Nolita
July 15th, 2009, 02:49 PM
Ok, so I am at my wit's end! I used to love my hair. It has always been a pain in the butt (thick and frizzy), but I used to be able to get it looking decent by keeping it in a bun while it was drying, not brushing it, not blowdrying etc. However, my hair has taken a turn for the worse in the past year or so. It's now dull, coarse, porous, and very very frizzy. It has a strawlike texture. Keeping it in a bun doesn't do much. My hair has also become noticeably wavier.
I suspect that my hair has become damaged from a) occasional flat-ironing and b) using certain nasty styling products over a long period of time (i.e. cones, alcohol).
Observe my hair's decline:
http://img189.imageshack.us/i/thennow1.jpg/
Then and now (after wearing my hair in loose braids overnight)
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/9554/thennow1.jpg
http://img188.imageshack.us/i/thennow3.jpg/
Then and now (on a typical day)
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/9271/thennow3.jpg
Then and now (after straightening)
http://img81.imageshack.us/i/thennow2.jpg/
I have just started using coconut oil on my wet hair. It has helped a little. I now shampoo only once a week and have put away my flat iron for good. My hair is still very DRY. What else can I do? Can you recommend any good deep-conditioners without proteins, silicones, or bad sulfates?
(Sidenote: These are the ingredients of my current conditioner. Is there anything in here that could be aggravating my hair? Is Cetearyl alcohol bad?)
Water; Glycerin; Cetearyl Alcohol; Cyclopentasiloxane; Behentrimonium Chloride; Dimethiconol; Amodimethicone; Benzophenone-4; Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate; Tocopheryl Acetate; Retinyl Palmitate; Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate; Punica Granatum Extract (Pomegranate Extract); Prunus Domestica Fruit Extract (Plum Extract); PEG-14M; Trideceth-12; Cetrimonium Chloride; Propylene Glycol; Lecithin; Alcohol; Methylchloroisothiazolinone; Methylisothiazolinone; Fragrance; Caramel; Red 4; Red 33
I suspect that my hair has become damaged from a) occasional flat-ironing and b) using certain nasty styling products over a long period of time (i.e. cones, alcohol).
Observe my hair's decline:
http://img189.imageshack.us/i/thennow1.jpg/
Then and now (after wearing my hair in loose braids overnight)
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/9554/thennow1.jpg
http://img188.imageshack.us/i/thennow3.jpg/
Then and now (on a typical day)
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/9271/thennow3.jpg
Then and now (after straightening)
http://img81.imageshack.us/i/thennow2.jpg/
I have just started using coconut oil on my wet hair. It has helped a little. I now shampoo only once a week and have put away my flat iron for good. My hair is still very DRY. What else can I do? Can you recommend any good deep-conditioners without proteins, silicones, or bad sulfates?
(Sidenote: These are the ingredients of my current conditioner. Is there anything in here that could be aggravating my hair? Is Cetearyl alcohol bad?)
Water; Glycerin; Cetearyl Alcohol; Cyclopentasiloxane; Behentrimonium Chloride; Dimethiconol; Amodimethicone; Benzophenone-4; Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate; Tocopheryl Acetate; Retinyl Palmitate; Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate; Punica Granatum Extract (Pomegranate Extract); Prunus Domestica Fruit Extract (Plum Extract); PEG-14M; Trideceth-12; Cetrimonium Chloride; Propylene Glycol; Lecithin; Alcohol; Methylchloroisothiazolinone; Methylisothiazolinone; Fragrance; Caramel; Red 4; Red 33