TERRIBLE hair! Help please?!?!

[ChristineB]

Hey everyone! I need a few tips. My hair used to be very healthy and luscious-looking, but lately (I'd say over the past 2 years or so) it's been looking terrible! I went through a phase where I was straightening my hair, but that only lasted a couple of months and I didn't straighten it EVERY day.

Right now, my hair is very dry, dull-looking, and frizzy-ish. The only time it ever starts looking nice is if I don't wash it at all for days. But then it starts getting greasy on top of my head, and that's nasty!!

If someone could please help me with some tips it'd be very appreciated! I'm so frustrated with it right now I just feel like chopping it all off!! :(

[FluffSpider]

Well, given that your natural sebum makes your hair look good, and you have heat-damaged it before, I would say moisture is your best bet. You can use oils on your hair from the ears down, You can get warm/hot oil treatments, you can do an SMT, and look into CO washing or C-COW-C. Just my two cents
I don't know how your hair would react to protein treatments. If you feed your hair protein and it doesn't need it, it'll become dry and stringy and bleh. If you over-moisturize you may leave it yet again soft and 'dead'... but by the looks of it, you need moisture. perhaps experiment with a light protein mask, see how your hair takes to it?

[Allar]

What you describe seem to be the sympthoms of heat straightened hair, maybe they have been damaged by the procedure even if you didn't do it that often.
I think that oiling is a good way to try, especially with coconut oil that can actually be absorbed by the hair shaft and to some extent help fix the damage, or at least make it appear less serious. It could also weight your hair down and prevent frizz and flyaway hair. Maybe apply it just on the ends if it feels greasy on your scalp.

Trying CO or other gentle ways of washing hair could definitely help, and even deep conditioning, oiling or protein treatment, but you need to experiment and find what works for you without being discouraged if you at first don't get optimal results.

Trimming some inches could help if your hair are very damaged by heat, but I'd trim little by little and wait to see if you can recover hair health with other methods first.
The only thing not to do is to suddently chop your hair, at least wait two or three weeks and see if by then you will still be willing to chop, and in the meanwhile try everything to make it better.

Resolution is your stronger weapon, settling on the journey to healtier hair is the most important step, after this I'm sure you will get even stronger and nicer hair than before :)

[Panth]

Also, check out the articles section (see the tabs at the top of the LHC page). There are articles about advice for newbies, diagnosing if your hair needs protein or moisture, various washing methods, numerous protective hairstyles for all lengths, etc., etc. It really is a gold mine of information.

One thing I can suggest: clarify. Build-up causes lots of problems with hair and most people get it at some point or another. There are various methods for clarifying (i.e. removing build-up) but one of the easiest is to buy a clarifying shampoo (it should say clarifying on it and the shampoo itself should be clear, not pearlescent or creamy-looking). Wash your whole head of hair (scalp and length) twice with this. Don't put anything else on afterwards, just let it dry (preferably air-dry). You can then assess if this improved anything. If your hair is dry and unmanageable when dry you can then go back in the shower and add conditioner or whatever - but you want to see the effect of the clarifying alone first.

If you use shampoos, conditioners or other products that build-up you will have to do a clarifying wash every once in a while (maybe every month? - you be the judge). Don't use them too often, though, as they are (by necessity) quite harsh and over-use can be damaging.

Also, if you have hard water (e.g. you get limescale in the kettle) you may need a chelating shampoo (which is not the same as a clarifying shampoo). This will remove the salts and metal ions from your hair, which can also cause dryness, tangles and general unmanageable-ness.

[Firefox7275]

Welcome! :) I am going to suggest you read up on Ktani's Movie Star Method AKA coconut oil shampoo. Coconut oil can apparently penetrate and strengthen the hair better than any other oil. Another way to get oils into/ onto the hair would be a conditioner like Fructis Triple Nutrition, this could either follow a sulphate-free shampoo or a conditioner-only wash, as dry or damaged hair can find SLS in normal shampoo quite harsh.

Having said that, there is so much information on LHC if you can spare the time I can recommend spending a few weeks reading around the Articles/ Reviews/ Mane board and so on. A good place to start is Ursula's Standard Newbie Advice which is linked to from a sticky on the 'New Start Here' board. Last thought is to ask whether you are completely confident you only have a 1b/c wave? It is amazing how many wavies and wurlies do not realise how curly their hair can be, because they spend so much time brushing and heat styling it straight. To test you would to do a clarifying wash, then no conditioner, no comb, no products just air dry. Post the resulting photo on one of the Wavy or Curly threads.

[ChristineB]

Thanks very much for all the tips!! I appreciate it!