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Ladies need help with hair

ramya

Veteran

I suddenly have multiple problems with my hair. My hair is turning dry and unhealthy looking. Also I am currently facing dandruff problem that never seems to go.
I did go to the doctors but all of them give me either the OTC dandruff shampoo or the fungal ones.or fungal medicine pills to take orally
Both are of no help

I feel so unfab now and all I can do is tie my hair up all the time. My hair is extremely fine, thin and curly hence I never have been able to manage it well.
It doesn't like conditioners , wide tooth comb either.

I am really at loss help me please

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21 replies

Latest reply was from

Ingunn

(website)

Veteran

I think it is suffering from the long, dry Winter. Mine is like that, too. It will probably look better in a few weeks when you start spending more time outdoors where the humidity is higher than indoors. You should give it a moisture cure, though. I like the brand Fudge, and I add a small mount to my hair before I go to bed every once in a while. Next morning, I wash it as normal. It really helps.

ramya

Veteran

Thank you Ingunn is it a hair pack?
I was wondering if my hair reacts to sulphates in shampoo you know

rachylou

Veteran

What OTC shampoos did the the docs recommend? I don't know if you can find the Phyto line where you are. They are a bit upscale, but I've found their products work well. How often do you wash your hair?

bj1111

Veteran

Not all otc anti-dandruff is the same. I use selsun blue with selenium. Worked wonders on my seborrheic dermatitis, bad enough to ooze and crust and had spread to patches on my face. (For my face, i spread a thin layer and wait for it to dry before rinsing. Daily tapering to once a week or every other week.)

I used to use head and shoulders, which works for my husband who also has seborrheic dermatitis. So different shampoos work for different people.

Good luck!

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

Do you have a Body Shop nearby? Try a sample of their ginger shampoo.

I have an alcohol sensitivity and the ginger stuff is seriously the only shampoo that makes my hair happy! I have 8 bottles in my storage room right now, just in case.

Aida

Veteran

Ramya as a fellow fine/thin/curly gal I can commiserate!

My top suggestion is to go sulfate-less. Start by removing any products that use them, as you need sulfates to get sulfates out. Next get a shampoo that has zero sulfates (check the ingredients and if you see anything with "sulfate" in the name, move on to the next). Same with conditioner, neither should have them.

Conditioner is actually super important for us! But it's tricky to find one that's hydrating enough as well as light enough. I look for conditioners that have almond and/or shea butter in them for extra hydration, especially in winter. It might also be worth applying a hair mask, again either shea butter or almond oil based things works really well. I never brush or comb my hair (yep), but if absolutely necessary I would use a VERY wide comb on wet hair.

Lastly, you may also need a hydrating curl crème to put into your hair after washing. Do you use a blow dryer? If so, a heat shield product is very important. For the curl crème, I really like Bumble and Bumble's fine curl crème (this one here); just use a little when wet and work into the ends especially, and it keeps the curls soft and pretty all day. I hope you're able to get your hair soft and manageable again soon, I know how hard it can be!

Janet

(website)

Veteran

To follow up on Aida's suggestion, Bumble and Bumble Quenching shampoo is a good sulfate-free option. I've been using it since before the holidays and I really like it.

Freckles

Veteran

I am also the member of the fine, thin, dry, curly hair club.

When I had a problem with unknown allergies a number of years ago I had to go and find a bunch of new products. One of them was Cliniderm gentle shampoo. It doesn't contain any dyes, parabens, perfume, lanolin, formaldehyde or protein. It says on the label that it helps remove dandruff but I don't know as that wasn't my problem. My hair is very happy when I use this. I tried some other sulphate free shampoos and they were much too aggressive on my hair.

I also like Schwarzkopf professional Q10 plus hair therapy masque. I would love to use it every time I shampoo but stylist says once a month...lol. Not so fond of the spray leave in conditioner. I may not be using it correctly though since I haven't been blow drying my hair.

With the masque I can wash my hair and go out for an evening with it looking fab. Without it my hair takes about three or four days to get less dry and look decent, but I of course want to wash it before then...

Ingunn

(website)

Veteran

Yes, Ramya, I meant a moisture pack.

Ornella

(website)

Veteran

The new water in my new city had a really bad effect on my hair - the water is very hard, my hair is therefore extra dry and brittle if I'm not careful. I have noticed the change within weeks of moving and ha to put some measures in place.

The dandruff may not be dandruff at all, just very dry scalp, so you'll need to moisturise it - and probably not use anti-dandruff shampoos as they'll make things worse.

Simple solutions that work for me:

- last rinsing of the hair is with the distilled water (Scarlett pointed me to this as I asked about this issue as well, and it works). Here in Germany distilled water can be bought in supermarkets in the sections where household cleaning products are. I have no idea why it's kept there. Anyway, I rinse my hair with it and noticed it makes quite a difference.

- Every so often I put olive oil mask on my hair. That is pure olive oil from the kitchen, not some fancy overpriced product. I warm it up, massage it generously first on the scalp and then on the hair. Wrap the head in towel, let the warmth do its magic for as long as you can, then rinse and wash as usual. My experience is that when I rinse the oil before the first shampooing, no grease is coming out - the scalp and hair were obviously so thirsty there is not much to come out.

This is also wisdom gained at forum (thank you Maya) and I remember some ladies on the old thread were mentioning using pure coconut oil for the same purpose too.

Other than that:

- I have invested in pure argan oil. Again, forum advice (waving at Una and Louise). It is pricey but well worth it in my opinion. But it has to be pure, I've come across some drugstore-level (probably diluted) variations that are both different in texture and don't smell as nice. I mostly use it after I wash my hair and sometimes I put it on my hair before washing the same as I'd do with olive oil, leave it on for hours, then proceed with washing as normal.

ramya

Veteran

Hmmm Ornella Dry skin makes sense... Because when _I was back in India the dandruff almost mysteriously vanished ...
I do oil my hair... once a week.. but I guess will try leaving some in my scalp daily...

Astrid

Veteran

Like Ornella I always notice my hair changing when I'm at home for a while and then coming back to Berlin (the water has different hardness grades). Distilled water might be a good idea to try, maybe I'll try it myself. My mum has it at home because she needs it for the flat iron, I might try it there before I buy a whole big bottle of it myself. I agree with Ornella that anti-dandruff shampoos might just make it worse if you only have a dry scalp. I have this problem from time to time but using less harsh shampoo and product works better than using harsher stuff produced to reduce dandruff. I've also done oil masks in the past, but in the last months I got a bit lazy. I think I'm going to start doing them again. I'm also using pure olive oil or coconut oil, like Ornella.

Sarah A

Veteran

I dont not have curly hair but my daughters wavy hair gets in a mess constantly. I find this conditioner to be very helpful... every houseguest I have had that has used it raves about it too. And it's fairly afforable! Everyday Shea Vanilla Mint Conditioner... It's sulfate and paraben free.

http://www.vitacost.com/everyd.....7132005230

rachylou

Veteran

Mm. If the dandruff disappears in India... you know, oiling your hair may not be the right thing. It may be when you're back and in the drier conditions, your scalp is producing more oil. There's an association between oily hair and dandruff. If you're washing your hair every day, you may actually need to go to every other day. A gentler shampoo may be in order too... if the washing is drying out your scalp, that might also be kicking up oil production.

texstyle

(website)

Veteran

You could also try a Tea Tree Oil shampoo and conditioner (natural type). Tea Tree Oil is a natural anti-fungal. Washing your hair less frequently and with very mild products will eventually slow down the sebum production I think and that is often what "feeds" the dandruff. You can just rinse the hair instead of using shampoo every time. I often do this so I end up using shampoo only twice a week or so.

Aida

Veteran

Rachy is right about the oil/drying thing. How often do you wash your hair? I found that when I went from washing daily to washing every 3-5 days my hair improved quite a lot; it stopped over producing oil and got less flaky.

ramya

Veteran

Hmmmm I wash my hair twice or Thrice a week depending on how bad the scalp feels

Astrid

Veteran

I wouldn't change too much at once in your routine, or you won't know what helps and what doesn't. I'd starting getting a milder shampoo, SLS and silicone etc. free. Then use that two or three weeks (changes take time, at least for my hair) and see if it's better. Then think about what to do next! I know that being patient isn't funny if you're annoyed with your hair, but that way you know in the long run what really helps.

ramya

Veteran

Makes sense... Thinking of trying the Rainforest range from Bodyshop.. heard it's good

ManidipaM

Veteran

Try something as an emergency quick-reboot. Do a rinse with white vinegar and see how it behaves. It will reduce fungal activity sharply if that's the culprit (cue tea tree oil and vinegar rinse after each wash if so); it will soften and loosen any dry flakes; it will rinse out any hard water salts as well as product residues that are overloading scalp/hair (seconding the distilled water!); it will de-grease any excess oils and loosen blocked sebum glands if that's your culprit...

Then proceed to remedies above.

Anonymous

I second ManidipiaM's vinegar idea, it can help balance out your hair and is an inexpensive option to try first.

Another alternative is baking soda. Mix a tablespoon in with water and gently massage it through your scalp. It doesn't foam like shampoo, but is a great cleanser. Rinse out with plain water and then follow up with the vinegar rinse to restore the balance. I was doing this for about 3 months to give my hair a break from shampoo and conditioner.