Tried CO again - hair feels blah

[julliams]

I was CO'ing a few years ago and my hair got to be quite curly (too curly for me actually) so I went back to my normal routine and never really thought about it again. Today I thought I'd change things up and tried it. My last wash had been very coney with a Kerastase Nutritive mask which I left in for an hour and my hair was looking and feeling great.

Today I used VO5 tea therapy clarifying conditioner (didn't know conditioners were clarifying) as a wash and then I followed up with a little more on the ends just to make sure it was very moisturised. I put in my normal leave in and left it to dry.

It's not quite as wavy as normal and feels kind of stringy/greasy without actually looking like that. Actually it just looks a little dull. Too much conditioner?

I think I'm going back to shampooing and conditioning as I normally do.

If you do CO - how do you do it and did your hair go through something similar to mine at first?

[ravenreed]

I don't think that conditioners are clarifying. I would guess that the conditioner has extra moisture to deal with the potential drying nature of their clarifying shampoo.

[julliams]

Yes it's weird. I wondered myself how they can call a conditioner clarifying unless it's designed to go with a clarifying shampoo (as you suggested)

[ravenreed]

My routine has gotten a little long. I use Suave Wild Cherry as my main 'cleansing' conditioner, then do a vinegar rinse focusing mainly on the scalp. After rinsing, I do a catnip rinse and some sort of slippy, extra-moisturizing conditioner over the catnip from the ears down. I rinse that all out really well.

To do the switch, I would suggest you do a very dilute shampoo with a non-cone conditioner, and then next cleansing try your CO method. I am very happy with my CO routine, but it did take some time to figure out.

[Phexlyn]

Hm, maybe it just was "too much" for your hair considering you had a coney deep treatment (?) in the wash before the CO. How long did you go between the washes? Your hair might be weighed down a bit by all that product.
I can't help much more I'm afraid, my hair is not much into CO so I don't have much experience.

[Carolyn]

My understanding is that the conditioners that are labeled "clarifying" are made to pair with a clarifying shampoo. The conditioner does not have clarifying properties. If you have used a cone conditioner and want to switch to CO washing, a clarifying wash of some kind is in order. Then begin CO washing when the cones are off your hair. The conditioner you used is one of my favorites for CO washing. Water and hair types make a difference in the results. Plus we all have different expectations for our hair. You and I could both use the same conditioner and the same water and you might hate the results and I might love it.

[julliams]

As the day is going on and my hands are back through my hair as they always are when I'm sitting around watching TV, I'm noticing that my hair isn't as tangly as my hands are running through it. It feels very soft and I'm actually starting to like it.

I guess I need to do a clarifying wash tomorrow and then follow with this same conditioner and continue using the conditioner for Co washing. I can always use my SLS-free shampoo once in a blue moon if I need to.

I think I'll give this another go and not necessarily try to get my hair any curlier, but just keep it nice and "supple".

How often would you actually wash your hair? I know of some with very long hair who do this every day.

[Carolyn]

I think I'll give this another go and not necessarily try to get my hair any curlier, but just keep it nice and "supple".

How often would you actually wash your hair? I know of some with very long hair who do this every day.I wash on an as needed basis. That could be anything from daily to twice a week. If I get hot and sweaty, I wash daily. If I'm not going anywhere I don't wash it. It also depends on if I want to wear it down. Then I have to wash it that morning.

I'm one who doesn't want to encourage more waves. I know others have found that CO make the waves pop out in their hair but it hasn't happened to me. Supple hair! Yes that's what I'm going for too.

[LouLaLa]

Are you making sure that youre really cleaning the scalp?

I found that when I CO I can tell when I havent rinsed really throroughly as my hair will be lank and not exactly greasy but feels too conditioned.

I usually CO as If I were doing a head massage and make sure I apply gentle pressure with the pads of my fingers and really work the conditioner out of my hair (there is an article on it I think that was very useful!). Also when I began really paying attention to technique I found I have to wash it alot less, which was nice (Im trying to keep all my moisture in) :)


Saying all that I do think sometimes hair goes through phases when it dosent like CO so much, I stick with it as I used to dye my hair and shampoo is just too agressive for my hair.


Good luck!

[julliams]

I just read an article that suggested that I needed to keep the conditioner in there for 10 - 15 minutes which I definitely didn't do. I did alot of massaging to get it in there and clean, but maybe I didn't massage enough under the water to get it out.

The article also mentioned a stage where the hair feels a little more greasy for the first little bit so maybe that's just something I'm going through.

I will take Carolyn's advice and clarify first through because the coney's that are already on there could be contributing to the feeling.

I'll keep it up for a couple of weeks and see how I go. I may shampoo once in a while if it's feeling gross though. This is a good way to use up all the excess ends of conditioners I have lying around the bathroom at the moment. They are all cone free which is good but I have so many and I really need to cut down on the amount of stuff I'm buying and stick to something that works well and simplify my routine.

[Aerith]

Hey Julliams,

I recently tried out CO for the first time and I've done it three other times since. I really love it! :) I had been procrastinating for a long time because I didn't think CO would get my hair clean enough... until I found Igor's method here (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=70). I was pleasantly surprised at how clean my scalp got! I leave the conditioner in for 10-15 mins, pin it up in a cap while I do other things, and use some conditioner in a spare bottle, shake it up with some warm water and squirt in on my hair. Suds great and it gets as clean as with shampoo! :) My hair tends to be a little greasy with conditioner on my scalp but this method works great.

I hope this helps. Good luck with your experimenting. I'm definitely starting to really like CO since I'm trying to spread out my shampoo washes. My hair is starting to feel so much softer now too.

[Kristin]

I would agree that you should try leaving the conditioner on longer if your hair still feels greasy/lank (after clarifying first, obviously). I didn't like CO until I started applying the conditioner 5-10 minutes before my shower. When I get in the shower, I rinse a bit of the conditioner off the length and apply a more moisturizing conditioner, then detangle with my shower comb. I leave it all on while I do my other shower stuff, then rinse it out with cool water at the end. My hair feels just as good as if I've shampooed and has fewer fly-aways.

[ravenreed]

I should have mentioned that the first thing I do when I hop in the shower is put the conditioner in my hair and squoosh it around on my scalp really well. I don't scrub so much as make sure it gets to every part of my roots and scalp. Then I let it sit while I soap up and rinse, etc. So it does sit there for a good 15 minutes. I rinse very thoroughly also.

Something that might help is to dampen your hair and put the conditioner on ahead of time and let it sit for a half hour or so, then shower as usual. I find that makes my hair very soft.

As for periodic shampooing, I find that when my hair starts being extra tangly or feeling like it has build up, a dilute shampooing does the trick. I do it maybe once or twice a month.


I just read an article that suggested that I needed to keep the conditioner in there for 10 - 15 minutes which I definitely didn't do. I did alot of massaging to get it in there and clean, but maybe I didn't massage enough under the water to get it out.

The article also mentioned a stage where the hair feels a little more greasy for the first little bit so maybe that's just something I'm going through.

I will take Carolyn's advice and clarify first through because the coney's that are already on there could be contributing to the feeling.

I'll keep it up for a couple of weeks and see how I go. I may shampoo once in a while if it's feeling gross though. This is a good way to use up all the excess ends of conditioners I have lying around the bathroom at the moment. They are all cone free which is good but I have so many and I really need to cut down on the amount of stuff I'm buying and stick to something that works well and simplify my routine.