Can you help me? Moving to another country and hair acting wierd...

[AndreaPetrea]

Hi all you lovely people!

I need some fast advice from you :o I have recently moved to Germany. The first week my parents were here and I stayed with them in their caravan. I washed my hair with my normal CO-conditioner, but I applied it to dry hair instead of wet to save money (five minutes of hot water = 2 Euros). It worked great!

Then I moved to my apartment and since it has been like this:

1) Washed my hair with my normal conditioner applied to dry hair. Seemed OK.

2) Ran out of conditioner, couldn't find my normal one in the shop, found something called "Garnier Natural Beauty" without cones but with Quaternium-80. Applied it to dry hair... Didn't work. My hair didn't feel clean.

3) Washed with my sulfate free shampoo. Hair felt better but still not totally clean.

4) Still couldn't find any of the conditioners I normally use, bought Garnier Purer Glanz. Applied it to wet hair yesterday and let it dry overnight. And today my hair is so waxy and doesn't feel or look clean. It's SO annoying! I thought about wearing a sign saying "I DID wash my hair".

Now I don't know what to do. Should I CO-wash again? Wash with sulfate shampoo? Sulfate free? I don't know what the problem is, but I've experiencing it before when I have been to other countries or even just other cities. When I was in Berlin last summer the thing solving the problem was a good amount of rain water. That makes me think that the water was hard, but the water I'm used to in Denmark is also quite hard?

I seriously don't have time for washing my hair tonight (it's 22.25 where I am), but I have even less time tomorrow morning. I don't have time for anything at the moment, barely eating, so this is just... :justy:

[Siiri]

I suspect it's something in the water.

Here is a site I found, if you're in Dusseldorf now, the water definitely is hard: http://www.swd-ag.de/privatkunden/wasser/trinkwasseranalyse.php

Maybe try a citric acid rinse or miracle water rinse (citric acid and vitamin C)? Miracle water: http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=51184

[AndreaPetrea]

Thank you for your help! It's interesting with the water - here is the page from my hometown, it looks like the water there is harder? http://www.biv.dk/VandKvaliRentvand.asp (it's in Danish, but if I remember correctly you understand Danish?)

I will try the citric acid rinse - or maybe ACV?

I will go to bed now and wash my hair tomorrow morning, maybe with SLeS shampoo then.

[lapushka]

I'd try and get familiar with the products in Germany some more to even see if there is a conditioner good for CO-washing. Take your time with that, as it's going to be fairly different, I suspect. Maybe there are people from Germany here who can help? :)

[pepperminttea]

I'd try and get familiar with the products in Germany some more to even see if there is a conditioner good for CO-washing. Take your time with that, as it's going to be fairly different, I suspect. Maybe there are people from Germany here who can help? :)

Agreed. :) If you can speak German, I bet the folks over at Langhaarnetzwerk (http://www.langhaarnetzwerk.de/phpBB2/) would have some suggestions.

[papera]

Hey :)

A German here living in Ireland, but I still know some great products in Germany ;)

I've no experience at all with difference of water etc, as so far I have only noted changes of humidity in my hair. Here in Ireland the weather is quite humid and in Germany (South) it's rather dry, so I feel that impact on my hair ...

Anyways, I would check the no cones range (not sure about SLS though ...) in DM Markt or Rossmann, here are the links:

DM Markt: http://www.dm.de/cms/servlet/segment/de_homepage/alverde_home/alverde_produkte/produkte_haarpflegeundstyling/

Rossmann: http://www.rossmann.de/qualitaetsmarke/alterra/haar.html

If you need help with the translation of the above let me know. I will be without internet for a couple of days though from Wednesday onwards, so I won't be able to answer any questions in that time, but I'm happy to reply to you afterwards :)

I don't know your hair and hair care routine, but if the above products are not working for you, you can also check in health stores, in Germany we call them "Reformhaus". The products there are more expensive, but usually have a better quality, even though personally I am quite happy with products from Rossmann. Or, you just order what you need through the internet.

There is also a German version of the LHC and the galls there are quite helpful too :) depending on your German skills it might be helpful to check it out: http://www.langhaarnetzwerk.de/phpBB2/

Good luck! :blossom:

[Audrey Horne]

My hair was terrible in Germany, the water is hard as a rock! Use some acids, it should make it a bit better. I wish I knew it back then....
as for CO washing I know that DM and Rossmann (didn't try theirs) are mostly used. Alverde is super thick, though, so you have to dilute it. I tried also Balea Apricot Milk which was better for CO but made my hair gooey. But CO isn't my thing, in general.
I think you might try lemon juice rinse too. I find it to be more cleansing. Let me know if it works because I have to visit some hard-water-places this year! *already terrified*

[caiti42]

I moved interstate and can no longer co wash at all. I couldn't find any products at all that would work for me after the water change.

Good luck I really hope you find something that works for you.

[AndreaPetrea]

Thank you all for your replies :-)

Actually, I did find my regular conditioner yesterday in a Rossmann shop, but there was a queue and I didn't have time for that :laugh: (on a site note: Rossmann carries Tangle Teezers!) I will buy it as soon as I can and see how it will work here.

Thank you for the links to Langhaarnetzwerk! I lurk there a little, but my German isn't very good yet (it has to get better the next months, though, or I will not be fully enrolled to the academy here).

Today I washed my hair with my SLeS shampoo and finished with a sample of Kerastase Cristalliste - only cone in that is amodimethicone [ETA: It also contains Lauryl PEG/PPG Methicone]- that I got from my hair dresser. Ahh, clean and soft hair again! But I really don't want to go back to harsh shampoo again. My hair is too fragile.

papera, thank you, that is so nice of you :) I will send you a message if there's something I don't understand. By the way, I found L'oreal EverPure here - it's without sulfates, yay! I don't think I've seen it in Denmark.

Audrey Horne, thank you for your suggestions and uh-oh... Doesn't sound promising. I was wondering about the lemon juice - if that could be used as a citric acid rinse? I will try! And I will let you know how it turns out. And I'm really sorry about not answering your message, I'm crazy busy at the moment :(

caiti42, that is my fear... I really hope that I will not have to give up on CO! And thank you :)

[Audrey Horne]

Thank you all for your replies :-)


Audrey Horne, thank you for your suggestions and uh-oh... Doesn't sound promising. I was wondering about the lemon juice - if that could be used as a citric acid rinse? I will try! And I will let you know how it turns out. And I'm really sorry about not answering your message, I'm crazy busy at the moment :(
Ah don't worry about not replying every single message :D it doesn't matter.
give a go with citric acid, just don't over do. But the hair will shine like a star! At least I hope it will :)

[AndreaPetrea]

Ah don't worry about not replying every single message :D it doesn't matter.
give a go with citric acid, just don't over do. But the hair will shine like a star! At least I hope it will :)

I hope so too :D Actually, the LHC grown hair is already quite shiny (sometimes VERY shiny). That's a big reason why I really don't want to go back to normal shampoo and conditioner. My hair is much healthier now.

[Audrey Horne]

I hope so too :D Actually, the LHC grown hair is already quite shiny (sometimes VERY shiny). That's a big reason why I really don't want to go back to normal shampoo and conditioner. My hair is much healthier now.

:cheer: you don't have to go back to it if your hair doesn't like it.
and I always hope for more shine :D greedy.

[Rilig]

I find Garnier products to be very waxy. That could be the problem.

[AndreaPetrea]

:cheer: you don't have to go back to it if your hair doesn't like it.
and I always hope for more shine :D greedy.

I'm also greedy - I will not stop wanting more shine until I can use my hair as a mirror :-D


I find Garnier products to be very waxy. That could be the problem.

I think you might be right. I bought my normal Elvital conditioner and washed my hair with it, and is was much better. I'll see if it will continue working.
Thank you for your help :-)

[AndreaPetrea]

I'm also greedy - I will not stop wanting more shine until I can use my hair as a mirror :-D



I think you might be right. I bought my normal Elvital conditioner and washed my hair with it, and is was much better. I'll see if it will continue working.
Thank you for your help :-)

Ok, so the conditioner was only part of the problem. I didn't know where to look for citric acid, but I have now bought lemon juice. So how is it - I read something about 1 tablespoon of lemon juice for each cup of water..?

[Lize]

I think it might be the Quaternium-80. I once used a conditioner containing it and my hair turned out awful! I asked on the boards and someone said that Quaterniums with numbers that high are similar to silicones in covering the hair and on being water soluble. Maybe try to wash with and SLS/SLES shampoo and see if it turns out better and then try to CO with another conditioner?

[AndreaPetrea]

I think it might be the Quaternium-80. I once used a conditioner containing it and my hair turned out awful! I asked on the boards and someone said that Quaterniums with numbers that high are similar to silicones in covering the hair and on being water soluble. Maybe try to wash with and SLS/SLES shampoo and see if it turns out better and then try to CO with another conditioner?

I'm afraid I already tried that :( My hair was fine after the SLES shampoo, but when I CO-washed again it went back to being strange. Well, better, so I now avoid the Quanterniums, but still not good.