Help! I lost all the shine in my hair!

[Svenja]

Hello all!

I have been so frustrated about my hair recently. It has lost all its shine. I do not know what happened, or what I have done wrong, so maybe you can give me some advice? :confused:

Here's my routine, to give you an insight:
Wash every 2nd day with Inecto shampoo and conditioner (cone-free). Shampoo only on the scalp, conditioner only in the lengths. Once a week coconut oil in the lengths over night. No hair drying, no heat whatsoever. I braid the hair before I go to bed.
Yesterday I put a mask in for two hours (egg yolk, coconut oil) and rinsed it with dilluted shampoo and apple cider vinegar/cold water. It did not help at all.
The hair is soft, but all dull. It lost its shine completely. It's not dry to the touch, but looks like straw :rant:.

Here is a picture from this morning (dark artificial light)
~~image removed ~~

And here is one from about last month:

[artificial light]
~~image removed~~

and some more are in my album, too.

What do I do wrong? Any advice? Any ideas?

I need help :cry:

[Melisande]

These are the things that give me shine:

Combing with a horn comb. Applying a cool water rinse with conditioner, honey and citric acid. Deep oilings before washs. Rosemary tea or catnip - not too strong.

[countryhopper]

that is really odd...

Sorry, I have no advice other than what melisande posted. You say it looks like straw, but does it FEEL like straw? The only thing I can think of is maybe protein overload? Not sure if that would take away the shine or not, but I just wonder if the egg yol mask could have had something to do with it.

While you're waiting for more answers, maybe you could check out the article section at the top of the page. There is a good article on troubleshooting your hair and the info on protein overload is in there.

Sorr, I wish I could be of more help!

[Svenja]

Hello Melisande and Countryhopper,

I have no horn comb (only a boar bristle brush) but I will get one asap.
I have read the article on troubleshooting (thanks!!) but I did not think it could be a protein overload. The hair's been dull before so I did not think the egg yolk might make it even worse. I must certainly get a clarifying shampoo.

Countryhopper, my hair is soft to the touch but it looks like straw without its shine. That is what strikes me so odd - if the hair was genuinly dry there'd be no way it feels soft, right.

I will certainly try the rosemary tea with my next hair wash at the end of the week. Until then I will keep on oiling like mad, I think.

It's really odd. How can hair lose shine altogether? I must have done something wrong... :(

Thank you both!

[restourceful]

I had the same problem and the culprit was ACV rinses. My hair felt fine, but looked dull and lifeless. I stopped ACV rinses and started using a coney conditioner ears down. My shine returned to normal. Have you done more than the one ACV rinse?

[Svenja]

Hello Restourceful,

yesterday night was the first time in 6 month I actually used an ACV rinse. It did not seem to make a difference. I am not so keen on the ACV rinses in general, but I thought I'd give it a go because i was desperate.

[ericthegreat]

I also think that the egg yolk is very likely to blame. Eggs as we all know are very high in protein. They are indeed good for us to eat, but applying them to our hair may not yield the same benefits. I also think you may have protein overload, it may have been from the eggs or you hair may have already been loaded with protein and the eggs simply added insult to injury.

I think you should definitely clarify your hair once again. This time leave the apple cider vinegar on longer, maybe for up to 2 hours. Or, maybe use a clarifying shampoo, that should get rid of a lot of the buildup that I think you may have. Then, wash it out with only cool or cold water if you can stand it. After that, apply the conditioner that you regularly use and leave it on for maybe 5 minutes, then rinse that out as well.

Let your hair naturally air-dry after all that. I think the shine should return to your hair. :)

[Svenja]

Thank you, Eric! I will certainly try the clarifying shampoo - there's no way on earth I could stand leaving vinegar on my head for longer than a few seconds *yuck*, but the shampoo might work.
I though the egg yolk might help and maybe that was just the straw which broke the camel's back...!

[Shicurls]

though the egg yolk might help and maybe that was just the straw which broke the camel's back...!

:lol::rolling:

I too second the clarifying shampoo. I find that my hair looks dull when I put too much moisture/oil in my hair. Just a thought.

[Svenja]

*he he he* :D :D - talking of strawy hair... :o

I have checked and only got a Lush Shampoo Bar at home (with SLS). Do you think that's enough for clarifying, or should I'd rather get a "proper" clarifying poo?

I have never had bad experience with oiling before (unless applied to wet hair :rolleyes:) so i really don't think it's the oil. Besides I have not used any other oil than usual, or changed my oiling routine.

[BelleBot]

The lush shampoo bar should be fine for clarifying. I've always found them very good for getting rid of anything on your hair and making it squeaky clean.

Perhaps you should go back to using cones, some hair loves cones and some hair hates them, other it doesn't matter. Perhaps yours is the sort of hair that likes cones? After cones aren't evil.

[Svenja]

Thank you BelleBot! My experience has been that ever since I stopped using cones my hair has become more beautiful, nicer to the touch and stronger. I stopped using cones in October last year and the problem with the lacking shine in my hair has only occured about 2 weeks ago. I do not think (or hope!) that it's got something to do with the cones *think*

Thanks all so much for your help and advice!
I wahsed my hair with the poo bar and cold water as Eric suggested this morning and this is this morning's result:
~~image removed~~

It's not as good as it used to be, but I think I'm getting there. I need some deep treatments I think.

Thanks so much once again!

[tameriska]

Would it have been that the diluted shampoo wasn't enough to wash away the excess coconut oil, and the lack of shine was build up from that?

[Svenja]

That's what I thought at first. So before I did the egg yolk mess I washed the hair full on with un-diluted shampoo (scalp and lengths). No result. Just as dull as before.

Maybe the dullness was caused by "a tat too much of the good", plus weather changes, plus dry air. I don't know. I think the idea with the clarifying was very good. Looking at my hair today I think it's getting back to "normal".
Another culprit might have been the hair dye I used a few weeks ago. I had always used it with nice shiny results and no damage to my hair. This time however the colour was/is awkward (as visible on the picture), it washes out like a semi-permanent one.
At the end of the day I really cannot think of a single reason why my hair's so stressed. Maybe I did too much of caring, too many products, too hot water, and I will certainly stay away from the boxed dye!!