ISO: Greasies success stories!

[linnepinne]

Hi guys... :(

So this is the deal: I'm soooo sick and tired of my greasy roots!
I've been doing CO-washing for a little more than six months now, hoping that it would really help me. And I have loved it at times (it makes my hair very shiny, soft and strong)... But I'm not so sure anymore.
My hair gets greasy in day 2 (day 1 being wash day), and it makes me want to wash it again in day 3. Maybe I can strech it to day 4, but then i have to tease it at the roots to make it look decent in an updo.
I realize this teasing damages my hair, and I would love to give it up and just do normal updos to hide the worst of the gresies.

A little background about my hair and scalp (yeesh, this forum really turns you into such a NERD :p):

I've not used regular sls-shampoo since about 2007.
I used baking soda and protein deep conditioners for years (did not work well at all, but I didn't care anyway, since I was teasing and mishandeling my hair every day to make cool hairdos).
My scalp has always been oily (much worse when I used shampoo!) and never dry, flaky or ichy.
I often get little pimples (and sometimes BIG ones!) in the hair nearest my face, and sometimes at the nape too.

I've just started experimenting with aritha, and just using CO-approved condish on my length. But it's too early to say if it helps my gresies or not...

Two other things I would like to try are; 1, CV shampoo bars and 2, Mixing in coconut oil in shampoo (my hair does not like coconut oil when i use it to oil my length, but from what I've read it's supposed to be different when mixed with the shampoo).

Has any of these methods helped any of you? Or anything else!? Can you give me some tips, and share your story?

Your help and comments are truly appreciated! Thanks a huge bunch in advance :flower:

/ linnepinne

[ddiana1979]

I have a similar hair type to you, and also an oily scalp that looks greasy on Day 2 post wash.

Oddly, and completely unexpectedly, washing with the Movie Star Shampoo (the coconut oil in shampoo option that you mentioned) has significantly reduced my greasiness! I really, really did NOT expect this to happen at all. If anything, I expected to have to wash my hair more frequently. I used to wash my hair every other day w/ the CWC or CO method. Now after nearly a month of doing the Movie Star Shampoo, I'm down to every three days. (And I should mention, just like you my hair did/does not like coconut oil being applied to the length as a deep oil treatment.) It did take me several tries to find the right ratio of coconut oil to shampoo, but once I did, it's been smooth sailing. (In case you're curious, I use 1:4 of Spectrum Organic Virgin Coconut Oil to Prell Classic in the bottle, plus 1 drop of tea tree oil-- only because I like the scent, and my scalp itches sometimes if I don't use it.)

[teela1978]

One odd thing I've found that helps with my hair is to not brush it. If the oil is at the roots it stays there. If I brush/comb/massage/touch my roots the oil spreads out for an inch or more and suddenly my hair is greasy. I suppose I have the benefit of hair that looks okay without combing... but it really seems to help. I think even just minimizing how often you comb/brush/touch can help.

ETA: I've never been able to stretch out washes very far by the way, I'm an every-other-day-ish washer. It'd be every day if I massaged my scalp or took a boars bristle brush to it though. And I use full sulfates, low sulfate shampoo leaves me needing to wash dailyish and with scalp pimples/sores.

[SummerSkye]

Hi, Im afraid I don't have a success story for you yet as Im just starting out with a similarish problem but I posted a thread entitled "fine highlighted hair help" which people have been giving me lots of advice on, may be worth a look for you too. Hope you have success soon!

[madeline_]

Dry shampoo has been very useful for me in stretching my washes to "teach" my hair to be less greasy. Over the past year I found out I don't really have greasy hair, it's actually quite dry. You should definitely look into it, either commercial products or some of the more natural things like cornstarch or talcum powder that are discussed here, you can find them by searching the topics.

I went from having to wash my hair everyday to managing to stretch it to three days. Okay I admit, it doesn't look all that great on day three, but with dry shampoo on the roots I can manage a passable updo.

[linnepinne]

Yes, not touching my hair helps alot. And the method of using a BBB to distribute oils is a big no-no for me.
My hair is not really dry actually. It's shiny and soft (exept for mildly crunchy ends), and I don't get much split ends. I was thinking maybe my hair and scalp is over moisturized? That is why I've started to use aritha and not putting any condish on my roots.

I have tried dry shampoo, but they don't seem to work very well for me. Although, I haven't tried any salon brands. That may be something to check out.

Wow! ddiana1979, that sound amazing! Your experiences makes even more eager to try it! But I have a question that maybe you can help me with: What kind of shampoo should I use? A normal cone- and mineral oil free SLS-shampoo? Or is castile soap based ones better?
I don't think that specific brand names will help me much, since I live in sweden....

Thank you all for your answers! I'll gladly read more about peoples struggle or successes with their gresies :)

[phistash]

I've got the same problem. I've been doing CWC for some time, using SLS free shampoo, fairly successfully. I've been considering trying the Movie Star method, but I also know that someone in the blogs recently wrote about how she'll add baking soda to her conditioner every once in a while, to keep her roots clean. If I can find that blog entry, I'll post it.

[OhioLisa]

You've been given some great tips thus far, but I wanted to offer a flip side to that coin. There are those of us who have tried every method and our hair still just "likes" being washed more often. Some here even wash daily and their hair looks fabulous. You don't have to stretch out washings to have great hair. Just do what works for you and don't worry so much about what you "should" do. Good luck. :)

[phistash]

Here is the blog post:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/blog.php?b=84107

And, as OhioLisa said, stretching washes isn't for everyone. I have to wash my hair at least 2x a week. There is nothing wrong with that, and if you feel like CO'ing just isn't working, don't worry too much about it. It may take a while to find the right routine. I tried very hard to go WO a couple of years ago, and it was an epic failure. People kept insisting that my scalp would transition, but it never did. I also tried CO, but it didn't work either. Not all scalps are created equal!

[Intransigentia]

I agree, sometimes with a greasy scalp the best thing can be to just accept it and if you have to wash every day or every second day, just go ahead and do it. My scalp greases up faster on Movie Star shampoo than it did on CO, but my hair likes the MSS better. I figure, if I have to give my hair a treatment it clearly likes, a bit more often to keep my scalp looking good, no harm done!

Interestingly, while my scalp does seem to like CO best, it likes MSS better than plain shampoo. The shampoo I mix with coconut oil tends to make my scalp itchy and extra-greasy extra-fast if I use it on its own, but mixed with coconut oil it's not a problem as long as I rinse thoroughly.

NERDISM:
Hair: CO < S&C < MSS
Scalp: S&C < MSS < CO

If you want to try movie star shampoo, there are some Europeans participating in the massive thread; you might have some luck searching within the thread either for "Europe" or even for "Sweden" to see what they're using.

[Chiara]

My scalp only really cut down on grease production after I went almost WO for 2 months. Prior to that I had to wash every 2nd day. I went WO in the middle of winter, because my scalp was in a flaky/dry/greasy mess (those of you who've had simultaneously dry and greasy skin will know what I'm talking about). I'd tried most other approaches, and reasoned that the only thing I hadn't tried was not using anything!

About 4 weeks in to WO, I started washing weekly with egg (worked well as a cleanser but turned my hair crinkly and extremely bright yellow), conditioner only (caused build-up), diluted shampoo and something called sorbolene. My hair looks greasy really really easily, which I just don't like the look of (and dry shampoo makes it look better for about 1/2 an hour, but tends to make it look very dull). But I learnt from that that my scalp dries out really fast.

I now just wash weekly with a mild non-sulfate shampoo- sometimes I do a coconut oil beforehand, below the ears, sometimes I do a movie star wash. Last weekend, I did an oil on the length, so washed with conditioner first (conditioner applied to dry hair and left for 5 minutes before damping my hair and lathering it up, because I find that gets the oil out best) and then washed with shampoo, focusing on my scalp (and no conditioner at all after that). Actually that worked really well. Minimal tangles, nice clean looking hair, but the length was also soft and happy.

If I think my hair needs freshening up between shampoos, then I'll give it a thorough WO rinse or I'll do a CO wash if it really needs it. I find I can mix CO and shampoo washes. I can't do CO on its own, as, although its good for my hair condition, my hair shows build-up very fast (no matter the brand of conditioner) and seems to get lanker looking more quickly! Just because you stretch shampoo washes doesn't mean you can't use other wash techniques in between.

The point is that it can take quite a while, and experimentation, to work out what will satisfy your scalp, hair, and you! Before LHC, I would never have thought of conditioning before shampooing, and I would never have thought to apply the conditioner to dry hair. It's a matter of finding a balance of what works best for your hair/scalp/you, and sometimes focus on the needs of just one of the three eg just your scalp.

But, rest assured, it's most likely that by the time you've found what works for you, and people say 'hey, your hair looks nice, what do you use?' you'll have to think about whether to tell them about the ACV/citric acid/aloe gel/honey regime etc etc or whether to just give them the edited version :)

[polette]

never tried to CO wash, but I am liking the thought of adding coconut oil to my shampoo. My hair is dry the day of wash, then gets stringy the 2nd day. I love coconut oil but my hair does not seem to really absorb it, and it looks still kind of oily the next day.
Have you tried the oil added to shampoo method yet?

[pepperminttea]

I was SLS-free for four years, and coming back to sulphates last summer, I find they actually work really well for me, and keep my scalp oiliness at bay for a bit longer. (I think perhaps because I wash my hair once a week, the sulphates don't have so much of a drying effect, compared to everyday washing. But that is just my guess.) And add me to the list of oily-heads who're having success with oil shampoo. :D


But I have a question that maybe you can help me with: What kind of shampoo should I use? A normal cone- and mineral oil free SLS-shampoo? Or is castile soap based ones better?
I don't think that specific brand names will help me much, since I live in sweden...

Generally, a cheap, 'no frills' one, 'cone free but with sulphates; supermarket own brands seem to work well. Some have managed to have success with SLS-free shampoos, but I'm not one of them, so I'm afraid you'd need to dip into the giant main thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=57025) for that.

Ktani's article on the method (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=191) is a great 'way in' given how large the main thread is, and how quickly it grows. :)

[linnepinne]

Hi all!

I have not tried the oil-shampoo yet. But today I'm going to the store to get some shampoo! (Wow, it almost feels scary. I bought my last shampoo bottle so many years ago...) I was thinking of maybe getting a very mild baby shampoo or something, if it contains sls that is. Anyway, I'll get a normal, simple sls shampoo, and I'll go with the one that has the shortest ingredient list. And tomorrow I'll try it out!
Will let you know what I think about it.

I read ktanis article (not the entire thread, cause it's HUGE!), and from what I can understand, it may take some time to get the ratio right. I think I'll start with a 60/40 poo/oil first, to see how my hair reacts. Or do you think I should have less oil to start with?
I'm just a bit scared to dry my scalp out with sls the first thing I do..

TIA

[linnepinne]

I tried it out yesterday! (Just could NOT wait until today :))

My reaction and thoughts are mixed. At first, when my hair was still wet from the shower, I thought it felt a bit heavy and dry. But as it was drying, it just felt better and better! It really felt super soft and untangled (I did not use any condish or acidic rinse). And it felt very clean, not at all like when you've failed to wash an over night oiling properly. It was also full of volume and it felt thick and healthy.
But when I looked at it it was so shiny it almost looked greasy, and it was a bit piecy/oily lokking in some places, like my temples and in my parting. Though it dit not feel the least bit greasy in those places either, it just looked it.

Today is my 2nd day hair, and it still feels clean, very soft and shiny. I looks a little bit more greasy in the roots though, like it normally does in day two. But the difference is really in the volume, and that it doesn't stay in the "comb marks" like it used to.

What makes me most surprised is that this way, my hair seems to like coconutoil a lot! I always hates it when I've tried to use it alone on my hair! :surprise: Just like i hoped, but highly doubted, it would.

I used about a 60/40 poo/oil ratio, with a very mild babyshampoo with sls (it was the one with the shortest ingredient list). Do you think that maybe this was too much oil for me? Or too little, so that tha sls dried out my scalp, and therefore it became oily?
How do i proceed?

Thanks!/ linnepinne

[kristymarie87]

I have a similar hair type - my roots are greasy but my ends are dry.

I found after giving up the "nasties" that my hair is better with SLS shampoos and loves cones. CO didnt work for me, nor did stretching washes. Coconut oil made the grease worse.

[lapushka]

I normally have to wash my hair twice a week for it not to appear greasy, and that is already stretched. CO was terrible and simply not harsh enough. The only thing that helps is using lots of shampoo. I use shampoo for normal hair, BTW, not greasy hair. We have very hard water here, and using a palmful of shampoo instead of just a tiny bit has made a difference for me; either that or using a normal amount and washing it twice. Rinsing the shampoo about half out after washing, resudsing what's left (massaging your scalp well), then rinsing it all might help too. It will be dryer, so you might need more conditioner than you usually use.

[teela1978]

To add to lapushka's comments, I've found that using a large container to dilute shampoo helps me wash my whole scalp. Its sometimes difficult to get suds to all of my scalp, the back of my head especially where the rest of my hair can block access. One hand pouring and the other massaging a few cups of water with a blob of shampoo mixed in helps me a lot.

[Intransigentia]

You could try it again with less oil, that would be my guess. I use something like 1.5 Shampoo : 1 Oil

[concrescence]

I have always had oily roots and somewhat dry length. I CO washed for about year and it did work fairly well for me, but I had to wash everyday or my hair was really limp (though not oily, exactly). I was cone free for about two years, even after giving up the CO, but I recently went back to cones because my hair was just too dry and, more importantly, unbearably tangly. I've never been able to stretch washes beyond every other day, and, honestly, I don't see a need to. I wash frequently, use SLS and cones now, and even blow dry my bangs and roots, all things that many on LHC discourage, but they work for me, and my hair looks so much better than when I didn't do these things. I have almost no split ends, and the cones mean I have less breakage due to tangles. Maybe I just have strong hair, but I don't feel like I need to treat my hair like antique lace, and I want it to look good. What's the point of having long hair if treating it "right" (by whose standards?) means I have oily limp hair that I can't wear down. Don't feel bad if you need to wash every day or every other day. Everyone's hair is different, and you'll find the right products and routine for you.

[linnepinne]

Update on the oil shampoo front!

Well, I washed my hair again today (day 3) using oil shampoo. I just had to, because last night (end of day 2) my hair and scalp was super greasy and felt (well, mostly looked) horrible.
But today I used alot less shampoo, maybe half a teaspoon (first time it was more like 1.5) and I used less oil, like a little lump the size if a pea. I melted the oil, mixed in the poo and then diluted the wole thing with maybe 50 ml of water.
I also used a little cone free condish on my ends, cause they had been more tangly than usual from the first oil poo wash.

The results are:

Nice and clean hair that feels just as soft, moisturized and great as the first time. But this time without any greasy looking patches!
I think this is due to two things: 1, Using less oil and a better oil/poo ratio. This time it was more 1/1.5. And 2, diluting the mix it so that it was easier to distribute evenly over my scalp and lenght.
My ends are happier and less tangly. I think I'll keep giving them some condish.
But since this is day 1, it's hard to say how this method is doing for my greasies. I will do another update tomorrow to see if this new mix is better for my scalp.

I do know that it is not a crime to wash your hair often... But I just loooooove that newly washed feeling and the way my hair looks when its squeky clean. My hair type just does not look good when it's oily and lank.
So my goal is to have that feeling for as many days as possible without having to put that stress on my hair that washing and handling means. I just hope that I'll find that perfect routine one day. Maybe this is it!

I'm still very interested in hearing about how you deal with your greasies, and I'm especially eager to read more about if this oil shampoo method has worked for you in this area!

[sweet&sourkiwi]

I'm trying the oil shampoo today for the first time too! (waiting for it to dry... :)

It sounds like you have the same hair type and problem as me...I've gradually made it from every-day washing (with complete root greasiness stepping into the shower the next day) to washing, waiting two days, then washing. It actually took me a few years of slowly stretching it out, and a few "third" days of just suffering through the grease.

Things that helped me:
-co-washing (kiwi lime squeeze!)
-vinegar rinses
-coconut oil pre-wash
-playing with it as little as possible (put it up and forget about it)
-sleeping with it up loosely on my head

Things that can make me have to wash a day sooner:
-Playing with hair too much, taking it up and down, spending too long styling
-Boar bristle brush
-overwashing (like after clarifying)

I tried water-only rinsing to get an extra wash-free day, but it seems to actually make it look greasier, in my case.

I actually tried blotting my roots last night with one of those oil-absorbing "face mattefying" towlette things...it seemed to help a little! I've also used paper towel blots as a measure of desperation to get "presentable" sometimes. Once when I used cornstarch a guy I was dating (who had no idea I had used it) actually asked me why I smelled like cornstarch...mortified. Fortunately my now-boyfriend doesn't have a fine-tuned sense of smell... :)

And when all else fails...cute hats! :) Since it was 25 below in my corner of Montana today, that's a given anyway.

[vanillabones]

I SWEAR by Klorane dy shampoo
I was addicted to baby powdering my hair and it disgusted my mum so she researched dry shampoos and ordered me some of these, and it smells wonderful and worked perfectly on my light brown fine fine hair. My ends are dry my roots are super oily though and a little of this worked wonders on them and can pull you over days ^_^ with my natural hair I would have to wash it daily and in the morning. it gets greasy within a day so I lived for dry shampoo to not have to wash daily. Only thing wrong with this dry shampoo is it doesnt last long :( the bottle runs empty within the month but it's worth it. Also I prefer the spray bottle (its not wet still a spray powder) than the kind you tap out and rub into your scalp.

I was bleaching my hair white from late summer to early winter @_@ so no dry shampoo was needed and I could go at least 3 days without needing a wash but obviously my hair was damaged to heck and dry. I've just dyed it back to natural so it's still extremely dry but my roots get greasy before 2 days go by so I just do not condition my roots at all. The top of my head hates conditioner it's too heavy for my hair type but if it is only shampooed it will be dry and tangly even when air-dried. so I dont know what to do for it. I dont want to CO since my roots get SO greased up. are spray/leave-in conditioners any good?

[vanillabones]

sweet&sourkiwi I am the same water only makes my hair greasier by far and I do not touch my hair at all otherwise it'll get super greasy, I cant boar bristle brush it even though those feel so nice :(

[sweet&sourkiwi]

Yep, water = grease for some reason! Vanillabones, I had the same issue with shampoo-only making the top of my head too fuzzy but adding conditioner making it too greasy...I thought CO wouldn't really work for my greasy scalp but once I tried CO followed by a light conditioner (just super lightly applied to the top) things evened out. The key for me was conditioning after COing, even though it sounds counterintuitive. Just an idea!

Today I'm trying Ktani's movie star method just for fun...my scalp is a little fuzzy from the SLS but I'm seeing potential!

[Jen123]

I have similar issues, but really wanted to stick with CO, so I modified how I do it.

Basically I oil from the ears down and apply conditioner before I get my hair wet. Sometimes I wait 15 minutes to get in the shower and sometimes I don't. I rinse that condish out and then condition again and leave it in while I do the next step. Then I take a long tipped 6 oz applicator bottle that I filled with either distilled water or straight hot water(so it is all softened water) and refrigerated. I add several drops of non-sls shampoo and then shake until it is foamy. Then I use the foam to wash my roots around my whole head paying special attention to the back of my head. Because it is cold, I can easily tell where I applying it to.

I rinse this out and then condition again. Put on a shower cap for five minutes while I finish the rest of my shower. Before I rinse this conditioner out I detangle.

Since doing this, I've been very happy with my scalp. I do still apply tea tree oil if certain areas are bothering me.

[chicken]

I have greasy hair, too. During my pregnancy, I could go for 2 weeks without washing. But after birth, I had to wash every second day again...
Stretching out the washes doesn't work for me. I try it again and again, but have no success. What helps me for a while is heavy oiling. If I oil my complete hair with much oilive oil or something like this and work it into my scalp, I can go and wash every third day - for about two weeks.
But I think you have to try what works for you...

[nellreno]

I used to have a very greasy scalp and face. I would wash in the morning and by the next morning my hair would be very greasy again, and if I went any longer I'd feel disgusting. My face would get shiny and I would be constantly blotting it throughout the day to get rid of all the excess oil.

My face and scalp have both helped from the "stop stripping oil from it and it will stop over-producing oil" thought process. I used to wash my face everyday with harsh astringents, now I use OCM and my skin doesn't get greasy. I stopped washing my hair everyday and stopped using sls shampoo. Over the summer I used shampoo bars and was able to stretch out washes and now I use CO. I washed Tuesday, it's Thursday morning and my hair is just starting to look greasy at my bangs (which always get greasy first for me because I'm constantly brushing them back). I'll probably wash on Saturday or Sunday.

Part of my motivation for stretching out washes and getting my scalp to calm down was laziness. I hate washing my hair and washing it everyday was a pain. I also take really long showers (I have no clue how people can take a ten minute shower to wash their hair and body and shave). So instead of taking that really long shower everyday I don't waste as much water and only deal with it a couple times a week.

[linnepinne]

Update!

I must say I like this oil shampoo very much. It gives my hair amazing shine and softness!
But it DOES grease my roots up. My hair looks and feels great on day 1 and 2, but it's like som evil magic happens at night into day 3, becuse my hair is EXTREMELY oily on day 3, and its impossible to just suffer through. Not even a good backcombing would hide the greasies.

Do you think this might be something that my hair can ajust to?
Or do you think my ratios my be wrong?

I'm not planning to give this up in the nera future. Was thinking of giving it a few months to give my scalp a fair chance to ajust.

But I've had better greasies-results, both with CO, aritha and rhassoul. But they don't give my hair that softness, body and shine as the oil shampoo! Something worth struggling a bit for :)

[Chiara]

linnepinne, can you mix the oil shampoo in with CO throughout the week? eg oil shampoo, then CO wash 2 days later, then oil shampoo 3 days later, or something like that? this might give you the advantages of both methods (eg shampoo prevents CO build-up, CO stops your scalp from getting greasier). I do this if I need to wash my hair more then once a week (ie I do a weekly shampoo wash, and CO in between).

[Intransigentia]

The trouble with doing CO in between would be that conditioners often leave a bit of coating on the hair, and for oil shampoo to work, the hair needs to be basically naked so the oil can get in.

My suggestion, if you like the oil shampoo, is to just wash every other day. After all, it's a great treatment for your hair, so why worry about doing it too often?