General hair care- need help

Hi,I just talked to a hair care expert in California and we discussed oily scalp, dry hair and he had some great suggestions. He said that he recommend that his clients buy a good shampoo for oily hair and apply it to just the scalp area when shampooing and then apply a good moisturizing shampoo to the rest of the hair. He recommended ARTec Smoothing shampoo and conditioner for the dry parts. He did point out that some of the ARTec products will help dry oiliness...like the ARTec Kiwi which can be somewhat drying.His point....layering of products really works because you are focusing your efforts on the parts of the hair that need whatever. I am a big believer in "layering" and will sometimes use 2 different shampoos on my own hair.My lower older hair near the ends gets much drier than the middles and roots and sometimes I will put a dab of ARTec Smoothing on the ends but use Aubrey Honeysuckle Rose on the roots and middle.The expert I talked to also recommends using a warm rinse for encouraging the formation of natural oils in the hair and a cool/cold rinse for removing oils and closing the hair cuticle.How often to shampoo? That depends on you and your hair and your specific needs.The best way to figure that out is to try different washing plans and wait 1-2 days between shampoos to see what the result is for your hair.What is the best shampoo for you? I think you need 2 and I would not specifically recommend a shampoo for oily hair. I would recommend that you also experiment.How much to use? Most experts believe you should never use more than a quarter of shampoo for a short head of hair and proportionally more as relates to the length and thickness of the hair.For your hair I would recommend about a good sized dollap for the scalp area and about the same for the middle/ends parts of your hair.Can you rinse the scalp without the drying shampoo impacting the other parts of your hair? Yes....it can be a little tricky, but if you wash your hair in the shower it can be accomplished by shampooing and rinsing your top first and then shampooing and rinsing your middle/ends.You can often get small bottles of different products at beauty supply stores that you can try. I would also recommend that you get a shampoo that is more drying for your scalp area and more moisturizing for the middles and ends.My stylist Shelley Pryor has gorgeous, but very curly hair, and she swears by the Aveda Blue Malva and Aveda Cherry Almond Bark. She does think that Blue Malva can be a little more drying than some shampoos and I agree. The Aveda Shampure is very moisturizing and great for the dry parts.With curly hair it is important to do deep conditioning as much as possible to help add back lost moisture that occurs because your hair cuticle is never completely closed..curly hair is shaped like a corkscrew and remains slightly open and so moisture can and does escape.....I think everyone should do rinse out conditioners at least a couple of times a week. If your hair is dry on the bottom, apply rinse out conditioner ONLY to that section and forego any conditioner on the top parts of your hair that get oily.The same if true with leave in conditioners. Use only on the dry parts of your hair. Yes, I believe that someone with curly/wavy hair as you have, should always condition because your hair tends to be more prone to dryness because of its natural shape.Also have your ends trimmed on a regular basis. This will help your hair remain healthy as it grows.What else can you do? Get other opinions. Ask people that you see with curly/wavy hair how they care for it and if it is oily or dry. People are almost always willing to help and give advice. Hopefully you will also get some other advice here on Hair Talk.Hope this helps.It is really great that you are working with a plan of action to grow your hair healthy. Congrats on that.Best wishes,Karen> I just finished cutting my shoulder lenght curly/wavy> hair to about a half inch long. I wish to grow it out> again and would appreciate any suggestions for general> hair care. My hair is dry and coarse, and my scalp> gets oily. How often should i shampoo ? Does the> amount of shampoo I use matter ? Should I use a> conditioner ? Any suggestions to help insure that the> hair I grow out is healthy is greatly aprreciated.> RH