why on earth did I STOP doing this??

[Evie]

So today I had a "why ever did I stop using CV bars and ACV" moment, and wondered how many of us have done the same - found a routine that suited us, but given the abundance of different methods on here moved on to try something new just in case it was better, and never quite gave up and went back to what worked for us for much too long?

Some background....

I have had hair that felt awful for months, after trying, in a mad moment, to bleach out henndigo when I thought blond (my natural colour) would be so much better - in fact I do look better with dark hair, even my mum thinks so.......!

I have tried deep conditioning, oils, protein packs.....still crispy ends. I have trimmed damage, and still have some left.....

Then, 2 weeks ago, I bought some olive oil based shampoo bars that I found at a local craft fair and were made in Greece. This morning, I tried them, and used a mix of ACV and condish (like I used to) to rinse.....and my hair is soft, soft - I thought it would never be soft again! It might not be the answer to all my problems, but it is much better....

So, do you have a similar story - what products did you go back to and realise you have loved all along??

[Crysta]

Well I had gotten fairly ill, and stopped coming on the internet, I was so stressed and involved in life. I decided to ditch my pink hair [probably best for it's health, but that hair was me, it suited me] I had a huge trim to APL (I think waist is kindof short, so that was and still is making me feel bald. i started using shampoo and conefilled conditioner (god know why, i've always hated both, so stupid)

Just faffing about, not giving a crap about my poor fried hair. I'm back using cone frees and oils now - haven't weened my hair off the shampoo yet - but I will soon. It's already feeling much better for it.

So for me leaving LHC was the stupid thing :) and coming back is what worked for me.

[Evie]

I like that story Crysta, it is amazing what we kind of 'forget' works for us. I know I kept thinking "oh look, that person is getting amazing results with x [insert product/method/new idea], I must try it too".....only to be disappointed when it didn't work for me ;)

[WaitingSoLong]

Well, my issues were just a product of joining LHC and there is SO MUCH OUT THERE TO TRY but I ditched the cones and hugely regretted it.

I came to LHC because my ends were fried. Ya know how it is, there is so much here to try. In my defense, Panetene had just discontinued there line of products and the S&C I was buying disappeared off shelves so I was forced to try something else, their new line was not good on my hair. I methodically started trying different things and that was GOOD, because I know I LOVE LOVE alow vera gel and DCT's and HATE proteins and need ACVR's once in awhile (which really helped when I was without a water softener for a couple weeks). Basically, it took me 2+ years to come up with my PERFECT routine, which is right back on Pantene S&C LOTS of cones which my hair loves. But only because they came out with a "Classic" line, which is not quite what it used to be but close enough for my hair!

It is difficult not to try new products, but I really don't think there is any improvement to be had for my routine. So I stick with it. I am a sucker for fragrances and will try something just because it smells good.

[pink.sara]

I never should have tried to give up my chemical black dye and go natural. My natural colour is so dull on me! And I should never have given up my cones either. I tried to be cone free for 6 months last year and had knots constantly that had to be combed out and caused damage, mainly from my thick hair rubbing against itself while down.

Cones rule, serum saves me from tangles, and blue-black dye looks divine :)

Guess I'll always be high maintenance ;)

[BlazingHeart]

I just had to move away from the line my hair has really liked because I developed a sulphate sensitivity. It's so frustrating, I used this shampoo for YEARS and had great hair, but suddenly my scalp got angry and itchy and flakey and I started breaking out along my arms from contact with the sulphates. I even had to find a toothpaste without sulphates in it and discovered that the sensitivity I've dealt with for about 3 years has been because of the sulphates (almost all of the toothpaste you can find in the grocery store has sulphates - I have to order mine online)

I think I like my new routine so far, but it's only been a couple of months so I'm still a little nervous that my hair will change its mind. My scalp is so much happier, though.

~Blaze

[alliekat]

Cones.

I saw so much stuff to try out here in LHC land and thought oh that sounds good I'll try that. I went cone free for about a month and my hair was so dry and tangley, no slip or shine. I tried oiling it and it just made my hair feel and look greasey if I used too much or didn't seem to do anything if I used less. I was getting and breaks and damage, so no more cone-free days for me.

So, I admit it, I'm a cone head.

[GabrielleRose]

So today I had a "why ever did I stop using CV bars and ACV" moment, and wondered how many of us have done the same - found a routine that suited us, but given the abundance of different methods on here moved on to try something new just in case it was better, and never quite gave up and went back to what worked for us for much too long?

Some background....

I have had hair that felt awful for months, after trying, in a mad moment, to bleach out henndigo when I thought blond (my natural colour) would be so much better - in fact I do look better with dark hair, even my mum thinks so.......!

I have tried deep conditioning, oils, protein packs.....still crispy ends. I have trimmed damage, and still have some left.....

Then, 2 weeks ago, I bought some olive oil based shampoo bars that I found at a local craft fair and were made in Greece. This morning, I tried them, and used a mix of ACV and condish (like I used to) to rinse.....and my hair is soft, soft - I thought it would never be soft again! It might not be the answer to all my problems, but it is much better....

So, do you have a similar story - what products did you go back to and realise you have loved all along??

What is this ACV and conditioner mix you speak of? I think I may be having one of these moments because I loved the CV bars but I could never get my length to look as nice, because it would look grease covered. Maybe it's my hard water? I really did love using CV but I don't want my length suffering. Also, I think CV may have made my hair grow faster because I got a V trim at the end of June bringing my hair above BSL and now my hair length is back to where it was maybe even a little longer?

[georgia_peach]

My old routine that worked super well for me:
Henna every two weeks
Mehandi shampoo bars
Neutrogena Triple Moisture conditioner

My hair was strong, healthy, super shiny and cruising swiftly toward BSL and beyond. I'm not exactly sure where the blip began in my routine, but I stopped and now my hair is short, fine, static-y and blah.

[islandboo]

How timely! I have been cone-free for about 5 months now because I didn't want buildup interfering with my catnip treatments but I ran out of my cone-free condish and hadn't brought the new bottle up to the bath yet so I figured using a coney conditioner just once would be fine. Oh my stars, is my hair soft and gorgeous! I will probably hate it when I try to do some looser updos but for now it looks and feels amazing. Yeah, I'm thinking I can just clarify before the catnip from now on...

[Mesmerise]

Well I gave up Pantene a couple of years ago because a hairdresser told me it was bad (I guess cause it was full of cones). So yeah, I avoided it for ages, joined LHC, stopped using cones at all... and my hair was awful.

I was looking at old pics of my hair where it looked sleek and shiny and I wondered why it is so bad now... and then it occurred to me that all those pics were from my Pantene days!

So yeah, I think I'm just gonna go back to Pantene again once my current shampoo and condish run out! At the very least I can mix it up a bit and see what happens.

Experimentation is great, but one person's wonder product may not be your wonder product! For some people it seems cones are fantastic.

I do think I'll try and find a non-sulphate shampoo though, because the last one I got has sulphates in it, and my scalp's going yucky again. I had a yucky scalp forever and never realised that sulphates probably had a lot to do with it...but it's becoming increasingly obvious since starting up with a sulphate shampoo again. (And by awful... I just mean it gets flaky, which makes me pick it... and when I pick it...it gets scabby...which is gross...but I pick the scabby bits cause I am literally compelled to do so... and yet when I was off the shampoo and the sulphates, my scalp stopped getting flaky so I stopped picking and it improved LOTS!).

So yeah, maybe what I need is a nice non-sulphate shampoo and a coney condish?

[Evie]

What is this ACV and conditioner mix you speak of? I think I may be having one of these moments because I loved the CV bars but I could never get my length to look as nice, because it would look grease covered. Maybe it's my hard water? I really did love using CV but I don't want my length suffering. Also, I think CV may have made my hair grow faster because I got a V trim at the end of June bringing my hair above BSL and now my hair length is back to where it was maybe even a little longer?

I just add ACV to my condish bottle, I have an old spare bottle that I put perhaps 40% ACV and 60% condish in, shake it up, and then use that as 'condish' after I use a CV/soap bar. I have no idea if that is too much ACV, but ACV alone does not seem to make my hair soft enough! What I also do sometimes is add a tiny bit of condish (really tiny!) to some dilute ACV (I'm terrible, I don't measure) and use that on the ends as a no-rinse final rinse if that makes sense......:)

[Mirsha]

Why on earth did I stop with my benign neglect routine to obsess and faff over my hair every day?

I'm going back to just putting it up and not obsessing over cones/sulphates/quats/damage/rinses/rooibos etc.

A simple diluted shampoo and conditioner is all I need!

[Lilli]

For me, it is better to do benign neglect with some cheap, coney S&C. Too many treatments and obsessing is bad. I mainly care: does it smell good? Does it make it shiny? Right now I've been using a few different Herbal Essences and am quite happy.

[Busybee]

How timely! I have been cone-free for about 5 months now because I didn't want buildup interfering with my catnip treatments but I ran out of my cone-free condish and hadn't brought the new bottle up to the bath yet so I figured using a coney conditioner just once would be fine. Oh my stars, is my hair soft and gorgeous! I will probably hate it when I try to do some looser updos but for now it looks and feels amazing. Yeah, I'm thinking I can just clarify before the catnip from now on...

islandboo: I am beginning to wonder if I am needing to do what you did.

After a month cone free, sulfate free trial - my hair is frizzier, less shiny, and more tangly. I am thinking of starting to throw back in my coney leave ins, and work my way backwards to my old S&C if things don't improve.

It's like air drying is not an option for going to work presentable, unless it's oiled and in a bun - or blowdried anymore.

BTW - what are you using the catnip for? And how are you using it?