Let me start with my hair information: 
*it is 5-6 inches past my shoulders
*it is dark brown (almost black)
*I have not dyed my hair since Oct 2005 (when I dyed it back to my natural color)
*it is fine but not thin
*can be cury/wavy if I put curling cream in it, scrunch it and air dry
*I blow dry and straight iron mostly everyday
*I have a lot of shine to my hair even though I put all this heat on it, the straight iron actually makes it shinier
*I have been switching using Thermasilk and Dove Intense Moisture shampoos and conditioners
*my hair gets extremely oily by the end of the day
*I get my hair trimmed every 8 weeks, but may start doing every 6 weeks since I am seeing more split ends

Now to the questions:
*How can I train my hair to not have to be washed everyday (so that I don't have to put heat to my hair everyday)?  I have been taking days off, but then I have to wear my hair up because it is too oily.  I have heard about using powder to "cover-up" the oil, but my hair is dark, can I still use powder?  The Bumble & Bumble stuff is too expensive.
*I have thought about switching to Redken All Soft, but wasn't sure if it would work with my hair type.  Pantene and Garnier Fructise (sp?) are horrible for my hair.  Any suggestions?

I think that is it...Thanks for reading my long post.  Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Christina

Hi Christina,

Dove Intense Moisture is making your hair oilier. The cleansers in that shampoo tend to take away much of the natural scalp oil, making the scalp produce even more to make up for it (it's a never-ending cycle) 

I would switch to a gentler shampoo. L'Oreal Kids is a really gentle line of products, and their shampoos have cleansers that are salon-quality. Basically, the gentler the cleansers, the less oily the scalp. It will take a few weeks for your scalp to adjust to something gentler, but it's worth the wait

Good luck
Anais

Just the L'Oreal Kids shampoo though.... I think you should continue using your usual conditioner the way you always have been. 2-in-1 products seldom work as well as separate products. Maybe also consider adding a heat protectant because of the heat styling.

Hope this helps
Anais

The only thing I have been able to find (while searching the internet) is the 2-in-1 Shampoo.  Is this the only Shampoo they sell, or do they actually have just Shampoo?

One more question: What conditioner would you suggest?  I've always just used whatever conditioner matched my shampoo, so I don't really have a preference.  I saw what you wrote about silicone's.  Since my hair is fine I should probably be using non-silicone's, right?  The ones I have been using have had silicone's in them.

Thanks for all your help.  I really appreciate it.  I am trying to convince myself that I can keep my hair long.  I always have the urge to cut it because it gets oily and weighs my hair down.  We will see how this works.

Christina :)

I think all of the L'Oreal Kids are 2-in-1... but it shouldn't make much difference in how gentle they are, or how well they work. It would be used as a gentle shampoo.  

You mentioned that Pantene and Garnier are "horrible for your hair" and they have silicones, so you are right about avoiding them. I don't have much experience with silicone-free, but here are some brands that tend to be silicone-free: Avalon, Aveda, Beauty Without Cruelty, Biolage (Conditioning Balm), Giovanni, Jason, Jessicurl, Nature's Gate, Suave Naturals.

Unfortunately most of the good silicone-free conditioners are also very expensive. And there's also low-silicone conditioners that include TRESemme European, sold in most drugstores.

You'll probably have to do some label-reading. Just keep a lookout for ingredients that end in "cone", "conol" or "siloxane".

Hope this helps!
Anais