CurlyCap
December 6th, 2011, 09:31 PM
Hi All.
I'm hoping that you guys can help me trouble shoot. My hair for the last 6 months can only be described as hard/rough/coarse/unpleasant, and I can't figure out why! I'm used to my hair being big, but it's usually big and soft, like a cloud. I want it back!
Timeline of things you should know:
2+ years ago: Co-washed 90% of the time with Humectress or Herbal Essences Hello Hydration. Shampoo'd once a week with Head and Shoulders. Towel dryed and sprayed down with infusium, coated with sillicone serum (Paul Mitchell's Skinny Serum). Damped bunned every night for bed. Hair was SOFT and only needed trimming every 6 months - 1 years.
2 years ago: Diagnosed with tons of adult onset allergies. Shampoos started to make my head itch. Went co-washing 95% of time, still Humectress and Hello Hydration. Shampoo only used (Head and Shoulders) because of extreme flaking during season changes (~4x a year). Damp bunned at night. Infusium and Serum both diluted to avoid irritation and applied lightly. Hair was soft. Scalp was happy.
1 year ago: Co-washed, barely ever shampoo'd. Humectress started not being great. Switched to Hello Hydration, or Garnier Fructis (Dry, Damaged Hair). Skin couldn't tolerate (had rashes) to infusium and serums, so quit using. Damp bunned at night. Hair was soft.
November 2010: Cut hair. Same co-wash routine, just no damp bunning (no hair!). Hair was soft.
Jan-August 2011: Even conditioners started being irritating. Started all natural hair care. No rashes or badness, but hair started breaking from too much protein. Hair was getting hard, but it was tolerable.
Fall 2011: Still haven't found a good replacement conditioner that isn't irritating. Removed all proteins from haircare. Hair quit breaking, but kept getting harder. Commercial conditioners that I can tolerate: Dove Daily Moisture, Garnier Fructisse Triple Nutrition. Co-wash every night. Sleep with hair "down".
Currently, there is no splitting or breaking. The lengths feel coarse though, and the thicker strands look almost crinkled.
Things I've tried in the last few months to get rid of the hardness:
Clarify more frequently: Hair just turned dry
Trim: Removed ends, but the hardness in the length never went away.
Oil-then-co-wash: Scalp liked it, hair is not splitting, but still hard.
SMT: Doesn't really change anything.
Conditioner/masks overnight: No effect
ACV: Removed some hardness. Only been doing for 2 weeks. Helps lengths, but not uniformly. I feel like it's compensating for the grossly hard city water, but not addressing underlying problem that began before I moved to the city.
Oil-Conditioner: 50/50 oil to conditioner. I feel this stopped the hair from getting hard as quickly.
Damp bunning: REALLY helps. Damp bun overnight, take out in the morning, and hair stays soft (moist maybe?) until the next afternoon. My hair is short, though, so this is hard.
Any ideas? Questions to help you ponder recommendations?
The only other thing I think is important to note is that I've found quite a few gray hairs recently, and those are also crinkley. I'm only 28, so I assume they are stress grays+ bad genetics. Sometimes I wonder if the thick crinkly strands could also be pre-gray hairs.
I would appreciate any help! My hair looks good and isn't breaking or splitting, but it feels so gross!
I'm hoping that you guys can help me trouble shoot. My hair for the last 6 months can only be described as hard/rough/coarse/unpleasant, and I can't figure out why! I'm used to my hair being big, but it's usually big and soft, like a cloud. I want it back!
Timeline of things you should know:
2+ years ago: Co-washed 90% of the time with Humectress or Herbal Essences Hello Hydration. Shampoo'd once a week with Head and Shoulders. Towel dryed and sprayed down with infusium, coated with sillicone serum (Paul Mitchell's Skinny Serum). Damped bunned every night for bed. Hair was SOFT and only needed trimming every 6 months - 1 years.
2 years ago: Diagnosed with tons of adult onset allergies. Shampoos started to make my head itch. Went co-washing 95% of time, still Humectress and Hello Hydration. Shampoo only used (Head and Shoulders) because of extreme flaking during season changes (~4x a year). Damp bunned at night. Infusium and Serum both diluted to avoid irritation and applied lightly. Hair was soft. Scalp was happy.
1 year ago: Co-washed, barely ever shampoo'd. Humectress started not being great. Switched to Hello Hydration, or Garnier Fructis (Dry, Damaged Hair). Skin couldn't tolerate (had rashes) to infusium and serums, so quit using. Damp bunned at night. Hair was soft.
November 2010: Cut hair. Same co-wash routine, just no damp bunning (no hair!). Hair was soft.
Jan-August 2011: Even conditioners started being irritating. Started all natural hair care. No rashes or badness, but hair started breaking from too much protein. Hair was getting hard, but it was tolerable.
Fall 2011: Still haven't found a good replacement conditioner that isn't irritating. Removed all proteins from haircare. Hair quit breaking, but kept getting harder. Commercial conditioners that I can tolerate: Dove Daily Moisture, Garnier Fructisse Triple Nutrition. Co-wash every night. Sleep with hair "down".
Currently, there is no splitting or breaking. The lengths feel coarse though, and the thicker strands look almost crinkled.
Things I've tried in the last few months to get rid of the hardness:
Clarify more frequently: Hair just turned dry
Trim: Removed ends, but the hardness in the length never went away.
Oil-then-co-wash: Scalp liked it, hair is not splitting, but still hard.
SMT: Doesn't really change anything.
Conditioner/masks overnight: No effect
ACV: Removed some hardness. Only been doing for 2 weeks. Helps lengths, but not uniformly. I feel like it's compensating for the grossly hard city water, but not addressing underlying problem that began before I moved to the city.
Oil-Conditioner: 50/50 oil to conditioner. I feel this stopped the hair from getting hard as quickly.
Damp bunning: REALLY helps. Damp bun overnight, take out in the morning, and hair stays soft (moist maybe?) until the next afternoon. My hair is short, though, so this is hard.
Any ideas? Questions to help you ponder recommendations?
The only other thing I think is important to note is that I've found quite a few gray hairs recently, and those are also crinkley. I'm only 28, so I assume they are stress grays+ bad genetics. Sometimes I wonder if the thick crinkly strands could also be pre-gray hairs.
I would appreciate any help! My hair looks good and isn't breaking or splitting, but it feels so gross!