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Brat
October 18th, 2009, 09:49 AM
My hair has been annoying lately. My scalp has been itchy and flaky. I've been through so many different kinds of shampoo and conditioner lately that I forgot which ones I liked and worked for me. I've been using dandruff shampoos lately, and while the flakes have slowed down, they are still there and my scalp is still not happy. I just bought some organic shampoo/conditioner with tea tree oil, and my hair felt like straw and took forever to get a brush through it. That stuff is sitting in the garbage now. I'm soooo tired of trying new things and wasting money because my hair becomes unbrushable. I won't spend 20 minutes trying to detangle, I need slip. I just don't know what to do and wanted to vent. :(

amoulixes
October 18th, 2009, 09:52 AM
Maybe you've tried too many things too soon? If your hair doesn't feel right, try going back to what worked before, or stick to only one shampoo/conditioner for a while (few weeks-month). The frequent changing of products may have exacerbated the dandruff.

tkmommy2108
October 18th, 2009, 09:54 AM
Can't wait to hear replies. Although our hair types are very different I have the same problem and we were probably posting this question on new threads at the same time, lol Good luck to you!

Calista
October 18th, 2009, 09:59 AM
I second the suggestion to try one thing at a time and sticking with it for a while. Also you could start jotting down your experiments and their results in your blog, so you have a reference.

If you have a shampoo+conditioner that work for you go back to using them, but try diluting the shampoo a bit. That is a safe bet for most people, and it makes the routine much less stripping.

I´d also like to recommend Ursula´s Newbie Advice (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=39), although you are not a newbie anymore. It might help you.

spidermom
October 18th, 2009, 10:00 AM
Have you tried a diluted vinegar rinse? That can really calm a disturbed scalp. Do you dilute the shampoo?

You should only try one new thing every 2 weeks until you find what works, then stick with that. In my experience - the simpler the better.

Cherry_Sprinkle
October 18th, 2009, 10:10 AM
My scalp rebels sometimes when I try new treatments, my scalp doesn't like a lot of change especially a lot at once.. I agree with spidermom :) I tried one new thing for awhile, waited to see if it made any changes, then either went back to my old routine or looked for a new one, but I didn't start trying a lot of new things at once because when I did, I couldn't tell what was working the best or my scalp would begin to flake. HTH :flower:

pinchbeck
October 18th, 2009, 10:19 AM
If you're hair is dry and icky, try oiling it! Trial and error will determine which oils your hair likes and dislikes.

I wonder what other ingredients were in your tea tree oil shampoo? Afterall, maybe it was not the tea tree oil that icked up your hair. List the ingredients here if your garbage has not gone to the dumpster and have patience. You used a product, it didn't work, so just let a few days pass to give both your scalp and hair a break.

Sissy
October 18th, 2009, 11:38 AM
Hi there,

Some tea tree oil conditioners work really well for me (Giovanni TTTT) others work horribly (Paul Mitchel Tea Tree Oil Conditioner).

Regarding not having time to detangle and needing slip... have you tried a nice coney leave-in? Leave-ins that give me the BEST slip are BioSilk Silk Therapy (GVP sells a generic of it as Sally Beauty Supply) and GVP Sebastion Potion 9 Generic (also sold at Sally's).

You might want to consider using either a spray in detangler or a detangler in the shower... like GVP The Detangler (another paul mitchell generic sold at Sally's).

What I can say is that some conditioners that others love make my hair tangly and hard to brush out. One such conditioner is Burt's Bee's. It's chock full of great ingredients but it does NOT give my hair good slip. Whenever I use it I follow up with a detangler or a conditioner with better slip.

Hope this helps.

jojo
October 18th, 2009, 12:52 PM
Try oiling your scalp only when your hair is wet, this may help.

motormuffin
October 18th, 2009, 01:27 PM
I've tried a bunch of those dandruff shampoos and they did the same thing for me...dried out my hair. The only one that works for me is Neutrogena TSAL. Sometimes I'll use this burts bees avocado stuff before washing and run a comb through in the shower to help with tangles. Stuff with tea tree doesn't seem to agree with me and my hair. A few drops of jojoba or coconut after the shower on the ends helps too.

Brat
October 18th, 2009, 02:03 PM
I suspect you all are correct, I have tried too many things in too short a time frame. I did CO for a little bit a few months ago, and loved the slip, but felt it took way too much conditioner to get in there and get the roots really well. And it took a lot of time. Might try the CWC, and I like the idea of a spray in coney detangler. I don't really remember which products I used before I started experimenting, I have always bounced around a bit.

I don't dilute the shampoo or use vinegar, but I am willing to give the vinegar a shot. I only have apple cider vinegar, will this work? Does the smell stick around? Should I wait a few weeks to try it? LOL

Thanks for all the advice!!

spidermom
October 18th, 2009, 02:13 PM
For me, yes, vinegar smell sticks around. My hair holds onto smells pretty well. I've sauteed onions while my hair was braided and bunned and could smell onions when I combed it out hours later. But this varies, so give it a try. If the smell lingers and you hate it, you don't have to do it ever again.

Bellalalala
October 18th, 2009, 02:16 PM
I have a very angry scalp, so I actually ended up doing water only.

It helped my scalp A LOT, but unfortunately does not wash away the flakes. My flakes are large and oily, so the water wouldn't even make them budge.

Just last night I tried lime juice and chamomile tea.
There was no way I was ever putting vinegar on my head, especially since I don't shampoo my hair.

I left lime juice to dry on my scalp for a few hours, then thoroughly rinsed my hair in the shower, then rinsed with chamomile tea and more lime juice.

It seems to be working so far, but my scalp tends to adjust to any treatment and go back to being bad.

Carolyn
October 18th, 2009, 03:46 PM
You could start a blog/hair journal here to keep track of your hair washes. It's very helpful when you can remember.

Try the vinegar rinse and see. I like to rinse mine out with a little distilled water. White vinegar can be less stinky for some people. I don't have a smell once my hair is dry.

wavywords
October 18th, 2009, 04:49 PM
I'm not sure when you usually comb, but I've found that for me combing only works when I have conditioner on. It's the only time a comb touches my hair.

Cat Lady
October 18th, 2009, 06:28 PM
My husband fixed up his red angry itchy flaky scalp by using only head-and-shoulders conditioner, not the shampoo. It's got cones in it so will give you slip, and good detangling and it's thick and rich so it seems to clean the scalp really well and he doesn't have to use as much as when he uses really cheap cone-free stuff. Plus it has zinc, which is good for dandruff.

Whatever you try, Brat, good luck :) Hope you can get it sorted out.

Sissy
October 18th, 2009, 09:01 PM
I suspect you all are correct, I have tried too many things in too short a time frame. I did CO for a little bit a few months ago, and loved the slip, but felt it took way too much conditioner to get in there and get the roots really well. And it took a lot of time. Might try the CWC, and I like the idea of a spray in coney detangler. I don't really remember which products I used before I started experimenting, I have always bounced around a bit.

I don't dilute the shampoo or use vinegar, but I am willing to give the vinegar a shot. I only have apple cider vinegar, will this work? Does the smell stick around? Should I wait a few weeks to try it? LOL

Thanks for all the advice!!

yes, apple cider vinegar is perfect. I usually make a large amount (5 tsp of acv in 5 cups of water with 1 tsp of conditioner) of it but if your hair is shorter you won't need as much. I make mine 1 tsp of ACV and a little moisturizing conditioner per cup of water.

The leave-in I use from Sally Beauty Supply is this:
http://www.sallybeauty.com/hair-treatment/SBS-264061,default,pd.html
Generic Value Prodcuts Sebastain Potion 9
It does contain a cone but it's way down the list... it contains a lot of other good ingredients too. Also, the smell is FANTASTIC!

The more cone laden leave-in I use is:
http://www.sallybeauty.com/GVP-Silk-Treatment/SBS-264250,default,pd.html
Generic Value Product Silk Treatment
*actually I'm using the real stuff now (Biosilk) because I had it laying around.