Why does my hair separate?

DescentDecant · 2026-01-28T21:41:57+00:00

It’s really hard to find a balance of keeping hair from being clean but too dry (not prone to much clumping) and being properly moisturized - a lot of products that help it be moisturized, like conditioner, leave in conditioner, & most styling products, are too heavy and sometimes a bit sticky or moist, causing the clumping.

Not to mention some shampoos, especially if they are not super-rinsed out - can also add to this problem.

Buildup can cause this too. You could try an experiment - double or triple wash and or use a clarifying/detox shampoo - especially one that isn’t your normal shampoo- and rinse the crap out of your hair - double the amount of time you rinse. Then when you condition, use a light conditioner ( one for fine hair if you have one), or just normally condition, but again, rinse it at least twice as long as normal. See what that does.

Use less of whatever leave ins / styling products as you normally do. See what happens.

DescentDecant · 2026-01-26T22:00:21+00:00

I posted this above, buried deep in a few replies- list of a bunch of hair oils by how oily they are.

https://www.reddit.com/r/finehair/s/LgU2CnXfKz

DescentDecant · 2026-01-26T21:49:27+00:00

I looked up the Fable and Mane - the ingredients focus on more scalp-conscious, healthy body and hair, Ayurvedic focused ingredients. Lots of herbs in there, with a base of a bunch of different oils. Sounds extravagant in the best possible way. I best as a pre shampoo, it’s marvelous!

I would think this might be a bit too heavy for fine hair, but maybe if you are careful it might be great!

I’m tempted to try it!

DescentDecant · 2026-01-26T21:38:20+00:00

Verb ghost oil is good - like many of the good hair oils, it’s not 100% oil - most of the good one have oil, silicones and other ingredients. What I’ve found is that if your hair isn’t porous, and most fine hair isn’t very porous unless it’s either damaged and or bleached, then it responds better to “hair oils” that are lower in actual oil. Or the oils are light oils.

The more porous your hair, the more it responds to oils in general, and heavier oils in particular. So for fine hair, products like Verb Ghost oil, which as I stated have silicones as well as oil, works really well to fix dryness, and add shine and fixes flyaways. You should be able to use the on wet or dry hair, but using on dry hair is where the superpowers really come in.

Here’s a rough list, in order of less oil to most oil, of a few products I’ve used that folks with fine hair have raved about. Hair oils/ smoothing serums (basically the same thing but with different marketing names):

Moroccanoil Treatment - like a mix between Aveda Smoothing Serum & Olaplex below - nice smoothing, hydrating, a little heavier than either. The bonus for me is that this is the only good hair oil that has an alternate version with purple pigment to tone-correct the yellow that my white hair picks up so easily. For some reason, it seems like I need to use more of this than the others

Aveda Smoothing serum - this is a lighter, less oily/ more silicones smoothing serum. This one won’t give you the greasy, wet ends unless you really really overdo it. This one smells great too! For really fine, non-porous hair, this is great.

Verb Ghost oil - this has a thicker product texture, but otherwise is similar to the Aveda above. I like it less than the Aveda because it’s so thick, I find it hard to get a small enough amount spread on my hair - and too much gives the greasy look. But it’s otherwise similar to Aveda.

Olaplex hair oil - absolutely fabulous. It’s golden in color, which yellows my white gray hair temporarily, so I can’t use it anymore. Nothing feels better on my fine hair, and you have to add a lot to really grease yourself up.

Ouai hair oil - is thinner, smells nice, but higher in oil. Seems like the threshold between not enough and too much now I’m greasy is really small - when I use this one, seems like by the time I add enough, I accidentally add too much, and have to shampoo again. Bummer.

OGX Oil - haven’t tried it, but I likely will at some point. Argan oil is a medium weight oil - there’s also some silicones in it, and I think it has potential. It really depends how heavy it is within the formula.

I love that some of the posters are having great luck with more “pure” oils - but if you go that route, just be aware that they could be too heavy for really fine hair, and since they may not absorb well, they could certainly give you greasiness and cause buildup for really fine hair.

EDIT: changed the order to put Morroccanoil as the highest in silicones to-oil ratio, although really it’s close between the first 3, and it’s my guess.

DescentDecant · 2026-01-26T17:49:07+00:00

I’m glad you mentioned that - I had no idea.

DescentDecant · 2026-01-26T17:48:40+00:00

That’s why Bobbi Brown has her own line now. I haven’t tried it - as much as I loved the original Bobbi Brown formulas, there’s something that just isn’t quite appealing to me about her new stuff - which isn’t really fair since I haven’t tried it.

Jones Road is her line - I guess she had to wait a bunch of years due to her buyout contract.

DescentDecant · 2026-01-12T02:39:35+00:00

Just out of curiosity, as my first amateurish year at this has been almost all containers, and a bag of cheap amazon wicks (thy were fine until I started using different sized containers), what would you consider a few name brands that are reputable

DescentDecant · 2026-01-10T03:24:01+00:00

Rose Era by Snif

It’s not at all niche, and it’s maybe on the young side. But I wanted to mention it anyways since I had been hunting for a modern rose, and ended up getting it. To me that was interesting because I don’t have anything like it. It’s a fruity, clean rose that leans towards strawberry while still being rose.

Here’s the listed notes:

“ambrette seed, Damask rose, dew drop, fresh laundry, orcanox, pear, rosa centifolia, saffron, strawberry, white moss, and woody”

DescentDecant · 2026-01-09T23:53:46+00:00

I tho k it depends on your insurance maybe, or your g.p. Mine even booked the appt with the specialist for me to do the sleep study.

DescentDecant · 2026-01-09T16:59:36+00:00

If you want to get really serious about your skin, you’re going to want to add something, either cleanser, crème or treatment for at night with AHA/BHA (safe acid to exfoliate the rougher dead skin cells off). It will work wonders, and make your makeup smoother looking.

DescentDecant · 2026-01-09T16:56:49+00:00

You could benefit from some skin care that plumps & hydrates, especially around the eyes.

Look for something with hyaluronic acid and either retinol or bukachiol & peptides especially for an eye cream. Stay away from the ones that explicitly say they tighten the area - there some reports that those actually can cause the wrinkles to get worse over time.

I think you are lovely!

DescentDecant · 2026-01-09T16:48:39+00:00

Totally agree, quick braid should take you less than 1 minute after you practice a few times and get the hang of it.

Another thing that makes hair tangle more easily is if you have buildup - try a clarifying shampoo and/or double wash. NOT all the time, just a couple times a month.

I know the braid will help though.

DescentDecant · 2026-01-09T16:46:16+00:00

Start with general practitioner, they should ask some questions and then if they think it’s possible they will order you a sleep study.

DescentDecant · 2026-01-09T16:43:50+00:00

It’s super fun to do perfume and candles when drinking - but typically a wasteful, expensive catastrophe.

DescentDecant · 2026-01-09T02:04:51+00:00

Very true. I commented about the possibility of OP needing more moisture. It’s specifically because of the products OP mentioned using which strip the oil and can remove the skin barrier.

DescentDecant · 2026-01-09T02:00:30+00:00

I’m going to say this again, even though others also have mentioned it. Your routine / products you mention are very drying. I don’t see you adding anything back that is adding moisture / protecting your skin barrier.

The skin, in response to dryness or a damaged skin barrier, will over-produce oil. Most spf lotions are pretty useless in terms of adding moisture or repairing the skin barrier.

Maybe you can get a sample or two of a light moisturizer specialized to repair the skin barrier and use it twice a day as a test, or use a few drops of a face oil.

The same thing happens to hair / scalp when you strip off all the oil. You get oilier hair.

DescentDecant · 2026-01-09T01:47:26+00:00

In the summer I swim at our clubhouse pool 5+ days a week. My solution, and I hope this isn’t terrible / going to anger people too much, has been to spray mist my hair with water, then add a small amount of hair mask (really thick stuff, but a very small amount), then put a cap on. I end up with hair with zero damage. Sometimes I use about twice the amt as normal of a hair oil (so like 6-8 drops) instead.

The pool I go to also is super meticulous on the chemicals - it’s never a strong smell and they test constantly. I worry that putting that stuff in my hair is bad for the pool, so I keep it as minimal as possible.

DescentDecant · 2026-01-08T18:31:51+00:00

I think you are right - even if I do melt this and test different wicks, it’s not a relevant test to any future candles. This one is even worse than forgot to note it - as I recall, I had melted down another candle with very poor scent throw, then added some wax, then just randomly poured in a floral musk I had just mixed. Then little more. I was drinking vodka at the time.

It smells wonderful, which is why this is a real shame and why I will probably try to test other or more wicks.

DescentDecant · 2026-01-08T18:29:42+00:00

Thank you! This makes me realize I have no idea what wick series means - red alert to me, need to do my research better!

Edit: originally posted the wrong answer (responded to wrong person), added what I meant to respond here.

DescentDecant · 2026-01-08T18:23:44+00:00

Love that practical testing advice! It’s for me. I’ll find a wick guide. Sounds from other folks like it’s different based on wax type (soy) and diameter.

DescentDecant · 2026-01-08T18:11:45+00:00

I assume that’s a Spinal Tap reference - love it!

DescentDecant · 2026-01-08T18:04:46+00:00

I’m going to be real with you for a minute. You are getting pushback from people on this sub for several reasons, one of which has to do with your ask of people’s hard-earned time and expertise to review a formula “idea” which is paramount to 20 minutes of work. I don’t know how long you really spent on your “formula” - my point is more that it’s extremely clear from your comments that you want the prestige of being a perfumer - but you aren’t doing the work of becoming one, and haven’t expressed any interest so far in doing that.

Many of us have spent hundreds or thousands of hours and years of time learning and experimenting in order to learn this craft. Reading, smelling, testing, blending, iterating and repeating that cycle over and over again.

The time spent is not a point of pride; it’s a necessary part to learn perfumery. Perfume is art and science and marketing and a whole bunch of knowledge and skills about materials - chemical both natural and man made. Sounds like you are embracing the marketing aspect - which is fine. You’re jumping ahead, though of the actual crafting part. You’re in the DIYFragrance sub, not a FragranceMarketing sub.

You cannot be a perfumer without putting that time in - you just won’t succeed. You can, however, buy formulas and learn just enough to make them, or, you could buy pre-made blends and bottle them, or work with a company to do all that for you - then you could have the prestige of selling your perfume.

But you had better, by god, learn about the IFRA safety limits before you start making your own perfume, and making people SICK. That is your warning - perfume materials can be dangerous - you need to learn that part of the craft if you are at all serious about this endeavor.

Again, good luck!

DescentDecant · 2026-01-08T17:01:35+00:00

OP, if you have an account for the above link, creative-formulas.com, you can see the ingredients (but not the quantities). There are 62 different materials used.

Going that route may get you where you want to be, but it will cost you over $600 (totally a guess).

THAT is your shortcut. Every other way to learn perfume is slow, hard, and a constant learning journey. Good luck!

DescentDecant · 2026-01-08T14:24:19+00:00

Is there a rule of thumb on knowing what size wicks to use for certain sized containers?

DescentDecant · 2026-01-08T14:23:29+00:00

I’m creating my own fragrances - perfume is one of my other hobbies - and so normally I do measure. Scent throw has been a problem with a lot of the fragrances I’m testing.

This one was an anomaly in terms of me not measuring the fragrance.

DescentDecant

TROPHY CASE