Hair twin, are you out there? 1b/F/i oily scalp/dry ends, damaged, dry climate

[sweet&sourkiwi]

Hello! I am looking for my hair twin! I am picturing us celebrating our hair victories and mourning our bad hair days together, or maybe even some more experienced longhair taking me under her wing and imparting hair care secrets! I'm in the middle of a bit of a hair disaster and moral support would be lovely.

Now, twin. A twin must be more than just another 1/F/i! In fact, some other factors are probably even a little more important! Preferably, you live in a dry climate, because that changes how a lot of hair care works! Maybe you have hard water, like me. Even better if you've worked/are working through damage (mine is almost all mechanical (hairfryer, rough brushing, no flat iron, really, but occassional heat curl), although I am growing out some chemical highlights. I'm looking for someone who like me, gets a greasy scalp by day 3, but your ends stay parched as ever (or they did before you figured out some miracle product/technique/something!)

I have LOTS of breakage, LOTS of shedding, deep brunette color naturally. It goes stick straight with cones, a little smidgen wavy (really more bendy) without. Its never super voluminous, I could double my amount of hair and still look perfectly normal!

I am still trying to figure out what my hair likes and does not like! I will say it detangles more easily on cones, but also looks pretty flat. I think it prefers proteiny things. I've tried oils, acidic rinses, movie star method and CO but have yet to find my new fave routine. (CO leaves my hair pretty flat, movie star is really hard to strike the right balance between oily and staticky).

Length is not super important, but for what it's worth I'm just now between APL and BSL.

Anyway...hair twin? Are you out there? I know there are a lot of fine and straights but I'm just wondering if I have a true twin! Maybe we're even...triplets!

[Barniie]

I have a very similar hair type, with maybe a little more wave and thickness. I live in australia. Australia = very dry climate. My hair likes cones (cone free shampoo + condish, coney serum!) It needs clarifying pretty often but monstly just practice damp bunning and thats what my hair likes. :)

Edit: Cones make my hair feel very thin and flat, but alot softer and less tangly. cone free = bush!

[Laurenji]

I'm in Utah, so the dry climate, although my hair is much thicker than yours.

My hair has a love/hate relationship with cones--it makes my hair shiny and not static-y, but it gets greasy and stringy looking a lot quicker.

My hair loves alternating between CO washes and S&C washes. I think the softest my hair ever was was when I was CO washing with the old Kirkland (Costco) brand conditioner (before they changed their formula), followed by ACV rinse and a little bit of coconut oil. Since Costco changed their conditioner formula, I haven't been able to find another conditioner that works quite as well. Currently I'm using Suave Lavender, although it's not my favorite ever. I'm going to try shopping around and seeing what works. I will say that CO only does a stellar job with the right conditioner. I don't know if I'll ever find the perfect one again.

Movie Star always leaves my hair super-soft, but icky greasy looking.

[sweet&sourkiwi]

Hi Barniie!! Nice to meet you. :) And thank you for answering!

I too developed a cotton-candy head after no-cones! But I'm now remembering...after experimenting with some cones the last two washes...they do make everything flatter. :( So we're the same there!

I damp bun too while I'm drying, usually switching it around as it's drying so it has a little volume but not too "molded" from the bun.

I looked at your info, and I'm an every other day washer too! What have you been using for your products? What's your deep treatment? Sorry to bombard you with questions, but you know. That's what the board is for! I'm not going to even say what I'm using, though, because it is currently NOT WORKING!

Anyway...good on ya! Don't they say that there?

[sweet&sourkiwi]

I'm in Utah, so the dry climate, although my hair is much thicker than yours.

My hair has a love/hate relationship with cones--it makes my hair shiny and not static-y, but it gets greasy and stringy looking a lot quicker.

My hair loves alternating between CO washes and S&C washes. I think the softest my hair ever was was when I was CO washing with the old Kirkland (Costco) brand conditioner (before they changed their formula), followed by ACV rinse and a little bit of coconut oil. Since Costco changed their conditioner formula, I haven't been able to find another conditioner that works quite as well. Currently I'm using Suave Lavender, although it's not my favorite ever. I'm going to try shopping around and seeing what works. I will say that CO only does a stellar job with the right conditioner. I don't know if I'll ever find the perfect one again.

Movie Star always leaves my hair super-soft, but icky greasy looking.

Hi Laurenji! :) Beautiful hair! You have probably 3x as much as me though, looking at your photo! Yes to the love/hate with cones! I don't actually get greasy (at least not til day 2) but I do get limp and blah. I found on CO my hair laid very close to my scalp which was almost as bad-looking on me!

I hope your dream conditioner returns! I had okay luck with the VO5s, especially the Blackberry Sage, but that was while I was on travel to an area with soft water. (It made a pretty huge difference, CO was working for me there!) I just ordered a hard water filter, so my water may not be soft, but it will be less frightening soon!

I do seem to break a lot more hair CO-ing for some reason, maybe because there isn't any sudsing action...my hair is extremely fragile and brittle right now.

I can't tell if ACV does anything on my hair! And I thought I liked coconut oil but it may have built up on me from ears down, since I don't usually wash that. I never could get Movie Star right (after the first try, which went awesome), either I was a total greaseball or a static head. I really wanted to love it, but it wasn't happening.

Anyway, thank you so much for comparing notes!

[skyblue]

My hair is like yours but I live in a moister area with hard water, how ever the winter dries my hair like crazy! My hair breaks easily as well, coconut oil is ok on my hair but I noticed my ends get crunchy, so I'm trying EVO oil and it seems better, I have noticed that using the aloe in my SMT's does give me some volume which is great! Also I'm doing and over night caster oil treatment the night before a wash to try and grow more hair! lol it's only been about a month, so far I can't tell if its working
I'm new here and still trying to figure out what my hair likes, I have used cones and non-cone products but so far it doesn't seem that my hair reacts differently to either one...weird

[chrissy-b]

1b/F/i/ii here! :waving:

Preferably, you live in a dry climate, because that changes how a lot of hair care works! Maybe you have hard water, like me. I have hard water, but I live in a hot, humid climate.

Even better if you've worked/are working through damage (mine is almost all mechanical (hairfryer, rough brushing, no flat iron, really, but occassional heat curl), although I am growing out some chemical highlights. My damage is mostly from chemical dye. Only about three inches of my hair is healthy, and I am almost at waist.

I'm looking for someone who like me, gets a greasy scalp by day 3, but your ends stay parched as ever (or they did before you figured out some miracle product/technique/something!) This was me until I started using AO's Calagula Fern Shampoo and equal parts of conditioner and oil on my ends as a leave-in. I find that mixing the conditioner and oil together before I apply keeps my hair from looking oily and keeps my ends softer than with just straight oil or cones. I shampoo 2x a week, and sometimes less than that. Before I found this routine, I had to wash every other day. Also, I rarely brush my hair, which has also cut down on the oily scalp.

I have LOTS of breakage, LOTS of shedding, deep brunette color naturally. I don't have much breakage but yes on shedding and color too!

It goes stick straight with cones, a little smidgen wavy (really more bendy) without. Its never super voluminous, I could double my amount of hair and still look perfectly normal! Yes, yes, yes.

I am still trying to figure out what my hair likes and does not like! I will say it detangles more easily on cones, but also looks pretty flat.
I think it prefers proteiny things. My hair too likes a little protein, but I think that's mainly for the damage. My hair detangles more easily with cones when it is wet, but once it is dry, it tangles MORE than without cones. I still use cones on occasion, mainly because I'm trying to use up my stash.

[vanillabones]

I think I am actually a 1b, or at least will be once my hair is longer (I'm stuck at neck from cutting out damage constantly) :( Other than that we would be hair twins as my hair is damaged, super greasy roots and dry ends :)
I use oil on my ends, wet & dry it's lovely and my hair likes protein packs. I don't CO because it leaves my hair much too flat as well with such little thickness to begin with. I like CWC and I love cones with the damage, I tried no cones and my hair went crunchy and split after a week! I do notttt suggest if you have bleached your hair!

If it weren't for the fact that I pretty much have no hair right now we'd be hair twinies :)

[sweet&sourkiwi]

My hair is like yours but I live in a moister area with hard water, how ever the winter dries my hair like crazy! My hair breaks easily as well, coconut oil is ok on my hair but I noticed my ends get crunchy, so I'm trying EVO oil and it seems better, I have noticed that using the aloe in my SMT's does give me some volume which is great! Also I'm doing and over night caster oil treatment the night before a wash to try and grow more hair! lol it's only been about a month, so far I can't tell if its working
I'm new here and still trying to figure out what my hair likes, I have used cones and non-cone products but so far it doesn't seem that my hair reacts differently to either one...weird

Hi Skyblue! :) Thanks for writing...I looked at your picture and your hair texture looks a lot like mine, from what I can tell! I haven't tried EVOO yet but probably should, the kind I have now smells very strong though.

I had to give up the SMTs, they weren't doing anything for me and I think now I realize that's because honey and aloe are humectants, and my conditioner was full of them, so in this dry climate the moisture was getting attracted OUT!

I'm still trying to figure out what works too, thanks for the thoughts!

[sweet&sourkiwi]

1b/F/i/ii here! :waving:

I'm looking for someone who like me, gets a greasy scalp by day 3, but your ends stay parched as ever (or they did before you figured out some miracle product/technique/something!) This was me until I started using AO's Calagula Fern Shampoo and equal parts of conditioner and oil on my ends as a leave-in. I find that mixing the conditioner and oil together before I apply keeps my hair from looking oily and keeps my ends softer than with just straight oil or cones. I shampoo 2x a week, and sometimes less than that. Before I found this routine, I had to wash every other day. Also, I rarely brush my hair, which has also cut down on the oily scalp.

I have LOTS of breakage, LOTS of shedding, deep brunette color naturally. I don't have much breakage but yes on shedding and color too!

I am still trying to figure out what my hair likes and does not like! I will say it detangles more easily on cones, but also looks pretty flat.
I think it prefers proteiny things. My hair too likes a little protein, but I think that's mainly for the damage. My hair detangles more easily with cones when it is wet, but once it is dry, it tangles MORE than without cones. I still use cones on occasion, mainly because I'm trying to use up my stash.

Hello Chrissy B! Colbert is hilarious. :) It would not have occurred to me to mix the oil with the conditioner, I will have to try that! Do you feel the AO conditioner is a good conditioner on its own, or that it's the oil that does the trick?

As to the cones/no cones thing...I was starting to feel that too, that wet they were really helpful and then afterwards, not so much. I'm still on the fence. I wish there was a more coney non-cone substance, if that makes sense. I worry that I'm doing more damage to my hair brushing and handling it without cones, then I would be using harsher detergent to get them out...

Thanks for the ideas!

[sweet&sourkiwi]

I think I am actually a 1b, or at least will be once my hair is longer (I'm stuck at neck from cutting out damage constantly) :( Other than that we would be hair twins as my hair is damaged, super greasy roots and dry ends :)
I use oil on my ends, wet & dry it's lovely and my hair likes protein packs. I don't CO because it leaves my hair much too flat as well with such little thickness to begin with. I like CWC and I love cones with the damage, I tried no cones and my hair went crunchy and split after a week! I do notttt suggest if you have bleached your hair!

If it weren't for the fact that I pretty much have no hair right now we'd be hair twinies :)

Vanilla bones, you have hair! It takes guts to cut out the damage. I was actually dreaming about cutting out my damage last night, and I wouldn't even be as far as neck! I have pieces just a few inches long broken off :(

What oil do you use?

CO leaves my hair flatter too, which I could live with for awhile while the damage grows out but it takes me forever to do, and I just don't always have time for all that rinsing!

So I've been wondering with coney CWC...how do you keep from getting buildup on the ends? Do you use a cone-free conditioner for one step? Or just clarify sometimes? I'm not even sure I know what cone build up looks like/feels like, so I don't know if it happens after months or like, a day.

My hair is pretty split and fried after mostly no cones the past few months. It may just be too damaged by the hairdryer to hack it right now. I don't have bleach—okay, not true, I do have about 10 foil highlights I'm growing out, so I have some bleaching. I really can't tell if that hair is in a better or worse state than the virgin hair.

Are you dealing with dry climate/hard water too? I just ordered my shower filter...can't wait. :)

[vanillabones]

Vanilla bones, you have hair! It takes guts to cut out the damage. I was actually dreaming about cutting out my damage last night, and I wouldn't even be as far as neck! I have pieces just a few inches long broken off :(

What oil do you use?

CO leaves my hair flatter too, which I could live with for awhile while the damage grows out but it takes me forever to do, and I just don't always have time for all that rinsing!

So I've been wondering with coney CWC...how do you keep from getting buildup on the ends? Do you use a cone-free conditioner for one step? Or just clarify sometimes? I'm not even sure I know what cone build up looks like/feels like, so I don't know if it happens after months or like, a day.

My hair is pretty split and fried after mostly no cones the past few months. It may just be too damaged by the hairdryer to hack it right now. I don't have bleach—okay, not true, I do have about 10 foil highlights I'm growing out, so I have some bleaching. I really can't tell if that hair is in a better or worse state than the virgin hair.

Are you dealing with dry climate/hard water too? I just ordered my shower filter...can't wait. :)

I wouldn't have cut it if I didn't have to! Pretty much half of my head split, from not using cones, so I cut off all of the splits. If I knew going back to cones would have hid them again I probably wouldn't have cut all my icky ends, but I can't regret it since my hair is healthier inevitably. I haven't had long hair in so long I feel kind of depressed over it, and I have pieces at the crown only a couple inches long again :(

As for oils my favorite has been argan oil, it's not too heavy for fine thin hair and smells really nice and works well, I love it! After that I like the jojoba oil before bed. I have coconut oil but haven't tried it yet and I have rosemary oil that is nice but it's heavy and strong scented so might work better for a deep hot oil treatment.

I use an all natural shampoo and a coney conditioner so I haven't had any buildup that I know of yet. I don't really know what it would feel like to have buildup either? :( But I'm afraid to clarify with a harsh shampoo anyway since my hair gets so dry w/o cones. I do stretch washes at least a day or two and dry shampoo is perfect for the greasies.

Try to quit the blowfrier :( when I bleached my hair white there was no way I could use it anymore and I was really nervous since I couldn't remember a time when I didn't blowdry my hair. From the bleaching I did get more volume from the cuticle being fried out however.
I blowdryed for years and years but I didn't have a choice anymore and I haven't blowfried in 6 months (I do on occasion) and it really doesn't make that big of a difference in the volume of the hair just airdrying. I thought I had to use a blowdryer since my hair is so flat and thin but it wasn't helping that much aesthetically anyway and is so much healthier.

Sorry for the novel ^_^

Oh- and I live in New England so the weather is always changing but I do live in a small town with hard water but I use a water filter as well. :)

[Naphthylamine]

My hair is like you, except for the thickness and color.. and maybe a bit of length. Although I have medium thickness, I don't have much volume, so it looks thinner than it really is.

I live in a dry climate (so dry both in winter and summer that it makes people's noses bleed if they aren't used to the climate) and my hair hates moist weathers. I don't have any chemical damage; all the damage I have is mechanical from rough brushing, blow frying and rubbing hair under bags, coats etc. I'm trying to grow out that damage by protecting it by bunning frequently.

I wash my hair after day 3 or 4. Day 1 is like a dream; soft and fluffy as if I have thick hair. On day 2, it starts getting dryer in the ends, and the roots start looks as it is pressed on my head. Day 3 is pony&braid day because it gets too oily for leaving down. Day 4 is rare, but I braid&bun it to prevent me from messing with my ends -they become like straw.
I reduced it by using nightblooming's triple moon oil on the ends. And also wearing my hair up with a little oil on the ends on day 1 prevents them from getting too dry on day 3 or 4.

I've senselessly used cones my entire life before joining LHC, without noticing what it's actually doing to my hair. But my hair have always been sticking to my face back then. Now, I'm using body shop's moisture set (no cones or sulfates) but use a sulfate shampoo mixed with 1:4 (oil to shampoo) ratio of coconut oil once or twice a fortnight. So far, my scalp gets less oily when I use oil shampoo, and it makes the length soft and fluffy. I also do acidic rinses successfully (1:40 ACV to water ratio). But haven't tried CO yet.

[sweet&sourkiwi]

I wouldn't have cut it if I didn't have to! Pretty much half of my head split, from not using cones, so I cut off all of the splits. If I knew going back to cones would have hid them again I probably wouldn't have cut all my icky ends, but I can't regret it since my hair is healthier inevitably. I haven't had long hair in so long I feel kind of depressed over it, and I have pieces at the crown only a couple inches long again :(

As for oils my favorite has been argan oil, it's not too heavy for fine thin hair and smells really nice and works well, I love it! After that I like the jojoba oil before bed. I have coconut oil but haven't tried it yet and I have rosemary oil that is nice but it's heavy and strong scented so might work better for a deep hot oil treatment.

I use an all natural shampoo and a coney conditioner so I haven't had any buildup that I know of yet. I don't really know what it would feel like to have buildup either? :( But I'm afraid to clarify with a harsh shampoo anyway since my hair gets so dry w/o cones. I do stretch washes at least a day or two and dry shampoo is perfect for the greasies.

Try to quit the blowfrier :( when I bleached my hair white there was no way I could use it anymore and I was really nervous since I couldn't remember a time when I didn't blowdry my hair. From the bleaching I did get more volume from the cuticle being fried out however.
I blowdryed for years and years but I didn't have a choice anymore and I haven't blowfried in 6 months (I do on occasion) and it really doesn't make that big of a difference in the volume of the hair just airdrying. I thought I had to use a blowdryer since my hair is so flat and thin but it wasn't helping that much aesthetically anyway and is so much healthier.

Sorry for the novel ^_^

Oh- and I live in New England so the weather is always changing but I do live in a small town with hard water but I use a water filter as well. :)

Oh, I know how you feel! I once had a hairdresser tell me our hair is a very important psychological component of our identity and it's so true. It drove me nuts when I had a short cut in college and had to grow it back out.

I've only tried the fake argan oil (which is more cones than oil) so I'll have to give argan a spin! I have some jojoba but haven't figured out the best way to use it.

I have finally given up the blowdryer which has been hard...because I am a firm believer in the old wives tale that if you go outside in cold weather with wet hair you'll catch a cold. I know, no scientific evidence, but it's always happened to me! But I was surprised, the blowfryer really only adds volume for like an hour and after that, no real difference. I've fallen off the wagon a lot in the four months since I gave it up...but I've been blowdryer free for a few weeks now.

Bring on the novels! I am a little obsessed lately now that my hair is in such bad shape...funny, I never thought about it much back when it was better!

[sweet&sourkiwi]

My hair is like you, except for the thickness and color.. and maybe a bit of length. Although I have medium thickness, I don't have much volume, so it looks thinner than it really is.

I live in a dry climate (so dry both in winter and summer that it makes people's noses bleed if they aren't used to the climate) and my hair hates moist weathers. I don't have any chemical damage; all the damage I have is mechanical from rough brushing, blow frying and rubbing hair under bags, coats etc. I'm trying to grow out that damage by protecting it by bunning frequently.

I wash my hair after day 3 or 4. Day 1 is like a dream; soft and fluffy as if I have thick hair. On day 2, it starts getting dryer in the ends, and the roots start looks as it is pressed on my head. Day 3 is pony&braid day because it gets too oily for leaving down. Day 4 is rare, but I braid&bun it to prevent me from messing with my ends -they become like straw.
I reduced it by using nightblooming's triple moon oil on the ends. And also wearing my hair up with a little oil on the ends on day 1 prevents them from getting too dry on day 3 or 4.

I've senselessly used cones my entire life before joining LHC, without noticing what it's actually doing to my hair. But my hair have always been sticking to my face back then. Now, I'm using body shop's moisture set (no cones or sulfates) but use a sulfate shampoo mixed with 1:4 (oil to shampoo) ratio of coconut oil once or twice a fortnight. So far, my scalp gets less oily when I use oil shampoo, and it makes the length soft and fluffy. I also do acidic rinses successfully (1:40 ACV to water ratio). But haven't tried CO yet.

Naphthylamine, your hair looks very voluminous in your avatar! :) And compared to what I'm sporting...well, you've got a lot! Very pretty. We are def. the same on a lot of things! I think my damage is mostly mechanical too (with admittedly, some one-time highlights). The washing descent is similar for me too! Day one, fluffy, day 2, a little unruly and rougher textured, day 3, oil spill, day 4, oil emergency.

That's interesting an oil shampoo once every two weeks makes such a big difference!

I think I want to stay off cones (or maybe just do light cones) but maybe my hair is just too broken and roughed up. Careless brushing with cones (in the old days) is starting to seem comparable to gentle detangling with oils (current days) as far as breakage goes. :( I rehabbed with a protein pack yesterday but will have to decide cone or no cone soon...switching back and forth is probably confusing my hair. Argh...

Anyway, thank you for all the information!

[Laurenji]

Just wanted to say that when I was staying at my in-laws' house for a couple weeks, I didn't have any of my own shampoo or conditioner. All they had was Dove moisturizing shampoo and conditioner, which is super cone-y. I couldn't do any CO or anything, just wash w/sulfate shampoo and condition with cone-y conditioner, and I will say that my hair has not been that staticky since high school. Even at their house, which is super-humid, my hair was really dry and fly-away. As soon as I got home and was able to do my first CO, my hair really calmed back down.

So maybe, even if you don't use it for an everyday thing, maybe you could try like a once-a-week thing, whether just CO or with a little extra kick added (I'm thinking SMT), and see if that helps your hair to not be as dry at the ends?

[sweet&sourkiwi]

So maybe, even if you don't use it for an everyday thing, maybe you could try like a once-a-week thing, whether just CO or with a little extra kick added (I'm thinking SMT), and see if that helps your hair to not be as dry at the ends?

I think that really speaks to the drying power of sulfates and the coating power of cones if your hair was dry in a humid climate! It's interesting, now that I've done more gentle methods, "commercial" cheap products do seem much more harsh. Not sure if my perceptions have changed or if my hair has actually evolved!

I like the idea of a little extra TLC once a week! I've decided I tried too much too soon (diving into no cones, oilings, acv, movie star, CO, stretched washings, club soda and SMTs all within 4 months) so I'm going to establish a baseline and then add ONE change (after a chelate and clarify) every two weeks (unless my hair is REALLY hating something). So, I will put this in the rotation!

Thank you for your advice, I would love to get my hair as healthy as yours!

[Laurenji]

I've decided I tried too much too soon (diving into no cones, oilings, acv, movie star, CO, stretched washings, club soda and SMTs all within 4 months) so I'm going to establish a baseline and then add ONE change (after a chelate and clarify) every two weeks (unless my hair is REALLY hating something). So, I will put this in the rotation!



Yeah, I remember when I first got on here, I was really excited to dive into everything at once. My hair definitely started freaking out. I've since realized that hair is all about patience and taking your time, and that includes trying new things. I've noticed that my hair needs an adjustment period when trying new things, and if I try too many new things at once, then it freaks out. At least for me, I've found that it's better to add one new thing, establish a baseline again, and then maybe add one more thing.

[chrissy-b]

Do you feel the AO conditioner is a good conditioner on its own, or that it's the oil that does the trick?


Currently I'm only using AO shampoo. I think it's the combination that works. The conditioner gives it a little extra moisture, while the oil seals it in. I do this on dripping wet hair and my ends stay soft almost until the next wash (they're damaged so they dry out quick).

[sweet&sourkiwi]

Yeah, I remember when I first got on here, I was really excited to dive into everything at once. My hair definitely started freaking out. I've since realized that hair is all about patience and taking your time, and that includes trying new things. I've noticed that my hair needs an adjustment period when trying new things, and if I try too many new things at once, then it freaks out. At least for me, I've found that it's better to add one new thing, establish a baseline again, and then maybe add one more thing.

I agree and I have been learning that lesson the hard way, methinks! I joined LHC after lurking because my hair took a dramatic turn for the worse, without any dramatic change in routine for years. Now I'm still no closer to discovering what the crap is up! My guess is the effects of the climate after 5 years paired with the hard water meant that my hair was in no shape to deal with my usual harsh brushing and blowfrying. I've taken those last two out of the equation, and have ordered the filter...and as for the climate, I may just humidify my house!

Can I ask you, did you ever go through a bad patch like this with your hair? The breaking, splitting, shedding, greasiness up top and tangly dryness from ears down? If so, what do you think made the biggest difference?

Thanks Laurenji, for your help. :)

[Laurenji]

My hair got pretty bad like that after the end of high school. I responded by cutting it all off my freshman year of college. I think it was just years and years of mistreatment that did it; my family only had cheap sulfate shampoos in the house, and no conditioner to speak of, so I just washed it every day with a palmful of shampoo and no conditioner...yeah, that didn't really work out so well.

I discovered the LHC just before I started growing it out again. Thank goodness. I think the biggest difference in my hair has just been the moisture, as in, actually using conditioner. lol. :rolleyes:

You know, I've been meaning to try this, but I've heard good things about using a chelating shampoo once a month or so if you live in a hard water area. I haven't tried it myself yet, but I know that it's supposed to help remove hard water buildup, which I've heard can cause a lot of the "dry, breakage, no moisture is working for it" symptoms. It gets hair back to a more normal baseline.

Also, in your "treatment frenzy", have you been using a lot of protein treatments? Those can also make your hair dry and crunchy if you use them too much. In that case, the cure is tons and tons of moisture.

I still have days when my hair just seems really dry and fly-away and annoying. I think everyone has those days. Usually when it gets bad, I'll wet down the length a little (and maybe add a hint of coconut oil), put it in a bun, and try not to think about it for a while. Sometimes I'll leave it like that for a couple days without touching it, even. Usually it's just a bad wash cycle, and once I wash it again in a couple days, it's fine again.

[sweet&sourkiwi]

My hair got pretty bad like that after the end of high school. I responded by cutting it all off my freshman year of college. I think it was just years and years of mistreatment that did it; my family only had cheap sulfate shampoos in the house, and no conditioner to speak of, so I just washed it every day with a palmful of shampoo and no conditioner...yeah, that didn't really work out so well.

I discovered the LHC just before I started growing it out again. Thank goodness. I think the biggest difference in my hair has just been the moisture, as in, actually using conditioner. lol. :rolleyes:

You know, I've been meaning to try this, but I've heard good things about using a chelating shampoo once a month or so if you live in a hard water area. I haven't tried it myself yet, but I know that it's supposed to help remove hard water buildup, which I've heard can cause a lot of the "dry, breakage, no moisture is working for it" symptoms. It gets hair back to a more normal baseline.

Also, in your "treatment frenzy", have you been using a lot of protein treatments? Those can also make your hair dry and crunchy if you use them too much. In that case, the cure is tons and tons of moisture.

I still have days when my hair just seems really dry and fly-away and annoying. I think everyone has those days. Usually when it gets bad, I'll wet down the length a little (and maybe add a hint of coconut oil), put it in a bun, and try not to think about it for a while. Sometimes I'll leave it like that for a couple days without touching it, even. Usually it's just a bad wash cycle, and once I wash it again in a couple days, it's fine again.

Thank you for all the advice! No conditioner would have killed my hair on the first day, ack! I think I would have one big fat dreadlock by the end of the week...

I have the Joico Chelating and it IS a miracle! Unfortunately the results are best the day of washing and then dissipate over the next few washes...I think in my case because the water is SO hard. I do think that's a large part of it, but the filter gets here next week! :)

I actually have been doing a ton of moisture treatments and had cut out protein! I think the moisture treatments weren't working because they were humectant based and our dew point is LOW here...and I needed the protein. I saw some improvement with the knockoff Sally's Joico K-Pak last week, and I've realized my favorite conditioners pre-LHC and pre-hair-disaster were proteiny, so it might be something my hair is wanting!

Actually, having just fly away annoying hair for a day wouldn't be so bad! My hair is like that today but it's not looking as fried and tangly so I am stoked! I've been bunning and (trying unsuccessfully) not to think about it for months. :) But yes...not thinking so much about hair would probably be good too! I feel a bit commandeered by it lately...never gave it much of a thought back when I could take it for granted that it would look okay and with a little effort really good...but now that it's crying out for help I'm a wee bit obsessed! Not healthy, really.

But all of you other hair twins advice is really helpful...I would probably be cutting it off too if it wasn't for your good thoughts and ideas!