My daughter's hair is very thin and stick straight. She is also now having an issue with dandruff yet her hair gets greasy quickly. it is so thin which makes the greasiness and dandruff noticeable. She is looking like she could use a shower daily but we are doing every other day right now. She usually showers herself but I sometimes help her with her hair. Even when I thoroughly shampoo and rinse we get the same results so I know it is not an issue of her not being thorough enough.
We have tried Head and Shoulders, Dove and the Fairy Tales line for kids. What suggestions do you have that will help with the dandruff and greasiness? I would love some ideas of what works before I go spend a bunch of money on different products. Anyone have experience with T-Gel?
Thanks for your ideas!
Thank you so much for sharing all of your great ideas! We may just end up trying everything and see what seems to work the best. We checked out T-Gel but both hate the smell so I think we will use that as a last resort. I just bought the Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Oil Shampoo yesterday so she is going to try that tomorrow with my help. I used it today and think that the tingling is mild enough that it won't bother her and the smell is pretty pleasant.
Anyway, just wanted to say a BIG thank you for each of you for taking the time to share your ideas and experiences. I will definitely be looking back at them for reference as we try various options.
Try putting Tea Tree oil in her shampoo or use a shampoo and conditioner with Tea Tree oil in it. Since her hair is find and thin she will need to use conditioner. Also do not rub her hair with a towel. Wrap her hair in the towel and squeeze the water out. COMB out tangles on wet hair, do not use a brush.
I have baby fine hair and rubbing with a towel on wet hair causes tangling and breakage.
My daughter had this problem and it turned out to be caused by her not being able to rinse the shampoo out thoroughly. Once she learned how to do that, the dandruff went away. Also, I still have to shampoo her hair every 3 days or so, so I get it really clean. At 10, she still struggles with how to wash her scalp and the top of her hair. Her idea of washing her hair is plopping a dab of shampoo directly on the top of her head and then spreading that around in a circle. haha. For shampoo, we use a 2 in 1 head and shoulders every few days and the other days she uses a suave clarifying shampoo or mild inexpensive shampoo. Oh and she showers every day now, since we had the same problem with oil and dandruff. Occasionally, I'll wash her hair in the utility sink, so she can skip the shower and still have fresh hair.
Wash her hair every day.
Not washing it doesn't slow the oil production down.
You can try rubbing a baking soda water paste into her scalp before washing but only do it a few times per week as it can be very drying.
Dissolve an un-coated aspirin in the little bit of shampoo you use to wash her hair.
Don't use a conditioner - that makes the oil worse.
Use 1/4 cup vinegar in 2 cups warm water to rinse her hair after washing - and leave it in, then towel dry.
The vinegar smell is gone once the hair dries and it makes hair very shiny.
Try Pert Plus.
Get the one for oily hair. (they have a dandruff formula too but try the
oily formula first.)
Next only use a small nickel size amount of shampoo (too much is hard
to get out).
Work in starting at the scalp. Don't worry about the long tresses; they get
clean as the shampoo gets worked down & out.
Rinse very well. When you have greasy hair you want to use the right
shampoo, a small amount & get it all rinsed out. That's the hard part
sometimes.
Then finish it off w/a shock of cool water to shrink the airshaft &
ensure you get all of the buildup of shampoo out.
Also, while most people don't have to wash their hair every day, have her
wash hers every day to stave off the greasiness.
My daughter is 11. Same thing. Even to get her to shower daily is a struggle. She hated the smell of T-Gel, so the Neutrogena has been great! She only puts conditioner at the ends of her hair. NOT the scalp.
When we do a mommy daughter spa day the olive oil treatment is nice to do. Maybe experiment with a mommy/daughter spa night and it wont make the bad smells so bad if you girls are having fun with it. Leigh R has a great idea. We wrap our heads in towels after we doused our hair in olive oil and paint our fingers and toes. The olive oil really makes our hair shine! Good Luck!
The trial and error gets frustrating and expensive!
After the birth of my second child (8 years ago) my hair got so oily and greasy! I found nothing worked, and even my hair stylist ran out of recommendations. On a whim, while picking up product at a beauty supply store, she brought this up to the workers there.
They recommended Rusk shampoo and conditioner. It worked! I think it was the green shampoo, and the leave-in conditioner. The conditioner was liquidy (not creamy ) and I think it was blue. It worked so good! I think I paid $10 for a liter and it lasted a long time. I don't know if they changed they packaging, but maybe ask at a beauty supply store?
Good luck :-)
I always use T-gel when I feel my scalp gets too dry. Like once a year. It has a weird medicinal after smell, but I think it works pretty well to restore my hair back to a more healthy balance. And usually within just a few washes. I've used it on my 6 year old as well to give her hair/scalp a "pick me up".
We have opposite hair types too, mine's thick and wavy, her is thin and stick straight like your daughters.
I usually get the small bottle, it really stretches.
We've had great success with t-gel! My 10 year old and I both use it (actually, I buy the knock-off brand from Walmart). We call it the "tar shampoo" because that's what it smells like, but neither one of us minds it. When she's shampooing I would recommend she actually lightly scratch her head with her nails. Then leave the shampoo on while she washes the rest of her body. Hope it works!
Paul Mitchel's Tea Tree Oil shampoo & conditioner. And teach her how to only put the conditioner on her ends. One of my girls had an awful time with dandruff & greasy hair around 10. She really hated the T-Gel & I did buy every single type of dandruff shampoo I could fine. Our hair lady suggest the Paul Mitchel & that really did the trick. And she grew out of the dandruff/greasy stage, eventually.
Dandruff is greasy. Dandruff is flakes of oil. Not dryness.
A T-gel shampoo will work best and she will only need it a few times a week. Put it in and let it sit for 3 minutes. Then condition only ends if necessary, with a light, weightless conditioner.
You can use a no-name brand of t-gel. Or try Neotrogena.
I've dealt with this my entire life. The t-gel is the way to go. And yes, she needs to wash her hair every day. I can't go out without washing my hair or I look so gross.
I want to second the use of vinegar -- cider or white will do. We wash the hair, towel dry it (no rubbing) and then I work the vinegar into the hair; be sure to get all the way down to the scalp. We leave it on for a while as my daughter reads etc. and then rinse it out very thoroughly. I prefer to do it on a weekend so the vinegar smell doesn't linger while she's at school (someone else posted that the smell is gone once the hair is dry but that's not the case with my daughter, who has very thick hair).
Vinegar helps get out oil, but for dry scalp you may need to do the opposite: Warm olive oil in the microwave (not too hot) and apply it to the scalp while using a fine comb to rub it in and simultaneously gently scrub up flakes. Then follow with a good wash and the vinegar treatment. Takes time but is a natural way to deal with the flakes, which may be more from dry scalp than true dandruff.
And yeah, unfortunately one can have both a dry scalp AND oily hair.
Good luck. My daughter is 13 and I'm always seeking a good, simple shampoo to help with the oily hair day to day but not dry the hair and scalp out. Neutrogena Clean shampoo is pretty good. I have used T-Gel myself many times but I would not use it on a kid -- it is strong stuff, and if it gets in her eyes or mouth even once she is going to run a mile before using it again. Also it's coal tar shampoo, which you really don't want on skin any longer than absolutely necessary. I'd go with the most natural things you can, though they require more work (like the vinegar and oil treatments) and a very basic shampoo with minimal chemicals. T-Gel and Head and Shoulders et al are really for serious dandruff and she may or may not have that.
