My hair is shit - I need conditioner/protector help please

[Ozziegirly]

Ok, I have shoulder length highlighted hair.

It is naturally wavy/frizzy/curly as well as being quite fine.

I dry it and use GHDs every day pretty much. This is the only way I can get it looking vaguely neat looking.

Please don't tell me to stop using them - they are my lifesaver.

My hair has gone quite dry recently. I need a conditioner that will make it silky and swooshy but not weigh it down as it is fine/thin hair.

At the mo I use Redken Blonde Glam shampoo and something called Sebastian Hydre conditioner, plus a protector by Sebastian too - Trialliante or something (they may be Oz brands).

Any suggestions for new shampoo/conditioner/protector/weekly mask to make it swooshy and nice?

[Merle]

Hi - my hair sounds very like yours and it was rubbish for years; when my children were babies/I was pregnant/breast-feeding. It's quite nice now and I think that a lot of the flat/dullness was due to a lack of vitamins (I think that low iron levels affects hair condition).

Not a quick solution to your problem, I know !

[Ozziegirly]

I don't think I am particularly vitamin deficient - I have a pretty decent diet.

I think it probably doesn't like being straightened so much, but it just looks so unfinished and out of control without it.

Iron you say? Maybe I should increase the spinach and brocolli.

[Furball]

Watch the ingredients in your shampoos = most high street brands contain SLS or sodium lauryl sulfate which is a chemical used to clean industrial oils

It foams nicely so that is why alot of manufacturers use it - but obviously it strips oils from your hair.

Waitrose do a good selection of organic shampoos which don't contain it

or there is naked from boots that doesn't contain it (Which is what i use)

[Ozziegirly]

I'll have a look at the ingrediants, thank you for that info.

[tulpe]

I have similar hair issues - fine and dry, can be flyaway, gets a real frizz on whenever it gets remotely damp in the air etc.

Kerastase Masque Intense is fab. It is a once a week treatment. Expensive but you only need to use a hazelnut size blob of it even on long hair.

I also use Kerastase Bain Satin 2 shampoo every day/every other day. I don't need to use any conditioner at all which surprised me. Didn't quite believe my hairdresser at the time but this combo of stuff really works for me.

3 weeks in and I have swooshy hair at last

[Ozziegirly]

OOO, thank you - yes. I have heard of Kerastase before but you know it's hard to just buy without a recommendation because what if it's rubbish and then you've forked out $40?

So I will go and buy some tomorrow.

I don't mind spending a bit on hair stuff as hair is so on show and looks so awful if it's not looked after.

I long for swooshy hair.

Thank you!

I will report back in a couple of weeks....

[mamatilly]

where will you buy keratese from?

i sm looking for something yummy to deep condition, currently using honey and oatmneal catwalk/tigley conditoner but need MORE!!! xxx

[CNyle]

they stock K in some hair dressers

[bluebump]

I use Aussie which transforms my hair and is slightly cheaper than the Keratese type ranges. It is often on offer anyway.

[Merle]

Frizz Ease by John Frida is also good. Couldn't do without it now.

[funkyanna37]

I'd recommend doing an intense treatment every couple of weeks. I just use a natural oil - almond or coconut after shampooing. Then wrap it up in clingfilm and a small towel and have a hot bath so it gets really warm and steamy. I'll then leave it overnight (do it the day before I change the sheets in case!) and then rinse out in the morning.
If using a neat oil is a step too far - just use a masque - but try to do the bit to leave it on for a really long time... Ends up really soft and silky...

[Ozziegirly]

Thanks everyone - I'll try doing a masque and leaving it on for a while.

They stock K in a couple of places near me - are you in Oz mamatilly?

[BitOfFun]

Try this thread for salvation!

[Ozziegirly]

It looks like I need to read that.

I do long for nice hair.

Mind you, it's like my hair has knowledge separate to me, because today it is swingy and shiny - and I have done NOTHING differently to normal...it knew a masque was coming its way....

[mintchocolate]

I the ojon brand which you can get from qvc. It is expensive but it lasts ages. I have long hair and use straigteners every day and ojon has transformed my hair. It looks better than is ever has.

[Ozziegirly]

I'll have a look for that too.

It would be so handy if one could get tester sizes of all of these first!

[BitOfFun]

If you can be bothered, why don't you go on their sites and email them to ask for some? Or call the numbers for customer services they usually put on the bottles. I bet they'd send samples if you asked, you know.

[Ozziegirly]

Maybe I will.

I bizarrely didn't even think of that.

[bran]

Coconut oil really helps. I have dry fine hair which I wash every day. It improved a lot when I started using Burt's Bees shampoo and Aussie conditioner, but recently someone recommended coconut oil and it has helped too.

I massaged it generously into my hair in the evening (it's solid at room temperature but it will melt in your hand or put a bit into the microwave). Then I washed it out in the morning, I wrapped a towel around my pillow so as not to get my pillowcase greasy. The hot water in the shower makes it very liquid so it's easy to wash out. It smell made me feel slightly hungry all night, but I suppose I'll get used to that.

I originally bought the oil to use on DD's hair, which is very thick and unruly. Her spray in detangler was giving her a rash on the back of her neck so now I melt a tiny bit of coconut oil in my hand and rub it through the ends of her hair, not enough to make her hair look greasy.

Burt's Bees also do an avocado pre-wash conditioner which I've been planning to try for a while but haven't got around to yet.