Boyfriend hair help

[tanpopokitty]

Hi guys!
This post is actually for my boyfriend, who requested that I ask on here for him! Maybe all my hair concern is wearing off on him, haha. He has pretty short hair. Not crew cut short, but maybe the mass equivalent of a short pixie. As for hair type, I suppose he has medium/coarse hair and a lot of it. It also has a good amount of wave, but then again, it is so short and hard to type.

However, his hair is extremely dry!! I feels extremely rough and tangly to touch, especially the bangs. Previously we had thought it was because he was washing with SLS every night with no conditioner. However, even after he's been conditioner only for months, his hair has only improved a little bit. I usually run a little bit of leave in that's left over on my hands through the front of his hair too, but it doesn't help much either. What's worse is that his hair gets oily and weighed down very quickly and easily, so he doesn't like to use conditioner or oil more than the washing.. He also has trouble stretching his washes more than every other day.

Actually, the funny thing is, his hair used to be so dry that it would stick up in the front and people would compliment him a lot! Everyone had thought he'd styled his hair! Haha.

[Chetanlaiho]

Has he clarified his hair? Maybe you could start from there :)

[luxepiggy]

Pre-wash coconut oil made my hair extra-soft (^(oo)^)v

[heidi w.]

No earth shattering suggestions here, other than, it has always been my contention that there is a difference between men and women's hair. For the men I know who possess relatively longer lengths, their hair tends to be a bit coarser than most female hair. And this may be just the hair he has. We all have the hair we have, and have to live with it.

Just something to keep in mind.

heidi w.

[Anje]

I know it's hard to tell on such short hair, but if you get some of his sheds, do they have much stretch to them before they snap? I doubt he's got buildup if he generally used SLS shampoo and no conditioner, unless he's got a thing for product. But maybe the conditioner he's using is really high in protein and it's causing problems?

If you can make him hold still long enough, try doing an SMT on his hair -- they're great for moisture in any case. I struggled to get DH to allow me to give him one (he pouted with the shower cap on his head like an angry cat), but as soon as he washed it out, he asked me how soon he could do another one! He's repeated the treatment a number of times since then without my involvement, simply because he loves the results.

[Yozhik]

My boyfriend can only stretch his washes to every other day, too. I think it's because since his hair is so much shorter than ours, the oils only have so far to get distributed down the length before they make the hair look greasy. :shrug:

I also suggest coconut leave in before he washes, and a clarifying shampoo before just to make sure he doesn't have build up.

I have one friend who has extremely coarse Asian hair, as in it looks as thick as horse mane hair, and it's really prickly. It's just his texture, though, so that could be a factor, as well.

It's really nice that he has begun to care about his hair, too, though. :)

[tanpopokitty]

I know it's hard to tell on such short hair, but if you get some of his sheds, do they have much stretch to them before they snap? I doubt he's got buildup if he generally used SLS shampoo and no conditioner, unless he's got a thing for product. But maybe the conditioner he's using is really high in protein and it's causing problems?

If you can make him hold still long enough, try doing an SMT on his hair -- they're great for moisture in any case. I struggled to get DH to allow me to give him one (he pouted with the shower cap on his head like an angry cat), but as soon as he washed it out, he asked me how soon he could do another one! He's repeated the treatment a number of times since then without my involvement, simply because he loves the results.

Oh that's a wonderful idea! And actually, I think he might be using a protein conditioner too. We'll try switching that up. Thanks a lot!

[Amber_Maiden]

Try moisture CO.

[thelittlestdoc]

If the idea doesn't terrify either of you, you can try shaving it short and letting it grow out while continuing to use a gentle shampoo/conditioner (and the occasional deep oiling or conditioning treatment) and see if that makes any difference.

I shaved an exes hair and when it grew back the texture was ENTIRELY different and much more manageable.