Okay, I have always used cones. Since I have found LHC and read and read I decided that my one big first change was going to be going cone-free.

My question: after I clarified my hair it is so much drier! It is like a totally different texture - instead of being sleek and shiny it is very very soft and fluffy. (buildup maybe?)

I have tried SMT's - my hair hated them! I have tried a couple of commercial deep conditioners - the Burt's Bees avacoda preshampoo treatment and the deep conditioner. They help, but my hair still seems so dry to me - and it is very very tangly. It almost never tangled before.

So is all of this just a result of leaving off the cones? Was my hair really this dry underneath the cones, and they masked it, or did they really help to hydrate the hair? I am so confused as to what to do.......

BTW, I used Redken products before; now I am using
Burt's Bee's grapefruit shiny shampoo and conditioner, and just today bought some Aubrey Organics conditioner to try. I tried Sauve and VO5 in the SMTs - I am too sensitive to the fragrances to use those products.

Help!! My hair is okay , it's very soft, but the ends are breaking off like mad!!

ETA: I have also tried CV and RG Liggett (something like that) shampoo bars, but my water is waaaay too hard for them to work properly, I think, They were a total disaster.