WEN makes me a spoiled princess......

[Star*]

I got box today from my Mom.

In it was a bottle of WEN. My hair has been falling out on the crown of my head for the last three years. Long in back - giving cause for me to being thinking about doing my best comb-over styling ideas.

I dont' use cheap shampoo - my one luxury through it all. I've used SAMY for the last few months and it's made my hair very teenager-like. I've never dyed or highlighted my hair and I haven't cut it for 20 years. It's to about my belt loops but never grows any longer (no angora gene here) and breaks easy and falls out. So I started using VEGAN shampoo by Samy and it helped a lot. Then I read about NO sulfate shampoos like John Freidas new stuff - but had already bought 4 bottles of Samy (good deal before I got laid off) and the thing is -

When I don't use Samy - (use Biolage, or Redken or anything else? I go to sleep and wake up with HAG hair) when I use Samy? I wash my hair at night and wake up with hair like I did when I was a teenager - long, soft, not haggy. (not kidding) -age takes it's toll on your hair. It's like I went to bed with silky hair one night and woke up with Wicked Witch of the South hair the next morning and every morning after. So SAMY was like a miracle ------except....my scalp never feels or smells clean.

So I bought tea tree oil, tried vinegar, EVEN bought astringent....nothing got my scalp clean. Head and shoulders - massaging brush, rinse first, rinse with cold water for 5 minutes - and still - hair never felt clean - and scalp never felt alive. I even asked a beautitian WHAT was I doing wrong - HOW do you massage your own scalp to make it feel ALIVE? She showed me - I went home and did it....nope scalp still blah.

So last night - I tried this WEN. And I admit - I'm reading the instructions and channeling Melissa Gilbert and that guy "Chaz" in my mind....and thinking - "Oh Mom why did you waste the money for THIS?" I got in the shower ---did exactly like it said......rinsed and thought...hmm.....scalp feels better....hair feels ...no different. Like I could have grabbed a bottle of my Nexxus....but get out of the shower open the door, towel dry and ......wait?? What's THIS?......O.M.G.

As my hair is drying naturally - I never use a blow dryer.....It feels like baby hair. My scalp is tingling just a bit, but feels alive. By an hour later the top is semi-dry and two hours later it's mostly dry and is so shiney even DF says - What did you use on your hair? I mean it was like I sprayed lacquer on it. It has been SO SOFT all day - shinier than you can believe and unbelievable managable.

I nearly can't wait to try it again - just to see if it's a fluke or like skeptical me ------they put the good stuff in the first tube full and the rest will be junk. lol.

Just wanted to know if anyone else had good experience with this stuff, cause Mom said it's VERY spendy. ( I saw where this man washes his dogs in it )- My mom said in a semi -oh dear voice "It's pretty expensive for the small bottle." - in mom talk that's - Your dog is huge and I am poor. lol.

 

[Mamaof5]

30+shipping CND isn't that bad, you get a kit for that price from the CND supplier. Sounds interesting, I might try it. Glad you are satisfied, sounds like you (as lolcatz puts it) haz a happy. Just glad you are excited about it. We all need a little splurge now and again to lift the spirits, and your mum sounds like a sweet lady.

 

[susiestar]

It sounds like good stuff, but not if you are already struggling to pay for the basics. What would happen if you cut it with a little bit of regular shampoo?

There have been products that I couldn't afford but could find the most beneficial ingredients and combine them to make something I could afford. One of the ingredients in WEN Sweet almond mint cleansing conditioner is Behentrimonium Methosulfate, or bmsulfate. It is derived from rapeseed oil (aka canola oil). I found a blog about this because it was mentioned as being great for curly hair conditioning. The article mentioned other products that contain it (Generic Paul Mitchell The Detangler, TIGI Moisture Maniac, Jessicurl Weekly Deep Treatment, and blended Beauty's Curl Quenching Conditioner). It also mentions a cheaper cousin of bmsulfate, bc sulfate. I don't know what the C stands for. The bc sulfate is in Herbal Essence hello Hydration, and DevaCare One Condition. All of the products I mentioned are conditioners.

Or you could buy BM Sulfate by itself and work up your own cleansing conditioner.

It probably would be an outlay to buy the ingredients you would want to try to create your own, but you would end up with MUCH more than the teeny amount sold by WEN. The WEN website does list all the ingredients and if you search for each of them you can figure out which ones you want to try and which you don't. One of the benefits of using the BM Sulfate is that it will thicken and emulsify other ingredients. Emulsify means keeping oil and water mixed together, like the shaking does when your italian dressing separates.

There are a LOT of products I decode this way and figure out how to make for my family. Jessie has very sensitive skin and especially right now I want to keep the chemicals she puts on her skin to a minimum. I don't know that any of them would affect her movement disorder but if I can eliminate them it seems wise. She is having an AWFUL time with acne and exzema right now. Most eczema treatments OTC have camphor in them and several of us have developed allergies from repeated use of it, so I don't want to use it on her. I mix up a little bit of emu oil, tea tree oil, pumpkin seed oil and vitamin E. I originally intended to put shea butter in it but mine went a bit rancid so I left it out until I can get some more. Each of the ingredients has beneficial properties including antibiotic, antifungal, anti-inflammatory,etc.. and they are doing an incredible job with her eczema - especially on her face. I make a cream for my psoriasis that is awesome AND is great for treating wrinkles (my aunt swears by it and won't use anything else).

Just remember if you mix up your own that it will likely NEED some sort of preservative unless you want to mix it up every few days. The site with the BMSulfate should have several preservatives to choose from.

I am sorry you have so many problems with your scalp. Mine is always very itchy - and NO it is NOT LICE!! It has always been very very itchy. Have you ever had a doctor look at your scalp to make sure it is healthy? If there is a lot of buildup you could have psoriasis or another medical condition causing that unpleasant feeling you describe.

If you need help tracking down ingredients let me know.

 

[ML]

Fingers crossed that it wasn't a fluke. I have lost about 60 or 70 percent of my hair since menopause. For me it started in my 30s. It is an overall thinning though it is more noticable through the crown. I don't think I'm losing it any more and have finally come to accept it. Now I'm sort of irked that it is socially acceptable for a man to shave his head but not a woman. I think eventually our society would come around to embrace a woman's beauty sans hair but it would take time before someone would automatically assume she must have cancer.

Anyway, I hope this stuff works!

 

[Marguerite]

Star, I've posted before about this guy. Check him out. follow his links. If you can, track down some of his other columns, I think you'll get a laugh about them.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/richard-glover/the-no-shampoo-challenge/2007/03/22/1174153246888.html

But the hair thing and not using any shampoo - he is serious. husband has done tis now, he has found he occasionally needs to use shampoo. Maybe once every few weeks. But he washes his hair in plain water every day. That's the secret - a daily wash in water.

It can take about 6 weeks for your hair to stabilise and feel clean but soft all the time.

Also worth checking out, for laughs, is the friendly rivalry between Richard Glover and another announcer on the same network, Adam Spencer. There was one fun bet where Glover lost, and was made to wash his hair in dog shampoo and do a few other things he found degrading...

Marg

 

[1905]

OMG STAR!!!!! I love WEN, and use it every day! I buy it by the gallon and it lasts for a year. I buy it at QVC, it's a miracle for me. My hair is so thin and old-ladyish, but curly and shoulder length. I just let it dry naturally, I use a tiny bit more as hair gel as my hair dries. I always used Curls Rock products before WEN. I don't use as much as he says to, I only use it sparingly, so it does last a long time for me They only sell it by the gallon once a year, but I may be wrong.

 

[Star*]

Susie - I think in a former life??? You were a chemist. I loved that stuff you sent me with the emu oil in it. It was absolutely the best stuff that cured my cracked heels to perfection. I tried it on my face; and for a while it did so well for under my eyes and then rosacea took over and spanked me and broke me out...and not one to waste anything? I tried just a bit one night after showering and egging the foot - and man it was wonderful. So hat's off to your genius concoctions.

As far as having my scalp checked? Yup. Went to the premier dermatologist in the state. I got lucky by no fault of my own. Just lucked up. He said it's genetic that women have baldness. He started me on mens Rogaine and it turned my hair gray. Okay - I'm a teentsy bit vain at this point - I mean I'm fat, going bald, face looks like cauliflower sprayed red, 14" ankles and never dyed my hair and now it's GRAY? oh H no. At least I had my hair. So I stopped. See women use rogaine to keep what they have ....it won't grow hair on us like it does men. So no great loss. He said it could be (pick one) of my medications -----thinks Topamax or Metformin. Never had this problem until I got diabetic. Now that I'm NOT diabetic but taking medications? I have sweaty scalp and - it's not flaky - or anything else it just smells sour. All. The. Time....until WEN.

I was thinking maybe my head is allergic to sulfates. ??? A lot of people whose hair falls out don't even know they shouldn't use shampoo without sulfates so Marg - as per usual with your scientific fact and experimental hubby u r. correct. I think this must be why WEN works - you have to rinse forever. It does NOT lather at all -weird. It smells a little weird, good in a way but weird. There is absolutely no lather. You can rub and scrub 100mph - no lather.

I did try NOT washing my hair with shampoo for days and well - my hair did not fall out - but it also was headed for Jamaica mon. Remember the donkey TM posted? Eh' mon....we be jammin. -One way to get thicker hair for sure.

Thanks for your input all - I'm going to keep trying it. I think I'm going to take all 4 bottles of the SAMY back and use that money for another bottle of wen. Or send it to me Mum.

Upallnight? A gallon? ROFLM QVC midnight flex pay off......

 

[Bean]

I'm mixed and have a head of curls that I get relaxed. I got hooked on co-washing a few years ago and it's great. I haven't used WEN at all (my hair needs too much product and my wallet isn't that deep), but I've had VERY good results with other conditioners. I recently started using Tea Tree Tingle from Trader Joe's and it is awesome. You might want to read up on it and give it a try. Compare it to WEN and see if it's the same/better/worse -- or if you don't want to try WEN, give this a try. Most people opt for the cheapest conditioners (VO5, Suave, etc.) and say they are best for co-washing.

 

[Marguerite]

Star, read up on the no shampoo study. What they say is that the hair does get greasy, so you do do an oil change on the car by rubbing your head across the engine block. But after a few weeks, your excess oil production stops and as long as you keep up the daily rinse, it is fine.

husband is also getting a bit thin on top (no bald spot, just a little sparse in places) so there is less hair to share around his oil production, so he does use a little shampoo (he uses something natural and no additive, from Lush) about once every month or so. But this is working for him; when he shampooed twice a week, his hair was ridiculously greasy. Now it has settled down and is lovely.

On the hair loss, I had problems after difficult child 3 was born. I had classic male pattern baldness, receding hairline, everything. I also had thinning hair - any major stress, especially fever, and handfuls of hair would fall out. An endocrinologist I saw told me to take biotin (Vitamin B6) and when I eventually did what I was told, the hair loss stopped and it began to grow back.

It might be worth a try.

Although there are lots of B vitamins in Vegemite, I needed more, I had to take a supplement. Eating Vegemite was not enough.

Marg

 

[Marg's Man]

I remember reading years ago as a kid that detergents don't need to lather to work but, because soap does, the manufacturers made them lather.

Jump forward twenty years and I am a chemist working with surfactants - the 'active' ingredients of detergents where I find out the science that backed up that childhood reading. Environmentally the lather is a problem because the agents that cause lathering are not biodegradeable.

It sounds like WEN is one of those non-lathering detergents.

Marg's Man

 

[Star*]

Okay - WHAT for the love of a song from the 80's IS VEGEMITE???? OMg please solve this mystery?

I gave him a bit of my Vegemite Sandwich -

Men downunder song.....

I am going to read all the articles everyone posted - THANK YOU so much - snort----trader joes - sounds like a pirate. Arrrrrgh. Surfacant? Define please.

 

[Marg's Man]

Okay - WHAT for the love of a song from the 80's IS VEGEMITE???? OMg please solve this mystery?

I gave him a bit of my Vegemite Sandwich -

Men downunder song.....

A very popular spread in Australia made from brewer's yeast. It has very salty taste that reminds me of soy bean paste. Although it contains an unhealthy amount of salt it is usually eaten, sparingly, on sandwiches, toast or crackers and is a very rich source of B group vitamins.

It is often nicknamed axle grease which it resembles it in appearance. Having (unintentionally) actually tasted axle grease when working on the car; I can truthfully say it tastes NOTHING like it.

We have never found a visitor who liked it. It seems that only dinki-di Aussies can eat it with anything like enjoyment. Ex-pat Aussies who are homesick would LOVE it as a taste of home. The song is talking about a traveller who meets a someone from Oz who is so friendly that he offers him his Vegemite sandwich. Apparently it is ridiculously expensive overseas so the offer of even a bite is quite generous .

Marg's Man

 

[KTMom91]

Trader Joe's is an awesome place...interesting food items, and the ever-popular "Two-Buck Chuck."

 

[Marguerite]

Honey (Marg's Man), Star also asked you to explain what surfactant is.

In the immortal words of Pauline Hanson, "Please explain?" [said in whiny nasal broad Aussie accent]

Marg

 

[Marg's Man]

Arrrrrgh. Surfacant? Define please.

Sorry didn't see this.

Honey (Marg's Man), Star also asked you to explain what surfactant is.

WARNING! Science Content (okay I pinched it from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfactant because I'm too lazy to type it all out.)

Surfactants are compounds that lower the surface tension of a liquid, allowing easier spreading, and lowering of the interfacial tension between two liquids, or between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as: detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming agents, and dispersants.

They are an interesting range of chemicals that allow things that wouldn't normally mix to do so. You use this property whenever you wash that greasy frypan in water with a good dose of wash up liquid. It is the surfactants in the wash up liquid that allows the grease to dissolve (or more correctly disperse) in the water. Heat makes it happen easier which is why hot water works better than cold.

Although many are man made, they occur in nature too. Possibly the most important is in the lungs where a layer of surfactant promotes gas exchange across the surfaces of the alveoli (look them up if you don't know). VERY premature babies don't have this surfactant layer and can have trouble breathing without oxygen.

I'm not going to get any deeper here but I've just read the Wikipedia article and it's pretty well correct. If want the REALLY gritty detail read that and follow the links.

Marg's Man
PS Honey (Marg) I'm going to be late home I've been answering this post!

 

[gcvmom]

So I guess a surfactant is what I needed all this time in order to get along better with my in-laws, you know -- ease the surface tension and all...

And then maybe MY hair would stop falling out in handfuls...

 

[Star*]

So while there IS surfacant in say.....(glances at corner and thinks twice....yawns and grins) Dawn dishwashing detergent...and car wax - things like that. (everyone exhale) mwah ha ha.

There is NO surfacant in a tongue that tastes a frozen flag pole and is otherwise frozen to it.

I see. Thank you so much, splendid explanation. On that and the edible axle grease. lol. Someday I'll tell YOU about the maggot I ate. ewww.