ok, gang, i need some help. i'm having trouble with my hair. for those of you who know me personally, you know how long my mop is. the last time i measured, it was 38". that was a year ago. it's down to my hips . this is the lower half, which has been combed out. for half an hour. and i have a headache from doing it. here's the problem. i have a knot on the back of my neck that is about the size of my two fists together. my big problem is that i cannot comb my hair out wet, and i have little time to do it when it's dry (which is quite rare. i put it in clips when i go to work, and then let it down after i'm home (around 8 as a rule) so it's not dry by the time i go to bed). i do only wash my hair every other day (my scalp dictates this, i would let it go longer if i could (my hair doesn't get oily, and actually stays in good shape for 3 or 4 days (now if only the scalp would cooperate))), but somehow, i have precious little time to do more than a rake through. hence the knot. i can't braid it before i go to bed, because it frizzes up around my head, and lately, it's been knotting up at the back of my neck when i don't braid it. i have a distinct feeling all this is related to the shampoo i switched to a month and a half ago. it's paul mitchell, moisturise. the one i used before was "clean" and it worked. however, they say to switch off on your shampoos. so i did. more sorrier, i couldn't be. my scalp is unhappy (dry & itchy (and this is MOISTURIZING SHAMPOO, FOLKS), and i can't seem to tame the frizzies.
any body got any recommendations? i'm in desperate need of help, because right now the next step is contact locks of love, and let them have the whole shooting mess. Mark would kill me, though. he keeps telling me "if you cut your hair, i cut mine." however, his hair, while almost as long as mine, is very easily combed wet, and being curly, shouldn't be combed often anyway. and i'm about to tell him "do waht you want, i can't stand this mop anymore."
thick, fine hair. and i do mean thick. i can't use regular ponytail holders. i have to buy the extra thick ones with no metal clasps, in order to put in a ponytail, which i don't do often, because it doesn't pull it up enough.
the average human loses 100 hairs per day. mostly unnoticed. unless you're me. then 100 hairs could create a small wig for someone on chemo, if trimmed properly, and used wisely. imagine 100 3ft hairs laying around. yeah, my vacuum cleaner hates me.
again, any recommendations: a new brush, shampoo, (i like my conditioner, it's always served me well), a new way to deal with it at night? anything? please? i do like my hair, but right now i'm not in love with it.
ok, you may resume your normal blog-reading, i'm done whining now
6 comments:
Okay, I have long hair too. Not as long as yours, but it's almost to my waist. Anyway, this is what I do. I use a good amount of conditioner only on the lower half of my hair, not on my scalp. In your case, really get that conditioner onto your knots. I really massage it in and keep it on my hair for several minutes. Then I use a hair pick, or what I affectionately call my rake and run that through my hair to get out the knots. You could also try some olive oil, or mayo.
I just leave my hair loose at night. I find when I tie it back it gets knotted.
I have long hair too (though it is not at its longest yet--but have had it 3 feet before). My hair is very thick so adapt accordingly! I also have a father with unfairly spiraled hair and a mother with unfairly straight hair leaving me as the wavy mutt in the middle. Length does help to weigh out the kinks.
First thing I always say is get the ends lopped off if needed. I have long layers cut in my hair to give it style when I want it loose but enough that I can bun it daily. I also finally got the guts to have it highlighted but that is not here nor there for this post.
Before this month my hair routine was religious: Wash with finese shampoo and a pile of finese conditioner (and yes, I like the weight finese gives). After a slight towel dry/squeeze, I spray in Aussie leave in conditioner. This helps the combing. When my hair is dry, I add DiFi wax to tame it. I also take lukewarm-V calls them freezing-showers and give my hair an ice cold rinse for shine.
Now, I have mixed it up a bit (which took a lot of guts on my part). Some of the mixing is pricey some is darn cheap. Upon the suggestion of a friend, I have been trying some solid shampoos. The results are nice, but I do not have time to learn how to apply them correctly to save me more time in the shower. I have recently tried Big shampoo by LUSH and I LOVE it. Right now it is buy one get one free (i can send you the coupon code) if you want to splurge and it lasts a long time.
Here is the cheap addition that I have added that helps with detangling as well as "hair funkyness:" after shampooing, I do a rinse with vingar--cider vinegar is the best but I have not tried that yet. I put 2 Tsb of vinegar in 1.5 cups of water and dump over my hair. It helps detangle and dugunk my hair. The results are great. My hair shines more and I have less tangles and less conditioner use.
For brushes I have a comb for when wet, a bristle brush for detangling dry hair, and then a boar bristle brush for brushing and oil redistribution.
I also strighten my hair for a night out on the town but you can email me about that.
Um. Now I seem totally vain about my hair. I just really enjoy it longer and when I DID have it short I was forced to learn how to style it and do shit to it.
It is suggested to sleep in a satin cap at night or upon a satin pillowcase. When I do remember my cap my hair is a lot nicer...but it is kinda frumpy looking.
I too have long hair and have tried many hair care products.
I now use Joico shampoo and conditioner and have no problems now.
My hair dresser put me on to it as my hair had been damaged by all the products that I had used previously.
In answer to your query on my blog I found your blog from a comment that you made on Yarnivorous's blog.
I am now knitting the Pomatomus "Hippo" socks as well and they are coming along nicely. (I've only had to frog 4 rows so far.)
Cathy
My guess is that your hair needs moisture, moisture, and more moisture--especially at the ends.
Did you know there's a message board specifically for people with long hair? I bet they could help!
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/
My daughter had the same problem...after about the third time it happened, we gave up and she HAD to get it cut. The hairdresser at that time told us, "Whatever you do, make sure you brush completely through your hair every single day." She does that now, has since grown her hair out long again and has had no problems since. Lots of luck to you!!
You don't want to hear this, but I say, "Cut it!" If you don't like it, it'll grow back. Meanwhile, it'll be so liberating.
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