Hair suddenly always greasy and waxy

[Shorty89]

So for the past week or so my hair has been horribley greasy. I have never had this sort of greasy before - it's not my usual "I need to wash" oily-ness, but more of a coated feel. Last Monday I did my first henna which left my hair feeling odd. I COed the henna out and in the next couple days did a heavy oiling followed by an long CO to try to get my hair back to normal. (then it was just feeling odd). I can't remember if it was the same feeling because I thought any weirdness was due to henna. After the oil/CO my hair still felt coated but I thought that it was because I didn't get all the oil out. This week I shampooed my hair just in case I needed to clarify. It seemed to help briefly but by the time my hair was dry it felt the same way. It wasn't just sebum production though - my entire head of hair/length is coated/greasy.

The only thing I could think of is that it's smoke residue. The past couple weeks I've hung out with friends who smoke often. But, this summer I shared a room with a smoker and my hair never felt like this :confused: My skin sort of feels oily and coated too but not to the same extent. I'm on the pill and it's near my period time (a few days away), but I've never had this sort of hair reaction before and nothing I've tried will make it go away. My hair doesn't look too awful - it's fairly shiny, but nothing will get rid of this greasy-ness. Help?

ETA: for the record, my hair was behaving oddly before hand, but it was just overly dry and I was doing oilings and COs every week to keep it soft. I usually do some combination of WO and CO. I am also cone free.

[Heliotrope]

Has the weather changed recently where you are? I usually get increased oil whenever the temperature changes from consistently above freezing to below, and vice versa.

Alternatively, have you been using anything different on you skin, like a new hand lotion, and then touching your hair?

That's all I can think of.

[Shorty89]

Not much and I've never had this sort of grease ever.

I don't think so as far as lotion goes. I'm pretty careful to not play with my hair when I've just put lotion on, but thanks anyhow (and welcome to LHC:))

[darkwaves]

Might it be related to the henna in some way? Or a diet change?

Or, maybe it's just winter. I hate what winter (blizzards, -35C, indoor heating, etc.) does to my hair!

[Ursula]

I think I remember some people mentioning that they had odd results with their first henna application, and things settled down after they'd done more henna applications. But I don't remember the detail.

But you might try looking through the henna threads for reports about first time use of henna, versus repeated use.

[little_cherry]

Hey :)
Have you tried to clarify to see if that helps with the waxiness?

[ratgirldjh]

Wow! I had this same weird thing happen to my hair after my first henna!

When I washed out the henna I used Suave Tropical Coconut conditioner and my hair looked great for a few days but the next time I washed it with my normal poo bar it would look oily and coated - and nothing I did seemed to help!

I finally decided that my hair was holding onto the protein in the conditioner and clarified my hair with clay and then it got better.

But it would come back any time I would use conditioner - even Aubrey's Conditioners with NO protein!!!

This actually made me think that I didn't like henna too much LOL

btw - I've hennaed since then with a different henna and didn't have the same problem... so it could be a first time henna fluke... like mentioned above - but this time I didn't take a chance and use conditioner to wash out my henna...

eta: my hair recently got long enough to start going down the drain when I wash it in the sink! Evidently it is greasy in the drain - because when this happens my hair looks greasy on the ends... and sometimes this gets spread onto my hair when I am washing...

[Shorty89]

I think I remember some people mentioning that they had odd results with their first henna application, and things settled down after they'd done more henna applications. But I don't remember the detail.

But you might try looking through the henna threads for reports about first time use of henna, versus repeated use.

Thanks, maybe it was the henna. I don't know what else it could be.


Hey :)
Have you tried to clarify to see if that helps with the waxiness?

Yes I did and it didn't help.


Wow! I had this same weird thing happen to my hair after my first henna!

When I washed out the henna I used Suave Tropical Coconut conditioner and my hair looked great for a few days but the next time I washed it with my normal poo bar it would look oily and coated - and nothing I did seemed to help!

I finally decided that my hair was holding onto the protein in the conditioner and clarified my hair with clay and then it got better.

But it would come back any time I would use conditioner - even Aubrey's Conditioners with NO protein!!!

This actually made me think that I didn't like henna too much LOL

btw - I've hennaed since then with a different henna and didn't have the same problem... so it could be a first time henna fluke... like mentioned above - but this time I didn't take a chance and use conditioner to wash out my henna...

eta: my hair recently got long enough to start going down the drain when I wash it in the sink! Evidently it is greasy in the drain - because when this happens my hair looks greasy on the ends... and sometimes this gets spread onto my hair when I am washing...

Thanks for letting me know. Would doing a second henna or henna gloss with the henna I have leftover help? It got a bit better with a lemon juice/vinegar rinse but that dries out my hair so it's not a good solution.

[aisling]

I've had such bad build up after a long stretch of CO and end oiling that one shampoo didn't take care of it, I had to wash length and all a couple of times to get rid of it, it was that bad.

[andrea1982]

It sounds lik the henna residue. It happens to me every time I henna. Shampoo thouroughly a couple of times using a sulphate shampoo using a fair amount of shampoo (lots of bubbles) then moisurize.

It seems for some the henna coating adds shine and softness, but for others a couple days after we henna our hair starts feeling waxy and dried out.

I now shampoo out my henna right away, and I never have a problem

[spidermom]

My stylist told me that henna is like putting a coat of shellac on your hair. Henna lovers dispute this, but remembering how my hair behaved and felt with henna - for some of us, it may well be true. Over time this feeling of having coated hair should diminish, so be patient and don't over-wash.

[Shorty89]

I ended up shampooing and then using lots of CO after. My hair feels back to normal. Next time I'll just shampoo the henna out and I should be fine. Thanks everyone!

Spidermom, can you give me any more info on that? It sounds interesting.

[spidermom]

I'm sorry, I can't. I do know that henna coats the hair rather than penetrates it like dye molecules do (which is why Color Oops and similar products don't work to remove it), or at least that's my understanding.