One week into CG and hair is DRY

PomTango

I've been low-poo for about 6-8months and washed my hair every other day until I got the Curly Girl Handbook for my birthday and decided to go full CG. After a week of CG my hair is dry and floofy

I got the very basic supplies and have been doing the method for a week as follows:

- Wash roots with Suave Naturals Coconut conditioner
- Rinse
- Apply Tresemme Naturals Nourishing conditioner. I let it sit for several minutes before rinsing. I've tried keeping most of the conditioner in after rinsing or applying an extra amount after rinsing
- "Scrunch dry" my hair with a microfiber towel just so it isn't dripping. Apply a quarter-sized amount of Herbal Essences Totally Twisted gel (I also have tried Set Me Up gel but it is too stiff when dried)
- "plop" for 10-20 mins. Let the rest air dry

The first 2 washes were GREAT and the curls were shaping up. Now I have some definition in the ends but the mid is fluffy and frizzy. Worse than when I low-poo-ed. And now I've been washing every day because of the awful frizz and dryness on day 2 (I used to low-poo every other day).

Do you see anything I am doing wrong or can improve? I'll also note I am in Canada so many products are unattainable here.

mermaidwaves

Were you using cones before? Or products containing mineral oil, petrolatum, or even polyquats? These ingredients can all cause build up. If you didn't clarify before starting CG, that could be the issue. Also, if you were using cones before it might take a while to adjust to a cone free routine and your hair will feel really dry at first. I just started CG too but I've been cone free for a few months now and at first it was quite a shock but a few weeks in my hair got MUCH better than it ever was on cones.

Noumenon

If you are having frizz problems you might want to work at improving the texture of your hair over all. Your best bet is to do some deep moisturising treatment, my favourite is coconut oil or my conditioner mixed with olive oil

PomTango

I have been nearly cone-free since I started low-poo (one product had a cone that I eliminated, otherwise I was using AG Curl Activator and Herbal Essences Totally Twisted mousse). For shampoo/conditioner I was using a line called "Live Clean" which has no sulphates or cones.

I'm committing to 6 weeks of CG before I decide if it is working or not. Maybe a deep conditioner would help, but it doesn't explain why my hair was OK before using low-poo ??

Am I supposed to leave in am much conditioner (Tresemme naturals) as possible or is that contributing to dryness?

kathymack

Best way to choose ingredients/products is by hair properties (it will also help people to give you advice.) Here's a link to help you with yours Live Curly Live Free - Curly Hair Basics Once you determine your properties, you can look for others with hair like yours and see what they use. It's the best place to start.

Personally, I didn't find the CG book all that useful. The e-book available on the above site has all the information in one place. The DVD with the CG book is really worthwhile. It shows you how to style your hair. I could never use the copious amounts of products they use.

Some people get away with using drugstore products. My hair prefers the more natural products from the online, boutique type companies. I stay away from chemicals, especially polyquats. Use jelly type products instead of the gels because of that. My stylist says to stay away from mousse. Even if it doesn't have the drying alcohols, the propellant can be drying.

PomTango

kathymack wrote: »

Best way to choose ingredients/products is by hair properties (it will also help people to give you advice.) Here's a link to help you with yours Live Curly Live Free - Curly Hair Basics Once you determine your properties, you can look for others with hair like yours and see what they use. It's the best place to start.

Personally, I didn't find the CG book all that useful. The e-book available on the above site has all the information in one place. The DVD with the CG book is really worthwhile. It shows you how to style your hair. I could never use the copious amounts of products they use.

Some people get away with using drugstore products. My hair prefers the more natural products from the online, boutique type companies. I stay away from chemicals, especially polyquats. Use jelly type products instead of the gels because of that. My stylist says to stay away from mousse. Even if it doesn't have the drying alcohols, the propellant can be drying.

Thanks. I have gone over the information about hair properties before and it all lead to "normal" thickness, "normal" porosity which was not very helpful because there are no specific recommendations for these. I do however know my hair does not react to every ingredient favorably. Glycerin made my hair stringy and stiff, protein is hit or miss where it sometimes helps and sometimes doesn't. I think it's a lot of trial and error to figure it out.

I did a low-poo this morning because my hair was particularly bad and OMG so much better than it's been all week. Is this just the adjustment or is one of my products or techniques makin things worse and causing the dryness/floofyness?

lcl0706

I would say, if you cut out a silicone after starting CG & switching to a sulfate free poo, you need to clarify. If you have any silicone left in your hair, it will block out the moisture you are feeding it. A sulfate free poo won't remove silicones.

PomTango

lcl0706 wrote: »

I would say, if you cut out a silicone after starting CG & switching to a sulfate free poo, you need to clarify. If you have any silicone left in your hair, it will block out the moisture you are feeding it. A sulfate free poo won't remove silicones.

Thanks. Maybe I wasn't clear but I was already no cones for 6 months prior to starting CG. I also washed with Live Clean Apple Cider shampoo before starting CG just in case. Prior to CG I was low-poo using the Live Clean line (no cones, no harsh sulfates). These were the products:

Live Clean (Exotic Nectar) - Argan Oil Restorative Shampoo reviews - Makeupalley

Live Clean (Exotic Nectar) Restorative Conditioner reviews - Makeupalley

I can do a sulfate wash, but I don't believe there are cones in my hair.

Geek_Chic

If the sulfate free shampoo contains Cocamidopropyl Betaine or Cocobetaine it will remove all silicones. See here: What's the Scoop on Silicones?

Pomtango, according to the link you supplied, your shampoo contains Cocamidopropyl Betaine, along with 3 other cleansing agents. Your conditioner link didn't have an ingredients list, so check your bottle for silicones (end in -cone, -conol, or -xane). If it's silicone free too, then unless you've used a silicone product since starting CG, your hair should be silicone free.

PomTango

Geek_Chic wrote: »

If the sulfate free shampoo contains Cocamidopropyl Betaine or Cocobetaine it will remove all silicones. See here: What's the Scoop on Silicones?

Pomtango, according to the link you supplied, your shampoo contains Cocamidopropyl Betaine, along with 3 other cleansing agents. Your conditioner link didn't have an ingredients list, so check your bottle for silicones (end in -cone, -conol, or -xane). If it's silicone free too, then unless you've used a silicone product since starting CG, your hair should be silicone free.

I thoroughly checked all the bottles for the Live Clean Argan line and I don't see any cones (no -cones, -xanes, or -conol). Though not mentioned on the bottles, I found this about their silicone-free policy:
http://www.live-clean.com/pdfs/press-release-September-09.pdf
(page 2)

I'm pretty sure my hair is cone-free. I've stuck to AG Curl Activator and HE Totally Twisted prior to CG, and recently Suave Naturals Coconut and Tresemme Naturals Nourishing conditioner.

Good to note about Cocamidopropyl Betaine and Cocobetaine.

Firefox7275

Six weeks is not necessarily enough time unless you are lucky enough to hit on the right products that suit your hair and local climate from day one. IMO compare the ingredients of the different conditioners especially the first five which make up the bulk of the products. Are you now using more humectants and your hair does not like them? Are you using less oils and your hair needs them? Does one contain protein and the other not? You might also test and consider the pH.

You might also try mixing - say try the Suave co-wash with the Live Clean conditioner for a week or so, if that works then the problem is your hair doesn't like the Tresemme. I'm not clear why you are blaming the switch from low-poo to no-poo when you've actually made a number of changes to your routine. I would get poufy hair from your routine, that is not enough gel and way too much towel time, but YMMV.