What can I try?

[Cinnamoon]

I'm running out of ideas. (Actually, I had very few ideas to start with... but still. I'm out.)

I'm not very happy with my hair right now. The top is always greasy, but the ends are dry and poky. The whole thing doesn't have a nice texture - it feels kind of rough - and it isn't very shiny. It doesn't really swing at all, and moves in one big clump.
I'd like to have hair that is soft and shiny, and that sort of flows. I can't think of another way to describe it.

Right now, I shampoo and condition every three days or so (my hair gets super greasy otherwise), shampooing just the roots and conditioning everything. I oil occasionally with olive oil, which doesn't seem to help very much, and comb with a wide toothed comb. I've only heat styled my hair once or twice in my entire life, and the last time was several years ago. I've never dyed it or had any chemical processes done, and I so I don't think it's damaged.

Any advice you could give would be very helpful.

[krissykins]

What have you tried so far?

[spidermom]

I find that shine is a matter of putting some light on the hair. Photograph my hair in the sunshine, and you need sunglasses. Photograph it on a cloudy day, and it looks dull. Get some photos with the sun shining on your hair; chances are you'll see a lot of shine. I'm sure you will because I just looked at your pictures. To shine, hair has to be reflecting something. It isn't fiberoptics with inner light..

To have the appearance of flow, hair has to be cut properly. My stylist has mine cut in a U-shape with long layers; that's what gives it the appearance of flow. Blunt-cut hair tends to appear rather abrupt and move in a clump.

[Cinnamoon]

Like I said, I didn't have very many ideas to start with. :D All I've tried are the things that I've added to my routine - oiling, and conditioning the roots. They both helped a little bit, but not very much. I'm having trouble thinking of anything else that might help.

[Jenn of Pence]

Sometimes dry ends can be caused by buildup, particularly proteins (as my hair is). If you haven't tried clarifying and then using some moisturizing products that are protein free, that would be my suggestion. Hopefully that will help the dry, pokey ends!

[chopandchange]

Greasy at the top, dry at the bottom, rough feeling, and no shine - that pretty much sums up my hair before I gave up shampoo.

Perhaps your hair is like mine, and it doesn't like being shampooed. Shampoo dries out all my shine and flow, and makes my hair rough like you describe.

Your hair might benefit from Conditioner-Only washing, like mine did. But, of course, it might be something entirely different causing the problem. It's just a case of trial and error until you hit on what your hair needs!

[tinywife]

It sounds like your hair is dry, but gets greasy on top fast. Mine did that too. I solved the problem by doing CWC with sulfate-free shampoo, allowing me to wash every other day (so it would be cleaner, not moving in one solid greasy mass) without drying out the ends.

[Cinnamoon]

How do you remove proteins? Is is just a clarifying shampoo, like for cones, or something else?

[Natalia]

I hate to say it becasue it sounds so much like the answers i got when i started here but experimentation is key. I know its fustrating to hear so i'll try to elaborate. In my experiance when i started i had fairly damaged hair, less than the average female but i stil had dyed my hair many times and heat styled on occasion. What gave me a good head start in acheiving a better testure was to SMT regularly like once a week or at least every other paired with COing. I S&Ced first to get all the gunk out of my hair then started with what i mentioned. After a while CO was to high maitenance for me so i started dabbling in this and that then got sidetracked (read indian herb washing lol) ended up landing on a mostly WO routine. That works pretty well for me now so i dont dabble much.

As far as oiling its really a game of chance, you can get a better idea of what might work for you if you learn to read the hairtyping under people avie's and see what they use. What works can also change based on your rotine when i was S&C everyday i could get away with jojoba, when i was CO coconut, grapeseed, or olive worked well. Now that im WO cocoa or shea butter work best and sometimes i can get away with grapeseed. Its anoying but there is a quick fix perfect routine i think the closest you can get is to try several types of DT's and keep yor hair up to prevent the mechanical damage. Other than that just be gentle with it :).

Sorry about the many rambles, your post mademe nostalgic about when i was first here. I still get that feeling when i venture into something new and i know i find it more helpful to hear someones personal experiance than for them to say "experiment" and leave it at that. Hope you find something that works :)

Natalia