Greetings and I Need Help--A lot of it!
Hello lovely ladies! My name is Star. Pleased to meet you! I am a writer by trade so this will be long.
My hair is generally waist-length though due to a current and perhaps majot issue, I snipped off 3 inches this month.)
Okay...I am really, really down right now so please be gentle with me. I have a lot of things going wrong in my life and now my long-standing, trustworthy hair seems to be going awry as well.
I have had long hair since I was 16. When I grew it long, I was always told I should 'sell it' because it is (was) thick, strong, lustrous, wavy, dark brown with auburn highlights (that are from my Irish side). I did have some damage from detangling like an idiot (rip, rip with a seamed afro comb). I have not used a heat styling tool of any kind on it since I was 14 and I have had two perms in my life--both done when I was no older than 13 when I had a bob.
I started using only 100 % natural products on it at 20-ish. I invented an incredible herbal hair rinse and rosemary essential oil and I became devoted lovers. Hehe.
Hair bliss for all these years (I am now 36) though I always end up cutting it before I got it to tailbone length which is wear I still want it but I am worried I am looking at a pixie cut here and for reasons that I don't understand. Every six to eight months, I trim from waist-length to below bustline and repeat cycle (again, this was just done). Still wish for tailbone.
Anyway...Last year, I started getting tangles, ratty bad ones. Awful. No idea why. I had even started sleeping on a satin pillow case before that! I trimmed, moistened and oiled my ends. No improvement. So...I went back to rosemary rinse and this solved the issue--mostly. I then read of a hair rinse in an old standby book of mine and decided to use it--it included rosemary. It worked wonderfully. But I noticed my hair was becoming too silky and weak. After a deep conditioning it was, apparently, overconditioned. Never knew it was possible. I used vinegar (apple cider) to clarify, I did a light protein hair mask (Aubrey--I use Aubrey for everything--or I did--until the skin care lines went to hell) , switched to a light conditioner, cut down washings and stopped said hair rinse--heck all hair rinses. I noticed my hair felt better on days, I skipped washing. I went back to my usual conditioner but then my hair felt overconditioned again. It got better when I went back to lighter conditioner and protein (light)-masked it again but it has never felt the same since. It is 6 months later. It still feels a bit mushy. Not the same. We women know our hair, yes we do. I cut down on washings but it made my hair oily--very. I waited it out and it got so bad, I was getting a film on my hair. I clarified with vinegar maybe too much....once a week or every two weeks. Little split ends until lately--now I am seeing white dots and am hearing breakage.
For a few months weekly, or bi-weekly--I would use Aubrey's Blue Green Algae Hair Mask. I used vinegar every 2-4 weeks (shoot used to use it all the time when my hair was at its best). I did use a clarifying shampoo (Calagula Fern) by Aubrey recently (and it seems to have dried the heck out of my hair). On top of that, for some reason a mix of rosemary and white camellia oil applied to my hair made it crispy and crinkly. It makes crunching sounds--'tis truly awful. This is something I have been doing for awhile with nice results. I had got out of practice for months. Two times for a couple hours before shampooing and my hair is crunching.
I did the wet strand test to check elasticity. Bad results when always they were fabulous. My hair stretches like bubble gum and then remains that way, yet wrinkled, crimped and jagged. I am a long time vegan who has always been well-nourished (until lately, will get to that) and have been reluctant to use Aubrey's "GPB" so I did. First time, lovely. Second time, so-so. Third time and last time, my hair felt like wire and it still feels that way. It is more crinkly and now it is dry. I did use it in combination with a sample of the, "GPB Rosemary Peppermint Shampoo (probably drying out my hair further). So basically my hair feels overconditioned underneath but like straw on the surface (for now anyway--am hoping to get the hydration back by washing once a week with "Aubrey's baby shampoo and using same light conditioner). Ladies, imagine a toasted marshmallow--that is about how my hair feels today.
I called a holistic hairdresser, wondering if she could do anything for me and my hair. When I described my hair to her, she immediately asked me if I had chemically-processed my hair or if I used heat styling tools. No, of course and not for 20 odd years. i told her what i was using, what I had been doing and she did not think anything I have been doing could be causing this. She thinks it is internal more than anything and I have blood work to be done next week. I have been eating little due to severe depression (my hair going to hell is not helping as yuo can well imagine!) and started working out again with more gusto. I am seeing muscle and then realised I have been a bad, irresponsible vegan--not eating much, so am missing out on my iron and my protein shakes. That muscle is probably coming from the protein in my hair, my skin and nails too (those are also having issues by the way). Said nice hairdresser said she could only deep condition me and that i should not cut it all off--yet. I would rather jump from a high bridge than have to! Do I belong here or what? Haha.
On top of it all, my hair is knotting and tangling but badly which is going to mean more damage, more breakage. My hair tangles as soon as I have detangled it and when my tangling issues had ebbed. I have come full-circle and in a bad way here.
My hair--for now--still looks nice. Shiny and for some reason, is curling and waving like mad through all this.
My hair feels fragile to the maximum--like it has NO strength. Zilch. It feels a little more moist and less tangly since I used "Nustyle" by Aubrey for the first time today but now it feels too soft--like feathers--that is no good either. I cannot win.
My usual shampoos are Mr. Hamptons "Chamomile Luxurious Volumizing," "Blue Chamomile Hydrating" and my son,s "Natural Kids--Baby" one. I alternate between those though I recently bought the J.A.Y. which used to by my favourite but I gave it up years ago when they changed the formula and so have not tried it since. For now, I am just stiicing with the "Baby" one since it is ph-neutral. I always used the, "Island Naturals" or more often the, "Swimmer;'s" though I do not swim in chlorinated water but after the overconditioning, I went to the, "Chamomile Volumizing" for its lightness, yet moisturizing properties.
I finger comb, use a wide toothed comb and afro comb (detangle with it with conditioner in my hair in shower). I use a boar bristle brush gently once a day and just to smoothe my hair out. I am using it less now that this latest travesty has happened. I used to wash my hair daily. I cut down to five days a week. Then 3. The tangles seem to be the wrose for it. Now, the hairdresser tells me to look at only one or two days a week.
I am really worried. I never knew hair could feel like 'this'.
Please help...I will biy you all gifts from, "Amazon" if you do (hey, I have been known to do this before for people who have helped me ona whim--I am not rich so price does apply! Haha).
Peace, blessings and love to you all.
~Star~
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks