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Post in Curls & Coils
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Help?

Hey! So I’m young, and I don’t know how to deal with my hair. My dad is from eygept and has really curly hair. Or used to. He’s bald now, but I never took care of my hair correctly and now it’s barlery Curley on a good day it’s at a medium curl. But I used to have like a mini Afro, I know hair grows straighter overtime but if I took care of it right I probably wouldn’t have had whatever hair I have now. I don’t use shampoo. I know that sounds gross but I can’t find a shampoo that works. Every time I use shampoo it makes my hair dry and tangled instantly after I wash it. Even if I put just a little bit. I haven’t used shampoo in years cause of it but recently my scalp has been itchy and I think it’s because I’m not using shampoo, does anyone have any inexpensive recommendations?

Re: Help?

You may wish to try Head and Shoulders Exlixir Treatment, also called Royal Oils.  It comes in an oil version or a cream version.  Both are apply and leave in.  You part your hair and apply it along the part, and then massage it into your scalp.  The price is under 10 dollars.  A lot of reviewers said it helps their itch!  I haven't used it yet, but I will be trying it soon! 

 

For shampoos, I like to use Cantu Oil cleansing shampoo.  It's different from other shampoos and doesn't tangle my hair. (I'm Italian and used to have a fro, but now I have tight curls.)  Last time I bought Cantu Shea Butter Cleansing Cream Shampoo as I couldn't find the oil shampoo.  I haven't used it yet, but it looks like a similar product. 

 

I also co-wash my hair with a conditioner, and lately, it's been a Loreal product-- Ever Pure Glossing Conditioner.  I find that it works pretty well as a co-wash and doesn't cost as much as the products listed as an official "co-wash."

 

I've bought more expensive products, but have found Cantu and Loreal to be reasonably priced and quite good! 

 

I hope this helps! 

Re: Help?

I like to use olaplex hair perfector. I typically use it once a week but I exceed the 10 minutes. I really like the way my curls bounce back after using it.  Plus I have issues with an extremely dry scalp and it definitely makes my scalp more clean and moisturized. I’m not sure if that’s what it’s intended for but I feel like it resets my hair and scalp. I get a really clean feeling. 

Re: Help?

Hey @jazzybobazy ! Curly coily haired lady here. Your problem might not be dryness. It might simply be that your hair strands aren't lubricated/moisturized well enough to avoid snagging and tangling on one another: 

Spoiler
According to my dermatologist, curly hair may seem dry after shampooing but it might actually be hydrated. 

Hair has an outer cuticle layer. When hair strands are hydrated, they swell up and the cuticle layer lifts open. Cuticles on different hair strands tend to catch and snag on one another, causing tangles. (This is where the old "rinse hair with cold water after washing and conditioning" advice comes from: the thought is that cold water helps close/reseal that cuticle layer.) 

Some of my hair is high porosity. If I use a leave-in product that contains lots of honey (a great humectant ingredient), my high porosity areas will frizz the heck out and tangle/knot up all day because honey helps that hair takes in lots of moisture, causing the cuticles to stay lifted. I don't even like to use shampoos and rinse-out conditioners that contain honey because of this. 

 

I know you don't want your hair to feel tangled immediately after shampooing but, if I were you, I'd use a clarifying shampoo to clean my scalp after years of not shampooing. Clarifying shampoos tend to leave my hair feeling beat up, but a good conditioner and some patient detangling resolves that. Which conditioner do you use? 

 

My usual shampoo is Redken All Soft Mega Shampoo. Redken recently rebranded it as All Soft Mega Curls Shampoo and they might've also reformulated it; I haven't compared the ingredient lists or tried the rebranded version yet. I'll be very bummed if the new version doesn't perform as well as the prior version, because the old version gets my scalp and hair clean while also moisturizing my hair a bit. It works so well, I can gently finger-detangle my hair after shampooing, before I add any conditioner. 

 

Another possible option is Redken All Soft Shampoo—note the absence of "mega" in the product name. This is the regular All Soft product that works well for some folks. For my hair, it doesn't perform as well as the Mega version, but your results may vary. If you're in the US, Ulta sells a travel size of this shampoo for $7 USD; that'd be a good way to try it out. Unfortunately, they don't have a travel size of the Mega version. Ulta does sell the Mega line though, so if you've got some Ulta points to burn, you could use 'em on the 10oz bottle of All Soft Mega Shampoo. 

 

Depending on your scalp condition, since you've not used shampoo in years, you might need a different type of shampoo to help that skin if it's damaged. The best person to help you figure that out is a board certified dermatologist or primary care doc who can diagnose your scalp. 

 

Oh, and about conditioner and detangling since I mentioned it earlier: 

Spoiler
My usual conditioner is Redken All Soft Mega Conditioner, recently rebranded as All Soft Mega Curls Conditioner. Sometimes I use Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair!™ Deep Conditioning Hair Mask 8 oz/ 237 mL instead, but Redken is my go-to. 

Some people swear by "dry detangling" before shampooing. I've tried that several times and decided I don't like it for my particular hair. For starters, I have to apply some type of oil or other product to my hair before dry detangling; this just adds more product I have to wash out, and that annoys me. Also, my coils are always easier to detangle wet (with the shampoo or conditioners I mentioned) than dry. My theory is that my coils are too intertwined and prone to breakage during dry detangling; soaking my hair under water loosens my curl pattern, thus relaxing some of the intertwining strands enough that I can more easily work through them with my fingers or a detangling comb/brush. 

Special shoutout to Tangle Teaser Wide Tooth Dual Sided Comb: this thing is awesome at detangling my conditioner-coated hair. 

I recently bought amika Reset Cleansing Oil 6.7 oz / 200 mL to try as a prewash treatment but haven't tested it yet. It's an oil but the product also contains surfactants, so I should be able to rinse it out without lots of tangles. I'll find out soon enough. 😄 

I know you're looking for inexpensive options and the products I've mentioned aren't exactly cheap—though they're not ridiculously pricey either. They're the first things that spring to mind since they're my usuals. I'll try to think up some less expensive options later, including a few products I used to use. 

Re: Help?

@jazzybobazy  I don't have hair like yours, so please accept my reply in the spirit of not wanting to leave you hanging for answers. 😊

 

The product line that I'm aware of on Sephora Canada that is specifically designed for "coils and curls" is PATTERN by Tracie Ellis Ross. It's not as inexpensive as drugstore brands, but the line has a number of minis and mini sets, so you would be able to test the products out without spending a ton of money.

 

You might also want to consider hair oils, which are offered by a  number of brands. Fable & Mane HoliRoots™ Pre-wash Hair Treatment Oil (there's a mini of this - again, not drugstore brand cheap, but less expensive for a trial than buying full size) might help with the dryness issue. There are also hair oils offered by brands like Verb, and Bumble & Bumble. Alternatively, now that you know about hair oils, you can check out your local drugstore for less expensive versions.

 

Good luck!

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