My hair looks horrible

[Murzilka]

My hair is TERRIBLE!!! :(

I have really oily scalp. So oily that my hair tends to get greasy by the end of the day if I wear it down. If I wear it up it will stay clean but will be greasy by the next day. If I wash my hair at night and go to bed, I will wake up with greasy hair :(.

However most of the length of my hair (past my roots) is very dry! It looks terrible if I let it air dry, so I have to blow dry it with a round brush. My hair is wavy but it's ugly-wavy because there is nooo structure to it whatsoever. I hate the way it feels too if I don't blow dry it.

I blow dry about every other day. Most of the time I go out every other day, so for the last 4 months or so, I've been washing my hair every other day and leaving it up for the second day because it looks like someone poured oil on my head :(.

I hate using leave in products because they do not work AND make my hair un-touchable, and greasy.

Right now my hair is layered. The shortest hair is about down my neck and the longest is on the underarms line. I want to grow long hair so I can make a fishtail braid for summer all the time :D. It's the most adorable thing I have ever seen on an adult lol :D.

Any suggestions? My biggest thing is trying to get the oiliness under control because I don't think I can do anything else until I get that figured out.

[little_cherry]

Hi there and welcome! :)

I agree...fish tail braids are awesome! :D

I have a couple of questions for you:
1. How do you wash your hair? (Temperature, products used?). My hair and scalp used to be incredibly oily until I stopped using shampoos with sulfates. I went sulfate free, then stretched my washes to twice a week...then I was able to use 'cone free conditioner only as a washing method (it's awesome for removing oils from hair and scalp)..I found the gentler the cleanser I used, the less oily my hair and scalp became.

[ravenreed]

Same here. Sulfate shampoos were causing rebound oiliness. I CO every 2 -3 days now, and even on my "greasy" days, I have nowhere near the oiliness I used to get.

[Fufu]

Murzilka: Share with us which shampoo and conditioner you are using :)

Actually most people I know have oily scalp and dry ends, I think it's quite commmon and I strongly believe the type of products we used, shampoo and conditioner must be suitable for our own hair condition.

Do you apply conditioner on your scalp? I dont recommend using leave on hair conditioner on your hair. If you will like to moisturize your hair ends, use hair mist or light hair serum instead.

[Murzilka]

Hi there and welcome! :)

I agree...fish tail braids are awesome! :D

I have a couple of questions for you:
1. How do you wash your hair? (Temperature, products used?). My hair and scalp used to be incredibly oily until I stopped using shampoos with sulfates. I went sulfate free, then stretched my washes to twice a week...then I was able to use 'cone free conditioner only as a washing method (it's awesome for removing oils from hair and scalp)..I found the gentler the cleanser I used, the less oily my hair and scalp became.

Hi! Thanks :)

I tried using sulfate-free shampoo but they never washed my hair properly. At first it seemed ok but with each new wash I noticed more and more buildup in my hair. I tried the Loreal kind. Is that not good? Please tell me there are sulfate-free shampoos that do not leave residue and wash hair properly?



Murzilka: Share with us which shampoo and conditioner you are using :)

Actually most people I know have oily scalp and dry ends, I think it's quite commmon and I strongly believe the type of products we used, shampoo and conditioner must be suitable for our own hair condition.

Do you apply conditioner on your scalp? I dont recommend using leave on hair conditioner on your hair. If you will like to moisturize your hair ends, use hair mist or light hair serum instead.


Right now I am using Matrix shampoo with "It's a 10 miracle leave-in mask" it works well for hair softness. I never apply conditioner on my roots, but it still gets oily super fast :(.

I've used SO many shampoos in the past. I had the little try-me bottles from salons, also Biolage, Neutrogena.

The thing that bothers me is that I can't wash my hair at night and wake up with fresh hair. I always have to wake up SUPER early so I can get my hair blow-dried. It's more of a problem in the winter because I'd rather die than walk out there with wet hair haha.

[Athena's Owl]

Hi! Thanks :)
Right now I am using Matrix shampoo with "It's a 10 miracle leave-in mask" it works well for hair softness. I never apply conditioner on my roots, but it still gets oily super fast :(.


what is in the "it's a 10 miracle leave in mask"?

[missfortune9335]

Hi there! I just wanted to say, in addition to the other great tips you've gotten so far, some people just have to wash their hair more often than others. There is a lot of talk here about stretching washes, and people only washing once a week etc. which if you can do is less stressful on your hair, but if you can't and need to wash more often there's nothing wrong with that. Don't beat yourself up about it. I wash every other day, my hair is fine and starts to look dirty if I wait any longer than that. What I do to help out my ends is to oil my hair from the ears down before washing. It protects the length from the water and shampoo while getting the scalp clean.

[musicallberrii]

Hey there =) I have super oily roots and dry length too. I actually would suggest getting rid of shampoo and washing only with conditioner, and then using a strong conditioner on your length. I started doing this and my hair is so much softer and roots less oily.. they do get oily for a while but they get used to it and stop producing extra oil!

[Murzilka]

what is in the "it's a 10 miracle leave in mask"?
There are ingridients here
http://www.beautybasicsupply.com/It-s-a-10-Miracle-Hair-Mask-8-oz-p/it9mas0008.htm



Hi there! I just wanted to say, in addition to the other great tips you've gotten so far, some people just have to wash their hair more often than others. There is a lot of talk here about stretching washes, and people only washing once a week etc. which if you can do is less stressful on your hair, but if you can't and need to wash more often there's nothing wrong with that. Don't beat yourself up about it. I wash every other day, my hair is fine and starts to look dirty if I wait any longer than that. What I do to help out my ends is to oil my hair from the ears down before washing. It protects the length from the water and shampoo while getting the scalp clean.
o.O Doesn't your hair looks oily if you put oil on it? I thought oil was hard to get out and required many washes? I personally never tried it but have heard that from other people. It's worth a try though. What kind of oil are you using?




Hey there =) I have super oily roots and dry length too. I actually would suggest getting rid of shampoo and washing only with conditioner, and then using a strong conditioner on your length. I started doing this and my hair is so much softer and roots less oily.. they do get oily for a while but they get used to it and stop producing extra oil!

Does conditioner have any cleaning properties? It seems that would just make it look more greasy. Did you have that problem at first?

[littlenvy]

The girls are right. I would suggest doing a conditioner "wash" instead of shampoo.
While shampoo washes out the oil in your hair, it also strips the oil right off and kind of signals your oil glans to make more to replace the oil you've stripped.
Conditioner, on the other hand, has oil-water bonding compounds in it which bond to the oil on your hair and then are rinsed off with water.
Try putting conditioner on your hair before showering, leave it on for 5-10 minutes and then rinse it off. Rinse WELL! No shampoo. You may add more conditioner on your ends after for additional moisture.
Try that for now and see what happens.

[missfortune9335]

There are ingridients here
http://www.beautybasicsupply.com/It-s-a-10-Miracle-Hair-Mask-8-oz-p/it9mas0008.htm



o.O Doesn't your hair looks oily if you put oil on it? I thought oil was hard to get out and required many washes? I personally never tried it but have heard that from other people. It's worth a try though. What kind of oil are you using?





Does conditioner have any cleaning properties? It seems that would just make it look more greasy. Did you have that problem at first?

I oil only the length, from the ears down. I use a fingernail scraping of coconut oil, two drops of olive oil, and two drops of jojoba oil (I have those two oils in glass bottles with eye droppers in them) If I have time, I leave that in for a while so the coconut oil can absorb into my hair. Then I shampoo and condition as usual, the oil washes right out when the shampoo gets rinsed off and the suds go down the length. For me, that amount of oil is not enough to be probomatic to wash out, and it keeps my hair from drying out from the washing.

Yes, conditioner does have cleansing properties, just not as strong as shampoo. Here's an article for you to check out on that: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=18

[kristenkrascek]

Hi, I am new here but I thought I would mention that I also have an oily scalp/face mostly, but dryish elsewhere. Actually my hair is very short and I joined this community because there was lots of great info about essential oils, carrier oils, etc and I love this stuff! I think that you should not scrub your scalp with shampoo or cleanser but rather just sort of gently put it in your hair around the scalp but then rinse it pretty quickly. Also, just put the conditioner on the dry parts/ on the ends as you don't need to put it where your hair is oily. Have you tried something like Moroccan hair oil? This is argan oil and is supposed to be really good for your hair - there is even a light oil for people who don't want a heavy oil.

[MsBubbles]

Greasy hair tends to be a fine-haired thing. Mine is and always has been incorrigibly greasy. I get it from my dad. Stretching out my washes never made a blind bit of difference in my scalp's oil production, and neither did the type of shampoo I used.

At some point, when I was also around 24"/high BSL, I had to decide whether I was going to keep growing my hair or just give up because the daily washing of my hair was shredding my ends (which were already damaged by other stuff). Somebody mentioned 'scalp washes' to me. At first I thought it wouldn't help me, but I tried it and never looked back. I made it to waist length with my ends, dignity and emotions about my hair in tact!

I am still slowly trimming off past highlights and blowfrying damage, but at least now I don't have to rip a comb through my wet ends each day. I give it a full length wash once every 2 weeks or so.

There's an article by Amoretti on scalp washing but you can do a search of the whole site to find threads about it because there are many different ways of doing it. Many of us do it to solve the problem of not being willing to walk around with an oil slick on our heads just to preserve our ends. I use shower caps over the end of a loose pony tail, held with really thick ponytail holders (not the thin, pinching kind).

[Laurenji]

Two things:

1) My hair used to be exactly what you describe, so I know what you mean. Super oily at the roots, dry and staticky all the way down. Conditioner Only washing (or "CO" washing) has saved me.

2) If you're going to try a CO wash, make sure you look around on here and do some research about exactly what you have to do. It's NOT like just washing your hair with conditioner instead of shampoo. If you do that, then yes, washing with conditioner only will make your hair more greasy and not clean it properly. CO washes typically involve using a certain kind of conditioner, massaging the conditioner into your hair VERY thoroughly, and letting it sit for a while (10-30 minutes, depending on your hair) before rinsing it out.

[missfortune9335]

Greasy hair tends to be a fine-haired thing. Mine is and always has been incorrigibly greasy. I get it from my dad. Stretching out my washes never made a blind bit of difference in my scalp's oil production, and neither did the type of shampoo I used.

At some point, when I was also around 24"/high BSL, I had to decide whether I was going to keep growing my hair or just give up because the daily washing of my hair was shredding my ends (which were already damaged by other stuff). Somebody mentioned 'scalp washes' to me. At first I thought it wouldn't help me, but I tried it and never looked back. I made it to waist length with my ends, dignity and emotions about my hair in tact!

I am still slowly trimming off past highlights and blowfrying damage, but at least now I don't have to rip a comb through my wet ends each day. I give it a full length wash once every 2 weeks or so.

There's an article by Amoretti on scalp washing but you can do a search of the whole site to find threads about it because there are many different ways of doing it. Many of us do it to solve the problem of not being willing to walk around with an oil slick on our heads just to preserve our ends. I use shower caps over the end of a loose pony tail, held with really thick ponytail holders (not the thin, pinching kind).

You know, I've been interested in scalp only washing for a while now but my hair wasn't long enough before and I guess I figured at 24" it still wouldn't work so well. I'm glad to read your post, you've inspired me to try that again! :D

[pepperminttea]

I tried using sulfate-free shampoo but they never washed my hair properly. At first it seemed ok but with each new wash I noticed more and more buildup in my hair. I tried the Loreal kind. Is that not good? Please tell me there are sulfate-free shampoos that do not leave residue and wash hair properly?

The build-up almost certainly wasn't the sulphates but silicones (aka. 'cones). Check your shampoo and conditioner ingredient lists; silicones normally end in -cone, -conol, and -xane. Silicones are great for giving slip to help with detangle, but also weigh down the hair and hide damage; a bit of a double-edged sword, really, and whether they work for you is something only experimentation can tell.

The main problem with them is they often need something stronger to wash they out, since many aren't water soluble, you need the sulphates to get rid of them. (There are a few water soluble 'cones, they're normally pre-fixed in the ingredients list as 'PEG', but they are less common.) If you want to go sulphate-free, it's very difficult without also going 'cone-free (or at least, non-water-soluble cones), as without the sulphates to wash them out, the 'cones will build up.

If you want to try giving up sulphates and 'cones, clarify your hair first to get rid of previous 'cone build-up with a 'cone-free sulphate shampoo, and then follow with a 'cone-free conditioner. Use the sulphate-free shampoo from the next wash onwards.
Sulphates work for a lot of people (myself included), but it's worth trying to see if you hair's better without them.

Incidentally, I hope you don't mind me asking, but how old are you? My scalp's oil production was insane in my teens, and I couldn't successfully stretch washes at all. Since I entered my twenties, it's been very slowly calming down, and now I can go nearly a week between washes. :)

[Athena's Owl]

o.O Doesn't your hair looks oily if you put oil on it? I thought oil was hard to get out and required many washes? I personally never tried it but have heard that from other people. It's worth a try though. What kind of oil are you using?

heh! you have a lot of reading ahead of you. certain oils are really great for hair.



Does conditioner have any cleaning properties? It seems that would just make it look more greasy. Did you have that problem at first?

No, I didn't. conditioners have surfactants in them just like shampoo does - it's simply that they are much gentler and so require a good thorough scalp massage to help lift the oil and dirt away, and then you need to rinse your hair thoroughly. but for oily scalp and dry crackly hair, it's a real help.

There's another technique where you put conditioner on all your hair, then after letting it sit, you use a diluted shampoo on your scalp and then rinse. More ways to wash your hair than most people ever learn about!

[Amraann]

I think that it should be noted that often a scalp that is over washed or stripped will produce more oil.
Which IMO sounds like what is happening here.

I found that Suave Naturals works well for me. I usually use a fruity flavor.
On another thread many here said the same with the exception of the coconut one not working.

You may just have to try a few differing conditioners to see which work for you.

[Lianna]

Some people have reported dry hair from conditioners with too much glycerin. I see is the second ingredient, so there's a lot of it. Others have dry crunchy ends from silicone build-up, which can happen fast or slow. Others from too much sulfate washing. I guess you need to try options without those things to find out what's making your hair dry. Hair oilings seems to help a lot of members around here with dryness or just to maintain healthy hair.

The oily roots could be from too much sulfate washing, but some people just have oily scalps regardless. It's fine for some people to wash hair everyday. I do it, either conditioner only or with sulfates, doesn't matter to me. :)