Oily hair?

[minaa]

Hi there everyone! I lurk on this forum a lot. My hair has grown out to SL recently, so I'm starting to come around again. I have two problems: I've started to use CWC as my 'poo routine again, and I notice that it leaves my hair somewhat oily (oilier than I'd think is good, anyway). I'm using Trader Joe's nourish spa balance moisturizing shampoo and conditioner. It doesn't contain SLS or ALS of either variety, and the conditioner is cone-free (I discovered cones weighed my hair down even more). Do you have any suggestions? I have done a lot of reading on this site, but I'm puzzled as to where to begin with my situation.

I also have recurrent dry scalp, which causes slight flaky issues. I may have to look into a different shampoo, regardless (have never been able to truly get rid of the dry-scalp-itchies, but I haven't tried any rinses either). I'm still quite new to taking care of my hair, so any advice is welcome.

[sweet*things]

Is the oiliness concentrated on your roots, or all over? If it is primarily at the roots, you could try only putting conditioner on your ends and skip it above your ears on the second conditioning.

Good luck figuring it out!

[BlazingHeart]

I can't help on the oily hair, but I do have two suggestions for rinses that can help quite a bit with the flaky-itchy scalp. I had it going for a while because I started reacting to SLS, and it took weeks to get it to go away after I stopped, but here's what worked for me:

ACV rinse. I don't know if other vinegar rinses would help; I tried ACV because I've got reddish hair and wanted to bring out the red, which the ACV does quite nicely. I use a 32 oz cup and pour about 1/4" to 1/2" in the bottom, then fill it with water. I very slowly pour it over my scalp, then rinse it out with water pretty quickly, as my hair absorbs smells easily (including vinegar, unfortunately, and then I smell like it for DAYS, ugh)

Chamomile tea rinses. I put 2 teabags in 2 cups of boiling water, and let it steep for about 12 hours, which should give you an amber colored liquid. When my scalp is really itchy, I pop it in the fridge - the combination of chamomile tea + cold is incredibly soothing.

so my routine when my scalp bothers me is to shampoo, conditioner, ACV rinse, and then chamomile tea rinse. You may get very slight lightening of your hair with chamomile tea, but I used it weekly for...I guess 4-6 weeks?...without any noticible difference.

~Blaze

[minaa]

I think I'll forego conditioning the scalp and see how that goes for a few weeks. Hopefully it'll become more ruly!

Blaze, how often do you wash your hair? I'll try the ACV rinse first. I've heard that the vinegar smell evaporates, but I guess YMMV.

[BlazingHeart]

I've washed it about once a week since...umm...May? or therabouts. I used to wash more often than that, mostly to style when shorter and out of habit.

I know that for a lot of people, the vinegar smell does fade...on me, it doesn't, and it doesn't smell like ACV it just smells vinegar-y. Enough so that my fiance whose nose isn't very sensitive noticed it 3 days after wash day. I think I noticed it for more like 5 days. And I DID rinse it off, I just let it sit for a few minutes while I soaped off and shaved, but apparently that was enough for it to soak into my hair. I do, admittedly, have a sensitive nose, though.

~Blaze

[luthein]

I have been having issues with oil production, too. I never had oily hair until 6 months ago. My oil production is mainly around my temples, and I use some cornstarch as a dry shampoo to absorb some of that oil and stretch my washes.

[spidermom]

If you don't like the effects of CWC, try CW. I do that from time to time when my hair seems too heavy and weighed down.

[Evalea]

I tried CWC and decided I did not like it - I too had problems with greasies. My routine now is to wash the roots and the length down to about the bottom of my ears, conditioner on only the bottom- not leaving it in long - and while I am rinsing it, I fold the ends over my roots and let a little of the very diluted conditioner run over my head. I then continue to rinse thoroughly.

As for the itch, rinsing with diluted rooibos and vinegar has helped me tremendously!

Hope that helps and you are able to soon find a routine that suites your hair. :)

[Delila]

My version of hairwashing lately has been to slather my length with conditioner while it's dry, then when I'm in the shower, getting my scalp hair wet, and shampooing just that. Lately I've also been using two rounds of shampoo, the GM blue (for oily hair) and then the cream shampoo. (Instead of doing the blue shampoo twice) Then I condition my length as usual, a conditioner then a creme rinse.

I avoid putting conditioner anywhere near my scalp. It leads to oiliness and sometimes a tender scalp.