Products, methods and routines..

[BethT6]

Hi,
I haven't been on the site in a long time, but as summer is coming to a close it's time to get back into a healthy hair routine.
How do people come up with their routines? Just from trial and error? I tried the no-cones and no-sulfates methods, and it didn't make a difference. Then, I tried every angle of washing and conditioning from less to more and in between. I've found that my hair likes to be washed every day, but that's a pain for me, so i wash it every other. Also, if I let it go more than that it gets incredibly greasy only near my scalp. The rest stays dry and frizzy amazingly. It's not greasy at all day 1 and 2. Finally, no matter what I seem to do I still have fly-aways and dry spots from the ears down, and flat, frizzy, thin hair on top. It makes no sense! My goal is to have lots of body, and just let my natural curls/waves take over without having to worry about the halo of frizz.
Oh ya, and I made the mistake of getting my hair highlighted at the beginning of the summer, so I think that's why the bottom is a little extra dry.
Can anyone offer any help?

Thanks
Beth

[Jenn of Pence]

Mine has been just trial and error. The thing that helped me at first was just using Condition-Wash-Condition with my existing products. At least my ends were not getting extra dry from shampoo. Then I've kept doing it because I think it is really does help keep the scalp clean and the ends moisturized...best of both worlds!
One thing I've been doing for my ends is the lauded SMT (here's the link (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=128) for anyone interested). It's good for conditioning my dry ends, and I find it works better for me than just oils and leave-in conditioners.

[Natalia]

For me its a combo of trial and error dictated by lifestyle. My hair used to love CO but with my standards and what i choose to use it got to be very expensive very quickly so i started going WO. First a few days between Coing then a week, two, three, a month and thats about where i am now. But after going so long with WO my scalp sheds tons for a few days after a CO so now i just S&C as needed with some conditioner or oil on my ends as a leave in when they get dry.

I mainly just try to keep it up so its clean and protected and only shampoo when my hair gets in something nasty (it fell into our big can when i was taking out the garbage a few days ago... ick :( ) or gets too oily to manage. Money is super tight so i just experiment with what i can when i can.

[aksown]

Mine was also trial and error. I spent two years washing with baking soda and vinegar but a hairdresser friend scared me away from it. When I finally got back to it my hair didnt' like it anymore. :(
I decided to try CO and haven't looked back. Unfortunately, my hair has become really picky and only likes one kind of organic conditioner, but LOVES Suave Naturals. I only wash twice a week and am experimenting with a thicker, balm-type deep treatment from L'Oreal just on my ends. So far, my hair really likes this routine.
I just noticed that we're hair-twins!!
Have you tried CO?
I was oily too and I spent a few months with a raw scalp but eventually I forced my glands reduce their production!

[jera]

Trial and error here also. Not to mention all the good advice and direction I've received from other members here. :)
Your hair looks really beautiful in your avatar BTW. It doesn't appear dry or unhealthy at all. My hair prefers daily washing too so I do that with SLS free poocuz it does make a diff for me. I did use WO all summer because my hair was so dry from all the hot weather in my area but now that it's cooler, I'm back on poo.

I'm sure you'll find a solution to your dry ends. Squalane is a great light oil that you can actually leave in. It's worth a try.

[lpsqt60]

Just trial and error, I did not start CO washing until I learned about it from here though and that was when I saw that my hair and scalp seem to like it. Things change too, like the seasons and your activity level, so you just need to find what you and your hair like and then change it if you need to.

[christine1989]

Have you tried washing your hair with cold water?t really seems to help me with the frizz as well as define my waves and create some shine.

[*Rose Red*]

Trial and error also. I read a lot about hair care in forums, then I tried what the people recommended, some was good, some was bad. So I kept the good things, and day by day I developped my own perfect routine. I tried a lot of products and now I got a "team" of products that works for me perfectly.