my hair is taunting me

[GlassWidow]

I am starting to feel like the neediest person here on LHC. :roll: I need help again! :cry:

I've been co'ing for a while now, but find that I need to clarify about every 2 weeks. This week, my hair has been looking greasy, even after a co-wash, so I searched through the articles section for some help. I came across this article (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=44) on diagnosing hair problems. I jumped in the shower tonight and washed three times with the CO Bigelow Mentha-Mint shampoo I've been trying to finish up. I didn't condition, like the article says, and settled down to air dry. I expected that the tangles would be monstrous, but now that my hair is about 90% dry my hair is shiny, soft, and tangle free (I've only finger combed it). It's like my hair is thumbing its nose at me. My hands are bone dry from the shampoo, but not my hair...what the heck!?

The only problem spot I have is the same one I talked about in this thread. (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=68711). That hank of hair is crispy and troubled no matter what I do, so I am inclined to discount it from this experiment.

So, what on earth do I do next? As nicely written as the article is, it doesn't give a lot of direction for my particular (shocking to me) result, and I'm such a newbie, I need clear direction. :)

[gthlvrmx]

ahhhhh this makes things so much clearer!!! :) mahalo! Glad your hair is feeling happy :)

[GlassWidow]

It's not clearer to me! :lol:

I'm glad my hair is happy, too, but I can't use shampoo without conditioner all the time. :)

[Latte Lady]

You just haven't found the regime right for you yet. Takes alot of annoying frustraiting time when you want fab hair now!
Your hair builds up fast so maybe you just need a different conditioner.
You seem to have had a good reaction to a shampoo without conditioner but since you don't want to go completly without maybe you could do a weekly deep condition and skip it the rest of the time. The best of both worlds so to speak.

[MeganE]

I just checked out the article, and it looked like she did address your results:

"If your hair seems great and shiny, smooth and tangle free (lucky you but it happens), but was feeling awful before you did this, it could be one of two things. Either silicone build up or other build up, or you were just doing too much of a good thing before in your routine."

Maybe the clarifying shampoo that you're using isn't really clarifying very well?

[GlassWidow]

I don't know why I'm struggling with this so much. I'm a smart person so why can't I figure this out?! I know it's not a silicone build up, because I'm not using any, so I guess what's making me so confused is what other build up could it be? I really thought it was going to turn out that I needed a protein pack.

I'm trying NOT to use shampoo because it's so irritating to my skin...Maybe what I need is a different conditioner, something not so moisturizing? Oh yeah, and I need to drop the expectation that I will magically find the answer. :lol:

[Shorty89]

I feel you on finding a new regime. I'm doing that right now. Have you tried a vinegar rinse after you CO. That might help.

[spidermom]

You can try diluting your shampoo.

CO didn't work for me very well. Once in a while is fine, but as a regular routine, it left my hair limp and dull. I like CWC with diluted shampoo the best.

[HintOfMint]

Some conditioners build up even without silicone. There are lots of ingredients, natural or otherwise that don't rinse out very well and leave residue on your hair. When I used to CO, I used the thinnest, runniest, cheapest, clarifying conditioner on the market, and I didn't have problems with buildup at all. But I can't imagine doing CO with a thicker conditioner.

[GlassWidow]

Maybe my next step will be using the clarifying conditioner instead of the Suave Pom I've been using. I'm really hesitant on the shampoo, because my skin has been so much better since I've stopped using it.

The more I think about it, the more I'm realizing that at least now I know I'm not doing something "wrong"...I just need to continue to fine tune it. I'm glad I have you all as a resource, and to give me some perspective. Keeps me from going bald!

[Slinks]

The more I think about it, the more I'm realizing that at least now I know I'm not doing something "wrong"...I just need to continue to fine tune it. I'm glad I have you all as a resource, and to give me some perspective. Keeps me from going bald!

Yup me too ... good luck to us :-) slow and steady we'll get there

[einna]

I also think you need to try another conditioner. I tried to CO once with a moisturising conditioner (Rainforest from Body Shop). This left my hair with horrible build up, even though it is cone free.
Now I use a clarifying conditioner (Norwegian brand called Neutral), and it works much better. Today I even made a diluted SMT to wash with after a protein treatment, and that worked to. I guess basic conditioners makes great bases tfor experimenting. Good luck, and please report back when you find out what makes your hair better. :)

[Bene]

Does it fart in your general direction?


Sorry, I couldn't help myself :D

[krissykins]

The buildup you could be experiencing was probably waxy buildup--which is what you get when you don't rinse all the product out.

This might not be your fault. I rinse for like 10 minutes and then I still get waxy buildup. Then I realized that I have extremely hard water! I started doing a diluted ACV rinse and that has removed most of the product I couldn't get out alone. HTH :)

Also, you may not need such a moisturizing conditioner! I suggest picking up some V05 conditioners :D

[GlassWidow]

Does it fart in your general direction?


Sorry, I couldn't help myself :D

:rollin:

einna, I think you may be right about the moisturizing conditioner, and krissykins, I think you're on to something with the waxy build up, too. Good thinking, you guys!

So, I did the shampoo on Friday night, and then never went back to condition. Other than being a mess from not being styled before I let it air dry, my hair looked and felt great on Saturday. I rinsed but didn't wash yesterday, and it still looks great today. I think that's telling me two things - 1. I don't really need to wash every other day and 2. my conditioner is a big contributor to my problems. It seems so simple now, but I feel like it's a big breakthrough! :lol:

I need to convince myself to stop being frugal and drop the moisturizing condish in favor of the VO5 I have waiting in the wings...*gasp* before the bottle is empty! I also need to pick up some distilled water and ACV because I think there's also something to the hard water idea - I never considered that before because we have well water, but we also have really old pipes. (I just saw an offer for a rain barrel through the Audubon society...maybe I should pick one up, not for my garden, but for my hair!)

[Chiara]

Hi there, Just wanted to encourage you to keep experimenting!
My hair also gets weighed down really quickly by waxes and oils, but my skin hates detergents, they seem to dry it out very fast. So I've settled on a routine of weekly shampooing with water only or CO washes in between. I do use a bit of cone-free, leave-in conditioner after shampooing or doing a water only rinse, just from the ears down. This means that my hair looks pretty good most of the time- I still might have a greasy day by the end of the week, but it is not so bad that I feel rank!

[GlassWidow]

Thank you for the encouragement! I washed today with VO5 KLS and it's looking pretty OK - I think I'm at least back to the reasonably-happy medium that I started with. I was saying to my husband that I'm not really happy with how piecy the ends look, but I think the only thing to fix that at this point is to trim up to the next longest layer. I'm stuck, because I don't want to lose the length, but I also don't love the stringy bottom layer. So, I'll leave it be for now - I learned my lesson! :)

[Anje]

Hope the VO5 works for you. You might even be able to get away with diluting it. Some people get waxy buildup from Suave. (I don't, but I think my hair might be rather different. Then again, all hair is different.)

What about washing with something sulfate-free? Maybe shampoo bars? They may be considerably less irritating to your skin.

[GlassWidow]

For some reason, VO5 is more of a challenge to find in my area. I seem to only see it in places that I don't shop very often, so I'll have to start taking notes about where I see it so I can remember to go back.

I have thought about sulfate free shampoos, and shampoo bars. I may explore those in the future. My main reason for not going that route yet is that it requires planning, and this Spring my life has been so chaotic that planning hasn't been my forte. :lol: