Hi all -

I've been making a huge effort to wash my hair only every 3 days, I've found that it lies much better now - and since I also let it air dry I haven't had much problem with frizz. I do rinse my hair every morning with water.

HOWEVER! I've noticed that on the 3rd day, my hair smells! I sit with my hands in my hair a lot and the smell rubs off on my hands, it smells greasy-dirty-nasty and I can't stand it! Does anyone else have this problem and if so what on earth do you do to combat it?

/Kate

I only wash my hair twice a week but have not really noticed any smell to my hair.  However, I live and work in a smoke and scent free environment, which might make a difference.

What kind of products do you use on your hair? Might they be contributing to the smell?  How about your brush?

Thanks for the quick reply!

I am also in a non-smokey environment, and most days I don't use anything on my hair. When I do, I use a tiny bit of L'Oreal Liss Control just to keep it manageable.

Also, my hair is quite curly, so I don't use a brush on it more than once or twice a week (I just finger-comb). And I wash my brush often :-) It's just so annoying that my hair gets this way as soon as it starts to look really good. It doesn't look or feel greasy. Do you think maybe a rinse would help?

/Kate

I like to oil the ends of my hair with jojoba oil.  I know some people will mix a bit of jojoba oil with distilled water, add a drop or two of a scented oil, shake well and spray lightly on their hair.  This helps to control frizz, but can also add a bit of scent.

I'm not sure how long the scent lasts, but it might help.

You also mention rinsing your hair each day.  You might try rinsing with distilled water instead of tap water.  The distilled water would be less likely to add bacteria or other things that could be creating the smell.

You could try brushing just a little cornstarch through your hair as well.

wrote on Mar 4^th, 2004 at 10:57pm:

You could try brushing just a little cornstarch through your hair as well.

Have you tried that?  I remember my grandmother talking about doing that, but I have never tried it myself.  I am fortunate to not have an oily head and have not felt a need to try it yet.  (However, I do admit that sometimes I go a day or so beyond what might be socially acceptable for "clean" hair  :o , but I just put my hair in a bun and no one notices   ;D )

Back in the 70's there was a dry shampoo powder that you were supposed to be able to brush through your hair.  I always figured it was a cornstarch type product -  something that would absorb oils and then be brushed out.

Hi Kate,

Can you wear your hair either in a braid or a bun? This might keep you from playing with your hair/scalp and thus keep your hair a little cleaner.

I've noticed almost exactly the same thing in myself: if, starting from the day I wash it, I keep it in a braid, it stays very clean for up to three days. (I even go running with a hat and nothing much seems to happen!)

However, if I wear it down for even one day - *especially* at work - then I tend to fidget and play with my hair/scalp a lot, and then my hair gets dirty quite fast.

Hope this helps!
Christine

wrote on Mar 4^th, 2004 at 11:08pm:

Have you tried that?

Sure!  I have oily hair, so I really can't go more than a day or so without at least washing my bangs.  If I don't have time and I'm not going anywhere too important, a quick brush of cornstarch works almost as well.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I suspect my biggest problem is that my hands are in my hair so much - it's still too short to put up so I'm constantly brushing it out of my face. Tomorrow will be the third day since washing so I'll try the cornstarch thingy tomorrow. I might try a chamomille rinse as well and see if it makes a difference (I've done it before but I never felt like I could smell the chamomille).

I thought I might work my way up to the conditioner-only wash as well. Do you wash with conditioner every day, or only every few days (using plain water the rest of the time)? And can you use any type of conditioner or are there specific ingredients to look for?

/Kate

dear kate,
I do the washing with conditioner only for about 3 month now, in the beginning I washed with Conditioner every second day now I am down to twice a week. On the days you just rinse with water, try rinsing with conditioner instead just water. I feel it cleans and smells better. The first two weeks it took my hair to adjust and the roots felt a little stiff or oily but it went away after a while. I hope this helps.
:)

I thought I'd better write an update of what I've been doing so you don't think I gave up and shaved my head (which is sometimes quite tempting).

I tried using cornstarch, but first I couldn't stop laughing because I looked like something from the 1700s, and I didn't think it helped too much anyway. Maybe I didn't brush/rinse enough out, because my hair felt dull afterwards.

I've also been trying to use only conditioner for every other wash, meaning that I use shampoo about once every 5-7 days. My hair feels quite dull and somewhat stringy doing this as well but it might be that I just have to get used to it like you said, eifelwitch. Is there any special sort of conditioner you're supposed to use?

I've started pinning my hair up on the sides, which keeps my hands out of my hair, so I haven't noticed any smelly hair lately!

/Kate

Hi Everyone,

I am sooooo confused.  I've done the CO washes since April 04, but every third week  I shampoo my scalp.

My question is this:  My hair is fine and oily- would I be better off with CWC than CO?  And HOW OFTEN?

Anyone else with oily fine hair got any kind of tips for me, please------

strawberryfine

Hi strawberryfine,

Nowadays I do CO only - it did take my hair quite a while to adjust, but my hair is definitely happier away from shampoo. During the adjustment period my hair was oily, so I CO'ed every other day. Now I try to go 3 or 4 days between washes.

If you CO, and feel that your hair isn't getting clean, why don't you try using shampoo every other time or so? If your hair feels dry at any time, put some oil on the ends or do a deep condition.

I've been reading your posts about CWC vs CO and to be honest it sounds like CWC is a waste of time and product. If your scalp is getting greasy you can always do a scalp wash, but in my limited experience CO does a great job of actually *cleaning.* If you have to, you can CO every day.

Maybe you just need an adjustment period to teach your scalp to produce less oil?

Good luck,

/Kate

Hi Kate,

I wash once a week. What you could try doing is if your scalp gets greasy and you don't want to wash the length is putting your hair up (maybe in a braid or loose bun) and just washing the scalp.

For the smell, try misting your hair with distilled water that has some EO's in it for scent (and maybe a few drops of a carrier oil too for a little extra moisture.) HTH!

Hi Leia,

My hair is too short for me to do a scalp wash, and I CO so I figure that it doesn't hurt my hair to wash a little more often than I would like (once a week is my goal).

The smell problem is long gone. I only got that back when I first started trying to reduce my wash frequency. I had previously been washing every single day, and my scalp produced oils like crazy when I suddenly went to every 3 days! :-)

/Kate

Glad the smell is gone!  :)

The "dry shampoo" product I was familiar with in the (cringe) 70's was an aerosol spray called "Pssssst".

It felt like baby powder and alcohol but it worked.  But everyone I knew at that time quickly found out baby powder put in then brushed out worked as well.  And you had a nice baby scent to your hair.

SF

I tried the cornstarch thing today and it worked great.  I put it in just to go to the gym, but ended up running a few more errands and my hair still looks fine.  Very convenient for rushed days.  

i tried some kind of a body powder today and i found i had to put too much of it for it to work a bit (and it has dimethicone in it!!)  luckily i only bought the mini version of it. i think i'll try corn starch too, just that i never saw that in the supermaket unless it's what we call maizena to thicken sauces. (but it's not a very fine powder!)

Cornstarch is an extremely fine powder that has been refined from the seed of the maize plant. It is silky smooth, and it "squeaks" when you rub it between your fingers. I've read that in England they call it "corn flour", which is an entirely different product here.

I've been trying to prolong intervals between washing. I started from washing my hair every other day (by then it was dirty and greasy and yucky) and after a few months, I'm washing every four days. My goal is to be able to wash it just once a week.

My hair just doesn't get dirty so fast anymore. On 2nd day after wash it looks like it's been just washed (with that maddening slipperiness of recently washed hair and all  ;D) instead of a bit dirty. I've noticed that as I try to extend the interval by one day at a time, the last day feels uncomfortable at first, but my scalp adjusts to new order pretty quickly.

I used to notice the smell on last day before wash, when I was pushing my limits, but misting my hair and scalp regularly with rose water has solved that problem.

i still wash every three days like with shampoo but i don't have at all that sebum smell anymore although it looks equally greasy. maybe i should try to prolong it as well but i don't mind (co)washing every three days.

and the body powder seemed to have worked better than i thought (i rinsed my scalp afterwards though, i don't trust the chemicals it has besides the corn & rice starch)

I wash my hair every other day, now and then I let an extra day go by. I know that is probably too often but I can't stand to let it go any longer than that.

Right at the moment I wash on Sundays, Tuesdays, & Thursdays.  Sunday is my Deep Treatment day which I usually leave on overnight on Saturday and wash out on Sunday.  Then I Condition Only wash 1-2 of the other days.  If I have time I will replace the CO wash with an Indian Herb wash.  This schedule has been working out very well for me. Many times I deviate from the schedule and wash the night before if I have to get up early the next day.  I have no patience in the early morning and also dont want to go into the freezing cold with wet hair.  I have tried many times to go longer and wash 2x a week.  My hair doesnt suffer at all from this but my scalp does.  I have sebbhoreic dermatitis (spell? sorry thats a hard one!)  and you dont want to know what my scalp looks and feels like if I wait that long.  The Indian Herbs and the scalp massages with EO and jojoba help also.  Sorry for rambling off subject here! ;D

Hmm, now I seem a bit unusual... ;)

I wash my hair every day. Not to be mean to it or anything, but I really can't stand to not wash it for a day (or longer -- perish the thought!). Am I being unnaturally cruel to my hair?

MahCurlyLocks:
The natural oils collect on the hair closest to the scalp.  
A person with long hair, can brush/comb those oils down the length making them less noticable.  Shorter hair has nowhere for the oils to go, so the hair looks oily.  

The other factor is the scalp trying to compensate for the frequent washing.  When you strip the natural oils from the hair and scalp, the body works to replenish.  The more frequently you wash, the more oil that is produced.  Those of us who shampoo much less frequently took time for the scalp to adjust to the time between shampooing.

Okay, that makes sense.  ;D My hair really isn't oily (in fact, it's very dry...), it's just very unkempt if I don't wash it (and I can't brush because it's curly and will go POOF!). And I'm not quite sure if I can wait a day or two between washings... do you have any suggestions?

You may find you don't have to wash as often as your hair gets longer.  You may want to try condition-only (CO) washing.  This means no shampoo, just using the conditioner to wash and then rinse well.  This may actually help with dry hair, which may be part of the reason you get  "poof".  You may also want to try oiling your hair between washings.  It may also help to tame the "poof" and help with the dry-ness.
HOH.  I don't have curly hair either, but this is what I've gleaned so far from the boards.  Maybe true curlys will have better suggestions.

wrote on Apr 24^th, 2005 at 7:06pm:

Okay, that makes sense.  ;D My hair really isn't oily (in fact, it's very dry...), it's just very unkempt if I don't wash it (and I can't brush because it's curly and will go POOF!). And I'm not quite sure if I can wait a day or two between washings... do you have any suggestions?

jeeze, what an abuse then!!  ;D
i also suggest coing, the hair will dry more evenly as well causing less poofiness. also, to give curls the beauty they deserve and control: JOJOBA OIL! especially if your hair is dry! really, you should be greasing your hair rather then stripping it. and if you want even more control, try shea butter, it seems to glue the hairs a bit together without that dreadful cruncy gel effect, really great stuff!

That's awesome! :) I wonder, though, does that make hair very oily? Putting oil or shea butter in it, I mean? And I use mousse to keep these poor things under control; can those replace it?

(Sorry for all the questions. I never really was a hair person.  :-/)

i couldn't say if it can replace it. jojoba is a liquid wax, and doesn't really feel oily. when used in big amounts it will give a wet look of course. shea butter being solid at room temperature never really feels oily either.

Awesome, good to know. I'll have to try it!  ;D

(And I love the wet look for curly hair... ahh.)

i've found that making a gloss with about 1 part jojoba and 3 parts aloe vera gel controls well the frizz on braids. it works with shea butter as well. i usually use way more aloe vera than oil in the mix, but i guess experimenting with different combinations could give something that really works well.

wrote on Apr 24^th, 2005 at 10:15pm:

That's awesome! :) I wonder, though, does that make hair very oily? Putting oil or shea butter in it, I mean? And I use mousse to keep these poor things under control; can those replace it? (Sorry for all the questions. I never really was a hair person.  :-/)

I wasn't much of a hair person either before finding these boards -- look how much I've learned so far ;D

I think you'll like the Jojoba oil and shea butter much better than the mousse.  The combo with aloe vera I've tried a time or two.  It worked pretty well, if you like the wet look it will be awesome. ;)