Winter skin has driven me to start using cleansing conditioner, and I'm surprised to find that I love it! Now, I would like to just co-wash to save money, but I don't know which regular conditioners are good for straight haired folks. All I've found is for people with hair that's curly and drier than mine. Does anyone else do this? Any suggestions for a good drugstore conditioner to co-wash with?
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what's co-washing??
i have straight hair and i wash my hair every 4-5 days and use oscar blandi's pronto dry shampoo in between. i used wen for a bit and loved it, but it was too pricey to keep up with! so, now i just use a sulfate free shampoo when i wash and whatever conditioner i have on hand.
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@Mrs. Cowgirl: Basically, it's washing your hair with conditioner. The same idea as Wen, but not as $$$. It was made popular by the Curly Girl Method, which is why I'm having a hard time figuring out if people with straight hair can do it. I'd love to be able to go 4-5 days between washes! I don't think my hair can be trained to do that, though.
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@Weagle: ahh, I see...it did take several years to get to this point, though! And that dry shampoo works wonders!!!
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@Mrs. Cowgirl: oooh! I've been looking for a dry shampoo that doesn't spray CFCs or have gross chemicals and this looks promising. where is it cheapest to buy (if you know!)
Sorry, no advice here! Straight haired and finally have my hair down to needing to be washed every other day. I've experimented with no shampooing, baking soda/ACV with gross gross results.
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@scg00387: it doesn't seem to ever go on sale or take coupons, so I just buy it from sephora and earn bonus points :). However, the stuff lasts forever! I've been using it for 3 years and only just bought my second bottle last week!
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@Mrs. Cowgirl: sweet! I'm going to see if the Ulta by my folks carries it. Thanks
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@scg00387: Ugh, no-poo/ACV gave me gross results too. It was terrible. This is totally different, though! My hair is awesome using cleansing conditioner!
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I have no idea..I'm a straight haired girl who has to wash/condition every day.
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I try to just wash my roots and then condition my ends.
If you just need something to help with the grease, I highly suggest baby powder. No chemicals and it really helps.
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L'Oreal's Evercreme Cleansing Conditioner runs about $7 a bottle. In between washes, I would use dry shampoo at night (I currently use Dove) before bed (instead of in the morning . . . to help alleviate oil buildup overnight).
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I'm another straight haired girl who has to wash/dry every day =/
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First of all, I totally thought this was going to be a thread about bringing your LO in the shower with you (co-washing like co-bedding).
Second of all, I think it might be tough to go totally shampoo free with straight hair. Straight hair tends to get oily much faster than curly hair. I have curly hair and I can go daaaays without washing, but all my straight hair friends have to wash every day.
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@mediagirl: @LindsayInNY: @MamaMoose: I still wash every day, I just do it with cleansing conditioner or conditioner. I've been shampoo free for a few weeks and my hair has only looked healthier while pregnant. Super clean, soft, and frizz free! Today I used shampoo on a whim in case there was build-up, but I wish I hadn't. It's so dry now. I do think that it would be hard for someone that uses product in their hair, though. I'm too lazy for that, so maybe that's why it has been working for me?
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@scg00387: I've found it at Marshalls and TJ MAXX as well
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I have straight/wavy ish hair and go every 2-3 days for hair... when it's really bad i use the dry shampoo @mrs. cowgirl: mentioned, sephora has had it as one of their reward gifts often!
and i def use sulfate free shampoo/cond which has lengthened the time as well!
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@Weagle: doesn't your hair get oily or scalp get itchy not using shampoo?
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I've never heard of this and thought the same thing as @MamaMoose: before I clicked on this thread! lol I thought you were going to talk about co-washing like taking a shower with your LO or something. haha
@Weagle: what kind of cleanser conditioner do you use? I have straight hair and have to wash everyday. so you don't shampoo your hair everyday and instead use a conditioner?
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@mediagirl: It's been less oily than with shampoo and not itchy at all! With co-washing you're basically following a shampoo routine, but just with conditioner. My routine looks like this:
1. Get hair super wet... Really wet. Stand under the water a bit longer than I normally would kind of wet.
2. Apply a fairly generous conditioner (silicone free) to all parts of my scalp and massage in for a few minutes, making sure to scrub the underneath and around my ears. Let sit while I bathe and wash my face.
3. Rinse, rinse, rinse, and rinse some more.That's it! It doesn't take any longer than when I use shampoo (maybe a little less), and my hair is really clean and nice!
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@mrskc: I picked up some from Walgreens. It's a generic brand that looks like Wen. When I was there yesterday they had several different kinds. You could also (in theory) try it with any conditioner that doesn't contain "-cones." I think V05, Suave, and White Rain have several conditioners that meet that criteria.
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@Weagle: I am going to try it! My scalp and hair are dry during the winter!
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@Weagle: thanks! I think I'll head to rite aid on my lunch and pick some up and try it out tonight.
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I'm a straight haired girl who would rather wash twice a day than skip a day. I don't know how you girls do it! I have thin hair, but a lot of hair. Oil shows and smells. I just about DIE when I can smell someone else's hair oil. What's the secret?
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I do this fairly often and just use whatever conditioner I have. Nothing fancy - I am just using Suave right now. Even when I haven't showered for a couple days, my hair is not oily at all after using just conditioner. I just stay away from any super moisturizing/dry hair treatment types of conditioner.
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@MrsMcD: omg totally agree. I hate the smell of oily hair! Even my own!!!
Does the dry shampoo prevent that? And do people still shower everyday? Or do they not shower either? If you are showering everyday what's the point in skipping hair washing? I'm so confused!
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@sunny: If I shower I wash my hair, but I don't shower every day. That's my goal, but sometimes it doesn't happen. On those days I may use dry shampoo, but the smell of some dry shampoos are so overpowering that I'd rather have a greasy ponytail than smell that all day.
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@sunny I don't always take a shower every day but I also don't wash my hair every time I shower. I like to cut down on blowdrying it and I just hate spending the time to style it after I wash it. I have a lot of hair and I have other things I'd rather be doing
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@Weagle: this is super interesting! As gross as it sounds, I find showering such a chore and I am pretty certain I don't smell enough to warrant a shower everyday
...but I do shower daily because I feel like my hair gets so oily. I also feel like dry shampoos actually make my hair look and feel greasier (but I'm likely using the wrong brand?). Is your hair fine, medium or thick?
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@Sammyfab: My hair is on the thicker side of medium, and I have a lot of it. The real trick with dry shampoo us using more than you think you need and rubbing it in really well. I'm using less dry shampoo now that I'm not using shampoo!
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I *should* wash/dry every day since my head gets super greasy and I smell homeless after two days, but ever since I became a Mom the ponytail became my best friend and I now only wash every 2-3 days. I absolutely hate it when I have to wash my hair!
I've found that a greasy ponytail is perfectly acceptable for work where I don't have to look 'pretty' to be perceived well. It's more about how you dress. and the ponytail looks totally professional anyway.
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Hmm, this is really interesting to me. I have stick straight hair. I probably could wash it everyday, but I'm lazy. I've been having some dry scalp problems pp. My stylist recommended a once every week cleansing shampoo. It seems to help. I'm using moisturizing shampoo and conditioner which might be part of the problem. I'm going to look into the Evercreme one mentioned above. I'd love for my scalp to get back to normal again.
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I'm totally going to buy some cleansing conditioner after reading through this thread, because I'm almost out of my normal shampoo. I'm already doing the dry shampoo, wash every few days. It absorbs the oil well.. however, what I can't stand is the buildup I get from the dry shampoo. I'm using the Suave dry shampoo and I think I'm going to go back to Oscar Blandi after I use it up.
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I tried it, but my hair requires washing every day.
I have tried cheap conditioners and they make my hair even more slick. I have used a cleansing conditioner before, lather or no lather, it is still using a product.
I have heard you can make a paste of baking soda and water, or adding some baking soda to some shampoo, as an alternative.
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@Weagle: I'm going to try this! Why does it need to be silicone free, out of curiosity? And I'm guessing it only works if it's a cleansing conditioner?
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@looch: Cleansing conditioner works great for me, but the baking soda method was a total flop. My hair was so dried out and dirty! I'm not so concerned about whether or not I'm using a product as much as I am about my head being so itchy in this cold weather.
@Pepper: The silicones add to buildup that's hard to get rid of with just conditioner. I've only used cleansing conditioner regularly, but I've used plain conditioner a few times with good results. Some people do use regular conditioners regularly with great results.
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This is very interesting and it's my first time hearing about co-washing. I have straight, thin and greasy hair. I can get by day 2 clipping up the hair around my face and using dry shampoo, I can get by day 3 (although I really hate it) with pony tail and sometimes headband too.
Washing with conditioner scares me though, it seems like it would only make my hair MORE oily? So is the result of using conditioner to wash your hair that your hair becomes less greasy overtime?
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@Weagle: I have added baking soda to baby shampoo with ok results.
If you are concerned about your scalp, I think there is a cleansing line that caters to scalp care, but I am blanking on the name.
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@looch: Nioxin maybe? or Clear?
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@Weagle: so i bought the loreal cleansing conditioner yesterday and tried it on my hair last night. My hair feels just as clean as it does when I use shampoo and it's nice and soft too. My hair gets greasy after one day and I have to wash it once a day, so I'm pleasantly surprised it didn't make my hair greasy.
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@snowjewelz: As far as I have understood it, it is a like follows like thing - the oils in the conditioner take away the extra oil in your hair, leaving it cleaner without using shampoo/soaps to strip the oil away then replace some of it with conditioner. I was skeptical at first, but as far as I can tell, it works!
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