Looking for a new hair routine. Possible low porosity and doesn't like coconut oil.

[Enrapture]

Hello everyone!

I just had all my dry ends cut and i'm looking for a new routine, as the previous routine apparently wasn't working out.

I think that my hair is low porosity and doesn't like coconut oil - coconut oil sits on hair, doesn't feel like it is penetrating and when washing it off, hair isn't soft, feels dry and limp. Hair takes forever to dry and on the hair porosity strand test my hair squeaks.
My old routine: Wash with a sulfate free shampoo (Dermorganic) and condition (dermorganic masque). Did weekly coconut oil treatments.
I will be trying out shampoo bars from sweet creeks herbals soaps.

So my question is:
How do I condition it? The only penetrating oil my hair doesn't like and there's no use of using other oils. My hair ends tend to get dry very quickly after a trim, so I want to keep it moisturized.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[AmberJewel]

My hair is fine and has low porosity. Dry ends are definitely a problem for me as well. CO washing twice a week seems to help a little, and I'm looking at trying WO. I've also tried mixing coconut and olive oil and only applying a tiny bit to my ends. Not the whole length. I normally apply it a day after washing and keep the hair up and protected as much as possible.

Hope this helps.

[Anje]

Are you ruling out normal conditioner? It does a lot of things that oils don't. My personal preference for my hair is conditioners that are mainly lightly moisturizing, with no silicone or protein ingredients (as I find both drying, but that varies from person to person). My hair is very pro-humectants.

[Enrapture]

AmberJewel I've tried CO washing, but i stopped, because the only silicone free conditioner's smell I couldn't stand. I think I should maybe try to co-wash once a week.

Anje well, I'm using the Dermorganic Masque as a conditioner, because it doesn't feel like a deep conditioner for me, but it contains protein, i don't know whether my hair likes it or not.

[battles]

My hair also hates protein and coconut oil, and dry ends are a huge issue for me.

I normally use Cocoa Pink Princess Poo and Shine+ Conditioner twice a week and then SMT when I have the time. I aim for once a week.

I usually wear my hair up, and I use Nightblooming's Freya hair salve on my ends after washing and usually put it straight up.

[jupiterinleo]

I have very similar hair properties to yours (also isn't into coconut oil and is low porosity) and I've recently dived back into shampoo bars. My hair seems to like it a lot, although it would like it even better if I hadn't moved to a place with harder water than last time I used shampoo bars. Sulfate-free shampoos worked well for me, too. My hair was wonderful if I did a light pre-poo oiling (olive or jojoba oil), used a generic Whole Foods sulfate-free shampoo, and used a conditioner that I put olive oil into. I also avoided oiling my hair while it was dry; that often led to build-up.

Note: I only switched routines because I wanted to stretch my washes to 1x per week which I could not do with any type of regular shampoo, even sulfate-free.

[Firefox7275]

The DIY porosity tests are junk science. Look at how your hair behaves, eg. how easily it wets down and how fast it dries. Coconut is not the only penetrating oil, anything rich in oleic acid (olive, argan, sweet almond) can also penetrate as can other small molecule fatty acids such as capric/ caprylic triglycerides (in some Tresemme Naturals and fractionated coconut oil). If all your length is truly low porosity you arguably have no need for penetrating oils anyway.

Conditioning is really about coating the surface, primarily using the major emollients (fatty alcohols, cationic surfactants). Oils alone are not conditioning as such. Many rinse off conditioners can successfully be used as a leave in to protect older/ damaged ends.

[Charybdis]

When the air is a bit dry, I like to use a few drops of mineral oil (baby oil) on my damp hair post-shower (and after applying any other leave-ins) to "seal" in the moisture and keep it from evaporating as quickly. I smear the mineral oil on my hands so that they're a bit greasy, and then run them over the ends. Because the mineral oil is a petroleum product, it makes a better moisture barrier than plant oils; it also helps give a bit of slip to cut down on friction. HTH!

[Kimberly]

I don't use conditioner, and rarely use a pre-wash on the ends of CO or Panacea. What I usually do is manage my natural oils. If the ends seem dry, I rub them on the oiliest part of my face (usually my nose) until they are silky. If it's a couple days since washing, I brush to spread the oils to the ends. And if my ends are really, really dry and being a problem, I stop washing them (just the ends, I still wash the rest) until they are okay again, which usually only takes one or two washes. Once in a while, I give myself a sort of deep treatment by stretching a wash and keeping it bunned to hide it until it's all too slimy to stand. When I wash after that, my hair is like silk, usually for weeks.

I haven't found anything in a bottle that compares to my natural oils, and it's sure an inexpensive hair experiment to try! All I use regularly now are CV bars and ACV.

[Firefox7275]

You might like the Sciencey Hairblog artificial sebum recipe.