Comments | no_poo: ~4.5 months in, still trying to refine routine to fix dandruff/dry ends

carajargao in no_poo

~4.5 months in, still trying to refine routine to fix dandruff/dry ends

Sep 10, 2012 16:13

Hi all,

Apologies in advance for this very-long winded post!

So I went cold-turkey from using Aveda shampoos to BS/ACV washes just about 4.5 months ago. I have shoulder length, brown, fine, and wavy hair - this is the longest my hair has ever been. Initially I decided to try no-poo because as long as I can remember my hair has been very greasy. If I ( Read more... )

tea tree oil, honey, dandruff, dry scalp, static, apple cider vinegar, baking soda, dry hair, long hair, crusty/scaly/buildupy scalp, vinegars

Comments 19

stachelbeeren September 10 2012, 20:40:47 UTC

Hi, I have quiet similar hair (fine, medium thick, rather straight, brown, to my shoulder [also the longest it has ever been]) and it sounds like my kind of problem that I fortunately managed to solve. I think you need to moisturise your hair; so use a humectant. add a little bit of glycerin into water and rinse your hair with this - this made my dry, straw-like hair (it's not damaged, I hardly ever use heat, air dry my hair, I am very careful with it etc etc) soft - after months of failing while trying to get it conditioned with coconut oil etc. you mentioned that it's 'dry' where you live - you might have to check how dry the atmosphere is because glycerin might hold the moisture inside your hair when there is enough moisture around in the atmosphere --- or it might 'suck' it out of your hair if it's really dry. so you should check that ( ... )

carajargao September 11 2012, 00:49:01 UTC

Thank you so much for replying.

I'm 95% sure I have soft water, but I've yet to confirm it with a pH test kit, though I should be able to this week.

So you think I should wash with an egg mask and use liquid vegetable glycerine and water to rinse? I'm not too familiar with either technique - just searching on here do you think I should use two egg yolks, 2 tsp. of ACV, and a quarter of a lemon's worth of juice? Again, with the glycerine and water, is there a ratio?

I live in the south-eastern part of Australia, which isn't really renowned for being dry, but this winter has been crazy - for the first time ever the skin on my hands is dry. Things are beginning to heat up now, thankfully. It probably also doesn't help that I have to walk through the city's most intense wind-tunnel to get to work every day.

I do also have jojoba oil on hand, which I use on my face. I did try putting it in my hair once, while wet, but from memory it just made it really greasy.

stachelbeeren September 11 2012, 05:52:39 UTC

lucky you about the soft water! I figured that my water is medium hard simply because I can do about 3-4 WO before there is a powdery residue in my hair that makes my hair hard to comb and makes my hair fall out ( ... )

carajargao September 11 2012, 07:06:21 UTC

Ahhh, I think I might try rubbing in a much smaller amount of jojoba than I previously tried, and only to the ends first. If that doesn't work, the egg yolk mix next, and I'll try to track down a some glycerine. Many thanks!

Also, it has just occurred to me that the air in my house is probably even dryer than outside due to a big, old-style gas heater we have to run most nights, which is no-doubt contributing again to the frizz that I get.

Just did a little browse of the longhaircommunity boards and it seems the glycerine can go either way, but if I'm rinsing it out thoroughly it's less likely to 'leech' moisture from my hair due to the dry environment (which is apparently why you have to be careful with it?). I'm considering getting a humidifier for my house too.

Hopefully I'll be doing another wash in a few days so I can report back.

Thread 17

kaypgirl September 11 2012, 02:47:28 UTC

If your water is soft, have you tried the water only method? I'm not sure how it works with dandruff but it dries out your hair a lot less, although not sure how well it would work with the greasy hair. You could at least try it replace a baking soda wash so you could stretch those to once a week like you mentioned. But with the dryness, you may need to moisturize your hair with an oil before or after washing. I know sunflower, jojoba, and unrefined coconut oils are oils you can use on your hair that will wash away without shampoo, unlike olive oil or castor oil ( ... )

carajargao September 11 2012, 03:16:33 UTC

I believe my water is soft, but I will try to check this week with a hardness test kit from an aquarium or the like.

Sorry if my first post was confusing, but I kinda almost do the WO method at the moment - I'm only using the BS/ACV once every 3 weeks, and do WO almost every other day between BS/ACV washes. 3 weeks seems to be the absolute longest I can go before my hair is a mess (greasy, lank, dandruff really bad), but I would agree that it is definitely not as drying.

I only tried jojoba once, and when I was initially using far too much BS for my hair. It kinda just made it feel greasy.

Thanks for the tip re: longhaircommunity.com, I'll suss it out. It is a shame though that using the Aveda products was probably the best my hair ever was. It would get greasy very quickly (the following day), but it was clean, shiny, and not frazzled near the ends.