dry skin/hair help
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Sat Feb 11, 2012 12:26 pm

I just joined and need help pretty badly with my dry (dry dry dry) skin. Recently I switched from drug store lotions (I tried eucerine, nivea, keri, suave...everything at different times. basically whatever was on sale or I had coupons for). After reading about grapeseed oil I decided to switch to using it for awhile and see how I felt. I bought castor oil too and use a drop of it cleaning my face. Right now my face is fine. My body is another matter and I'm not sure what to do with my hair... The first few days the oil felt SO nice on my body but now not so much. My skin feels tight and kinda painful. I got a spot on my arm that looks rashy. So, I bought a shea butter based unscented lotion at earth fare yesterday. It is clearly not helping me. After I shaved today (with crappy shaving creme) I have applied lotion, oil, lotion, vitamin E cream and still feel bad. Today is very cold and dry and windy so I know that doesn't help. Is there a better oil I should use? Am I detoxing and is that why my skin feels so horrible?
My hair looks and feels dull. Sad

I'm using Dr. bronners/coconut milk to wash and rinsing with some apple cider vinegar. I've applied a little grapeseed oil to my hair. At first it seems great but as the day goes, it feels dry and crackly and the under layer LOOKS oily and gross. I have curly hair in bad need of a hair cut. Help. Sad

I don't want to switch back to Pantene ever but I don't want to spend a lot of $ I can't afford on this stuff and end up hating it either.

free skin care · Sat Feb 11, 2012 1:27 pm

Welcome!! I think you just need to find the right oils for your skin. Grapeseed oil is very drying, not sure why you opted for this one. Castor oil is even more drying, but its cleansing so people blend this in.. I can't handle it with my dry retin a skin. Try hemp or rosehip oil for starters. For hair, get rid of sulfates right now, go throw them out!! Start with coconut oil... my hair is thick so I use a heavy blend with argan, camelia, coconut, some other stuff. Thinner hair will get greasy with this keep in mind. Read up on the diy section for EOs and carrier oils.

free skin care · Sat Feb 11, 2012 1:53 pm

I also recommend coconut oil for hair and also shea butter. Shea butter is the best thing for my very, very dry hair. For the skin i will second again rosehip oil but also macadamia oil and a cream that contains urea & lanolin.

free skin care · Sat Feb 11, 2012 2:28 pm

As the problem is with both hair and skin, this *might* indicate a systemic health issue. Have you had a full medical workup, and what do you mean by detoxing? Do you consistently meet or exceed all your government's recommendations for healthy eating and lifestyle? As you have dry skin, do you eat sufficient healthy fats (olive oil, avocados, nuts, seeds, coconut oil) especially long chain omega-3s from oily fish?

Just as important as what you use to moisturise is what you use to cleanse, exfoliate and shave, these products are not simply rinsed away, molecules do remain potentially irritating the skin. Common irritants include alkaline soaps and sulphate surfactants. Also both grapeseed and castor oil are drying, they are best suited to oily skin types. The lipids that best help replenish the skin barrier include long chain saturated fatty acids (stearic and palmitic), ceramides, cholesterol or olive squalane. Humectants that are found in the stratus corneum include urea, lactic acid, amino acids, glycosamioglycans including hyaluronic acid. Oils act as occlusives, they seal the skin to hold water in but do not attract water as humectants do, therefore a combination is best. CeraVe cream is the one option. If you prefer natural my sensitive skin loves Weleda baby calendula face cream or body cream (lanolin for cholesterol and fatty acids) OR olive squalane mixed in the hand with a little aloe vera gel (humectant with healing properties).
http://cerave.com/our-products/moisturizing-cream/
http://usa.weleda.com/our-products/categories/baby.aspx

Dr. Bronners is an alkaline soap, this will open the cuticle and damage your scalp's acid mantle. I also have curly hair which was badly damaged before I switched to the 'Curly Girl' methods. My hair has not been cut since March last year and is soft, shiny, no longer fluffy/ frizzy/ poofy with no split ends! You can either purchase the book or head over to Naturallycurly.com to learn more. The oils/ butters that are beneficial for skin are not the same ones that are good for hair: IMO the best for hair is coconut oil because it contains short chain molecules (lauric acid) that are small enough to enter the cuticle.
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curl-products/curlchemist-helps-us-understand-oils-and-butters
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curl-products/mineral-oil-versus-coconut-oil-which-is-better
To avoid the greasies, I blend melted coconut oil with the same *cheap* conditioner I use to wash my hair and use as an overnight heat treatment. I use Inecto but Suave or V05 are common for conditioner-only washing and just as inexpensive.

Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:20 am

Yikes I didn't realize that grapeseed was drying. I read several sights about washing my face with it and castor oil (just a drop or 2) and then took the advice of someone else who said they had dry sensitive skin...oh well. Sad

The reason I wondered if my body was detoxing is that I switched to using simple body and hair products AND changed my eating significantly all around the same time. I'm getting plenty of healthy oils and eating good grains with lots of fresh produce and balanced meats. I feel like my diet is fine. I probably lack the proper amt of water every single day because of my busy life but I will work on that. I used some olive oil this evening after doing some more reading on this site. I already feel much better but I will look into some of the suggestions in the next couple of days. I wish I had known more before I spent so much $. Sad

Thanks for the advice! And I have read about conditioner only washing...I will look into that some more. Smile

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