Need somewhere to keep track of whats workin and whats not, this seems like a dandy place to do so.

My hair used to be thick, but is much thinner, in fact Im sure Im thinning up the top but I guess that is expected at the ripe ol age of 31?

I have been using so far olive oil as a treatment in the past but have now switched to coconut oil, just rubbing it on the ends now and then to stop them drying too much. I dont color my hair and had a disastrous experience with henna, no one told me that is soooo drying :-? So now no coloring at all. I havnt colored my head since I cut all my dreads out.
My hair is now around my shoulder blades and I cut it myself, have done so since having dreads.

Now the recent thing Ive done this morning is rub some coconut oil on my head, I noticed it has been itchy for a couple of and days thought maybe because Im only conditioning the ends maybe my head scalp is actually dry from shampooing, not that I do it much. So I rubbed some coconut oil into my scalp and am going to try and rinse most of it out without using a shampoo....wish me luck.

I do a cold rinse now and then to help my hair stay shiny and am about to try the apple cider rinse ...bought some this morning  :D

My dream is to have hair just above my but, I just think long healthy natural hair is beautiful and sexy, and maybe I am vain to want that but seeing as I have done nothing vain in my life, I figure I should try it out for once  ;D

Im open to any tips and will post a photo up.

Um major issues I have - dry ends..always fighting the big dry.....trying to get a healthy scalp ( not to oil not to dry...sounds like a peanut butter commercial I know) and oh yeah...thinning at the top.

and the big one....increasing growth.

wow she doesnt ask for much.

ok my scalp feels significantly better since I did the vinegar rinse...might have to make that a weekly thing. I only used diluted shampoo (like I usually do) to wash the roots, not sure if I got all the coconut oil out but not going to worry too much at this stage. Only conditioned with watered down conditioner the bottom half of my hair.

My head head feels sooo much better, it was a bit tingly at first but I think the vinegar is going to help. Still loosing long strands of hair, but am going to try not to panic at this stage...just take my vitamin b tablet.

Welcome to the wonderful world of hair journals!   8-)

We're the same age, and my hair is thinning at the top, too.

One experiment that I tried that has made my scalp less itchy is switching to a no sulfate shampoo.  I'm only a few weeks into this experiment, but I've noticed that I lose fewer hairs in the shower.  Could just be seasonal changes, though.

yes Im not sure if its seasonal or not, tho hair thinning runs in the family, so I could be a bit paranoid  :-/

I definately didnt get all the coconut oil out. Ive been using a commercial shampoo but I bought a new one yesterday.
I usually use the shampoo really watered down in squirt gun so I get mostly the scalp and dont strip my hair too much, it tends to go really dry easy. Honestly when it comes to shampoos I *never* know what to get. Ive just bought pears to try, but Ive used the john frieda and it had sulfates, I dont like it so not buying it again. Ive also used my own homemade gylcerine soap bars, which actually do a pretty good job...maybe I should just be making that and using it ?? I keep getting caught by these fantastic shampoo commercials that dont deliver lol.


I bought some pantene deep conditioning treatment which I might try watered down on the ends and see if that makes a difference.

Dang that pears has sulfates too....*sigh*

Not sure of the type/texture of your hair, but have you tried conditioner only washes (COW's)? You just use a cheap, light conditioner from root to tip and a lot of rinsing. I've heard that it works well for dry hair. http://www.smilieshq.com/smilies/confused0082.gif Just thought I'd throw it out there.

oh I did try that for a while but the build up was too much, but maybe if I watered it down more and did a vinegar rinse?

Well I was convinced I must have had nits so I bought a nit conditioner and combed it through, but nothing turned out so it was not that ( thank god...but you never know when your around little kids alot).

So I found my favourite shampoo from when I had dreads and used that which made my hair feel wonderful. I have discovered I actually have little sores on my scalp, not massive, in fact Im not sure if anyone else would be able to find them if they tried, but I have at least 4 that feel like a pimple and are the source of my itchiness (I can feel them when I scratch). So I think I will locate them and spot treat them with coconut oil (not cover my whole head in the stuff which I had been doing). And keep using my awesome shampoo because it is residue free and has tea tree oil in it which should also help. Im only going to do it once a week tho, the rest of the time if I need to wash my hair I will use conditioner and a vinegar rinse.

Will try that for a while and see how I go.

Other news - oh I rocked a HD for my first unit in my masters. Have to write that coz Im so freakin proud of myself.

And what else...oh I bought this super cute wooden comb has like two prongs from the uni market. I used it to put my hair in like a half bun, works awesome. It was super cheap, like $4 , think thats $2 american....and is cute as.

and thankyou as well for the warm welcome....soo nice :) xx

I recommend Neem oil for your scalp troubles.  You can get the oil itself and apply directly to affected areas and they also make a shampoo/conditioner with neem in it.  Awhile back I was having terrible itchiness and using the oil as well as the shampoo/conditioner cleared my problem up in less than a week.

Good Luck-I hope your scalp feels better soon!

ok found the source of my itchiness.....nits  >:(

thanks to a cousins little boy whose mother didnt tell us he had nits, and yes she knew  >:( >:(

Sooo....I have been treating my hair and my sons, just with conditioner and the nit comb. Seem to have gotten rid of them but unfortunately I now have loads of split ends from the wetcombing  :-/

Yesterday I sat in the sun and snipped of quite a few but I can see where it is damaged at the ends and *sigh* I think Im going to have to give it a good trim. Just when I was getting some good length on it too  :'(

my son is now school age and I think Im going to have to make a "Nit session" a regular occurrance in our home, so maybe once a month condition and wetcomb to check.

sux

((((hugs)))  Personly I would kill the lady who did not tell you about the nits her kid had. >:(  Make sure you wash all you bed linen in really hot water and lysol you mattresses and pillows.  I went though a similar hell a few years back when a friend brought flea's to my house.  I was bitten so badly I had to go to the doctor for medcation and had to flea dip myself... not a pretty picture :P

yes i made it quite clear im not happy about it . I did the treatment again today ( doing it every second day for a week) and got nothing out of my own head thank goodness. But a couple of small bugs out of my son's hair. Not mature ones and I think maybe a couple of eggs, so they are I think ones that hatched in the last 24 hours or something. I think Im just going to have to be pedantic.

Ive been washing our linen as well every second day in hot water and eucalyptus oil.

Hopefully we will be fully clear in a few days, but Im going to keep treating us for an extra week just to be sure.

its so horrible, they are disgusting and its totally grossed me out, just to think they were crawling on my head and my son  :'(  

Im going to be super pedantic whenever my son is near his cousin, apparently he has had them a few times. I think he gets them from his school.

well im nit free  :D  and I trimmed all my split ends off...was sad to see the length go  :(  but it Im telling myself in the long haul ...it will be worth it  ;)

Im going to stick to the conditioner only washes for the moment, and if I feel too much build up I have my fanastic residue free shampoo, teatree oil enriched....mmmm smells very sterile  ;D

but I'll water it down and use it if necessary.

I need to go back to using my hair stick and keeping my hair in a braid as well to prevent snags and split ends.

long time no post...i have ulner nerve entrapment and in the process of getting it sorted out. So no lengthy posts.

Hair is ok, a bit dry. I measured it today with a bit of cloth, its at 30cm for some reason that sounds longer then it feels to me  :P

am going to try and upload a photo or two.....

there are a few split ends but im just going to trim them myself...you can see my thinning patch on the top there  :-/

http://s91.photobucket.com/albums/k297/MagpieGirl_2006/?action=view&current=imgp1834.jpg

http://s91.photobucket.com/albums/k297/MagpieGirl_2006/?action=view&current=imgp1831.jpg

hope those links works

Hey, dj, your hair is a very pretty color.  I hope you're able to get your nerve entrapment issue resolved soon-and painlessly!

oh thankyou....you know Ive never had someone say that so is nice  :) My hair tends to go lighter and dustier looking in summer, I think its genetics, desert people.

I am going for tests this friday to find out whats going on with my arm...not looking forward to it...dont fancy the idea of having electric currents going through my arm  :o

Welcome  :)

I've had those currents running through my face when I had Bell's Palsy.  You'll get through it just fine!  I know its odd and unfamiliar feeling-just breathe through it and think pleasant thoughts.  You can repeat to yourself: breathe in, breathe out to help you focus on your breath and not the weird sensations.

Good Luck!!