I need advice on whether or not a pre-shampoo oil treatment...

[Epie]

is right for me! So my hair is definitely type 2A. The individual strands vary in texture. They are neither really coarse, nor fine so I consider myself an M here. As for volume - I would wager a ii. It is not thin, but not super thick either. My pony tails are on the smaller side. Nevertheless, after every single wash, I have the annoying overly light, poof hair. On my Sunday washes, I deep condition, but not even that helps. On my Wednesday washes, I apply hair oil to the shafts and ends of my hair and that helps somewhat, but the poof and lack of weight is still annoying.

I'd shampoo less than 2 days a week, but my scalp becomes so grossly oily on day three without a wash. Any suggestions? Would switching my oil application to a treatment before a shampoo and regular conditioning help? And how could I modify my deep conditioning on Sundays so that it does not weigh my hair down, but gives it more weight and body? I leave the deep conditioner in for 10 minutes - sometimes a little more. Would a pre-shampoo on these days also help?

Any suggestions would be very appreciated. Here is my current routine in detail for those who want to make suggestions:

For the cold/cooler months:

Sunday: Shampoo with Hask Chia Seed volumizing shampoo. Condition with Hask Chia Seed volumizing conditioner for five minutes. Deep condition with Hask Keratin deep conditioner for ten minutes.

Wednesday: Shampoo with Hask Chia Seed volumizing shampoo. Condition with Hask Chia Seed volumizing conditioner for five minutes. After the shower, apply Hask Monoi coconut oil to the shafts and ends of the hair.

- Between washes I use Batiste dry shampoo if the scalp gets oily ( during the three days between a Wednesday and Sunday it gets so oily). I'll spritz a leave-in spray-on conditioner onto the ends if the dry shampoo is a bit drying, too.

- Once a month on a Sunday I use Suave Daily Clarifying shampoo to strip out any product build up. Then I follow up with Hask Keratin deep conditioner.

I no longer use styling products.

Thanks in advance ladies!

[lapushka]

Poofy hair happens to all of us after wash day. The only thing that *helps* is keeping it well-moisturized, but there's a fine balance between poof & weighed down hair. You could try the CWC or WCC methods (the thread to the latter is in my signature and the former thread is currently floating around).

Some people can't stretch washes, and that's okay too.

[spidermom]

I have very floaty hair after a wash. It looks like every hair takes off toward the sky in its own trajectory. No lie! I rely on product to weigh it down - styling gel or curl creme.

[hayheadsbird]

I can second cwc, but my hair behaves differently to yours.

[Anje]

It might be worth a try, but I was never impressed by the effects of oiling before shampooing on my own hair, which is a fairly similar type to yours.

Have you tried CO washing? It's not for everyone, but if you have a scalp that reacts to dryness from shampoo by making more oil (my face is also "combination" and quite like that), going to a milder wash method means that your oil production will drop within a couple weeks. Also, CO washing means far less "poofiness" to the hair. Failing that (or with a scalp that doesn't like CO, which is pretty common), it's worth trying to wash only at the roots. In my case, the easy way of doing this was to dilute my shampoo drastically (like 10:1) in a spare bottle, then just squirt the watery shampoo directly at my scalp. It distributed the shampoo better on my scalp and allowed me to concentrate on washing there without moving my hair around much to move the suds. Every few weeks, I'd bring the shampoo down my length, just to make sure that was clean. But washing scalp-only also reduces the clean floatiness of hair.

[mizukitty]

The shampoo you are using by Hask contains quite a bit of sodium C14-16 olefin sulfonate, which is a really powerful cleansing agent. It's kind of on par with sulfates, to be honest. I have the Hask moisture something with it, and the poof after it is UNREAL. Extremely dry ends too. It's definitely not a gentle shampoo. Something with cocamidopropyl betaine is a gentler option, but you can also dilute it (I definitely do when I use it)

Sciency hair blog recommends this ingredient for tons of silicone build up as it removes them extremely well (it bonds better IIRC), but the link is escaping me right now. I can dig it up if you really want.

Also the term "volumizing" in shampoo basically suggests it's going to strip the daylights out of your hair. Build up, oils, *maybe* minerals, but generally volume in the cosmetic industry is associated with "lightness" in the hair, ie, nothing to weigh it down.

Pre poo oiling can be a great addition to anyone's routine, just don't slather so much onto your hair that you need a ton of shampoo to remove it. Glide a pea size over sections of your hair so you can see it. But any more than that in my own experience isn't beneficial (just annoying) Some love to apply a ton and find it works better, but that's something you kinda have to experiment with.

Co washing if your scalp likes it is a great option for frequent hair washers. I do this between shampoos to retain some moisture and love it.

[Epie]

Wow - you guys all have really great advice. Thank you. I am going to sift through all of it and try each method one at a time with a few weeks in between each. Oh and mizikitty, I totally understand what you are saying. I tend to go for slightly stronger cleansing agents and volumizing shampoos because on the flip side if I use overly moisturizing shampoos, my hair then becomes overly weighed down and just gross. I have that strange in-between hair. So I definitely need at least a weekly shampoo and condition with my regular Hask products.

Honestly, the method that sounds most appealing to me right now is co-washing. I remember in the past trying to use a pre-shampoo and my hair was just like: HAHA nope. I was, however, under the impression that co-washing is only for people with extremely thick, super coarse hair. Have I been misled? Is someone with my type of hair a good candidate for co-washing? I am guessing a nice light, but still moisturizing co-wash would be a good option. Does that even exist? Ugh, this would be easier is my hair was firmly in the thick coarse, curly or the fine, stick straight category. >_<

Basically I need a solid balance of nice volume but weight and body.

[meteor]

I'd definitely give it a whirl, if you haven't yet tried it.
The study "Effect of mineral oil, sunflower oil and coconut oil on prevention of hair damage" (http://journal.scconline.org/pdf/cc2...175-p00192.pdf) showed that coconut oil pre-wash (0.2 ml of oil per tress (each tress ~ 3 +/-0.5 gr) applied for 14 hours) dramatically reduced damage, measured by water retention index and protein loss in hair. Penetrating oils help "water-proof" the cortex a little bit and temporarily manage porosity, which should help reduce poofiness.

Also, I notice that you use "volumizing" conditioners, but those tend to be light and focused on not weighing hair down. But if you have problems with poofy hair, maybe I'd look for more "moisturizing" products (especially during dry winter months) and products marketed for processed, damaged and dry hair.

[littlestarface]

I'd definitely give it a whirl, if you haven't yet tried it.
The study "Effect of mineral oil, sunflower oil and coconut oil on prevention of hair damage" (http://journal.scconline.org/pdf/cc2...175-p00192.pdf) showed that coconut oil pre-wash (0.2 ml of oil per tress (each tress ~ 3 +/-0.5 gr) applied for 14 hours) dramatically reduced damage, measured by water retention index and protein loss in hair. Penetrating oils help "water-proof" the cortex a little bit and temporarily manage porosity, which should help reduce poofiness.

Also, I notice that you use "volumizing" conditioners, but those tend to be light and focused on not weighing hair down. But if you have problems with poofy hair, maybe I'd look for more "moisturizing" products (especially during dry winter months) and products marketed for processed, damaged and dry hair.

Oh man I do something right finally, I leave that oil in my hair 14++ haha.

[ipickee]

In the winter, my hair adores oils. Castor for the scalp, and almond, avocado, or jojoba for the length. Can't get enough of it. In the summer, it's a little more sensitive to oils. Kinda like a kid rebelling at the idea of sunscreen. "But I don't NEED it!"