Same bottle, same brand, same everything. For two years my hair was soft and had volume. Since about six weeks ago the exact same conditioner leaves a film — waxy at the roots the next day and looking greasy by lunchtime. I have not changed products, water heater, or anything else I can think of. What actually changes in a situation like this?
Also plain silicone buildup. If your conditioner contains dimethicone and you switched to a gentler or sulfate free shampoo at any point, the shampoo stopped removing it and it accumulates until one day it tips over. Six weeks is about right for that timescale.
This was exactly mine. Went sulfate free for scalp reasons, everything was fine for a month, then greasy forever.
Boring answer: check the batch date and where you keep it. A bottle sitting in a hot bathroom for two years can separate, and the emulsion behaves differently even though it still smells fine.
Your hair changes too. Hormones, medication, seasonal oil production and post-partum shifts all move sebum output, and a conditioner that suited drier hair is suddenly too rich. Same product, different hair.
Mine went from needing a rich conditioner to needing almost none within a few months and no product change explained it.
Just wash it twice, problem solved.
@brinekeeper · last mo. · 3 replies
Three things change without you doing anything: your water, the formula, and the season. In order of likelihood — check whether the manufacturer reformulated, which the current ingredient list against a photo of an old bottle usually shows immediately. Then consider water hardness, which shifts if your utility changes source or if work on the network puts you on a different supply. Mine went from soft to moderately hard after roadworks and everything felt coated for a month before I worked it out. A chelating shampoo will tell you in one wash: if the film lifts, it is mineral buildup.
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@brinekeeper · last mo.
Yes, and it will keep coming back until you deal with the water rather than the hair. A shower filter helps some people. A citric acid rinse — a teaspoon in a litre, poured through, left a minute, rinsed — is cheaper and I found it more effective week to week.
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@visible_stitch_vi · last mo.
Chelating fixed it for about four days and then it came back. So, minerals?
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