Hey everyone! First time poster on reddit all together, so if I'm not doing this correctly I'm sorry!

So, my hair is died a beautiful teal. I've had colored hair for YEARS now, but over the past 2 years my hair is icky. The bottoms are fine, I can run my fingers through it, but as soon as I brush it everything near the scalp gets weird. I can not run my fingers through my hair near the scalp without it getting knotty or pulling. If I want to put it up in a pony tail, I need to flip my head and brush it into one. It's just not pliable hair. It's down to my belly button, just got trimmed a week ago, and is naturally pin straight. Even after the trim the problems remain. I wash my hair once or twice a week, just depending. I've tried every kind of shampoo and conditioner, even custom ones. Right now I have OGX charcoal detox and l'oreal elvive total repair extreme. Because of the new color as of a week ago I'm going to buy different shampoo and conditioner so I don't pull the color out. I take cold showers and installed a water softener onto my shower head 2 weeks ago. Please help! Why is my hair so weird at the scalp!? Thanks, everyone, for any help!