CO is working for me but I still have build-up paranoia!

[Prettypolly]

First things first: it appears that COing is working for me!! I usually look at my hair with two mirrors (please tell me you all do this too ) and it really does look great from the back now! I don't know about over all feel, as I daren't touch it til it's completely dry. But the roots are nice and smooth anyway. But onto looks... the canopy hair is less poofy, and more uniformly wavy, with little spirals on the ends It must be the fact that I have started COing! I have less frizz too. I bet if I started on sulfates again it would frizz up something nasty.

Yet I still have this fear of build up. But I think it may be more of a psychological thing? Anyone else have build up paranoia?! Can hair that looks and feels good still have build up?? Or is that impossible? Would you instantly know if your hair had build up because it would look and feel awful?

Like yesterday I know my hair had way too much product on because it felt like crap, but it looked OK. But if hair looks AND feels OK then it must be OK, right?!?!?! Hope I haven't confused you all too much there

I fear the fact that there are all these horrible ingredients around that can build up, and it's hard to figure out every single one and then work out what might build up in your routine and blah blah. Do anyone elses head in much?!

So yes, hair looks good but I'm worried it may only look good because it's being weighed down with build up rather than moisturised.

Anyway I'll just be happy that my hair looks nice everytime I walk into the bathroom right now

[Lisabunnie]

Prettypolly I had to stop CO washing because it built up on me and made my hair very dull. It felt good and all but had no shine. My hair is quite fine so I can see now why it happened.
Good Luck!

[ChloeDharma]

Prettypolly, hun calm down a bit. I think you are probably being a little paranoid (i can sympathise because i'm 24/7 paranoid neurotic!). If it looks good and feels good there's not much more to ask for (ok, appart from like 30 inches of growth overnight but we KNOW that's not gonna happen!). Remember even if you do get build up it can be removed, then everything is back to hunky dorey. If you are nervous you could always make a weekly ACV rinse part of your routine, that way you know any potential build up will be removed before it becomes a problem.
That's about all the advice i have for now, but congratulations on the CO working out. Oh yeah, if it helps i CO wash and i use products with cones in them and i still don't have a problem with build up.
HTH

[styg]

i never had any build up signs with the cheap conditioner (full of paraffinum liquidum btw) i use, but to be sure i usually start with an acv rinse (because i put immediately the heavier co on my length and i wouldn't want to rinse it off after coing).

[Prettypolly]

Thanks guys for the input! Chloe yes I think I probably am too paranoid and there probably isn't a lot more to ask for!!! The growth would be nice though hehe.

Anyway it does feel a little dry towards the ends now I've touched it properly... so I guess there may be some build up. But I want to remove it without messing up the niceness that my hair has! Does ACV do this? I'm really confused about what ACV does now.. I've read it can be used to close the cuticle.. so how does it work to remove build up? So confooooosed!

[ChloeDharma]

Well i can say on my hair it seems to remove build up quite well, in terms of the cuticle thing it's the acidity of ACV that does it. For build removal to be honest i'm not sure, i know oil build up is removed also i think by the acidity (think adding vinegar to water for washing windows) but i'm not sure if or how it removes cones, i assume it must because i use a cone containg conditioner (or several!) and i ACV but don't seem to suffer from build up. Maybe it dissolves it? In terms of ruining hair i really can't say because my hair seems to really like it, and many people get on really well with it but i think some others have posted here saying it caused dryness.
I'm hoping someone clever chimes in with the reasons why it does all this funky stuff!
Sorry to have not been much help

[Prettypolly]

Hehe no you are helping!! I appreciate it. OK so where abouts in your routine do you ACV? I'm thinking if you wanted to remove build up, you'd do it first thing? But then because of the cuticle-closing-thing, it would be pointless using conditioner afterwards because all the moisturising goodness won't be able to get in!! Is that right? That's rather confusing. I don't know if there would be much use doing it at the end? Especially as I usually use a moisturising styling product AFTER the shower LOL..oh lord!

[ChloeDharma]

Do you know, so many people do it in different ways. I personally do my first conditioning, leave that on for however long, then i do my ACV rinse. I soak my length in it in the jug (you dilute this by the way) then slowly dribble it over my scalp, but seriousely be really careful not to let it go in your eyes, it stings like a B****!
As i dribble it on i try to rub it right into my scalp, then i leave that on a few minutes, then rinse it off and put another conditioner on (if i'm honest, mainly for the smell but also i imagine the ACV has given the conditioner a nice unclogged surface to work with), then i leave that on for a while and rinse after a while. That's the basic bit, in with that i also do rinces etc.
I also use ACV after hennaing and i've found it seems to help prevent the colour from fading as fast.
Anything else feel free to ask me, but i do hope that was of some help to you.

[Snowymoon]

I worry about buildup as well. I am currently on a CO mission sans the ACV, as I find it to be too drying, I think it actually increased my shedding and caused some damage--I used it once per week; perhaps only using it once per month is more ideal for me, or better yet not at all.

Ursula suggested I use an oil (probably not jojoba though, as it is a wax ester) as a clarifier. My oil of choice has been coconut recently, as I find EVOO harder to get out with CO washing. I put a little oil in my palms, add a bit of water for moisture, rub my palms together and then smooth this over my hair. I can say that a good LHC-style CO with my VO5 conditioner actually does remove oil from my hair. I was surprized at this.

The reasoning behind pre-CO oiling is that oil desolves oil and such. So by oiling and letting that sit a bit, the oil is working on the buildup and oil/dirt in your hair. Now, the problem is getting the new oil out--that is where the LHC CO comes into play. The conditioner removes the oil with the now-desolved dirt and buildup. Not sure if this will work in the end, but we will find out. I usually can go 2 weeks on CO alone before I hit a funk stage and feel the urge to clarify somehow.

[icydove]

I usually ACV in between my "washing" conditioner and my "conditioning" conditioner. I don't know if that is optimal, but it works for me pretty well without being drying!

[Ursula]

If your worried about buildup, the best thing to do is take it one day at a time.

Wait and see if you get buildup. If you don't, great.

If you do, then you need to figure out what type of buildup you have. Buildup from your CO conditioner will need a different clarifying routine than buildup from a 'cone second conditioner, which will need a different routine than buildup from leave in oil, which will need a different routine from buildup from the minerals in hard water.

You may still be able to mostly CO, with the occasional clarifying targeting your particular form of buildup.

[Prettypolly]

"If your worried about buildup, the best thing to do is take it one day at a time."

Yep, that's what I've been doing... just kinda seeing how the hair is each day. Soo.. <takes hair out of braid> yeah there's definitely some kind of build up. It's not just "dry", it's a weird kinda dry. And it feels slightly greasy too (<silent cheer>). The ends are also not happy! Kinda hard and crinkly. But yeah even with all this, the hair has been looking good It's just the feel now..

I don't actually know what it is that I am getting the build up from though! I don't use a coney conditioner, but my CO condish has mineral oil which apparantly builds up. And Boots Curl Creme has a polyquat, but I recently learnt that it was a watersoluble one...

That oil thing sounds interesting.. I wonder if I can use sunflower oil from the kitchen..hehe.

[ChloeDharma]

I guess you could use sunflower oil, it is just another base oil anyway, and many macerated oils on sale use that as their base.
Maybe that's why i don't tend to suffer from build up, because i oil my hair regularly, i mean, the last time i did an ACV rinse was when i last henna'd which i think was about 3 weeks ago.
Maybe try the sunflower oil first, then if that doesn't work try the ACV. One thing to mention about coconut oil, another member (for the life of me i can't remember her name! ) posted some information that said a certain constituent in coconut oil helps to prevent protein loss from the hair during washing. Since then it has become my pre-wash oil of choice!
I would say if you are using mineral oil then that is very likely to be causing the buildup, so if you can replace that i imagine CO washing will be much easier for you.
HTH

[Sakura07]

If you are worried about build but you can do an ACV rinse before you wash your hair. Or a good claryfiying shampoo would work too if you are paranoid about build up. You can do either as often as once a week, or you can spread them out more.

[Prettypolly]

OMG guys I just did an ACV rinse and I am so so so surprised!!!! The last time I experimented with this (a while ago now), I used 3 tablespoons to a cup of water..can we say EEEEEK?! But earlier I used 1 tablespoon to one pint of water. I wet my hair thoroughly then did the rinse. Rinsed it off well, massaging scalp a bit, then conditioned as usual. Rinsed well. Applied Boots Curl Creme when out of the shower! So the routine is the same, really, as the past few days, except ditching the CO and doing an ACV rinse instead.

And the results so far?!?! Fabulous!!! The hair is still quitedamp but already it feels so much smother and softer (trying not to touch it TOO much though hehe). I'm just like..shocked. I hope I haven't jinxed it now LOL. I hope it dries nice too It feels the way it did when I shampoo'd and conditioned with a coney condish (my hair felt lovely then). So I am guessing the ACV HAS get rid of build up! Yay yay yay!

I was also thinking earlier.. it seemed silly to me - COing yet still having to clarify. I was hoping to swap to CO and have it exclusively for washing. But then I thought, that's kinda silly. In time I think most people do need to clarify in some way or another, right? Whether it be shampoo, ACV.. etc. COing just helps us cut down on doing anything too harsh, because we can continue to CO until we eventually need to clarify - Bolded that because I think that was my main point but I started waffling LOL. And I'm doing it again. Shut up!!

EDIT - Ok... I have halo frizz.. my hair feels nice, yet I have halo frizz.. <stares blankly> I guess.. uhh.. I guess.. I have no guesses!!