please answer some questions for me...

[bella77]

I am still trying to figure this out for myself. Out of curiosity would you please share..
what would you say is your hair type- soft and silky, frizz prone, coarse and thick, curly- other

and do you use cone free products or not and why?

I am trying to see if certain types of hair prefer cones and others do not. Even though my hair behaves better without cones, more wave and volume, it is frizzy, so I am wondering if fine hair types do better with cones since they are prone to frizz and flyaway hair. I do hope this makes sense:confused:

My daughter never heat styles her hair, washes and goes! Her hair should be in optimum shape right, well, it is frizzy and looks horrible most of the time. I think I am just doomed with a certain texture of hair as is DD, while some people with smooth, silky hair do not have these problems, except usually they also have thick hair and their hair is heavy therefore "lies down" more. Help me out!!

[bunzfan]

I am one that has wavy/frizzy hair and since i stopped using cones my hair is 95% better i also CO wash either daily or every other day, i used to shampoo but i found on the days that i used shampoo my hair would feel very dry and frizzy so i recently gave it up.

[erialc]

My hair is thin and fine, wavy, occasionally a bit curly, and all my life it's been frizzy and horrible. Until I stopped using cones and sulphates. It still tends to be a bit... uhm whispy? but it's nowhere near the frizz I had to deal with when I used schampoo.

[pepperminttea]

Stravy, fine-ish, thick end of average.

My hair likes a little bit of 'cone. If I use 'cone-y S/C, I get build-up incredibly quickly, and my ends dry out to the point of splitting. Completely 'cone-free, and I get damage from detangling. What works best for me at the moment is 'cone-free S/C, and then a bit of 'cone-y leave-in on damp hair. Just enough for some slip to help with detangling. :)

[Speckla]

Dietary intake has a lot to do with the health and appearance of hair and also how the hair is handled when wet. Brushing and combing wet hair can causes damage and breakage because most people's hair is most fragile when wet. Does she use any conditioners? A good leave-in can also help hair.

[lapushka]

The key, well for me, is to find something that moisturizes my F, wavy, hair enough but isn't too moisturizing to weigh it down, which is *damn* hard! For me Inecto's cocos conditioner works wonders. I have a perm right now, and need loads more moisture than before (dry, tangly mess) and so it's heavy conditioners (Garnier triple nutrition) and lots of heavy cone stuff right now, but once the perm's finally grown out, it's back to no cone stuff.

[spidermom]

My hair is a crazy, mixed up mess of textures and levels of straight/wavy/curly. Left to its own devices, it goes all bushy and resembles a cloud more than hair. So I have to weigh it down. Right now my basic routine is a pre-wash coconut oiling, CWC with diluted shampoo, and leave some of the conditioner in. I use CHI silk infusion once per week to every two weeks but otherwise avoid cones in shampoo and conditioner. I want to control exactly how much and where cones go in my hair. I most often comb/brush before washing it, and leave it alone while it's drying. I comb again after it's dry and I'm ready to put it up or braid it. Then I break out the aloe vera or styling gel/creme to tame the frizzies that result from combing it. It remains relatively non-frizzy as long as I avoid combing it.

[elbow chic]

Mine is really fine too, and prone to flyaways and a good bit of frizz.

I have been experimenting with a cone-free routine, and I actually like what it does for my waves and the overall feel of the hair... but you are right, the cones DO help weigh it down and make it look "presentable."

Without cones, my hair is HUGE! It all stands up and waves around. It has a ton of personality and to me it is beautiful in its own way.

With cones, though, it's more conventionally attractive.

Bottom line: I like the state of my hair in both its coned and un-coned states, though they are surprisingly different from each other.

If I were wearing my hair down a lot (...or at all!) I would probably lean towards using more cones, in the interest of not making small children point.

My hair air-dried and un-coned is astonishingly HUGE. And frizzy. But interesting!

Maybe TOO interesting for the masses to comprehend. ;)

[IcarusBride]

My hair is very very thin and fine, strait and dry. It doesn't frizz or fly away really (I use a lot of coconut oil and conditioner).

[growingpains]

OP, I have a similar hair type to you! Perhaps slightly thicker though in texture and amount.

I find that alternating cone free s/c and co works well for me. My hair needs lots of moisture and oil so I only get it wet every four days or so. On those days I alternate the s/c and co. I can't co all the time simply cause it's too greasy for me then and no matter what conditioner I use, how much I use, or how long I leave it and scrub it doesn't cut the grease.

I also oil. This helps enormously. Every second wash I do a 24 hour pre wash soak in olive oil. This thick oil is great for my fine hair with damaged ends and tendency to frizz. Also, after I shower I oil lightly with argan oil when damp.

I should also note that the number one thing I do to let my hair dry nicely is NOT touch it AT ALL while air drying aside from smoothing oil on the ends. I don't finger comb or wide tooth comb until dry. Once dry I then finger comb and/or wide tooth comb and if need be smooth a tiny bit more argan oil on there.

I get gorgeous, sleek waves this way that last for three days and I love it:) On the fourth dy though, it looks greasy as all heck, so I take the opportunity to do some moisturizing or oiling and put it up in a french braid that I tuck under my hair or bun.

ETA: I don't brush my hair and always comb instead, unless my hair is greasy, then I use a BBB to distribute oils. this helps. ALSO, when rinsing out conditioner in the shower I turn down the temperature to luke warm (colder if I can stand it) and this helps lay the cuticle flatter:)

[jaine]

My hair is fine and prone to dryness. It feels very unhealthy when I'm using cones - maybe because I have to use harsher shampoos to get the cones out and that dries out my already-dry hair even further. Without cones I can get it to a point where it feels moisturized and soft and silky because I'm not over-shampooing it and I can do CO-washing or decyl polyglucose types of shampoo instead of SLS or coco betaine.

[liseling]

I have curly hair, on the fine side of medium.
It is very prone to frizz, but I've managed to control most of it through a combination of choosing the right products and learning techniques for handling my hair during showering and styling.

How I actually handle my hair has as much, if not more, to do with how much frizz I end up with that day as the products.

I dont ever use cones anymore, and I hardly ever shampoo - perhaps twice or 3 times a year depending on whether it's gotten actually dirty or something. Even then I only use it on my scalp and then just rinse it out. Even after one of these shampoos my hair takes days of CO washing and my normal routine for it to recover and become less frizzy and fly-away.

So in my opinion if you want to try to reduce the frizzies and fly-aways a good start would be to look into CO washing, as far as products go.

As far as handling techniques go, I style my hair when it is still very wet, squeeze the water out with just my fingers and a smooth microfiber towel, then leave it alone as much as I can without touching it. This is because I want my hair to dry in non-frizzy curls, but I'm not sure whether you would want to do the same thing, as that all depends on what your goals are as far as whether you want to keep your texture or smooth it out. But in my personal experience with my hair, the more you allow it to move around while it's drying the more frizzy it will be.

PS I've noticed that a lot of people use cones to weigh their hair down. I also need to weigh my hair down with conditioner - I use A LOT of conditioner in my hair, and dont rinse it out when I get out of the shower. But I use non-cone conditioners. Cones often cause more frizz in my hair because shampooing is required to remove the buildup, and this buildup itself can make my hair look rough and frizzy.
you can definitely find non-cone conditioners that are heavy enough to do the trick. Try the Whole Foods brand ("365") lavender one. No cones, but nice and heavy and moisturizing.

[bella77]

I have a feeling that my hair has been damaged in the past from improper elastic band use from ponytails and horrible heat styling- round brush while blowdrying and curling irons. Even though I tried to protect it, it seems like the bottom half of my hair is frizzier than the new growth. I do use conditioner, almost daily. I co wash most days and only shampoo using the cwc method when I do shampoo. I use shampoo bars just on the scalp area. I have tried acv rinses and chamomile tea rinses. I do love my cassia, but I find I want to do it all the time because it always looks so much nicer after I have used it. I am trying to space it out to once every week and a half or so. My new growth seems less frizzy and is definately smoother in feel and appearance and I am slowly growing out my layers that are basically just at the bottom 4 inches or so of my hair. It just seems like no matter what I do my hair does not look nice down, well right after I comb it, but then 5 minutes later it's a tangled, frizzy mess.:(

[jojo]

My individual hair strands are baby fine but my overall volume is thick and my texture is wavy. All wavy/curly hair is prone to frizz but after a month non-cone my hair is behaving more.

I am not really that particular whether I use cones or not but after this month I am finding my hair doesn't feel as weighed down with cone-less conditioner and I can stretch my washes more. However, I also use a BBB twice a day this has also got rid of frizz and helped with distributing the sebum from my roots to the ends of my hair.

[Anje]

My hair's pretty fine, frizz-prone, and hates proteins passionately. We're about the same hairtype.

I may be strange in this, but I find that about 2-3 days after using silicones, my ends get horribly dry. They start to tangle worse because my hair gets a bit kinked when dry and loses its slip, even beyond what the cones can compensate for.

CO washing is what works best for my hair. Shampoo makes it frizz a lot more, and repeated shampoo use speeds the time til my scalp gets greasy (and of course, cones make me need to shampoo, so they feed back into my shampoo issues in addition to causing their own).

I've done a deep moisture treatment in the last few days, and my hair is behaving the way other people describe their hair with silicones right now. It's smooth, non-tangly, and has enough slip that it's not staying in braids very well. Moisture seems to be my anti-frizz solution.

[RitaPG]

I'd say my hair type is soft and silky, not very prone to friss but VERY prone to tangles.

Usually, I use cone-free products. But it's for personal reasons. Silicone based conditioners give my hair a plastic shine. Also, silicone free products make my hair softer and fluffy.

Sometimes I'll use a silicone conditioner as if it was a leave in serum, just on the last inches, to help detangle and prevent it from getting more tangles. I find this very helpful on windy days.

Nobody is "doomed", I think your daughter just needs a leave-in conditioner, that's usually enough to keep the length shiny and the frizz away :)

[Theobroma]

Curly here, medium texture, and my hair HATES cones. I have some frizz issues but they respond well to lots and lots of moisture -- rich conditioners, leave-ins, aloe vera gel, and coconut oil. I do a light coconut oiling about every other day and it really works wonders.

Also, no SLS, ever. Dries out my hair something horrible and the frizz just explodes!

[MsBubbles]

Straight, fine hair here. My ends are bleached/highlighted and they behave vastly different to my virgin hair further up. My point is, the altered and damaged parts are harder to keep happy.

So straight + fine = happy with cones but ultimately ends up like straw after 2 weeks (remedied with clarifying + SMT).

Straight + fine = an absolute disaster without cones, resulting in tangles, damage and hair loss due to uncombability.

However, I have a sneaking suspicion that once my virgin color is all the way grown out, I should be able to go cone free because I will have healthier hair cuticles.

[ladyfey]

My hair is stick straight, slippery and fairly fine. Tends to be oily and is prone to tangles. I do fine with or without cones. I prefer going without just because my hair seems to dry a bit faster. I love Chagrin Valley's shampoo bars and do just fine with Suave conditioner.

[bella77]

also wondering what type of towels do you use, and does a microfiber towel really make a difference?

[selderon]

I am still trying to figure this out for myself. Out of curiosity would you please share..
what would you say is your hair type- soft and silky, frizz prone, coarse and thick, curly- other

and do you use cone free products or not and why?


My hair is mostly straight (1b, I think), on the coarse side of medium, thick.

If I shampoo and condition with coney products, I get good shine and less frizz than without coney products, but it's not real smooth unless it is heat dried. There's bounce and volume. It's moderately slippery.

If I oil, shampoo and condition with coney products and air dry, I get insane shine, silky softness and no frizz whatever. There's plenty of bounce and volume and it's very slippery.

[Carolyn]

My hair is on the finer side with a slight wave underneath and an almost straight canopy. I use some cone products but mostly not. Cone products don't bother me or concern me. I'm kind of meh on them. I use the CHI serum once in a while that Spidermom mentioned. I've found that using cone products leads to hair lint. It's not a big deal and I'm sure I'm the only who who knows it's there. I think the cones attract household dust and lint. I rarely if ever dust so there ya go. I've never had a frizz problem except years ago when I've had perms. My hair has always "flopped" in warm, humid weather. I think I lucked out there. I've found my hair needs moisture and a little protein once in a while. It needs to get wet every 2-3 days or the ends are dry dry dry. Extended scalp washing only is a disaster for me. I mainly use heavier moisturizing conditioners, roots to tips. I comb with a wide tooth comb when wet. Letting it dry before combing out didn't work. I tried it as part of the shampoil failure. My hair can be carefully combed with a wide tooth comb when wet with no breakage or damage. My favorite hair towel is a $2 bath towel from K Mart. It's absorbent and doesn't get too heavy. It also wraps around my head nicely. The microfiber towels have been OK but I prefer the all cotton ones.

[Lianna]

Completely 'cone-free, and I get damage from detangling.

This is a great point a lot of people overlook.

My hair is somewhat fine, and "wurly". It's naturally frizzy, since my virgin heatless days (I dye now). Cones don't help with my frizz, I could go either way with conditioner...what helps with frizz is damp oiling.

[|Xei]

My hair is 1C, so mostly straight but with some wave bumps and some pieces that almost go into spirals. It's really soft, fine, and almost silky (my hair tends to be a little sticky). I'm fairly frizz-prone, but I do chemically dye my hair, so that might play a small part. I have many layers as well.

Most of my products are cone-free (my shampoo has a couple of cones 20 or so ingredients down the list). I went cone-free because I felt like the cones were sealing up my hair and not allowing it to absorb moisture. The cones themselves didn't moisturize my hair either, so my length and ends were always dry. After going cone-free, moisturizing treatments actually had a lasting effect on my hair, and my hair wasn't dry anymore. It became softer, and less frizzy as well (probably due to the higher moisture level).

I use a cone-free leave-in and I oil with camellia oil when my hair is 95-100% dry.

[Delila]

My hair's fine and wavy, with almost nothing in the way of natural body.

Mostly I scalp wash with shampoo, and only condition the length.

Frizz-wise, I get better results if I take the time while drying to a) smooth the canopy and b) use a bit of styling product pretty much throughout. Drying process for the final stage is crucial. (though to be honest, most days I don't obsess about frizz/wayward wurls.)

Too much product and/or too much conditioner can easily weigh down my hair.

[Slinks]

my hair is very thin .. I tried no cones and my hair dried out on the ends, that said I use Root Awakening the poo is no cones and the condish has 1 cone, the leave in 2 .. that I can see .. I use evoo and coconut oil too ..

[Firefly]

My hair is soft and wavy, but prone to frizz. What seems to work the best for me is prewash oiling and CO washes. I do find I'll need to use a gentle shampoo every 4-5 washings though. Recently I experimented with diluted shampoo and was very happy with the results.

Also, for me, silicone helps with shine but NOT so much for frizz. For that reason I use silicone products sparingly and not often. If I want to keep the frizz at bay, I need to moisturize with CO or diluted shampoo.

ETA: I'm one of those weirdos that really dislike my turbie twist (microfiber towel)! I feel like it soaks the moisture out of my hair too quickly, leaving it dry/frizzy looking. I like the moisture to be on my hair as long as possible. YMMV...

[caiti42]

Stravy, fine-ish, thick end of average.

My hair likes a little bit of 'cone. If I use 'cone-y S/C, I get build-up incredibly quickly, and my ends dry out to the point of splitting. Completely 'cone-free, and I get damage from detangling. What works best for me at the moment is 'cone-free S/C, and then a bit of 'cone-y leave-in on damp hair. Just enough for some slip to help with detangling. :)



That's exactly the same as what works for me. Cone free shampoo and conditioner then cone leave ins.

I used to have horrible frizz and puffiness but doing it this way that's completely changed. I do however need to clarify my hair now which I have never done in the past because I switched from S lauryl to S laureth.

OP do you have split ends? My hair won't sit nicely at all if I have split ends - including the layers. Just a thought?

[Firefox7275]

My wurly hair is soft but damaged mechanically and, to a lesser extent, chemically. Spent years battling fluff/ poof with sulphates and cones, then found LHC and NC.com! Going cone-free and sulphate-free calmed my hair overnight, I went back for one wash because I (semi) coloured my hair and lo the static/ frizz was back with a vengeance. I don't think cones are the devil's work, just that they were not giving me the hair of my dreams! I suspect the product-related issues are more due to sulphates than cones.

Switching to wide tooth combing when wet and no touching during or after air drying has also made a huge difference. Currently CO-washing with Inecto Coconut and using Fructis Triple Nutrition as a leave-in, it's early days but I find it helpful having oils in a format that is easy to distribute.

[Fairlight63]

I tried the no cones & that didn't work on my hair. My hair has some coloring on it left over from my coloring days, that may be what is causing the tangles. If I don't use cones I can not detangle it at all. I feel like the no cones also dried out my hair. My hair likes Pantene s/c best of all. It feels like healthy hair & not straw.

[racrane]

Well, I still am only going 2 weeks without cones, but I can't believe how healthy it looks already. My hair is very frizzy with cones, and fine and dry on the bottom part and prone to greasiness on my scalp. Anyway, for some reason, my hair loves no cones. I have noticed, however, that I towel-dried today and it made my hair super frizzy. If I don't touch my wet hair, it looks nice. I hope you find what works for your hair!