Why does my Hair Feel Like Straw?

This one is a little harder to explain as their are a lot of opinions on the matter.  For this purpose your hair feeling like straw relates to the way your hair feels when it is wet (squishy) and how to reverse the problem.  In the hair world if your hair feels squishy and fat like wet straw it is due to a large amount of product build up on the hair.  This is most common in people who use lots of styling products or some types of shampoos, and yes I said shampoo!

Let me address the first issue of product build up.  A lot of the products out there right now have silicone to make the hair smooth or other products that help build body by swelling the hair shaft are very hard to cleanse out of your hair with just shampoo.  Even those of you that use hairspray everyday are most likely not really getting all that product out with each shampoo and it doesn't matter how many times you shampoo because there are only certain shampoos that are good at removing product buildup.  Keep in mind that the term product buildup is not referring to the everyday dirt and oil in our hair.

The best cure I have found for removing product buildup in hair and taking away that straw like feeling that results is by using Baking Soda.  You want to wash your hair with it and it will eat the buildup off your hair letting you shampoo the rest of it clean.  It can get very clumpy so you want to apply it to wet hair and scrub it on by rolling the hair between the palms of you hands like you were rolling a pretzel.  This will aid in removing the buildup.  Massage it good around the roots of your hair and rinse.  It will feel dry while you are scrubbing but remember it is a powdery substance that gets thicker with water, so after rinsing go ahead and shampoo with your normal shampoo unless it is for more volume or extra body or anything like that.  These shampoos coat the hair and make it swell so you are defeating the purpose if you use them after the baking soda, you want to clean the rest of the baking Soda out of your hair.  The best option may be a clarifying shampoo.  Another good option for removing product buildup is using Tea Tree Products.  I have mentioned these before but they have many good properties and can do many things.  They work especially good in African American hair to remove the dirt buildup that can result from braiding or irregular washing.  You can find these product at a local salon or at a Paul Mitchell School near you! Remember if you buy Tea Tree Paul Mitchell plants a tree!!  Hope this is the hair therapy you need!