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Jiffa Jaffa
January 6th, 2009, 04:15 AM
My hair type is very dry, coarse ends and roots that get greasy quickly, so as a result I am having to wash my hair every other day (if i am going out). I have just started CO washing and am happy with it but I have noticed that my hair gets greasier a little bit more quickly when I CO.
I have seen others on here who have dry hair and recommend washing once a week only, which I would not get away with. Am i making my dry hair worse by washing so frequently?

RavennaNight
January 6th, 2009, 04:34 AM
Have you ever tried scalp-only washing, where you only apply shampoo to your scalp, and not the rest of the length? Its easiest to flip your head over in the shower and massage the shampoo into your scalp woth your fingertips. You could also try scalp massaging in addition, were you massage the scalp gently, collect its natural oils, and redistribute them by smoothing them over your length.

Kuchen
January 6th, 2009, 04:47 AM
If your hair's not long enough to bundle away and scalp wash, you could also try using a dry shampoo or a dusting powder, although they're not so great if you oil your ends (for obvious reasons :silly: )

Arctic
January 6th, 2009, 05:35 AM
I like CWC washing, it cleans the scalp and protects the length from shampoo plus moisturizes at the right places. Many peole dilute the shampoo, but I don't.

PS. Your font is a bit hard to read, could you make it a notch bigger, please :föower:

Dolly
January 6th, 2009, 05:53 AM
I had the exact same problem about a year and a half ago when I first started doing the CO washes. My ends were terribly dry and my scalp would be a greaseball the morning after I washed it. You need to "train" your scalp to not produce so much oil. I did a CO wash every other day (sometimes every day if I worked out). After about a month, my scalp realized that it was not getting stripped, so it stopped over-producing oil. Keep up the CO washes.....it will get better. You will just have to wait it out....you'll be glad you did.....I am!

MsBubbles
January 6th, 2009, 06:08 AM
:waving: Hi! Fellow greasy-scalp here, with damaged (highlighted) ends. I have been the route of 'how to oil my ends' and 'how do I get my scalp to be less greasy?'. I have found that after 7 months or so of trying to 'stretch' my washes to 'train' my scalp to produce less oil, it has done nothing of the sort and still starts oozing grease like clockwork about 24 hours after I wash it. Different shampoos or rinses didn't help. I tried stretching washes longer than every other day but all that did was give me itches, burning, flakes and increased shedding. However, since I subscribe to the philosophy that the scalp is pretty much set in its oiling ways, you may very well find that your scalp can indeed handle being washed every three, four or more days once you settle into a routine it loves.

First thing for me that helped the ends issue: Try CWC, if you haven't already.

Second thing that helped the ends issue: Find an oil that the ends of your hair love. For me it's camellia oil and water mixed in a small spray bottle - spritzed onto my ends (only), and only twice. Any more than that and my whole head looks soaked for the rest of the day. Some oils that people love here that come to mind are coconut oil, camellia oil and jojoba oil.

Given my greasy scalp I have bargained with myself that I will have one 'pretty' day and one 'ugly' day. The pretty day being the clean hair or wash day and the ugly one being a greasy updo. The 'slicked back look' is not becoming on me and so on non-wash days I'm just plain ugly. :blueeek:

I hope this helps.

Pierre
January 6th, 2009, 06:44 AM
I get sticky greasy occiput hair. To fix that, I put jojoba on the occiput and leave it on overnight. That dissolves the grease. I oil daily, moving the sebum down the hair, but tend to miss the occiput, so I have to oil it specifically.

Darkhorse1
January 6th, 2009, 06:46 AM
I have this problem too and just use a clarifying shampoo on my scalp. I let the suds just slide down the length. Then, I use a cone based conditioner as I work outdoors/in the elements. This has worked very well for my needs. I use Herbal Essence Degunkify shampoo every 2/3 days and Pantene Daily Moisture Renewel conditioner along with a leave in conditioner by Joico called Integrity. Using both can leave build up, so I alternate each product and use both when I'm out in the cold a lot :)

Another thing---I am finding washing my hair at night combating my greasies. It's weird because I never was able to get away with this in the past. Not sure if it's age and my scalp oils are reducing or what, but maybe give it a shot?

Anje
January 6th, 2009, 07:13 AM
I have the exact same issue in the winter, though in addition to the scalp that gets oily more quickly, my ends dry out more the longer I go without COing them, despite applying oils. My solution is just to CO wash every 2-3 days, when my hair gets oily enough that I can't get the hair to lie right. Alternatively, you might want to look at CWC-washing, or if that dries your scalp too much, do a CWC with shampoo and conditioner mixed on your scalp.

Pay attention to your oil levels with the seasons, too. My oil production decreases dramatically in the summer, so I go from needing to wash every 2-3 days to getting oily only every 5-7 days.

MsBubbles
January 6th, 2009, 09:33 AM
I forgot to say, that for my dry ends/damage, washing every day - even if it's protected somewhat by CWC - seems to dry my ends out, and on the ugly days when I don't wash, the ends are beautifully soft & moisturized.

WritingMum
January 6th, 2009, 09:48 AM
Hello, Jiffa Jaffa,
A few things that I found helpful are:
1. Use a boars bristle brush to help distribute the oil-- before washing and at other times.
2. On the day you are not shampooing, try rinsing well with water and then wiping your hair from scalp to ends with a clean white terry cloth washcloth. Start on one side, wipe one area then section the hair over and wipe the next area. Keep going. Target number of strokes: 100. I found this online and was surprised by how well it worked.
3. Look around in the archives and try some products that are less stripping, such as a shampoo bar or white rain conditioner.
Best wishes!

Katze
January 6th, 2009, 10:09 AM
I had this problem too when I first came here. Virgin hair at the roots, damaged, thin hair at the ends. Flat at the scalp, poofy at the ends. Yuk.

For a while, I stretched my washes which did seem to change my hair, or at least changed how I thought about it. I started getting used to how it looks/feels when it is better moisturized (it gets much darker) which was a big shift for me.

My scalp gets greasy very easily, and the more I touch it (including brushing or massages) the worse it gets. If I can get it CLEAN (with shampoo, including occasional sulfate shampoo) and then not touch it, the greasy/crusty/itchiness is minimized.

CO or no 'poo (methods of washing that use no shampoo) made my hair softer and wavier, but my scalp itchier, and eventually my hair got dull, lank, and lifeless. Personally, I think many people do need shampoo washing (CW, CWC, or WC all work for me) and that greasiness can mean your hair simply isn't getting clean.

Why not try stretching your washes to every other or every third day, and/or alternating CWC washing with CO washing, or alternating CWC and WO? For me, WO in between helps my hair be soft and shiny, and gets my scalp clean, without adding extra products into the mix. I just have to make sure I "wash" my scalp a lot under the running water, and spread the sebum down the length.

Finding the right routine or routines is hard and some of us never find "just one" thing that our hair "loves" - I am constantly adjusting and tweaking and going back and forth on what I do, but I do know that my hair, at least, needs shampoo to get clean. At the moment, I can get away with washing it every seven days - when I first started growing it, I washed every other day.

Keep trying, but try some shampoo washes in the mix, too, and see if you can stretch your washes. It sounds like your hair isn't getting clean, which is why you feel the need to "wash" it so much.

mommy101405
January 6th, 2009, 11:13 AM
I agree with Katze. My hair just needs shampoo. CO made my hair soft but like she said my scalp was gross and itchy.

I wash mostly daily. I will skip a day here and there if I am going to be home or just dropping my kids off at activities. Its one of the reasons my goal is only BSL. I'm just not sure I could maintain much longer than that and wash daily.

My hair isn't long enough to do a scalp only wash but I try to keep the shampoo mainly on my scalp. I runs through the rest when I am rinsing it but I don't actively wash the ends. Then I condition the ends clip it up and leave it while I finish the rest of my shower. I really like my 3 minute miracle conditioner. It makes my ends feel very nice, even freshly washed.

Jiffa Jaffa
January 6th, 2009, 11:20 AM
Wow, thanks very much for all the informative replies! They have definitely given me something to think about. I think it will be very much a case of trial and error, I'll try the thing ssuggested here and just see which my hair likes best, will take a while but will be worth it!
Also, apologies for the insanely small text of my first post, I have no idea how that happened! i don't know how to edit it either, I can't seem to find an edit post button.

chrissy-b
January 6th, 2009, 11:49 AM
I had the same problem too when I tried to stretch out my washes. The things that have worked for me for the greasies:

1. Only brush my hair before a wash.
2. Changed to a soap-based shampoo (this has been a major factor. the other poos I was using were making me produce far more oil).
3. Less manipulation. The less I touch my hair, the less greasy it gets.

For the dry ends:

1. Misting and a leave-in on non-wash days.
2. CWC.

mommy101405
January 6th, 2009, 11:54 AM
I had the same problem too when I tried to stretch out my washes. The things that have worked for me for the greasies:

1. Only brush my hair before a wash.
2. Changed to a soap-based shampoo (this has been a major factor. the other poos I was using were making me produce far more oil).
3. Less manipulation. The less I touch my hair, the less greasy it gets.

For the dry ends:

1. Misting and a leave-in on non-wash days.
2. CWC.

Can you explain what you mean by a soap-based shampoo? Like shampoo bars?