Need a new shampoo/conditioner

Fire_Fox

thehappybutterfly wrote: »

Aagh, yes she does! Not dye (she has in the past) but she straightens her hair nearly every day and doesn't use a barrier spray even though I bought her one. What's the problem there then?

Straighteners can kill the hair from the inside out. As hair gets more damaged it tends to get fluffier/ less manageable so people may straighten more often .... Maybe she has thick and strong enough hair to get away with it tho, or maybe she is moving the iron quickly enough to limit damage? Be sure any barrier product doesn't contain alcohol (drying) or water (damp hair is at higher risk for heat damage).

Good article http://www.hairfree.bz/Article.pdf

thehappybutterfly

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Straighteners can kill the hair from the inside out. As hair gets more damaged it tends to get fluffier/ less manageable so people may straighten more often .... Maybe she has thick and strong enough hair to get away with it tho, or maybe she is moving the iron quickly enough to limit damage? Be sure any barrier product doesn't contain alcohol (drying) or water (damp hair is at higher risk for heat damage).

Good article http://www.hairfree.bz/Article.pdf

Crikey! Just to heap the horror on, she also regularly backcombs her hair :eek: Consider the smiley the 'before and after'!

There_Goes_Trouble

OK so I've had a go, not sure if I like it yet or not although I am well aware it can take a while for this hair care system to really kick in.

As I thought, I am struggling with my fringe because it really does have quite strong intentions to kink wildly right in the middle. With my fringe being right above my eyes I am conscious of it looking weird.

Also, my hair is taking ages to dry! I mean literally hours! Part of my reason for changing was to reduce the heat styling I do so I'm reluctant to use the hairdryer, but I think that leaving conditioner on my hair is what is making it take so long and also I'm leaving it a lot wetter than I normally would. Tonight I washed it at about 8.30pm, it's now 11.30 and it's still damp! Normally it would take about an hour to dry naturally. Last night I washed it quite late and ended up sleeping on it damp, and it was still damp this morning. I have to wash it in the evenings because that's when I play sport and need a shower. Also I work outside, so as the weather gets colder I can't go to work with wet hair, I'll freeze!

Lastly I'm not really liking the effect so far. It just looks like it's wet even when it has finally dried completely. Like I've used a curl product and used too much of it. It's dull, not shiny at all although it is soft and not 'crunchy' like it would be with curl product in.

I know it needs time.... but I'm going out tomorrow night so I think I will revert to 'old style' and will straighten it. I want to wear it loose because I tie it back for work and sport so don't wear it loose very often, but I'm not confident with it just yet how it is. I'll start again with CO washing after the weekend. I'll have a think about it between now and Monday, but any tips would be good!

I'm using Timotei conditioner. I stood reading bottles for ages, comparing words with a list on the internet on my phone before noticing that the front of the bottle clearly states "0% silicone, parabens and colourants". Anyway it was also half price. So I'm using that in large quantities to 'wash' my hair, then without rinsing I clip it up in a bulldog clip while I wash and do whatever else needs doing. Then I rinse it completely, then while it's wet I use my fingers to comb through about a teaspoon of a conditioner from Handmade Naturals which was linked further up this thread. (Nice stuff by the way, smells gorgeous!). Then without wringing it I gently squeeze some of the water out, just enough to stop it dripping too badly I get out the shower and wrap my hair in a microfibre turban. I don't towel it or rub it at all. I leave it to blot dry for about 10 mins while I get dried and dressed, then let it down and just use my fingers to get all the hair lying in the right place. I haven't brushed or combed it. Then leave it to dry.

Any tips would be great...

Fire_Fox

What exactly are you trying to achieve, curls/ waves with the full Curly Girl routine or just healthier hair by picking some aspects of it? Which Timotei? Silicones are suffixed -cone, -conol, -xane. If you are trying to do full curly girl NO turbans and NO finger combing or finger styling, these pull hair straighter. Scrunch in the conditioner and styling gel, plop/ plunk with the towel - I do twenty minutes for armpit length hair.

It does indeed take longer to air dry with CG and it took me a whole to get my head around that! You can diffuser dry on low heat and low speed if you need to, that takes me ten to fifteen minutes. The damaging part of heat styling is high temperatures and manipulating your hair (especially brushing) whilst it is wet. If you have been straightening it will be a few washes before you curls return, the more heat styling the longer it can take. Mine is three washes just for tying in a ponytail or brushing when wet.

Fringe ... I grew mine out, having spend years cutting it above my eyebrows and straightening with heat to stop kinks. I kirby gripped it into a mini quiff for many months. You may need to try different products, same as you have done over years of more mainstream shampoo and conditioner and styling.

There_Goes_Trouble

Fire Fox do you ever sleep? Look at the time you wrote that!!

LOL, I think you've hit the nail to be honest, I'm not really sure what I'm trying to achieve! But I've been thinking since I read your post this morning and I don't think that the full CG will work for me. I don't have the time to devote to washing, leaving it wet, I don't have a diffuser hairdryer and can't afford to buy a new one, and actually, my hair really isn't very curly, it never has been. I haven't straightened the whole lot for weeks now, just my kinky fringe. Not having a fringe just doesn't suit me, I've done that before. I don't have a thick straight fringe, it's a side fringe and currently rather long! But it suits my face shape better. Also, working outdoors I need to tie my hair up. It gets in my face and I can't see properly if it's down and on a windy or wet day it's impossible. For sport I also need to tie it up. There's no way I can run for an hour or more with my hair flapping around my face! And I have enough trouble hitting the shuttle in badminton even when I can see it properly!!

Nope, I think, being logical, I just want healthier hair and less chemicals in my products.

The Timotei is this one: http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=274398731 I'll use it up, but think I'll just stick to washing/conditioning when my hair is very sweaty after my long runs and rinsing/conditioning when it isn't as bad. I do like the Handmade Naturals products I bought!

Fire_Fox

Chronic insomnia! :rotfl: You can purchase diffuser attachments that fit onto most hairdryers, but go for it just trying to have healthier hair! Be careful what you use to tie your hair back with, I always used branded no snag elastics and still had breaks around the hairline and at the back. Now use terry bands/ ponios and microfibre sweat wicking bands which seem to spread the stress and slide out of hair much more smoothly. Not recommending those specific products or sellers, just so you know what I mean. Otherwise I lightly twist sections around the front and sides and pin all the curls off my face with kirby grips, doesn't take long at all.

Yes that Timotei is silicone free, does it give you a nice 'lather'? Honestly conditioner-only washing gets your hair just as clean as shampoo, I can get a heavy oiling out no worries. It's the same concept as using a cleansing lotion to shift make up. My hair is less greasy with CO-washing because shampoo is not stimulating the sebaceous glands but YMMV.

There_Goes_Trouble

Thanks. I usually use scrunchies to tie it back, I only use smaller bands if I'm plaiting it so they're just around the ends. I have some anti-snag wrapped elastics I use for that. Scrunchies are good because they go in the wash easily and I'm less prone to losing them around the house because they're bigger!

I didn't get a great lather with the Timotei but that's probably just technique on my part. I'll keep trying. It was half price so not a bad price to experiment with. My local Sainsbury's didn't have anything that was own brand/Basics.

Firefly

I haven't read all of this thread but just wanted to say that some years ago now, a clever MSExpert poster recommended Aveda Shampure. Although it costs a lot more per bottle, the amount you use is minimal. My first bottle came at a bargain price from an Aveda Salon in the USA when a friend went on holiday and I've never used another shampoo since. No more head & shoulders for me, no more flakey scalp either! You need a very small amount and for me (I do have short hair) a 1l bottle will last about 18m and wash my hair about three times a week or more (rarely less).

lala9

My hair is sun damaged, dry and heat damaged, it's gone all fluffy half the way down, I have to straighten it to make it look anything like normal. I'm using Albert Balsam at the moment, which is not great, it makes my hair feel awful. I've tried all sorts of shampoos and conditioners, from Redken to Paul Mitchell and Pantene to Vo5. Can anybody recommend something that will rescue my barnet, I also need a good cut so that will help.

Fire_Fox

lala9 wrote: »

My hair is sun damaged, dry and heat damaged, it's gone all fluffy half the way down, I have to straighten it to make it look anything like normal. I'm using Albert Balsam at the moment, which is not great, it makes my hair feel awful. I've tried all sorts of shampoos and conditioners, from Redken to Paul Mitchell and Pantene to Vo5. Can anybody recommend something that will rescue my barnet, I also need a good cut so that will help.

Hair is dead it cannot truly be repaired, just shored up until it grows out. Try alternating a treatment containing hydrolysed protein and coconut oil for the lauric acid - both are some of the few chemicals that are small enough to penetrate the shaft of the hair. Use the heat of your head to encourage the cuticle to open, a shower cap or pedal bin liner with a microfibre towel turban on top then leave overnight. Don't overdo protein treatments they can make hair feel dry and don't choose ones that are more silicone than hydrolysed protein.

Try not to wash your hair too frequently: when it becomes damaged it is more porous, as the water enters and exits it damages the hair even more. Try dry shampoo like Batiste to stretch washes. No shampoo will benefit hair, they are all powerful surfactants which break down oil like washing up liquid does. Since fatty acids (building blocks of oil) are a key to the structure of the hair this is not a good thing! At the very least dilute your shampoo down with water, and massage your scalp with your fingers more to clean.

Don't brush your hair when wet because it's particularly vulnerable then, use a very wide tooth comb and be very gentle. You have to also stop heat styling because that is probably the worst thing you are doing, have you tried a 'doobie' wet wrap? See YouTube.

Instead of wash off conditioner try a leave on, that means your hair is exposed to less water and has more protection. I use Fructis Repair & Shine which is intended to be wash off but works great left in. It's silicone free but instead uses palm oil which is rich is palmitic acid, a fatty acid found in hair but lost with damage. You can try any wash off cream conditioner as leave in see how you like the results, some will go really sticky and tangled as they dry DON'T TOUCH or brush when your hair is completely dry the stickiness will vanish but that might take a few hours. No idea what ingredient does that but I made my hair snap off finger combing that!

I know that isn't really products as you expected, but it's what I learned from reading Long Hair and Curly Hair forums and some published cosmetic science research. I've tried so many products over the years but actually the thing that has made the biggest difference by a mile is not using expensive products. Instead it was accepting how much 'normal' everyday things damage hair, and how most commercial products are formulated to do nothing more than disguise that damage, to con us. :mad: