FEEDBACK NEEDED stringy coated looking hair

Chelley Mae · 01-11-2013, 09:32 AM

Hi all....I am mostly a lurker because for a while I felt like I had this curly hair thing down. But lately that hasn't been the case.

Background: I have been using the same products to wash and condition my hair. I have alao been using the same styling products which I rotate. Wash & condish: Giovanni TTTT poo, Natures Gate hemp condish, AO GBP, GVP conditioning balm, and Repair Me as a PT. STYLING: CJ cccc lite, AF gel, LASLGEL , CJ SG, SheaM LI. I rotate these...have been using them for years.

My hair: fine but lots of it...3a...med porosity...seems to love protein.

Ok....now to the issue...the last 6 months I would hit points where all of a sudden my hair would look stringy coated limp and greasy...no new products...just literally happened all of a sudden. It would happen every 6 weeks or so. So I ended up purchasing the repair me becauseit seemed like my hair was overconditioned. And the repair me worked. ..wonderfully at first. But now for the past 2 months even the repair me wasnt working. ...neither was acv rinses. I have only been using the AO GPB and NG Hemp condish because they r protein heavy because I thought tjats what I needed because the symptoms were what overconditioned hair would be. Well none of this has been working. I even washed with sulfate shampoo because I was desperate. Still my hair loiks over conditioned.

The only thing I have been doing different since this all started 6 months ago was to use foam hair color...could that be it? I have been coloring my hair for years but always with cream.

Any insight into this issue would be greatly appreciated. TIA!

JLeighs · 01-11-2013, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chelley Mae

Hi all....I am mostly a lurker because for a while I felt like I had this curly hair thing down. But lately that hasn't been the case.

Background: I have been using the same products to wash and condition my hair. I have alao been using the same styling products which I rotate. Wash & condish: Giovanni TTTT poo, Natures Gate hemp condish, AO GBP, GVP conditioning balm, and Repair Me as a PT. STYLING: CJ cccc lite, AF gel, LASLGEL , CJ SG, SheaM LI. I rotate these...have been using them for years.

My hair: fine but lots of it...3a...med porosity...seems to love protein.

Ok....now to the issue...the last 6 months I would hit points where all of a sudden my hair would look stringy coated limp and greasy...no new products...just literally happened all of a sudden. It would happen every 6 weeks or so. So I ended up purchasing the repair me becauseit seemed like my hair was overconditioned. And the repair me worked. ..wonderfully at first. But now for the past 2 months even the repair me wasnt working. ...neither was acv rinses. I have only been using the AO GPB and NG Hemp condish because they r protein heavy because I thought tjats what I needed because the symptoms were what overconditioned hair would be. Well none of this has been working. I even washed with sulfate shampoo because I was desperate. Still my hair loiks over conditioned.

The only thing I have been doing different since this all started 6 months ago was to use foam hair color...could that be it? I have been coloring my hair for years but always with cream.

Any insight into this issue would be greatly appreciated. TIA!

It could be the color, but a lot of the products you're using seem to be pretty rich/heavy. I would start off by using a good clarifying shampoo, a lighter conditioner (or a very small amount of a heavier one), skip the leave-in, and then use a less moisturizing styler. The Giovanni TT seems to leave a film on my hair, so I use only the 50/50 now.

After a couple of years of being strict CG, my hair could no longer tolerate all the moisture. It still can't. I use 50/50 shampoo every time I fully do my hair (3x a week or so), a small amount of various conditioners (right now I'm liking the GVP Conditioning Balm and Davines Love Smoothing Conditioner *), and absolutely no LI ever. I found that if I just used shampoo regularly, I didn't need to use protein-heavy products all the time. For stylers, I stick to things that aren't moisturizing at all.

Hope that helps!

*Not CG

lcl0706 · 01-12-2013, 11:34 AM

^ +1 to that. Ease up on the moisture. Maybe after (how long?) you just need a change. It could be your hair needed all that moisture at first and now it's healthier and doesn't.

mhen76 · 01-12-2013, 12:56 PM

So many factors can come into play. My hair gets like that when I need a protein treatment. I try to do one weekly but sometimes life gets in the way. I also need to clarify on occasion. Fine hair can be prone to build-up. I make an effort to rotate all of my products so there's less chance of build-up but it can still happen. The hard water in my town can also be a contributing factor. I agree with the other posters - clarify and switch up your products, rotate your favs back in.

Devushka · 01-12-2013, 07:22 PM

Maybe giving your hair a "rest" from commercial hair products all together would help. Some natural hair scrubs might do just fine for your hair for a while. And there are herbal hair rinses that are good for hair and condition lightly with no build up. In general, I've found that herbs like marshmallow root, horsetail, nettle, coltsfoot are easy to work with (Kind of like making tea -- You start with distilled water and let the herb steep in it to make a rinse.) Note: The marshmallow root seems to do better if you simply steep it in room temperature water (instead of hot water).

Entering a search here on the nc.com forum will probably give a lot of posts, articles, and recipes on hair rinses and other diy hair preparations if you're interested in giving that approach a try.