Help me, straighty CO'ers, help me!

[Katurday]

I am DETERMINED to do CO. I do sulphate free shampoo washes now, CWC, but...The CO call is irresistable. So naturally, I decided to take some of my Suave conditioner and applied it liberally to my roots. I scrubbed with my fingertips, I left it in for a good 15 minutes...I rinsed, it felt nice wet...It dried to a terrible greasy flat mess.

I don't know how to go about this. Do I need different conditioner? Do I need any additional steps/rinses? Is my hair CO hopeless? Is CO just a curly girl thing?

Any tips will be so appricated.

---

UPDATE!!!

Suave Naturals proved to be a no-go. Hair seemed very coated no matter how long it stayed on or how much I rinsed. The alternative conditioner was purchased, Salon Care kind. Found at Sally's Beauty Supply. Yes, 10 dollars for a gallon. Applied conditioner for 15 minutes under a shower cap, rinsed thoroughly, applied Suave to my ends and rinsed with ice water. SUCCESS! Somewhat. Its still early on and my hair is slightly coated, but still very soft and clean. We shall see how the adjustment period goes, yes?

[Ravenne]

I'm a 1b and I do CO (with a scalp shampoo clarify every 3-4 days as needed). I use Suave Naturals (no cones). I use a *lot* of conditioner, apply everywhere, and massage my scalp with my fingertips (not nails), then let it sit for about 10-15 minutes. It varies. Then I dip my head under the water so the conditioner lathers, and massage my scalp again for a while, then rinse. Then I apply more conditioner (about a third of the first time) and apply that from my ears down. That may sit for about 1-2 minutes, then rinse, rinse, rinse. And when I feel like it's all out, I rinse for a few more minutes. Lol. Run your fingers through the hair at your scalp to make sure it's all out. It sounds like you may have left some in. Or are you using a coney conditioner? That may be the culprit. Cones don't do well for CO on my hair.

[oceanwoman111]

Hello! I just started CO. I wet my hair, apply Suave Aloe conditioner very liberally, twist it in a bun and put it under a shower cap. About 15 mins later, I go in the shower, really rub my scalp and then rinse, really rinse. Then I apply a different cond. to the ends mostly leave on for a little. Next I take the shower sprayer out of the holder turn my head upside down and really rinse my scalp and hair with cool water. Gives it great sheen !!! can't stand the cold on my body though. I've learned few things really affect the outcome:

1. Rinsing - I really run a lot of water through my hair.

2. Conditioner Choice - Today I started with Suave Aloe again ,but finished with Burts Bee's Pomegranate and my hair feels too heavy and lifeless. Like there's an icky film on it. The other day when I finished with Redken Color Cond, my hair felt quite nice.

I'm new to this too! So I'll let you know if I make any new discoveries.:wink:

[Katurday]

I'm a 1b and I do CO (with a scalp shampoo clarify every 3-4 days as needed). I use Suave Naturals (no cones). I use a *lot* of conditioner, apply everywhere, and massage my scalp with my fingertips (not nails), then let it sit for about 10-15 minutes. It varies. Then I dip my head under the water so the conditioner lathers, and massage my scalp again for a while, then rinse. Then I apply more conditioner (about a third of the first time) and apply that from my ears down. That may sit for about 1-2 minutes, then rinse, rinse, rinse. And when I feel like it's all out, I rinse for a few more minutes. Lol. Run your fingers through the hair at your scalp to make sure it's all out. It sounds like you may have left some in. Or are you using a coney conditioner? That may be the culprit. Cones don't do well for CO on my hair.
That was my routine to a T. Suave naturals, and everything else. I took care to rinse it out really well too.


Hello! I just started CO. I wet my hair, apply Suave Aloe conditioner very liberally, twist it in a bun and put it under a shower cap. About 15 mins later, I go in the shower, really rub my scalp and then rinse, really rinse. Then I apply a different cond. to the ends mostly leave on for a little. Next I take the shower sprayer out of the holder turn my head upside down and really rinse my scalp and hair with cool water. Gives it great sheen !!! can't stand the cold on my body though. I've learned few things really affect the outcome:

1. Rinsing - I really run a lot of water through my hair.

2. Conditioner Choice - Today I started with Suave Aloe again ,but finished with Burts Bee's Pomegranate and my hair feels too heavy and lifeless. Like there's an icky film on it. The other day when I finished with Redken Color Cond, my hair felt quite nice.

I'm new to this too! So I'll let you know if I make any new discoveries.:wink:
So it might be the Suave? It felt like a greasy waxy film too (when it dried). Did your hair like the Burt's Bees one?

[catfish]

I'm a 2a and I CO right now. I haven't clarified in a while and don't really see the need to unless I'm having issues. I use Vo5 mostly, but also use California Baby Calming conditioner.

Maybe just try a different conditioner.:shrug:

You can try an additional rinse if you want. Have you checked out the CO washing thread? There is a ton of info and you'll find not only curlies having success.;)

[GoddesJourney]

I don't like suave. I used the Trader Joe's Nourish Spa for about a week and a half, did a poo only twice, and then today I tried the Garnier Fructise Triple Nutrition for the first time. It does well for a CO. The Trader Joe's stuff has parabens and I heard that can cause buildup. I haven't the time nor patience for things like vinager rinses so I just thought I'd try a different conditioner. It worked great so far. I'll know by the end of the week how it feels.

[Carolyn]

Katurday, we have similar hair types so maybe I can help. I've never found Suave to do that well for me. It can leave a waxiness that I've heard others complain of too. Try VO5 or WR. They don't seem to leave the same waxiness. Of course it's going to depend on your hair and your water too. What I do is slather my hair with conditoner. For what I call a "long CO soak" I do it on dry hair. I load on the conditioner roots to tips. I use about 1/4-1/5 of the bottle. I cover my hair with a plastic conditioner cap and a turbie twist and leave it on my head for at least an hour. I like to let the conditioner have time to work. Then I get in the tub and add water and "lather" it up. Rinse well and put a second conditioner on my hair and leave it while I do my other bathing chores. If I've oiled the night before, I use this type of wash to remove the oil. Once in a while when I'm in a hurry and I haven't oiled the night before, I'll do my "Quickie CO" which is applying the same conditoner to wet hair, letting it sit on my hair for 5-10 minutes and then working it through with my fingers. I follow that with a rinse and a second conditioning. My hair eats conditioner. So I like a heavy moisturizing conditioner most of the time for the second conditioner.

[oceanwoman111]

Hmmm. Wait. Today, I used VO5 Cond, not Suave with the Burts' Bees. I think the Sauve did a better job. I thought it was the Burt's Bee's ,but now that I think about it. The day when I did CO with the Burt's Bees Pomegranate only, my hair turned out great. I'll do some more experimenting and let you know. Straighty. :) I imagine that it might be a little more challenging for 1's to find a good CO regiment. I always struggle with the flatness problem.

Aww, your probably getting confused. I think it's really just up to which products work best for you, I will keep you posted. Fellow Straighty. :hifive:

[Katurday]

So after much deliberating, I am crossing Suave off my cleansing conditioner list. It shall stay on as a moisturising conditioner. I live in Canada so VO5 will take some hunting down. I guess I'll buy some Burt's Bees conditioner in the meantime, as well as anything else I can find for cone free. Anyone have luck with Giovanni? I found the shampoo too drying, I wonder how the condtioner will be on the cleansing front.

I experimented with the 1 hour CO a while back, again with Suave. Didn't work then, I thought I over moisturised. I suspect the Suave now, so when the tests with the different brands occur, I'll do the 15 test and the 1 hour one to be sure. =)

Is it alright if I pop into this thread later on to keep ya'll posted? Don't forget to share your tips if you have them, everyone.

[oceanwoman111]

Ok. Interesting development. I have always had the worst problem with an oily scalp. When I read about CO, I thought my scalp would go crazy and be oilier than ever ,but surprisingly, it is great! Almost like I'm shampooing it! Maybe since I'm not using SLS, my scalp doesn't need to produce as much oil.

Yes, I would stay away from Suave if it gave you problems before. I use Giovanni Direct Leave-In Weightless Moisture Conditioner. I Love it!!! The ingredients are great!! Haven't use it in my CO yet ,but hmmmmm, good idea! :agree:

[Kunoichi]

I use Suave also and it works well for me.

I don't put mine on before I get in the shower, I get in, wet my hair and slather it on. Let it sit while I'm doing my other showerly duties, then wet it again and rub. Then Rinse Rinse Rinse. Cleans well for me :pumpkin:

If you don't rinse it well enough it will be like that - gunky and feel like it never dries.

Good Luck :)

[mellie89]

Anyone have luck with Giovanni?
I've used Giovanni before. It's okay, but since it's so much more expensive, I stick with V05 or Mane and Tail. I just glop a bunch on, leave it for 5-10 minutes, and lather it up and rinse well. I also can't do CO with cones, holy buildup. Suave really doesn't do much for me, it tends to make me shed loads and leave my hair really flat, even when I KNOW it's all rinsed out.

I do a scalp wash with sulfates every 3 or 4 days. I think I could stretch them out a lot, it's mostly a mental thing... I'm still not used to the fact that I am allowed to wash my hair with conditioner. :p

I think those are all the tips I have, hope that helps!

[Erin-86]

Maybe this conditioner is to heavy for your hair?

I have 1b hairtype, which get greasy very fast, but I can do CO and it cleans very well! (it doesn't get greasy because of the co, I have the same when I use shampoo).

I use a light co to wash. I put it on and let it sit for 10 minutes. Then rinse it very well.

In my ends, I use a very heavy conditioner, which I leave on for as long as I can stand it.

My hair gets really clean and soft, not greasy!

[FrannyG]

Katurday, I pretty much exclusively use Suave Conditioner for my COing, and I don't have a problem. It could be the "flavour" of Suave that you used that caused you trouble. I find a big difference between them. I like the Green Apple and the Lavender. Some of the others were too rich for me. Although Suave is always inexpensive, I often find it on sale, downright cheap. If you do, you can afford to try the different flavours out, and see which is best for you.

You're right. Here in Canada they've stopped distributing the VO5 conditioners that we used to love and that the Americans still seem to have. Now they have their new line that contains cones, and I'm not too fond of it.

[RecklessCharlie]

Katurday, could it perhaps be that your hair is still in the adjustment stage?

When I started CO washing, the first few times I thought it was going to be a disaster, it was flat, greasy feeling, just generally rubbish. But I stuck with it and now my hair has never felt or looked so healthy! I mostly use Mane & Tail (the yellow, cone free one) and some Vo5 now and then. I have very straight hair, though it is quite thick.

[Katurday]

Katurday, I pretty much exclusively use Suave Conditioner for my COing, and I don't have a problem. It could be the "flavour" of Suave that you used that caused you trouble. I find a big difference between them. I like the Green Apple and the Lavender. Some of the others were too rich for me. Although Suave is always inexpensive, I often find it on sale, downright cheap. If you do, you can afford to try the different flavours out, and see which is best for you.

You're right. Here in Canada they've stopped distributing the VO5 conditioners that we used to love and that the Americans still seem to have. Now they have their new line that contains cones, and I'm not too fond of it.
I used the Tangerine flavour. I have the Lavander kind on me as well, so I'll try that too. I found that the Coconut flavor cleansed, but it made my hair feel...Waxy?

We have Mane n' Tail. I'll give that a try too!

[Anje]

I like Suave for CO, personally. Anything but the coconut flavor, which has protein and gives me nasty tangles. The Aloe & Waterlily is my favorite, though.

Make sure you rinse enough. That always seems to be the problematic point for people who say their hair is lank and greasy after CO. Hair feels nicely wet and slippery when it's still got conditioner in it. You may need to rinse until that slippery feeling has actually gone away.

Some people need to leave condish on a long time to get good cleansing out of it. I've never found that I needed that. You might want to try simply climbing in the shower, wetting your hair, conditioning it, apply shower cap, wash your body, rinse body, scrub & rinse hair. Maybe 5 minutes or so of total conditioning time. That may be all you need, and it's really convenient if you can manage a quick wash like that.

[oceanwoman111]

I've been doing CO for about a week now. Realized that I might have to shampoo every third day or so ,but I love it! I think even if you replace shampoo with CO even 50% of the time, your hair is better off. I actually look forward to doing it because I love the smell of the shampoos that were recommended on LHC and the price is awesome as well!!! :wink:

My Favorites so far:

1. Suave Aloe and Waterlily
2. VO5 Passion Fruit Smoothie
3. VO5 Kiwi Lime Squeeze (which is actually Clarifying)
4. VO5 Volumizing -Maximizes Body n Bounce w/Collagen
5. Burt's Bees Pomegranate and Soy conditioner

[TXbarbie]

Hmmm I'm confused. I'm interested in trying the CO method, but I thought that you just used a conditioner for 10-15 mins, rinsed, and was done? You need another conditioner as well?

[Laurenji]

Suave doesn't work so well for me. If you can't find Vo5, try looking at dollar stores for really cheap, thin conditioners. I usually get ones that say they're for "volume" since they tend to be lighter.

I also use a lot of conditioner. I bend over so my head is upside down (a nifty trick I found on the CO thread) and put conditioner on my roots until they feel "full" of conditioner. I massage/scrub that for three to five minutes, then let it sit for the rest of my shower (about 15 min or so). Then, (this is KEY!) I wet it again really quick and scrub some more before I rinse. When I rinse, I make sure I pay special attention to the nape/underside, becuase it's thick and doesn't always rinse well.

Hopefully that helps you some! For a while I thought it wouldn't work for me either, but after I practiced my scrubbing/rinsing techniques and found the right type of conditioner. I love the way it makes my hair feel! So soft and moisturized...

[Ash]

Cheaper chemical conditioners didn't work for me when I tried CO. They actually made my hair fall out after a while and it was greasy and waxy. I CO with Giovanni 5 days of the week now (CWC Mon and Fri) and have done so with a lot of success for a few months now. Actually the only reason I even use shampoo is because 4 days is the longest I can go for now without my scalp itching badly.

I use about a palmful of conditioner (Giovanni 50:50 Balanced Hair Remoisturizer) and half of that goes in my length and the other half gets scrubbed into my scalp as if it was shampoo. I then bun my hair out of the way and wash everything else (10-12 mins) and then rinse my hair at the end of my shower. I use fairly hot water, cold makes my hair waxy and tangly no matter what products I use, and I scrub my scalp again to make sure all the product is rinsed out. I don't worry about rinsing the length as thoroughly because I re apply conditioner after my shower anyway due to the cold weather. The final thing I do is dump some distilled water over my hair to get out all the nasty chemicals from the water.

[SheaLynne]

I also am having very good results with CO with Suave. I regularly use green apple or coconut. I've also had to work through an "adjustment" period where my scalp has reduced how much oil it was producing, and I've also learned some things such as rinsing better, COing twice a week rather than once, and SMTing one of those COs.

So, once a week, I do a quick CO as others have described and for the other CO that week I put Suave, aloe, and honey mixture on dry hair an hour or more before my shower, wrap it in a t-shirt and let it sit. Then when I'm in the shower I add water to it, scrub scalp and let sit while I shower, then rinse, rinse, rinse. I finish with a cold water rinse on my hair only. It comes out soft and shiny!

Good luck working out your combination!

[phistash]

I'm just starting out with CO, and I think I need to work on my rinsing. I'm washing may hair again today, hopefully it will turn out well. The only conditioner I have on hand is Burt's Bees sugar beet, so we'll see. I have a very oily scalp, though, and even though I kept at it for the full 2 months, my hair never even came close to transitioning to WO, so I don't know how well this work for me. I hope it does, though, because while my scalp gets very oily, the rest of my hair dries out very easily, so finding a good routine has been hard. I feel like I've tried everything under the sun.

[phistash]

Update:
I did CO again today, with Burt's Bees, and the results are definitely better than the first time. I rinsed more thoroughly, but I think I may actually to rinse even more, which is making me gulp, because that's a lot of water.
At any rate, I will keep trying, at least it's working better than WO.

[lunagoose]

Katurday, If you live in Canada and you are still in search of a cheap conditioner to CO wash other than Suave, you could try the Down Under Natural's conditioners, they have quite a few extracts of plants beneficial to the hair and they are not tested on animals (the reason why I chose to buy this brand). In addition they are very cheap so you won't lose a lot of money if you decide you don't like them, I Co wash with the "Strength & Fortify" one and so far is working OK, I still use shampoo once every 10 days. Hope this helps.

[lunagoose]

I forgot to mention that Down Under Strenght & Fortify doesn't contain cones.

[cardamom]

which subtype of VO5 is best?or is it just a matter of flavour?:)

[Carolyn]

Hmmm I'm confused. I'm interested in trying the CO method, but I thought that you just used a conditioner for 10-15 mins, rinsed, and was done? You need another conditioner as well?Some people only use one conditioner and one conditioning period. I've seen mentions of using the same conditoner for a second conditioning. And some use a second richer conditioner, which is what I do. I need/like a heavy moisturizing conditioner for the second one. I've tried only using one conditioner and just doing the "washy" part of the process. It got my hair clean but didn't leave it conditioned well enough to suit me.


which subtype of VO5 is best?or is it just a matter of flavour?:)Some have preferences based on performance. I've never found that VO5 conditioners vary much from flavor to flavor. They all have cleansed my hair well. I go by scent when selecting which ones to purchase. I lot here love Kiwi Lime Squeeze, but the small makes me gag. So I'd say just go by scent and get the ones you like.

[CrisDee]

I remember seeing on other threads that some CO'ers have better luck with Suave Naturals, others with VO5, still others with White Rain. My hair doesn't seem to care, as long as it's one of those. I end up using Suave Naturals at home and VO5 on the road, that's just how it ends up for me. But I don't use two in the same wash; I just slather twice each time with the one I have at the time.

[barbararla]

I've been applying conditioner from ears down only and that works fine for me. I tried to wash my scalp with it too but my scalp seems to respond better when I wash it only with water and just the rest with my suave naturals conditioner. I don't really time it, I just put the conditioner on my hair, and leave my hair out of the shower while I do the usual washing, then when the time comes to go under the shower again I do my scalp massage and comb out the rest of my hair under the shower. I don't think I've had an adjustment period. Maybe I'm not leaving the conditioner on too long or I'm really rinsing it out while I massage my scalp- I'm not sure.

[talervo]

I'd actually been using a CV shampoo bar with oil for a while. Well, the air got so dry I decided to do a SMT with Giovanni 50/50. I just rinsed it out afterwards with just water. My hair was awesome!

Since that worked so well I decided to try just the CO as my everyother day or so wash. It works really well for me. We have hard water and it doesn't leave any film and my hair has body. My hair hardly tangles now as well. I'll probably switch to this method for winter (at least) since it is working so well. Also, it seems to help my scalp quite a bit.

I haven't had the need to clarify and it's been over a week. On the days I don't use the CO I either just use water or keep it dry. It depends on how oily my scalp gets. Our hard water seems to cut down on the oiliness if I just rinse with it. I just have to watch out with build-up from water only, which the Giovanni 50/50 seems to get rid of.

[Liss]

I've been COing for over 2 weeks now and not looking back! As much as I'd love to try Suave or VO5 like everyone here keeps raving about, they just don't seem to exist here. So instead I just searched for the biggest and cheapest bottle of conditioner that didn't have cones and had the shortest list of ingredients, which ended up being Franck Provost (never heard of it before). It's quite thick, but I like thick conditioners.

I don't use massive amounts, just the same as what I used to use with S&C. I massage it into my scalp as though it were shampoo, but without the lather. I rinse it out, then repeat but extend it through to the ends. I then twist it up onto my head, wash the rest of me and then rinse it out thoroughly.

The first two or three days were a little gunky, but I think that was just the adjustment period. Now it cleans perfectly and I don't even leave it on for 10 minutes like some other people prefer to. I think it's just trial and error really, to see what works best for your hair.

[maxzeen]

I CO and I use white rain. I find it to work very nicely

[Katurday]

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE! YAY!

Alright, Suave in general proved to be a conditioner not for the washing part of the procedure. So what do I do? I head down to Sally's and get some Salon Care conditioner. Yes. The kind that comes in gallon size. 10 dollars and no cones later, I'm home, applying the goo. It has similar consistency to Suave Tropical Coconut and a really... Detergent-y smell. It just smells CLEAN. I apply the goo to my roots generously, then slick more conditioner to the rest of my hair. Showercap, 15 minutes, and I rinse while scrubbing at my skull (with the pads of my fingers, gently). It rinsed out completely and I applied my Suave to the very ends, and proceeded to rinse for 5-10 minutes in ice water.

Results? Clean hair. Sliiiightly 2nd day feeling, but clean. I suspect the transition to SLS-free shampoo made this easier on me, cause I feel its gonna get a whole lot better soon. The ice water rinse was VERY critical to my routine!

More updates on developments!

[Katurday]

Katurday, If you live in Canada and you are still in search of a cheap conditioner to CO wash other than Suave, you could try the Down Under Natural's conditioners, they have quite a few extracts of plants beneficial to the hair and they are not tested on animals (the reason why I chose to buy this brand). In addition they are very cheap so you won't lose a lot of money if you decide you don't like them, I Co wash with the "Strength & Fortify" one and so far is working OK, I still use shampoo once every 10 days. Hope this helps.
Ironically, this was the brand of shampoo I was using. SO cheap! Thanks for the tip, we have them everywhere.