Italy turned my hair into crap

[Gothic Lolita]

Hi!

I returned from a three week camping trip in Italy just yesterday and need some help.
The weather was always fine, blue sky, warm water, hot sand. You picture it.
But, it was simply too hot. My body doesn't cope very well with high degrees and much sun, so I stayed in the shade all day long. I ony went a few times to the beach, always under shade and was even less in the sea. Still, my hair got really damaged, that#s why I'm asking for help.
It was so hot and dry that my usually silky straight hair turned into a horrible mass of frizz that couldn't even be put up into a cinnamon bun after a few days. I conditioned like hell, but it didn't help and I couldn't even seperate strands because the frizz gave me monstrous tangles.
I surrendered I used a hardcore cone-treatment that comes with the box-dye my mum uses. After that my hair felt pretty, of course. Pretty coated with a thick layers of three diferent types of cone. Well, I didn't complain, at least the frizz was gone and I could put it up again.
I was amazed how different my hair not only felt after 3 conefree years, but hoe different it looks. Usually many colours sparkle in my hair when I stand in th sun, but after the treatment, I had only that dull Pantene-commercial shine. Not so pretty.

So, why I'm writing this is: under the cone layer, the hair is still extremly dry. I don't have success with straight oil, so I need some suggestions to make my hair take up moisture better. I'm cutting my ends anyway, so they aren't a problem, but Italy also gave me broken strands due to the dryness. Any ideas hw to save the length? I plan to henna again, but I first want to remove the cones.....
Thanks guys!

[aisling]

Hmm, are you sure you don't have buildup of some kind due to different water and using lots of conditioner? My hair definitely reacts to different types of water. It might be a good idea to clarify first, then do a deep treatment, whatever is available or what you can make yourself. I also think that a deep treatment seems to work the best on well cleaned hair, nothing there to interfere with it. After clarifying I would then continue to use things you know work with your hair, if coconut oil has worked earlier, then try it again.

[Gothic Lolita]

hm, buildup is one thing I didn't think of. Can chlorine leave buildup on your hair? I'm not sure, but I suspect that the tap water was chlorinated. It definitely smelled a little off and tasted strange.
I just washed with hair soap, which worked wonders before, then condidtioned and rinsed with AVC. I'll wait how that turns out.....

[GlassEyes]

Did you wash with hair soap while in Italy? That could explain things quite a bit, as the water in the area you were in might've been hard,which doesn't mix too well with soap.

Also, the chlorine might be a safe bet. I know it makes my hair extremely wonky for a few days or so after washing.

[aisling]

Well, soap + acv isn't what we would call a clarifying wash, so I wouldn't expect any huge change if buildup is the problem.

[SimplyViki]

"Dull Pantene-commercial hair"? :confused: I'm not sure I've been seeing the same commercials, LOL. :p

Anyway, like others have said, a clarifying wash is probably in order, which generally means sulfates. Don't panic and do anything rash, a few broken strands from more tangling than you're used to probably won't be that noticable once you've gotten your hair re-acclimated to its normal environment and routine.

[csm--carla]

Did you wash with hair soap while in Italy? That could explain things quite a bit, as the water in the area you were in might've been hard,which doesn't mix too well with soap.

Also, the chlorine might be a safe bet. I know it makes my hair extremely wonky for a few days or so after washing.






Italian water caused my hair normally coarse, dry hair to turn into a board like tangled mess! Who knew!!!:justy:

I hadn't even taken conditioner because I had been Water-Only care for some time.

SO, finally, I washed with some hotel shampoo and regretted it even more!

It was then a plastered board like tangled mess.
:wail::wail:

I agree with the suggestions above.

Clarify.

Deep conditioning treatment by pre-shampoo Dry oiling has become a miracle for my hair.:thumbsup:

Best Wishes as you watch your hair return to normal!:waving:

Carla

[GeoJ]

I hope your hair returns to normal soon!

I will be in Italy soon, so I am glad to have this hair warning before I go. I will only be there for a week, so maybe I will avoid washing my hair while I am there.

:)

[spidermom]

Clarifying shampoo followed by an SMT or other moisture treatment.

Funny - when we were in Italy a few years ago, my normally wurly hair went completely straight. The texture was fine, though.

[Anje]

Let's see -- you've got chlorine in it, and perhaps some salt from the ocean, right?

My advice is going to be basically the same as Spidermom's, with one addition. I think you might want to do a mild chelating step. Easiest thing I can think of, that I think should do the trick, is to add a citric acid rinse to the mix. (In this case, I'm specifying citric acid, not something like vinegar, because the citric acid is better at reacting with ions that may be bound to your hair.) So something like clarify, drench for a few minutes in a dilute citric acid solution, perhaps do a second clarifying shampoo, and then just let your hair soak in SMT mix for a while. If it's still feeling dry and frazzled, you might even want to do an SMT instead of a CO wash for the next few washes, every time it starts to feel dry.

[Gothic Lolita]

Ah, thanks everyone for your kind help! It's good to know that some people do have all the answers to the thinks I didn't think about.

I didn't wash my hair with soap in Italy, mostly because I couldn't bring ACV there (no private showers, simply the huge room with cabins...). I washed with diluted shampoo and conditioner.
And, when I washed today, I conveniently forgot that soap doesn't do anything to build-up... stupid me! So when I wash again and two days, as I don't want to mix up my routine, I'll wash with undiluted sulfate shampoo, maybe even soak my hair in diluted citric acid, condition like hell and see if thinks are back to normal. Did I forget anything?

I really do think the chlorinated water plus the dry heat were the major causes. I didn't really swim in the salt water and if I did, I rinsed immediately with, ok, chlorinated tap water and I never had my head exposed to the sun.....

simplyVicky: That wasn't against Pantene or something, really. I just noticed that my hair has a different shine when it's coated with cones. Don't know, when it's all natural, it somehow has tiny multicolored sparkles in the sunlight, some golde, some reddish...... and with cones, it's just shiny. As if my color was coated with some clear nailpolish, that makes them shine but not as nicely.... maybe just me and my hair obsession :D

[SimplyViki]

simplyVicky: That wasn't against Pantene or something, really. I just noticed that my hair has a different shine when it's coated with cones. Don't know, when it's all natural, it somehow has tiny multicolored sparkles in the sunlight, some golde, some reddish...... and with cones, it's just shiny. As if my color was coated with some clear nailpolish, that makes them shine but not as nicely.... maybe just me and my hair obsession :D
Ah, OK cool. :D I didn't think you meant anything bad by it, I just had always admired Pantene and similar hair commercials for what I perceived as multitoned, intense sparklies. The likes of which my hair never seems to have on its own. :nono: But then, I'm my own worst critic, and besides, hair commercial hair is fake anyway. :)