Hair trouble

miss_independent

Hi, I have long hair that I have always taken very good care of. Recently it has started to look dull and lifeless and I have been getting a flaky itcy scalp. I seem to be having trouble with my scalp being sensitive and reacting to shampoos (my neck and sides of my face are breaking out too) and am using Boots Expert Flaky Itchy Scalp treatment and it is working wonders on the scalp but my hair still looks dull. It is not colour treated or chemically treated in anyway. At the moment I have not been using any heat on it at all (used to use GHD's or curling irons once a week) and just letting it dry naturally. It is naturally wavy/frizzy so avoiding straighteners is driving me mad! It's odd but it doesn't even look the same colour anymore. I'm only 26 so no greys but it is less dark and has gone a lighter shade of reddish dark brown on its own. Before it was a similar colour to Penelope Cruz or Salma Hayek, VERY dark brown almost black. Even my mum has commented on it.

What can I do? I am thinking of using a dark henna/indigo or lush Caca Noir for the color but aside from that how can I make my hair happy and healthy looking again? Everyone used to comment about how healthy looking and shiny it was before . Also certain shampoos/conditioners are irritating my scalp when they didn't before.

Here is what I have been using (alternating);

New Pink Herbal Essences

Revlon Equave

Pantene 2 in 1 and Ice Shine

Avon Clarifying Shampoo

Andrew Collinge (long hair range)

Dream Hair Dream Shine

Tresemme Heat Defense Range

also I use the Loreal Hot Straight heat protector cream when I use my GHD's or straightening irons. I have a Keratase mask for good as well.

I drink alot of water and try and get alot of fruit and veg into me too. Also take a multi vitamin everyday.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

belfastgirl23

First of all I think you need to get yourself off to the doctors to make sure there's nothing else going on health-wise. They can also prescribe you shampoo to help deal with the itchy scalp issue.

On that I have considerable expertise alas After many years and much scratching I have realised I'm allergic to SLS (sodium laurel/laureth sulphate) which is a really common ingredient in shampoos. I can use Aveda products but not much else. It does seem to me that you are still using a lot of different shampoos etc that are still highly perfumed etc. I would personally recommend Aveda's scalp therapy which does leave my hair in good condition and doesn't cause havoc with my scalp. But you'll need to experiment to see what suits you. I'd advise against too much mixing and matching though.

Personally I don't have nearly as much of a problem with conditioner since I don't use it near my scalp. If you're using it, it's worth concentrating on your hair about an inch out of your scalp. On that, I did find a great weatherproofing conditioner a few years ago, since I'm prone to frizz as well - it was a frizz ease one but I haven't been able to find it lately, maybe it's more a wintertime product.. For shine I've never been able to beat the Boots henna conditioner in the pot (it looks pinky brown and costs about £2) if you use it like a mask and leave it on while you relax in the bath it really helps.

The other thing I would say is that I know my scalp condition is aggravated by too much sugar (and that sadly includes sugar in alcohol, soft drinks etc as well as the obvious chocolate). I've only really given in to this lately although I've suspected it for a while. I suspect it's a yeast growth type thing. Sorry if TMI but thought I'd mention it in case it's helpful.

Also I love henna, it really does give my hair a great shine and doesn't cause problems with my sensitive scalp. But bear in mind that it's very difficult to dye over so if you think you might want to use another colour in the near future, avoid. That said I use it happily

Good luck, it does take trial and error to get to a stage where you can manage your scalp but once you do figure it out, you'll be fine.

As a ps, I don't really use styling products for all of the reasons above but I think I need to start...will be interested to hear if you find any that don't aggravate you, I suspect they've come on in leaps and bounds since I was last using them (shockwaves lol!)

pavlovs_dog

will be watching this with interest as i have hair blues too. although my mop needs a good cut, which probably isn't helping matters

glowgirl_2

I'm wondering if it could be the silicone in some of the products you are using? I'm still learning about all of this myself but I do know that dimethicone or something that sounds similar can strip hair of moisture in the long term so it looks nice for a while and then looks rubbish and then even worse when you stop using it:( DD and I have had the same problems, itchy scalp, fading colour etc even spots, dd likes the new Aqua Light by Pantene (no silicone in it) and I like the light blue herbal essences which has a small amount of silicone (I have hair that sounds similar to yours) I alternate between that and Tresemme volumising (no silicone) and I conditioner only wash my hair for a week or so each month, I like Nice n Easy hair colour but would be interested to find a more natural one that would actually cover my grey - hth, good luck in your quest:)