So Excited to Be here- a Hair Journey

[amaiaisabella]

Hello all!

This is my very first post in your forum. I was recommended to you all by a person on another forum I'm on, and I've been lurking since then! I am not sure whether I'm supposed to post in the Introduction thread first. If so, I apologize!

I have been coloring my hair for the past 6 years and it is very damaged. I was also very fond of the blowdryer but have since stopped using it, or I will use it once every few weeks. I am trying to figure out my hair type but it is quite confusing.

My hair is very fine but there is a lot of it. It is usually pretty straight but when wet it is wavy, and will fall straight unless I scrunch it. I've been testing random methods of shampooing/CO lately but haven't found anything that works really well. I was also using a reconstructor as a conditioner, but my hair got really dry and I figured out that's why!

Right now I am using Pantene's 2-n-1, but a lot less than I usually do (only a quarter size) and then I use another conditioner on my ends. I've been leaving it up to dry and had pretty nice results. I also bought a wooden comb on the recommendations I read on here!

I'm so excited to be a part of this board and I hope I can get beautiful hair like I see so many of you have :)

[Aisha25]

Welcome to LHC hopefully this place will help you with your hair.If you have any questions please feel free to ask:).

[amaiaisabella]

Thank you! I am looking to try many new things on here. Right now I am having a bit of trouble with my hair clips. I have a lot of cute ones but if I put my hair up in them it falls right back down. Does that mean my hair isn't long enough, or it is just too fine to hold the clips? I also need to figure out how to post a picture in a thread so I can show how my hair looks.

[lora410]

Hello there and welcome to TLHC. I went through alot of methods when i first came here. I found out commercial products make me shed like crazy and cone condish gives me knotted ends. I currently use Shampoo bars and love them. It takes time to find what grooves with your hair.I think I caught my hair just in time. I used to blowfry(on hottest setting) after every wash which was every 2 or 3 days. I didn't realize how damaged my ends where. My hair is thanking me now with good growth, non-itch scalp, softness and shine. I hope you enjoy the community and always feel free to post with any questions :flowers:

[amaiaisabella]

I have heard good things about shampoo bars! I know one indicator that your shampoo is too drying is if you can't comb your fingers through it while it's wet and you are in the shower.

I have noticed since giving up blowdrying is that my hair seems a bit shinier when it's dirty. But since my hair is so fine, the top of my hair near the roots gets all bent out of shape when its dirty and I have to wash it to get it to lay properly again. It doesn't necessarily get greasy.

However, it always feels dry no matter what I do. *sigh*

[Nightshade]

Hey, welcome to LHC :D

About your dryness... it sounds to me like you may have some buildup going on. Do a search around her, or post a new thread about clarifying, it sounds to me like your hair is in need of it, and then a good deep treatment with something without silicones in it.

Here's my advice-

start a hair journal/blog/document to keep track of the results of things you try (and a list of things, and links to things, that you want to try)
try only ONE new thing at a time and give the experiment at least a week, preferably two, before changing anything else.
track your results (no, you won't remember, none of us do ;))My overall advice is for you to clarify, do a deep treatment, and then keep start with un-silicone coated hair so you can do a good evaluation of your hair's state and texture (there's a good article to the hair typing system (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=5)).

Switch from shampoo and conditioner to CWC (condition, wash, condition) and only apply shampoo (diluted) from the ears up, and condition only from the ears down. This will help your scalp regulate and give you better indications as to what your hair and scalp needs. Then you could look into CO or poo bars, etc.

Not trying to overwhelm, if you have questions, just ask. We're full of answers and suggestions :)

[Xandergrammy]

Welcome!! Jump in and have fun!!

[amaiaisabella]

I tried CWC at one point with the V05 Passionfruit Smoothie shampoo and conditioner, but my hair was a bit dry and was hanging limp.

I like how Pantene cleans but I don't think I need that at this point. I hadn't thought about clarifying- wouldn't that make it dryer? I tried baking soda once and it made my hair a dried, matted mess.

[Nightshade]

I tried CWC at one point with the V05 Passionfruit Smoothie shampoo and conditioner, but my hair was a bit dry and was hanging limp.

I like how Pantene cleans but I don't think I need that at this point. I hadn't thought about clarifying- wouldn't that make it dryer? I tried baking soda once and it made my hair a dried, matted mess.

BS is too harsh for some (myself included), any cone-free shampoo with sulfates will do, just follow up with a rich no-cone conditioner :flowers:

[amaiaisabella]

That sounds like a plan but I'm not really good at determining which has no cones and which doesn't. I think V05 doesn't have it, the one I have is Passionfruit Smoothie but I don't like how it leaves my hair dry and puffy. Are there any others you would recommend?

[amaiaisabella]

Someone recommended to me Kiss My Face, but I'm not sure if I can use a cone shampoo and a noncone conditioner. I also have Garnier Fructis for color shampoo, which is nice and I can maybe combine that with a non cone conditioner?

[amaiaisabella]

I just found a pure coconut oil shampoo bar on Amazon but the shipping is so expensive :(

I also found something called a Fernwood Lavender shampoo bar that supposedly is based with olive, coconut, palm, sweet almond, and castor oils, shea butter and virgin coconut oil. Has anyone heard of this and if it is good?

I'm so desperate to get rid of the dry, fuzzy hair!!

[WritingPrincess]

Welcome to TLHC. Want to be friends?

[amaiaisabella]

Sure! How do you do that?

[zift]

Hello amaiaisabella,
I feel sympathy for your dry frizzy hair issues because naturally I have quite dry hair too. However my hair is coarse in texture and wavy and puffy so the products and treatments I use is to generally ease the frizz and puff and weigh down the hair. I see that you don't want that right? You might want to check out the honey and SMT thread in the recipes section. It might be useful,I remember honey treatments both gave moisture and also volume to my hair.
Oh by the way welcome to LHC:D
:flowers:

[amaiaisabella]

Thank you! I combined honey and conditioner (Vo5) at one point, but I didn't get very good results. I tried CO tonight and I'm going to see if my hair responds well to that. If that doesn't work, I guess I will try the SMT. I have green aloe though, and I don't know if it would work in the mixture.

And thank you for the welcome :) I'm so happy to be here!

[zift]

Hmmm green aloe:suspect: I've never heard of that. Mine was transparent and said pure on the bottle. But I live in Asia hehe so couldn't recommend a brand name for you. Other experts sure would pop-in for help.
Oh you should try ACV(apple cidar vinegar) rinses too. They also give quite much volume and shine;)

[amaiaisabella]

I am all for the shine, but I don't really care for the volume. I just want it to lie properly and not be all fuzzy! Is that too much to ask, hair? I swear it lives to taunt me. ::)

[zift]

:lol: No it's not too much to ask hehe you're free to ask as much as you want. But sometimes you don't have the exact return. I mean I've been wanting fine and silky hair that lies down beautifully from the day I was born and what do I get, this bushy creature that likes frizzing in every opportunity:P
No seriously good luck:) Every hair respond differently to treatments you just try and experiment on yourself to see if it works or not. You won't necessarily have volume from an ACV rinse ,maybe you'll end up with shiny silky happy hair:)

[amaiaisabella]

I'd have no idea where to find ACV though! And wouldn't it rinse out sticky? That's a concern of mine.

[Tapioca]

ACV is apple cider vinegar. Some of the lighter blondes will use white vinegar, since apple cider vingar can give a slight color change to very light hair. I couldn't stand the vinegary smell (it does go away when the hair dries, but I couldn't even stand it in the shower), so I use citric acid. It's called sour salt, and can be found in the Kosher aisle. Be sure to dilute the acid or vinegar. I use one tsp to a gallon pitcher of water. Do a search for vinegar rinses. Some people add herbs to theirs. And if it's diluted enough, it won't be sticky. What you pour on your head is mostly water, anyways.

[amaiaisabella]

Do you do that regularly, after WC? Or CO? Or after a water rinse?

Sorry for all the questions, I am very new to this :)