HELP! Need a hair diagnosis! X__X

[Sammybunny711]

Hey everyone!

I haven't been on much in a while, but my hair needs some help. Alright so, here's the skinny: My hair was doing GREAT. Enter about three months ago and my hair just goes NUTS. My hair is now tangly, dry, and gross feeling ALL the time, no matter how often I clarify, do acid rinses, etc. At first I thought it would get better if I clarified and went back to CO, so I tried that. Didn't work. Then I waited a couple of weeks and clarified and went to normal shampoo + conditioner. Didn't work. So, then I clarified after a couple more weeks and tried poo bars again. Still gross.

I don't know what to do. It's like NOTHING makes it happy. I was hoping that you guys might know what to do! I mean, how often is it that clarifying doesn't even work? I'm kind of freaked out. The only possible damage my hair could have is from combing and I try to keep that to a minimum.

I so sad. I miss my happy hair. I wants it back. :(

[LHGypsyRose]

Could it be that your maybe clarifying and doing acid rinses to often? I know I have to take a break from the ACV occasionally. What are you using to clarify with?

[Sammybunny711]

I'm clarifying with Suave Daily Clarifying Shampoo--which has always worked for me in the past. :-(

[melrose1985]

Are you using an oils? I started using Coconut oil and that work great for me for a while and then just stop working and made my hair look nasty. I stopped using it in the ends of my hair and my hair seems fine now.

Maybe you aren't letting moisture in?

[LHGypsyRose]

Hmm..well I am sorry about your hair feeling so bad lately. I know it can really be a pain when my hair gets like that, and then I get down in the dumps and want to start trimming alot. The only thing I could suggest is maybe stop the clarifying and ACVs for a bit, stick with your regular shampoo and conditioner and see if that doesn't help after a few washes. I use baking soda to clarify, but if I did it more than once or twice a month I imagine it would be pretty drying. Maybe someone else can offer better suggestions. Good luck:)

[Arctic]

Maybe it's protein overload?

Article (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/278612/the_fine_art_of_protein_and_moisture.html?cat=69)

Sounds tricky situation, I admit. I agree slowing down the acidic rinses or at least diluting more.

[Rohele]

Are you using products with cones in them? My hair felt like this while I was using a very coney shampoo and conditioner plus coney styling products, when I went cone free, things improved immensely. (Note that I have other damage to my hair too, so while I think the cones were contributing, there were other factor in my hair condition as well)

[Sammybunny711]

Nope, I'm cone free and have been for about a year.

[Arctic]

I feel combing couldn't be problem in hair of your length, even if you would use normal comb. Ofcourse it's best to use a gentle, smooth comb (seamless).

[Arctic]

Could you discribe more how your hair feels and behaves?

[Arctic]

Oh, and what was your routine when the problems started?

[Sammybunny711]

I think when the problems started, I was doing CO and so I clarified and it didn't really help.

My hair behaves: frizzy, DRY, tangle at the middle and ends, feels waxy instead of soft. Hard to run my fingers through without finding tangles.

[JamieRose]

Maybe a good long SMT woud help? When my hair starts to feel dry I'll leave an SMT on for several hours (And I'll walk/run on my treadmill for part of that time to generate some heat) and when I rinse out it is so much better!

[Alia]

Suave clarifying has cones. Surprised the heck out of me.:confused:

[Heidi_234]

Maybe you don't need to clarify any more. When I had to clarify often my hair dried out, it was awful for quite a while, but now I got it back on track of being nice, soft and happy (by lots of moisture treatments and daily oilings).
It's not a residue issue if it continues on after you clarified.

[turtlelover]

My your hair doesn't LIKE CO and no cones. Mine definitely falls into that category! What is "healthy" for one person doesn't necessarily work for everyone.

[Arctic]

Good point made by Alia!
Does many of your products, especially the conditioner you COed with when the problems started, have proteins? If it is protein overload, it takes some time of moisturetreatments to get the balance back to correct levels. I suggest you quitting all proteins now. In case you use coconut oil, it has ability to prevent protein loss in hair, so it might contribute.

I don't know if this applies to you, but I recently, after having similar problems as you, found out I was having perpetual build-up problems, from conditioner I left in my hair unrinsed after almost every wash, because I had read it's good method and good for hair. I clarifyed often but it didn't help because I left the same conditioner in my hair after the clarifying shampoo. Also I exlusively washed with CWC method, so my length never really get change to clean.

I changed my routine to S+C and rinse all the conditioner really well now. Instant help from the first wash! I have also noticed it makes a difference if I leave a conditioner in my hair (like I already wrote. It's bad) or if I use the same conditioner as a leave in on well rinsed hair (good).

[Anje]

I'm thinking it sounds like protein overload. Maybe you could list the ingredients in your conditioner? (Just search for it online, rather than typing them up.)

[Sammybunny711]

Suave clarifying has cones. Surprised the heck out of me.:confused:

NO WAY! Perhaps THAT is why my hair doesn't like that! However...the time I tried to clarify with baking soda, it too ended in disaster.

[jivete]

When my hair has too much protein it feels waxy. In fact, if I do a protein treatment, it will always feels waxy until I dump a bunch of moisture on it. I'd definately check into that.

[LHGypsyRose]

NO WAY! Perhaps THAT is why my hair doesn't like that! However...the time I tried to clarify with baking soda, it too ended in disaster.

Im not sure in what way you used the baking soda, but for me I mix half BS and half Giovanni shampoo. I rinse it out almost immediatley and then use my organic conditioner and leave it in for atleast 5 minutes.

[Cantabile]

I second the suggestion of using baking soda for clarifying. You will want to follow that up with some sort of acidic rinse, and then most likely, some cone-free conditioning.

[Arctic]

I personally can not recommend BS usage for clarifying, I have tried it twice and it was hard on my scalp and hair. Clarifying shampoo is much more gentle in my opinion. I wonder WHY ON EARTH do Suave put silicone in theirs???

Sammybunny, one other thing came to my mind: have you possible moved just before these problems started? Sometimes our hair reacts to different kind of water weirdly.

[Lamb]

I suggest that you get a different shampoo and also change your conditioner. Sounds like you have protein overload, and overdoing the clarifying and acid rinses are both classic mistakes (I have made both, and I ended up with a big trim this time last year. :()
Baking soda does not work for me, and it sounds like it did not work for you either.
Dove has a shampoo for normal hair ("beautifully clean") which is a simple, clear, no-nonsense formula, maybe try that for clarifying. (I use it, and provided I use plenty of conditioner afterwards, even my dry curly hair is okay with it.) Also, only use it once, then leave your hair alone for a few days or even weeks, let it recuperate. Condition when you feel like it, but check your conditioner for protein!!

I have had bouts of what you describe in the past, but my hair is a moody, unpredictable haystack, so I am no longer surprised by its antics. :rolleyes:

[Arctic]

*snip* my hair is a moody, unpredictable haystack, so I am no longer surprised by its antics. :rolleyes:

Moody hair! I like it! :D :thumbsup:

[Shanarana]

I was cone free for almost a year and my hair felt awful after washing. For me I have found that cone products is what my hair likes, so I'm back on cones. Not saying that that is your problem, just sharing my own experience.

[Lamb]

Moody hair! I like it! :D :thumbsup:

I don't...! :rant:
;)
Seriously though, Sammybunny - check out the spring hair thread, some people say hair reacts in weird ways to changes in the weather and the season. The "fall" and feel of the hair changes with changing moisture levels in the air, differences in temperature and the general atmosphere.
It also might be a passing hormonal imbalance. All sorts of things.

What has helped me in the past (and what is slowly getting me through a prolonged bad hair phase now) is a minimalist routine. Your hair is off balance, so torturing it with too much clarifying and acid and heavy treatments is not going to help. Again, I suggest cutting out all protein, and cutting back on the clarifying.
Good luck!!

[Sammybunny711]

Thanks, everyone! I too, think it might be protein overload from my shampoo bars and on top of that all the clarifying attempts/acid rinses, etc. I have noticed that on day three (I wash every other day, counting wash-day as day one) my hair is starting to feel soft again--perhaps from a build-up of sebum. I think what I'll do is this:

An SMT tonight for about two hours with a NON-protein-y conditioner. Then I will search for a natural shampoo that doesn't have proteins in it to use with a conditioner. Think I'm going to keep it simple for now. S+C. Nothing fancy. We'll see how that goes. My hair really likes coconut oil, though, not matter what (even with all this craziness). If I feel I need to use some, I will but I won't use it unless I think it is necessary.

Wish me luck! No clarifying/acid rinses, etc. for a LONG time, hopefully. Perhaps this will make my hair go back to normal over time.

[Lamb]

Thanks, everyone! I too, think it might be protein overload from my shampoo bars and on top of that all the clarifying attempts/acid rinses, etc.

Oh-o! That's the exact same thing I did last year. Shampoo bars (with my very hard water... right, good idea... not!), then lots of clarifying, and acid rinses. My hair looked like straw. :scared:
Shampoo bars are alkali, and if your water is not very soft, your hair may hate them. And for me at least, they built up like nobody's business. Never again!

Good luck with the S&C! Report back on how it goes.

[Carolyn]

I got horrible waxy build up and sticky tangled hair from CV shampoo bars. I gave them away. When I have protein overload my hair behaves exactly as you describe. I'd get another shampoo and a nice rich moisturizing conditioner with no protein or cones. I hated baking soda. I'd never use it again. I had such a dry tangled mess.