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Post by Trailpal on Apr 25, 2012 11:38:09 GMT -5
I've seen the info-mercial for Wen hair cleanser - it doesn't have the chemicals that make suds, and does a good job of cleaning hair without stripping it of normal levels of oils. In the 'mercial, they show models with all lengths of hair (straight and curly) and it comes out nice and silky without lots of conditioner afterwards. However, it's frightfully expensive.
The other day I came across a knock-off version called One or One Hair. It's sold at Sally Beauty supply (not sure if it's available elsewhere). It's still not cheap, but was cheap enough I thought I'd try it. My hair is above my shoulders, but just barely, and very straight. It can get a bit fly-away if the weather is wrong. Also, because it is gray, I normally use a "highlight" conditioner several times a week (ok, it's that old-lady purple stuff but my hair isn't blue! LOL)
According to the directions, you spend so many minutes doing this and doing that but after reading several reviews, I decided the time was merely a "suggested" time - the main thing is to work it long enough to do something, since it wasn't a chemical reaction like regular shampoo. For example, they tell you to wet your hair for 2 minutes... well, there are no surfactants in the cleanser to hurry up and get it into your hair. But with my length and texture and showerhead, it doesn't take 2 minutes to get my hair totally wet. Same for the guidelines as to how long to work it in your hair (and give yourself a nice scalp massage too!)
Anyhow, it got my hair pretty clean and soft. I didn't blow dry it totally dry (I hate using the blow dryer and only use it in cold weather). I didn't use any conditioner or styling product. It looked great the first day, and is looking good today too - and I even wore my helmet last night for about 45 minutes! From my reading, it seems that it's not uncommon to go a day (or two or three) between uses, so that kinda brings down the price of the cleanser if you figure how long a bottle lasts.
So, I wanted to share - I've only used it once, so will have to report back in a month or so if there is build up or whatever, or if I need to use the "highlight conditioner".
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Post by snelson on Apr 25, 2012 15:21:52 GMT -5
Thanks! I am always looking for something that will not strip my hair but still control the oily thing I get going on after 24 hours. The oil control shampoos leave my hair dull and dry on the ends so I compensate with conditioner that weighs my hair down.
I am interested to see how you like it after you use it a few times.
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Post by Trailpal on Apr 25, 2012 15:30:18 GMT -5
There are 4 varieties - oily, dry, color-treated, and normal. I figured I'd used the normal as I don't have any real issues. I hope that the oily version works similarly to the normal version.
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Post by rhapsody on Apr 25, 2012 15:36:01 GMT -5
I use frizz control shampoo and conditioner . . . not that I've noticed it works to control frizz much better than non-frizz control. A bit, maybe, but it's hardly a miracle-worker . . . *sigh*
I wash my hair every other day, typically. Actually, I shampoo the scalp and condition the length.
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Post by Yip on Apr 25, 2012 18:51:08 GMT -5
I got a keratin treatment almost three weeks ago, and bought the *after keratin* shampoo to help it last longer. I got it from ebay and there were lots of brands and a wide price range to choose from.
It seems to be like Wen in that it doesn't cause suds and makes the hair really soft & silky. It's PABA and sulfate free like Wen. It looks just like Wen does in the infomercial shampoo segment. Now I can't judge the shampoo per se because I LOFF the keratin treatment, but I think I would continue using it all the time and see how well it does alone. I think I paid $20 for the set of 16oz. shampoo & conditioner. I bought the styling spray set from my beautician and the 2 small bottles set cost $30. I'm breezing through that stuff so will buy it for a better price on ebay next time.
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Post by Trailpal on Apr 25, 2012 19:48:43 GMT -5
Cool! I may take a look at that too when this runs out.
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Post by Newfygirl on Apr 25, 2012 21:15:37 GMT -5
Sounds interesting. I can go a couple of days without washing my hair depending on what I do to it. If I straighten it I can go longer. If its curly I have to wash it every other day because of the hair styling gunmen I put in it. I have started using this Aveda Smoother though and its awesome. No gross residue and ut doesn't feel gunky
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Post by Trailpal on May 30, 2012 16:34:15 GMT -5
Ok, it's been a little over a month since I started this experiment, so I thought I'd update:
I have not used my blow dryer, since the weather's been reasonably warm. I have not used any conditioner at all, and none of the purple stuff.
I did get a hair cut about 2 days in. I have no split ends and the nice sharp "bob" shape has remained, I think this means there's been no breakage. My hair did grow, but it seems to have grown pretty evenly. It feels thick and looks/feels healthy. There's no "yellowing" that can sometimes happen to gray hair if you don't use that purple stuff. As a matter of fact, it seems slightly darker (my hair is "salt and pepper".) Before, if I let my hair get a bit greasy, it would look darker, but right after a shampoo and especially after a blow-dry, it looked pretty light. I think the dryness makes the "salt" hairs stand up more, while the "pepper" hairs lay flatter. With a little oil in my hair, they all fall together and the overall effect is that my hair looks like a darker gray.
If I sweat or get dirty, of course my hair gets dirty too. The shampoo would take all my natural oils out so I had to condition and sometimes put a wax on to get it to not fly away. With this product, even with daily cleansing, I don't have to condition. After a few days to a week of using the product, my scalp quit over-producing oils, so it would take several days of not cleansing for it to get greasy - with shampoo, it got greasy on the second day. Oh yeah - and after a couple of weeks, my scalp began to shed a few plugs from clogged pores.
We went out of town for the weekend and I used shampoo twice. Holy cow, my hair felt damaged and looked funny. Got home, used the Hair One, and it's back to the new normal.
So, I got a new bottle last night (I was just about out) and I think I'll be using it for awhile.
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Post by Idaho Linda on May 30, 2012 16:45:57 GMT -5
Interesting.....I have lots of "Quick n'Brite" around here that I use for most cleaning. It does a super job of washing fleece. And, saddle blankets! It also is non-sudsing. In know you can use it to wash hair, but I never have. Maybe I should try it.
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Post by Trailpal on May 30, 2012 17:05:03 GMT -5
I just looked at the Quick n Brite site - they do recommend it for pets but no mention of human use is made. I think this is because the manufacturers have not had the testing done for human use, but also I note that the ingredient list is vague - they list what sort of thing is in it (ie "Biodegradable Nonionic Surfactant") but not specifics. Just because it's biodegradable doesn't mean it's safe. (Snake poison & ddt are biodegradable) But chances are it's just fine - heck if you can use it in your environment and on pets it's probably ok for humans.
I will say it was kind of weird not to get lather! I have since started using a liquid castile soap for my body wash - I use one of those nylon net poofs and that will make some lather but on a washcloth it seems like I am just rubbing a wet rag on my skin! But a lot of my itchiness and dryness has gone away, just using soap instead of a detergent. (Sodium laureth sulfate is in lots of body washes, shampoos and toothpastes and it is a detergent. It's also what makes most of the suds.)
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Post by Yip on May 30, 2012 20:14:12 GMT -5
If I remember correctly, the original Wen is a shampoo & conditioner in one. That would corroborate what you've noticed with your knock-off product. I would stay with that too, esp. since you went back to shampoo & noticed ickiness immediately.
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Post by Trailpal on May 30, 2012 22:01:41 GMT -5
It's not like Pert, which is a shampoo and conditioner in one. This has no soap/detergent/shampoo in it. Apparently you can get a similar result with cheap conditioners - look up "co-washing" or cowash or anything like that. It's supposed to be great for curly hair!
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Post by Yip on May 30, 2012 23:03:37 GMT -5
well, I guess I meant, no conditioner is needed after shampooing with it.
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Post by Sheryl on May 30, 2012 23:04:11 GMT -5
Interesting.
there is a whole "no-poo' movement for women with curly or kinky hair. Essentially you shampoo with conditioner instead of shampoo. I have massively curly hair and I only shampoo maybe 2X a week. I use the Nexus heavy duty conditioning products, but this product would be interesting to me too.
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Post by Yip on May 31, 2012 7:37:14 GMT -5
I don't understand the concept. Conditioner is oil. I can see it coating the hair to make it less frizzy, but how does that clean one's hair and scalp? Seems like trying to clean oil with more oil.
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