Trouble shooting. AO Honeysuckle Rose.

[Mairéad]

I decided to try this miracle conditioner. The scent is awesome and the ingredients are ideal with my hair needs and desire to use more natural products. So I'm really trying to make this a winner.

The first time I used it was pretty good. My hair was soft but it didn't feel quite the same as other conditioners I've used since most of the -cone free stuff I used from the drugstore still made my hair feel -coney. *cough Tresemme Naturals*

I used it again tonight and now my hair just feels coated and sticky. Is there a trick to this conditioner? Extra rinsing. Diluting. A magic amount. An ACV or lemon rinse.

Please and thank you! :)

[Vanilla]

What kind of shampoo are you using? I find AO honeysuckle rose can really build up on my hair. I use the AO volumizing chamomile shampoo which is clarifying in conjunction with AO honeysuckle rose, and it seems to keep the build up at bay.

[Mairéad]

I CO. I use just a cheap-y like Suave conditioner to wash my hair and put AOHR on my ends. Once every few weeks or so I use Suave Clarifying and if I need chelating I use Kenra Clarifying and Chelating. Thing is I just clarified last wash.

[Vanilla]

Hmmm. I don't really know why you would be having problems after clarifying to be honest. The only other tip is that I alternate AO honeysuckle rose with a lighter conditioner every other wash, maybe that might help?

[HintOfMint]

I've had this same problem with a Body Shop conditioner--beautiful scent but it built up like the dickens in my hair unless it was on freshly clarified hair.

I never did quite figure out how to doctor it to make it better while still keeping the scent.

Maybe it could be a once-in-a-while conditioner? Sorry I don't have much advice, but you have my sympathies.

[swearnsue]

I use the AO Honeysuckle Rose conditioner about every third wash. I shampoo in a traditional way but with diluted shampoo often twice. This conditioner would be too much if used too often but wonderful when used when hair starts to get dry or after a henna. I always rinse with ACV but don't know if that makes a difference regarding buildup. Also be sure to shake the bottle well before using.

[Mairéad]

Hmm, I guess the general consensus is this should be my after clarify conditioner and that a second one for normal use might be needed. I'll continue to tinker a little with my technique as I don't like to keep too many products around, but I will search for a second one in the meantime in case it's just way too heavy for consistent use. :o

[Kristin]

Some people also water it down. I just put it on the last 3-4 inches, and even that I do pretty infrequently.

[BrightStarPoet]

I CO, and I used Aubrey Organics White Camellia Smoothing conditioner for this a couple of times. I totally experienced the same hair "symptoms" as you. I think that the White Camellia conditioner may be bit heavier than the Honeysuckle Rose, but the results were the same. My hair was soft, but was so coated/wax-like that my scalp and length looked really greasy (though my hair was, in fact, clean).

I rinsed and rinsed. Then rinsed again. And again. Then one more time. Seriously. I finally had to wash it out with an Aussie shampoo with SLS.

I think that a diluted amount of this conditioner would work well as a second conditioner after an initial CO. Or maybe even a super tiny amount (diluted) could work as a leave in?

[amantha]

I have the AO Honeysuckle Rose conditioner and I'm not super impressed with it. First, I don't know if it's just mine, but it just smells really weird to me....like cleaning products? I love honeysuckle and rose scents, but it smells like neither of those IMO. Also, I find that it doesn't really provide much slip when I'm trying to finger comb my tangles out in the shower.....but then after my hair is dry it still manages to weigh my hair down too much and kill my waves and make my hair look kind of stringy. I think because it gives barely any slip I end up using kind of a lot of it just to get my fingers through my hair...so maybe that's why my hair gets weighed down. But even in the shower I don't find it very moisturizing either. I don't know if it's my water around here (I live in Pennsylvania so I think we have very hard water. But I also live in a city and get city water so I don't think it would be too hard?).

So I'm with you Mairead. I don't really know what I'm doing wrong but I don't understand the hype around this conditioner. I'm going to keep an eye on this thread though because I'd like to see if someone has any tips that would make this conditioner work for me. For right now I'm just going to keep it on rotation with my other cone-free conditioners that I like better, just to use it up.