new thread
I am having a bit of a problem with my hair. I have dark brown hair and I bleached it bright blonde a year ago. I died it back this past december when it was a little bit higher than my chin. I normally have a hard time with my hair being greasy because I have a hard time finding the right shampoos and products but now I have a real problem. My hair is now down to my shoulders and the part that was bleached is extremely dry and the 3" of hair that grew out is greasy. Whenever I use shampoo the dried up part goes crazy and waves out and gets all bushy. It settles down by the next day but it still looks horrible for the next 2 days and then goes back to normal. I do have real thick hair but it isn't that thick anymore because I have it shaved around the sides or else it would be a bush on my head. I do not want to cut my hair so can anybody help me?
try using a conditioner & no shampoo... a hot oil treatment might help you, too. styling gels & mousses may help restore some uniformity to your appearance.
by no means act on my advice alone. i have never dyed my hair. talk to people who have been thru similar experiences... perhaps a g/f in your life? go to a salon & ask for advice. bear in mind that salon products are quite pricey. take a trip to your drug store. use your computer to search for hair repair products.
donate your hair dyes to the needy. have a picture taken of your hair in its 'bad' state as a reminder of what happens when you dye it. good luck to you.
Try not using shampoo at all and see what happens. I have a mild condition of what you have (I was using harsh shampoos when first growing my hair out) and so far I've found "not using shampoo" to be the only solution to work. You've already seen the same thing after three days, so maybe your hair is hinting that you should try this.
Of course the reason your hair is so much better after three days is that it is taking that long for the natural scalp oil (wiped out by shampooing) to replenish and flow down your hair strands to the damaged area.
If your hair is too oily around the scalp, you might be tempted to shampoo just that area, but keep in mind that the oil which is nourishing your ends is starting at the scalp then flowing downward, and such shampooing may cut off its supply.
I wash my hair in lukewarm water (hot water will remove your oil as sure as shampoo will) whenever:
The ends begin to feel "full" and pull in the comb (This tells me the hair is dirty. If I've been outside in dusty conditions this can happen much quicker than if I've been inside all week.), ORThe scalp gets itchy (This tells me there's too much oil up top and I need to move it downward, which lukewarm water flowing through the hair will do.)
If you wash without shampoo, your hair may look a bit greasy when it first dries. This, of course, is because oil has been washed off the scalp into the hair, which is actually what you want. This oil at first is on the surface of the strands so you see it, but it will be absorbed into the hair in a few hours and the greasy look will subside. So time your hair washings so you don't go out soon after them. When you've come home for the day in late afternoon is a good time.
Keep in mind that hair care products are extensively designed for their same-day "look", and very little for what they do long-term to your hair. Your natural hair is unlikely to equal the "gorgeous" look such engineered products give, because natural hair just does not look that way. But it will look "okay" and it will be very healthy, which is what you need now. With the method I just described the damaged parts of my hair have become much stronger, and more lubricated (less dry) too. So now most tangles will slip apart instead of knotting and breaking off hair. To my eye, that is the true test for healthy hair!
Good luck.
ok, I'll give it a try. How often do you think I should do this, every day, every other day?
The ends begin to feel "full" and pull in the comb (This tells me the hair is dirty. If I've been outside in dusty conditions this can happen much quicker than if I've been inside all week.), ORThe scalp gets itchy (This tells me there's too much oil up top and I need to move it downward, which lukewarm water flowing through the hair will do.)
Probably not that often. I find I wash my hair every four to eight days, unless I've been out in lots of dust.
A few months back Victor had a survey on here and one of the questions was how often you wash your hair. Most longhairs, we found, wash once or twice a week. Everyday washings are for shorthaired people. They have no hair to absorb the oil the scalp makes, so it builds up, looks greasy there, and itches. Once you get long hair, most of that oil is drawn up to where it is supposed to go - into your hair. So you need not wash it off the scalp, and actually you don't want to wash it off where it went, the hair, any more than dirt buildup requires. The oil is there for a purpose - to nourish your hair!
EVEN IF YOU USE LUKEWARM WATER LIKE YOU SAY, HOW CAN THIS WASH AWAY THE OILY ODOR IN THE SCALP?
ERICA