WTH? Waxy, sticky hair. Help!

[swords & roses]

Twice now in the past couple of weeks, I've noticed my hair feeling very waxy & sticky after it air-dries after showering. I have no idea why this is happening, though! I haven't changed the products I use in two or three years, and they normally leave my hair feeling light and silky. Over the past month or two, since finding this website, I've been doing CWC's, followed by a coney leave-in (which I've also used for the past 2 or 3 years without problems & without changing it), with no change in the results until these two occurences. The only thing that's changed a bit recently is that as it get's colder out, the puny apartment hot water heater can't keep up as well, so I've been rinsing off the last round of conditioner with cool/cold water. >_< But this certainly isn't the first time I've had to do that, so I'm not sure if that's the culprit. I've never had this waxy, sticky problem before! It feels more gross than it does before I wash it, even if I've gone 3 days without a wash (I usually wash every other day), and it looks gross, too.

I'm not sure if this side note is related or not, but each time this grossness has happened, I've noticed a bit of dandruff along my part while combing out my wet hair. I rarely to never get dandruff, so I'm not sure if that's connected to the waxy, sticky problem.

1. Why on earth is this happening?
2. How do I get rid of this nasty waxiness & stickyness? The last time this happened, I hopped back in the shower immediately, CO'd (didn't fix it), shampooed the whole length (didn't fix it), then CWC'd again (minimally helped), and skipped the leave in. It felt a little better after all that, but not by much & it still wasn't right
3. How do I keep this craziness from happening again?

TIA!

[Yozhik]

I'm guessing you need to clarify to get rid of build-up.

Does your shampoo have SLS in it?

If clarifying does help, I've heard that chelating shampoos have been known to fix problems like this.

HTH! :flower:

[swords & roses]

What's SLS? *runs to cabinet*

[Yozhik]

SLS or SLES stands for "sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate" -- these are typical shampoo ingredients (usually the second ingredient), and should strip out any build up.

You could get a shampoo that says it's "clarifying" though, because it may clean deeper.

[Amarante]

SLS=sodium laurel sulfate I think. Or sodium laureth sulfate. Not sure of the difference though. :/

[swords & roses]

Yep, my shampoo does have SLS.

[jesis]

I would definitely say it's a buildup problem. I get this problem if I use shampoo or conditioner that is too moisturizing. My hair just doesn't like it. It clumps together and feels waxy and just plain yuck! You might be using too much conditioner. I would recommend clarifying and maybe no more cwc.

[Yozhik]

Hm. The SLS should be getting rid of the build up.

Do your shampoo/conditioner also have silicones (look for ingredients that have the suffix "-cone")? It could be you're cleaning off the build-up, but then redepositing it if there are silicones in your products.

I'd probably also recommend going off CWC and returning to just shampoo and conditioning.

[kittymallow]

I get rid of that feeling by using baking soda a couple of times a month, because it sounds like buildup. My hair turns soft and silky again after this. What i do is shampoo once, apply baking soda, wait a minute or two, rinse well, condition, vinegar rinse and problem solved:)

[Bish]

I had this problem too, in patches over my head, just last week. It looked like some patches just couldn't be cleaned by my normal SLES free shampoo and conditioner. I decided to clarify/wash my hair with a shampoo that according to the stylist at the shop was used by swimmers to clean their hair, followed it by a deep conditioning treatment, and now it's gone! :D

[julliams]

Get a specific clarifying shampoo - I like Pantene (because I figure it has to be good to get rid of all the build up Pantene is renowned for!!!). Then do an ACV rinse (1 - 2 tablespoons of Apple Cider vinegar in one litre of water and tip it over your hair slowly). Then rinse it out with cold water and let it dry. Hopefully this should fix your problem.

[swords & roses]

After some trial & error, I'm thinking my hair just doesn't like long-term CWCs. :( After the previous occurence of buildup, I just did a shampoo & condition, with no leave-in, and my hair was back to normal. The next wash, I went back to CWC, no leave-in, & it was still ok. But the wash after that, with a CWC & no leave-in, the buildup was back. I still need to try doing a regular shampoo & condition + leave-in (what I'd done for years) and see if that still works or if I need to lay off the leave-in too.

I didn't think about too much conditioner, but that may certainly be part of it. I use a lot! :o

What I'm mostly bummed about is that I'm trying to treat my hair as nice as I can, keeping it as damage-free as possible. I thought the CWCs and leave-in would be good for my hair & would keep it from getting splits. I don't blow dry, I only use hairspray about once every 2 or 3 months for dance performances, I only comb it when it's wet & only brush it when it's dry, and I've been bunning when it's windy & when working out. But winter is setting in, which means more damage from cold, static, hats, and hoods on coats, and now it seems I'll have to go without the protection of the CWC & leave-in. Any suggestions for protecting my hair during the winter, given my current hair situation?

As a side-note, here are the products I've been using:
Shampoo: Salon Care Professional, Sparkling Apples & Pears Conditioning Shampoo (not diluted). Contains sodium laureth sulfate. No cones.
Conditioner: Salon Care Professional, Sparkling Apples & Pears Conditioner. No cones.
Leave-in: Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship Split End Leave-In Protector. Contains dimethicone & methylisothiazolinone (not sure if that last one is a cone or not, but I know dimethicone is).

Thanks so much for everyone's suggestions!