My last wash day started like every other wash day. Detangle... shampoo...deep condition...T-shirt dried...and finish up with my leave-ins. But once my hair was completely dry something wasn't right. My hair looked like it always does, but this time it was rough and wasn't its normal soft fluffy moisturized self. At first I thought maybe it was because I had reached a rough spot in my stretch, but I'm only 9 weeks post relaxer -- that's far but not far enough to be giving me trouble. I sat for a few moments trying to figure out what went wrong... and then without much thought I grabbed my spray bottle with water and my blow dryer. Next thing you know I was re-wet my hair, applying Redken Smooth Down Serum and blow drying my hair. I'm not sure why I did it...actually I do know why, I thought it would smooth and soften my hair, but when I was done my hair looked and felt exactly the same. What a waste, smh. It's been almost a week and I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what's going on. In the meantime, I've been moisturizing my hair each morning.
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| My first (or second) time using the Organix Shampoo. |
And then it hit me, I've been using a new Sulfate-Free shampoo! (Organix Moroccan Argan Oil Shampoo) Sulfate-free shampoos are gentler on your hair strands and allow you to retain some moisture in your hair compared to their sulfate containing counterparts. I decided to give it a try because I felt it would be a good counterpoint to my ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo, which contains sulfates and chelates & clarifies my hair.
What I didn't think about is that if you're going to use a sulfate-free shampoo, you've got to use hair products that contain more natural/easy to remove ingredients in them. The first week that I used my new shampoo, I was using Darcy's Botanical's Pumpkin Seed Conditioner as a DC and their Lemongrass Transitioning Creme as my moisturizer. My hair was in wonderland.
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| Hair Products that I used last weekend. |
But the last week or two, I used my sulfate-free shampoo with Nexxus Humectress, L'Oreal Damage Erasing Balm and Elasta QP Moisture Recovery. These are great products but they are a lot "heavier" than the Darcy's Botanical crew and apparently more prone to causing product buildup.
I'm washing my hair tomorrow and I'll be going back to my ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo. But I'll still be using my Sulfate-free Shampoo for future wash days, just with my more "natural" conditioners, leave-ins and oils. Let's hope this fixes the problem.
What are your thoughts on my assessment?
Do you use a Sulfate-free Shampoo?
What products do you use it with?
Have you experienced product buildup or something similar to what I experienced?
Labels: My Relaxed Hair
