GRROOOOOANNNNNN! What do you do when your routine fails bad?

[Beets]

I'm in a funk--a greasy top, dry ends, frizzy, flat, ugly heap-on-my-head funk.

I have GOBS of things still to try. I'm only just off my CWC treatment that broke the SLS cycle. But now the shampoo that was working great isn't working so great, and the vinegar rinse that was getting all the gunk out isn't seeming to work much on the first four inches of my hair.

So hit me with your best quick tips. It doesn't have to be complicated. Like, things I could try TONIGHT to get me back to liking my hair until I hit another stride with my routine.

What do you use when your routine has abandoned you to the hair demons?

[clichepithet]

Clarify! :D

[Twil]

My sister has included a strong bottle of shampoo in my 'all or nothing' box.

Which is an idea we came up with based on the movie Death Proof, we have a box filled with crap we'd need in a zombie attack. :p

[clichepithet]

Haha! I love it! You know, your average Joe has a "strong drink", kerosene lamps, food, etc. in case of emergency. We stock shampoo.

[melikai]

Second the clarify suggestion! Add baking soda to your non-sls shampoo (or use baking soda on its own), or use a basic sulphate shampoo. Baking soda will dry out your hair a fair amount, so be sure to condition well afterwards.

Don't try too many things at once either - it can make it difficult to determine what is and isn't working for you. :)

[adiapalic]

How long have you been using that particular routine?

[Norai]

Whenever my hair isn't behaving, I clarify and it fixes it. :)

[countryhopper]

I agree with clarifying....

Maybe before you jump in the shower, massage your scalp and try to use either a BBB or wooden comb to make the sebum work its way down the shaft to the ends. Make that sebum work for YOU instead of sitting there in a solid lump at the scalp.

I use 1 tablespoon baking soda in a cup of warm water and massage this in my scalp well. Then I rinse, and follow up with a tea rinse (works the same as any other acidic rinse like vinegar, but since vinegar makes my hair greasy I stick to tea. You could also try a little lemon juice).

You can also try massaging your scalp under running water, adjusting the temperature to very warm, cool, warm, cool, etc. This sometimes helps to "melt" the sebum and make it move down the shaft.

Hope this helps!

[Beets]

OK, to summarize:

1. Baking soda, added to shampoo or on its own, but with lots of follow-up moisturizing

2. Scalp massage/BBB/alternating temperatures in the shower to make the sebum work FOR me (ha. *booming voice* SEBUM. DO MY BIDDING! this makes me feel a little like the Beast Master! Only I guess that makes the beast my hair, which may not be the best way to coax it into behaving well...)

3. Tea rinse

4. But not too much at once so I can tell what's working

But here's the thing. Maybe I don't understand clarifying. Because my shampoo was Aubrey Organics Clarifying Shampoo. And wouldn't the vinegar rinse have clarified pretty well? I rinsed with water all I could have, I mean, sheesh, ten minutes of standing there massaging my scalp! And to answer your question adiapalic, it had been about two weeks, but I only shampoo once a week, so I'd only done this particular routine twice.

Thanks for you suggestions, ladies. Twil, the zombie box. This idea may change my life and my idea of preparedness for all eternity. Off to find an appropriately apocalyptic container for my shampoo, flash light, pick ax, chocolate, towel...

[aisling]

You massaged after clarifying? That would probably make my scalp a grease pit as well, same thing with tea rinse (which I don't get, why?). Ohh, and no conditioner on the ends would explain the dry ends. Skip the extra stuff, tea, vinegar (which DOES NOT clarify but helps recently used products rinse out easier) and do a basic wash and condition routine, then you'll have an easier time to see what's the problem.

[Felix_D]

I wouldn't clarify just yet, I find that a good manual finger-scrubbing in the shower with a light conditioner on fingertips usually gets me through another couple of days when I get greasy scalp.

[Carolyn]

Clarifying is the first thing I do. I've found baking soda to be terribly drying. Even more so than a commercial clarifying shampoo. Any method of clarifying is going to strip and dry your hair out. The purpose of clarifiying IS to strip the hair of whatever gunk is clinging to it. Use a nice rich moisturizing conditioner after whatever clarifying product you choose.

If you've been using the same products for a while, you could consider swapping them out for something else. I'm a believer in switching products with each wash. If I use anything more than twice in a row, I have gunky awful hair.

[Xandergrammy]

Which is an idea we came up with based on the movie Death Proof, we have a box filled with crap we'd need in a zombie attack. :p


:rollin: I love this!!! :gabigrin:

[countryhopper]

You massaged after clarifying? That would probably make my scalp a grease pit as well, same thing with tea rinse (which I don't get, why?). Ohh, and no conditioner on the ends would explain the dry ends. Skip the extra stuff, tea, vinegar (which DOES NOT clarify but helps recently used products rinse out easier) and do a basic wash and condition routine, then you'll have an easier time to see what's the problem.

I use the tea (or vinegar, lemon juice, whatever) AFTER clarifying with the baking soda. I know that the acidic rinse's job is not to clarify, but to return the scalp to its normal ph level and to make the hair's cuticle lay down again.

Again, I've found success doing this, but you may find, along with the other poster, that baking soda may be too drying. It that case, I've heard of good results using salt water, but I'm not sure if this is a cleansing method or clarifying method.

I find it strange that your hair is still this way AFTER using clarifying shampoo.... how strange!? Has anything else changed lately? maybe weather? I'm grasping at straws here...!

[SimplyViki]

The shampoo you are using is soap-based. Have you used soap-based shampoos before? The results you describe are similar to my results with shampoo bars (also soap based), and that's why I never could get into a long-term routine with them.

[Beets]

Ah-ha, SimplyVik! I just had this memory of the one time (years ago!) that I tried to use Burt's Bees Shampoo Bar, and YES! It was the same!

So what's the third choice, if one eschews SLS and soap? What's left?

[motormuffin]

http://www.gardenofwisdom.com/catalog/item/4040324/3854543.htm
I like this shampoo. When I go to clarify I use this...http://www.amazon.com/Neutrogena-Anti-Residue-Shampoo-12-Ounce-Bottles/dp/B000OLE7WW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1267548922&sr=1-1
After I clarify, I like to do a protein treatment and then oil lightly.

[sibiryachka]

In the unlikely event you haven't come across it yet, this article
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=44
helped me figure out what my hair needed. Probably not the immediate fix, but if you can hold on for 12 hours or so...

[melikai]

The shampoo you are using is soap-based. Have you used soap-based shampoos before? The results you describe are similar to my results with shampoo bars (also soap based), and that's why I never could get into a long-term routine with them.

Aubrey Organics products aren't soap-based, they just call their mild detergent "coconut corn-oil soap". If you look at the ingredients list on their website, they say it is a detergent.

[LaurelSpring]

Baking soda works for me. Or a good old cheap sls shampoo. Sometimes it just seems like you have to shake things up now and then.

[missmagoo]

I would get a shampoo with a different detergent base- even though the AO says it's a detergent, it does sound as though it's soap-based to me. Coco Betatine is a pretty common non-SLS detergent that is gentle, yet will effectively remove residue. If it were me, I would probably clarify with an SLS shampoo (maybe even chelate with one that contains citric acid), and then continue on with an SLS-free shampoo in the future.

[kwaniesiam]

Clarify or try an SMT. That would always reset the balance of my hair when it started to feel funky.