Flat top and glorious bottom ;)

[Lorien]

To the long-haired folk,

I've been going through the process of emancipating my hair from harmful substances. I've switched to a natural sham-minus-poo, and a poo-less conditioner. I'm also misting the ends of my hair with some herbal tea, coconut oil and a bit of honey, combing with a wooden comb, etc.

The condition of my hair is improving quite alot and has been for a number of weeks, but on day 3 after washing my scalp is noticeably oily by comparison to the rest of the hair. I'm really trying to stretch the time between washes in hopes that the scalp will balance itself out and day 4 seems to be the hardest point to reach so far but I'm being stubborn.

I wonder if there's any advice on how to naturally deal with the flat, oily scalp without sabotaging the 'detox' process? The rest of the hair is in a generally lovely state throughout. I know I can wear a hat, but was wondering about an alternative to that :)

Thank you

[Fractalsofhair]

Can you wash just the scalp as opposed to the length?

[PrliamntofRooks]

I only wash once a week and find updos and braids by day 3-4 make greasies less apparent (I've even had some people ask me what gel I use to keep things "in place" without being stiff!). You can also brush daily with a boar bristle brush to distribute at least some of the oil down the length. Finally, just be sure you aren't leaving too much 'poo or condish in your hair.

[ravenreed]

Pulling my hair back makes it look stringier, and using a BBB makes my hair look oily even if I just washed it. I have never stretched past 3 days, so I don't try any more. I do occasionally do a shampoo bar wash just of the bangs and top of my head. That gets me an extra day.

[Rhiannon7]

I'd suggest braids, buns, braiding the sides of your hair and incorporating the braids to the bun, etc. I can go for 2 weeks without washing but since i work i feel better to wash once a week, less stringy hair and less smell in summer. I have been stretching washing for over a year and scalp has gotten used to being washed less, plus i do brush to spread the oils down the length. I brush less now since i started using my wood comb, but i still brush at night to spread the oils.

I just seek new ideas to hide the top of my hair like braiding the sides and then bunning it all, doing 2 braids and pulling them up to the top of my scalp and secure them, bunning, and regular braid. I have even bunned the hair on top of my head and it looks great. french braiding could also work. doing 2 buns, one above the other. just experiment and have patience, your scalp will get used to less washing in time. for me it took about 6 months for my scalp to get used to less washing, but it's different for everyone.

[Lorien]

Thank you everyone, I always had my hair down at all times, so learning to do things with it has been a process. I got both the boar brush and wooden comb, they do help quite a bit, but not tremendously, and yeah with straigth hair the oilyness shows itself more than the wavy/curly kind. I even wondered if running my hands through my scalp with cloth gloves would help lol..

Haven't tried it though.

Fractalsofhair the point in not washing is to have the scalp balance itself out and produce less oils, but there's a time period for this to happen successfully. If I just washed the scalp I'd sabotage my efforts :)

[Capybara]

I've read in magazine articles that putting baby powder or cornstarch on an oily scalp will make the scalp less oily, as the powder absorbs the oil. I've never tried it, though - these are the same magazines that suggest blowfrying, flat-ironing, and hairspraying hair every day to achieve shine :P Makes me a bit wary of this method...

I find that finger combing actually helps distribute the oil from my scalp down the length. The oil seems to stick to my hands more than a comb or BBB, although I use those after combing with my fingers. I'll take a section of hair into one hand and gently "pull" down the length with my fingers (I'm not really sure of any better way to describe it?) That seems to do the trick for me (: HTH

[xoxophelia]

You can do something like this with the fabric of your choice (or headband):

http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4608213/Scarf-main_Full.jpg

Also, rinsing with only water does enough for me. If you had to you can put the smallest amount of shampoo in your hair. Just a tiny tiny bit.

[Lorien]

I did come across the powder bit and also wondered if it would help or make things worse. I had done that back in the day as a quick fix when I had to get out and had no time to wash my hair, but I can't say it did alot of good as the powder would coat my hair and even itch.

Xoxophelia that's a fantastic idea! The head band, I have to try that :)

[RocketDog]

capybara, what you are describing is called 'preening' around here ;)

[Lorien]

Well I did an unintentional experiment which worked quite well! Whatever you call doing this to your hair? Pinning the fringe back?

http://cdn.sheknows.com/celebsalon/2009/03/alyssa-milano-long-auburn-hairstyle.jpg

It seems to render the hair on the front immune to greasiness and hides the rest while giving precious volume. I kept it like that after day 2 and on (day 3 is oily day), slept with my hair like that, too. Now I can definitely stretch it out another day or two without the more obvious coverings :cheer:

[Capybara]

capybara, what you are describing is called 'preening' around here ;)

Thank you :) I was wondering about that