Is this normal for Funky Hair Syndrome?

[FlybyStardancer]

So I'm transitioning from storebought shampoo to my own shampoo bar. And dealing with the joys of Funky Hair Syndrome. Today was my third time using the shampoo bar.

Noticing that my hair was feeling a bit greasy, I decided to french braid it to get it up and back and to minimize the look of "hey, bad hair day!". However, my hair was fighting me the entire time I was braiding it. It was like it was sticky instead of the more slick movements it gets when it's got a lot of oil in it.

Can anyone explain why it's doing this? Is it normal during this transition period?

 

[Obsidian]

Yeah, its normal but I can't really explain the why of it. Has to do with washing away layers of build up from shampoo/conditioner. Hang in there, it gets better. Make sure to always use a vinegar rinse, it helps a great deal.

 

[FlybyStardancer]

I've been doing acidic rinses. Started with vinegar, but just before I switched to the bar I changed over to citric acid. Unlike ACV, there's no awful smell. I've been doing a two-stage rinse... One rinse to get the acid mixed in with the soap and get that all rinsed out, then a second smaller one that gets left in to rebalance my hair's pH, since the water coming out of the taps is consistently over a pH of 8. I'm planning on replacing the second rinse with a light leave-in conditioner, but that hasn't been made yet.

I think I'm mostly worried about going into work tomorrow. lol I'm a receptionist, and the only admin on-duty on weekends. It's my face everyone sees, and I don't want my hair to be too awful.

 

[jules92207]

All I can add as I just went through this with Genny's recipe is lather lather lather... Get it super sudsy before you rinse. That really helped me.

 

[Belinda02]

I googled the problem of wax on hair and individuals were using washing soap to clean their hair of a product called Dax? Tomorrow I'm buying dawn dish washing soap.

 

[Obsidian]

There is no need to rinse the soap out with the acidic rinse, just use water followed up by the leave in acidic rinse.

 

[DeeAnna]

^^^ What Obsidian said. I worry that the acidic rinse might be breaking the soap down into fatty acids while the lather is still on your hair. If so, that could be kinda icky since the FA's aren't water soluble.

Rinse with water to get rid of the soap. Then acidify the hair.

I use citric as well, but only after I rinse. Haven't tried it the other way 'round like you're doing. My hair looks and feels pretty nice afterwards.

 

[FlybyStardancer]

I'm not using the first citric acid rinse while the soap is still in my hair!

My routine: Get my hair wet. Get lather from the bar, work it into my hair (has taken at least three lathering sessions to get my hair coated, but even then the lather vanishes as soon as it hits my hair). Put my hair up into a bun, and go about washing the rest of my body. Rinse out my hair thoroughly as I would with anything. Carefully pour on acidic rinse, working it through my hair. Rinse that out, then add in more acidic rinse. Pile on top of my head, turn off the shower and wrap my hair in a towel while I dry off and get dressed and do various other related tasks.

I know the lather isn't as good as it could be. The bar is only just five weeks old either yesterday or today. (I grabbed the thin little excess bar, figuring it would have dried out more and that using it would give the full-sized bars more time.) I also have a LOT of hair. Coarse, thick, and down to the small of my back.

 

[DeeAnna]

Oh. I'm sorry ... I missed the ball on this one, FlyBy.

 

[FlybyStardancer]

It's fine, DeeAnna. You're still my soapy superhero!

 

[Obsidian]

I misread too, it sounded like you were rinsing the soap out with the acid rinse:silent: You might try running the bar down the length of your hair instead of trying to transfer the lather from your hands onto the hair. Thats how I first used my shampoo bar and it never worked very well, now I gently swipe the bar down my hair and it lathers up really nice.

Are you putting your soapy hair into a bun or did I read that wrong? If you are, then you might reconsider doing that. There really isn't any reason to leave the soap sit in your hair and I can't imagine the high PH does your hair any good.

 

[FlybyStardancer]

My thought for letting it sit is that soap is a wash-off product, so letting it stay on the hair for a few minutes gives more time for what's in the soap to have an effect on the hair. For instance, I used a tea with marshmallow root, chamomile, and lemon, and infused the OO with chamomile, calendula, and lemon zest. I would do something similar for a rinse-off conditioner.

I also did try rubbing it directly on my hair today, and I got even less lather that way (compared to lathering up in my hands). As long as I have enough water on my hands, I get light, fluffy bubbles that quickly turn into a lotion-like lather.

 

[grayceworks]

I have hair similar to what you describe. Very very thick and coarse. Except I recently cut it really short, up just past my shoulders. Was down to my waist for years. And mine's curly -- curlier now that it's short.

Even short though, I still have to use a good conditioner, or it likes to tangle. Less since I have been using soap bars regularly instead of shampoo. But I use either As I Am coconut co-wash for every other cleansing, or some other silicone-free conditioner, because silicones build up and are hard to wash out without synthetic detergents. But the coco-betaine in the As I Am stuff works well for a gentle cleanser.

I "lather" with the conditioner and scrub my scalp, then leave it sit on my hair in the shower while I finish up everything else, and rinse last. Sometimes, I will add a bit more and only partly rinse that out, so that it is like a leave-in conditioner. Works wonders on my very coarse curly hair.

Also, I found that my lotion recipe which contains BTMS is very nice on my hair for a leave-in also. Add while sopping wet, along with whichever gel I'm using, like a flax-seed gel, which is awesome for coarse thick hair. then pile it up in a micro-fiber towel (nicer to your hair's cuticle than terry-cloth) and go about my routine until it's almost dry.

Long hair is a lot of work. I miss my long hair though. I think I'm gonna have to let this haircut grow out. lol

 

[FlybyStardancer]

I've cut my hair short before... I hate it. lol I can't pull my hair back into a ponytail and get it to stay there until it's mid-shoulder blades. Also, if I go short then I need to wash it every morning, or else I spend the whole day with horrible bed head. Not even just wetting it works, it has to be washed. I'm not enough of a morning person to handle that.

 

[FlybyStardancer]

So, I'm a couple weeks into this switch... My hair is still caught up in FHS. It's still feeling like it's shellacked, and just plain unpleasant to touch.

I'm cranking up the amount of citric acid I dissolve in the rinse. I started with 1/24th tsp for 1 pint water. Today I added 1/4tsp instead. I'm also using my purified drinking/cooking water for the rinse, instead of the liquid rock coming out of the tap.

Anyone have any tips for managing it until I'm past this hurdle? It's been looking horrible, and I've been embarrassed to go into work with it like this. I'm a receptionist, so I'm the first face clients see when they walk into the office. Having unruly hair just doesn't work well.

 

[Susie]

Lather, rinse, repeat. You missed the most basic step. The repeat.

When you wash with anything, the first lathering just removes the surface junk.(dust, hair spray, products, pollens, etc) It binds with it. That is why the lather just disappears. When you rinse the junk out, then re-lather, THEN is when it gets down to the scalp and the hair shaft. That is when you will see good lather.

I rub my shampoo bar straight onto my hair. Both times. It seems to lather better and saves a bunch of time.

 

[inkyfingers]

Hi all, I'm a new member and this is my first post, but I thought I'd post because I can totally relate.

I went no 'poo (wash with aloe vera gel and honey) in November 2013, and couldn't handle the unpredictability of sometimes having a wash last me for 8 days, and sometimes only 2. It was necessary because of scalp irritation worsening with regular shampoo, despite trying several different kinds.

I made my first bar of soap only 6 weeks ago, and 3 weeks ago I made Soap Queen's pH balanced shampoo bars. I was supposed to let it cure for a whole 10 weeks, but I just couldn't wait that long. So when the bars were 2 weeks old, I did the zap test on it, and it passed. The first time I washed it, I couldn't get any lather (which is what I missed most about being no 'poo) but my hair still got clean. 5 days later, I washed again, but noticed I had let the shampoo bar sit in the badly designed soap dish. The sludgy part of the bar is what I washed my hair with. Best lather in my life, and not one spot went unwashed.

I do find I need an apple cider vinegar rinse, or I'm a tangled mess. My hair is also thick and past waist length.

It doesn't feel dry or static-y.

So maybe you should give the sludgy underside of the bar a go?

 

[FlybyStardancer]

Susie, I did try that once. I used my pure coconut bar for the first wash (hoping that the super-cleansing power of the coconut would help get the worst gunk off), and then the dedicated bar for the second. I didn't really notice any difference, but I might as well try it again.

inkyfingers, welcome to the forum! And man, I don't get any sludgy underside! My shower is a tub/shower combo, and it has two sets of shelving on the long side, one at either end. I put my bars on the top shelf of the shelving on the far side from the shower head, and the shelf is ridged to allow the soaps to dry. It's not perfect (sometimes the soaps stick), but it does allow them to dry. I used up the last of the little partial bar from the batch, so next time I wash my hair I'll be using one of the full-size bars for the first time, and they'll be 6 weeks old by that point.

 

[grayceworks]

I have noticed that some of my recipes have to almost drown for a few minutes to get a good lather, and some will lather just barely wet.

The one that I like best... umm... I don't think I can choose. It depends on how my hair is acting. I like my 98% coconut/2% cocoa butter, with a 20% SF (no salt) for general use. Cleans good, tons of lather, doesn't leave my skin feeling stripped, leaves my hair soft and shiny --- but still needing a conditioner or it's frizzy. I use it once a week on my hair. Other times I use one of my other ones, still experimenting, but less cleansing and no need for leave-in conditioner. I don't use a vinegar rinse with any of them. I probably should maybe, but I'm lazy. lol

I tried one of my salt bars that was the same recipe as above, but with salt, and I'm not sure I like the salt. It LOOKS good after it dries, seems to make my curls clump together more or something, but they don't FEEL soft and silky, they feel stiff or something. I imagine like what they'd feel like with some of those beach-hair salt spray things. I'd rather have soft and frizzy than defined and stiff.

But ideally, I'd like defined and soft. I might just have to start making my flax gel again, but I've been tired and gotten used to not putting extra stuff on my hair lately.

 

[FlybyStardancer]

I make two uses worth of rinse at a time. It's still extra work, but it's better than having to make it every time. With my hair still going through the funky stage, it's really hard to tell how I need to adjust what I do.

I tried my coconut bar once, before I was ready to make the switch, and after that time my hair felt like straw. I'm starting to use my light leave-in conditioner though. I wasn't really sure if that was a good idea or not, but I needed to do something.