another hair crisis - what should I do

[plainjanegirl]

So I washed myhair last night cause it was feeling oily (or greasy). Have been having to wash more often and I think maybe it is either from working in a greasy food place or it could be cause I am using oil mixes on my scalp to encourage growth? But anyways I used a shampoo and then a conditioner that I normally have no problems with. As it was getting close to being dry a few hours later it really felt awful ( dry and fluffy) so I decided to spray it wet and then put in some leave in Herbal Essence leave in conditioner . Well today my hair feels gross....almost a coated feeling. And I run my fingers through my hair and i can hear hairs snapping. So should I clarify? Or is my hair needing protein? I dont know but something is not working right.

[spidermom]

I think I would start with a clarifying wash to get rid of the coated feeling. Then you can better evaluate what it might need.

[EvaSimone]

It sounds like either protein overload or too many cones.

I am voting right now for too many cones. I don't think using herbal essences as a leave in is a good idea at all.

It has alcohols and cones in it, which will generally make your hair dry and coated.

If I was you I would clarify your hair, use a non silicone shampoo and a non silicone conditioner. Then coat your hair in olive oil and wrap it in some saran wrap and leave it for as long as you can.

:twocents:

BTW I looked up on drugstore.com and I don't know exactly what kind of conditioner you used but the ingredients for Herbal essence's hydrating feather light leave in conditioner are:

Water/Eau, Stearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Chloride, Cetyl Alcohol, Dimethicone, Vanilla Tahitensis Fruit Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Fragrance/Parfum, Benzyl Alcohol, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Hydroxide, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Red 33

They don't sound very hair friendly... even if your hair likes cones.

[eaglefeather71]

Clarifying is always a great way to reboot. That's probably what I would do, but I would oil first and let it sit in my hair for a few hours before clarifying.

[MandaMom2Three]

I used Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship leave in once and it made my hair feel disgusting! Sticky and coated. I clarified, thinking maybe it was just build up but even after clarifying I tried again and same thing. I pitched it after those two tries. Horrible stuff for me!

[plainjanegirl]

I used Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship leave in once and it made my hair feel disgusting! Sticky and coated. I clarified, thinking maybe it was just build up but even after clarifying I tried again and same thing. I pitched it after those two tries. Horrible stuff for me!



That is the exact one I used. I asked for some different leave ins for holiday gifts (thinking maybe a leave in would help my dryness). Now I am beginning to think leave ins are not for me. And i was thinking of trying the new hydraliscious h.e. but now I am scared to. So what should i do with this leave in now....should I try using it as a c in the cwc or maybe as a nice shaving lotion for my legs?

[wintersun99]

..............

[Carolyn]

I'd use the leave in as a shave gel. It should work well for that.

Clarify and get the gunk off your hair and then re-evaluate.

[Darkhorse1]

My hair LOVES herbal essence degunkify shampoo, and HATED the Long term care shampoo/conditioner. It was dry feeling and gross, and just looked horrid.

I guess it just goes to what is in each shampoo. The degunkify loves my hair or my hair loves it. I'm still trying to find a magic conditioner, so I'm going to look into the Loreal Nutra gloss line. The Pantene works awesome, but is leaving my hair really weighed down as it gets longer.

[Curlsgirl]

I haven't found very many cone leave-ins I can use either. One I do use some is Sunsilk de-frizz but I use it more for de-frizzing than moisture. It is awesome and doesn't waigh my hair down at all. My hair likes the non-cone leave-ins much better. I wouldn't give up because a leave-in conditioner is very helpful and has made a big difference in my hair. I use Biolage conditioning balm or Beauty Without Cruelty leave-in. It could be the amount you are using or the way you are using it. I find if I put it in dripping wet hair it distributes much better.

I agree to clarify and maybe stay away from so much oil on the scalp and hair just for now to see if that could be contributing to the problem or use a lighter oil.

[plainjanegirl]

Ok so the other day I clarified and then used the organix conditioner , the one in the green bottle - it's a minty one, (I got it cause it had a mail in rebate on it so it will be free). I was limited on time so I only left the conditioner on for about 5 minutes. But the next few days my hair felt great. So then yesterday I washed with my aussie stuff and today I woke up and my hair feels gross again. So my plan today is to use the suave clarifying shampoo and then the organix conditioner but i am gonna leave the conditioner on for at least an hour to help moisturize the hair.

So I use pantene beautiful lengths with no problem and pantene is said to be loaded with cones.
What is in the Aussie that my hair is not liking?
If anybody knows their ingredients and can help me figure this out it would be great. So then I know what to avoid in the future.

[plainjanegirl]

Ok so here are the ingredients.



Aussie moist shampoo :

Water , Ammonium Laureth Sulfate , Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate , Sodium Chloride , Glycol Distearate , Dimethicone , Ammonium Xylenesulfonate , Cetyl Alcohol , Cocamide MEA , Fragrance , Polyquaternium-10 , Sodium Citrate , Hydrogenated Polydecene , Sodium Benzoate , Disodiium EDTA , PEG-7M , Trimethylolpropane Tricaprylate/Tricaprate , Citric Acid , Ecklonia Radiata Extract Australian Sea Kelp Extract , Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice , Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil Jojoba , Methylchloroisothiazolinone , Methylisothiazolinone , Yellow 5 , Red 4



Pantene beautiful lengths:

Water , Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate , Ammonium Laureth Sulfate , Sodium Chloride , Cocamide MEA , Glycol Distearate , Dimethicone , Ammonium Xylenesulfonate , Fragrance , Panthenol , Panthenyl Ethyl Ether , Cetyl Alcohol , Polyquaternium-10 , Disodium EDTA , PEG-7M , Sodium Citrate , Sodium Benzoate , Citric Acid , Methylchloroisothiazolinone , Methylisothiazolinone

[Elphie]

This is just a total guess. The first ingredient that jumped out at me was Trimethylolpropane.
This is what I found when googling:

It is used in manufacturing coatings, inks and adhesives. End applications include alkyd coatings, compact discs, hardwood floors, concrete polymers, dental polymers, lithography, letterpress, screen printing, elastomers, automobile headlamps, acrylics and plastic components for the medical industry.

Could it be the source of that waxy feeling? *shrugs*

[plainjanegirl]

This is just a total guess. The first ingredient that jumped out at me was Trimethylolpropane.
This is what I found when googling:

It is used in manufacturing coatings, inks and adhesives. End applications include alkyd coatings, compact discs, hardwood floors, concrete polymers, dental polymers, lithography, letterpress, screen printing, elastomers, automobile headlamps, acrylics and plastic components for the medical industry.

Could it be the source of that waxy feeling? *shrugs*



That could be. I am not good at the ingredient thing. Now I am gonna have to go look on my bottle of Loreal that I tired months ago and made my hair feel awful and see if it is comparable to the Aussie.

[teela1978]

I kinda think you're using an awful lot of products at once. I would say that if the pantene shampoo is working, use it. Use the rest of your shampoo bottles to hand-wash delicates or clean the tub or something. Then start working on conditioner. In my experiences, once I start playing around with bottles and bottles of product I end up with weird hair.

[plainjanegirl]

I kinda think you're using an awful lot of products at once. I would say that if the pantene shampoo is working, use it. Use the rest of your shampoo bottles to hand-wash delicates or clean the tub or something. Then start working on conditioner. In my experiences, once I start playing around with bottles and bottles of product I end up with weird hair.


See I was always told that especially if you are using coney products that you should rotate your products by using one kind for one wash and then a different kind for the next wash. So is that not necessarily helpful?

[Roseate]

I kinda think you're using an awful lot of products at once. I would say that if the pantene shampoo is working, use it. Use the rest of your shampoo bottles to hand-wash delicates or clean the tub or something. Then start working on conditioner. In my experiences, once I start playing around with bottles and bottles of product I end up with weird hair.

ITA. My hair just freaks out when I start using a bunch of new products. It's also easier to see what works and what doesn't if you only change one thing at a time. And sometimes products interact in a funny way, so a conditioner that works great after clarifying may not be so great everyday.

Also, sometimes you can instantly tell a product is gumming up your hair, but sometimes it's just climate, hormones, some other factor making your hair crazy and if you are trying a bunch of products at the same time it can be even harder to figure out. I'd agree with the advice to slow down and try one new thing at a time.

[plainjanegirl]

ITA. My hair just freaks out when I start using a bunch of new products. It's also easier to see what works and what doesn't if you only change one thing at a time. And sometimes products interact in a funny way, so a conditioner that works great after clarifying may not be so great everyday.

Also, sometimes you can instantly tell a product is gumming up your hair, but sometimes it's just climate, hormones, some other factor making your hair crazy and if you are trying a bunch of products at the same time it can be even harder to figure out. I'd agree with the advice to slow down and try one new thing at a time.


Why would something work after clarifying but not everyday?

[Roseate]

Why would something work after clarifying but not everyday?

Some deeper conditioners work great to replenish oils or proteins right after clarifying, but are too rich for daily use, IME.

I haven't had this problem so much since I quit the cones, but there are some coney conditioners that I used to love but could really only use once- if I used them two washes in a row my hair would turn from silk to greasy lead.

[teela1978]

See I was always told that especially if you are using coney products that you should rotate your products by using one kind for one wash and then a different kind for the next wash. So is that not necessarily helpful?

Not to me... I do have to clarify on occasion (monthlyish?), but when using products (coney or cone-free), I can't seem to get a handle on whether I like products or not after one use. They can be amazing one day, and total crap the next, and I think it has more to do with how I use them or what the weather is like than if my hair really likes or dislikes them. Using them for a while gives me a better measure of how my hair responds to a product.

Clarifying is something I HAVE to do. My hair will get very grungy over time whether I'm using cones or not. Even cone-free I seem to get a buildup of some sort. I just use a cone-free sulphate shampoo (whatever is laying around, usually suave but right now I have aloe-rid, which is surprisingly green) and it seems to make my hair better. Even if it's not looking grungy. As soon as it starts tangling, snarling, or just not doing what it usually does, a good clarifying shampoo will fix it all (at least for my hair, ymmv).

[suicides_eve]

So I use pantene beautiful lengths with no problem and pantene is said to be loaded with cones.

Pantene is not the best choice for hair period .some ppl swear by it but i know better, it causes wax bulid up that actually ruins hair. Back in vo-tech I stopped by the cosmetology class when they were doing experiments and that was one of them, putting a hair stand that constantly used a wax to coat the shaft actually was damaging!!! i've also heard horror stories of breakage and major splits as a result, even hair dresser aren't big fans of it, wet waxy hair is harder to work with..

[suicides_eve]

I would stick with one product for at least 2 weeks. you hair is probbly going through shock and the more you mess with it the worse it will get.

just an example of my routine:

i clarify once a month or so to remove any build up
I use Nexxus Humcantress conditioner.Works great at hydrating my curls. Humcant is something that draws in moisture.

i work ina sub shop so i know about greasy stinky hair, i've yet to have probblems b/c of it

example routine:

monday: condition hair 5 mins in shower, massage scalp with finger tips helps break up loose grime.
Tuesday: water only, no nothing
Wensday: diluted shampoo at scalp massage thoroughly, follow with conditioner leaving on as long as i can
Thursday: water only , after shower apply condtioner and wrap up in baggie or shower cap for about an hour.
friday: water only
Sat: condtion lightly if needed
sun:Water only

the idea is not to mess with it to much, keep products simple avoid overloads and shock

[auburnlocks]

Too much conditioner can actually dry your hair out. Not sure why, but I’ve seen it happen with my own hair. I’ve gotten completely away form commercial products and use a shampoo bar, then vinegar with a drop of vit. E oil for my conditioner.

[plainjanegirl]

Too much conditioner can actually dry your hair out. Not sure why, but I’ve seen it happen with my own hair. I’ve gotten completely away form commercial products and use a shampoo bar, then vinegar with a drop of vit. E oil for my conditioner.

I didn't know that conditioner could dry your hair out. Maybe that is an idea too. Normally I just shampoo and then condition but lately I was trying the cwc . SWo maybe my hair does not like all the extra conditioner.

[plainjanegirl]

So I use pantene beautiful lengths with no problem and pantene is said to be loaded with cones.

Pantene is not the best choice for hair period .some ppl swear by it but i know better, it causes wax bulid up that actually ruins hair. Back in vo-tech I stopped by the cosmetology class when they were doing experiments and that was one of them, putting a hair stand that constantly used a wax to coat the shaft actually was damaging!!! i've also heard horror stories of breakage and major splits as a result, even hair dresser aren't big fans of it, wet waxy hair is harder to work with..


Isn't the waxy build up from the cones? If so then most of your drugstore brands like : Pantene, Nexxus, Herbal Essence, etc. all have cones. So in the end they are all gonna leave a waxy build up thus the need to clarify at some point.

[heidi w.]

Clarify, yes.

And be sure to condition well as part of this type of hair wash -- after you've clarified, though.

This is a typical sign of buildup, your experience -- hair behaving abnormally, kinda dry and funny-like, texture change, and this occurring SUDDENLY when the products normally work just fine, heretofore.

heidi w.

[Darkhorse1]

I am actually finding less splits thanks to Pantene conditioners. The only thing I get is weighed down hair over time, and switch. I find anything with wheat protien really weighs down my hair, worse than cones.

Cones are a personal choice. They can cause problems for some people, and for others, they work great.

The conditioners that dried out my hair were ones without cones in them. I just used Herbal essence conditioner for dry/color treated hair and it was awesome, but it has wheat protien in it so I have to use is sparingly or I get a weighed down feel.

I have used Burt's Bees grapefruit conditioner and I didn't mind it, but had to use it with a spray on/leave in conditioner.

[cobblersmaid]

Maybe try no cone leave-ins. Giovanni has a lovely one.