Hair looking "greasy" underneath straight after washing?

krlyr

I have fairly long hair, but I've had long hair most of my life and never faced this problem before until recently. Seems to have started in the last few months. I'm always rotating my shampoos, generally the same few brands (Herbal Essences, Schwarzkopf, Lush, other brands if they're on offer) but I've been trying some new ones recently incase that was the issue, with no real luck.
Basically, I wash my hair as I always have - dampen hair in the bath, lather shampoo into roots, rinse, apply conditioner to tips, let it sit for a while then rinse, wash the rest of me and rinse hair again. Get out of bath, wrap towel around my hair, rotate towel after a while to the dry end and when the towel is wet through I brush my hair and either let it air-dry or I blow-dry it. The problem is, the top looks fine but the underneath layers at the back clump together looking greasy even though my hair is freshly washed. It's not wet because I can blast it with the hairdryer and it won't make a difference.

Washing my hair before bed and going to sleep with it even slightly damp almost guarantees this will happen (despite me having always done this in the past with no problem), but towel-drying it, leaving it to air-dry during the day (brushing it intermittantly as it dries to seperate the strands) or blowdrying it can still often leave me with the same problem.

I've tried tons of different shampoos, I've tried bodywash, I've tried homemade shampoos to avoid SLS. I've ditched conditioner and found that helped for a little while, but only a few washes. Most recent shampoo is a "deep clean" Tresemme one (we'd started using cheaper shampoos so I thought maybe that was the issue), which worked first time but today I've got the "greasy hair" back again - I had to use conditioner as without it my hair was going mega frizzy with this new shampoo, but I only used a tiny amount and applied it prior to shampoo so that I could rinse it out with the shampoo too.

In the new house, I don't have the luxury of a showerhead like I previously had, so I'm doing a final rinse by filling a jug from the tap and rinsing several times - but this issue started in the old house despite using a shower head to thoroughly rinse any product from my hair.

I change my pillowcase/duvet cover frequently, I don't fiddle with my hair much during the day (nor does my OH play with it much), I avoid tying it up when damp as much as possible (I rarely tie it up at all, mostly just went dog walking in windy weather), I don't use any products in my hair (maybe once or twice a year if I curl it for Christmas dos), I don't use straightners (blessed with very straight hair!). I used to bleach & dye the bottom half but stopped quite a while ago and the dyed parts have mostly grown out now. I don't think I overwash it, as I know that can cause excess oils to be produced - every 2-3 days, as I've always done my whole life. Stopped using any kind of bubblebaths incase it was that lingering in my hair.

Anyone experienced a similar problem? Wondering if there's a cause or a solution I've not thought of by myself. It's a nightmare, especially if I want to go out anywhere socially, fortunately it does at least look clean on top but I definately can't tie my hair up and still feel self-concious that if I tuck a piece behind my ear or brush my hair to one side, it'll show the "greasy" parts underneath. I'm debating buying some bottled water to rinse it incase it's the water (fairly hard water here - but I've lived in this town all my life and it's never been a problem!) but that seems a lot of faff and an extra expense to wash my hair.

System

Sounds like a silicone build up to me. Try washing your hair in a clarifying shampoo every so often.

I have fine hair and it doesnt take much for it to look lank. I'm using Vosene at the moment but there are others.

peachyprice

Yes, I agree with Judi, sounds like silicone build-up.

Are the shampoos you are using pearl rather than clear? They seem to be far worse for build-up too. I used to always use the Tresemme colour treated shampoo, which was clear, they changed that to pearly and it made my and my DD's hair terribly greasy. I'm now using the 24 Hour volume one or a clear Herbal Essence which are much better.

When you wash are you putting your head forward and applying shampoo underneath too, or sitting up straight and applying it to the top of yo0ur head?



HTH

krlyr

Thanks both of you. Trying to think back now - Herbal Essences is definately clear but the Schwarzkopf might have been pearly. Pretty sure the new Tresemme one is clear (well, coloured, but not pearly) - went for the "deep cleansing" one thinking it might clean out any buildup but perhaps it's not specialised enough, I'll hunt down a proper clarifying shampoo.
I tend to lather it up on top then flick it all forward with a teeny blob more to wash underneath, ditto with rinsing - pour it over my head then move it all forward to rinse the underneath too. Have to say that this morning's wash was a little half-hearted as I've got a few dog-walking injuries to one hand and was trying my best to lather it up with just one hand.

Edit: I've googled and seen that bicarbonate of soda added to shampoo is a home remedy for it so think I will give that a shot first to see if I can sort the issue in a more MSE way! Anyone used bicarb instead of clarifying shampoo?

missmulberry

Try baby shampoo-worked for me when I had a similar prob

Mrs_Arcanum

Also rinse with cool water for the final rinse. This will calm your scalp rather than stimulate it.

anatomical

How do you actually wash your hair? I know you say you're using it on the roots but you shouldn't be focusing on the hair itself. The thing that helped me was "shampoo is for the scalp, conditioner is for the hair". You should view shampooing as like a scalp massage, this is the only area of your head that will be oily with regular washing. What I do is start with the back of my head, lathering up the shampoo a little before use then applying it directly to the scalp in the greasiest areas. Then I spread it out to the rest of the scalp. I wash it out, then do another quick scalp wash, then quickly run the shampoo through the rest of the hair. Wash it out then only apply conditioner to the roots.

I find it also helps to brush the back of my hair through a few times as it is drying if I leave it to dry naturally. If you're looking for a good SLS free shampoo to help with this I would recommend the Detox Deep Cleanse by Naked. http://www.nakedbodycare.co.uk/naked-detox-deep-cleanse-shampoo-all-hair-types.html

clays_mummy

as a hairdresser (for a long time lol) its either a silicone build up as said above or your conditioner is simply to heavy and your not rinsing it out properly...i HATE pantene but their clarifying shampoo works a treat...i use it to remove all build up before i carry out a brazilian blowdry hth

peachyprice

Oooh, OP, I thought of you when I was in the shower this morning.

When I wash my hair I lather up then leave the shampoo on while I wash/shave legs etc so it has time to break through any grease/build up. Conditioner I slap on then wash straight off. Might be worth a try.

HTH

JC9297

You say you give a final rinse of clean water but are you putting your hair back into the bath water after the initial wetting, I wouldn't put your hair into the bath water at all to rinse the shampoo or conditioner, just use jugs of clean water.

Paula202

Hi there

I was having a similar problem only it was at the crown, straight after washing it felt like I hadn't rinsed it properly but rinsing again didn't help but I used Vosene (original) one and it seems to have worked a treat, I don't know that I would like to use it all the time but certainly once a week or every other wash. Hope this helps

Paula