Scalp is oily, ends are dry

[LauraLongLocks]

I think I've finally come to realize that my skin is oily, including my scalp. I went to an esthetician and had a skin analysis and facial, and she told me my skin was oily. All these years I thought I had normal skin, because my skin isn't as oily as my husband's. His is really, really oily. Anyway, since I started taking care of my facial skin as though it is oily skin, I am having a lot fewer breakouts, and my pores seem smaller. I have fresher, dewy-looking skin, too.

I digress. Discovering that my skin is oily made me evaluate my wash routine. Prior to LHC, I was CWCing every other day, sometimes going every 3rd day. I used whatever SLS/SLES shampoo the hairdressers recommended (and they never recommended one that was affordable or that helped my scalp and hair). When I got here, I decided to give co-washing a try. I did fine with co-washing at first, but after a while, my scalp really got angry. I got tons of sore pimples in my scalp, and my hair was lank and limp the same day that I washed. So, I went back to shampooing once a week and co-washing 2-3 times between. I managed to cut that to one co-wash between shampoos for a while, but again, my scalp got very angry. Finally, I decided I would switch to sulfate-free shampoos and shampoo twice a week instead of co-washing. It still isn't cutting through the oil enough for me, and I am getting pimples in my scalp and my hair is lank the day after shampooing. I have several sulfate-free shampoos to try, but I've already decided against a few of them. Maybe I'll have to go to SLES shampoo twice a week to keep my scalp happy. Using a shampoo with SLS and SLES once a week was too drying on my length, even though my scalp seemed very happy with it. So maybe one with only SLES will work. I have a few more sulfate-free ones to try before I go back to SLES.

So, I'm still trying to figure out what works for my scalp, and meanwhile I'm learning that my length and ends respond best to moisture-rich conditioning, and lots of it. I have the least number of splits when I pre-poo oil my length, and follow every shampoo with a deep moisture conditioning treatment (careful not to get any of it on my scalp).

My boar bristle brushing seems to be helping both my scalp and my length. My scalp feels cleaner/free of debris (though not necessarily less oily) and my length feels softer/smoother/shinier. I have to wash my brush at least twice a week, sometimes more often, because of lint and oil from my scalp building up in it.

Is anyone else having a major conflict between what their scalp needs versus what their length needs? I'm beginning to think that I need to choose my cleansing to make my scalp happy and do the best I can with conditioning to make up for it.

[Nadine <3]

Yup. I have a really oily scalp as well as SD, so as soon as I start getting a bit of an oily scalp I need to wash it or my scalp gets ANGRY, and I have to use sulfates to clean it well. CO made me shed buckets, sulfate free made my scalp burn (not all of them, but after the scalp burning-hair falling out I wasn't willing to try a different one...) I have to wash every 2-3 days with sulfates and I have to really work to keep my hair happy. Loads of deep treatments and oiling. I wish I could make BB brushing work for me, but I find my number of splits and breakage increase when I do it (despite following instructions to a T and carefully detangling before I start) I feel like my ends could really benifit from the oils being spread down the length but oh well. Sometimes I rub my braid tassel on my forehead if it feels dry and I haven't washed my face yet Ha...yeah I'm gross.

[Nique1202]

I definitely have the scalp vs length issue. My scalp gets quite greasy-waxy from my thick sebum, but my ends dry out because I have such non-porous hair, they won't take any oil or moisture in. Oil sits between my strands rather than soaking into them, and it rubs off onto anything else really quickly.

I use a sulfate-rich shampoo at every wash, massaging my scalp and roots as if I were using CO but ignoring the rest entirely. Yes, some of the shampoo washes and dries out the canopy, but focusing on cleansing the scalp is almost as good as a scalp-only wash and better in some ways because it's less fuss than keeping a braid or bun out of the water and suds.

I alternate between a cone-y rinse-out conditioner on everything below the shoulders and gently spread across the canopy on top for one wash, and an extra-moisturizing cone-free leave in on every part of my hair that's more than 3-4 inches away from my scalp for my next wash. I also oil everything more than 3-4 inches away from the scalp on washday, and throughout the week whenever I start to notice tangles when I run my fingers through it to re-do my buns.

[lapushka]

Is anyone else having a major conflict between what their scalp needs versus what their length needs? I'm beginning to think that I need to choose my cleansing to make my scalp happy and do the best I can with conditioning to make up for it.

Yes, oily here too, and understanding every bit of it! I normally need washes 2 to 3 times a week, but in these last years I've managed to stretch to a week. Only if I use a harsh sulfate shampoo, though, and the harshest I can find on the market (Pantene, Herbal Essences). To my knowledge those are the toughest ones out there (someone please correct me if I'm wrong). If I stretch longer the SD is just around the corner (red, itchy, sore, pimply, scaly). So no, I don't stretch further, and 7 days is cutting it close. So sometimes I get bouts of SD, and in that case only Nizoral helps.

Because the shampoo dries my hair (lengths) out so bad, I condition twice, yes WCC is my routine, has been for years. Any deep conditioner would do as well, but it would have to be a thick, moisturizing one (and even that can be used twice). Only the lengths are coated with conditioner. Nothing on the scalp, that would only make it more oily. I also avoid most shampoos with silicones, and for that same reason.

[Wosie]

Indeed, I have the very same problem! I have an aggressive form of mixed atopic eczema and SD on my scalp and I have to use strong shampoo on it regularly (every 2-4 days), otherwise my scalp goes bonkers and woundy and weepy and hair lossy (my scalp is still not perfectly happy with my current routine, but it's at least better).

I used to do CO for a couple of months and my hair kept getting shinier and shinier and I was so happy that I overlooked how bad my scalp was getting. DBF tried to persuade me to quit it, but I just couldn't, seeing how awesome it made my hair look!
In the end I had to get a grip, though, and currently I'm switching up between Head & Shoulders (for dry scalps) and Ketoconazol (Swedish Nizoral... not using it as often as the H&S, maybe once or twice a month) and doing a CWC wash. I honestly think I have to use even more moisture in my routine, though, what I'm doing now doesn't cut it. Maybe a cWCC?

It worries me to see my poofy, floofy, dry length accompanied with an oily first few inches. The first few inches of hair is stealing all the oil from the rest of the hair, that greedy bugger!
I heavily oiled my length with coconut oil and castor oil right before I read this thread, as I'm getting worried about my poor length. I will be following this thread!

[Johannah]

I'm having the exact same problem. My ends want washing once a week, my scalp twice a week. If I was my hair once a week, my scalp gets extremely oily. If I wash my hair twice a week, my ends get dry. I'm trying to cover this now with washing once a week with SLS and condish, and do one scalp-wash in between.

[Knifegill]

I can't use warm or hot water (or soap/shampoo) of any kind without my face and scalp instantly turning into an oil slick (srsly like 12 hours or less). So I wash with cool or icy water (ACV often as well for hair) and my skin and scalp stay super dry and clean, maybe a little flaking from dryness (I'll take it, good trade!) for at least 3 days. So I vote for cold water.

A lot of the same "foods" that cause me to get zits also cause greasiness, I've listed them elsewhere, but - trans fat, hydrogenated anything, soybean oil, corn oil, any other rancid, oxidized man-made oil - will do the trick.

Green tea helps a ton, too, in my case. It's probably different for everybody.

[yogagirl]

It's a fine balancing act for me as well, when to wash, with which shampoo, and how.

What works for me currently is washing every 3-4 days and alternating between WC with a mild (I think?) shampoo and WCW of sorts (where first W is with mild shampoo, then cover hair with C, then wash scalp with H&S 2in1).

The alternating between WC and WCW is not set in stone though. If my scalp is itchy or even develops the dreaded sore bumps, I will use H&S no matter what.

For the dry hair itself, I damp bun for 2 hrs, then leave-in, then air dry in layers to be my scalp dry in a reasonably quick time. Damp bunning and leave-in really work wonders to me.

[Sharysa]

Oily scalp and dry length here! It's partly because my hair's wavy and partly because my hair's thick (nearly four inches in a ponytail). I can't go more than four days without a hair-wash because that's when my scalp gets CRAZY itchy.

One thing that really helps is technique: Shampoo the scalp only, and then condition the length. I use Mixed Chicks leave-in conditioner from the nape down as well as almond oil to seal it in. Every week (meaning every other wash, for me) or whenever it feels really icky/heavy, I shampoo the length as well to get rid of excess stuff.

[meteor]

I think it's totally normal for length/ends to be significantly drier than scalp: after all, that's where the sebum comes from. It's even more of an issue if long hair is curly/wavy (curl pattern makes it harder for sebum to travel down), extra-thick or if the ends have accumulated lots of damage (bleach, heat, sun, etc).

What helps me is using 10 times as much conditioner as shampoo (applied shoulders down only), oils/serums on ends, scalp-only washes and using SLES shampoos (SLS/SLES-free results in scalp that feels oily sooner).