Changing up your routine: new discoveries!

**pisinoe** · August 3rd, 2022, 11:54 AM

This is not a recent change, but before I used to do CWWCC to be able to have more moisturised hair and nowadays doing a shampoo followed up by a deep treatment mask or high quality conditioner is enough for me following my capillary schedule (so I always rotate between a set of different products).

Something else, I don't oil my hair anymore and never will again. I simply use a conditioner or mask high in oils to coat my dry length for at least 30min before washing, it's something I learned from Brazilian hair care enthusiasts whose hair game is next level. It's much easier to wash out, doesn't leave residue, the results are better and it's a more comfortable process too

**Suortuva** · August 3rd, 2022, 12:39 PM

This is a very new thing for me, I have tried it only twice, but I have added 1-2 drops castor oil for my shampoo and conditioner, and as far I'm very happy about the results, my hair feels very soft and bouncy and curls nicely. Maybe I should mention that I have very dry hair and scalp.

**KokoroDragon** · August 3rd, 2022, 10:12 PM

I just introduced a leave-in into my routine and I'm loving it so far! I'm still experimenting with the amount and method of application, but it's already helping with tangles so much.

**spidermom** · August 6th, 2022, 04:40 PM

For years I have tried to go as long between washings as I could tolerate. However, in May my daughter was putting purple color in my hair and came across a weeping cyst on my scalp. I had been feeling little bumps on my scalp but hadn't paid much attention to them because they didn't itch or hurt. However, after that day I began washing my scalp every other day instead of every 4-5 days, and I'm already feeling far fewer bumps on my scalp. Bonus! I like how my hair looks and feels much more than I did before. I hate the idea of drying out my ends so I'm trying to oil them before washing. So far so good, but I'm resigned to trimming more often if the ends get dried out from frequent washing.

**rosenester** · August 6th, 2022, 06:06 PM

Originally Posted by spidermom

For years I have tried to go as long between washings as I could tolerate. However, in May my daughter was putting purple color in my hair and came across a weeping cyst on my scalp. I had been feeling little bumps on my scalp but hadn't paid much attention to them because they didn't itch or hurt. However, after that day I began washing my scalp every other day instead of every 4-5 days, and I'm already feeling far fewer bumps on my scalp. Bonus! I like how my hair looks and feels much more than I did before. I hate the idea of drying out my ends so I'm trying to oil them before washing. So far so good, but I'm resigned to trimming more often if the ends get dried out from frequent washing.

OMG that’s a little scary that it didn’t feel sore or anything to warn you it was there, thank Goodness your daughter spotted it. Is it healing up OK? I get a very sore scalp if I wait 5 days to wash, so I average out to about 3x a week

**Pouncequick** · August 6th, 2022, 07:13 PM

I'm trying to finish my dissertation in the next year so I have also not had time for my normal extended routine. I found that a normal WC works just fine. I do the mineral oil rinses when I have time. I also have found that scalp washes work perfectly well for me for awhile.

**lapushka** · August 9th, 2022, 04:25 AM

Originally Posted by Pouncequick

I'm trying to finish my dissertation in the next year so I have also not had time for my normal extended routine. I found that a normal WC works just fine. I do the mineral oil rinses when I have time. I also have found that scalp washes work perfectly well for me for awhile.

I'm in a timecrunch myself but that is only because my mom fell (July 4) and still is not fully recovered, so can't help me that extensively with my wash day... At first she just tried and tried, but it got to be too overwhelming. Now I'm done with wash day in 5 minutes, when it took 15.

I also just WC at the moment. And my hair feels so airy and fluffy. I'm guessing the second conditioner did weigh down my hair, not that it was necessarily a bad thing, but I'm liking the fluffy feel right now.

I mean... such a pleasant discovery.

**thatsideoflife** · August 13th, 2022, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by spidermom

For years I have tried to go as long between washings as I could tolerate. However, in May my daughter was putting purple color in my hair and came across a weeping cyst on my scalp. I had been feeling little bumps on my scalp but hadn't paid much attention to them because they didn't itch or hurt. However, after that day I began washing my scalp every other day instead of every 4-5 days, and I'm already feeling far fewer bumps on my scalp. Bonus! I like how my hair looks and feels much more than I did before. I hate the idea of drying out my ends so I'm trying to oil them before washing. So far so good, but I'm resigned to trimming more often if the ends get dried out from frequent washing.

This reminds me of when I was 9 at summer camp, my friend and I both put our hair in two french braids for a 5 day no-shower trip. We both had crusted plasma on our scalps at the part after a couple days. I think we had gotten sunburned so badly it bled? Or there were cysts or something. But I thought it was caused by sun exposure rather than the lack of showering... interesting.

**tuanyiji** · August 15th, 2022, 03:13 AM

I almost always do a hot oil treatment before my weekly washing. My scalp never reacts badly to heavy oil, and I rarely have any acne or pimples even in my teens, so I never have to worry about any skin condition or outburst caused by too much oil.

Yesterday, I water rinsed my dirty hair first after a week of sweat, dirt and garden compost, then I had an ACV rinse, used a towel to absorb 70% of the water,
then I applied oil to my scalp.

The oil had been infused with henna for about 4 days at this point, here's the recipe, https://forums.longhaircommunity.com...=1#post3952340
Thanks to Nightshade who kindly pointed out that "The conditioning components work when adding water to the henna powder, and there's no scientific reason they'd work in oil."

I wouldn't want to waste the oil or miss the conditioning effect of henna, thus I placed a small bowl of this henna oil (about 100ml) on top of a mug full of hot water to warm it up, added some honey and aloe vera gel, I mixed them well, then I applied the oil to my damp/ACV rinsed hair, as I know the warmth and a little bit of acid would trigger the henna dye quicker.

The way I applied oil to my scalp was meticulous, I used a hair stick to divide my hair into two equal parts, I tied one half first, then I used my fingers to smear the oil onto the middle part line, I used all my oiled fingertips to press the scalp gently, making sure the hair roots were saturated, this way I would never mistakenly pull any hair out. Then I drew another line that was about 1cm next to the middle part, I repeated this process until half of my scalp was oiled, then I tied the oil part, and started with the other half. After that, I used my fingertips to massage my scalp in general, paying attention to my pressure points and praying for hair growth, so every inch of my scalp was covered.

Even though the oil is green-yellowish inside my glass jar, my fingers or nails were not colored, nor was my ceramic bowl.

I applied the rest of the oil to my length and ends, and nautilus bunned it. The whole oiling process (including the preparation) took about 30 minutes. I did shed over 50 hairs over this process, but it was my wash day, and that was to be expected.

I then covered my head with a freezer bag, then I put on an electric hot cap and turn it on. I sat there for two hours, then I took the cap off. Still with my freezer bag, I did my other chores, had dinner, put on a hat, and went out for an evening walk as usual.

In total, I had the oil on my scalp and hair for over 4 hours. I shampooed with TRESemme Deep Cleanse thrice, I did see the water turn a bit orange after my first rinse, but it cleared up very quickly. I used a silicone-free conditioner and rinsed well. It took me 30 minutes to finish the w/C job.

It only took me 45 minutes to dry my hair as I sat in front of my electric fan while doing my shed-hair sorting and hand-tie project. This was very quick. It usually needs 3-4 hours of air drying.

This is the amount of hair I shed, including the WO rinse, oil treatment, W/C: https://forums.longhaircommunity.com...=1#post3952731

And my hair has never felt this refreshing. I braided and put on my silk bonnet and went to sleep. My hair was so slippery that my bonnet fell off when I woke up this morning. And after I did my minoxidil scalp massage and usual finger combing, I didn't even see a shed. NOT A SINGLE ONE. Just WOW. Normally I would at least have 10 sheds on my day 1-2 hair.

I don't really see any color change on my hair, because I know that little amount of henna wouldn't do any decent dye job, and even if I used a more significant amount, it wouldn't change my naturally black hair drastically.

I think I will continue to use this henna oil and slowly build up the strength of my hair little by little. That 500g of Nupur henna powder could be stretched for years if I only did henna this way lol.

But next time, I will try the TRESemme Moisture Rich with Vitamin E shampoo instead of the deep cleanse one.

**lapushka** · August 15th, 2022, 04:56 AM

I am keeping my routine to wash & condition for now. Yes, I still do LOC/LCO after my wash, so that's no different, but man my hair is lighter and fluffier, just the thing I hated about it, but it seems to be what I need for now, so I'm not messing with "a good thing" and leaving it at that!