Shampoo Makes My Hair Lank

elisebutt65

I only wash mine once a week otherwise it turns into a skanky, frizzy yet greasy mess!

I just use an ordinary shampoo and conditioner but I use frizz ease ( now have loads thanks to Mr T's c@ck up last week) straight away when it's dripping wet and then I straighten it a couple of times a week as well.

Perhaps drying it out with straighteners or tongs may help - mine has gone lovely and sleek since investing in my GHD's

jenniewb

I have a few suggestions but first of all am not 100% whats going on with the hair so am going to make assumptions here- correct me if I am wrong!

Your washing your hair and regularly but it looks lank, your sure its the shampoo your using (rather then it being you feeling stressed or in a polluted/smokey environment or ad an inbalance of vitamins which may be great for your skin and nails but not so for your hair).

I'd say first of all, look in the ingredients of your shampoo and conditioner (if you use it). See if it has any 'cones' in it (things like dimethecone, silicone, ....cone and etc). These are what will weigh your hair down. They are in the shampoos and especially the conditioners to stop frizz, but everyone is an individual and two people will 'need' different amounts of 'cones'. It could be that the hair products are just too man made or with too many 'cones' and this is the result. Maybe look for a reduction in these ingredients, try to keep them from the top few things in the ingredients, as far down as possible if they must be in there.

The second thing to consider is Conditioner and hair serums for the same reasons. Silicons tend to me a main ingredient in hair serum, maybe use coconut oil instead of serum or use a little hair conditioner mixed with water and used as a leave in conditioner if you feel you do want something left in your hair after you wash it. I am sure there are many after care things you can put in your hair if you do chose to try avoiding 'cones as there are many natural brands out there across the price bracket.

Sulfates are another mixed bag. Most shampoos will have sulfates which are there to clean the hair. Too much can give dryness and frizz, too little is questionable, its argued that sulfates are not needed (hence people trying the CO (conditioner only) method, others say sulfates are needed to cleanse out all the silicons and pollutants. And some even say sulfates can affect your heads natural oil balance, making your head produce more oils to compensate...leading to lanky or oily type hair. But as I say, its an arguement thats being going on for a long long time. Everyone is an individual, everyone will have their own experiences and different things will work for different people.

I just wonder if this all came on suddenly, if its affected by what you eat, if its affected by hormones, if it is shampoos/conditioners/styling products or what it is, if you have any other symptoms: tierdness which started the same time, acne that started the same time or if it is soley hair and only appears just after you shampoo- does it ever get better? Have you just moved home? even water in the next borough could be different, harder/softer and cause different hair results.

A good board to look on and ask stuff on is "make up alley" which is a US site but does have some good advice in the forums as well as some well thought out theories (as well as some very mixed up advice!) but could be interesting to look into.

DSmiffy

what about Johnsons Baby Shampoo ???

Fire_Fox

poorly_scammo wrote: »

Right folks, I do not have greasy hair. It's quite normal shoulder length hair but I find that shampoos make it really lank so that a day after washing, my hair looks as though I've been frying chips on it.

I have tried countless shampoos of various kinds which all have the same effect. Some don't wash your hair and scalp at all.

Sorry to be thick but how do you know you don't have greasy hair? :huh: Sounds like greasy hair to me! Your hair will change through the course of your life along with hormones, so you may not have had greasy hair when you were younger but maybe you do now?

I have greasy hair, less so if I colour it regularly. I use Schwartzkopf Gliss shampoo which is very gentle but gets my hair clean, then in between washes I am another (ab)user of Batiste dry shampoo - spray some into the hairline and then rub the excess out with a soft towel, I find brushing leaves traces.

poorly_scammo wrote: »

I'm on a special diet and take lots of vitamins. My nails are really strong, I think.

May I ask what special diet are you on and what vitamins are you taking? What about minerals, essential fatty acids, amino acids and fibre which are important for hormone production and elimination? Also are you drinking enough water - my skin get greasier if I am dehydrated - and eating enough carbs to hold the water in your body? I have studied nutrition at degree level so I know my onions.

nikki2804

DSmiffy wrote: »

what about Johnsons Baby Shampoo ???

Lots of people actually react to this even though its marketed towards children. Neither my son or myself can use it (much to my dismay as I stocked up majorly when I was pregnant)

poorly_scammo

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I have studied nutrition at degree level so I know my onions.

So do I, believe me.

I drink lots of water. I have to.

The reason I don't believe that my hair is greasy is that the first time I buy a product it works wonderfully. The next time its rubbish and my hair looks a state.

Fuzzy_Duck

nikki2804 wrote: »

I use Boots Botanics Honey & Jojoba oil shampoo and conditioner for damaged hair, brings my limp hair up beautifully. Its cheap too.

They do ones for other hair types too which Ive been told are good. My skin reacts to absolutley everything (it even drys out with water!!) but I can use this without looking like a pizza.

Agreed. I use the henna and horse chestnut one for brunettes and it's lovely. Makes my hair really shiny and my hair dye seems to last longer for it.

If you can bear to I would try not washing it for a while- say try washing just once a week. As shampoo strips your hair of its natural oils it may be overcompensating and making your hair greasy. As other posters have suggested, Batisse is a god send for the days inbetween!

When washing your hair use the tiniest bit of shampoo you can get away with it. I agree you shouldn't bother with conditioner. Give your hair a blast with cold water once you've finished rinsing and try to avoid hair products as they can make your hair really lank and difficult to clean.

Silaqui

Hi,

As other people have suggested, have you tried using a mild/baby shampoo so as not to be too harsh on the hair? You say you haven't got greasy hair, so it's not flat to your head because of grease or anything like that, just kind of lank?

I went through a phase of having quite lank hair as it's so fine, but I find that Tigi superstar works wonders for me. It's quite expensive (cheaper on ebay) but quite a lot of hairdressers use it so you could find somewhere that does and maybe be cheeky and ask for a sample. It's a volumising shampoo, but I find it also gives texture which stops hair from looking too 'flat'.

Also what is your hairstyle like? I recently went from a long, Cheryl Cole-esque style that I had to wash every day to keep it looking good, to a shorter, chin length style, and that's really helped too as there's less weight dragging it down.

I'm another one who swears by Batiste as a quick fix - get some!

xx

jenniewb

poorly_scammo wrote: »

So do I, believe me.

I drink lots of water. I have to.

The reason I don't believe that my hair is greasy is that the first time I buy a product it works wonderfully. The next time its rubbish and my hair looks a state.

That does sound like product overload- tried clarification shampoos to clean whatever has been deposited from last time maybe?

Is it immediatly after you wash it that it goes lanky? or after a few hours? I'm asking as I noticed when I was using certain brands my hair was fine just after I'd washed and dried it, then became like Worzel Gummage 15 mins later! (FRIZZZZZ!) I'd apply de-frizzing products but I'd either apply too much and get frizzy overloaded hair or not enough and just get random frizzy clumps. I ended up realising it was the heated tools and air con that made things worse so tried to use these less, I also tied/plated my hair back after washing it until it had been slept on (I wash my hair in the evening after the gym) and the next day it'd be fine. No after wash products needed. It saves me either having matted frizzy hair or applying heaploads of sprays and serums and ending up with overloaded products on my hair the next day. Generally I found things never looked overloaded until the next day so its hard to know how much to apply and how not to overload your hair.

You mentioned a lot of what I call high street brands which would have various things added to them, there are so many varieties, (I never got the 'wow' factor from high street brands so ebay became my friend and I now use other stuff so I can't really comment on many HS brands as I am only aware of the general ingredients in a handful of them.) I'd say try a different brand but I am aware you have tried many and it can get expensive- not to mention wasteful! Maybe try to spot what ingredients are in each to see if anything seems to come up quite alot.

Are you using any products on your hair when you blowdry it at all?

One idea (and its a long shot, I know designer types wont help as I've tried with them countless times!) is to email or write a letter (letters do better) to various companies explaining whats going on, ask if they have any samples. I think Aveda tend to do this if you ask very nicely but it may depend on the sales assistant and you need to be aware that they have sky high prices, even on ebay! But hey, as a freebie its worth a shot?

poorly_scammo

I don't blow dry my hair, put straightening irons on it or put any other products on it except shampoo.

The lankiness starts about 12-24 hours later but sometimes I can see it as soon as I've washed it and run the comb through it while it's still wet. It feels heavy somehow.