Two days ago, I couldn't stand it anymore. I washed my hair. My unwashed hair had gotten to the same point of disgust my previously-washed hair had had--it was limp and didn't do anything. Worse, it felt sticky, from root to tip (I guess my "natural oils" made it all the way down the hair shaft) and my husband wouldn't go near my head. Not in an obnoxious way, but still, when a loved one has previously always been stroking your head and not so suddenly stops, it's kind of noticeable. And my brush was always dirty. Right after brushing my hair, you'd be able to see all of the oils on it.
Another problem I had was particulate matter. I don't have dandruff, and it wasn't flakes, but because I have such dark hair, anything *in* my hair stood out and I'd have these little tiny white flecks of something (it was like, from my oil glands I swear) stuck to the roots of my hair. To quote a David A. Carter book, I'd had enough. (Looking for that dog was just too tough.) So I finally broke out the shampoo.
It was such a difference. With shampoo and conditioner, my hair feels so clean, shiny, smooth. I can't stop touching it. (Previously, my fingers would stick and then I'd have to wash my hands.) My hair still doesn't do anything and I still have flyaways around my face, despite using hairspray (but I don't want to use hairspray, regular use of it makes me breakout along the hairline). But it's clean!
Instead, I'll search for the perfect shampoo and conditioner. I typically rotate through a few drugstore varieties (I'm currently on Aussie Moist), but the problem I have with it is that after repeated use, it tears up my cuticles (on mu fingers). So I suspect it's too harsh. Also, my online research suggested that it's people with curly hair that don't have to shampoo as often, it made me wonder whether the converse (people with straight hair, such as myself, need to shampoo more often) was true. I didn't shampoo yesterday; my hair still feels clean, comparatively. But I suppose figuring out what to do with my hair will take another trajectory now.
When I have been interested in quitting shampoo, I've basically always ended up shampooing _less_ instead.
ReplyDeleteI grew up shampooing every day, and at this point I do it 2x week, with a conditioner rinse on the other days. I've also done it shampooing every other day and just finger scrubbing it in between.
Both of those approaches seem to work fine with my hair, and reduce the amount of shampoo I use by half and the amount of oil my head produces by a similar factor.
Any further reduction seems to have a lot less impact, and yes, eventually it gets guey and nasty. For me.