QuoteReplyTopic: questions for conditioner-only users Posted: May 11 2005 at 3:46pm
Okay, so last week and over the weekend I had to wash (shampoo I mean) my hair four nights in a row. Long story, but that's not the point. I usually wash my hair every other night and condition every night, but since I washed it four times in a row I figured I'd wait a few days before I washed it again and give my scalp a chance to recover.
So I've been using just conditioner since Monday night (from the bottom of the ears down), and the back of my head at the top feels really greasy. And I was just wondering, for those of you that use the CO routine, does your hair get greasy? If so, how do you get rid of and prevent it? When I eventually go completely CO I don't want a greasy scalp!
Also, for those that use CO, do you use more than one conditioner at a time? I use three- a light one, a regular one, and a heavier one- because my hair has seemed in dire need of conditioning and moisture recently. Is this too much?
Thanks everyone!
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eKatherine
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LOL, I use three conditioners too. Two light and one heavy.
For the CO part, I dilute a dose of the conditioner (V05 Sunkissed Rasp.) in an old ketchup bottle before applying it. Massage, rinse.
then an ACV rinse, which gets rid of a LOT of grease
And then of course, the second and third conditioners. (Suave Milk&Honey and Kirkland Lemongingerroot)
It takes awhile for the scalp to get used to NOT producing a lot of grease. After a couple weeks, I think you'll see the difference. It also helps to comb the scalp with a rake comb, and of course, cold rinses.
Hang in there!
Anais
ETA you may want to "wean" yourself off shampoo slowly. You could try the C-COW-C method first, and then move on to CO.
I must say we're very skeptical about going to condition-only.
Jennifer (pictured to the left) attended school to be a hairdresser and
we're stuck in this mode that you have to use shampoo to keep your hair
and your scalp clean. Afterall, there isn't any cleansing
qualities in conditioner, is there? Did any of you have any
reservations about switching to conditioner-only and what have you seen
from the switch? Does your head feel greasy at all or does it
feel as clean as if you had used shampoo? I've been using a
clarifying shampoo on Jennifer's hair about once every week or two and
we've just tried Aussie shampoos and conditioners (after seeing that
others on this board have had good results with them and we also saw
some very good reviews at epinions) and like the results. Does it
really work to skip the shampoo process totally and use ACV rinse for a
clarifier? I'd think it would take a lot of ACV to do a rinse
with a lot of hair, but from what I see, only 1/2 cup is necessary with
a water dilution? Is the ACV rinse something you can do in the
shower? Tell me how you go about this clarification. I read
on Medusa's Lair that Anais rinses in the ACV rinse in a catch basin
for 3-5 minutes. This sounds like something you'd have to lie
down to do. Do you do this in the shower as part of your normal
bathing routine or do you clarify as a separate process? Anais's
hair does look like it has definitely benefited from the condition-only
routine, but we're just not sure about switching.
I don't CO, I dilute shampoo, but I do use 2 conditioners.
tdouty, if you use a clarifying shampoo once every 1 to 2 weeks, you
probably don't need the ACV rinse really. Its a good thing to do
if you don't clarify, or if you have a scalp issue where you have
dandruff caused by yeasts - the ACV rinse after washing would help make
a more acid environment on the scalp and so help with that
condition. Its not going to hurt anything if you do it anyway,
its just likely that its an extra step that isn't going to add much to
already clarifying.
I can't answer many of your questions, but about the vinegar, here's
what I do. I have N type hair so I use a weaker dilution of
vinegar. I use 2 tablespoons of white vinegar in 2 cups of water,
poured over my scalp area over the sink, catch vinegar in a bowl...then
I dip the length of the hair in the bowl. I just do the one rinse
and don't leave it on my head for any length of time.
Making metal barettes/concord clips hair safe, long hair style how to: http://alonghair.wordpress.com
oskana
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My "catch basin" or runoff container is just a very VERY large plastic cup. I can do the rinse standing up in the shower. Or the other thing I've been doing lately is dipping the ends in a cup full of ACV rinse first, and then pouring through the scalp and length. You don't have to do ACV lying down. ACV is also great for your drain.
Without shampoo, two things are needed to keep the scalp clean: (1) something to get rid of the grease and (2) something to exfoliate the dead skin off.
(1) After CO'ing for awhile, the scalp eventually adjusts and produces less oil. This solves part of the grease issue, and then the ACV solves the rest (given that ACV is used in each hairwash)
(2) Exfoliation can be done with a horn comb (e.g. Jas Townsend), or even a regular wide toothed comb; or brown sugar scalp scrub.
Not everybody does well without shampoo (for various reasons). There are other alternatives to CO, such as C-COW-C or CWC. I don't want anyone to be confined to thinking they need to switch to CO.
Thanks for the explanation. Dipping the length in the ACV rinse
before would make more sense to me too because that would help the
rinse penetrate through the locks. Pouring it over dry hair would
allow it to pretty much just shed off without getting the hair
underneath. We usually do the straight-forward shampoo and
condition about every 3 days and just wash her bangs and condition the
length every day if she lets her hair down in the shower. Many
years ago when her hair was of classic length, she told me she would do
CWC and I think we'll begin doing that again since her hair is getting
longer now. I also plan on using a diluted shampoo and water
concoction instead of just shampoo. I think that combined with
the Aussie products will be a nice change for her hair. I must
say that I like the idea of the condition-only wash because the
combination of water and conditioner feels great on long hair. I
think applying the conditioner and water mix would feel really
nice. Thanks for all the help.
I have to try the diluted Shampoo bit. TDouty - I don't know if I am the only one thinking this, but do you guys wash hair together or something? Why is she not writing on this board about her hair?
I just started CO washes and my routine isn't nearly as developed as everyone else's! lol
I use suave milk and honey, actually, and I just use it like shampoo
(meaning, I massage it into my scalp) and I let it sit for several
minutes and rinse it out just before getting out of the shower.
Sometimes I'll use Aussie deep 3 minute miracle conditioner as a
followup (only applied to the length-not the scalp-like I would
normally with conditioner). I used to try to just rinse my hair on the
days I wasn't washing my hair, but I had the same problem as you-greasy
scalp. Conditioners DO contain surfectants and I was very surprised
after my first CO to find that my roots were just as clean as they are
when I wash them with shampoo. I generally only shampoo wash my hair
once a week and I'll do an ACV rinse too.
My hair is definitely softer than it was before.
definitely give it a shot. :)
I used to use a conditioner for my shampoo and it was sold for that
purpose only - to use as a cleanser for hair, but it was a pure
conditioning treatment. It had Rosemary, Tea Tree Oil and other
botanicals. I just purchased another that a friend of mine
uses called Full and Clean Rosemary Tea Tree Conditioner and I'm going
to use this a couple of days a week as my shampoo. I use a fairly
strong shampoo now because I used to suffer from severe hair loss
(nutritional deficiencies and stress were the culprit) and I don't want
to ever go down that road again. The shampoo (Revivogen) has a
DHT removing ingredient that really reduces hair loss and fallout, so
I'm nervous about not using a shampoo, but I'm going to try it because
my hair is fairly dry and needs a heavy cream conditioner after every
shampoo because of it.
Thanks for the info. ladies.
Kris
tdouty
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Kimbearly: Yes, we do. I have always loved long hair on a
woman and Jennifer loves her hair long too. With several children
in the house, it's one way we can be alone a while and spend some time
together too. She enjoys having her hair washed and I like to do
it for her. Jennifer looks at all my posts and interesting topics
over lunch breaks, but doesn't have easy access to a computer during
the days, so I do the posting as time permits.
akiz: Thanks for the reply. That's what we were curious
about. We were wondering what kind of results people were seeing
as far as keeping the scalp clean after giving CO a try.
strawberryfine
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But in the vinegar department, I use red wine vinegar to hopefully enhance the red in my hair. I don't know if it works or not, but I like the results and it is such a pretty color in the bottle; and the bottle is pretty. For me, it helps to feel like I am pampering myself.
I use Daves' Dilution Solution with phytojoba and phytorhum shampoos and have been for some time now. And I use a diluted deep conditioner (Biolage Conditioning Balm).
I do vinegar as needed, by feel.
Love this board!
strawberryfine
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DaveDecker
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But in the vinegar department, I use red wine vinegar to hopefully
enhance the red in my hair. I don't know if it works or not, but
I like the results and it is such a pretty color in the bottle; and the
bottle is pretty. For me, it helps to feel like I am pampering
myself.
I use Daves' Dilution Solution with phytojoba and phytorhum
shampoos and have been for some time now. And I use a diluted
deep conditioner (Biolage Conditioning Balm).
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