Question about Scalp and Excessive Oily-ness

[amoulixes]

I never found a good place to ask about my scalp, and now that I'm here, it seems like the perfect place! Everyday I will run my hands through my hair and feel my scalp, and it feels like something's...there... I can grab "it," and pull it out of my hair. "It" looks like a grain of sand, but is neither hard nor soft. I can roll it between my fingers and fling it away easily. I don't think it's coming from outside of my body, because sometimes these "things" will feel attached to my head, and I'll scrape it off with my nail. What the heck is it? My scalp doesn't itch or seem dry :(

And about oil, or sebum: What the heck do you do when you have too much of this stuff? I mean, I constantly feel slathered in oil, from my hair to my face. I feel...gross. I use tea tree shampoos to cut down the feeling in my hair (just on the scalp), and rose water for my face, but it simply doesn't last. I can't go more than a day before looking like a total grease ball. What are some other things I can do about this? Would I benefit from the BBB? Am I doing something wrong in my routine? Should I wash every day? Any suggestions are appreciated!

[kittensoupnrice]

I have always figured them to be bits of solidified sebum, very similar to what causes blackheads on your forehead.

I also have very oily hair, and I found that restricting the amount I washed my hair, and doing careful oil redistribution in the evenings with my BBB helped with my oiliness.

[Jemoiselle]

My BBB has not helped with the oiliness, in fact is seems to make things worse by stimulating my scalp to produce even more and accentuating any scalp flakes. TMI sorry! But, recently I have found something that seems to work GREAT for me and that is very diluted shampoo in a spray bottle for all washings in the shower. The first week it didn't seem to get my hair as ridiculously clean as straight shampoo or even hand diluted shampoo (which annoys me because it seeps through my fingers) but after a week of light washings via this method my hair seems to be getting less greasy already! I have very fine TB length hair and highly suggest it.

As for my face, removing all processed foods and animal products in my diet has almost completely freed me of breakouts and oiliness among many other wild things I never thought had a correlation to my diet. Strange isn't it? Now, I know that isn't for everyone, but even a small amount would probably help if you gave it enough time to make a difference, say about a month for your body to adjust to any changes.

It's hard being genetically predisposed to oiliness, isn't it? I fought with it for years. I also used to get those grainy things you mentioned! I haven't seen them for a while, they seem to come when I over cleanse on a regular basis. You never know though, we are all so very different. Hope some of that helps, you'll get a ton of GREAT advice here, so stay tuned =)

[amoulixes]

I have always figured them to be bits of solidified sebum, very similar to what causes blackheads on your forehead.

I also have very oily hair, and I found that restricting the amount I washed my hair, and doing careful oil redistribution in the evenings with my BBB helped with my oiliness.

Ah! That's a great way of describing it!


My BBB has not helped with the oiliness, in fact is seems to make things worse...so stay tuned =)

Yes it is hard, if anything, a pain in the butt! ;) I already avoid plenty of processed foods, and I don't have breakouts. I wonder if there are certain meats/other animal products that are major culprits? If there are a select few that are known to be the "worst," then perhaps I can avoid them. I will try diluting the shampoo.

Now I need to see what others think about the BBB...I was thinking it'd be a good idea because I've read it's supposed to distribute the oils, but it seems like a heck of a lot of brushing for me!

Thanks so much for the replies, I can't wait to see more.

[girloctopus]

I know it seems counterintuitive, but you may be overwashing your skin with too harsh of cleaners. I'm not sure about how strong rosewater is, but tea tree can be very drying. You may be drying out your skin and scalp excessively, so it is trying to compensate for the dryness by ramping up the oil production.

First perhaps try a weaker cleanser, and see the results. If it works, perhaps you can push back washes a day or two, or do WO washes on your face. Hope this helps!

[amoulixes]

I know it seems counterintuitive, but you may be overwashing your skin with too harsh of cleaners. I'm not sure about how strong rosewater is, but tea tree can be very drying. You may be drying out your skin and scalp excessively, so it is trying to compensate for the dryness by ramping up the oil production.

First perhaps try a weaker cleanser, and see the results. If it works, perhaps you can push back washes a day or two, or do WO washes on your face. Hope this helps!

Rosewater doesn't seeeeem very strong, but perhaps it is! I don't know much about it, other than it helps my face and is (I think) less harsh than regular astringents.

Since I can't remember which came first (the oil or using tea tree), it sounds like another suggestion to dilute the shampoo! Thanks :D

Maybe, if I let the oil get really bad, my body will reverse to being "naturally" drier? Ha, let's see! :)

[teela1978]

The only thing that helps my oily scalp is to wash with a sulfate-based shampoo somewhat regularly.

Washing less often with less harsh things seems to work for some people, but it always made my hair oilier. The less harsh things made me wash more to keep from getting too oily... and tended to leave me with scalp pimples.

[girloctopus]

Maybe, if I let the oil get really bad, my body will reverse to being "naturally" drier? Ha, let's see! :)

Actually, yes, it worked like that for me. I used to wash my face 3 times daily and my hair every day, and I just worked on gradually spacing them out and trying to find methods to mop up the oil without washing, like those oil blotting sheets for my face and baby powder/dry shampoo for my scalp. It took a while, but I feel much less self conscious of being "greasy." :)

[Flynn]

I find that less scalp stimulation leads to less oil for me.

[teela1978]

Actually, one thing that helps me (off of Flynn's 'less scalp stimulation' comment) is not touching my scalp. If I'm sitting around working on the computer I'll often start running a hand through my scalp hair. Not really massaging or anything, just feeling around for those little sebum bits or whatever. When I do that I end up with greasy roots almost immediately. I think the not spreading around of the oil... while not exactly making your hair less oily, does make it appear to be less oily and probably helps (personally, a boars bristle brush just makes me oily... there is not enough spreading possible :)).

A hands off approach could help some (as thrilling as it is to find those little sebum balls :))

[kittensoupnrice]

Oh! I just thought of another thing that also really helps me.

I also try to avoid touching my hair during the day, like other people mention. But what I find completely tears it for oiliness is wearing hats, hoods, scarves, or anything cloth-like on my head.

The second thing is any kind of rise in body temp. This unfortunately includes taking hot baths or showers w/ a shower cap. :(

Say, while we're on the topic of sebum balls, I've noticed I get a lot more of these if I'm caught out in a rainstorm without an umbrella. Anybody else have this happen to them? :o

[rapunzhell13]

I find that less scalp stimulation leads to less oil for me.

Seconding this. Scratching my scalp in particular leads to the greasies for me.

[prittykitty]

I also have a very oily complexion and scalp. I have tried CO washing and it was not for me. My scalp and face got really oily as the day went on. I made a choice to shampoo everyday. I like to look and feel clean, not greasy.

[Arctic]

The only thing that helps my oily scalp is to wash with a sulfate-based shampoo somewhat regularly.

Washing less often with less harsh things seems to work for some people, but it always made my hair oilier. The less harsh things made me wash more to keep from getting too oily... and tended to leave me with scalp pimples.

Me too, my acneprone skin likes undiluted sulfate (I use SLeS) shampoo. I have been able to stretch my washing to every other evening, if I occasionally go three days I get scalp problems, and also the sebun beads you discribe.

If you opt for BBB, remember to clean if very often.

Don't put conditioner near your scalp. Opt for conditioner that doesn't have oils. If your hair likes oils, try trying them as deep treatments every week or few weeks.

Keep your hair up and don't touch it, helps to keep it cleaner.

Dry shampoo might help you.

Well that's few thinks from top of my hat, HTH :)
PS. Oily skin looks young for so much longer than dry :joy:


ETA: Apparently there is no scientific evidence that stretching washes makes body produce less sebum, it's more in the lines that person gets used to more oily hair. I have seen a study about this linked by a member some while ago.

ETA2: CO didn't work for me, gave me horrible scalp breakouts and hair build-up

[inertia]

I have an oily scalp/face and nothing works for me except shampooing at least every other day, preferably with a sulfate shampoo. I've tried to stretch washes and it's made absolutely no difference. WO was terrible on me, although it's great for my husband. I haven't dared to try CO. Non-SLS shampoo was wonderful for the length of my hair but it didn't get my roots clean enough, and I had to wash every single day.

For me, it's the face and front of the head that get oily the fastest. My bangs need to be shampooed daily or they're nearly solid with excess grease, but the rest of my hair can go an extra day by doing a bangs-only wash. And I feel hesitant about saying this on LHC, but blow-drying and hair spray can help stretch time between washes. Yes, it dries out the hair, but it also makes it possible for some of the excess oiliness to get absorbed so it looks presentable for a little longer. I don't do this all the time because I want to avoid damage. However, it's a convenient side effect sometimes.

I've found tea tree oil shampoo (I use Kiehl's) great for removing oily buildup on the roots once in a while. Usually I use a regular sulfate shampoo, and every couple of weeks I'll use the tea tree oil shampoo or a clarifying shampoo to really clean the scalp.

[3azza]

I have oily scalp and skin too. I found every other day washes with sls shampoos are the most helpful. I have tried a shampoo from garnier ultra doux that has olive oil/ lemon in it and it is cone free, and works great for my oily scalp and dry hair. Sometimes i use a few drops of tea tree oil (10% diluted) with olive oil and message my scalp for a few minutes before washing with shampoo that keeps my scalp clean for a couple of days.
For the oily face, I wash it twice with an acne prone gel nowadays.i found that blotting it with a paper tissue during the day keeps off the shine.

[Anje]

I'm not particularly oily, but I find that a BBB makes me much more so. I can go from having acceptable hair to looking like an oil slick in a few minutes with one of those!

Again, this might not be applicable since I'm not as predisposed to being oily, but I've found that less washing lead to less oil, and on my face, actually putting moisturizers on means less oily skin. In high school, I went from goofy oily-and-dry-in-the-same-places skin to pretty normal skin that's occasionally prone to dryness once I got rid of the teenager products and started slathering my face with lotion.

[florenonite]

Actually, one thing that helps me (off of Flynn's 'less scalp stimulation' comment) is not touching my scalp. If I'm sitting around working on the computer I'll often start running a hand through my scalp hair. Not really massaging or anything, just feeling around for those little sebum bits or whatever. When I do that I end up with greasy roots almost immediately. I think the not spreading around of the oil... while not exactly making your hair less oily, does make it appear to be less oily and probably helps (personally, a boars bristle brush just makes me oily... there is not enough spreading possible :)).

A hands off approach could help some (as thrilling as it is to find those little sebum balls :))

This sounds like me, right down to liking finding the sebum balls :lol:

I find that brushing helps before bed, because the oils have time to sink in on the length while I sleep, but doing it in the morning is hopeless. I do wait till my hair's starting to look greasy before I brush it before bed, though; if it's still looking clean and I brush it it sometimes makes it dirty, but if it's starting to look greasy and I brush it before bed I can sometimes go another day before washing.

[MsBubbles]

Yes it is hard, if anything, a pain in the butt! ;) I already avoid plenty of processed foods, and I don't have breakouts. I wonder if there are certain meats/other animal products that are major culprits? If there are a select few that are known to be the "worst," then perhaps I can avoid them. .

This is an avenue I am half-heartedly pursuing. Somebody here mentioned a more 'alkaline' diet as opposed to a more 'acidic' diet. I have not done the full paleo-diet thing lately, so I don't have any wonderful news to report there regarding oily scalps (mine is really bad). And the last time I went paleo-diet for 4 months, I also lost half my hair. However, I have the Paleo Diet for Athletes book, and may try it over the slower winter training season. Don't wanna lose my hair again.

If I find good results I will be screaming about it from the rooftops! Otherwise I have found that my head is going to start swimming in oil about 24 hours after a wash on the nail, and sulphates/organic/water only/stretching washes doesn't seem to make any difference.

[amoulixes]

Actually, yes, it worked like that for me. I used to wash my face 3 times daily and my hair every day, and I just worked on gradually spacing them out and trying to find methods to mop up the oil without washing, like those oil blotting sheets for my face and baby powder/dry shampoo for my scalp. It took a while, but I feel much less self conscious of being "greasy." :)

My next step was to start looking for dry shampoos, I'm glad you brought it up! Thanks! :D


A hands off approach could help some (as thrilling as it is to find those little sebum balls :))

I try very hard not to touch...I save my sebum ball "hunting" until just before I wash! ;)


PS. Oily skin looks young for so much longer than dry :joy:
The last time I went whining to the cosmetician at my local drug store, she told me to shut it (not in those words of course) because I'd have less wrinkles as I age. :)


I have an oily scalp/face and nothing works for me except shampooing at least every other day, preferably with a sulfate shampoo. I've tried to stretch washes and it's made absolutely no difference. WO was terrible on me, although it's great for my husband. I haven't dared to try CO. Non-SLS shampoo was wonderful for the length of my hair but it didn't get my roots clean enough, and I had to wash every single day.

For me, it's the face and front of the head that get oily the fastest. My bangs need to be shampooed daily or they're nearly solid with excess grease, but the rest of my hair can go an extra day by doing a bangs-only wash. And I feel hesitant about saying this on LHC, but blow-drying and hair spray can help stretch time between washes. Yes, it dries out the hair, but it also makes it possible for some of the excess oiliness to get absorbed so it looks presentable for a little longer. I don't do this all the time because I want to avoid damage. However, it's a convenient side effect sometimes.

I've found tea tree oil shampoo (I use Kiehl's) great for removing oily buildup on the roots once in a while. Usually I use a regular sulfate shampoo, and every couple of weeks I'll use the tea tree oil shampoo or a clarifying shampoo to really clean the scalp.

This sounds just like me. I would love to back to WO, it worked great for me when my hair was very short (mostly because the build up of oil helped my hair stick out like gel would have ;) ) but it's probably not a good idea now, unless I can WO some days, and dry shampoo the rest...The first part of my hair to go is the front, and I have done bang washing many a time. I would also blowdry just the bangs and it seemed to help a little, but I've removed that from my routine. By the second day, the oil is down the length and feels so nasty (you can see the difference in one of my photo albums).


Many thanks to everyone for sharing your ideas and suggestions, I have a lot to think about!

[pinchbeck]

You may have heard that using oil to remove oil works. A few drops of jojoba oil (or other carrier oil) mixed in with your shampoo may do the trick, as well as using essential oils such as basil or rosemary that are commonly used for oily hair.

[amoulixes]

You may have heard that using oil to remove oil works. A few drops of jojoba oil (or other carrier oil) mixed in with your shampoo may do the trick, as well as using essential oils such as basil or rosemary that are commonly used for oily hair.

How do I know I won't want to eat my hair? Especially with rosemary... just kidding (slightly) of course ;) I have heard this, I just haven't gotten over the fear of oil+oil=oil. I'll have to wander over to some of the oiling threads and get education. Thanks :)

[Bonkers57]

Diluted shampoo is definitely helping - I'm glad I came here or I'd have never known about that! I've bookmarked this thread because I'm open to more ideas. I've suffered with oily skin/scalp all my life. It's slowed down somewhat, but I'm still a human grease pit at the end of the day.

The plus side is that people tell me I don't look 52 because my skin is in such good shape :-D

I've heard that Gold Bond powder works better than baby powder as a dry shampoo, plus it doesn't contain talc. Any experience with Gold Bond?

[GoddesJourney]

I have always felt that one could run a car off the oil in my hair. I tried washing less, since it works great for a lot of people. Withing a few weeks I had the most disgusting, uncontrolable greasy dandruff. Yuck! It didn't go away when I returned to washing daily. I had it for months. BBB did nothing for me. Eventually, I switched to sulphate free shampoo so I could really load on that stuff daily and not feel bad about it, and cut out the cones since they seem to build up on my scalp. I'm actually pretty good now. It's amazing.

[heidihug]

Diluted shampoo is definitely helping...I've suffered with oily skin/scalp all my life. It's slowed down somewhat, but I'm still a human grease pit at the end of the day...The plus side is that people tell me I don't look 52 because my skin is in such good shape :-D
Me, too, Bonkers57! I have the skin of a 20 year-old. Except for some wrinkles and a couple of extra chins. :)

Diluted shampoo really does help. As does not touching my scalp unless I absolutely have to. I barely finger-comb the morning after washing. And I don't thoroughly de-tangle or brush until right before I wash again.

I tried stretching washing, and it would never work for me, I truly am a very "exud-erant" person. Nothing stops the oils from gushing, including changes in diet, shampoos, etc. It's an internal thing, controlled by genes and hormones, and I have accepted that over the years.

[Bonkers57]

I've accepted that, too. I can't go longer than every other day without washing - it gets really nasty.

Years ago my mother was telling me the only time her hair got washed was once a week at the hairdresser - sometimes every two weeks :shocked: I told her if I went for two weeks without washing my hair, I could wring the oil out! She told me if she washed her hair every day like I did, her scalp would crack and bleed! Guess I inherited it from someone else :D



I tried stretching washing, and it would never work for me, I truly am a very "exud-erant" person. Nothing stops the oils from gushing, including changes in diet, shampoos, etc. It's an internal thing, controlled by genes and hormones, and I have accepted that over the years.