(Hair) Health Related Issue

[cherinyc]

Hi everyone -
I am not sure if this is in the right category, but it is health realted - albeit my hair's health. I have long hair, goes about 1-2 inches past my bra strap (when I wear one ) hee hee. Anyway, it's fairly fine, but I have a lot of it - and it's slightly wavy. Never-the-less, it's a pain in the *** to wash. My problem is that after a good bike ride, and I'm riding practically everyday, my hair is soaked with sweat - causing me to have to wash it again. If I don't, it just gets crusty. Which is just gross!

What do you other long-hairs do? Do you wash everyday? Does anyone have a good "dry clean shampoo (a spray that refreshes your hair without washing it) they can recommend? I spent a lot of money on one from Aveda and it just makes my hair oily. It's very frustrating. I have basically just stopped brushing my hair all together. I just get out of the shower and let it dry without combing it or anything. Ends up looking kinda sloppy, but....

what to do?

***It's very possible that I should just stop being so shallow as to even start a thread like this in the Health Related Issues category. Hmmm......

[Blueberry]

When I had long hair (I don't anymore), I did have to wash after riding. I sweat. A lot. And it got caked with salt. What about rinsing it and not shampooing it? Or using conditioner only? Both are ideas that became popular after I chopped mine off

CA

[tulip]

Short hair is freedom!

But if you stay long, just rinse and condition. That used to work for me when I had long hair (but my hair never looked like magazine long hair, so I chopped it).

[Zen]

All I have to say is the reason I read this was because I thought there was a health issue involved, like losing your hair.
I have no advice. But I am glad you're not losing your hair.

[cherinyc]

I have definitely been thinking of cutting it, but I am getting married in October so I don't want to do anything drastic.

I will try to rinse and condition, but when I don't shampoo - my scalp feels icky.

Lastly - I don't like spending a long time on my hair when getting ready for work - so the long hair works as I can put it in a ponytail. I cut 18 inches off 4 years ago and had a really cute bob, which started annoying me 6 months later. My hair has a strange wave to it, causing it to stick out in many directions unless there is some length to weigh it down. It's like all of a sudden I have a head full of cow-licks (sp? - what a strange word, cow-lick - sounds gross).

[pardes]

Yup I cut mine two days ago. Couldn't take it any longer.l...literally.

[Natural Beauty]

My boys like to watch mike the dirty job guy. And he did an episode a little while back on an actual dirt shampoo. what the heck was the name of that stuff.......terra somthin'?
there won't be any yucky sulphides in it like the slf family and probably no glycerin.....
I have no idea...the boys thought it looked cool though.

[shootingstar]

I guess it depends on your hair texture and how it will hold under daily shampooing and washing.

I have had short hair since I was 19. Before it was approx. your length, Cheryl. No regrets...30 yrs. later.

I wash my hair daily ..in evening plus shower.

However before cycling years, I used to wash it early morning daily before going to work. But now have to reverse it for evening, because of exercise during day..and certainly I can't get up any earlier than 4:30 am (!) to get ready for my long commute..that's why I MUST do whatever showering previous evening.

I sweat moderately, not as heavy as other people but my hair in the past and less so now, does have enough natural oils to still withstand gentle, but daily sudsy shampoos daily at this phase in my life.

I have fine but lots of hair that still shines naturally with ordinary daily shampooing. I never have to use hair conditioners..it makes my hair dead flat and oily.

I'm intrigued by these stories of caky long hair from sweaty exercise. So glad I have short hair. Realistically, methinks most short haircuts, meaning chin length and shorter do require maintenance haircuts every few months for care control and chic visual appeal. It's a price I willingly pay since I'm not into facials, pedicures, manicures or much makeup at all.

[Jolt]

I would think just rinsing it on days when you don't want to use shampoo would be fine--I have similar-length hair and that works well for me (shampooing every day would be too much).

[Crankin]

I sweat like crazy and sometimes end up shampooing 2 times a day depending on what I do. My hair is short, though, but it's in great shape. I find using the right products helps a lot. Right now I'm using Bumble and Bumble Gentle Shampoo and conditioner.
If I am riding a little later in the day and have nothing else before I go, I just wet my hair and put gel in it before I ride.

[SouthernBelle]

I have fine, thick, wavy hair too. It was long until about a month ago but now it's in a bob as I'm growing out to my natural color.

I often do the rinse only thing and then follow with a spray-in conditioner.

Something I haven't tried lately, but we all used to do years ago, was use baby powder. Sprinkle it on, brush it out. Seems to take all the icky stuff with it.

I may try it again next time.

[Smilie]

What is the difference in having short or long hair when you sweat? Your scalp would be gross either way.

I have long wavy hair, and I wash every day, and on heavy workout nights wash then as well. Just wash your scalp as that is what gets your roots of your hair yucky. Squiggy the shampoo out of your hair and condition. If your hair dries out on the ends, use a leave in conditioner.

[GLC1968]

I had long, super thick, curly hair up until a few months ago (when I chopped it short and donated it). After bike rides, I would just rinse my hair. In fact, I went for about 2 years with never using shampoo at all and I tend to be oily (hair and skin).

Yes, your scalp will feel weird at first, but once the oil production regulates, it works great. Basically, when you shampoo daily (or more than daily), your scalp produces oil on overdrive to compensate and keep your scalp healthy. If you stop stripping the oil away all the time, eventually the oil production returns to normal and it's no longer a problem to not wash all the time.

When I wasn't using shampoo, I would 'wash' my hair with a clean rinsing conditioner. Worked great at getting off the grime without stripping my hair. I would only 'wash' with conditioner about twice a week. All the other times I showered, I just rinsed well and applied a little conditioner to the ends (and did not rinse it out). The trick to this is to make sure your conditioner and ALL of your styling products are free of any ingredient ending in 'cone' (like dimethecone). These are typically in products that promise 'smoothing' or 'defrizz'. They do this by coating the hair and sheilding it from moisture in the environment. The problem is that they, by nature, are not water soluble, so if you are not using a soap/shampoo, they will build up and cause your hair to be dull and dry and limp.

For me, I gave up on the long hair mostly because the huge mass of hair was just too hot. Plus, I like what I look like with short hair better (though many people I know disagree with me...whatever ).