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.

Ded, my hair sounds like yours. Lots of it but very fine and I don't even have the slightest bend to it -- it's stick straight. I have found that the key is a good haircut, although obviously the right products also help. I feel like I've tried them all. I used to LOVE Bumble & Bumble Gentle Shampoo several years ago when I got it from the salon. It made my hair seem more bouncy, somehow. Then I stopped using it for a few years, rediscovered it and bought it again -- but it didn't seem to work the same magic. It seems that no matter what I do, my color treated hair (which is colored the same as my natural color, brown with a hint of red) gets lighter, almost brassy looking, within a few weeks after coloring.

If you want more volume, but don't want to go the 'volumizing shampoo route', try reading the ingredients in the shampoo you usually use. If you see sodium laurel sulphate--immediately toss the bottle in the trash, even if it's almost full. SLS is terrible for both hair and scalp. It's clinically used to produce rashes to test medications for them. It strips your hair, makes it thin and unhealthy. And unfortnately, it's in many, many shampoos. Why? It makes them foam. Totally there for 'show'. Since most of us are adults and making elaborate hair sculptures isn't a necessary part of shampooing for us--we don't need SLS. I use an organic shampoo--it doesn't suds like the regular supermarket shampoos do, BUT it cleans my hair beautifully, and unbelievably, my hair is way, way thicker and healthier now--at age 60--than it was when I was 50 (and still using supermarket shampoo). Just switching to a SLS free shampoo will make a noticeable difference in the thickness/health of your hair. Of course, you have to wait patiently for the new, healthy hair to grow out. And you need to educate yourself about SLS--it's one of those components that goes by many names. Seriously, though, I don't think my hair has been this healthy for about 40 years. WELL worth the extra $$$ for a better shampoo.

I actually skipped washing my hair yesterday morning. It looked terrible, but the good thing is I work from home. I ordered terriks bar soap and conditioner. Terriks, what do you keep them in? I'm also going to order the Keratase in travel size. I want to find something I like, but a part of me is hoping I don't like the Keratase, because of the price. I already bought Dove Oxygen Moisture based on a recommendation by the Paula's Choice staff. I started using it in the winter when my hair was starting to seem more thin. Once summer hit and the frizzies started, I put it away until next winter. I'll have to see what the difference is between it and Dove Daily Moisture. Thanks everyone for all the suggestions!