Conditioner Question!

[Miss Custer]

I've read about people who use only conditioner to wash their hair, instead of shampoo, and I'm dying of curiosity here! My mom and I both have hair that is very greasy if we wait 20 hours between washings, and if/when we use any conditioner at all, we can not apply it to our roots, or our hair looks greasy for maybe, 4 years!
My mom uses Sauve Daily Clarifying, and I'm no-poo. I never need conditioner, but she uses it every time, as well as a spray-in afterwards. She washes every day, and I'm every other day. My hair is far less greasy since I've cut the shampoo...sometimes I can go for longer than every other day.

So, am I seriously missing something here with the conditioner thing?? How do you do it?! :confused:

Thanks!
~Kayla

[Ash]

I'm probably not the best person to respond here but on days that I just use conditioner, I use Giovanni 50:50 conditioner. This is a chemical free product with very similar ingredients to their shampoo. I am CO 5 days of the week and CWC on 2. I did try CO only with Suave conditioners for a few months but my hair was greasy and heavy at the roots the whole time and I stopped because it started falling out in small clumps.

If you were using sulfate shampoo before, that could be the reason your hair was greasy. I believe the shampoos strip out so much oil from the hair that the scalp overcompensates and produces even more oil. Now you are not using the shampoo, your scalp is having a chance to produce a normal amount of oil.

[MandaMom2Three]

My hair gets very greasy if I don't wash every other day, but using shampoo that often leaves me with VERY dry hair! I CO every other day (get hair wet, load it up with Suave Naturals (cone free) let sit for about 5 min, add a little water and scrub gently as if it were shampoo and rinse well. I usually follow with a squirt of cony frizz serum or leave in conditioner. If I keep this schedule my hair looks very nice, but I DO have to wash every other day or it's gets greasy again.

[rogue_psyche]

What no poo method are you using? Baking soda can be just as stripping as sulfate shampoo, members here use it instead of clarifying poos like your mom's whenever they need to get rid of build up.

However, if you are using a method like Water-only, no water, or natural washing methods like soap nuts and are having success, than enjoy your conditioner free hair because CO washing does not really allow most people to stretch CO washes very long or even be free of shampoo 100% of the time. Here's the article on CO washing: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=18

[florenonite]

The conditioner contains gentle surfactants so if you leave it on your head for longer than you would shampoo (I think the average is about 20 minutes, though it depends on individual scalp, how greasy the hair is, and the type of conditioner) it cleanses dirt and oil without stripping the scalp. For some people this can decrease washing frequency because the only reason they need to wash frequently to begin with is due to stripping their scalp and therefore producing more oil. However, this isn't the case for everyone; many people produce a standard amount of oil, and no matter how they wash they still need to wash with the same frequency.

[Miss Custer]

Thanks for the replies, everyone! I'm new to posting here, so I didn't think to do a search for my topic before posting a new one...duh!!!

I use baking soda and follow with an Apple Cider Vinegar rinse. I've been super pleased with my results! My hair's always been healthy, as has my mom's, but I prefer the no-poo results! I should find a picture of my mom's hair....

[duckish]

I've been CO for at least a year now. I don't use my heavy length/ends conditioner on my scalp, just my light tea tree conditioner. I like it because it makes my hair less frizzy up top and somewhat easier to manage. I can go longer between washes, I have less dandruff/itchy spots, and my hair is always soft. It really works for me. I also do ACV or beer rinses every once in a while, which are nice.

I don't know how it works. My hair feels and looks clean and so the basic needs are covered.

[JamieLeigh]

I've been CO for almost a year now and I'm loving it! I started out using a coney condish, because it was REALLY hard for me to give up on my Aussie 3-Min Miracle. :( *cries softly into her coffee* However, I've been using the Suave Naturals tropical coconut conditioner, the Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat conditioner, and lately the Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition conditioner and 3-Min Undo, and I LOVE the results. :D I think the main point is making sure it's completely rinsed from your scalp, or it could leave a greasy buildup on your skin.

[rumi]

Go here sweetie, Sometimes it doesn't pop up during a search.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=2898

As for me, I'm cone free CO for over a year. My hair used to be a usless ball of frizz and now its soft and managable all the time and I've been able to increase the times between washing too to 4 days :D

As far as I know there are 2 ways of CO, the curly girl way and the longhair way. You can try them both and see which suits.

Curly girl means treating your conditioner like a shampoo putting handfuls and handfuls on everywhere and scrubbing it to get the scalp clean, depending on you hair this can take as little time as a few minutes. ( This is the method I use and it takes me about 10 mins in the shower.)

Longhair means applying the condtioner and letting it sit for as long as possible, at least half an hour I think with no need to scrub.

A lot of people will figure it out through trial and error how their hair prefers it though.

Just remember if your going to use a cone conditioner to clarify when it needs it. I forgot an I wondered why my hair became a brittle mess a few weeds later lol

Happy to tell you more if you want me to :cheese:

[Naamah]

I've been CO for 5 months now, and I love it. When I first tried it, I used conditioners with silicones, but I don't anymore. I use cheap cone free conditioners. My favorite is Suave Naturals for washing, v05 occasionally. I also love Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition as a leave in. No cones, and there's some oils in it, so it's very moisturizing.

The way I do CO:
I get in the shower and use warm (not hot!) water. I usually rinse and massage my scalp for a good 5 minutes. Afterward, I take a handful of conditioner and apply it to my scalp first. I massage it in, and make sure my whole scalp is covered equally. After that, I apply it to my length. Once my hair is covered in conditioner, I usually detangle it with a wide tooth comb. Then I leave it alone while I finish the rest of my shower.

Once I'm done with everything else, I add a bit of water to my hair, then scrub my scalp for a minute or two, like you would with Shampoo. Then, I rinse the conditioner out of my hair. You have to make sure it is thoroughly rinsed, otherwise your hair may end up looking a bit greasy once it's dry. It took me a few times of trying CO when I first started to get it right.

When the conditioner is all rinsed out, I turn the water to as cold as I can stand, and rinse it for as long as I can stand, usually 2-3 minutes. Then while my hair is still soaking wet, I take a small glob of my Garnier conditioner and rub it between my hands, and apply it to my hair. I let my hair drip for 5 to ten minutes after my shower, then lightly fix the top and my part with my fingers or my wide tooth comb. But I leave my length alone to air-dry.

Hope this helps!

[Anje]

I've done mostly CO since I joined here (with some experimental exceptions, the longest being WO, which lasted about 8 months). The hair likes it, and it seems to get it quite clean. I don't leave it on very long. A few handfuls of condish (I typically use Suave Naturals, which don't seem to build up on my hair) on wet scalp and length, bun it, do my other showerly duties, then scrub my scalp a little and rinse it all out. It probably doesn't even sit on my head for 5 minutes.

The biggest trick for many people using CO is simply that you need to rinse enough. If you leave conditioner in your hair, it'll look greasy. So rinse for several minutes.

As others have mentioned, some people with greasy hair who need to shampoo constantly find that they produce less oil after doing CO for a few weeks. I noticed a similar effect on my face -- when I started applying moisturizers during high school, I stopped having oily skin issues. A more moisturized, less stripped scalp doesn't feel a need to secrete lots of oil to protect itself, or something like that.