Bad hair month... so far

Nancy's experiences without shampoo were exactly what I needed to inspire a new direction in caring for my long, dry, thick, tangle-prone and increasingly wavy/curly hair... that was two weeks ago. Since then, a number of things have occurred: 

1. Total failure to find the Dax Beeswax that Nancy recommended, resulting in hours standing in the black haircare aisles, reading product labels and feeling confused. Everything seemed either 'cone-infected or oily (I'd read something online about oil being bad- but of course these mileages vary). 

2. Basic cheapo hair gel, which does encourage the waves but is also drying. And scrunching to de-crisp seems to re-encourage escaped, frizzy bits. 

3. Vitapointe hair cream contains wax but after misunderstanding how to use it I looked like Neil from The Young Ones for three days. On vacation. At a family reunion. (The first day we had no working bathroom, the second day I was ill, the third day I went out with the recommended anti-frizz t-shirt wrapped round my wet head after shampooing through gritted teeth...) 

4. Mornings. The hair wakes up newly tangled and frizzy, as if it had a much wilder time than me, all night. Misting with water and a little conditioner seems to help, but not enough to prevent me unconsciously smoothing and finger-combing and generally pulling out all the curls and ending up all flattened and Afghan-houndy. 

The picture is one side of my hair this morning. As you can see, a little tangly/ crispy/ unkempt. Still working on it.

OK, so here's the thing- I dived into this without having read the book or ordered any of the recommended Curly Girl products, and it's a learning process anyway because everyone's hair is different, and frankly the massive and mounting stash of silicone products to which my hair and I were addicted had long since ceased to do their job right. My hair is way too long and thick to wash and air-dry every morning, with or without 'poo, and had to be braided or bunned from day 2 onwards before. So already, this is better. But getting it right for once and all is going to be quite a job.

I wonder if there are any curly no-shampoo personal advisers out there?

Comments

[Alison Stahl]

I can not offer advice as to which products to use but I can offer advice.

#1 You are on the right track by going to NC.com

#1 Do a search for Kathymack there. She sells sample sizes of all the popular products so that you can try a bunch of stuff that sounds interesting before purchasing things full size.

#3 The things that work for your hair today will not be the same things that you will be using in a year. Your hair gets healthier over time and you will find that certain ingredients are either no longer needed or work very well with your hair.

#4 Hang in there! It is sooo worth it to let your hair get through the "crazy" stage and then finally figure out what works for you.

#5 Sometimes it's all about the technique in which apply products. I stalked NC.com, reading everything I could, for about a year before I finally got a good solid routine...the same one I do today.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions but really, the boards on NC.com are invaluable when it comes to knowledge and support.

Good luck! :)

[Nancy Rommelmann]

God, this made me laugh.
And by the way, your hair looks fantastic in that photo. Juicy!

[Helena Handbasket]

Alice, seriously, get yourself to the Q and buy some WEN Cleansing Conditioner. I swear by this stuff more and more each day. (Not affilliated or paid by Wen, but just loving it). Promise you won't regret it.

[Helena Handbasket]

uh, never mind what I said about the Q, just went to Curlymart and Wen products are there too. [sheepish grin]. Sweet Almond Mint CC is the one I use.

[Angela]

I too was anxious for Nancy's advice to work. Couldn't find the Dax. Tried the no-shampoo for a few weeks-- at first my hair was looking good: no extreme improvement but it wasn't missing the shampoo and definitely was less dried out. But then one day: BOOM--grease explosion and I had to dump a ton of shampoo on my scalp to get rid of it. Now defeated and using shampoo regularly again and hair is a little crispy.

Think I will give it another shot after reading about your attempts.

[Charlotte]

Definitely take heed of Alice Bachini-Smith's advice in her comment to you. I'm a fellow curly girl, too. Going poo-less was easy; I love it. It's finding the perfect condish and curl gel and curl routine that's time consuming and frustrating. Note that you don't have to buy all the big name brand products to have nice curls; aloe vera gel is great, for example. I still wrestle with my hair; it's a journey, for sure. But, stick with it; you'll be rewarded :)

[Cheshire spa]

i can't recommend the aussie hair care range neough for taming and glossing curls, then all you need is a touch of serum or salt spray so avoids the crispiness- hope this helps

[cross woodfield]

i have curly hair and i lovvvvvvve all BUMBLE & BUMBLE
no frizz but no crunch
SERIOUSLY :)

[S]

I was also inspired by Nancy's post to try to tease out my curls. I found naturallycurly.com, which had some good info as well.

Maybe you want to check out baby shampoo, most of them use less (or no) Sodium Laureth Sulfate as detergents, so hair is not stripped and you can ease into the no-shampoo regime if you even want that. Garnier Fructis (whose products I have generally disliked) has one conditioner that has no silicones at all, just various plant oils, it works wonderfully for me - soft hair but the lack of silicones helps the curls. (it's in a dark green bottle rather than the toxic lime green, but I'm in France, so the name may vary, Triple Nutrition or Nutri Repair or sth)
Also, Fekkai "Luscious Curls" is great, smells like orange popsicle, too.
Your mileage may vary, but the no-SLS and no-silicone thing has worked out great for me personally.

[Amy]

The humidity is giving me a fro everyday. Get the Instyler Hair Straightener .. it tames the beast on my head when it gets out of control.

[Jess]

I used to use moose to get my hair curly and not frizzy. However it was crispy. Someone then told me to use half conditioner half moose, it didn't work with my normal conditioner which was too heavy I just had lame waves. I then found emu oil conditioner from www.emu-oil-well.com and using that with some moose gives me AWESOME curls!

xx

[dgm]

I've been 'poo free for about a month now, and it started out really well but suddently I was getting too much frizz. I just switched to the Garnier Fructis conditioner in the dark green bottle (with plant oils and no silicones), started using a tshirt rather than towel to dry my hair, and switched to Tigi's Curls Rock Leave In Moisturizing creme. Three sessions of that routine so far, and my hair is looking GOOD.

[Sarade]

I can't not use shampoo, since my scalp is so oily. But I try to shampoo only every other day, and once a month use an all-natural shampoo to remove buildup. And always, always lots of conditioner and a hairmask for my wavy hair.

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=208704127]

One word, sister: MOROCCANOIL. I bleached my curly hair and it turned into a fluffy, uncombable monster. A half dime-size drop of this stuff smooths, softens and transforms my hair. It felt like HAIR again. It absorbs completely so NO oily look/feel (which is what I get from serums. always.). I use a little before drying and a little after. I heard that haircarediscounters.com has really good deals on it from a girl at work, though I paid more at my salon before I knew :)

[Cynthia Buck]

I applaud your experiment with not washing your hair. I find anything that allows my hair to have a more natural appeal can have its benefits....but no washing at all? I like to wash may hair at fairly low intervals and when I do I use certain products to maintain my look. One of my favorites is Ken Paves Healthy hair, it may not be just for curly hair but it works wonders for my hair

Heres a link (http://www.drugstore.com//products/prod.asp?pid=202823&catid=25251&brand=57882&trx=GFI-0-MBS&trxp1=25251&trxp2=202823&trxp3=2&trxp4=2)

Hope this help you :)

xoxo

[swt]

2 weeks ago I started using baking soda paste to wash and apple cider vinegar and honey diluted in water to condition. I have curly hair that would need to go into a bun after day two, the curls just faded. I wanted to shoot for only having to wash twice a week and that's what I am doing now with this baking soda vinegar routine. I have used jessicurl Confident Coils Styling Solution and Rockin' Ringlets Styling Potion because I wanted a no-silicone-non crunchy-non greasy experience with my products. This is what's working for me right now.

[SUDS Handmade Soap Co.]

Girl, I feel your pain!! I have long, thick and curly hair... I know what a nightmare it is to deal with from day to day. I look at girls with straight, flowing locks and wish that I, too, could just whip a brush through my hair and walk out the door. Alas, that will never happen. Unless, of course, I want to walk around with a ridiculous fro all day. No, I have to suffer through a 2 hour routine of mousse, gel, and hairspray to tame my glorious mane. Most of the time, I opt for the much less time consumming braid or bun.
I cannot imagine going the "no shampoo" route though. You are a much braver woman than I! Kudos to you for trying! ..... this post made me laugh =)

[Jill Mendoza]

I have to say I am envious of your ability to stop washing your hair, i know that I could not do that for more than a week or so before I would be diving into my linen closet

[NYCEsthy]

My husband has thick, curly hair that has the tendency to go poof! He switched to a baking soda "wash" and apple cider vinegar rise every other day. It's like magic. His hair is soft and the curls are manageable. Added bonus is that he's no longer dipping into my admittedly over-priced hair care stash!

[Karyn]

Have you considered washing just twice a week, and rinsing with conditioner in between? I've done this for years - ten years, to be exact - and can vouch that my hair repeatedly withstands the tests of heat, chemical and age. Kerastase is my go-to brand, but if you're looking for something natural, try Giovanni (which can be purchased at Whole Foods).

[Noah S]

Hey! you should try Argan Oil. Not Moroccan Oil which has way too many unhealthy ingredients added. I use Pure Argan Oil, my hair got it's softness and shine back and my natural curls are just perfect. And you can also use it on skin.

I've been using Jebel Pure Argan Oil, it's the best on the market.
Try it out you wont be disapointed.

[Anna Lee]

I can't believe you can't find Dax Beeswax. I Googled "Dax Beeswax" and found numerous sites (64,000) that sell online. Prices range from $1.93 for 3.5 oz to $5.50 for a 14 oz jar.

[Faye]

OMG I feel your pain!!! My hair is so hard to control, thick, fluffy, wavey, dry! And I am always trying to find things to help improve it but nothing ever works - am going to have to try some of the things listed in the comments here!

[lauraw]

I second the recommendation of Moroccan Oil.

I got it from my hairdresser a while back and it is the bomb. My hair has been getting progressively curlier over time, and it is long and very thick and apparently would like very much to be a poodle.

Moroccan oil makes it lie down in gorgeous waves and shine like it did when I was in my 20's.
And it makes my dry-feeling hair feel silky soft like it did back then, too. I use that stuff on the days that I shampoo.

I use shampoo every two or three days. I use a smoothing conditioner like Pantene or Garnier in between.

Seems to be a successful routine so far.

[kat]

1. oil is not bad for hair and jojoba oil on my dry bits (ends) has done wonders for me, trick is to use hardly any
2. there's, inevitably, forums for this kind of thing... check out longhaircommunity.com. lots of advice, plus many pictures of people growing hair to be long and naturally healthy.
3. a lot of people will mention switching to natural hair products which in my opinion is worth the money. My giovanni shampoo and conditioner is no more expensive than pantene, but pantene has the same ingredients as every other conventional product on the shelf, so the money goes where? plus i only shampoo like three times a week or less. My point is it's OK to try new things, even things you've heard are "bad" for your hair based on conventional magazine wisdom.