Hi Everyone,

Can fine, oily, straightish hair CO wash?  

What have been your experiences with different washing routines/products?

What kinds of detangling combs (wet hair combs) are your favorites?

Thanks,
strawberryfine

And while you're at it, whoever answers...

What is CO?

**feels foolish**

Ella

Ella,

CO is "conditioner only"... many people, especially curlies, find this method useful when their hair can't deal with the cleansers in shampoo. That's okay, I didn't know what CO was until about two months ago.

Strawberryfine,

I like the Rachael Stephens line of combs for wet use. They're seamless, handmade, polished, and slightly cheaper than the Kent (when you buy a lot).
My hair has been oily, and I didn't have much luck with CO myself (sticky dandruff got the better of me). I found it better to remove the gunk with a very gentle shampoo.

... as for the other finehair issues, I'm a coarsehair.... so I won't interfere here ::)


Anais

Thanks Anais,
Could you tell me what some of your favorite shampoos are?
I get so confused about ingredients that I'm not sure what a gentle shampoo is and what ingredients to avoid or look for.
I'm going to look for the combs you mentioned now. :)

Thank you,
strawberryfine

Ella.
I just found out what CO was recently, too! :D

ooh, oooh, ooooooh! ;D

I just found the Rachael Stephens combs and I REALLY like the way they look!

Now to just decide which ones and place an order!
Any recommendations? I hope, I hope....

Thanks Anais!

strawberryfine ;)
1c Fii

Heeey, no problemo ;D
Careful as RS's "coarse" teeth is really not as coarse as they look. You'll want to go for the "wide" teeth if you're using it for wet combing. It'll be gentler on your fine hair. Personally I have a coarsetooth comb (the #42 I think) but my hair is really heavy duty... :P

Thanks so  much for all the help!!! :) :) :)

strawberryfine
1c/2a Fii
12/16/36

What about fine hair and an oily scalp?  I would have thought the conditioner on the scalp would just make it oilier, but someone here suggested that it might be the best thing for an oily scalp.  And they might be right.  

Has anyone tried this?  What type of conditioner do you use?

Hi UP_Lisa,

I have fine hair, and I always thought I had a pretty oily scalp - I was one of those who shampood every day. ::) When I started COing, I forced myself to only wash every other day, suffering through greasy hair on the in-between days. With time, my scalp settled down and I would consider it normal now. I wash (CO) every 3-4 days.

I use whichever el cheapo conditioner is on sale, it hasn't seemed to matter what I use as long as I clarify with vinegar every couple of weeks. Give CO a try (I love it!), just be prepared to persist through a greasy "trial period".

Good luck!

/Kate

Thanks so much for your help.  I suppose I'll try it.  I guess I shouldn't have spent money on some new supposedly really gentle organic shampoos.  Well,  I guess I could use them in between.

So is the conditioning wash the only conditioner you use on your hair, then?

wrote on Nov 9^th, 2004 at 5:31pm:

So is the conditioning wash the only conditioner you use on your hair, then?

Yep, but it may be that I'm able to get away with that because my hair is so short (not quite shoulder length). There are many here who do more complicated routines; I'm just too lazy to bother and lucky that I don't need to yet. I would say that it took 3 weeks to a month before my hair/scalp settled down and I really started to love CO.

Make sure you have plenty of conditioner at home, because you go through a LOT!  ::)

/Kate

I would think you would have to have a conditioner with certain ingredients in order to actually clean the hair.  You feel that any conditioner will work?

Also, my hair is so soft already, that I don't want to make it any softer.  I won't be able to do a thing with it.

When I started to CO wash I figured that by examining the ingredients I could figure out exactly what was different about conditioners that work for CO washing and those that don't, but there didn't seem to be any specific difference.

I can only speak for myself. My hair has responded well to all conditioners except John Frieda (the moisturizing kind). They all seem to do a pretty good job of cleaning for me. I avoid silicones in conditioners, but use them nearly every day in styling products.

/Kate

wrote on Nov 10^th, 2004 at 12:42am:

When I started to CO wash I figured that by examining the ingredients I could figure out exactly what was different about conditioners that work for CO washing and those that don't, but there didn't seem to be any specific difference.

no?? okay, but what for conditoners who don't mention at all sodium lauryl sulphate as an ingredient?? cuze right now i only found one conditioner that is coneless and has SLS as last ingredient. most  light ones i found didn't contain it at all.
do you use conditioners devoid of SLS that do wash ok as well?

Conditioners normally aren't supposed to have SLES or SLS ;). Those are surfactants and normally belong in shampoo. The idea behind CO does not, in my opinion, involve small amounts of cleansers but rather a like-dissolves-like mechanism. Conditioning agents help "lift" the oils from the hair and scalp the way degreaser dissolves oil.

wrote on Nov 24^th, 2004 at 4:41pm:

The idea behind CO does not, in my opinion, involve small amounts of cleansers but rather a like-dissolves-like mechanism.

LOL  ... a few days ago i was exactly thinking of that principle from far away chemistry lessons!!! we even used the english expression.
well, i was wondering why it did wash so well my pretty greasy hair. it's already a lot softer than it's shampoo version but now i'll try to use the other conditioners i have too!!!

mkay ... i bought three new coneless conditioners without SLS ... i tried one ... yes, it does wash ... BUT: i have a serious technical problem. i managed to wash pretty well the top of my head but since the stuff obviously doesn't clean a greasy head if you don't scrub like mad, well just the top was clean in other words ... all the area around the ears were still greasy cuze it looks nearly impossible to scrub there without tearing out half your hair.

is it easier to scrub if you start putting the conditioner while the hair is still dry?
ah well, i was thinking i should wash my hair in two positions: first the top layer, then bend over and wash the rest.
hilarious  :-[

I find that the conditioner penetrates better if you dilute it before applying. In any case, you need to use handfuls of it to saturate not only the top of your head but the rest of your hair, too. It's a little deceptive, though, in that the hair from the neck down doesn't tend to get coated with conditioner by itself as it might if you were using shampoo.

After you apply the conditioner you can add some water and then scrub, but I find that pre-diluting it gives me more control.

It doesn't take much scrubbing to get rid of the oils in my hair. You'll get the hang of it soon.

For those with fine hair and an oily scalp.  When I CO my hair gets oilier than when I shampoo with a gentle shampoo.  How long did it take your scalps to "adjust"?  Or did they ever?  Unless I can go at least two days in between, it's not worth it.

Right now I would have to CO every day.

I have very fine hair that's not that oily.  I shampoo/cond
once a week.  I CO the rest of the time, it helps "clean"
my hair without the harsher shampoo, thus stretching out the time between shampoos.  I like VO5 Kiwi and Lime, though  a lot of people can't tolerate it due to scalp breakout.  It cleans well for me.

I don't have a problem with the Kiwi and Lime.  The conditioners seem to clean my hair okay, but then it's oilier than ever within a day.

HI Up Lisa!  You may have to experiment a bit.  I don't think
CO may necesarrily be for everyone.  Some people love
it, I have never been able to do it completly.  I need
to shampoo once a week.