A million questions!

[Jagaliscious]

Ok, so I have checked out the VITs and I've done a bit of reading but I have a bunch of questions with regard to care.

My foray into long-lockdom has mostly been due to neglect, in all honesty. I didn't get here by trying, which is ironic because I always wanted long hair when I was really young. I was told that my hair was way too fine to ever "look good" long. It's been over the last couple of months that I actually realized my hair was truly "long" because of the necessity to either pull it back or it getting in my way...and I think the straw lately have been the comments on how long it is.

So that said...I hope you will all bear with my obvious ignorance. I really don't know how to best care for my hair, aside from the very basic shampoo and conditioning techniques.


1. Water: About how warm or cool do you have the water when you wash your hair? Is hard water particularly damaging in any way?

2. Shampoo: out of sheer ignorance, I picked up Herbal Essence's "Long Term Relationship" (and matching conditioner) that is supposedly formulated specifically for long hair. I also bought the leave-in conditioner that is supposed to be good for split ends. Anyone have any opinions on this stuff? I'm undecided but probably because I really don't know any better.

3. Conditioning: I tend to apply conditioner to the lower part of my hair first and the "left overs" to the hair around the head and into the scalp, mainly because I have that mediterranean condition of oily scalp and dry hair. I then use a large-toothed comb to come it all through, very gently. I'm sure this is "ok," but is there a better way to do this that I'm just not aware of?

4. Volume: the weight of my hair combined with the fineness seem to kill volume. I try not to use the blow-dryer, and I've resorted to using different products but they seem to always dry out my hair or make it tangly. Does anyone have any tips as to how to promote volume?

That's all I can think of at the moment but I know I have a ton more.

I'll try and get a picture up today in my sig.

Thanks ladies! I'm SO glad I found y'all! :)

[justgreen]

I noticed that my volume increased greatly when I quit using cones. I always thought I had lank thin hair.

[Jagaliscious]

I noticed that my volume increased greatly when I quit using cones. I always thought I had lank thin hair.

Yes, I've read about the cones. What shampoo do you use? I took a look at my daughter's Johnson's Baby ShampooI saw no 'cones,' and I have to think that if it's gentle for babies, it probably would be great 'gentle care' for long hair.

[Riot Crrl]

My foray into long-lockdom has mostly been due to neglect, in all honesty.

That is the best way. :) A lot of people say they want to grow, then get distracted by a shiny dye job or cute cut. A lot of the people around with really long hair just say "Put it up and forget about it" lol.


Water: About how warm or cool do you have the water when you wash your hair? Is hard water particularly damaging in any way?

Final cool rinse should be good. I know I should do this more but I hate it.

Your conditioning routine sounds good to me. I have no opinion on shampoo because I don't use it.

If it's coming out too non-voluminous for your liking, you could try either no silicones, or a lighter conditioner, or both.

[Cinnamon.locks]

Hi, well never tried the new Herbal essences long term poo and condish, sorry about not having an opinion on that. but wish to try it just in case it works better than what i use now. i'm always trying new stuff. ;)

I use suave's naturals aloe and waterlilly poo and it does clean very well when i do use poo, which is twice a month. I use very warm water to shower and i have heard that hot water or very warm water can damage hair, but haven't noticed it myself. I used to have the same type of problem; dry ends/oily scalp, but after changing my routine by going CO for over a year the sebum glands in my scalp got the message to stop overreacting and behave.

I normally do CO and smooth it from ends to scalp, i use alot, half a bottle of what used to be suave's coconut condish, which i finished and reuse now to mix my new condish; i mix equal amounts of suave's proffesionals humectant, extreme strength and biobasics condish, shake to mix well and then apply to wet hair, leave in for about 10 minutes and rinse.

I also use a wide tooth comb to untangle my hair, maybe since you have curly hair you could do the finger combing some at TLHC use to untangle hair instead of combing?
It could help with volume, but you have to make sure you get all the tangles out so the hair does not look weird at the scalp. i have a friend who finger combs her curly hair and when she does not untangle from scalp to ends her hair looks weird at the scalp, curls look really dry and damaged from scalp to nape of neck.

About specific things to do for volume, maybe you could comb the hair upside down, i've heard it helps with volume when you do it while drying hair. i haven't used a blow fryer for over a year and my routine gives me a nice volume but of course my hair is very different from yours. My hair is baby fine, straight and not very thick, but i am pleased with it so far.


I hope i helped some, hope some of the curly haired ladies here can help even more with their own more personal and experienced advise. for now just keep trying what works for you and experiment with new products, routines and other things that might help your hair. but the ultimate adivse is concentrate on your hair, give it what it needs and love it.

[missmanytoes]

I'm pretty sure hard water deposits minerals into your hair and can make it "crunchy". I think ("think" being the operative word here because my DH is very conscientious about making sure our water is soft) that Apple Cider Vinegar rinses will help if you have this condition.

[Jagaliscious]

Hi, well never tried the new Herbal essences long term poo and condish, sorry about not having an opinion on that. but wish to try it just in case it works better than what i use now. i'm always trying new stuff. ;)

I use suave's naturals aloe and waterlilly poo and it does clean very well when i do use poo, which is twice a month. I use very warm water to shower and i have heard that hot water or very warm water can damage hair, but haven't noticed it myself. I used to have the same type of problem; dry ends/oily scalp, but after changing my routine by going CO for over a year the sebum glands in my scalp got the message to stop overreacting and behave.

I normally do CO and smooth it from ends to scalp, i use alot, half a bottle of what used to be suave's coconut condish, which i finished and reuse now to mix my new condish; i mix equal amounts of suave's proffesionals humectant, extreme strength and biobasics condish, shake to mix well and then apply to wet hair, leave in for about 10 minutes and rinse.

I also use a wide tooth comb to untangle my hair, maybe since you have curly hair you could do the finger combing some at TLHC use to untangle hair instead of combing?
It could help with volume, but you have to make sure you get all the tangles out so the hair does not look weird at the scalp. i have a friend who finger combs her curly hair and when she does not untangle from scalp to ends her hair looks weird at the scalp, curls look really dry and damaged from scalp to nape of neck.

About specific things to do for volume, maybe you could comb the hair upside down, i've heard it helps with volume when you do it while drying hair. i haven't used a blow fryer for over a year and my routine gives me a nice volume but of course my hair is very different from yours. My hair is baby fine, straight and not very thick, but i am pleased with it so far.


I hope i helped some, hope some of the curly haired ladies here can help even more with their own more personal and experienced advise. for now just keep trying what works for you and experiment with new products, routines and other things that might help your hair. but the ultimate adivse is concentrate on your hair, give it what it needs and love it.

Oops, I think you have my stats confused with another poster's stats. :D I'm 1c/F/M/ii -- so our hair is not so very different. I have no curls, just a few obnoxiously random waves that I purposely brush straight as its drying. I just did my pic on the fly, so please excuse the crudeness:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v508/jagaliscious/Jenn%20Peekchures/hair.jpg

Anywho, I'm really interested in CO, but I'm a huge chicken. My scalp just gets so oily and just thinking about the transition period gives me the willies. We also have dogs and I fear that since they sleep on the bed with us that I will always have "dog scented" hair instead of nicely smelling locks. It seems that if I go for more than two days that when I do get in the shower to clean it, I pick up a distinct smell that isn't so pleasant--it just smells dirty.

Thanks so much for your responses! I think I may give this no-cones thing a try next, once the Long Term Relationship stuff runs out.

[Jagaliscious]

I'm pretty sure hard water deposits minerals into your hair and can make it "crunchy". I think ("think" being the operative word here because my DH is very conscientious about making sure our water is soft) that Apple Cider Vinegar rinses will help if you have this condition.

I will have to give that a try! Thanks! We live in an older house (not for too much longer though!) and it doesn't have a softener; add to that fact that we live in Phoenix, home to the hardest water you've ever experienced. We're in the process of looking for a new house though and that intends to be one of the 'necessities,' or at least the ability to add a softener.

[Riot Crrl]

Anywho, I'm really interested in CO, but I'm a huge chicken. My scalp just gets so oily and just thinking about the transition period gives me the willies. We also have dogs and I fear that since they sleep on the bed with us that I will always have "dog scented" hair instead of nicely smelling locks. It seems that if I go for more than two days that when I do get in the shower to clean it, I pick up a distinct smell that isn't so pleasant--it just smells dirty.

Thanks so much for your responses! I think I may give this no-cones thing a try next, once the Long Term Relationship stuff runs out.


The causality flows in this direction:

If you want to use no cones and still use shampoo, it doesn't matter what shampoo you use as long as you like it.

If you want to use no shampoo, it's important to be picky about the type of cones being used. A lot of them are only soluble in detergent, so if you are never using detergent they are never
being removed.

[justgreen]

Baby Shampoo? Not a good idea, it's pretty harsh on long hair, IMHO.

Have you tried an apple cider vinegar rinse yet? Those are good for correcting the Ph of your scalp. That's how I got rid of an oily scalp. If you are under thirty years of age, you could still have puberty issues and that oily scalp will be with you for a while.

I use several different shampoos, diluted of course.

I have hard well water and I use a final rinse of distilled water. This helps keep the minerals from attaching to my hair as the water evaporates.

[Kirin]

Baby shampoo is likely a big no, its very alkaline, good for your eyes, not nessisarily for your hair.

[Riot Crrl]

Agreed, baby shampoo is gnarly. It's supposed to be gentle for babies, which newborns have a skin and hair pH about 7.0, and young adults have 4.5-5.5. And also eyes of course, which stay I think pretty much the same throughout life at around 7.3. Not acidic enough for young adult hair.

CO actually made my roots less oily, FWIW.

[spidermom]

Yes, I've read about the cones. What shampoo do you use? I took a look at my daughter's Johnson's Baby ShampooI saw no 'cones,' and I have to think that if it's gentle for babies, it probably would be great 'gentle care' for long hair.

Not true. Johnson's Baby Shampoo is formulated to be gentle on the eyes, which have an alkaline pH. Hair and skin prefer an acid pH. Thus this product is quite harsh. Ever notice how fly-away most baby hair is? There ya go!

[missmanytoes]

When I was younger I had to shampoo every day because of the oil my scalp produced. I'm thinking if you are also shampooing often because of oil then your scalp is not oily and your hair dry, but rather your scalp is oily and your hair is made "dry" because the 'poo is stripping your natural oils from the length. You could try just shampooing your scalp and taking some lather from the top and working it over the length or not even working the 'poo over your length...this may help your dryness and help you make the switch to CO. We here at LHC generally eschew the hair commercial method of hair washing, i.e. plopping it all on top of your head and getting the 'poo even distributed while tangling. We tend to advocate wetting your hair and then distributing the shampoo to the scalp and length if you want, but the hair more or less stays straight, hanging down. Fewer tangles that way. And CO, while it seems like it won't help your oiliness actually can help to get rid of the excess oil as the condish is a surfactant which helps to break the oil up much like 'poo does - just not as effectively, IOW, it takes longer. When I CO, I plop a goodly size handful of the condish of the day into my hand and work it into my scalp and length, go about my other shower duties while that sits on the ole noggin and then I "wash" my hair with the condish. I would like to point out that these days I'm not picky about what I'm using on my hair - I choose my condish of the day by the smell, so I could be using a 'cone condish one day and a 'cone free the next. I use Suave Daily Clarifying shampoo when I need to clarify or when the scalp has oil buildup. It seems to work.

[Jagaliscious]

Ok, so the baby shampoo is an emphatic and resounding "NO!" :lol:

And I'm 33, so I'm pretty over the puberty thing, although pregnancy did wreak all kinds of havoc with my body but I didn't notice any change with my hair.




When I was younger I had to shampoo every day because of the oil my scalp produced. I'm thinking if you are also shampooing often because of oil then your scalp is not oily and your hair dry, but rather your scalp is oily and your hair is made "dry" because the 'poo is stripping your natural oils from the length. You could try just shampooing your scalp and taking some lather from the top and working it over the length or not even working the 'poo over your length...this may help your dryness and help you make the switch to CO. We here at LHC generally eschew the hair commercial method of hair washing, i.e. plopping it all on top of your head and getting the 'poo even distributed while tangling. We tend to advocate wetting your hair and then distributing the shampoo to the scalp and length if you want, but the hair more or less stays straight, hanging down. Fewer tangles that way. And CO, while it seems like it won't help your oiliness actually can help to get rid of the excess oil as the condish is a surfactant which helps to break the oil up much like 'poo does - just not as effectively, IOW, it takes longer. When I CO, I plop a goodly size handful of the condish of the day into my hand and work it into my scalp and length, go about my other shower duties while that sits on the ole noggin and then I "wash" my hair with the condish. I would like to point out that these days I'm not picky about what I'm using on my hair - I choose my condish of the day by the smell, so I could be using a 'cone condish one day and a 'cone free the next. I use Suave Daily Clarifying shampoo when I need to clarify or when the scalp has oil buildup. It seems to work.

My method of washing is to smear the poo (I couldn't resist that word combination, sorry) over my palms, sweep my palms back from forehead to nape, and work it gently into my scalp. I don't work the poo down the length of my hair; instead, I let it work it's own way down as I rinse. If I feel like I absolutely must wash the length, I squeeze the lather down the length and then rinse it out. Tangles are rarely my problem and only happen if I leave it down and don't run a brush or comb through it the rest of the day.

Part of the reason why I do like the idea of CO is because I think it would help to eliminate my oiliness, but I'm nervous about the transition period. I suppose I could just leave it up, but even then mine is the type of hair that if it's oily at all, it looks really oily.

I think I will probably try the no-cones method first. That seems a little less of a departure from the norm for me.

[akurah]

1. Water: About how warm or cool do you have the water when you wash your hair? Is hard water particularly damaging in any way?

My hard water leaves a white powdery "film" on EVERYTHING in my shower and even on my dishes. My hair does not seem to suffer in spite of this.


2. Shampoo: out of sheer ignorance, I picked up Herbal Essence's "Long Term Relationship" (and matching conditioner) that is supposedly formulated specifically for long hair. I also bought the leave-in conditioner that is supposed to be good for split ends. Anyone have any opinions on this stuff? I'm undecided but probably because I really don't know any better.

I liked Herbal Essences LTR, but not enough to keep it as my mainstay product. I have no qualms about using it, at any rate. My current products that I use regularly include: Head and Shoulders Sensitive Scalp dandruff shampoo (once every two or three weeks or whenever I feel like it, I do not have dandruff), Generic Value Product Joico K-Pac conditioner, Generic Value Product Biolage Conditioning Balm, Generic Value Product Nexxus Humectress, Suave Coconut conditioner, and Cure Care conditioner. I tend to wash by CO method most of the time, by putting either Suave or Nexxus as the first conditioner, and diluting the K-Pac or the Biolage with the Cure Care as my second conditioner.

When I've used up all this crap, my mainstays will most likely become the Head&Shoulders, Suave, and Joico.


3. Conditioning: I tend to apply conditioner to the lower part of my hair first and the "left overs" to the hair around the head and into the scalp, mainly because I have that mediterranean condition of oily scalp and dry hair. I then use a large-toothed comb to come it all through, very gently. I'm sure this is "ok," but is there a better way to do this that I'm just not aware of?

The method you use to condition your hair sounds fine. If you don't want to, I see no reason why you should feel you have to put any conditioner at all on your scalp hairs. I put conditioner on my scalp, but I also don't give a rat's patootie. ;)


4. Volume: the weight of my hair combined with the fineness seem to kill volume. I try not to use the blow-dryer, and I've resorted to using different products but they seem to always dry out my hair or make it tangly. Does anyone have any tips as to how to promote volume?

When your hair is damp, flip your head over and start a braid at the crown of your head. Let hair dry with said odd-looking braid. When you take your hair down again you'll have impressive root volume.

Welcome to the club.

[Darkhorse1]

I've tried the HErbal Essence Long Term conditioner and found it didn't do much for my ends. However, I'm outdoors a lot and I think the cones help protect my ends. There is a bit of cones in the conditioner, but not as high as in Pantene etc. I've always loved herbal essence's line, and I find their degunkifying shampoo really gentle.

I have to wash my hair due to excess oiliness and due to the fact that I work with horses. :) Gotta get the dirty out! hahaha

[Indigo Girl]

My hair has zero natural volume.

Cassia really plumps up my hair - I usually do a treatment about once every other month.

ACV rinses done with water that's in between cool and cold also help to keep my hair well clarified and not weighed down.

HTH! :flower:

[Jagaliscious]

When your hair is damp, flip your head over and start a braid at the crown of your head. Let hair dry with said odd-looking braid. When you take your hair down again you'll have impressive root volume.

Welcome to the club.

Thank you for all the fabulous insight. I'm going to try this the next time I wash my hair, which will probably be tomorrow night. I washed last night, otherwise I'd do it today.




I've tried the HErbal Essence Long Term conditioner and found it didn't do much for my ends. However, I'm outdoors a lot and I think the cones help protect my ends. There is a bit of cones in the conditioner, but not as high as in Pantene etc.

I've used Pantene only a few times because it made my fine hair WAY too soft and I would end up with all kinds of fly-aways and it would get static-y. I'm sure that's due to all of the cones. I really only need them at the ends of my hair, although my waves make my hair unnecessarily frizzy. I still haven't figured out how to smooth it without putting smoothing products in it that weigh it down.

In my experience, too many cones = flat hair, and not enough cones = tangly hair. And no matter what, I always have frizzies.



My hair has zero natural volume.

Cassia really plumps up my hair - I usually do a treatment about once every other month.

ACV rinses done with water that's in between cool and cold also help to keep my hair well clarified and not weighed down.

HTH! :flower:

I will have to try this. Is there a thread here that talks about cassia treatments specifically and how to apply them?


Thank you all for the great info and knowledge! I'm so grateful for all of your responses and help!

[Elainehali]

Part of the reason why I do like the idea of CO is because I think it would help to eliminate my oiliness, but I'm nervous about the transition period. I suppose I could just leave it up, but even then mine is the type of hair that if it's oily at all, it looks really oily.



When I was considering CO I was also worried about a "transition". I asked about the transition on this site and many people said they didn't have one. I also didn't notice a transition.

[lora410]

1. Water: About how warm or cool do you have the water when you wash your hair? Is hard water particularly damaging in any way? I personally wash with warm and final rinse everytime with cold. It all depends on what you can stand and for hard water it can be harmful since it places mineral deposits on your hair. I have a shower filter in my shower and I love it

2. Shampoo: out of sheer ignorance, I picked up Herbal Essence's "Long Term Relationship" (and matching conditioner) that is supposedly formulated specifically for long hair. I also bought the leave-in conditioner that is supposed to be good for split ends. Anyone have any opinions on this stuff? I'm undecided but probably because I really don't know any better. There are cones which coats the hair and hides damage and splits. So if you see an advertisement saying it fixes splits its a lie. it is just cones coating the hair shaft and if not claigyed regularly can cause buildup and dry your hair. I use non-cone condish always becuase my ends get snarly and my hiar gets stringy. anything that ends with the word cone or with the word sili in it is a cone. we have a thread of cones and no cones in the article section

3. Conditioning: I tend to apply conditioner to the lower part of my hair first and the "left overs" to the hair around the head and into the scalp, mainly because I have that mediterranean condition of oily scalp and dry hair. I then use a large-toothed comb to come it all through, very gently. I'm sure this is "ok," but is there a better way to do this that I'm just not aware of? alot of people comb in teh shower and alot of us don't use brushes. persoanlly everytime I brush I hear snapping so I avoid them. some days I wash and condish and others when my hair needs a boost I use use condish

4. Volume: the weight of my hair combined with the fineness seem to kill volume. I try not to use the blow-dryer, and I've resorted to using different products but they seem to always dry out my hair or make it tangly. Does anyone have any tips as to how to promote volume? This is probably cone buildup. Try a good clarifying shampoo or baking soda water, or baking soda mixed with poo. You may need cone free condish and I got alot more volume by going cone free and my ends rarely tangle

[Anje]

Looks like you've got a lot of good answers here so far. Baby shampoo gets a big "no" for most people, because it's formulated to be gentle on the eyes, not on hair. There are a few people who use it to great success, but the majority of people find it's not good for their hair long-term.

Water: I'm a warm water washer, all the way through. I find it more comfortable, so that's what I do. A cool water rinse might close the scales of the hairs more, leaving it shinier, but it's still cold! Hard water may have a tendency to build up in hair a bit, so if you're concerned you can install a water softer, shower filter, or rinse your hair with diluted vinegar (strengths vary from about 25% vinegar to 10% vinegar solutions, depending on what works and water hardness). Some people also find doing a final rinse with distilled water does wonders for their hair. Other people find that they prefer their hair washed with hard water, and rumor has it that it helps create a piecey look.

Shampoo/Conditioner: I haven't tried out the Long-term Relationship, though if I recall correctly, it contains silicone compounds (ending in -cone or -xane, and thus known as "cones" around here). Because I mainly CO wash, I tend to try to avoid these because they can build up on hair. Of course, if you shampoo regularly buildup shouldn't be much of an issue. Plan on clarifying every few months if your hair gets particularly strange and tangly, though. Cones can also weigh hair down, so they might be affecting your volume. They do have their place, though, in causing hair to be more slippery (and thus less tangled), adding shine, adding weight to fluffy hair, and perhaps in protecting from damage.

Your conditioning routine sounds excellent. Just be very careful on the comb-through. I personally don't comb with conditioner in my hair, but some people find this is the best time to detangle hair.

Concerning promoting volume, I can't give a lot of advice. My hair behaves similarly. I can get a little more volume by fluffing the roots as my hair dries, which also helps get it to dry faster. French braids (I like 2) create some nice waves and make the hair stick out more when combed out. But mostly I wear my hair pulled back and am more concerned about calming the baby hair fluff (oil and/or aloe gel work well), so volume is low-priority.

[burns_erin]

I can't add much to the shampoo conditioner issue, but for volume I do have a suggestion. If I wash my hair before bed, I coil it up like I am going to bun it, then lay it over my pillow as straight up above my head as possible. It gives alot of root lift. Henna also seems to give my hair some body and bounce too, but that is only good if you want red hair. And I will be the millionth person to agree about cones maybe making your hair seem limper.

[Indigo Girl]

I will have to try this. Is there a thread here that talks about cassia treatments specifically and how to apply them?


Yes, there's a cassia thread here:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=406

:bluesmile

[danacc]

Your hair is lovely with thickness all the way down the length, and definitely qualifies as "long"!

You're asking good questions, and getting a lot of good advice. I just have one thing to add:
- Pick one thing to try. Try it for 2 weeks. Keep a log of how your hair reacts and feels. It doesn't have to be elaborate; one-liners are fine. After you know how your hair responds, pick the next thing to try.

This was the most difficult advice for me to follow. I was impatient and wanted to try everything at once. For nearly everything, though, different heads of hair react differently. And you won't know what did or didn't work if you change too many things at the same time. So, soak in the information, but take it slow when incorporating changes.


Welcome to the community!

[Riot Crrl]

Your hair is lovely with thickness all the way down the length, and definitely qualifies as "long"!

You're asking good questions, and getting a lot of good advice. I just have one thing to add:
- Pick one thing to try. Try it for 2 weeks. Keep a log of how your hair reacts and feels. It doesn't have to be elaborate; one-liners are fine. After you know how your hair responds, pick the next thing to try.

This was the most difficult advice for me to follow. I was impatient and wanted to try everything at once. For nearly everything, though, different heads of hair react differently. And you won't know what did or didn't work if you change too many things at the same time. So, soak in the information, but take it slow when incorporating changes.


Welcome to the community!

ME TOO. When I first found internet hair care sites (not this one, as it was down at the time, but naturallycurly.com) I so knew in my head that I should only introduce one new thing at a time, and give it time to see how it was working. This is much easier said than done though. Intellectually I knew it, but it was so hard. I didn't go quite as bananas as some people did when they were new (like multiple different reconstructor packs in one day and stuff) but still, I did more at a time than I should.

Even if you fail at doing this (like I did) you'll eventually mellow out and stop trying so many things in a short time, so don't beat yourself up if you fall prey to changing too many variables at once. Time brings equilibrium.

[Jagaliscious]

Ok, so I have a quick progress report.

I tried two things, but days apart so I could get a real idea as to how well they would work on my hair.

On Thursday, I found some non-cone shampoo that I had on hand: Aussie Volumizing Shampoo. I mixed this with a good amount of baking soda. I washed, let sit for a while and then rinsed. Once I had all of that out of my hair, I used a diluted solution of ACV and rinsed with that. I noticed a slight tackiness and I had read that if the hair turns tacky that it was the ACV attaching itself to whatever buildup is in the hair. So I re-washed with the shampoo and baking soda mixture I had left. I used no conditioner.

I was pleased with the result, but my ends did feel a bit dry. I also had a bit of a halo going on with my new growth, but that could be due to the extra humidity in the air right now.


The second thing I tried, yesterday, was a CO wash with Phytobaume conditioner. To my knowledge, this conditioner doesn't have any cones, but I'm not completely sure of this. Still, I decided to do a CO wash with it, and I was pleased with the result of that too, but I'm noticing that my hair is more oily today, the day after, than normal. I'm not exactly sure what would cause that, so if anyone has any info for me, by all means, dole it out, please.

Suffice it to say that I'm curious to see what a CO wash would be like using one of the conditioners on the cone-free list. I'm also interested in trying one of the clarifying shampoos that was mentioned.

Thanks again for all of the suggestions. I'm very interested in the cassia treatment as well; I actually color my friend's hair with henna regularly but she uses it for color, and I'm obviously interested in a different result.