Dry "barbie" hair (no poo) ==' and itchiness

[Vivicka]

Ok haven't used shampoo in 6months - 1 year (don't remember exacts) back layer of my hair is dry. Like straw, and as my sister calls it, barbie hair. X:

Wash my hair with acv and bs.
usually I just use bs on my scalp, and use acv on the ends.

for the last week or so my scalps been itching like crazy to the point where hair comes out .. and the back layer doesn't seem to get greasy at all, it stays dry.
I also tried olive oil on it, and it washed straight out and continued to be dry.
Tried using just bs on it and it stayed dry.
Tried straight acv, 1/2 acv and 1/8th acv. nothing helped.

With the itchiness it's my whole scalp.
I've used straight acv on my scalp and left it to sit and it's helped slightly. I also haven't used bs in a week and it's still itchy.
Cleaning the crap out of the my room, and stayed at a friends place so it's not dust-mites either.

Anyone know anything I can try to get rid of the itchiness and dryness in the back layer of my hair ?

[sakuraemily]

It might be the bs. Basic stuff is bad for hair. i mean ph basic.
You may have been using bs too long. Try acv rinses for the next few weeks without bs.

[Madame J]

Yeah, you need to reacidify your scalp. Make a mixture of a few tablespoons of vinegar in a pint of water and pour that throughout your hair. That should help with the scalp. You also probably need moisture. You can try a rinse with honey, catnip, methi seed (fenugreek), amla, or any other conditioning herbs from this article (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=134) or this article (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=3) if you want to stay natural, but you might need a conditioner. Oil will not give your hair moisture; it will only hold in what is there.

You might also try the oil shampoo method for your scalp. I don't use it often since it leaves my hair greasy, but it does work wonders for my itchy scalp.

The "No 'Poo Method" as espoused on many other sites tends to be very flawed in many ways. First of all, they almost always recommend too strong of a vinegar rinse. Secondly, they rarely address the problem of moisture for hair in any satisfactory way. Just saying "if your hair is dry use olive oil" is not sufficient. In the natural recipes forum of this site there are a few sites dedicated to people who do not use conventional shampoo. It's not just baking soda you can use to wash your hair -- you can use herbs, water, conditioner, or nothing at all! Hope you can find some information to help you figure out what it best for your hair.

Also, if you dye your hair, the no-'poo method will pretty much ruin it, in my experience. I found that after six months, the dyed length was straw-like and most of the dye had come out, leaving it brassy and gross-looking, but my undyed roots were still shiny and dark.

[Vivicka]

Thank-you both for the advice.

Definately going to try to get off using the bs, and try other things (:
The dryness is because of the dye then, good to know I wasn't doing something seriously wrong

[annieangel149]

omgosh! stop the B.S now!
My hair hated B.S and i find if i use too much ACV rinse my hair even dries out with that! i can only use ACV once a month if that! i just wash my hair with plenty of conditioner and that cleans it fine! i hardly ever have to clarify!

[paleogirl]

Hi. I am new to the site and joined because of all the information on no-poo, Water Only washing, and BS and ACV washes and rinses. I have fine fairly straight hair with medium thickness. (I still haven't figured out the hair typing stuff).

I became interested because I changed my eating habits to paleo eating. When researching that I came across a blog about water only washing. I found it fascinating and wanted to try it. When using shampoo I would have to wash everyday. I have been WO for a week and no-poo for a month.

I have dye in the last 9 inches of my hair. I have found that for me BS does get rid of the oil on the scalp but then dries my ends bad. (Even using 1 tbsp to 2 cups of water and rinsing with ACV) Once it was so bad I just added coconut oil back into my ends so it would feel better. (remove the oil to add oil back - that reminded me of shampoo and conditioner - what was the point?) I then tried just ACV - it too dries my ends. I have hard water so I will probably use ACV once a month or less - when and if my hair gets dull. I have also tried tea without a rinse. That seemed to work ok. (be careful which tea you use bc it can lighten or darken your hair)

I actually had a good hair day the other day with WO washing and got complements on my hair. I believe I am turning the corner on my transition period.

So my procedure is: massage my scalp, scritch my scalp, and preen to move the oils down to the roots. Sometimes I just comb then BBB the oil down to the roots. I pretty much look like a grease ball when I step into the shower. I then wash my hair by messaging my scalp with hot water (I am not a cool shower person) then I switch to cold, then hot, then cold and also do this with my head upside down too. Always finish with cold to close the hair.

I air dry (which use to take 15 minutes it now takes an hour) and either finger comb or very lightly comb with a clean comb. Then I try hard not to touch it. This is hard bc it is very soft now. The longer I go without messing with my hair the slower it takes before it gets greasy again. I can go a day and a half with my hair down then two days up. I am trying to work into washing once a week. We shall see.

There are some good posts about changing your routine and experiementing bc all of our hair is different. Maybe try coconut oil treatment before you BS and ACV. Good Luck.

[Vivicka]

annie : damn, i think we have the same hair hahhaa .
trying to go without shampoo / conditioner though x.x

paleo : what's paleo eating ?
oh wow, good to hear wo works for you... when i did it it never evened out, i'll try the tea. i actually did do a coconut oil rinse, an extreme one, and i had to shampoo my hair to oblivion to get rid of the oiliness... back to square one .. ;P

itchiness is actually because i had/have lice but couldn't tell because it couldn't lay eggs o.o which sucks.

[paleogirl]

Vivicka: paleo eating is a lifestyle where you cut out anything that is produced from the agricultural revolution on. So - processed foods, sugar, wheat, corn, soy, dairy, etc. You eat: lean meat, eggs, non starchy vegetables, fruits, and nuts. I have an allergy to dairy and possibly soy, and wheat. I have been doing this for a month. My skin has cleared and I am not itchy. Robb Wolf has a good website to google if you are interested.

WO - with the water only - it is now just starting to work. I went through greasy spells which is when I tried BS and/or ACV, and tea. There were times when I wanted to give up bc my shampoo was right there, but I stuck it out. I have gotten used to the feel of my natural oil which is when my hair is the most soft. Also I can now wear my hair up with just hair sticks - I was never able to do that before.

I don't know if it is my diet that has made WO possible or the routine that I do - bc I have hard water and what I read is that WO is extremely difficult with hard water.

Also a side note: I have now switched to coconut oil with EO as a deodorant. I had tried non aluminum deodorants in the past - they would only work for two weeks then I would be stinky. But the coconut oil has worked for a month - I have to say it has got to be the diet. Oh, and you all might find this gross but I don't use soap at all either except to wash my hands. I slather on coconut oil or EVOO before I towel off. My skin is now not dry and scaly. These are all things that I have experimented with by choice and curiousity and are not things you have to do to eat paleo.

When I did my coconut oil bc my hair was so dry I rinsed it out with water. It was still very greasy so I wore it up for 2-3 days and WO again. This helped with the dryness even though I had to put up with the greasiness. The thing I have noticed is my hair doesn't act the same, look the same or feel the same. The feel the same is the hardest part bc what I thought was clean was stripped of all the moisture and oil. I am now used to what my hair feels like with its natural oil. When using shampoo and conditioner it would be light, fluffy, and fly away. Now it isn't as fly away, takes longer to dry, but doesn't look greasy either and has a little bit of body near the roots.

hope this helps.

[ratgirldjh]

When my hair was very grungy and dry at the same time (from WO) I would oil heavily with VCO mixed with a few drops of lavender EO and leave it for overnight and then wash it out over the next few days with WO.

When the oil was finally washed out (takes a few days of WO) my hair would be very shiny, clean and thick and soft. Then I could go back on WO for a few weeks with no problem of greasy hair or dry ends.

[rocket_surgeon]

Ok haven't used shampoo in 6months - 1 year (don't remember exacts) back layer of my hair is dry. Like straw, and as my sister calls it, barbie hair. X:

Wash my hair with acv and bs.
usually I just use bs on my scalp, and use acv on the ends.

for the last week or so my scalps been itching like crazy to the point where hair comes out .. and the back layer doesn't seem to get greasy at all, it stays dry.
I also tried olive oil on it, and it washed straight out and continued to be dry.
Tried using just bs on it and it stayed dry.
Tried straight acv, 1/2 acv and 1/8th acv. nothing helped.

With the itchiness it's my whole scalp.
I've used straight acv on my scalp and left it to sit and it's helped slightly. I also haven't used bs in a week and it's still itchy.
Cleaning the crap out of the my room, and stayed at a friends place so it's not dust-mites either.

Anyone know anything I can try to get rid of the itchiness and dryness in the back layer of my hair ?

I agree with Madame J; it's almost certainly the BS, and you need to reacidify your scalp. Honey rinses will help; honey is both acidic and a humectant, so it'll probably help both the itchiness and the dryness. Switching to oil shampoo (you can get SLS-free stuff out there) will probably help, too.

I think one thing that the No-Poo Method almost always leaves out is that, if you're washing your hair with baking soda or another high pH substance, it's a good idea to stretch washes as well. It's not usually a good idea to keep washing your hair on the same schedule as when you were using conventional 'poo, because the BS will wreak havoc on your poor scalp if you use it too often. In addition, most websites I've seen suggest BS and ACVdilutions that are actually pretty concentrated; that might be part of your problem, too. Big changes in pH aren't that good for your scalp.

If you want to keep using BS/ACV, dilute your BS to only about 1.5 tsp in 12 oz. of water, or weaker. You want to use the weakest BS solution that you can that still gets the job done. Be sure to put diluted ACV on your scalp as well as your length. And you may have to start stretching washes; start going an extra day without washing your hair, then two days, and so on, letting it get a little greasy before you wash it.

[paleogirl]

I do the same as ratgirldjh. When I oil either with VCO or EVOO and WO it won't get all the oil out in one wash. So I wear my hair up for a day or too. Then WO again and it comes out clean soft and hydrated.