*whiny post* To hell with it...

[FluffSpider]

I've tried. Seriously. I've tried most things, if not everything, but my hair just won't recover.
I posted a thread a while ago about a hairspraying hair wreck, which left my hair dehydrated. It was on the road to recovery when out of the blue it started shedding-I didn't give it importance, thinking well, it's just long so it appears like more is shedding. I stretched some washes, applied black tea at the roots and it's not falling as much now(less than even normal), but it's a wreck.
Usually by airdrying I would get really sleek, soft locks. Now I get limp roots and frizzy ends which splay in every possible direction. You know the awesome way your hair looks right after you take it out of a bun? all volume-y, big curls etc... well, no more. it's LIMP, and THIN.
I've tried:clarifying with both organic and sls-based shampoo
Black tea scalp treatments
No cone
Plenty cone
Oiling(almond and evoo)
CO
CWC
C-COW-C
blowfrying
airdrying
benign neglect
SMTs(nada)

I'm giving it a month and a week. If by september 1 it doesn't look like it used to look, I'm chopping off to APL OR getting mad layers OR a sharp V-hem and getting off of the bandwagon. I've always dreamed about hiplength hair for graduation but I won't stand around with it falling off and frizzing and being unfit to wear down. I'm ok not wearing it down usually, but once a week I would like to go out and have it flow and be shiny. :(

[Nightshade]

I know you probably read it already, but have you seen the article on damaged hair in my siggy? There might be a few ideas in there that you haven't tried yet :grouphug:

[FluffSpider]

Yes...and thing is, I KNOW it isn't damaged, but I have no idea what to do with it. The past year or so I've been nothing but kind to it.
Thank you for the reply!*hugs back*

[RitaCeleste]

Well darn, I've tried EVERYTHING to get limp hair. I want to beat mine down and make it hang there limply, I seriously do. In all seriousness, its had so much done to it lately it just needs a little time to recover I'd think. Go back to your old routine for a month and see if your old hair returns. I use EVOO and Honey to make mine limper so leave off the SMTs for a bit if it is limp. Your old routine was working before so I'd start by falling back on that.

[Nightshade]

:ponder:

Do you have hard water? It might be mineral buildup. You can get these little packets of crystals at Sally's that take the minerals off. I see you're not in the states, but perhaps there's something similar on your side of the pond? :)

[FluffSpider]

I went back to it and still nothing. Going back to it was my first step. I didn't buy any radical new products, just the ones I knew were good for my hair and made it nice.
@ Nightshade: I don't have hard water at all! I need to wash my face in the summer every hour or so because it gets sebum-y( in the winter it's DRY). I just did an ACV rinse and scalp washed with baking soda and now I'm hoping and praying but by the looks of it, it's not working.

[Sundial]

I just checked out your profile to take a look at your routine to see if anything stands out. Do you think it's an issue with henna? I know some henna users say that they get rough hair from henna grit, and I wonder if that is weighing your hair down?

Another thing you may want to think about is wax buildup from honey in SMT? I remember katani mentioned that some honeys leave a waxy residue on hair. I'm not sure exactly if this washes out with regular clarifying but if it doesn't then it may explain why your hair didn't get better with clarifying?

These are just some wild guesses because I'm not sure what exactly is wrong with your routine either, but it doesn't hurt to troubleshoot all possibilities. :o I really hope you figure out what went wrong soon

[FluffSpider]

I haven't hennaed in months... Did a henna gloss a month ago, and that was all. I did a no-honey SMT, as I'm not really sure my hair likes honey(and leaning towards no...)

[ellen732]

I find my hair will hit a "phase" where it is not like it was. I don't do anything differently but it just isn't the same. It does pass in a couple of weeks. My only advice is to try benign neglect. Don't pay a lot of attention to it, don't use a lot of products, and try wearing it up for a while, this may just be a phase for you too.

[FluffSpider]

I'm hoping it's that... but I've been mixing benign neglect with TLC every time. My main routine has been trying to handle it very very little. Braid at night, bun at day, wash as little as possible and with as gentle a method as possible, oil thoroughly and detangle gently.
It's why I'm giving it until September. If not, I'll do something very stupid I WILL regret, but at least I'll know it's my last resort...

[ellen732]

I'm hoping it's that... but I've been mixing benign neglect with TLC every time. My main routine has been trying to handle it very very little. Braid at night, bun at day, wash as little as possible and with as gentle a method as possible, oil thoroughly and detangle gently.
It's why I'm giving it until September. If not, I'll do something very stupid I WILL regret, but at least I'll know it's my last resort...

Sometimes during this bad hair phase I go through, I even go back to regular shampoo. Maybe try a tea rinse too.

[kidari]

I'm so sorry you're going through this but if anything I am super jealous that you have waist length hair OMG. Sometimes out of the blue our skin can act up and same thing happens with our hair. The more you do to it the more frustrated you get and you end up irritating your skin and you do more harm than good. I agree with resorting to benign neglect for now. I'm sure things will turn around and I personally would cry if I had your hair and then chopped off a whole bunch of the length out of frustration. Right now I think trying too many things to it may do more harm than good.

Oh! You can get a pretty new hair toy and think about how lucky you are you have hair long enough to use it and put it in an updo... maybe even learn a new one to do in the meantime?

[Roseate]

Usually by airdrying I would get really sleek, soft locks. Now I get limp roots and frizzy ends which splay in every possible direction.

What about a little trim, rather than a drastic cut? Even when my ends aren't split, after a while they just get rough and uneven, and even a small trim makes a positive difference in how my hair moves and flows.

[ratgirldjh]

When all else fails I do a Sibylla's (sp?) secret softness treatment (from here!) which I do in this manner:

3 tablespoons bentonite
1 teaspoon sea salt

make a paste and put it all over my hair and cover with a plastic bag and a yarn cap
(do not let the clay dry on your hair!)

then after 10-20 minutes i rinse it out well with cold water and then wash again with my poo bar or conditioner.

Then I rinse with diluted ACV.

If you want to use the clay without washing after you can just do an ACV rinse.

This always brings my hair back to normal!!!

Hope it helps!!!

[Roscata]

That sucks. I do hope your hair recovers, if clarifying followed by and SMT with no honey doesn't work you could try chelating. I'm honestly not sure what else to recommend.

Good luck! I mean "noroc". :D

[HappyHair87]

Wait...are you saying you're suffering from limp hair...but you've also been oiling? I think I might have missed a beat here.

If that's the case...stop oiling! You might wanna just oil your hair every two weeks or something. I have Afro hair but even my hair can't handle too much oil. It gets saggy looking. In fact when I oil I either put a little on the ends to seal in moisture or I use it to prepoo or oil rinse.

HTH:)

[mellie]

I agree, if your hair is limp, it might not want the oil!

[Mesmerise]

My advice would be to go for a trim rather than a major chop. Even a larger trim of 2" or so! Then reassess and see how your hair feels.

When I got really frustrated with my hair, I actually started back with regular shampoo and conditioner, and yes, my hair started looking better :rolleyes:. Go figure!

[McFearless]

I'm giving it a month and a week. If by september 1 it doesn't look like it used to look, I'm chopping off to APL OR getting mad layers OR a sharp V-hem and getting off of the bandwagon. I've always dreamed about hiplength hair for graduation but I won't stand around with it falling off and frizzing and being unfit to wear down. I'm ok not wearing it down usually, but once a week I would like to go out and have it flow and be shiny. :(

You may have been doing a bunch of things for your hair but the disaster happened fairly recently, so your shed hair won't be grown out by september. They just won't. You might want to do small trims until you gain your thickness back. Or you can keep letting it grow and maintain the length once you reach your goal.

What is the weather like right now where you live? My hair is so frizzy in the summer months and nothing I do changes that. I just have to acecpt it. Be patient and continue doing all the right things while ignoring your hair. Your goal of hip can be achieved within a year, and even if your hair is still thin by then, there are many ways to make it look thicker like using foam curlers or sock bun curls. Healthy hair is beautiful no matter if its thick or thin.

[serious]

We have similar hair and mine just hates oiling, so...stop oiling for a while and see how that goes. Hope your hair recovers soon!

[Carolyn]

If this was happening to me I would stop oiling or cut way way back on it. Then I would clarify with a shampoo made for clarifying. I would not use baking soda. Then I would condition with moisturizing conditioners that aren't too heavy. You will have to decide which conditioners you think are heavy ones. For my next washes I would S & C with a sulfate shampoo and use a light to medium conditioner. Then I'd bun it up and forget it. Oh and I'd get a small trim. Maybe an inch or so to freshen up the ends. I'd do that for at least a month to 6 weeks. THEN I would re-evaluate my hair's condition. Chances are it's just a phase.

[growingpains]

Hey... just wanted to day my hair was like this recently after months of loving my cone free CO routine it just stopped working. Oil didn't help, clarifying didn't help, leave ins didn't help. It was limp and crunchy and gross.

I returned to my old sulfate shampoo and coney conditioner and my hair is a dream again. Every once in a while we need to totally alter our routine...

[Anje]

Have you tried a protein treatment? It almost sounds as though you've got your hair over-moisturized.

Make sure you follow the protein up with moisture, all the same.

[rusika1]

It's summer. Has it been hot and humid where you live? That could be contributing to the limpness, especially since you oil your hair.
Ah, summer hair. Sweaty, itchy scalp. And increased sebum production--think of all the opportunities for clogged pores!

Maybe you could try shampooing a little MORE often (diluted, scalp only, a few times a week). Either give yourself a good scalp massage before shampooing or use something like a Tangle Teaser to carefully scrub your scalp. Follow with a really lightweight or diluted conditioner from the neck down, rinse that out, and then an ACV or citric acid rinse with nice cool water. (I also do between shampoo cool water washes.)

Maybe you NEED 'cones in the summer? It doesn't mean you're a hair failure; and it might be easier on your hair than throwing the complete LHC arsenal at it.

Sorry, nothing I can suggest about the Big Shed. I had one of those two summers ago. Not much fun.

[FluffSpider]

Thank you for all of your replies!:chocolate: for everyone!




What about a little trim, rather than a drastic cut? Even when my ends aren't split, after a while they just get rough and uneven, and even a small trim makes a positive difference in how my hair moves and flows.

I got a half an inch trim to thicken my hem 3 months ago, and did a half cm trim a week or so ago. Trims used to make all the difference, but now they didn't.:(


When all else fails I do a Sibylla's (sp?) secret softness treatment (from here!) which I do in this manner:

3 tablespoons bentonite
1 teaspoon sea salt

make a paste and put it all over my hair and cover with a plastic bag and a yarn cap
(do not let the clay dry on your hair!)

then after 10-20 minutes i rinse it out well with cold water and then wash again with my poo bar or conditioner.

Then I rinse with diluted ACV.

If you want to use the clay without washing after you can just do an ACV rinse.

This always brings my hair back to normal!!!

Hope it helps!!!

I don't think I can get my hands on bentonite, would regular clay (for facial treatments) work for this? I'll give it a whirl! Thank you!


That sucks. I do hope your hair recovers, if clarifying followed by and SMT with no honey doesn't work you could try chelating. I'm honestly not sure what else to recommend.

Good luck! I mean "noroc". :D

I did a strong-ish ACV rinse the other day(don't own any chelating products) and
heard ACVs chelated at least a little bit. No show- if anything, it was worse than before.

Wait...are you saying you're suffering from limp hair...but you've also been oiling? I think I might have missed a beat here.

If that's the case...stop oiling! You might wanna just oil your hair every two weeks or something. I have Afro hair but even my hair can't handle too much oil. It gets saggy looking. In fact when I oil I either put a little on the ends to seal in moisture or I use it to prepoo or oil rinse.

HTH:)

I haven't been oiling my roots:p I've been oiling the length which got frizzy and tangled and dry-and I used lighter oils( almond, usually, with the occasional EVOO)


You may have been doing a bunch of things for your hair but the disaster happened fairly recently, so your shed hair won't be grown out by september. They just won't. You might want to do small trims until you gain your thickness back. Or you can keep letting it grow and maintain the length once you reach your goal.

What is the weather like right now where you live? My hair is so frizzy in the summer months and nothing I do changes that. I just have to acecpt it. Be patient and continue doing all the right things while ignoring your hair. Your goal of hip can be achieved within a year, and even if your hair is still thin by then, there are many ways to make it look thicker like using foam curlers or sock bun curls. Healthy hair is beautiful no matter if its thick or thin.

It's very hot, with stormy bursts, so it's kind of weird and probably not too hair-friendly... and thing is, my hair just LOOKS thinner. The ruler says I lost 1/10 of an inch, which might just be an error in measurement on my part.


Hey... just wanted to day my hair was like this recently after months of loving my cone free CO routine it just stopped working. Oil didn't help, clarifying didn't help, leave ins didn't help. It was limp and crunchy and gross.

I returned to my old sulfate shampoo and coney conditioner and my hair is a dream again. Every once in a while we need to totally alter our routine...
I've thought about grabbing that evil-looking bottle of coney goodness that is HE beautiful lengths off of the shelf, but I was kind of afraid it wouldn't nourish, just seal everything out. But I'll do it next time I go shopping!

Have you tried a protein treatment? It almost sounds as though you've got your hair over-moisturized.

Make sure you follow the protein up with moisture, all the same.
:grouphug: That! Last night, after letting the....thing dry, I used the much dreaded protein spray, which makes my hair mat like crazy, tangle and lose all shine. This morning, I woke up to my usual mediocre hair, not my as-of-these-days horrible mess. It's not fully fixed, but it's so, so, so much better!


It's summer. Has it been hot and humid where you live? That could be contributing to the limpness, especially since you oil your hair.
Ah, summer hair. Sweaty, itchy scalp. And increased sebum production--think of all the opportunities for clogged pores!

Maybe you could try shampooing a little MORE often (diluted, scalp only, a few times a week). Either give yourself a good scalp massage before shampooing or use something like a Tangle Teaser to carefully scrub your scalp. Follow with a really lightweight or diluted conditioner from the neck down, rinse that out, and then an ACV or citric acid rinse with nice cool water. (I also do between shampoo cool water washes.)

Maybe you NEED 'cones in the summer? It doesn't mean you're a hair failure; and it might be easier on your hair than throwing the complete LHC arsenal at it.

Sorry, nothing I can suggest about the Big Shed. I had one of those two summers ago. Not much fun.

I'm a conehead^.^ No biggie there. I've thought of going back to a less-fuss routine, but I'm a bit afraid because:
less fuss routine->decent hair
LHC routine:great hair
maintainingLHC routine: bad hair.

If good hair was made mediocre by the former routine, I'm kind of scared what it would be like now.

@ the protein issue, I think what made me lose so much:
My hair hates protein-well, doesn't really hate, but doesn't need. I fought with massive build-up a couple of times in the past, and my last one left me wary of buying even conditioners with trace amounts of protein in then. Amidst all of these protein avoiding, Leaving out all of the tiny doses of protein which left my hair OK, I might have been contributing to this downfall here- aside from an egg yolk mask, do you know any other DIY hair masks which bring protein? I wouldn't like buying any because a) I use it very rarely b) going natural with this might be better, so as not to encourage going from too little protein to too much.

Again, thank you all for your support! It means alot to me:grouphug:

[Anje]

Protein's weird and tricky. I don't recall ever having problems with it pre-LHC (maybe it helped with the damage I had then?), but in the last few years I've found that I can't even get through half a bottle of Suave Naturals Tropical Coconut CO washing without getting horrible protein buildup. And it was awful trying to figure out what was wrong at the time! Other people need a bit more than I do, or simply have happier hair using it, but it's a tricky balance for lots of people because too much is really awful.

Maybe you should get one conditioner (Suave coconut's pretty mild for protein, Mane'n'Tail is heftier) that contains protein and use that every couple of washes? Not every time, but maybe every third or every tenth wash? The rest of the time you can use a no-protein one.

If you're looking for a treatment, what about mayonnaise? That's got some egg (but a lot less proportionately than an egg mask) and some oil. Otherwise, maybe you need to cut back on extra moisturizing treatments, which can push your hair toward the state that it was in?

[FluffSpider]

I'm in Romania, so no suave/Mane'n'Tail. We have Garnier, HE, Pantene, Syoss, Balea, Alverde, Elseve, Schauma, Gliss, Nivea, Clear, Head'n'Shoulders... stuff like that.I'll try reintroducing conditioners with mild traces of protein in them.
Pre-LHC I had HORRIBLE protein build-up. I kept applying heavier and heavier masks, for damaged/dry hair(which reek of protein) thinking my hair needs to be treated that way when actually no, it didn't need those products for damaged hair-because it wasn't damaged in the first place. I thought all conditioners did the same thing, just the better ones did more of it:p