Silicone Free Hair Care

[meadowbird]

I colour my hair a fair bit (I'm using Tints of Nature which is a brilliant product and has left my processed hair in BETTER condition than it was) but I've noticed the last few times as the dye fades I can see that it's taken to the hair in a patchy sort of way. And I've started having a fair bit of breakage, scalp irritation, slow growth ect.
Currently I'm using KMS Silk Sheen shampoo (no silicones) and Redken All Soft Heavy Cream as my regular conditoner. I used to use the Butter Treat as my regular conditioner but it started to leave my hair feeling strange - almost rough and gunky at the same time. Now I've looked into all the ingredients and know that these conditioners are pretty heavy in the silicones department and according to what I can find on the web my hair symptoms are probably a result of an extreme silcone build up.
I was wondering if any of you could recommend firstly a good quality clarifying shampoo to remove the build up, and also an intensely hydrating/possibly even reconstructing conditioner that doesn't contain any silicones, and a leave in that is also silicone free? Also, because my hair has been through a lot (in the last 14 months I've been platnium blonde, dark brown, black and red-violet, honey brown, honey blonde, and now med-light golden brown - lots of processing!) I was wondering if something like the the Coconut Argan Cleansing Conditioner might be appropriate as a replacement for my regular shampoo, if I then follow it up with a silicone-free conditioner?
My hair used to be mid-back length and I cut it in favour of a short concave bob, which I loved, but I'm a long haired girl at heart and so I've been trying to grow it. It's about just slightly above my shoulders, very thick. I have naturally course hair so I know going silicone free isn't going to give it that silky "slip" but I want to do what's best for it in the long run.
Any help would be SO much appreciated.

[karen]

It sounds like you've really stripped the cuticle, and possibly have a bit of buildup from the cones. I'm not sure what brands are good in Australia for a shampoo, but the protein treatment will really help. With all of the dying you need to pack the pores in your cuticle with some good proteins. After that, the cleansing conditioner should do the trick in one step. It really softens your hair and keeps it from getting tangled.

[Xarata]

I can tell you what I use (and my hair has never been healthier), but everyone is different, and i've never chemically colored or treated my hair either.

My fav. natural shampoo is the 2-in-1 shampoo & body wash sold by Foryournose.com. I get mine custom scented in lavender or cinnamon (i use lavender for bed time showers. lol). The ingredients are pretty natural and gentle, but it lathers well and my hair feels clean.

For a treatment, SN's protein treatment is great- you can really feel the difference (in a good way, not in a "wtf is built up on my hair" way...). You can also try coconut oil/manoi (if you don't already- i know you use it as makeup remover) or argan oil. Burt's Bees avocado butter pre-shampoo treatment is good too. I went through a phase in the summer where i wasn't using conditioner- just a dime sized amount of oils (on long hair), and my hair seemed to completely restructure. I used to consider my hair dry, damaged, and needy. I spent years babying my hair- using shampoos and conditioners with no cones and no alcohol, brushing so carefully(in sections from the bottom up!) relying on detanglers to get me through the day- i now consider my hair very healthy, soft, and shiny, and while the change may have occurred without SN haircare, the SN products are quality and make my life easier- i feel good about putting them in my hair.

For conditioner, both of Karen's cleansing conditioners are lovely(but i just use them as regular conditioner). One smells like orange blossoms and the other smells like creamsicle. I've used natural conditioners for a long time (i've even made my own and for awhile i just used a few drops of manoi/coconut oil), but I have always needed a separate detangler- UNTIL i switched to the SN conditioners. I haven't needed a detangler yet. It leaves hair nice and silky, healthy and shiny. Really, not needing a separate detangler is a huge deal to me- i'm thrilled

[egerandi]

I regularly dye my hair too (whatever the stylist uses, not really sure), but it's been healthy for years.

My current routine is mostly the cleansing conditioner (the original one with the orange blossom scent), and once a month I wash it with a gentle shampoo made with soap nuts from Naturoli. When I do, I still use the above conditioner to finish it off and rinse. I really don't need the shampoo though unless I let my hair waaay to long between washes and don't want to risk coming out oily, but I should experiment with this still

In any case, I can repeat what Samantha said: my hair never look this good and manageable before, no matter what natural or specific to my needs (volumizer or color-treated, mostly) shampoos and conditioners I used. I always ended up with dry-looking hair after washing (even though my hair was healthy otherwise), especially when I added the volumizing sprays or mousses.

Now, I just use the conditioner to cleanse, then use a teaspoonful of the volumizing gel, blow dry upside down then smooth the edges with an iron and I'm good to go: healthy-looking, shiny hair that falls nice but not too soft with natural volume, no static, no flat. I've been using the conditioner since it came out in November and the volumizing gel a few weeks ago, and looking forward to the re-release of the latter, as I'm running dangerously low and I'll have to hide my hair under a hat

[meadowbird]

Wow, thank you all very much for the advice!
I have ordered the Reconstructing Treatment and the Cleansing conditioner - can't wait to start using it! I know my hair will be much healthier in the long run for it. I chose the Coconut Argan because the description said it used heavier oils, which I feel my hair could really do with, although the cranberry sounds rather delicious.

I wanted to check, do you think I still need to clarify before I start using the treatments? Or will the cleansing conditioner be enough to remove the silicone/product build up? I have read a few things on the internet, some recipes involving baking soda and apple cider vinegar as a natural clarifyer. I'm wondering if this would be quite harsh..

Again thank you for your excellent advice!

[Xarata]

when you switch to cleansing conditioners, they can leave a kind of texture on your hair for about a week while your hair is adjusting. I like shampoo, so i use them as just conditioner, but plenty use them the way they were intended. I think egerandi uses a dry shampoo in between. If you wash your hair everyday in such a humid climate, you probably won't have a problem.

[crimsonshedemon]

Meadowbird
Just use a regular silicone free shampoo to clarify. It'll remove all the build up.
I have naturally curly hair and follow a silicone free routine and have for years. I'm silicone free because I don't use detergent to cleanse my hair (sulfate shampoo is detergent). If I don't use sulfate based shampoo, I can't use silicone based products because there's no way to clean it from my hair. I have to be sure that all my products are water soluble so I don't need any detergent to remove 'em from my hair.

Changing to co-washing can cause hair/scalp to rebel. It can take a few weeks but your hair/scalp will adjust.

There's a lot of info about co-washing (cleansing with conditioner) at naturallycurly.com Ton of great info. Check out the stickies on the newbie forums. There are lists of ingredients too look for and to avoid... iirc, there's an australia forum and you can connect with other Aussies and what products they use.
Although it's primarily for curly hair, a lot of the info applies to any hair.

Since you're hair isn't in good condition, I wouldn't be surprised if your texture isn't coarse. A lot of us curly girls thought we had coarse hair because our hair was dry. Once we moisturized our hair and got it healthy, we discovered that our texture wasn't coarse after all.
HTH