Hello all...
Im in the awkward stages of hair growth (1 year) I wash my hair every other day, just regular shampoo and occasionally conditioning. Conditioning every time I wash is too much for my hair.
To the point......If I need my hair look nice and doesn't necessarily need washing, I'll dunk my head underneath the bathtub faucet, rinse it down, dry it off and style. The problem is after it dries it looks really dull, matted down and my scalp itches later that day. Is there something I can use to rememdy this problem? Really annoying and a bad look for long hair. Even if I washed it last night say and wake up in the morning to style, it gets dull, flat and itchy.
I do not use shampoos and conditioners. I do water only wash. My hair does not like silicone which appears in most conditioners and shampoos. My hair and scalp do not like sodium laurerl sulfate either. Sodium laurel sulfate is dish deteregent. You can wash your dishes with shampoo. Your hair might be reacting to the silicone and sodium laurel sulfate. If you want to use shampoo and conditioner, try a non-sodium laurel sulfate and a non-silicone product and see how it goes. My hair in the past has gotten super dry from using the silicone containing products. Your scalp and hair might be reacting to the chemicals. Hope this helps.
In addition, if the dullness and itchiness comes even when just rinsing with water, then maybe there's some mineral or sediment in your city's water supply that affects your hair that way. I wouldn't discount the water supply as a cause. You might need reverse osmosis to treat your water. Or maybe, you have 'soft water' in your home, which could be affecting your hair.
Don
You also may have very hard water and alot of unwanted stuff in the water. On a lark you might want to try washing your hair
in bottled water or distilled water. Maybe your water will need some type of filter system? (Also be forewarned depening on your location there may be lead in the water, sediment from pipes that are many hundreds of years old, and are on the verge of breaking. Around here in this part of the US of A we have many water main breaks, the pipes were laid hundreds of years ago and many of them are made of wood. And they have many contaminants.
Thanks everyone for replying. I was using Wen for awhile....as much as I loved Wen, it was very expensive too purchase and use IMO and my hair behaved so much better.
I live in town, our city has a reputation for hard water and the fact my has house is around 100 years old with much of the remaining copper pipes still in place, wouldn't surprise me in the least if the tap water leaves something to be desired. I'll defenitly try distilled water. IF that pans out, I'll be investing in a water filter.
I snipped a lot of this message guys. My answer is how I deal with my 3 year old (working on 4) long locks. Most of the lurkers have been at this for years they have lost empathy to us new guys. So this is what I would say if I was asked. Yup don't use soap every time you shampoo and use as cool of water as you can stand. When I posted my photo on 22 July 2015 I had not used soap for 3 weeks straight and I conditioned once a week with a tiny amount of a great conditioner from AVEDA. 6 months ago I started to ingest .5 of an ounce of Cold Pressed Olive Oil every morning before coffee. It at first tastes like !@#$@#$#@$ for want of a better and cleaner term. 3 months into it my scalp is much finer, my hair is shinier, I have less hair in a wide toothed comb since then 24/7. I started off in May 2012 with a shaved head ending 6 years of that crazy life time to protest a really ugly style it only hurt my pride. I have baby fine hair and it is now softer to the touch. If your hair is stronger try a dimes worth of Coconut oil heated only with your own body heat in your hands more than a dime and you will have coconut oil everywhere apply after you towel dry your hair and then comb through with the wide toothed comb after it naturally drys. More left on your hands wipe it on your beard (don't have a beard grow one) at least the excess will do some good.