How do you take care of your oily hair?

[frogette]

I've been surprised when I stumbled upon here that people primarily determine the way they take care of their hair by their hair type (curly or straight, fine or coarse etc), and not by their scalp type. I'd say the prominent feature of my hair is: oily, and my choice of hair products depends primarily on that. My goal is not to try and decrease the oiliness (I've given up on that) but to avoid putting any weight on the hair. I use no conditioner and no oil - even applying conditioner on the tips only turns my hair into an oily mess in a nothing. I suppose it would be manageable at tailbone, but at can-I-call-it-bsl, it's not..

So... oily scalps out there, what do you like in terms of shampoos or alternate washing methods (CO is out of question for me), hair care, hairstyles?...


Totally out of topic: today for the first time I've managed to make a bun that looks nice and holds well with just one stick (I'm using a pencil). I don't have a cam here so I can't show it off, but I feel so happy that I had to brag, I thought I'd never make it (I'm terribly clumsy).:D

[LutraLutra]

I always thought I had oily hair, but I don't - I have a senstive scalp that gets oily if I wash it with hot water, strong sulfates, artifical perfumes, 'cones and anything with more than about 10 ingriedents in the list. :D The less I wash my hair the less I need to wash it. I don't want to assume you haven't tried those things, but it might be worth revisting again if you haven't tried for a while. HTH.

[AngelInDisguise]

Some found that regularly oiling the scalp acutally reduces the oil production. If I want to treat me really good, my procedure is to heavily oil the scalp with whichever oil I recently use in the evenenings and then wash in the morning. It always seems to me as if this helps to reduce the speed of getting greasy again.

I have very fine hair and not that much of it and also always thought I'd better stay away from oil and conditioners.

Nowadays I sometimes do CO when my hair is "flying" because of the dry air in winter in all the heated rooms. And what I found out is that after a CO my scalp does get greasy again in the same way as if I used shampoo. I might even CO more often then I do but I love the cleaner feeling of shampooing - although I suspect that's just a matter of imagination.

What also works for me is herbal hair color. My hair seems to drink the sebum more when freshly colored OR my scalp loves the herbal treatment.

[Arctic]

Oily scalp here!
I wash my hair every other day, otherwise my scalp freaks out. My scalp is very sensitive, I think I have SD, too much oil, sebum or other type, and I have horrible break out. CO didn't work for me either: My hair loved it but scalp didn't: infact that's the story of my LHC membership, lol! My hair loves everything I do but scalp is very picky :D I have learned and am learning methods that both hair and scalp like.

Regular sulfate shampoo is one of them, I use CWC washing method every other day. I couldn't skip using conditioner all together. When my scalp was bad I had to avoid all oils, now that it's better/good I can use moderately EVOO. I also use essential oils, they are not "oily oils". Aloe vera gel is amazing product, both for scalp care and for hair.

Hmm, what else? As little handling as possible and hair stays clean longer... I must avoid stimulating scalp too much, so scalp massages etc are for special occasions.

If I think of something else I'll come back :)

Happy holidays!

[frogette]

Very interesting. It's true that my scalp is very sensitive and freaks out every now and then whenever I use something it finds too agressive. For example, I recently switched from a SLS to an ALS based shampoo, but my scalp hated it and let me know it wasn't pleased in the most vehement way. Perhaps I should use less agressive washing means than sulfates shampoos. But my scalp also freaks out when I don't wash it deeply enough or often enough so that sebum accumulates, in which case it itches and sheds like mad. It sounds like a no-win situation.
Aloe vera gel definitely sounds like a good idea. I already wanted to buy some but I forgot. Do use use it on wet hair and rinse like a conditioner?

[Sceleste]

I have oily scalp. I have tried numerous things to make my scalp produce less oil but so far nothing's worked. I wash my scalp every other day. Most of the time I use a shampoo bar, occasionally co, soapnuts or diluted sulfate shampoo. Luckily I don't have hard sebum, I can spread oil to hair and also it washes out easily.

I've learned to live with oily scalp and don't try to wash less frequently. Instead I do a lot of scalp washes because the length does not like to be wet. Even when I use conditioner my hair's not soft and moisturized. There's a huge difference if I keep the length out of water and just add shea+coconut oil every night. I wet my hair maybe once a week.

I really recommend scalp washes and washing often enough (to prevent clogged pores).

[Elphie]

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=17466

This product seems to be working well for another user.

[HairColoredHair]

I have a very oily scalp... or should I said... had.

The oil production has gone WAY done after a stint in WO (Water only), which allowed my scalp to reassert it's 'happy place'.

[spidermom]

I have an oily scalp also. I have found that CWC with a mild shampoo keeps my hair/scalp as clean as full-strength shampoo made for oily hair lathered up twice. I keep oil away from my scalp but do condition and oil the bottom half of my hair. I've discovered that one day my hair will look lank and oily, and the next day it appears that some of the oil has been absorbed because my hair will look much better without having done anything to it (other than comb it).

[AJoifulNoise]

My skin produces lots of oil. My scalp is the worst. I've tried stretching washes and it never worked. I looked awful and my scalp itches terribly. So, I wash my hair 5-6 days a week. 3-4 days are CO, 2 days are shampoo days (once with gentle shampoo, once with a harsher shampoo). I do use oil- coconut- but only from the ears down. For more details, see my profile. :)

[Lady Godiva]

Oily scalp here. I agree with your observation about hair typing for recommendations. I scalp wash almost exclusively with strong SLS shampoos and rarely use conditioner (only with full-length washes and from the neck down). I like detergent shampoos. Anything else leaves slimy, cool, tacky, separate-y hair within 24 hours, and it tangles more than when super clean ("stripped"). Do what works for your hair, period. Ignore suggestions that don't work for your hair. :)

[Darkhorse1]

Oily scalp here too! I can now wash every other day if I have to, but just lately, I'm having to do it daily. I use a clear shampoo, usually a clarifying shampoo, and use a moisturizing conditioner and a detangler spray in the winter to reduce static. I keep it down unless at the barn, where I wear it in a long braid or braided ponytail up in my winter hat.

[Henitsirk]

I wash my hair with shampoo every few days. My hair is oily and thick so I don't condition or oil it -- it would get too heavy. I comb it out with a wide-tooth plastic comb when wet, and then blow dry (maybe 1-5% of the time I will air dry it in hot weather).

Since I've started reading on LHC, I have started using less shampoo, as I used to use two big handfuls every time! I've also started combing at night with a wooden comb to try to spread the oil down my hair a bit. And for Christmas hubby got me a bristle brush, so I'll be trying that for the same purpose and possibly for dry shampooing (though it will be the first time I've used a brush on my hair for many, many years).