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ceptforever
April 10th, 2011, 05:27 AM
Hi everyone! Sorry if I'm double posting, the hair care routine thread is just sooooo long. And dont really know if it works for guy hair, and clearly dont understand some words there.

Soo I'm 16 years old, and really obsessed with skin and hair care. I'm not gay, lol! And I'm new.

I've been trying out washing my hair everyother day just yesterday, and right now its sooo greasy and itchy! Could anyone please help me with my hair routine? :(

So, my hair is short, and want to make it longer.
Its fine, VEEERY thin that you could already see the scalp under the sun.
Its naturally thin, its dark brown and straight.
Its normal, not oily or dry.
My hairstyle is kinda messy, wanna get the beach look but not blonde.
Lives in a humid hot country. :D

And my routine is:
Evening: sea salt spray
Morning: wake up and put gatsby wax, make it a tidy messy hair. lol
NEXT DAY: Shampoo with no harsh chemical shampoo. (Organic care fine fulness shampoo)


I wanna try alternating a dry conditioner and shampoo. But cant find a good dry conditioner, was thinking of buying Schwarzkopf Moisture kick dry conditioner. Any suggestions?


Some people told me not to use conditioner since it will make my hair more thin and limp. Is it true?

Thanks for helping!!! :cheese:

Yozhik
April 10th, 2011, 06:44 AM
Hi! Welcome to LHC! :flower:

How long exactly is your hair, and how long would you like it to grow? Do you have any photos of it?

As for stretching washes, it may take a while to get your hair used to it, and you may have to find different shampoos that are more scalp-friendly (such as non-SLS ones, for instance). On the other hand, there are plenty of people here who wash their hair every day, so this may be the case for you, too. :)

I didn't even know that dry conditioners existed, and I have no experience with dry shampoos, so I'll leave that question for someone else to tackle. :o

As for your routine, I also don't have that much experience with short hairstyles, so I've never really used wax. :shrug: As for sea salt spray, I believe that salt water dries out your hair, so you may want to be careful about overusing it.

Again, welcome to the forum! :D

Sorry I wasn't too much help, but hopefully some of our male members or other knowledgeable folks will drop by with more helpful advice.

ceptforever
April 10th, 2011, 07:12 AM
Thanks Yozhik!! for the warm welcome, and tips. :D
Gonna upload some photos soon, hopefully.
Hope "getting used to" isnt long enough to make my scalp sore haha.
And my hair is really short,
sides barely touching the ears.
Front bangs touching the eyebrows,
Kinda like Zac Efron hairstyle. Straight, but little shorter. :D

walterSCAN
April 10th, 2011, 07:50 AM
Hi ceptforever! :waving: Welcome to LHC!

I don't have a lot of experience with dry shampoos and conditioners (I've used cornstarch-based baby powder for dry shampoo before to relatively good effect, but that's it), so sorry, I can't be much help there either.

However, something jumped out at me as I was reading your post-- if you're using the sea salt spray (which, like Yohzik, I think would be pretty drying depending on what's in it. Sea salt/ salt on it's own is drying for me.) and the wax daily but trying to stretch washes, that is probably causing some of the itchiness you're talking about. Products building up on your scalp can be VERY itchy.

I used wax stuff (can't remember what kind) briefly to try and add texture to my hair back when my mother kept it chin length, and I remember my scalp getting itchy. That and laziness stopped me from continuing to use it. ;) So, my advice would be to try to lay off the products if you really want to stretch washes, or like Yozhik also said, maybe you don't need to stretch washes. Some people don't. :shrug: It definitely depends on what your particular goals are/ what type of routine you are ultimately looking for.

You might be able to get the same tousled, beach look out of other products that might not cause as much itching for you, like maybe coconut (or some other) oil. I know some members make a gel out of aloe vera that you might consider, but I don't have any personal experience with it. It might take a lot of thread-browsing and reading/ research on your part if you want to go that route.

I wouldn't necessarily suggest using non-SLS shampoos exclusively if you are going to keep using the wax though, as they are generally much more gentle cleansers and, in my experience, might not be able to get it all the way out of your hair.

Also, not sure whether you've seen it yet, but Ursula's Standard Newbie Advice (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=39) is a pretty good place to start for figuring out how to make changes to your routine. If you've already seen it, make sure the part you really take to heart (and hardly anyone does, although it is excellent advice, I'm guilty of it too!) is to only try one change to your routine at a time. That way you can tell better what works how with your hair.

At any rate, good luck with your hair journey, and again, WELCOME TO LHC!! :cheese:

ceptforever
April 10th, 2011, 08:55 AM
Wow thanks very much for the information WalterScan!
Why havent I seen the newbie advice at the newbie section haha.
and regarding the hair wax, I dont think i can go out of the house without putting/styling my hair with wax. Cuz my hair is sooooooo limp, flat, and see-through! I guess thats why I picked the messy hairstyle to hide my scalp.

Oh yeaaah I was also wondering about the stretch washes. If you use hair styling products, is it okay to not wash off the products daily? And just let it sit there and maybe put more the following day?

Maybe I'l try the coconut oil, just hope it wont make my hair too oily and make it fall limp. :D

Soo thanks again for the warm welcome to LHC! (Even though I dont have that "Long hair", maybe soon haha! )

:D

Yozhik
April 11th, 2011, 05:00 AM
Hey there! I'm glad I could be of some help. :)

I second walterSCAN's good advice to check out Ursula's Standard Newbie advice, and if you haven't seen it, there's a really helpful thread on a bunch of other important links, called Very Important Threads (VIT) (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=32573).

I know that some other people have used aloe vera gel (not the one to help burns -- that has other stuff in it -- but the clear, all natural stuff) as a styling aid in place of waxes and gels. It has a softer hold, but may help because it doesn't build up as much.

As for your question regarding washing out product or putting more on every day, I'm not very sure, because I don't know what they have in them (i.e. cones/other stuff) and if they cause a lot of build up. I can put oil on my hair and then add more and it'll be fine until wash day, but I think that's a bit different from reapplying styling products. :shrug:

Hopefully this post will bump the thread and you'll get some more input from others. :)

Panth
April 11th, 2011, 05:27 AM
Hello and welcome. ^_^

Can't give you that much advice about short hair, having never had it that short but I can say a couple of things.

1) Stretching washes and using non-SLS shampoo might not be an option as it may not get all the wax out - as others have said this could be the source of your itchies.

1b) If you do stretch washes, your hair/scalp may take some time to adapt. It is used to the oil being washed off daily, so produces lots of oil (sebum) to compensate for this. It will take a while to get used to the fact that the sebum stays on for more than a day and it doesn't need to make so much.

2) The salt water is likely contributing to, if not causing, the dryness - what do you actually use it for and could you swap it for something else that won't be so drying?

3) Conditioner may make your (fine, thin) hair limper ... but only if you chose a heavy conditioner that leaves lots of build-up. Don't use this as a reason not to condition. In general, most people need some form of conditioning (be that conditioner, oil, catnip/herbal rinses, whatever) once their hair is say about 5 inches+. It'll help with detangling and with shine.

Good luck!

Firefox7275
April 11th, 2011, 05:40 AM
Welcome! :) There are several possible reasons your scalp is greasy and itchy, and your age/ hormones may have something to do with it. Do you have sensitive skin on your face or elsewhere? If so your scalp problem might be that it is irritated by the sea salt spray or wax. Maybe try washing your hair at night, then applying the styling products in the morning? If you apply carefully the product won't touch the scalp as it will when you lay down each night. Also wash your pillowcases thoroughly to remove any product residue. Otherwise just switch to more gentle products; for some reason grooming products marketed to guys and teens tend to be harsh.

Another possibility is you have seborrhoeic dermatitis (greasy dandruff). You won't necessarily get flakes, just the fungus that lives on all of us overgrowing and irritating your skin. You would need a specialist shampoo for this, so best to discuss it with your doctor or a pharmacist. In both cases the skin may overproduce oils to protect itself from the irritant.

As regards your hair being thinner than you would like, is this normal for you and your family? If not it may be worth having a chat with your doctor or a pharmacist, or looking at your lifestyle (diet, exercise, smoking, alcohol, sleep) to see what improvements you can make. Many of the LHC regulars will confirm that great skin and hair start on the inside. ;)

Pierre
April 11th, 2011, 07:08 AM
Try washing with water only some of the time. That'll get sweat out but leave sebum, and you can scratch your scalp under the shower. Also try some essential oils such as tea tree and lavender on your scalp.

I've never used wax on my hair. When my hair was shorter, I wore headbands. Then I graduated to double Dutch braids; now I wear double English braids in various updos.