Who lives in a dry climate? HELP!!!!!

[nomadpixi]

Hey ladies,

I've made the move to Sydney Australia this September with my fiance! Yeah! But my hair hates it here! Booo!

I've been CO washing with all kinds of stuff and my hair hasn't seen a heating appliance since March. But it hasn't stopped breaking off since then either. I can't touch my hair without some of it breaking off! For some reason it took me until today to look at the weather forecasts humidex. IT'S FRIGGING 21% humidity. DER, YOUR HAIR IS DRY!!!

I have limited supplies: Motions CPR, Duo Tex, R&N Mask and Conditioner and some Indian oils. That's about it. I also have a bottle of Hawaian Silky Moisturizing spray, but that doesn't seem to be working. On the plus side, I did snag a bottle of Freeda Biotin 10mg and some MSM, so it's growing pretty fast: about 1 per month now.

I can't afford to turn into a product junkie and anything I buy will probably have to be shipped. I was considering Humectress, but for the life of me I can't seem to find it in a store here.

Any clues? Should I try making something in my kitchen??? I'm so lost!

 

[sikora]

Glycerine is a GREAT humectant. It draws moisture in. A great simple moisturizer is glycerine and water. If you decide to try this, don't make a huge batch at once since things made with water (and without a preservative) would go bad quickly.

 

[Luvmylife]

Hey ladies,

I've made the move to Sydney Australia this September with my fiance! Yeah! But my hair hates it here! Booo!

I've been CO washing with all kinds of stuff and my hair hasn't seen a heating appliance since March. But it hasn't stopped breaking off since then either. I can't touch my hair without some of it breaking off! For some reason it took me until today to look at the weather forecasts humidex. IT'S FRIGGING 21% humidity. DER, YOUR HAIR IS DRY!!!

I have limited supplies: Motions CPR, Duo Tex, R&N Mask and Conditioner and some Indian oils. That's about it. I also have a bottle of Hawaian Silky Moisturizing spray, but that doesn't seem to be working. On the plus side, I did snag a bottle of Freeda Biotin 10mg and some MSM, so it's growing pretty fast: about 1 per month now.

I can't afford to turn into a product junkie and anything I buy will probably have to be shipped. I was considering Humectress, but for the life of me I can't seem to find it in a store here.

Any clues? Should I try making something in my kitchen??? I'm so lost!

Hey lady! My hair did the exact same thing yours is doing now when I moved from the Midwest to the West Coast. I had breakage for days...couldn't even run my fingers through my hair without about 10-12 hairs breaking off

Are you natural or relaxed? Either way, you could do the following with what you have to up your moisture:

Take your Pantene R&N Conditioner and mix it with a little bit of your PR&N Mask, someof those indian ois you have and a little bit of water, Warm it up and slather on your ends. Then wrap your hair in a warm wet towel and cover that with a showercap. Steam for at least 30 minutes. Rinse and proceed with your styling.

If you don't have a moistutizer on hand, try spraying your ends with distilled water and seal with whatever oil you have. Try it every other night before bed and see how this works for you.

Also, as far as the Humectress is concerned, does that contain a lot of protein? What about the CPR and the Duo Tex? (I can't remember...) anyhow, check out all of your products to see exactly how much protein you're using. You want some protein, but you have to be careful not to use tooo much because it can be drying and that effect can be intensified by a dry climate.

Lastly, you might want to research castor oil. Many ladies (including myself) have had alot of success with curbing breakage by using castor oil.

HTH!

 

[ubavka123]

I live in Eastern Europe and it is very dry here most days! I can feel your pain. I have lived here about a year now, but when we first moved, I had a lot of breakage while getting adjusted to the water, climate etc. Also, my staples failed me because of the different conditions here and I had to revamp my entire arsenal of haircare products to adjust to living here. I have liters of Kenra (which I stocked up on before moving) which are useless to me because my hair just stopped responding to it once I moved here.

I want to add, don't underestimate what you may have at your disposal there. I shipped so much to myself before moving, thinking that I would not be able to find products which responded to my hair in this country. Surprise, surprise, I did. Women here fry and dye their hair to death, so there are so many rich, creamy conditioners available that are for "their" hair, but are perfect for mine, too. Don't be afraid to go comb the aisles at the local market. You may be surprised at what you find, and it may help you while your hair adjusts to the climate/conditions and you work out a new routine.

Eventually, your hair will adjust. It does not take long, just give it lots of TLC in the meanwhile. Frankly, I think dry weather is great, because I never have a bad hair day. I like to wear my hair curly, and in the absence of high humidity, my curls never fall. I just moisturize my ends and keep it moving (Aveda USC is great for this!).

Speaking of Aveda, there is Aveda in Australia, so all is not lost...*ahem* *ahem* If you can't find less expensive substitutes locally, it is a good excuse to treat yourself!

BTW, I am not advocating PJ'ism, but if you find that your hair stops responding to your usual staples, you may have to try new stuff like I did. It doesn't have to be expensive, it's just that your staples may (hopefully they won't) stop working like mine did.

 

[Halimah]

Trying living in Cairo Egypt

Thats where I live but I keep my hair covered and mainly stay in the house b/c of my religion so I dont have those problems but as far as products you dont have anyone who visits from time to time thats how I get my shipments from America from a friend of the family who visits often try to see if you can find anyone who travels alot but if not you can always go UPS or FedEx but thats a hefty bill.

 

[Angelicus]

Fomer Arizona Resident here:

You can use all of the products that you want that have moisture in them but your hair will still be fried and dried unless you purchase a shower filter. Co-washing your hair without the filter will spell disaster.

Buy a humidifer, or keep a pot of simmering water on the stove.

Stay away from products that have cones as the first 3 ingredients. HTH

 

[nomadpixi]

Wow these were really great suggestions!

So much to learn! It's spring here and the change in seasons is an alternating hot and cool wind that packs some serious dry in the hot(off the desert) but sometimes moist (off the ocean) wind.

I got fed up yesterday and went to a Kmart-yeah chile, they got K-mart, Target and big W(Walmart) here. I snagged some Tres Semme moisturising conditioner that I plan on using as a leave in. The cones in this product are surprisingly low on the list of ingredients. I also plan on doing an avocado conditioner today.

I did go and have a newhair wig shipped, so that will be my weekly style and I'll plait and condition under that. Other days I'll leave it in a peacock twist just to keep it off my shoulders.

One cool thing I discovered: if you rollerset your hair and go and dry it in the sun it drys REALLY fast!

I just have so much breakage to grow out. My hair is now half the thickness it used to be just from damage. I'm trying not to get depressed about it, but I just don't like looking like a plucked chicken when I'm trying to put my best foot forward in a new culture.

Anywho, Thanks so much ladies. This was really useful. Hopefully useful to others too.

This place is a trip!