.

Based on the O.P.'s main thrust, that she has dry hair, clarifying is not needed. If the hair is dry, there's no need to strip anything off since there's not enough of anything on there to begin with.

Clarifying means to strip the surface of the hair, on top of the cuticle, of all product, sebum, dirt, minerals from hard water, etc. This leaves the hair in a completely neked state, that is devoid of all moisturizing agents. (Clarifying doesn't manage anything going on at the cortex level.)

Clarifying is typically only needed for removing buildup.

Dry hair doesn't usually have buildup: it has insufficient emollients to apply a protective and/or moisturizing coating for softer, shiner, heavier hair.

Clarifying, indeed, can dry the hair. So drying the already dry hair is not a good plan.

NEVERTHELESS, IF ONE CLARIFIES BE SURE TO CONDITION WELL AS IMMEDIATE FOLLOWUP TO THIS HAIR WASH (as if shampoo-ing and conditioning). ONE MUST REPLACE WHAT'S BEEN REMOVED. IF YOU DON'T CONDITION, THE HAIR IS STRIPPED NEKED, AND THIS MEANS IT WORKED. IT WAS SUCCESSFUL. JUST BECAUSE IT WOULD BE FLYAWAY, A WEIRD TEXTURE (since there's no coating of conditioner, oil, and/or leave-in product, nor any sebum built up yet), then it worked. One must condition as part of clarifying to avoid what hair becomes if one clarifies but does not condition.

I do not recommend clarifying as a solution to a dry hair problem. Nor will this balance out an issue of overly 'greasy' top and 'dry' length or ends.

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

If the greasiness on top does not go away with a regular hair wash THEN you might consider CLARIFYING only the top of head hair, in a version of a scalp wash.

In this instance, the scalp skin and closely associated hair will not need to be conditioned as the sebum will do its job fairly readily, within a day or less.

ETA: If you opt to perform a clarify hair wash of all the hair, be sure to condition the length well, though!!!!!

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

If you're a daily hair washer, another hint would be to stop washing daily, especially any length.

But from my read, it seems you have short hair, still, so this may be difficult.

heidi w.

[PatGear]

Heidi, I think the idea is that many people mistake hair with build-ups with dryness. Both make hair feel stiff and scratchy.

[heidi w.]

I do understand that, but based on what the O.P. wrote, that's not what I think is going on. Hair that has this buildup problem has a different set of symptoms.

Hair with buildup will feel dry or brittle-y, yet not BE dry. It won't incur damage if it's just buildup. Conditioner and shampooing suddenly won't seem to be working to clean or condition the hair -- after a fresh hair wash there's still a sense of filminess or tackiness to the hair, what some describe as crunchy in this weird tactile feel of something between gunkiness in some areas and the buildup now drying after being wetted.

Buildup occurs most quickly for those who use a lot of products on the hair: serums, styling agents, mousses, gels, infusers...yadda. In natural hair care, buildup occurs much less frequently, more on a scale of every so many months to once per quarter in a year. The buildup for natural hair care can change depending on type of hair washing regime one uses. For example those who CO wash may need to clarify comparatively more frequently to someone who does not.

This person stated dry hair in a unique way, so I'm believing the idea that they have dry hair. The photos won't necessarily reveal this well. This is hard to see in a photograph, depending on the level of dryness issue. I will look at the photos tonight on my home computer to see what I can see, if anything.

If these are not the symptoms of the O.P., and we really do have dry hair issue fairly exclusively, and not a buildup problem, then clarifying would be a very bad idea.

I have no issue with various folks' suggestions. What I do note, though, is that folks provide valid viewpoints yet sometimes do not elaborate sufficient detail for a person to really pin down the issue. To say, clarify is a suggestion, but explaining when or why to clarify, what symptoms to look for, to explain that sometimes dry hair is the decision when in fact it's buildup....and how to differentiate between the 2 becomes very relevant -- especially for newer folks to LHC.

heidi w.

[spidermom]

Based on the O.P.'s main thrust, that she has dry hair, clarifying is not needed. If the hair is dry, there's no need to strip anything off since there's not enough of anything on there to begin with.
heidi w.

It can be really hard to tell the difference between dry hair and buildup because buildup makes hair feel brittle and dry. I discovered this a year or so ago. I had been applying a lot of extra moisturizing treatment to my canopy because it was more weathered and dry than the rest of my hair. Over time it became even more so and I feared washing it, much less clarifying it. It seemed too fragile. Then the python released a lot of musk during handling and I had to shampoo my hair three times in a row to get the smell out. To my surprise, my canopy was soft and silky again after that. I realized then that it had been the buildup making my hair feel so dry. In fact, I believe it was the buildup itself that was dry, not my hair.

[heidi w.]

Spidermom, you describe perfectly the difference between dryness and buildup...shampooing/conditioning wasn't working.

heidi w.

[kdm310911]

I'm going to try and clarify it and then just condition the ends, and see what happens. I do think I have product buildup more than likely ... I treat my hair well, there's no real reason for it to be dry, so buildup sounds like a good possibility. My hair used to feel so light when I shampooed but lately it feels heavier/more coated -- probably buildup, since I do tend to use cones.

So we'll see. I have several cheapy shampoos that likely will be good candidates for clarifying. Doesn't baking soda clarify hair too?

[heidi w.]

Baking Soda blended in water or in shampoo of your choice will also clarify. BE SURE TO CONDITION ALL THE LENGTH WELL AFTER CLARIFYING.

Not just the tippy ends.

heidi w.