My dermatologist and plasticgardens obviously feel very differently about this topic. My son and I both have dermatitis. He has tried every over the counter dandruff shampoo to no avail. Until he switched to a mild shampoo without harsh chemicals his condition did not improve. Since switching to this shampoo he can go 2 days without washing his hair and the redness and flaking has dramatically decreased. I'm hoping the flaking will go away completely with time (he has only been using this for 3 weeks). Anyhow, our dermatologist said, use a mild shampoo with minimal chemicals and little to no fragrance added (perfume can irritate the scalp). Use conditioner only on the ends if at all. He said that harsh shampoos strip oil out of the hair and scalp, which looks good at first but causes the scalp to secrete even more oil to replace what was stripped away. So the best thing to do is use a very mild formula that will rinse out excess oil but not strip the hair and scalp. The oil production should slow down once your scalp adjusts to the shampoo. Seems to be working for us. And he recommended Cetaphil cleanser for the skin. I have been using this for 6 months (I was afraid it would make my skin oilier because it seems very rich) and I have not had a flair up of acne or rosacea in 4 months.

I think that older people tend to bathe/shower less often because their skin is thinner and more sensitive... I can attest to that. My mother's skin was so paper thin and lacking in elasticity, there were multiple times her forearm skin would literally tear from dabbing with a towel. Multitude of reasons; aging, medications, forgetting to keep hydrated by drinking water, etc. etc. But I digress... My hair gets fully washed at night, then rinsed in a.m. so I can dry/style. So twice daily it's wet. (Summer more). My skin/hair needs moisture (don't drink enough water, I know that). Oily is clear on the other end of the spectrum. My concern was stress (death of my mom); age (hormone shift); regular coloring & twice daily rinsing is all taking a toll. I'm on my 4th night of Sally's 'wen' like product. First night, wow, hair was like pure silk when rinsed. Next morning, fluffy, full, oh so soft and shiny. Day 2, not so much. (But I blew it the night before by putting a small amount of oil on my scalp, ran through my hair, let dry before bed. The oil is helping, but too many nights in a row is too much.) The next night I skipped the oil, did the Sally condition clean, next morning my hair didn't feel as nice. (I used product on low end of amounts suggested as an experiment.) Last night I used Sally's, increased amount I used, then when out of shower put oil on again, and when I woke up this morning I did my usual rinse before drying/styling, only this time I put a dime size amount of Sally's product on my hair, massaged in and rinsed. Much better. It's fluffy, soft, shiny & silky clear to the ends and it swings ;) (I have no styling products in it, but it sure looks like I do.) Guess I'll have to fine tune the routine. But figure I'm saving a lot of wear 'n tear on my hair with a less harsh shampoo, no styling products, oil for added moisture a few nights a week. Oh, and something I should have done long ago was get one of those mega wide tooth combs for combing the product in the shower. I got Sally's "Beach comb" set. One for in the shower, one for when I get out. That also saves a lot of wear and tear over a regular comb or nylon (non-bristle) brush. We'll see how it goes, but just after a few days it's a lot less dry looking.

A local male hairstylist has super curly, coarse hair. He wrote an article for a local magazine that said if you go through the motions of washing your hair (fingers to scalp, rubbing motions) that you are stimulating oil production and by doing so, you can actually stop using shampoo/conditioner on a regular basis - unless your hair is actually dirty. He said it takes a couple of weeks, and yes your hair starts looking dirty (try it when you have the flu or something! lol) but that your scalp will stop producing all the extra oil and your hair will be healthier for it. The oils move down the hair, away from the scalp. A client of his tried it and she has long, thick hair. It's never looked healthier. When I was younger, I could go a week w/o washing my hair with shampoo. That didn't mean I didn't get it wet on other days. Just meant I didn't get sweaty or dirty. I wash mine every other day. Daily if it needs it due to heat, etc. I could actually get by with every three days. DD2s hair look healthier now that she is not washing it daily (uses the baby powder at night), but due to her oily skin she has to wash it every other day.

update: We still aren't 100% shampoo free. We cut down to only washing every other day, and then substituting every other of those with baking soda. I've gotten to where I look forward to a fully baking soda cleansing routine. I certainly like it even better than days when I shampoo (the one which was chemical free). We have finally run out of the chemical free shampoo and now it is time to be 100%. My son's hair was crazy oily all the time (no matter what type of shampoo or how often he cleaned it). He'd get out of the shower and it'd still look greasy?! Going this route has sent him back to the non-greasy days, AND his face acne has reduced. His hair is so soft. He loves it. Me? I love it. I feel like my hair so much less stressed. And people keep offering compliments without my asking. People who have no reason to talk to me about my hair, e.g. someone standing behind me in church and we've never talked about hair? So I think that's pretty unbiased. No one knows in real life knows we've done, except on this forum (and anyone reading it). When it gets to the point someone says, I really love how great your hair looks! What's your secret? Then I'll know I have "arrived". It's getting there. I appreciate the feedback y'all gave me before trying it. What was really cool? It was super easy to get through camping this weekend. I washed it before we went out and then this morning. But it was fine all weekend! Let me focus on the more fun stuff. ____________________ Jodi, did you stay conditioner only? How's that going?