Help me figure out what's going on with my hair!

[co.co]

Hey guys :)

So I haven't really posted that much, but I'm a long-term lurker :p

Anyway, my hair has quite a bit of damage at the ends (maybe 1 or 2 inches) from bleaching/dying a couple of years ago so I'm trying to grow that out. It's especially bad on the canopy - but sometimes my hair is fine, and at others it's insane, tangly velcro hair which I've recently been thinking might have something to do with my hair reacting badly to protein. Chelating with Joico always makes my hair feel nice, but I'm thinking it's probably bad to need to chelate nearly every week or so...

So I was thinking of looking around for a condish & shampoo with no protein/cones.
But yesterday an odd thing happened - I needed to wash my hair quickly before I went to work but had barely any of my Garnier cone free conditioner left. So I washed it with my vo5/alberto balsam shampoo (which contains soy milk protein) and then only the TINIEST bit of conditioner. And now - it feels SO much better than it did before. Not 100%, but a lot silkier and smoother with less tangles.

Soooo I guess I'm just wondering - do you think my hair is loving the lack of condish? Usually I smother it in conditioner because it's so dry, but now with hardly any conditioner it feels amazing! So confused :confused: sorry this is sooo long!

[CurlyCap]

Maybe your hair needs you to change up products?

Using too much conditioner when your hair doesn't need it leads to the shaft being coated too much. If there is any residue on the hair (and your hair doesn't like this), it leads to hairs sticking to each other. In some people this looks oily, but others complain that it's "tangly" or "wild". So maybe less conditioner?

Also, as a thought, my hair gets angry if I use the same conditioner too many days in a row. I usually alternative between 2-3. I think different conditioners are strong in different ingredients, and rotating prevents any one ingredient from building up.

So maybe the shampoo + light conditioner was a change up for your hair?

[Mairéad]

Sounds like you needed to clarify some build up out and that the VO5 took care of that. Do you have hard water?

If the chelating shampoo usually makes your hair feel nicer it could be minerals. The hard water here can make my ends velcro-like even though they aren't damaged. I agree chelating shampoo every week is way too much though.

[co.co]

I'm pretty sure we don't actually have hard water, and as I'm usually cone-free I'm thinking the buildup might be protein?

Perhaps I do need to change my routine a bit, that is a good idea! This afternoon I chelated, then washed with half shampoo (protein & cone free) and half coconut oil, then did a vinegar rinse and conditioned as it felt a bit dry, and now it feels even better. I might just try to avoid protein for a while, and if that ends up having bad results too I'll try mixing my routine up a bit. I would just love swishy, non-tangly ends for once! I think perhaps the only thing to do is cut them off, though :(

[alwayssmiling]

I don't know about anyone else but protein build up makes my hair stiff and straw-like. Velcroey-ness for me is usually cone build up, oil build up or just in need of a trim. Because you say this was much better when you used a different shampoo I'm thinking that your previous products were containing too many cones that are building up quickly. Just a thought.

[co.co]

I haven't used cones in a while, so I think it has to be protein build up! I hope it is, because at least then I've got it figured out :P

[florenonite]

Maybe you just don't need conditioner. I see your hair is F/M, and fine hair often needs less moisture than coarser hair. I occasionally use a cone-free conditioner for an SMT or other moisture treatment, but besides that I use straight shampoo and a bit of coconut oil. I haven't cut my hair in 14 months and my ends are just fine :shrug:

I'd suggest doing heavy coconut oilings before washing and a light oiling as a leave-in and see if you really need the conditioner.