# Naturals: WORST mistakes you ever made as a natural?



## AsTheCurlzTurns (Apr 17, 2008)

*I searched the threads for more info on this.  This could possibly be a spinoff of the Do's & Don'ts of Natural hair.  Being that we got long-time naturals and former naturals here, I am asking if you don't mind sharing some of the worst mistakes you ever made as a natural head and what happened.  Also would appreciate if you could also state what you did to correct or diminish the problem. This could get very informative! TIA!*


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## BrownSkin2 (Apr 17, 2008)

About 8 months after being natural, I let a regular salon do a press and curl on me.  They 'said' they were experts with natural hair.  This chick pulled so much hair out blowdrying, and she used a marcel iron.  I smelled hair burning.  Well, long story short...she gave me an uneven cut and some of my hair did not revert. I cut those pieces out because I was still at the twa stage and wanted to wear my twa.  

The lesson:  Don't let just anyone do your hair.  No one will care for your hair like you.


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## Fine 4s (Apr 17, 2008)

My worst mistake was not knowing about heat damage and allowing the stylists to use excessive heat during the straightening process.

Since heat damaged strands do not revert, I'm in the process of growing out the damage. I decided not to cut.

Lesson learned: Use heat protectant in addition to low heat to straighten my hair (among many things).


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## KweenBeeDiva (Apr 17, 2008)

1). Letting someone press my hair freshman year.

2). Cutting my hair off when all I really needed was some TLC and a good DC.

3). Letting my mither put a texturizer in my hair. It was horrible. I cut it off.


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## adw425 (Apr 17, 2008)

Pressing my hair frequently during and right after my transition.  My hair was as dry, coarse, shrunken, dense, unmanageable as it is possible to get.   I would press my hair several times a week and put oil or moisturizer on dry hair, which just dried my hair out more.  I had not as yet found LHCF, and once I did in 2005, I stopped pressing my hair altogether and have only flat-ironed about five times since then.  I was trying to tame my hair with heat, but what really/actually tamed my hair (got my hair to behave) was moisture, moisture, moisture and I haven't looked back.  I started co-washing nearly every night and used a bit of oil like almond, avocado, olive, etc. on wet hair and then sealed with shea butter.  The first time I did this, I woke up with moisturized, non-greasy hair and it was wonderful.  That is where I turned the corner because my transition and right after was hellish.  

Now, of course, I have evolved beyond that to using aloe vera mixed with a creamy leave-in (my current favorite is Surya Henna's volume reducer with tucuma and cupuaca butters) after co-washing or rinsing and sealing with whatever butter I have on hand.  My current butter mixture is ghee, wheat germ butter, avocado, castor, camellia and monoi oils.  The more moisturized my hair is, the looser the curl and wave pattern and it is pretty much non-existent at this point.  People are constantly saying to me now that I have "good" hair and I think, "No one was saying this three years ago, so how did I suddenly get good hair?"


(For the record, I do not believe in good/bad hair.  I believe in properly cared for hair and improperly cared for hair.)


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## AsTheCurlzTurns (Apr 17, 2008)

*Wow, sorry to hear all that you all done went through.  At least by getting this out, this will save another natural head from making that same exact mistake! Thanks for chiming in ladies.  Hopefully more will chime in with their experiences.*


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## LynnieB (Apr 17, 2008)

Right now i'm on cruise control, thank goodness.  Most of my boo-boos were early on in my journey.  

The worst have been thinking i had to use shampoo every time i wanted to wash my hair.  

During the first couple months after the bc, not washing my hair in enough sections - sometimes 4-6 or 8 is better.  

Not pre-softening my dry hair with a watery conditioner or lots of spritzing before working with it.

Realizing that it's my hair's nature to coil and clump up on the ends and it's futile to try detangle and uncoil every single coil; it just immediately recoils on itself .  now i just get the shed hair out and leave the clumpy coils alone.

Oh yea, one more i made early on realizing my hair really doesn't like oils (except jojoba) or pure shea butter but it tolerates them if use them very sparingly and on damp or wet hair.


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## AfroKink (Apr 17, 2008)

*When I went natural I didn't know or care about hair at all.  I went my first two years doing EVERYTHING wrong.  I was using an ammonium sulfate shampoo which dried my hair out.  I didn't use conditioner.  I was using hair dressing that was basically petrolatum.  I was combing with a fine and medium tooth comb on dry hair. FOR 2 YEARS!  You can imagine my lack of growth.  Not that I cared though.  I wasn't concerned about growing hair.


Then one day I was searching for hairstyles to do and I found NP.com.  I learnt the error of my ways and my hair is healthy and growing

Lys*


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## KrimsonKween (Apr 17, 2008)

Well my worst was just last month.  My hair has been doing really great.  This is my second time natural n I wish I would have found LCHF sooner.  Last month within a spain of 5 days I colored my hair 3 times and bleached it twice.  Needlsy to say I was smoking some good crack to think my hair would be alright bx it ws natural.  Well yup  u guessed it I had orange straight hair and I lost a patch in the back, yes I live and I learn.  I started immediately on aphogee protein, oil and moisturizers (luv luv luv n thanks to the ladies here and nappy natural) my hair has given me another try and did not laugh at me and fall out.  

Will I do it again h____ll to the naw my hair may not give me a second chance.


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## AsTheCurlzTurns (Apr 17, 2008)

*Oh just wow!! Thanks ladies! Keep educating us, keep 'em coming!*


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## Qetesh (Apr 17, 2008)

for me the worst thing i did was turn my hot comb up so much that i burned my hair in sections and had to cut it off. not to mention the heat damage to the hair that wasn't burned to a crisp. 
i have since stopped pressing my own hair and got a sedu. but even with that i dont flat iron my hair much. 


also letting a stylist cut off 6 inches when i asked for 3... now i am ok with it because my hair can be totally even growing back, but at the time i was upset that i had lost so much growth.


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## BrockStar (Apr 17, 2008)

PROTEIN! I didn't need, I used it, and my hair hasn't been the same since  That was about 2 months ago and my hair isn't as bouncy as it used to be and it's a lot more frizzy


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## oooop2 (Apr 17, 2008)

For months I would wear a silk scarf as a headband. I would place it along the front, tie it in the back tight, then push it back along my hairline to the desired position. Little did I know that all that friction was breaking off my front hairline..Now I'm diligently trying to grow it back..Talk about a lesson learned...


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## SoAnxious12 (Apr 17, 2008)

using and abusing my old pressing comb without protectant. I bought a maxiglide and then i purchased a sedu and my chi silk infusion or fantasia!

Combing my hair when dry... then wondering why i had a straight bush lol
not using and deep conditioner cause i thought my hair was naturally "soft/silky" because it didn't feel hard

Trimming and cutting alllllll the damn time lol. I'm still fighting this habit, i have a thing for freshly cut hair. lol


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## kweenameena (Apr 17, 2008)

Too much moisture! My hair became a mushy mess!!!! It was limp, lifeless, weak and way too soft! 

Dominican Blowouts-I got one this summer and I'm still recovering from it. No joke!! Stay away. I had splits, tons of breakage, uneven hair, see thru areas of hair from that friggin blowout. Did I say I was STILL recovering.

Too much protein made my hair too dry.
Wearing those stretchy headbands instead of pantyhose fro a head band caused breakage. Now I buy those knee-hi socks that come in the plastic bubbles at walmart for 49 cents


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## GoingNatural (Apr 17, 2008)

I get little knots at the ends of some individual strands sometimes, and I sometimes pick/break them off with my hands instead of cutting them off. I know that is so bad, but usually i don't have scissors near when i find them.


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## Lucky's Mom (Apr 17, 2008)

I found www.growafrohairlong.com in 2003... and thank God I did.

Shampooing hair in Plaits changed my life - I NEVER wash without doing this.


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## manegoal (Apr 17, 2008)

sulfates and protein dry my hair out, I use them sparingly. I also use silicones sparingly.


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## Cichelle (Apr 17, 2008)

The *worst* thing I've ever done to my hair since my big chop was to try a "low manipulation" regimen where I didn't detangle my hair for several days. My hair was knotted and matted so badly. No matter how carefully I tried to detangle, I know I did some damage. Never again. I don't like to have a rat's nest on top of my head.


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## discodumpling (Apr 17, 2008)

Using heat with my egg treatment. It's no fun picking scrambled eggs out of your hair!

Eggs are great for hair...just don't heat 'em up.


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## JustKiya (Apr 17, 2008)

Double processing (bleaching and coloring) it. If I was relaxed, I would have REALLY been bald, instead of just having to gradually chop it all off. *sigh*


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## ~~HoneyComb~~ (Apr 17, 2008)

The worst mistake I made as a natural was hi-liting my hair with a bleach-blond type hair hi-liting kit.  I did the hi-lites mostly in the front where my hair texture is looser.  It immediately damaged my hair in those sections.  And I hi-lited large sections.  As a result I had to BC my hair after a few months because my hair was a total mess.  I'm not saying I won't hi-lite or color again, but it won't be the really "light" or "blonde" colors because my hair finds those colors too damaging.


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## sweetwhispers (Apr 17, 2008)

Colouring twice in one day. So  no to drugs kids

Pressing

Those two things f'd up my hair so bad i looked like a


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## Dee Raven (Apr 17, 2008)

BrownSkin2 said:


> About 8 months after being natural, I let a regular salon do a press and curl on me. They 'said' they were experts with natural hair. This chick pulled so much hair out blowdrying, and she used a marcel iron. I smelled hair burning. Well, long story short...she gave me an uneven cut and some of my hair did not revert. I cut those pieces out because I was still at the twa stage and wanted to wear my twa.
> 
> The lesson: Don't let just anyone do your hair. No one will care for your hair like you.


 
I second this opinion.  Just because you go to an african american salon does not mean they know how to deal with african american hair. If they only specialize in straightening hair, run.


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## bLackButtaFly (Apr 17, 2008)

GoingNatural said:


> I get little knots at the ends of some individual strands sometimes, and I sometimes pick/break them off with my hands instead of cutting them off. I know that is so bad, but usually i don't have scissors near when i find them.


 me too.  I think the worst i've ever done is bad coloring, or not washing it for awhile(like a month).


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## Ivie184 (Apr 17, 2008)

When I began to wear my own natural hair minus the extensions, I did not know how to take care of my hair. 
I would dry comb almost everyday, "blow-fry" my hairnono,ripping my hair out because I didn't want to take the time and patience to properly detangle my hair after taking out two-strand twists and not moisturizing (whenever I felt like it) After all that I was doing, I was surprised I still had hair on my head.


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## Mimi22 (Apr 17, 2008)

Blow drying excessively
Flat ironing excessively w/out heat protection serum
Abusing the "black gel" and _*combing*_ through the hard gunk at the end of the day
Washing my hair every 3 weeks even though it was hella funky
Combing my hair harshly when dry
Wearing my hair in tight buns
I actually believed for a long time that natural hair didnt need protein or moisture treatments  Now i know better 

I've learnt my lesson via LHCF, I'm never turning back


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## ajargon02 (Apr 17, 2008)

Going that BEAUTIFUL blonde that you see in my avatar. My hair just couldn't handle lifting that many levels, eventhough it was done in seperated stages. No matter how much protein and moisture I gave my hair eventually it started to break off, and I had to cut off several years of growth and start all over again. NEVER AGAIN!!!
I would suggest if you are gonna color to go to a professional and have a counsiltation (sp?) first, and know your hair. I had only colored my hair once before that, and it wasn't NEARLY as drastic. My hair couldn't handle it at all. Oh well, live and learn. Plus it's only hair and it's growing back.


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## DeepBluSea (Apr 17, 2008)

Underestimating the amount of moisture my hair needed this winter.   This was my first winter as a natural.    It was going well until I slacked up on the  DC.    (still trying to find the perfect 1, so I will take suggestions).  

Going too long without a good trim.  I knew I needed one but I was too afraid to do it on my own and too afraid to trust a stylist to do one. 

Last, but certainly not least.   Hand in fro disease.   Doing twists, then seeing someones straw set.    OK, I wanna try that.    Then seeing someone's microtwists.   Oooo, I wanna try that.    You get the picture.


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## MissJ (Apr 17, 2008)

Trust stylists when they say they know how to do natural hair.


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## Riverwalk (Apr 17, 2008)

MissJ said:


> Trust stylists when they say they know how to do natural hair.



That's a big one, and a mistake I had to learn the hard way.


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## LadyD (Apr 17, 2008)

Mine was something that I should have known NOT to do.

Ripping through my almost dry hair every morning and every night with a comb and/or pick.

And then wondering why it was growing but I wasn't gaining any length.


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## silvergirl (Apr 17, 2008)

over coloring - specifically store bought color that killed my hair

getting too scissor happy


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## AsTheCurlzTurns (Apr 17, 2008)

*This is really awesome!! You ladies are saving alot of people from making the same mistakes!! Keep 'em coming! Thanks!*


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## brownsugarflyygirl (Apr 17, 2008)

Thankfully...I havent had any serious mistakes as I found LHCF when I was about 8 months into my transition. So Ive had LHCF my whole natural life....LOL

I think the WORST mistake was not buying a *Denman Brush* sooner. I walked around with puffed out hair that refused to smooth into a pony tail, looking a hot mess for months....when I bought that *Denman Brush* a whole new world opened up to me, I could feel my scalp, my hair laid down.....it changed my whole natural experience. Denman and Castor Oil are a natural girl's best friends!!!


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## morehairplease (Apr 17, 2008)

Fine 4s said:


> *My worst mistake was not knowing about heat damage and allowing the stylists to use excessive heat during the straightening process.*
> 
> Since heat damaged strands do not revert, I'm in the process of growing out the damage. I decided not to cut.
> 
> Lesson learned: Use heat protectant in addition to low heat to straighten my hair (among many things).




This was my worst mistake, too. Due to the excessive heat damage from hard presses, I opted to shave my head completely and start over.


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## DDTexlaxed (Apr 17, 2008)

My mistake is not taking the time to fully understand how to maintain my natural hair. I am looking  forward to learning how to color my natural hair safely and use heat in moderation when my hair gets longer.  I am also looking for the right products to make my hair happy.


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## Guapa1 (Apr 17, 2008)

My worst mistake was believing that because my hair is so thick it could withstand a hard press. I was so surprised when my hair was damaged after it was pressed, because I truly believed I had hair that was indestructible. It breaks through combs and I have to use half a bottle of conditioner for it to look a little wet.

My other mistake was treating my natural hair like it's relaxed. It's not going to lay down... It just about done it when it was relaxed anyway!


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## Transformer (Apr 17, 2008)

Mistakes....where do I start?

1.  Not properly taking care of hair...."because it's natural."

2.  DRYING Shampoos--hair was not dry but brittle as a disposal brillo pad.

3.  TOO MANY products.  A stylist recommended that I use a leave-in, a  frizz control, a grease, a mouse, a gel.....all at the same time.  She would even mix in her palm and DRENCHED my hair with it/

4. Wrong Shampoo...that's been a common theme.  I now use an organic brand with out the drying sulfates.

5.  Manipulating hair without conditioner...Hubby would clean out the shower drain trap and I thought he had found a squirrel once.

6.  Coloring, coloring and coloring...all done improperly.  

7.  Thinking I HAD to cut every 8-9 weeks due to dry split ends ( I didn't know if I had them or not)

8.  NOT MOISTURIZING


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## mscocoface (Apr 17, 2008)

Me and stylist being heavy handed with the blow dryer, hot comb, flat iron and then curling irons.  I used or had someone use every single one of these tools everytime I had my hair done, this was for the first 6 years of having natural hair.

It was so busted that I had one stylist swear I had relaxer in my hair and that I was LYING to her!!!

Did not know or understand that my hair needed more than just an every 2 or three weeks washing.  Yep....I was one of those people.  It works for some..me....not so much.


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## locabouthair (Apr 17, 2008)

Getting a hard press too often. I couldn't wear a fro after that. I had too many straight ends.


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## CenteredGirl (Apr 17, 2008)

Back in the day, I thought flat ironing damp hair would "condition it".  Oh snap.
Combing dry hair.  Oh snap
Using satin instead of silk scarves.  When I switched to silk, my hair went to a new level for the better.
Using products with cones during every phase of my regimen.  Oh snap.


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## tocktick (Apr 17, 2008)

GoingNatural said:


> I get little knots at the ends of some individual strands sometimes, and I sometimes pick/break them off with my hands instead of cutting them off. I know that is so bad, but usually i don't have scissors near when i find them.



i used to do this. 

i also trimmed my hair too frequently. 

i didn't protective style enough in the first year as a natural.


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## londonjakki (Apr 17, 2008)

1.Letting my hairdresser give me a virgin perm(she had been weaving my hair for years) so she told me it had grown too long and she wasn't going to do my weave anymoreshe said "don't bring that weave hair next time I'm giving you a perm"...she underprocessed the right back & then why was my hair shoulder length(when she finished her "trim").....I left her within a month and found a hairdresser who helped me transition to all natural...(took years)

2....then got sick of my hairdressers attitude and decided to start pressing myself with the maxi glide.....= heat damage(didn't know which protectant to use)....now I'm wearing wigs for the rest of the year to grow it back & cutting slowly...thank god for lhcf its growing back!!


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## yodie (Apr 17, 2008)

worst mistake as a natural was getting a relaxer again.

I'm now six months into my transition and regretting the fact that I ever texlaxed.


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## LadyKaypnyc (Apr 17, 2008)

I tried to comb my hair while it was dry...lets just say it ended with me crying on the floor of my bathroom and feeling defeated. 

I also failed to sleep with anything on my head...I still struggle with this 

I'm not one to wallow for long, so I hopped on the internet, and the rest is history


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## chocolate01 (Apr 17, 2008)

Cichelle said:


> The *worst* thing I've ever done to my hair since my big chop was to try a "low manipulation" regimen where I didn't detangle my hair for several days. My hair was knotted and matted so badly. No matter how carefully I tried to detangle, I know I did some damage. Never again. I don't like to have a rat's nest on top of my head.


 
Oh my I did this too . Other than that I would have to say not washing my hair in sections caused big problems.


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## aja1121 (Apr 17, 2008)

Blowdrying and flat iron once a week at 450 degrees with no deep conditioning or heat protectant.  My hair wouldn't revert back at all. Still recovering........6 months of minimal heat and protective styling and my hair is on the right track to a full recovery.


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## Harmony0221 (Apr 17, 2008)

hmm let's see:...1. Not wearing a satin scarf @ to bed which lead to thinning dry edges and dry, frizzy, raggedy ends the rubbed up against my cotton pillow at night.... 2. Not deep conditoning on a regular basis...3. Cutting my hair after two years down to an TWA because it was too hard to detangle and my ends were a mess (see #1)... and LHCF was here the entire time 4. lastly, and most recent letting a supposed PROFESSIONAL  FRY my hair straight! Thanks Unlimted Styles (unlimted damage is more like it) on Broad street in Newark across from the Burger King!!!
 WHOOOSA WHOOOOSA


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## baddison (Apr 17, 2008)

Ebonybee said:


> Mistakes....where do I start?
> 
> 1. Not properly taking care of hair...."because it's natural."
> 
> ...


 
Hey Ebonybee, what shampoo are you using that does NOT contain those awful SLS (sulfates)??  Does it smell good??


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## chebaby (Apr 17, 2008)

relaxing. im transitioning now......or at least i was but i think im going to relax next month. im not having trouble with breakage i just wanna do it.
but if i had never gotten a relaxer i wouldnt have to bother


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## IrisDaVirus (Apr 17, 2008)

For me it was returning to chemicals the first time I went natural.


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## sunshinebeautiful (Apr 17, 2008)

Pressing my hair with Wild Growth Oil. I should have known better from the smell of burnt hair.  There were several places where I burned my hair completely straight.


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## Priss Pot (Apr 17, 2008)

Permanently coloring my hair and not getting regular protein treatments to maintain the health.

My hair ended up reaching the point of no return, so I had to do a 2nd BC.


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## basketballbabe03 (Apr 17, 2008)

Trying to use the same products from when I was relaxed on my natural hair.  These products left my hair dry.
Blow frying my hair almost daily to make it more "manageable".  This left my hair more dry.  
Using a cheap 13 dollar flat iron to straighten my hair.  I ended up having to cut my hair because some of my hair was fried and wouldn't revert.
Trimming my ends too much because I thought my hair was damaged.  
Deep condition? protective style?? What's that??? 
Ripping a small tooth comb through my 4z hair which caused major split ends.

Once I finally discovered my natural hair needs lots of moisture, I didn't have any of these problems listed.


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## klowdnyne (Apr 17, 2008)

1. During my transition I still did a hard press weekly. 
2. I got some braids to help during my "grow out" phase. I didn't mosturize my scalp properly and I left them in too long. Nasty tangles=major cutting.
3. I didn't search for information on how to care for my hair when I first decided to go without a relaxer.

BTW I'm still making mistakes, but they are far less disastrous.


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## Mom23 (Apr 17, 2008)

Thanks for posting ladies!! I am transitioning and have learned alot in this thread.


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## AsTheCurlzTurns (Apr 18, 2008)

Mom23 said:


> Thanks for posting ladies!! I am transitioning and have learned alot in this thread.



*That's what I'm talking about!! Glad others can use these experiences to learn from them of what NOT to do.  Hope your transition turns out successful for you!  

Thanks so much to all of you ladies for posting your experiences and tips.*


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## Sunshine0801 (Apr 18, 2008)

Combing and picking my hair while it is dry. I've done other things too, like sleep for months without anything on my hair, not wash it as often as I should, but nothing caused my hair to snap and break off like combing it while it is dry. That is why I am not past WL by now. Never again.


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## justNikki (Apr 18, 2008)

Combing while dry...I did notice a few little end hairs, but it was easier to do at the time.

Ealry on for the first 6-8 months I went through every product I could get my hands on in the BBS so I really can't honestly say what worked well and what didn't.  Now, I buy something and use it up completely (or at least go for that as a goal) before I call it. 

Not trying a no cone routine right after my BC was a mistake.  I use products with cones now, however, after I stopped using cones early in my journey, I was able to determine what my hair was really SUPPOSED to feel like.  I did the no cone thing for at least a year.  This also enabled me to stop asking people dry hair questions and moisture retention questions because I learned my own hair.


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## AsTheCurlzTurns (Apr 18, 2008)

*Thanks ladies!!!

 for more responses!*


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## jevetta (Apr 18, 2008)

Going to the stylist for a straightening and cut.  Despite all my preparation and instructions, I have three areas of heat damaged hair.  50% loss of density and absolute loss of all hair in these areas.  Good thing is I know exactly how fast my hair grows.  
Same thing goes for my daughter, same stylist.  Her last straightening was 12/06.  All that hair is gone.  The current hair is new growth which is about 10 to 12 inches in length.  She is not happy its as short as mine, but she likes how easy it is to detangle now.  The new growth is better than the thick damaged hair.  
Moral of story, STAY AWAY FROM THE HEAT.  
Jeve


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## redeemed516 (Apr 18, 2008)

AsTheCurlzTurns said:


> *I searched the threads for more info on this.  This could possibly be a spinoff of the Do's & Don'ts of Natural hair.  Being that we got long-time naturals and former naturals here, I am asking if you don't mind sharing some of the worst mistakes you ever made as a natural head and what happened.  Also would appreciate if you could also state what you did to correct or diminish the problem. This could get very informative! TIA!*



my biggest mistake was thinking "i don't have to do much". My natural is simple because i don't wear it straight that often (probably 2 weeks in 2 yrs) but i completely threw all hair care basics out the window. I stopped using my satin caps and cases, end trimming was gone and for whatever reason i went back to fine toothed combs. My mistakes. My hair broke off really bad in the back where i would lay on it. it took/ is taking some serious tlc to get it back.


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## Dearlove (Apr 18, 2008)

1.  Trimming my hair every other week for three years because I thought the ends were split.  They were just dry.  Weekly DCs have eliminated that problem.  I could be full WSL by now!

2.  Using the maxiglide with the pin plate.  I'd say that the last four inches of my hair is heat stretched due to it.  Those pins are the devil!!  I got rid of the maxiglide and got a FHI platform.


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## vpoetic (Apr 19, 2008)

My worst mistake was letting other people do my hair and tell me what I need to be doing. I now learn that nobody care about my hair more than I do and nobody knows my hair like me. SO I try to do everything myself. This doesn't man that I don't take advise from others. I just don't let them in my head..


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## november wind (Apr 19, 2008)

This is all great advice!  I'll keep this in mind if my stretch turns into transition.  Thanx ladies.


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## BlkOnyx488 (Apr 19, 2008)

My worst mistake
I was natural for a year before I found out about LHCF.
2 months before I learned about LHCF I relaxed my hair.  Had I known about LHCF I never would have done that.  As a result 5 months into going natural for the second time all my relaxed hair fell out.

Granted I would have had to cut it eventually but I feel like I lost a year of growth, by relaxing my hair after being natural for a year.

So instead of completing 2 years natural in September I will be at one year.


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## CurliDiva (Apr 19, 2008)

1.  Henna - it may work for some, but it turned my hair into a brittle, orange mess!

2.  PJism - I love LHCF, but I spent hundreds $$$ following after the latest fads. I give away lots of stuff to my family.

3.  I still comb my hair dry and  don't wear a scraf at night.

4.   LAST WEEK: I almost apply *color* (some grey only at my temples) and *relaxer* to my front hairline in preparation for a date because I was upset with how my hair looked!

Luckily, the BSS did not carry LYE relaxers (I at least remembered that this was better than No-Lye), so I calmed down and left empty handed.

Correction - I bought a hair color wand (think large mascara tube)to darken my hairline temporarily.


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## Bigghair (Apr 19, 2008)

I did not fully detangle a twistout from tiny twists I wore.  I then hopped in the shower to wash my hair and still had tangles and some twists in there.  I was struggling trying to comb through it when I should have sat my hips down in front of the mirror and detangled properly after having those small twists.  

Moral:  Always fully detangle using your fingers after twists or a twistout before attempting to comb detangle in the shower.


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## vpoetic (Apr 20, 2008)

Bigghair said:


> I did not fully detangle a twistout from tiny twists I wore.  I then hopped in the shower to wash my hair and still had tangles and some twists in there.  I was struggling trying to comb through it when I should have sat my hips down in front of the mirror and detangled properly after having those small twists.
> 
> Moral:  Always fully detangle using your fingers after twists or a twistout before attempting to comb detangle in the shower.



That's a good one. I just did that one today


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## NaijaNaps (Apr 20, 2008)

I thought that because I didn't have a relaxer anymore that coloring my hair would be a-ok. My hair ended up a dry, damaged mess and I had to slowly cut off all of my length. 

Moral: Color is a chemical. Even if you're natural, you need to maintain your moisture and protein balance.


----------



## NewYorkgyrl (Apr 20, 2008)

Worse thing I ever did was get my hair pressed (one time) at a salon.  I have strands that never reverted.

I still regret what I did till this day.  I'm still not over the trama and that was back in November.


----------



## BillsBackerz67 (Apr 20, 2008)

erplexedusing wash n goes as a main style. doing this constantly gives me single strand knots galore.


----------



## AsTheCurlzTurns (Apr 20, 2008)

*I am so glad I started this thread!!! I love it!! Thanks ya'll!*


----------



## Serenity K (Apr 20, 2008)

"Dominican Blowouts-I got one this summer and I'm still recovering from it. No joke!! Stay away. I had splits, tons of breakage, uneven hair, see thru areas of hair from that friggin blowout. Did I say I was STILL recovering."



This is my mistake as well. I got one in December, and it took a couple of months for the damage to show, but not its very apparent. I had to trim a good two inches, and it is still damaged now!!!


----------



## tkj25 (Apr 20, 2008)

1) using shampoo -- i tried everything, no sls, moisturizing, botanical, all natural -- shampoo is just too drying for my hair. once i gave it up & embraced no-pooing, the moisture retention of my hair has completely turned around.

2) washing my hair in twists -- some people can get away with it.erplexed i can't. as my hair dries, it draws up, constricts, matts & tightens those twists to the nth degree. i wondered why i'd have to have marathon detangling sessions sometimes lasting weeks from all the starts and stops -- detangling w/ conditioner, & then co-washing hair in sections or large braids works much better.

3) triple processing -- coloring/bleaching/texturizing -- resulted in mushy, spaghetti hair -- the worst section would literally tear when wet.


----------



## glamazon386 (Apr 20, 2008)

Never try to  comb or brush dry hair.


----------



## Je Ne Sais Quoi (Apr 20, 2008)

BillsBackerz67 said:


> erplexedusing wash n goes as a main style. doing this constantly gives me single strand knots galore.


Yep   I have tons of knots and at this point don't even care


----------



## quasimodi (Apr 22, 2008)

Hmmmm.  Let's see.  Where do I begin?

Top ten reasons, in no particular order, why I've been natural for a couple of years, but have never really retained length...Was it because...

1.)  I braided my own hair into teeny-tiny braids (not twists) and kept them in there for MONTHS without shampooing or conditioning?  DRY!  DRY!  DRY HAIR!!  ....FUNKY hair with an itchy, flaky scalp.  Now, I'm the deep conditioning, co-washing queen.  Thanks Suave Humectant, Aubrey Organics Honey Suckle Rose, Yogurt, Honey, Suave Tropical Coconut, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and/or ORS Hair Packs mixtures.  Hurray for plastic heating caps.  Excellent for deep, deep conditioning.

2.)  When I did shampoo I used a shampoo full of sulfates or with a ph WAY, WAY too high for hair to be safe?  DRY!  DRY HAIR! DRY = BREAKAGE!  BREAKAGE MEANS I GET NO LENGTH!!  ARGGGHH!!   ...I feel myself getting frustrated at the memory and I'm only on reason #2.  Now, I mostly use baking soda and water (does this trick) or , if I do shampoo, which I'm slowly moving away from, I use natural shampoos/shampoo bars (aubrey organics, jasons, etc.)

3.)  Took the teeny-tiny braids out...DRY!  DRY!  DRY! with a small-toothed, rat tailed comb?  I was a walking endorsement for Rice Krispy Treats.  Can anyone say, "Snap, Crackle, Pop"?

4.)  In the early days, I hard pressed my hair (sizzzle, sizzle, snap, snap, Is that burnt hair smell coming from me?) with a nasty wax that gave my hair shine, but didn't allow any moisture to penetrate?  HEAT =  DAMAGE for me.  

5.)  Didn't moisturize daily?  No S-Curl, no distilled water mixed w/ rosemary and lavendor oil (nice) , No Kids Organic Shea Butter Detangling Moisturizer, No Qhemet Biologics, (one of my favorites)  no growafrohairlong leave-in conditioner (love it!)

6.)  Wore my hair in teeny-tiny braids, which, over time, dissolved my edges like acid?  Still recovering, thanks to scalp massages, Boundless Tresses, hair stimulator oils such as a mixture of peppermint, castor, tea tree, lavender, and coconut oil, and low manipulation (loose, loose braids, not tight, hair follicle-killing braids *sigh*)

7.)  Didn't use a detangler or sleep in a satin night cap?  Rat's nest anyone?  Good grief, what was I thinking???? 

8.)  Didn't have patience with my hair?  *See #2 and break out a bowl, a spoon, and a slice of toast*

9.)  Didn't take the time to actually find out what works and what does not work for my hair?  Be it conditioners, moisturizers, etc.  

10.)  Expected my natural hair to do things that my relaxed hair did rather than workin' my thing and learning to love my hair as it is for what it is?  My hair's not going to lie flat, but when deep conditioned, moisturized, detangled and loved on will blossom into a glorious, wild, soft, beautiful mass that my fingers just keep wanting to reach out and touch and that attracts strangers and family members alike.

I wish I had found LHCF A LOT sooner.  But, better late than never.


----------



## iasade (Apr 22, 2008)

Constantly cutting my ends thinking they were split, when they really just needed TLC.  I would have much longer hair by now if I had not cut it so much.


----------



## LiveLoveLife (Apr 22, 2008)

Ok I've been relaxed for the past year and a half but...when I was natural, the worst mistake I made was daily co-washing with shampoo and then brushing my wet hair back into a TIGHT ponytail...my hair was dry as ever and broke off like crazy...not fun


----------



## tinkat (Apr 23, 2008)

Great thread guys!


----------



## cocomama (Apr 23, 2008)

I would say in the beginning I brushed my hair too much. My hair broke off in the front. I quickly stop doing that one!! Please keep the brush away from the hairline.(LOL)


----------



## RieB81 (Apr 23, 2008)

Well, I'm still early in my natural phase. I BC'd January 1st. '08. But my biggest mistakes have been being inconsistent and lazy with my routine annd also straying from something if it works.


----------



## cmw45 (Apr 23, 2008)

Fine 4s said:


> *My worst mistake was not knowing about heat damage and allowing the stylists to use excessive heat during the straightening process.*
> 
> Since heat damaged strands do not revert, I'm in the process of growing out the damage. I decided not to cut.
> 
> Lesson learned: Use heat protectant in addition to low heat to straighten my hair (among many things).


 
This was my first and (knocks on wood) only set back thus far.


----------



## vangrey (Apr 23, 2008)

flat-ironing weekly and sometimes daily
color-treating


----------



## DivaD04 (Apr 23, 2008)

1) just the other day i went to get my hair braided and now my edges are too tight...i took down my temples an rebraided them,  but had i known this lady braided to tight, i would have just braided my own har. 
2) not going natural sooner
3) not being able to find protective styles besides braids for my 1" of hair


----------



## Social.Buttahfly (Apr 23, 2008)

I was frustrated with wash n go's and buns so I wanted to do something different and I have paid for it dearly.erplexed 

At this point I will either texlax or stay natural with my new growth and not BC.

HEAT DAMAGE  - Did not put on heat protectant during blow dry or flat iron. 
MICROS - thinned and broke my hair off (had them in for 4 wks Dec-Jan 08)
KINKY TWIST  - same as micros (had them in for 2 wks (Feb 08)

LETTING STYLIST "TRIM" MY HAIR. (Jan. 08)


----------



## 1QTPie (Apr 23, 2008)

BrownSkin2 said:


> About 8 months after being natural, I let a regular salon do a press and curl on me.  They 'said' they were experts with natural hair.  This chick pulled so much hair out blowdrying, and she used a marcel iron.  I smelled hair burning.  Well, long story short...she gave me an uneven cut and some of my hair did not revert. I cut those pieces out because I was still at the twa stage and wanted to wear my twa.
> 
> The lesson:  Don't let just anyone do your hair.  No one will care for your hair like you.



Not combing it for a month.

Using a curling iron on it.

Using a curling iron without detangling first.


----------



## lovinmylocs (Apr 23, 2008)

I've made a few starting with:

1) Mistaking my co-rinsing for co-washing and then wondering why I have so much build up on my scalp....ewww. 
2) Thinking that because I co-washing (really rinsing) daily, and didn't need a dc at all. 
3) Not respecting the moisture/protein balance thing. My hair needs both too much of either is a no - no for me. 
4) During my transition I had braids and I didn't detangle before I washed (I really didn't know any better) and I ended up losing handfuls of hair. I cried every time I took them down.


----------



## Wildchild453 (Apr 23, 2008)

Heat damage was my major mistake. I went to two different stylists within two weeks of each other and they used those Marcel irons. Needless to say whole sections wouldn't revert and I ended up going to a barber a few months later and having him shave my head


----------



## Southernbella. (Apr 23, 2008)

I haven't made any major mistakes since I've been on LHCF for so long, but I do think I could be using better products. All of my stuff probably has cones. My relaxed hair loved cones, but my natural hair may not. I'm in "wait and see" mode right now.


----------



## zzirvingj (Apr 23, 2008)

-Constantly combing my hair while dry with a small-tooth comb before twisting it

-Sleeping on my hair without a scarf

-When my old stylist went on maternite leave I was just DYING to color my hair and couldn't (wouldn't....DIDN'T...) wait for her to come back to do it so I went to someone I had NEVER gone to before and he JACKED UP MY HAIR!   I looked like a spotted leopard--black hair with rusty-brownish-orange lookin *SPOTS ALL UP IN MY HEAD!!*  Then I went home and dyed it black an hour later it looked SO BAD


----------



## fivetimestwo (Apr 23, 2008)

-trying every product raved about on a hair board
-trying every new product geared towards curly hair
-highlighting with permanent color and then wearing my hair pulled (and I do mean _pulled_) into a ponytail or puff *EVERYDAY*. The amount of damage was ridiculous.
-Not trimming because I didn't use heat at the time. I thought only naturals who use heat had damage 
-detangling with the wrong tools. I went from a denman to a wide tooth plastic comb (complete with seams). I now use a wooden widetooth comb and my hair has never been happier.


----------



## DivaD04 (Apr 24, 2008)

lovinmylocs said:


> I've made a few starting with:
> 
> 1) Mistaking my co-rinsing for co-washing and then wondering why I have so much build up on my scalp....ewww.
> 2) Thinking that because I co-washing (really rinsing) daily, and didn't need a dc at all.
> ...


 

what is co-rinsng?


----------



## lovinmylocs (Apr 24, 2008)

DivaD04 said:


> what is co-rinsng?


 
Co-rinsing is where you slather conditioner on your head and rinse it out. I didn't do any manipulation to the scalp, no massaging, nada. It's ok and I still do it, but I also shampoo now. 

Even when I was using all natural products I still had the worst build up on my scalp and my ish would itch like I had lice. It wasn't cute at all....


----------



## LongHairDreams (May 5, 2008)

bumping..... for useful info.


----------



## Energist (May 5, 2008)

When I was natural I made plenty of mistakes.  I bleached and dyed my hair blonde, and then red, and then black.


----------



## clever (May 5, 2008)

not sealing in the moisure with oil
not using oil period


----------



## michaela (May 6, 2008)

Combing and trying to Detangle my hair while Dry!!
Not Detangling My hair Enough!
Trying to Flat iron my hair!!!(Never Again)


----------



## TwistNMx (May 6, 2008)

BrownSkin2 said:


> About 8 months after being natural, I let a regular salon do a press and curl on me. They 'said' they were experts with natural hair. This chick pulled so much hair out blowdrying, and she used a marcel iron. I smelled hair burning. Well, long story short...she gave me an uneven cut and some of my hair did not revert. I cut those pieces out because I was still at the twa stage and wanted to wear my twa.
> 
> *The lesson: Don't let just anyone do your hair. No one will care for your hair like you*.


 
*And that's the truth.  I won't let anyone even "touch" my hair though.*
I went through the same thing years ago.


----------



## PhiLee (May 6, 2008)

Two words: metallic dye. 
Two more: denman brush.

The dyes completely straightened parts of my hair.  I saw some grays just after my last birthday and freaked out.  I should've henna'd or something.

The denman pulled out so much hair that I gave it away.


----------



## Mortons (May 7, 2008)

Not enough moisture
Not enough DC's


----------



## SVT (May 7, 2008)

Not shampooing often enough. 

I loved me some CO washes.


----------



## CenteredGirl (May 7, 2008)

Flat ironing near-dry hair.  Can you say shizzle my fizzle?


----------



## bellydancer (May 8, 2008)

1) Letting a hairdresser do my hair. I've had 5 inches chopped off and called a "trim." Balls of hair ripped out. Went in for a twist set/straw set and came out with an afro the exact same way as i went in. I'd be bald if I went to hairdressers.

2) Not combing my hair. I did a couple CO washes without combing my hair!!! I finger combed it and after two weeks my hair was so tangled. I'll stick to a wide tooth comb.

3) Using small rubber bands. Tangled so badly. So I have to use scrunchies. Small black scrunchies.

4) Washing/drying without sectioning it off and braiding. Hairdressers have just washed my hair and threw me under a dryer with just my afro out and it shriveled up into this little tight afro and they had to rip hair out to comb through it.

5) I could go on and on, but I don't use grease, black gel or any heavy heavy hair product. My hair is super thick and it takes forever to get it out. I stick to creamy lighter products. I may Vaseline my ends, but that is it.


----------



## Dubois007 (May 15, 2008)

At first I did not know how to  take care of my  fro so  I  used to  flat iron every week, men textulaxer until I found this forum and learned


----------



## nicey (May 15, 2008)

Not moisturizing enough. Letting my hair go days on end without moisture.
Using small tooth combs for my thick hair. Why?
Using harsh shampoos. Can you say, Kinky shrinky dinky.
Using flat iron almost daily. My ends were fried, died, and laid to the side.
Discovered that my hair hates olive oil. I know, right???
Using grease. Tried to copy the good ol days. Not happenin' anymore.
Manipulating the hair all the time. Trying to style and profile everyday when truthfully, my hair needed rest and relaxation in order to grow.


----------



## InnerSoul (May 15, 2008)

This is the most helpful thread for natural heads and even ladies who are transitioning!! I have learned what not to do as a natural head just reading through some of these posts!

This is a great thread!!


----------



## LongHairDreams (May 15, 2008)

InnerSoul said:


> This is the most helpful thread for natural heads and even ladies who are transitioning!! I have learned what not to do as a natural head just reading through some of these posts!
> 
> This is a great thread!!


 
ditto.....


----------



## mrsjohnson75 (May 15, 2008)

InnerSoul said:


> This is the most helpful thread for natural heads and even ladies who are transitioning!! I have learned what not to do as a natural head just reading through some of these posts!
> 
> This is a great thread!!


 
I agree. I'm not natural or transitioning but I have 2 daughters that are naturals..thanks for all the tips ladies


----------



## purity28 (May 15, 2008)

So I'm still learning...a lot of you said combing your hair when dry is bad...agreed...explains a lot with my hair....

so how do you comb your hair and what do you use a detangler/spray??  Also what's in it? Distilled water,etc...  And is this used everytime you comb your hair..

I'm learning...love this thread...I hope I"m making sense...


----------



## phyl73 (May 15, 2008)

quasimodi said:


> Hmmmm. Let's see. Where do I begin?
> 
> Top ten reasons, in no particular order, why I've been natural for a couple of years, but have never really retained length...Was it because...
> 
> ...


 
I'm in here screaming!  I thought I was the only one who pulled that type of foolishness.  Even after a night of partying, I still manage to find that satin bonnet and put it on my head!


----------



## discodumpling (May 15, 2008)

purity28 said:


> So I'm still learning...a lot of you said combing your hair when dry is bad...agreed...explains a lot with my hair....
> 
> so how do you comb your hair and what do you use a detangler/spray?? Also what's in it? Distilled water,etc... And is this used everytime you comb your hair..
> 
> I'm learning...love this thread...I hope I"m making sense...


 
For the most part my hair is combed in the shower but If dry combing can't be avoided I spritz with water or whatever i've mixed up for the week before running a comb through.
My current mix is:
Water 70%
Castor Oil 
Glycerine
Coconut Oil

I TRY to stick to 4 or less ingredients and this is all in a 4oz spray bottle that I refirgerate nightly and carry in my purse


----------



## LongHairDreams (May 15, 2008)

discodumpling said:


> For the most part my hair is combed in the shower but If dry combing can't be avoided I spritz with water or whatever i've mixed up for the week before running a comb through.
> My current mix is:
> Water 70%
> Castor Oil
> ...


 
that sounds like a good mix!!


----------



## AsTheCurlzTurns (May 15, 2008)

*I sure appreciate all of you stepping in to help us naturals out, this is just tremendous info and it's great for naturals and transitioners.  Anyone got any updated info needing to be added?  Then bring it on!*


----------



## FineChyna (May 15, 2008)

*not detangling my hair under water with conditioner. 
*trying to force my hair to use products it doesn't like for the sake of not wasting money
*using too many products on my hair at 1 time after a washing thinking i am preventing the shrinkage. if anything i made my hair drier and more brittle since certain things don't work well together. 
*being impatient
*letting this hairdresser press my hair and give me a trim-she CUT off my hair it was SL when she was done when it was close to APL and she pressed my hair too hard.


----------



## baddison (May 15, 2008)

One of the best threads!  Lets keep 'em coming naturals!  Enquiring minds want to know....and I *NEED* to know


----------



## spacetygrss (May 15, 2008)

Hmmm. Good thread.

(1) Not combing from the ends up when detangling.
(2) Not covering my hair with a satin scarf at night.
(3) Using shampoo with every wash.
(4) Thinking that my hair would look like or act like another natural's hair just because we APPEARED to share similar textures or lengths. 

Thankfully, I figured out my issues quickly. The past 7 years have been awesome.


----------



## MysteryMe (May 15, 2008)

I had no clue how to care for my natural hair.  So there were lots of mistakes.  I greased my scalp, rarely conditioned, rarely detangled, and I didn't moisturize properly.  My hair didn't do to bad, but I always wonder how my hair would have turned out had I known how to properly care for it.


----------



## d-rock (May 16, 2008)

My biggest mistake was going to a salon after I hit MBL. After a cut of my "damaged" ends, a shampoo/condish, and press, I not only left in tears, but with APL hair. Pissed off, is the nicest way I can describe how I felt.


----------



## beautifulisaunderstatment (May 19, 2008)

Treating my hair like it was still relaxed.


----------



## NYCQT16 (May 20, 2008)

I love this thread....so helpful since I'm trying to get back on the grind in regards to my hair


----------



## gn1g (May 20, 2008)

co-washing too often which was more than 2x a week.  and using the denman brush.


----------



## LongHairDreams (Jul 14, 2008)

bumping for newly naturals


----------



## LadyPaniolo (Jul 14, 2008)

- Getting lazy and failing to give my hair daily moisture

-not enough Deep conditioning

- I did figure out what works for my hair: wet it with aloe gel, massage Kenra MC into the length of each small section, and seal with cocoa butter or coconut oil. But then when these ingredients became hard to find, I just did co-washes and nothing else. 

-Failure to pamper my ends... which have broken off so badly that I debate whether I can even call myself APL anymore... or if I've been busted down to SL.


----------



## EleganceUnleashed (Jul 23, 2008)

Ebonybee said:


> Mistakes....where do I start?
> 
> 1. Not properly taking care of hair...."because it's natural."
> 
> ...


 

You made me laugh so hard I almost fell out of my computer chair!!


----------



## kurlybella (Jul 23, 2008)

*my number one is: i'm natural, it will grow. i don't really need to do anything or worry about my hair.*


heat damage!

my sedu set on 400 degrees and old stylish messed me up! but i was so ignorant to the things i really needed to do.

i lost hair in the back of my head because of this.

using shampoo -- bad! bad! 

over conditioning

not knowing that moisture meant -- water and humectant aids!


----------



## joyandfaith (Jul 23, 2008)

I used to wet my hair every morning and throw it in a bun without anything on it.  This had my ends dry as the Sahara


----------



## Mena (Jul 23, 2008)

FineChyna said:


> *not detangling my hair under water with conditioner.
> **trying to force my hair to use products it doesn't like for the sake of not wasting money*
> *using too many products on my hair at 1 time after a washing thinking i am preventing the shrinkage. if anything i made my hair drier and more brittle since certain things don't work well together.
> *being impatient
> *letting this hairdresser press my hair and give me a trim-she CUT off my hair it was SL when she was done when it was close to APL and she pressed my hair too hard.


 

This is why I finally got redken!


----------



## CurleeDST (Jul 23, 2008)

Redken is definitely drying on my hair and has too much perfume in it!


----------



## Mena (Jul 23, 2008)

CurleeDST said:


> Redken is definitely drying on my hair and has too much perfume in it!


 

which one u use?


----------



## BostonMaria (Jul 24, 2008)

Love this thread!

I guess I am one of the lucky ones. I didn't transition to natural without first getting advice from NC.com, Motown Girl, LHCF (as a lurker), and countless of other websites.  

I haven't had any horrible mishaps, but the only mistake I ever made was buying every product under the sun thinking it would all work for me. Truth is about 80% of those products were useless or didn't give me the look I wanted.


----------



## msmills2U (Jul 24, 2008)

I love this thread.

Worse mistake I have made was trying to stretch my hair with a hot comb.


----------



## Duchesse (Jul 24, 2008)

Worst mistake was texlaxing my natural hair without putting too much thought into it ....


----------



## Poohbear (Jul 24, 2008)

Back in 2005 - letting my mom press my newly big chopped 3-4 inches of natural hair with a stove top pressing comb and thick grease.


----------



## bluediamond0829 (Jul 24, 2008)

I'm going to subscribe to this thread and come back and read it all the pages because im newly natural and i need all the education and information i can get.


----------



## LongHairDreams (Nov 25, 2008)

wonderful thread...bumping...........


----------



## blazingthru (Nov 25, 2008)

coloring my hair, it really put a hurting on my scalp. I knew I had a problem with chemicals but for some odd reason I didn't realize that a dye was the same thing, it took six weeks to get over and the color was really harsh on my hair it took two years to finally get over it. I had to really spend a lot of time conditioning my hair and giving it some TLC


----------



## cocomama (Nov 25, 2008)

too much brushing


----------



## Evolving78 (Nov 25, 2008)

baggying overnight.  i left some conditioner in my hair wearing a plastic cap and scarf of it and woke up with big tangled knots in my hair.  it took forever to get those knots out.  i will never do that again.

oh and letting this chick blow dry my hair after it was dried and not damp. she was brushing and combing so rough (it felt worse that a whoopin!) she was really hard on my hair with the heat.  i ended up with heat damage and after a few week i could still smell burnt hair.


----------



## Naturelle (Nov 25, 2008)

Flat ironing and blow drying my hair regularly without a heat protectant  and then using flat iron throughout the week passing over numerous times 

Allowing people who do not know how to care for natural hair, use a stove curling iron and flat iron on my hair 

Yeah I'm in my post-stupid phase now


----------



## cocopuff06 (Nov 25, 2008)

This is really good! Keep it coming!


----------



## NGraceO (Nov 25, 2008)

Thinking the thickness of my curly hair= thick straight hair. BOO. str8tening it, I realize I have some catching up to do, getting my hair back thick again.


----------



## truequeen06 (Nov 25, 2008)

Thinking I knew what I was doing when straightening it.  Meanwhile I used the highest setting, I did the electric hotcomb AND flatiron, and never used a heat protectant.  My ends are still straight


----------



## pmichael52172 (Jan 30, 2009)

I'm reviving this thread because, as a transitioner, this is probably the BEST thread for right now.


----------



## darlingdiva (Jan 30, 2009)

Bigghair said:


> I did not fully detangle a twistout from tiny twists I wore. I then hopped in the shower to wash my hair and still had tangles and some twists in there. I was struggling trying to comb through it when I should have sat my hips down in front of the mirror and detangled properly after having those small twists.
> 
> Moral: Always fully detangle using your fingers after twists or a twistout before attempting to comb detangle in the shower.


 
This is so true.  I learned this early on in my hair journey.


----------



## darlingdiva (Jan 30, 2009)

The worst mistake I ever made as a natural was not paying attention to a product's ingredients and not knowing the function of those ingredients.  Before LHCF, all I did was read the product description.

In fact, my newfound knowledge of ingredients is the single most important thing that I've learned from LHCF.  Knowing the functions of these ingredients has allowed to figure out what works (water, glycerin, certain natural ingredients, etc.) and doesn't work (many cones, mineral oil, petroleum, olive oil, sulfates, etc.) for my hair.

It's also very cost-effective.  I can easily eliminate many products because I know which ingredients do and don't work for me.


----------



## msa (Jan 30, 2009)

darlingdiva said:


> The worst mistake I ever made as a natural was not paying attention to a product's ingredients and not knowing the function of those ingredients.  Before LHCF, all I did was read the product description.
> 
> *In fact, my newfound knowledge of ingredients is the single most important thing that I've learned from LHCF.*  Knowing the functions of these ingredients has allowed to figure out what works (water, glycerin, certain natural ingredients, etc.) and doesn't work (many cones, mineral oil, petroleum, olive oil, sulfates, etc.) for my hair.
> 
> *It's also very cost-effective*.  I can easily eliminate many products because I know which ingredients do and don't work for me.



I agree with your whole post, especially the bolded. Knowing what ingredients do, how they affect my hair, and how they affect my health is amazing. A year ago I had no idea about all of this stuff.

I love my natural products and they love me back! Best thing I've ever done for my hair and my health.


----------



## Lucky's Mom (Jan 30, 2009)

darlingdiva said:


> The worst mistake I ever made as a natural was not paying attention to a product's ingredients and not knowing the function of those ingredients. Before LHCF, all I did was read the product description.
> 
> In fact, my newfound knowledge of ingredients is the single most important thing that I've learned from LHCF. Knowing the functions of these ingredients has allowed to figure out what works (water, glycerin, certain natural ingredients, etc.) and doesn't work (many cones, mineral oil, petroleum, olive oil, sulfates, etc.) for my hair.
> 
> It's also very cost-effective. I can easily eliminate many products because I know which ingredients do and don't work for me.


 

Right Right and Right!!!!


----------



## PhonyBaloney500 (Jan 30, 2009)

*Back in junior high/high school days*--Detangling by combing dry hair with a pick (tufts of hair lost). Then after washing, combing my hair out again (thought I was supposed to). Never saw my curls, thus. Not using conditioner consistently. Using curling irons to curl my hair. Getting lazy with detangling such that I ended up with a piece of dreadlocked hair in the middle of my head. :-/ 

Recently--ugh pressed for the first time and some of my strands got heat damaged.  Could be worst but still. Baaaad move. Not deep conditioning consistently (back on the wagon though).


----------



## ceedeelight (Jan 30, 2009)

Going to my licensed hairstylist friend who use to do my hair when it was relaxed. Said she can do my natural hair and ended up dis-satisfied with the process. 
  The process you ask: Wash, condition, THEN SIT ME UNDER A HAIR DRYER AND AFTER THAT PROCEEDED TO DETANGLE MY DRY HAIR with a fine tooth comb and detangle it. The flat iron job was nice, but thank God I didn't lose a lot of hair!!! 
Rest assured I have not been back since. She's still a friend, but I do my own hair now.


----------



## laurend (Jan 30, 2009)

Two things, getting my hair straightened by the Egyptians in Chicago(1998), too much heat and my hair broke off.  In 2000, I wanted to try a new hairstyle and I got a straw set.  My hair was so tangled, I thought I was going have to cut it off.  My DH helped me detangle and he told me, never get that hairstyle again.


----------



## luxe.li. (Jan 30, 2009)

KrimsonKween said:


> Well my worst was just last month.  My hair has been doing really great.  This is my second time natural n I wish I would have found LCHF sooner.  Last month within a spain of 5 days I colored my hair 3 times and bleached it twice.  Needlsy to say I was smoking some good crack to think my hair would be alright bx it ws natural.  Well yup  u guessed it I had orange straight hair and I lost a patch in the back, yes I live and I learn.  I started immediately on aphogee protein, oil and moisturizers (luv luv luv n thanks to the ladies here and nappy natural) my hair has given me another try and did not laugh at me and fall out.
> 
> Will I do it again h____ll to the naw my hair may not give me a second chance.




That was my experience. I BC'd in Dec, grew a 1" and had to cut that 1" off because I dyed my hair 3 times in one week and the first dye job was fine, the 2nd job was fine, the 3rd time when I tried to give myself tips, blistered my ends and I had to CHOP CHOP CHOP them off.

Now I've grown about 1/2" of new growth since the dye job in 3 weeks which I'm happy about......


----------



## Sha76 (Jan 30, 2009)

my worst was getting  relaxer again.

but second would be using a blow dryer to blow out my fro.


----------



## RavenMaven (Jan 30, 2009)

discodumpling said:


> Using heat with my egg treatment. It's no fun picking scrambled eggs out of your hair!
> 
> Eggs are great for hair...just don't heat 'em up.


lmao!! well i guess things like that can slip by


----------



## Chiba_revolution (Feb 20, 2009)

buuuuuuuuump


----------



## MummysGirl (Feb 20, 2009)

This is a fantastic post! Thanks for sharing everyone! I am gathering as much information as I can so that when I do my BC, I will have a lot to work with.


----------



## Pooks (Apr 15, 2009)

My worst mistake (pre LHCF and healthy hair practices) was getting my hair hard pressed over and over and over and over until it was permanently heat damaged, thin and lifeless.  Never again.


----------



## BlondeByDesire (Apr 15, 2009)

Bumping ... this is a wealth of knowledge for us 2009 transitioners ...


----------



## Loves Harmony (Apr 15, 2009)

Going to hairstylist that didnt have knowledge of straighten natural hair.... Last thanksgiving my hair was fried


----------



## hair_rehab (Apr 15, 2009)

The only mistakes I've made so far since being natural (almost two months) is not doing it sooner, and becoming a raging product junkie within the first two weeks. I guess I got too excited, lol. 

Thanks to you guys I've learned so much about natural hair that hopefully I won't make too many mistakes!


----------



## oreoday99 (Apr 16, 2009)

Before LHCF, I just didn't care about my natural hair at all via keeping it under weaves, braids, and wigs and never taking care of it underneath. I wouldn't give my poor hair a break. I would literally take braids out, shampoo with sulfate product, conditioner for three mins, then blow dry straight, slap some petrolium grease on my scalp and all over my hair and finally have braids or weave put right back into my hair. ALL IN ONE DAY. Now I'm trying to correct that mistake. At the moment I have braids (first time in almost a year btw I wore wigs during the year still didn't take care of my hair underneath), however I did them myself then made my own braid spray with aloe vera gel, coconut oil and a little veggie glycerin.


----------



## mscocoface (Apr 16, 2009)

Knowing that if I would of had this knowledge when I first went natural I would have tailbone length hair now.  Stretched of course!


----------



## GoingNatural (Apr 16, 2009)

getting hot combed instead of a roller set


----------



## Qurlyqt (Apr 16, 2009)

The Ouidad cut!  Set me waaaaaaaay back... but I'm dramatic! My sister was like, "Noooo, you are NOT crying over a hair cut! It will grow back."


----------



## JinaRicci (Apr 16, 2009)

My worst mistakes would have to be: 1)  not realizing that my natural hair needed different care than my relaxed hair and 2) not chopping off those relaxed ends sooner when I first went natural- transitioning just kept me back.


----------



## Southernbella. (Apr 16, 2009)

oreoday99 said:


> Before LHCF, I just didn't care about my natural hair at all via keeping it under weaves, braids, and wigs and never taking care of it underneath. I wouldn't give my poor hair a break. I would literally take braids out, shampoo with sulfate product, conditioner for three mins, then blow dry straight, slap some petrolium grease on my scalp and all over my hair and finally have braids or weave put right back into my hair. ALL IN ONE DAY. Now I'm trying to correct that mistake. At the moment I have braids (first time in almost a year btw I wore wigs during the year still didn't take care of my hair underneath), however I did them myself then made my own braid spray with aloe vera gel, coconut oil and a little veggie glycerin.


 
Your hair is gorgeous!


----------



## natural_one (Apr 16, 2009)

shampooing everyday
Not separating my hair at night, just throwing a scarf on it. Of course it was a big matted mess.
Not conditioner washing
Being afraid of curl definers
Being very natural-militant!
Not being creative enough with my styles

Because of all those things I am transitioning now..I am almost 3 mtns post, looking to go 6 before I BC.


----------



## prettywhitty (Apr 16, 2009)

Shampooing with sulfates.
Not DC'ing because I was doing CW's with cones, then using gel on my ends and wondering why my hair was so dry.

I have since gotten rid of the cones and sulfates and my hair is starting to make a turnaround.


----------



## RavenMaven (Apr 16, 2009)

come on, keep the education rolling, ladies!


----------



## Sui Topi (Apr 16, 2009)

adw425 said:


> Pressing my hair frequently during and right after my transition.  My hair was as dry, coarse, shrunken, dense, unmanageable as it is possible to get.   I would press my hair several times a week and put oil or moisturizer on dry hair, which just dried my hair out more.  I had not as yet found LHCF, and once I did in 2005, I stopped pressing my hair altogether and have only flat-ironed about five times since then.  I was trying to tame my hair with heat, but what really/actually tamed my hair (got my hair to behave) was moisture, moisture, moisture and I haven't looked back.  I started co-washing nearly every night and used a bit of oil like almond, avocado, olive, etc. on wet hair and then sealed with shea butter.  The first time I did this, I woke up with moisturized, non-greasy hair and it was wonderful.  That is where I turned the corner because my transition and right after was hellish.
> 
> Now, of course, I have evolved beyond that to using aloe vera mixed with a creamy leave-in (my current favorite is Surya Henna's volume reducer with tucuma and cupuaca butters) after co-washing or rinsing and sealing with whatever butter I have on hand.  My current butter mixture is ghee, wheat germ butter, avocado, castor, camellia and monoi oils.  The more moisturized my hair is, the looser the curl and wave pattern and it is pretty much non-existent at this point.  People are constantly saying to me now that I have "good" hair and I think, "No one was saying this three years ago, so how did I suddenly get good hair?"
> 
> ...



You are always plugging that whole Aloe Vera thing and I must say I listened to you, and it is one thing I don't think I am every taking out of my routine. It is the first thing I put on my damp hair followed by conditioner and then whatever oil gets on my hair from my scalp. Honestly my hair is so soft now, and I tried this with just conditioner and it didn't have the same results. Thank you so much!



BillsBackerz67 said:


> erplexedusing wash n goes as a main style. doing this constantly gives me single strand knots galore.



There it is. Combine that with no protein, co washing into a wng daily, raking a comb through my hair daily during said cowash. My ends are disgusting. I can say though since March, I've been co-washing every other day, using protein regularly, finger combing exclusively, and making sure to air dry in some sort of stretched style ( six plaits, 3 on each side). My hair is so happy and I think is retaining at least 90%. It also feels extremely thicker, but I will see the difference when I flat iron in June.


----------



## Stormy (Apr 16, 2009)

Well I've only been natural for two months so I'm still learning, but I just have to say this because it's not the norm for most of you ladies. The WORST mistake I've made so far is combing my natural hair daily when wet! That's right my twa which has grown quite a bit now looooves to be combed DRY! I'm telling yall the only time I can comb it wet and not see any hair in the comb is if I'm washing it. So if it has shampoo or conditioner in it when I comb it's okay, but daily spraying or wetting and combing is a no no for my hair. If I comb my hair while it's wet or even very damp I'll get quite a few hairs in the comb (or pick), but when dry NO HAIRS! Well... if it's early morning and a little matted I might get one or two, but that's it, barely noticable.

Different strokes for different folks I tell ya.


----------



## cutiebe2 (Apr 16, 2009)

thinking I coul wash my hair and not detangle...omg sooo many knots

I keep my hair stretched all the time now, it just cannot shrink up without tangling (I need it in braids, braidouts, etc)


----------



## NaturallyGraceful (Apr 16, 2009)

Coloring(going lighter).
 My hair was perfect & then I just had to color it. The colored hair texture feels entirely different & responds differently to product than the virgin hair and I only got split ends after I colored. 
I was pre warned that coloring hair was indeed a "process" and I found out the hard way that it's true.
I do love color, but going forward I will only add a few highlights or something-no complete coverage.


----------



## spelmanlocks (Apr 16, 2009)

I'm no longer natural, but when I was I used to press my hair every two weeks for years.  Over time my hair texture changed and my hair became so damaged it was breaking off like mad.  Another mistake was not taking the time to properly learn how to care for my natural hair in general.


----------



## TheQueenBeeMaya (Apr 17, 2009)

washing my hair every 3 weeks-month. just plain nasty !


----------



## Skiggle (Apr 17, 2009)

*Subscribing..*


----------



## Oasis (Apr 17, 2009)

-Jumping on every bandwagon.
-Not giving things time or modifying them to fit my hair needs but just completely giving up.
-Moisturizing my naturally, very dry hair only sporadically.
-DCing infrequently.
-Dry combing. I cringe just thinking about it.
-Washing my hair loose.


----------



## winona (Apr 17, 2009)

iasade said:


> Constantly cutting my ends thinking they were split, when they really just needed TLC.  I would have much longer hair by now if I had not cut it so much.



O Boy did I.  I know I definately set myself way back because of this one.  Now I just do search and destroys on single strand knots and dust MYSELF whenever I need it.



lovinmylocs said:


> I've made a few starting with:
> 
> 1) Mistaking my co-rinsing for co-washing and then wondering why I have so much build up on my scalp....ewww.
> I thought it was just me.  I really didnt get the concept b4 I was onto this bandwagon
> ...





michaela said:


> Combing and trying to Detangle my hair while Dry!!
> Not Detangling My hair Enough!
> Trying to Flat iron my hair!!!(Never Again)



 

What a disaster both attempts



Mortons said:


> Not enough moisture
> Not enough DC's[/QUOTE]
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## vainღ♥♡jane (Apr 17, 2009)

*the worst mistake i made as a natural was deciding to relax. now i'm transitioning.*


----------



## dany06 (Apr 17, 2009)

When being completely natural any type of heat straightening with a pressing comb and blow dryers are my biggest enemy. For some reason the after math is always those darn knots. I wont have any knots until I use either of those tool. I've been natural twice. I went 7 months without head or dye. I never had a single knot nor split that I could see. After the first time getting my hair pressed it was knot city from there. Mind you that the stylist who pressed my hair did not blow dry it or detangle it before diving in with a pressing comb. Then  I relaxed the went straight back to natural again. This time I dyed my hair light brown/dark blonde. It was fun but I didn't feel like maintaining the color. I tried to dye with henna and I came out with fire engine red hair. My hair felt great but looked crazy. I then tried to henna/indgo and messed that up. I let the indigo oxidize for to long. So I panicked and purchased Bigen which tore my hair up. I have never really had any splits or super rough ends until using Bigen. It gives a pretty black color but suck overall.

 The other thing is letting others not really experienced with my hair type touch my hair. They are too rough with it and lack knowledge about the fact you cant run through while dry. These people seems as if they cant work with damp hair .

Well as of recently it would be utter neglect. I get lazy about washing due to the cold then my hair tends to dry out. I cant just sit there and moisturize my hair everyday. It just too much to do while its dry. When I cowash daily I do much better. Plus I get everything out of the way in the shower. I wash my face, brush my teeth, clean my body, do my hair and few other things in there. 

So over all the mistakes I've made are the following:
1. pressing comb and blow dryer. (doesnt matter how you do or who does it) It starts the knots

2. using very drying dyes . Not all dye is bad. Using too much dye or very drying type is.

3. letting people who aren't knowledgeable of my hair type nor interested in my hair type touch it. Bigen is the devil.

3. neglect. Just because its natural doesn't mean it doesn't need a little TLC. Cant go around forgetting about it and shoving it under a hat.


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## msa (Apr 17, 2009)

Going to bed without braiding/twisting my hair and just putting on my bonnet. It literally rubs my hair out, kind of like a baby that always lays on its back. 

I still do it because I'm lazy, but I'm really trying to work on it.


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## Essensual (Apr 17, 2009)

Two words:

BROWN GEL.


----------



## Tylove101 (Apr 17, 2009)

My worst mistake was not washing my hair in twists.  I usually put my hair in 6 big twist when I wash and DC but one day i wanted to try and wash it loose without the twist...   that was a BIG !!!  And I mean a big no-no!!! When I wash and DC in twist it only takes me less than 5 minutes to detangle because I have NO tangles at all...  oh but this day...  it took about 30 minutes or more to detangle!  I learned my lesson once and I would never wash my hair like that again... never ever ever ever ever!


----------



## nubinikki (Apr 17, 2009)

March 2008 I dyed my hair a beautiful deep red (which you can see in my member profile).   To get it that lovely color took only one step, but I think it lifted it 2 levels. Anyway, I'm still recovering [my ends (the oldest parts of my hair) were breaking off] and I have been stuck at APL ever since. I actually cut off about 2 inches back in December 2008. Then I henna'd and stained my hair the richest black with indigo. Love it.  I'm just now starting to see some growth. I vow to never lift my hair color again.

FYI: The reason why I think the color damaged my hair so much is because my hair strands are super fine and cottony soft; i.e., I do not have "strong" hair.


----------



## goldenchica (Apr 17, 2009)

Since I read this thread soon after the BC I didn't think I'd be adding anything...but here it is:

For the sake of cuteness on my gospel choir (I wanted my afro to be big and mighty) I decided to braid my hair every single night, knowing full well I have fine strands that can't take all that needless manipulation...It took a week and a half for my hair to forgive me, and I think I lost some ends to dryness in the process. Never again!


----------



## Liberianmami26 (Apr 18, 2009)

very informative


----------



## BonBon (Apr 18, 2009)

I remember when I was younger I went through this time where my hair was so healthy and growing, whenever my hair got messy it would settle into prefect shiny curlserplexed

 Anyway I saw this tip in a magazine that rubbing a raw onion on your scalp would grow your hair quicker, as soon as I washed it out my hair started falling out. Everytime I touched my head the hair would fall and fall. Eventually it was pretty much all gone

 From then I NEVER put any type of food on my hair.


----------



## DozenRoses99 (Apr 18, 2009)

Great thread!  My biggest mistake was combing hair when it was dry or almost dry.  I've learned that my hair combs and detangles best when it is soaking wet with conditioner.


----------



## carib_n_curly (Apr 18, 2009)

*going to this hair dresser and letting her burn my hair straight back in 2007

in 2008 turning up my new straightener all th way up to 230C (446 F) and i heat damahed my hair again but it was a small patch

i love my CHI it's highest temp is 187C(368F) and no damage and it straightens my hair faster than the hotter straighteners i have plus no heat damage.*


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## Rei (Apr 18, 2009)

trying out that baking soda "relaxer", basically just to loosen your kinks. That thing made my hair feel so rough for WEEKS. I had to double my DC duty for so long after that, its only just now getting back to normal!


----------



## Magus484 (Apr 18, 2009)

Using baking soda to wash my hair. It created even more shrinkage and stiffness.


----------



## Renewed1 (Apr 18, 2009)

Combing my natural hair when it was dry. BIG NO NO!!!  Lots of hair came out. 

Then not combing my hair at all when I first did the BC'ed.


----------



## oreoday99 (Apr 19, 2009)

Wash n go's are not for me. By the end of the week it was breakage city. :-(


----------



## India*32 (May 9, 2009)

brownsugarflyygirl said:


> Thankfully...I havent had any serious mistakes as I found LHCF when I was about 8 months into my transition. So Ive had LHCF my whole natural life....LOL
> 
> I think the WORST mistake was not buying a *Denman Brush* sooner. I walked around with puffed out hair that refused to smooth into a pony tail, looking a hot mess for months....when I bought that *Denman Brush* a whole new world opened up to me, I could feel my scalp, my hair laid down.....it changed my whole natural experience. Denman and Castor Oil are a natural girl's best friends!!!


I checked out the Denman Brush on Folicia and which one did you purchase.  In additon, When do you use the brush when your hair is wet and you want to brush into a bun.

Simone


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## babydollhair (May 9, 2009)

I think for me, blowdrying to get my hair straight. I would get it done at a salon, and well i always end up with split ends that delay my progress. I think i can get away with blowdrying the roots only though.


----------



## nichole21 (Jun 2, 2009)

InnerSoul said:


> This is the most helpful thread for natural heads *and even ladies who are transitioning!!* I have learned what not to do as a natural head just reading through some of these posts!
> 
> This is a great thread!!



I completely agree.  I've learned alot.  I want to do this thing right!


----------



## Jazzmommy (Jun 8, 2009)

I am just recovering from a minor set-back due to co-washing from too much moisture.  So, although I need a lot of moisture due to being natural. I forgot about adding in protein during my co-washing trial. 

My hair is getting stronger thank goodness...


----------



## Pandora1975 (Jun 8, 2009)

deme camp said:


> sulfates and protein dry my hair out, I use them sparingly. I also use silicones sparingly.




Just recovering from this.


----------



## almond eyes (Jun 8, 2009)

Past mistakes:

1.  Thinking that olive oil only was a moisturiser
2.  Using the wrong shampoos
3.  Braid extensions
4.  Going to so called natural hair salons
5. Not using the right conditioners
6. Using the wrong combs
7. Colouring my hair too light
8. Blow drying my hair incorrectly
9. Trimming my hair too much
10. Thinking that a texturiser was the answer
11. Over doing it with buying hair products
12. Not detangling properly

Present mistakes (now corrected)
1. Not knowing that fine hair needs a different regiment than thick hair
2. Not knowing that fine hair has nothing to do with curl pattern
3. Using too many products
4. Not washing in sections
5. Being too heavy handed

Best,
Almond Eyes


----------



## toyas08 (Jun 8, 2009)

I flat iron my hair wit not heat protection and I got the burnt smell


----------



## Auburn (Jun 8, 2009)

Doing the Liquid Keratin Treatment. I havent reverted back yet after months of doing it.


----------



## redecouvert (Jun 8, 2009)

worst mistake for me was combing my hair
i've seen a difference since i tossed all my combs


----------



## my1goodnerve (Jun 8, 2009)

Biggest mistake:
   taking my hair out of braids or weaves and loving the length so much that I couldn't wait to show it off.  In order to keep it up, I'd blow dry and press weekly and stayed away from water/humidity like it was poison.  I DC'd, but not because I knew what I was doing, only because I'm a product junkie and I'd built up a stash.  Never dawned on me to use any of the products while my hair was protected so I was always fixin' my hair and not really enjoying it. Within 2 months, my hair was always back to pre-protective style length and I would start the cycle again.

Latest lesson learned
 It's been a few months since I've worn braids, but I'm in the Hide Your Hair Challenge so I'm using braids as my protective style.  One member mentioned either not having the edges braided, or taking those braids out before damaging the hairline.  That's my plan this time around.


----------



## Optimistic (Jun 8, 2009)

using to much protien
self presing my hair with out heat protection

im still recovering from that press which was about 6 months ago. Ive trimmed off my ends every month since and my hair is doing better.


----------



## Chameleonchick (Aug 5, 2009)

bumping for more to see. I just read all of it now. I am soo saving this for future use!


----------



## bluediamond0829 (Aug 5, 2009)

Okay my mistake was just recently and it was with getting a sewn weave.  I guess my head and scalp has become more sensitive or something because ok out of this year ive had 3 weaves.  This one being the 3rd one.  The first time it was great, the 2nd time it itched like all out and i thought maybe i needed a break between the weaves, and this 3rd time caused dandruff, flakes, a very sore scalp, red areas on my scalp.  And this was done within 2 weeks of having it.  I also brought all the things to stop my hair from itching but whenever i would scratch my hair even just with my hand and apply the solution to stop my hair from itching it would burn.  So even though i spent so much money i had to take it out.  When i went to run water through my hair after removing it it felt like my head was on fire or getting a relaxer

So I'm definetly giving my poor hair a break bcuz for the last month i have been doing too much(Dominican blowouts twice which i love, but cant stay getting them bcuz i workout and i sweat it out too fast).  And pressing it also.  

And whats so crazy is that i transitioned by using weaves and braids.  Braids only last me for 1 month now when before i could at least go for 2 months.

So i guess i'll have to stick with wearing my own hair, its not like i dont have any i just wanted a break and something that i could get up and go with and plus easy for me with me exercising alot.


----------



## R4L (Aug 5, 2009)

Platinum.  Blonde.  ​


----------



## TheQueenBeeMaya (Aug 5, 2009)

Flat ironing every week with no heat protectant
never deep conditioning
never doing protein treatments
piling my hair on top of my hair to wash 
never moisturizing 

Check my blog to see the results of all that, not pretty! Still trying to correct it


----------



## MonPetite (Aug 5, 2009)

1. Relaxing
2. Not combing
3. Not clarifying enough


----------



## music-bnatural-smile (Aug 5, 2009)

doing the DC every other day challenge...
not for me!


----------



## Fhrizzball (Aug 5, 2009)

rollersetting
frequent cowashing
not detangling
hot oil treatments


----------



## NappsbyNature (Aug 5, 2009)

Washing my hair the same day that I had to attend an important event. Big Mistake!


----------



## crazydaze911 (Aug 5, 2009)

Kusare said:


> rollersetting
> frequent cowashing
> not detangling
> hot oil treatments



Why were these such mad mistakes? what were the results of each.....
TIA


----------



## silenttullip (Aug 5, 2009)

I used cantu shea butter shampoo and leave in religiously BAD idea I got so much shedding but the absolute worse was sleeping with a wig on and washing my hair with dish washing liquid cause I ran out. Ever since then I've had badly thinning hair dont know which made it worse but my hair HATES WIGS


----------



## Supervixen (Aug 5, 2009)

My biggest mistake was while transitioning, continuing to get my edges relaxed.


----------



## silenttullip (Aug 5, 2009)

shoot I feel that it took me about 2 years too to start doing my research and everything on natural hair. Thanks to youtube and this site. But it was so rough.



MissAlyssa said:


> *When I went natural I didn't know or care about hair at all.  I went my first two years doing EVERYTHING wrong.  I was using an ammonium sulfate shampoo which dried my hair out.  I didn't use conditioner.  I was using hair dressing that was basically petrolatum.  I was combing with a fine and medium tooth comb on dry hair. FOR 2 YEARS!  You can imagine my lack of growth.  Not that I cared though.  I wasn't concerned about growing hair.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## brownbean96 (Aug 5, 2009)

Good one - I love your hair by the way..it's exactly the way I envision wearing my hair.


oooop2 said:


> For months I would wear a silk scarf as a headband. I would place it along the front, tie it in the back tight, then push it back along my hairline to the desired position. Little did I know that all that friction was breaking off my front hairline..Now I'm diligently trying to grow it back..Talk about a lesson learned...


----------



## PrettyBrwnGrl (Aug 5, 2009)

3 major mistakes I'm guilty of:

Not moisturizing my hair before i let it air dry

washing my hair only once a week and bunning it for that whole week- my hair becomes matted and takes me extra long to detangle when i finally decide to do another wash.

Putting IC fantasia gel with a moisturizer at the same time after washing....having balls of white goop in your hair is NOT cute!!


----------



## vainღ♥♡jane (Aug 5, 2009)

Cyd Chicago said:


> My biggest mistake was while transitioning, continuing to get my edges relaxed.



*i'm sorry but LOL! i've heard of some naturals doing that too so they can get smooth edges... erplexed*​


----------



## Miss*Tress (Aug 5, 2009)

Last year, I let a stylist trim my hair while it was still wet. I'm still dealing with this lopsided cut today.


----------



## Essensual (Aug 5, 2009)

*1) No committing to being natural; relaxing and BCing at (least 4) times before I finally committed in 2003. [Didn't think I could I could transition.]

2)Not researching healthy natural haircare regimens and trying to "wing it". I needed to re-educate myself about my own texture, because the previous times my hair was both natural and healthy--my mother cared for it as a child.

3)Not using a thermal protector with heat styling tools prior to November 2008.

4)Not scraping together the nominal subscription fee to join LHCF thereby making my journey harder than it had to be.erplexed 

...thank you Lord for wisdom.*


----------



## Charz (Aug 5, 2009)

Sleeping with my hair loose. I started getting dreads and my hair was matted.

Twisting and braiding every night is too much manipulation for me as well.

So now I just pull back my hair into two puffs with elastics.


----------



## kooskoos (Aug 5, 2009)

Combing out my hair when it was completely dry...and coated with beeswax...with a fine tooth comb


----------



## DivaD04 (Aug 5, 2009)

all of these in it's decending order 
*prerinsing scalp and hair*
proper poo'n
blot dry or leave towel on hair in between co'n
and then co
blot dry or leave towel on hair
i hardly ever used leave-in


----------



## heyfranz (Aug 5, 2009)

kooskoos said:


> Combing out my hair when it was completely dry...and coated with beeswax...with a fine tooth comb



I am so happy to know i'm not the only person on the planet who did this.  If I knew then what i know now, i would've never relaxed.  I was my own worst enemy when natural.


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## Jazzmommy (Aug 5, 2009)

Using Wen/Olive One & overmoisturizing my hair without adding in sufficient protein treatments. This was over 4 months ago, and I am finally recovering from this set-back.


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## nappi (Aug 5, 2009)

i would say  trying to straighten  my hair w/ a hot comb

and letting my hair get snagged in jewellry/clothing


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## labelladona (Aug 5, 2009)

Being newly natural, this thread has helped me soooooo much! Thanks ladies!


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## NappyMD (Aug 5, 2009)

1. The few times I went to a hairstylist (nothing good ever came of it ), with the exception of the Braiderie 

2. Being impatient with my hair in terms of ripping through when it's time to detangle and remove extensions

3. Coloring my hair twice in a week to get a deeper red I think a lot of us naturals assume since we don't relax we having a "coloring pass" 

4. Not thinking of changing my moisture regimen when I moved to a drier climate 

5. Feeling ashamed for even one moment when my supposedly black extended family criticized my decision to go natural 

6. Not learning how to do my own twists and extensions earlier ($$$/style)

And finally....
7. Knowing LHCF existed but spending _*years *_thinking it was a bunch of mostly Caucasian women that already had long hair just bragging about it


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## brownbean96 (Aug 13, 2009)

Oooooh scary - and I've been thinking about doing it.  How many treatments did you do?



Auburn said:


> Doing the Liquid Keratin Treatment. I havent reverted back yet after months of doing it.


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## MJ (Aug 14, 2009)

Getting a relaxer two years after my first big chop.

I had another big chop three years ago. I've been trying to reach BSL since 2000 (nine years!), and I'm probably APL now. 

Lesson learned: stick with your original goal no matter how challenging things get. Find ways to overcome the challenges while patiently pursuing your goal. Leave the drastic/permanent changes until after you've achieved your original goal.


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## czyfaith77 (Aug 14, 2009)

Mystic484 said:


> Using baking soda to wash my hair. It created even more shrinkage and stiffness.


 
How did you do this.  Iwas researching this this evening.  One of teh sites says you could use it along with apple cider vinegar.  The thing is that you have to determine what is going on with you hair.  If your hair is dryer it says that you would need to increase the apple cider vinegar, etc.  I am still research exactly how this is done. Meanwhile, I still condition wash thoroughly and keep it moving.  I guess if it ain't broke don't fix it.


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## kayte (Aug 15, 2009)

Echoing no food....
putting heated honey on my hair......nightmare
and Nexxus Emergencee....
my hair HATED both of those treatments


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## Taina (Aug 15, 2009)

I know i don`t hace a lot of time being nautal but, i know for sure (untill now) my hair hates. I use Sammy Products for curly hair, there`s one in a yellow botle (i thinks is instant recurl) i used it the second day i made the BC and my hair was sooo dry and sooo hard. I'm still using a homemade mixture every night to soften it up and to mosturize it.

I`m never using it again. And my hair just loved it when i was relaxed :S


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## remilaku (Aug 15, 2009)

Cleaning up my new growth too often! I had to put all of my locs together to save them because I had thin roots. Don't clean up your newgrowth more than once a month!! Now I am freeforming.


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## Lita (Aug 16, 2009)

Letting my hair dry before I detangle. Deny trimms = more lost hair.
Happy Hair Growing!


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## natural_one (Aug 16, 2009)

Not moisturizing enough/co-washing/baggying... i have been natural for almost a week now and co-washing and baggying have made such a difference. 

I baggy ever other night and co-wash every other day and my hair seems so much different than the last time.  I was too scared to touch my hair for the fear of  messing my curls up! lol Now I have no qualms about rubbing in moisturizer and finger combing.. 

Side note: I got compliment from a brother today. he said your hairstyle is so gorgeous on u!! I smiled and said thank you, but inside was jumping up and down. Even though I like my hair super short, I do wonder how men see me. i know i shouldnt worry/care about that, but its nice to know that not ever man is repulsed by short hair.


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## peachfuzzz (Aug 16, 2009)

Subscribing


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## music-bnatural-smile (Aug 16, 2009)

qhemet... 
its just to much moisture for me


----------



## naijamerican (Aug 16, 2009)

The biggest mistake I have made is not using enough protein. In fact, I started co-washing with a bit of Joico K-pak in addition to my usual co-washing conditioners this week, and it's made a tremendous difference in moisture retention.  I probably won't need to keep doing this all the time but I need to consistently incorporate protein treatments. 

The other big mistake (that I also just learned of, too) is that I confused hair curl with hair texture. I realized that I don't have coarse hair at all! I have 4A/B fine to medium density hair, which is one reason why I probably need to use more protein in my hair.  I thought it was coarse because the curl is so tight, but when I pull the curl out the strand is actually fine. Who knew?!


----------



## discobiscuits (Aug 17, 2009)

texlaxing. I texlaxed b/c i couldn't "control" my natural hair. i had to BC after that & have not done chemicals since.


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## Kirei (Aug 17, 2009)

Thining I didn't need to "fix" my hair everyday...

I need to moisturise, co-wash and detangle and style just like everyone else..


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## melodies815 (Aug 17, 2009)

I'm in the process of making my worst mistake right now, putting in black and brown kinky twists.  I look like a big chocolate candy cane...

...but I'll be doggone if I am going to waste the money I spent on this hair....

cj


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## Dee Raven (Aug 17, 2009)

Trying the tightly curly method.  My curls are too tight for that.  Ends up as single strand knots.


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## tocktick (Aug 25, 2009)

Earlier this year, I lost nearly forgot all common sense and did some silly ish to my hair:

* Sleeping without a scarf. Fibres from the covers and pillow case kept getting stuck into my hair.

* Plucking strands straight from my scalp when I found single strand knots. I took my dense hair for granted and just thought since I have so much hair, who cares if I occasionally plucked a stand perplexed) ? Well, all that plucking over time means I don't think my hair feels as thick as it used to be.

* Keeping my hand attached to my hair and mindlessly finger combing dry. Any time I hit a snag, I would normally rip through it.  

* Not moisturising enough. My hair needs near daily co-washing when it's out. I just left it dry dry dry because I was spending most days at home studying and became plain lazy. 

* Blow drying on a higher heat than I should have. I have a lot of thin strands and these just broke off. 

* Blow drying too much

* Rarely de-tangling

* Virtually no DCs

* Leaving my hair out loose when I knew dang well that I did not care to have it that way. I should have put some braids back in as soon as frustration set in instead of taking it out on my hair.

I knew much better than this but I still had not got it into my head that my hair is not indestructible. I had to cut back between SL and APL (from APL). Although, I  at all of this and want to jump back into the past and kick my own arse, I realise it's a good thing I had to learn a hard lesson as despite all the warnings I wasn't really learning from other people's mistakes. Now I've stepped up my hair care game 100% and I believe when I reach my goal it wont be marred by damaged hair. I was also so dependent on braids and didn't know how to take care of longer hair but now I do.


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## CarLiTa (Aug 27, 2009)

bumpppppppp


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## LongHairNWaiting (Aug 27, 2009)

My biggest mistake was going from 100% natural after my BC, to texturized.  My hair is EXTREMELY thick and I hated the thick\bc, can't do anything with it besides wash~n~go, but you let that stuff dry and you *(scream yike!)

I used Bontanicals (I've always used their line of products), but when I say this stuff made my hair bone straight!  *urgh*  Anyway, I am wearing braids now, starting from scratch ~~but I think I will texlax in a year or so and stick with that.  (IDK, well see)

Keep them coming ladies...I'm learning...


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## Naturel (Aug 27, 2009)

1. Using baking soda everday
2. Not using protein
3. Trimming off ends because they are dry and frizzy

Lessons learned!


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## JollyGal (Aug 27, 2009)

As a natural I wanted to make my own DC.

I mixed honey with banana but mashed the banana with a fork instead of blending.

I forgot my DC was in my hair and left it on for too long. I ended up with banana gloop coating my hair AND honey hair. It was like banana glue.

I even posted on here for advice. Oil is the only way to rinse it out. Do not use water.

lol

Always blend or whip your products.


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## melodies815 (Aug 27, 2009)

These twists in my hair are still the worst.  They get worse every day...but I refuse to remove them because it took so much to put them in, and I don't want to waste all that work OR the money I spent on the hair.

I'm dying a slow style death....

cj


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## Geminigirl (Aug 29, 2009)

Melodie- I feel your pain. A couple years ago I got some micros. I thought I was going to have subtle red highlights well I had super red highlights on my ends. Fire engine red. I was so embarassed I always wore it in a bun. It was not cute.

Sunhun- I made the mistake with the bananas before too. Except i mashed mines up with a spoon. I will try my recipe again..blended.


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## Jhuidah (Aug 29, 2009)

Ladies with banana issues: use banana baby food. They do the whipping and straining for you. It's slightly more expensive than buying bananas, but to me the ease of mixing and applying make it worth the extra pennies.


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## peachfuzzz (Sep 6, 2009)

Thank you all so much for posting this info! I'm taking notes!


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## kryolnapps (Sep 6, 2009)

naijamerican said:


> The biggest mistake I have made is not using enough protein. In fact, I started co-washing with a bit of Joico K-pak in addition to my usual co-washing conditioners this week, and it's made a tremendous difference in moisture retention.  I probably won't need to keep doing this all the time but I need to consistently incorporate protein treatments.
> 
> The other big mistake (that I also just learned of, too) is that I confused hair curl with hair texture. I realized that I don't have coarse hair at all! I have 4A/B fine to medium density hair, which is one reason why I probably need to use more protein in my hair.  I thought it was coarse because the curl is so tight, but when I pull the curl out the strand is actually fine. Who knew?!


 
I made the same mistake as well. I thought my hair was very coarse because my texture is cottony as oppose to smooth, but my strands are very fine. My hair is tightly coiled as well. I tried *baggying*--the worst thing ever for me!!! My hair was breaking a lot and my fine strands couldn't take all that moisture. I need protein.  Protein fills the 'holes' (weak spots everywhere it coils) on my hair. It makes my strands smoother, thicker and able to hold on to moisture.


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## Auburn (Sep 6, 2009)

brownbean96 said:


> Oooooh scary - and I've been thinking about doing it.  How many treatments did you do?




So sorry for the late response. I only did it once


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## SparkleDoll (Sep 6, 2009)

When I was natural the worst mistake I made was using hair gel.  I hate hard hair.  Now that I'm transitioning I will not touch hair gel ever again.


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## isabella09 (Sep 6, 2009)

This is an absolutely fantastic thread . I’m transitioning at the moment and this information is invaluable to me, thank you very much for sharing your experiences’.


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## msa (Sep 21, 2009)




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## BlkOnyx488 (Sep 21, 2009)

Worst mistake I made.  A month before I found out about LHCF
I put a relaxer in my hair,  before that I had been natural for over year, but I didn't know what to do with my Hair,  I kepted it bone dry under my wigs, and braids.

A week after I relaxed my hair I regretted it and I found out about LHCF 
3 months later all the relaxed part of my hair just fell out.  All that was left was my TWA.  Fortunately I had been learning better hair care, so I had about 3 inches of new growth 
so it wasn't very tramatic when I realized I didn't have any relaxed ends any more

I haven't had a relaxer since.


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## thickhairRN (Mar 23, 2010)

I'm a newbie so I haven't had any mistakes yet. My hair is almost CBL, thick, and 4months post relaxer as of yesterday! No complaints yet as I am learning a ton from u gals! TIA and HHG!


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## dymondgurl (Mar 23, 2010)

Not being consistent about keeping my hair moisturized and protecting my ends.


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## tada1 (Mar 24, 2010)

i mixed French Perm Stabilizer Plus into my conditioner...AND didn't rinse my hair properly  my hair was tangled, my cuticles were screaming, and my napps were swearing at me. never again (but for some reason though, i still haven't thrown out that bottle of mess. LOL)


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## claudia05 (Mar 24, 2010)

-not detangling in sections 
-letting people who have a visceral hatred towards 4a/b hair twist/braid my hair ...


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## ProjectWLhair (Mar 25, 2010)

Relaxing, coloring and flat ironing.. ALL IN THE SAME DAY.. (Seriously)
Not deep conditioning
not moisturizing
NOT NOTHING. I DIDNT KNOW ANYTHING. (Thank GOD for LHCF)

you would have thought, my " hair stylist" would have taught me something after all the money I spent..


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## BostonMaria (Mar 26, 2010)

Putting henna in my hair and not deep conditioning long enough to put the moisture back in my hair. I now know that if I ever go back to using henna I have to DC for at least an hour under the steamer once the henna is rinsed out.


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## joyous (Mar 26, 2010)

Trying to comb my hair daily.


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## Aviah (Mar 26, 2010)

Dry combing 
Flat ironing without roller setting first (higher heat= heat damage)
Lack of patience
Not accepting that my hair may always have some splits SSK's and getting scissor happy.


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## Lynnerie (Mar 26, 2010)

1. Experimenting with color and getting a color that looks bad.

2. Using 2 different protein conditioners at the same time just to get rid of them= Tangle City

3.Being scissor happy when my ends were dry and they just needed to be deep conditioned more.

4. Playing in my hair too much. Now I'm protective styling. 

The worse mistake...
5. After almost 2 years of not going to a salon I went and got a Dominican blowout on my type 4 hair. My hair was relaxer straight after it but shoot if I wanted it that straight I would have just gotten a relaxer. I must stress that this procedure is *NOT* good for natural hair. Our hair has less cuticle layers than other types and that extreme heat will change your hair pattern.


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## Lylddlebit (Mar 26, 2010)

Not detangling because I was wearing my hair natural.  Even if I am wearing an afro...to detangle in the beginning is to prevent tangles and loose way less hair when I get ready for the next wash.


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## Uber (Mar 26, 2010)

1) cutting off all my curly ends cos i thought they were damaged ends only to find them reappear a week or so later

2) knowing nothing about detangling and cutting out two big chunks of matted hair on two separate occasions in the exact same place


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## Foufie (Apr 8, 2010)

Trying to be cute for the boy. I was wearing a puff for the weekend and I then usually re-braid, scarf and start over in the morning. Well slept with my puff cause I didn't want to sleep in a scarf. Woke up jumped in the shower without combing thru in sections and I ended up with a matted mess. Lost some hair, wanted to cry and vowed never to do that crap again


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## Mad Scientist (Apr 8, 2010)

1. When I first did my big chop, some of my ends looked fuzzy at the end. So I kept cutting...and cutting...and cutting. And they still looked fuzzy but I finally stopped. So now a year later, a small section of hair at the top of my head is about EL while the rest of my hair is near APL. I'll get it evened eventually.

2. Not combing my hair for like a week. I read on here about not combing hair until you wash. Boy oh boy. I had a really tough time detangling.


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## Tif392002 (Apr 8, 2010)

non so far, cuz i found the forum as soon as i went natural and began my hhj... im glad i found this place ahead of time. thanks ladies


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## RubyWoo (May 30, 2010)

-No detangling* enough*.  Just finger combing and wide tooth combs do not get the shed hair out for me.  This has caused unnecessary knots.

-Underestimating the power of oil resulting in neglecting to use oil period. I've been using oil more frequently over the past month and it has helped tremendously with detangling and unraveling my twists.  Oil is definitely a natural detangler for my hair.


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## ms.blue (May 30, 2010)

The worst mistake I done was what I did last month.  I flatironed my hair on Sunday then got a dominican blowout on wednesday and the following week a BKT.  I have more heat damage then before and the dominican blowout was the cause b/c they didn't put any heat protectant and proceeded to blowfry my hair (not blowdry but blowfry) Never again.


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## JaszyFaye (May 30, 2010)

Into year 2 or 3 of being natural, I was pressured by my peers in high school and I was so tired of wearing braids that I religiously got my hair pressed every 2 weeks. I've been natural for 7 years, and I'm SL. When I tell people I've been natural for 7 years they look at me with this  face


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## gennatay (May 30, 2010)

My biggest mistake was thinking I knew how to care for my hair. I'd been a  faithful in my stylist chair every two weeks for an "edge up". When I decided to go natural, I thought it would be simple and did not do any research.


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## Stacy TheLady (May 30, 2010)

1. Pressing my hair with the hot comb: It damaged my edges (by my temple)and I am still trying to recover from that.

2. Using the blow dryer after washing/co washing/conditioning: My hair hates heat in even the mildest form.(I DC with two showercaps on and a towel over that for 1 hour. Works well for me! )

3. Jumping on a bandwagon! Not every product/method will work for everyone. I learned the hard way when it came to protein. My hair is relatively sensitive to protein (only Profectiv Anti breakage treatments work well for me. They have protein and moisturizing ingredients in their products)

4. I need to PS, PS & more PS to retain length. The bunning or two strand does not help me at all in retaining length. Cornrows or individual braids only!

Basically, we must not generalise our hair, hair treatments and regimen and by extension, the likes and dislikes of our hair! *Your hair is simply your hair!* Not everything others suggest will help you achieve your goals. Sadly, most times we learn the hard way of trial & error.

HTH


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## westNDNbeauty (May 30, 2010)

1. too much heat.
2. hair color.


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## KrystalClear (May 30, 2010)

MY worst MISTAKE EVER! Not being PATIENT! I relaxed after almost 2 yrs of being natural. Now I have to pay the price and let my hair grow BACK out, and then big chop again!


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## Caramel Jewel (May 30, 2010)

touching my hair...all the time...I want to stop


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## JaszyFaye (May 30, 2010)

gennatay said:


> My biggest mistake was thinking I knew how to care for my hair. I'd been a faithful in my stylist chair every two weeks for an "edge up". When I decided to go natural, I thought it would be simple and did not do any research.


 
That's another mistake that I made. Once I embraced my natural hair, I didn't know what to do and even though I live in a place that was very humid I still flat ironed or pressed my hair everyday. 

I didn't know or start to take care of my hair until 2 years ago.


----------



## loshed (May 30, 2010)

Flat ironing. I used a heat protectant and didn't go over 350 but my hair still was not having it. My edges broke off and I lost major thickness. It's been five months and the thickness I had before is back but my edges are still a mess.


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## DrC (May 31, 2010)

Went back to a relaxer because my sister said she didnt like my hair


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## DrC (May 31, 2010)

silenttullip said:


> I used cantu shea butter shampoo and leave in religiously BAD idea I got so much shedding but the absolute worse was sleeping with a wig on and washing my hair with dish washing liquid cause I ran out. Ever since then I've had badly thinning hair dont know which made it worse but my hair HATES WIGS


 
Dishwashing liquid??...WTF??....., I accidently washed my hair with my boyfriends Sauve for Men body wash one time.


----------



## Truth (May 31, 2010)

Too much manipulation and detangling... Baggying..cause my moisture overload trip...washing hair free even tho I prefer it this way cause i'm lazy and dont wanna section..my hair gives me a hell no... eh... i'm still learning...even almost at the 2yr mark i'm still slow with what works for my hair...


----------



## naturalgyrl5199 (May 31, 2010)

Not finding a good leave in for moisture.....Natural hair LOVES moisture!

Also not coming up with a good regimen.....That was a mess!

Not doing a S & D of SSK's.......

Not keeping my ends moisturized and sealed...which...goes back to the first 2 dont's...


----------



## sheca (May 31, 2010)

subbin....bumpin


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## Tene (May 31, 2010)

My worst mistake was deciding to try using a paddle brush to smooth my hair back into a ponytail instead of using my usual denman or boar bristle brush.  Also I had build up from cones which didn't help either.   It's like it blocked the gel from smoothing my hair down. Now I have quite a few broken hairs throughout my head.


----------



## Vashti (May 31, 2010)

I thought that when i first went natural (over a decade ago) that my hair would automatically thrive and be healthy. I didn't moisturize regularly and whenever I combed my hair i would tear out gobs of hair (dry combing). After some years of not caring much about my hair I stumbled onto LHCF looking for a good moisturizer for black hair, learned a lot of things and my hair is thanking me for it.


----------



## HollyGolightly (May 31, 2010)

My biggest mistake was not going natural sooner!


----------



## Janet' (May 31, 2010)




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## LovelyNaps26 (May 31, 2010)

1. dry combing
2. not washing my hair in sections
3. not moisturizing my hair throughout the week
4. never DCing or pre-pooing
5. inflicting severe heat damage in 2007


----------



## Blkprincess (Jun 4, 2010)

I'm still transitioning, last texlax was August 09'.  My texlaxed hair was mostly healthy, thick ends, even made WSL borderline tailbone because I religiously used Profectiv break-free night, pony tailed, and rolled ends into 1 flexirod.  mostly wore my hair pinned up, quick french twists.  didn't start to get damaged until I wore it out more often with the wrong clothes that chewed up the ends!!
I started my transition more out of necessity, because of alopecia areata, so doc was like no chemicals!!!  I mean it was a huge baby butt smooth bald spot in the bang area  (I forced my mom to transition too, since I do her hair....she BC'd2 mos ago...I'm envious of her texture, but didn't inherit, or daddy's.  despite her BC, I'm still fighting with her to not texlax

 My biggest mistake was begging and pleading with mother at about the age of 14/15 to relax my hair.  First clue that I had no business getting one in the first place, was that my mother had to use *2* box kits for all of my hair

-not using castor oil sooner, my parents are from the islands, and there was a gallon of it sitting in our home for years
-being impatient with detangling...I've become more patient with finger combing/detangling first, in sections...using safety in extreme conditions
-most extreme case of just laziness, not doing my hair for a week, just left out in my bonnet.  took me 4-5 days to detangle, with a safety pin no less. it was just a huge matted dread lock
-not washing/co-washing hair in sections or braids


----------



## Blkprincess (Jun 4, 2010)

another mistake I made was getting a Dominican blowout...looked great...but ***** cut off about 4-5 inches of my hair (even though I told her no); it was still BSL but I was p'd...damaged showed itself, constant shedding and a lot of breakageerplexed
complaining the entire time about how thick my hair was! never again


----------



## Miss*Tress (Jun 7, 2010)

RoxyScores said:


> My biggest mistake was not going natural sooner!


Similarly, my biggest mistake was getting a relaxer in the first place.


----------



## LilMissRed (Jun 7, 2010)

thinking I could use conditioner as a daily moisturizer  (left all kinds of white balls uughh)


----------



## Poohbear (Jun 7, 2010)

Poohbear said:


> Back in 2005 - letting my mom press my newly big chopped 3-4 inches of natural hair with a stove top pressing comb and thick grease.


 
Almost 2 years ago I posted in this thread and have more to add to mistakes I have made with my natural hair...

1. Using too much heat - once I learned how to get my hair super straight with heat, I was somewhat addicted to it. I would blowdry and flatiron with grease and it kept my hair straight for a month. However, it caused a lot of split ends

2. Not moisturizing enough or properly - I like wearing stretched out hair styles on dry hair. In order to do that, I couldn't moisturize much or else my style would shrink. However, not moisturizing caused my hair to get too dry and break off at the ends without me realizing it sometimes, hence the reason I've been APL for almost a couple of years.

3. Dry combing - again, this was done to achieve stretched out styles. This also caused breakage and splits.

4. Trimming too much - there were some times when I definitely needed a trim (when I had split ends), but there were times I didn't need to trim. There was also a time back in 2008 where I asked for a trim and the stylist actually gave me a cut from APL to shoulder length.

Now, I've been trying to reach my goal of at least BSL by the end of this year.  I have seen time and time again that moisture and avoiding rough manipulation is the key to retaining hair length. So I've been keeping my hair in a bun and juicin' my hair with S-Curl, my long lost hair friend back when I had a TWA.


----------



## Poohbear (Jun 7, 2010)

LilMissRed said:


> thinking I could use conditioner as a daily moisturizer  (left all kinds of white balls uughh)


 Same here!!!

At first, Aussie Moist Conditioner was the ISH for my hair! It left my hair slick, smooth, shiny, and moisturized.  However, it started to build-up on my hair when I would re-apply every so often.  The build-up actually caused dryness and dulllness which affected my hair negatively. So I stopped using Aussie Moist Conditioner as a moisturizer.


----------



## ConstantlyDynamic (Jun 7, 2010)

^^^i also made that mistake but with garnier fructis. i heard about naturals doing that so i tried it but it just doesn't work for my hair. left it sticky. 

my biggest mistake was that i neglected my hair a lot. i didn't really go out and buy products that would make my hair healthy and instead chose to straighten it because i just wanted to put my hair in a ponytail and jet. i've had several episodes of heat damage and it's not fun


----------



## SignatureBeauty (Jun 7, 2010)

Nevermind!!!! LOL!


----------



## CocoGlow (Jun 7, 2010)

GREAT THREAD!!! 

*Biggest mistake:*
***Experimenting w/ daily Wash n Go shrunken puffs 

Big no no for my fine but densly packed 4B tight coils/napps - Now I keep my hair in stretched styles and I keep my hair sectioned/stretched in braids that are loose at the root during the entire wash/conditioning process

I knew better - was warned by other 4Bs but I just HAD to see for myself! I'm still finding single strand knots on my ends b/c of this experiment - some strands have up to 5 (yes FIVE) knots on ONE strand! Never had this happen before my stupid experiment!  (Yes I'm still bitter LOL)

*Other Mistakes:*
***Not being gentle enough during detangling sessions, being impatient & ripping through my strands in frustration 

***Jumping on countless bandwagons & being a product junkie - can't even recall how many   
(after 4 years I'm still trying to settle on a set regimen & fav products/ingredients for my hair)

***Taking down 4 (Yes FOUR) sets of Locs within 1.5 years  -oh boy! 
(Sisterlocks, Backcombed Locs, Loc Extensions & 2-Strand Twist Locs) 

Combing them out caused damage to my fragile strands which is why after 4 yrs, I'm currently at the same length I was at 2yrs natural! 

Moral of the story: if you want Locs, make sure that you are really sure not only that you want to commit to Locs and are fully aware of all the Loc stages, but also make sure you are content w/ the method & size of the starter Locs. Also if you plan to remove them (comb out) one day, just know that you will not end up w/ ALL of the length you retained w/ the Locs!

** As I enter my 5th year natural in July I truly hope to avoid new mistakes/setbacks and I am determined to not repeat the ones above - I hope reading about my mistakes helps others to avoid them!  *


----------



## pookaloo83 (Jun 7, 2010)

Poohbear said:


> Almost 2 years ago I posted in this thread and have more to add to mistakes I have made with my natural hair...
> 
> 1. Using too much heat - once I learned how to get my hair super straight with heat, I was somewhat addicted to it. I would blowdry and flatiron with grease and it kept my hair straight for a month. However, it caused a lot of split ends
> 
> ...



Do you still mostly wear your hair stretched? If so, how do you moisturize it without it shrinking?


----------



## yaya24 (Jun 7, 2010)

Hair type-- natural 4B

Worst mistake-- Washing my hair loose.


----------



## Poohbear (Jun 7, 2010)

pookaloo83 said:


> Do you still mostly wear your hair stretched? If so, how do you moisturize it without it shrinking?


At the start of June, I stopped wearing stretched out natural hair styles. Now, I've been wearing my hair in a moisturized bun.


----------



## BriDa5242 (Jun 7, 2010)

I followed the advice of a fellow Natural and went to a Dominican salon once a week for a Wash, Set and blow because HER hair was long...A month or two later I noticed my hair had A LOT of BREAKAGE ....I followed her hair regimen exactly and still had breakage.....once I stopped I noticed my hair become fuller again...I guess you have to find what works for YOU and YOUR hair ....

http://members.fotki.com/Bisthebest/about/


----------



## melissa-bee (Apr 2, 2011)

BUMP..........


----------



## tdc1978 (Apr 2, 2011)

The worst thing I have done was try to wash my hair altogether instead of in sections, it became a tangled matted mess. Now I twist my hair in 4-8 sections and wash one section at a time.


----------



## bride91501 (Apr 2, 2011)

I was lucky enough to find the board as soon as I BC'd, so I haven't had any _major_ mistakes (yet), thank God lol.

I have learned that my hair enjoys some light protein on a regular basis.  I found this out by accident after using Aphogee 2M as part of the Lady P challenge after I took down my cornrows for the month.  My hair responded so well to it that I decided to test it out on a bi-weekly, then later, weekly basis.  I haven't regretted it.


----------



## Anaya-Amani (Jul 28, 2011)

#1 Experimenting with permanent hair color and stripping the color out if I didn't like it!!!!! I fried my hair in the process!
#2 Going to someone unfamilliar with natural hair for "trims"- they cut 9 months of new growth off!!!!!


----------



## lilyofthenile (Jul 28, 2011)

Doing what other people do to their hair, i.e. blow outs etc. 

Just following my own path and doing what I need to do for my hair has really helped.


----------



## greenandchic (Jul 28, 2011)

1.  Daily wash-n-gos = too much manipulation and breakage. 
2.  NEVER wearing protective styles. 
3.  Not being using enough conditioner, especially while detangling.
4.  Detangling out of frustration and in turn ripping my hair out. 
5.  Permanent hair color.


----------



## Honi (Jul 28, 2011)

yaya24 said:


> Hair type-- natural 4B
> 
> Worst mistake-- Washing my hair loose.



x10!!!! I learned that lesson the hard way with my DD.


----------



## EbbonyTx (Jul 28, 2011)

-Too Much Manipulation
-Not Creating And Sticking To Regimen
-Organic Brazilian Keratin Therapy 30-Day Smoothing Treatment....The 30 Days Is A Lie Cause Its Been Over 2 Months


----------



## BEAUTYU2U (Jul 28, 2011)

Heat

Beeswax


----------



## Baggettcindy (Jul 28, 2011)

discodumpling said:


> Using heat with my egg treatment. It's no fun picking scrambled eggs out of your hair!
> 
> Eggs are great for hair...just don't heat 'em up.


 

LOL...I had this experience. The first few times, I had didn't have issues, then one day after air drying my hair, I notices eggs...LOL.


----------



## FoxxyLocs (Jul 28, 2011)

Washing my hair loose

Sleeping with my hair loose 

Daily co-washing (yucky scalp gunk)


Sent from my HTC Evo


----------



## mEmYSELFaNDj (Jul 28, 2011)

Mistakes I have made with my hair before starting my hair journey include:

-too tight ponytails or buns
-using prostyle gel
-using beezwax
-using bleach and permanent hair dye to lighten the hair my self
-too tight weaves


----------



## julzinha (Jul 28, 2011)

*A RATTAIL COMB!!!* No Natural 4a/b should ever use this!


----------



## s4pphir3 (Jul 28, 2011)

Putting a "texture softener" in my hair to loosen my curls ... & using the flat iron more than 3x a week


----------



## LifeafterLHCF (Jul 29, 2011)

I believe going natural in the first place with the wrong mind set of what could happen and the mindset of comparing my hair and growth to others.


----------



## Endlesslegs (Jul 29, 2011)

NOT TRIMMING!!!


----------



## JessieLeleB (Jul 30, 2011)

Heat! only been natural since last sept, 2 weeks ago flat ironed without hear protectant and now won't curl back up and breakage, I cried lol, no more heat for a while and just weekly protein and DC treatments. Please Lord save me hair! 


Sent from my iPhone using LHCF


----------



## Taina (Jul 30, 2011)

I swear my WORST mistake was to pay less attention to my hair because focusing to much on my gym trainning, and got a tex lax tryibg to gain more time ...


----------



## greenandchic (Jul 30, 2011)

s4pphir3 said:


> Putting a "texture softener" in my hair to loosen my curls ... & using the flat iron more than 3x a week



Do you mind telling me which one it was?  My (natural) cousin is considering one and I am soooo trying to talk her out of it.  I rather have her learn from other people's experiences.


----------



## HauteHippie (Jul 30, 2011)

When I was natural, my worst mistake was to continue to detangle while frustrated. I'm sure I looked deranged as I hastily cut the middle of my hair. Also, taking my oldish cornrows out dry. I definitely should've saturated my hair in conditioner first.

Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using T-Mobile G2


----------



## LovelyNaps26 (Jul 30, 2011)

dry combing my hair several days a week . each time i combed was like giving myself a hair trim.


----------



## Curlykale (Jul 31, 2011)

I'll add:

beeswax (knots near the scalp, drying)

clays (I used Rhassoul with many moisturizing agents. Crazy static that my conditioners could not counteract, maybe raised cuticles as well, both times it took me a month of care to bring my hair back)


----------



## biancaantoinette (Aug 4, 2011)

discodumpling said:


> Using heat with my egg treatment. It's no fun picking scrambled eggs out of your hair!
> 
> Eggs are great for hair...just don't heat 'em up.


 

OH YES! my mom thought she was doing something when she put me under the dryer with an egg and mayo DC. It matted my hair beyond repair... I had to cut it all off


----------



## winona (Aug 4, 2011)

Not taking my time to get to know my hair.  In the beginning I tried any and everything that was raved about.  Instead I should have did an assessment of my hair and ask some very important questions like: How does it feel? What have you used to make it feel this way?  What are you going to do about it?  I would have realized sooner that my hair need moisture and less manipulation.  CoWashing everyday for me dry it out.


----------



## DivineNapps1728 (Sep 26, 2011)

My BIGGEST mistake was henna'ing too frequently; initially I thought the loosened texture was cool, but combine relaxed texture (from heavy henna treatments) with heat styling, growth && normal wear & tear... &&& you get every hair type imaginable on one head. 

Dry combing, rough detangling, too frequent trims & too tight braids were other mistakes made.


----------



## ylinspired (Sep 26, 2011)

Putting highlights multiple times on my freshly new natural hair.  Was a total disaster. I'm still trying to recover, and have made great progress thank God!


----------



## faithVA (Sep 26, 2011)

Not moisturizing my hair properly or sufficiently while in extensions. I ended up having to cut off every inch that grew with the extensions because my hair was so damaged. And putting color in my hair   My hair pretends to be ok with it but its really not. 

Without these two I would probably be BSL by now.


----------



## Anaya-Amani (Sep 28, 2011)

Giving in to creamy crack!!!!


"...Forgetting what is behind and looking forward to what is ahead,..."
Philippians 3:13


----------



## Lucie (Sep 28, 2011)

Great thread!


----------



## beanie44 (Sep 29, 2011)

I got my hair colored a lot, everything from red to blond,the blond was the most damaging, I didn't know about moisture/protein balance and my ends suffered, I did co-wash every other day so it was moisturized. Now I don't get such lite coloring all over only as hi-lights, I also get Aveda hair coloring and my hair is not as dry.

I stopped ripping the comb through my hair, now I pretty much finger comb and use a large tooth comb during conditioning only, I retaining a lot more hair.

When I cut off the curly perm, I thought with moisturing it would be enough, it was only when I decided to grow my hair as long as possible that I found this site and started using such tools as braiding my hair at night, covering my hair with a silk scarf not cotton badana, and silk pillow cases, then my hair really started retaining, before this I had an area in the back middle part of my head that was three inches shorter than the surrounding area, now that area has filled in.


----------



## aribell (Sep 29, 2011)

I held the dumb idea that "nappy" hair is indestructible, that a tight curl pattern means you can be rough (and have to be rough) with your hair.  In reality, my individual strands are rather fine and have to be treated with kid gloves otherwise they will break off in a quick second.


----------



## CarefreeinChicago (Sep 29, 2011)

Getting a BKT I wish I had never heard of it


----------



## fluffyforever (Sep 29, 2011)

Not using a detangling brush to get the shed hair out. I think 90% of my knots are caused by shed hair.

Not applying creamy leave-ins and oils on wet hair to keep it moisturized.

Letting my hair shrink to the best of its ability. Having hair longer than APL shrinking to twa is calling for trouble.


----------



## Studio_gal (Sep 29, 2011)

My worst mistake was following everyone, like a sheep, to use a popular sulfur based oil mix 'fast growing' concoction.  Lets just say, sulfur got into my hair, dried it out and made it break off very badly. My hair is a slow grower and it took my hair a long time to recover.


----------



## Anaya-Amani (Oct 16, 2011)

Going back to the creamy crack! 


"...Forgetting what is behind and looking forward to what is ahead,..."
Philippians 3:13


----------



## ThirdEyeBeauty (Oct 16, 2011)

Not detangling my hair often enough

I DC almost daily and did not detangle hair for over a month. I lost a lot of length.


----------



## BostonMaria (Oct 16, 2011)

kinchen said:


> Getting a BKT I wish I had never heard of it



kinchen I was contemplating the idea of BKT. The longer I wait, the more horror stories I hear. I'll deal with my shrinkage. 


Sent from my fancy iPhone using LHCF


----------



## MzSwift (Oct 16, 2011)

Letting my wet hair dry loose.  Even though I was gentle, my poor scalp was so tender after that detangling session -- and I'm a finger-detangler!  Neva again..

Now I will at least put it into four ponytails and bantu knot them.


----------



## Blessed2883 (Oct 17, 2011)

Getting frustrated during my awkward post TWA stage and relaxing. I hated it as applied it, dried and styled it. Needless to say I'm transitioning now. Oh well "you live and learn." I've learned a valuable lesson..


----------



## Renewed1 (Oct 17, 2011)

Not being patient with my hair and ripping my hair out in large chunks. 

Tangle teezer and the denman brush. At first I love those things. But I realized when I straightened my hair that I had split hairs throughout my head. I'm finally recovering. 

Buying anything with silicones and all the other no-no ingredients.


----------



## constance (Oct 17, 2011)

twists (tangled ends).


----------



## Embyra (Oct 18, 2011)

CenteredGirl said:


> Flat ironing near-dry hair.  Can you say shizzle my fizzle?






Love this thread!!


----------



## BreeNique (Oct 18, 2011)

I don't think anything I've done is a mistake.

I'm very big on "pacing myself", so I always have somehting to look forward to, a new concoction to research/ thinkabout, a product to buy in the future.

Perhaps one of the biggest learning experiences has been me getting used to thinking objectively and critically about my hair, and reomoving the emotional baggage that comes with it. 

Since college, I've taken responsibility for my hair, and all that it entails, trying to keep it in perspective. I actually delight in taking care of it now, and I'm excited for my wash days!!

BIGGEST LEARNING EXPERIENCE: combing out shed hairs BEFORE i wet/ wash my hair, so I know what's shed and what's broken, etc.

Loving it!


----------



## bhndbrwneyes (Mar 11, 2013)

this is any interesting thread...bump


----------



## HoneyA (Mar 11, 2013)

Pre-LHCF - first time I transitioned to natural

- Used grease only and no moisture = _breakage and no retention_

-Washed my hair with blue soap or dishwashing liquid and no conditioner. _What was that? = hair like the desert when dried_

-ripped through my hair after taking down braids because there were so many tangles and knots. Good grief! I was angry with my hair and it not doing what I wanted it to do - which was just to be detangled and easy to handle. _Used to end up in tears from the frustration and with a sore scalp_

-Braided it up constantly so I wouldn't have to deal with it =_ thinning edges and ends_

-Eventually relaxed again because I had no clue what to do with it or how to handle it and it just annoyed me.

Post-LHCF and natural - I'm like what was the problem again ? All I needed was moisture ...


----------



## DivineNapps1728 (Mar 11, 2013)

1. Bandwagon hopping & being so determined to get results others did that I continued using products/tools/styling methods that didn't work (for my hair) in hopes that somehow they eventually would. 

2. Trying to use up products that don't work in an attempt to not be wasteful.

3. Mixing products that don't work for me instead of passing them to someone who can use them as is. 

4. Getting off of a regular trimming schedule


----------



## natural2008 (Mar 11, 2013)

Stopped using grease and just use oil for 3 months. My hair didn't like it. I had to take my grease back out of the cabinet and use it. A minor set back but I'll come back. My hair loves mineral oil and petroleum :0).


----------



## omnipadme (Mar 11, 2013)

BKT- i had so much breakage months after, I almost cried. My texture was never the same.


----------



## keranikki (Mar 11, 2013)

1. Letting someone convince me to get a relaxer after my first BC in 2002.
2. Relaxing my hair after transitioning for a year, because I was frustrated.
3. Not researching the salon first before getting a sew-in weave.  My braids came loose, while the weave was still in, causing a detangleing nightmare.  I had to chop off my hair
4. Not getting my ends trimmed.  Learning about dusting has helped me tremendously!

My current mistake is not truly knowing my hair.  I have 3c hair in the back, 3a/b hair in the front, and 4a hair at the crown (I think).  I'm still researching.


----------



## MissCrawford (Mar 11, 2013)

Henna on extremely dry and visibly damaged hair. I big chopped for the second and hopefully last time afterwards. It was so worth it to start over though.


----------



## Atdow71 (Mar 11, 2013)

Not twisting my hair when leaving in dc overnight.  Surprisingly leads to tangles and knots galore in the morning.


----------



## toyas08 (Mar 31, 2013)

Letting my hair shrink up to where it almost matted causing lots of single strand knots

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF


----------



## BraunSugar (Mar 31, 2013)

1. Washing my hair loose. 
2. Detangling *after* washing instead of before.


----------



## StarScream35 (Mar 31, 2013)

My worst mistake as a natural was finger detangling and then not detangling enough and NOT manipulating my hair while it was dry. My hair started matting at the roots and trying to plow through that stuff was hell on wheels. I followed other people's advice and nothing worked. 

So after a little experimenting I decided I needed to use a wide tooth comb for detangling and needed to detangle on dry hair at least every other day. No more matting! 

Now the shrinkage is another story. I have yet to deal with that.


----------



## Melaninme (Apr 3, 2013)

Let me see where do I begin:

First mistake was not embracing my natural strands as they grew back after shaving my head bald ( I wore a wig for almost a year before revealing my natural strands to family and friends).

then I suffered from the following:

1) Combing my hair when dry
2) Washing it loose as it got longer (sections is the key)
3) Blow drying my strands using high heat (to dry it quickly) 
4) Blow drying my wet strands while combing/brushing through to my ends      
5) Not trimming/dusting my ends


----------



## MaintaintheSexy (Apr 3, 2013)

Hanging onto unhealthy ends for way too long for the sake of length. I've been natural for over three years and just got a trim last month. It has made such a difference in the look and feel of my hair. Now I can get to my goal of APL now that my ends are healthy. Ladies, pay attention to your ends please it does make a huge difference.


----------



## LuvMyPink83 (Apr 3, 2013)

1.Wetting hair daily in the shower and wearing it in a ponytail but only combing it like every two weeks, if that
2. Sleeping every night with my hair in that same ponytail

I've learned my lesson. Now I never sleep with it loose and I keep it styled in twists or braids after it's been combed all the way through.


----------



## YaniraNaturally (Apr 3, 2013)

Not strand testing/reading ingredients. AVEDA be curly is my only setback because I just put it in my hair without even thinking. As a result my hair dreaded right up which for me means too much protein. Thankfully I was still transitioning so some of it was permed hair but it was my worst mistake ever.


----------



## Bajanmum (Apr 4, 2013)

MaintaintheSexy said:


> *Hanging onto unhealthy ends for way too long for the sake of length*.



This for me.

Thinking my hair liked protein, when in fact it's protein sensitive and not moisturizing my hair with water when it so obviously needed it.


----------



## ChocolatePie777 (Apr 4, 2013)

Heat damaging my hair (I prob.would have been waist on my way to hip by now)

Coloring (I would have less splits and breakage and also I wouldn't have had to cut so much....plus I hate the color

Also detangling with a boar brush......omg I'm an idiot


----------



## Trini_Chutney (Apr 4, 2013)

Trimming my nape over, and over, and over. It would get tangled the most so I kept cutting in off. It' a few inches shorter than the rest of my hair now. Looking back I probably should have braided it and bobby pinned it down or something.


----------



## fluffyforever (Apr 5, 2013)

1. Washing and drying my hair loose and not in sections
2. Sticking to all natural products
3.Denman usage
4. Not triming on a regular basis 
5. Not using clear rinses to smooth, add more sheen/shine and thicken strands.


----------



## Gryphyn (Apr 6, 2013)

I used a hot comb to straighten my hair regularly...and there went my nape


----------



## BonBon (Apr 6, 2013)

Kiwi said:


> I used a hot comb to straighten my hair regularly...and there went my nape



 I think you're nape went on the same place my bangs did lolerplexed

 Its grown back now but I learned my lesson.


----------



## ellebelle88 (Apr 7, 2013)

fluffyforever said:


> 1. Washing and drying my hair loose and not in sections
> 2. Sticking to all natural products
> 3.Denman usage
> 4. Not triming on a regular basis
> 5. Not using clear rinses to smooth, add more sheen/shine and thicken strands.



fluffyforever what clear rinse do you use?


----------



## fluffyforever (Apr 7, 2013)

ellebelle88 said:


> fluffyforever what clear rinse do you use?



I've been using john frieda clear glaze 2x a week in my cowash or dc. My hair really looks shinier and feels smoother and stronger. I've notice a lot less breakage. it's only been a month, but I'm in love.


----------



## felic1 (Sep 27, 2013)

Let's bump this for all of our new ladies!!!! Welcome to LHCF!!!

:welcome3:


----------



## kandake (Sep 27, 2013)

Cut my hair while it was in a braidout.  Ended up cutting 4 inches in the back of my hair when I only meant to cut about an inch and a half.  That cut was impulsive and stupid.


----------



## crimsonpeach (Sep 27, 2013)

I have several of these.

1. Transitioning using heat.  I wanted to go natural but wasn't ready to big chop so I after talking with a bunch of my friends who were natural I decided to flat iron every 2 weeks.  What I did not consider was that the people I consulted were "straight" naturals.  They never wore their hair curly.  When I officially big chopped over a year later instead of a medium sized fro I had to cut down to a true TWA because of the heat damaged.  I basically wasted a year transitioning. My hair doesn't do well with heat at all.

2. Coconut Oil.  After big chopping I read everything under the sun and coconut oil along with olive oil was a staple among many naturals.  I did a prepoo with coconut and my hair revolted. Hard/tangled hair.  I would keep revisiting it and the same thing would happen.  Listen to YOUR hair!  Now I run far far far away from coconut oil.

3. Allowing my hair to shrink.  Tangles, tangles, tangles.  I was out one day got caught in a sudden rain storm.  Instead of once I got home and detangling, I decided to rock a puff the next day.  I had a cute, shrunken puff that I loved but took hours to detangle on wash day.


----------



## Adiatasha (Feb 9, 2014)

Very helpful


----------



## atlien11 (Jun 19, 2014)

This thread was very helpful for me (i read it from cover to cover)—Bumping for other ladies who may find this advice helpful. 

My worst mistake has happened just recently:

1. trying to put all of this hair natural hair in a smoothed top knot bun while wet 
2. trying to put all of this hair in a smoothed top bun while dry erplexed
3. Trying to wash my hair upside in the bathtub in attempts to get all of this hair in a bun
4. Blowdrying my hair on low heat to get it in a damn bun

all of this required tugging and pulling and brushing and failed gel and a sore scalp...NO MORE BUNS unless its just my natural texture in a very loose bun. My hair is not going to get straight or smooth or stretched as if it were relaxed. Trying to pull it straight into a bun is not working or worth it.


----------



## brebre928 (Jun 19, 2014)

Bleaching my hair blonde 

Letting my cousin braid my hair so tight, I ended up losing the hair in my crown area. Thank GOD it's growing back.


----------



## NaturallyATLPCH (Jun 19, 2014)

Jumping on Bandwagons and listening to what errybody said...now I do what works for MY HAIR.

Believing the so called "bad" products were harmful to my hair. My hair isn't picky, it just wants to be moisturized.


----------



## curlyTisME (Jun 19, 2014)

Overtrimming! 
Too much moisture!


----------



## traceedeebee (Jun 21, 2014)

This thread brought me out of lurk mode. 

Putting too much moisturizer on my hair. I let it dry overnight in a fro. I awoke to a super tight twa that was a nightmare to detangle.
Blow drying wet hair without stretching it a little first.
Blow drying from the roots instead of starting from the ends. 
Being so rough when I detangled that I pulled my hair out from the root. I had a tiny bald spot. It's grown in but serves as a constant reminder to be gentle.


----------



## Dayjoy (Jun 21, 2014)

Constantly going to sleep with my hair loose.  This leads to marathon detangling sessions and before, simply put, ugly, smashed hair.  I'm surprised I'm still seeing growth.  Not as much as it should be, but I don't consider myself having had a setback or anything.  I just get SO sleepy at night.


----------



## Misseyl (Jun 21, 2014)

I'm newly natural so I'm signing on to learn more.


----------



## Qtee (Jun 21, 2014)

Too much heat.. Bleaching the front.. Relaxing when I got tired of flat ironing all the time.,. Not being patient with my curls...I got frustrated around BSL because it was SL curly...


----------



## frida1980 (Jun 21, 2014)

Believing that natural hair is invincible and never adding moisturizers or oils. 

And in a big hurry, I decided to fix the edges of my frizzy pony puff by using some cheap gel and a fine tooth comb. The damage was so immense, that I never had managed to grow it out after all these years.


----------



## tinycoils (Jun 22, 2014)

BrownSkin2 said:


> About 8 months after being natural, I let a regular salon do a press and curl on me.  They 'said' they were experts with natural hair.  This chick pulled so much hair out blowdrying, and she used a marcel iron.  I smelled hair burning.  Well, long story short...she gave me an uneven cut and some of my hair did not revert. I cut those pieces out because I was still at the twa stage and wanted to wear my twa.
> 
> The lesson:  Don't let just anyone do your hair.  No one will care for your hair like you.



I did the same exact thing.  The salon assured me that the could work with my hair and I basically left with a mohawk - really short on the sides and longer in the middle.  I was so uneducated when it came to natural hair I let the cut it curly  

It was definitely a learning experience to say the least.


----------



## NaturalfienD (Jun 22, 2014)

Dyeing my hair was the absolute worst thing that I have done as a natural.  I did not realize that the dye would cause my hair to become more porous than it was naturally and it was hell getting my porosity under control.

I think I knocked off six months of progress by trying to be cute ... thank goodness for Roux Porosity Control!


----------



## soulglo (Jun 22, 2014)

Getting hair pressed for trim
Using curl paste to slick down my twists=recent nightmare upon takedown


----------



## leigh.hill (Jun 22, 2014)

NaturalfienD said:


> Dyeing my hair was the absolute worst thing that I have done as a natural.  I did not realize that the dye would cause my hair to become more porous than it was naturally and it was hell getting my porosity under control.
> 
> I think I knocked off six months of progress by trying to be cute ... thank goodness for Roux Porosity Control!



Yes! Yes! Yes! I thought since I was not relaxing my hair that it was open season to use permanent dye. I've "only" have permanent dye put on my hair twice as a natural but I think I set myself back MONTHS each time. 
Last but not least - I LOVE THIS THREAD!!!!


----------



## bellebebe (Jun 23, 2014)

Worst mistake I ever made was shampooing my 4a/4b hair right after I took out my weave. My was matted & tangled. Man, never again. I've learned that my hair doesn't like shampoo, so I now use alternative methods.


----------



## Fine 4s (Jul 5, 2014)

bellebebe said:


> Worst mistake I ever made was shampooing my 4a/4b hair right after I took out my weave. My was matted & tangled. Man, never again. I've learned that my hair doesn't like shampoo, so I now use alternative methods.



I don't think it was the shampoo though. 
You should always remove shedding hair and tangles after a take down. bellebene


----------



## Adiatasha (Jul 5, 2014)

Fine 4s said:


> I don't think it was the shampoo though. You should always remove shedding hair and tangles after a take down. bellebene



Spot on!!!!!


----------



## Shay72 (Jul 5, 2014)

Stop following my regimen


----------



## Bunnyhaslonghair (Jul 5, 2014)

Permanent dye by far.


----------



## SEMO (Jul 5, 2014)

Using the Tangle Teezer detangling brush.  

For me, it caused mid-shaft splits all over my hair.  B/c of this, even though it happened years ago, I'm still growing out and cutting off the damage (about 5 more inches to go).


----------



## PinkSunshine77 (Jul 5, 2014)

My biggest mistake was not preparing initially to BC. I had relaxed the front prior, so I had to grow the front out and gradually cut away the relaxed ends. Just looking you can't tell, but the back and sides are way longer than the hair in the immediate front part because of that stupid relaxer I put on my edges.


----------



## icsonia22 (May 18, 2019)

Buuuump

1. I used to pick my hair out dry to get a bigger fro. It was see through
2. I wore puffs and shrunken styles all the time that led to a ridiculous amount of ssk
3. Using products that didn't truly moisturize my hair like Cantu and Shea moisture products
4. Double processed box color. My hair fell out
5. Trying to heat train my hair with a bkt because I was so over ssks. The instructions said go over each section 5-7 times on 400 degrees. I did the bkt 2x in a 3 month period. Needless to say, the heat damage eventually broke off. 
6. Not washing my hair in sections. That's asking for ssks
7. Blow drying with the silverbird on high and a paddle brush. Hairs were popping off left to right and my hair felt so rough and dry

Thank God that I finally have a set regimen that works. I wash in sections, detangle with the Felicia leatherwood brush, deep condition/protein, add glycerin free leave in and blow dry hair with revair before slathering on a generous amount of whipped Shea butter. I don't mess with bandwagons and I'm retaining length. It only took me 8 years to figure this out smh


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## Platinum (May 18, 2019)

The tangle teezer many years ago. I loved it but I ended up with a lot of split ends.


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## metro_qt (May 18, 2019)

bellebebe said:


> Worst mistake I ever made was shampooing my 4a/4b hair right after I took out my weave. My was matted & tangled. Man, never again. I've learned that my hair doesn't like shampoo, so I now use alternative methods.





Fine 4s said:


> I don't think it was the shampoo though.
> You should always remove shedding hair and tangles after a take down. bellebene


In my case, (which I will talk about in the next post, I really, 100 percent do believe it IS the shampoo)
Everyone's hair is different... and now, 20 years later, I know how to use shampoo correctly in my hair, and what stage of the wash game to do it.
Case in point.... most people say that conditioner in their hair 'brings out their curls'.
My hair's texture has never in my life been brought out by conditioner, it just gets fuzzy (and moisturized)... but Shampoo??? When I put shampoo in my hair, my hair becomes Wave City...
waves and curls for days.... and then I have to wash it out and put conditioner in it... back to fuzzy city- until it's time for gel and my other styling products.
Shampoo also makes my hair draw up, and if there are huge knots.... forget about it... just go get the scissors.


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## metro_qt (May 18, 2019)

I don't now if I've written in this thread before... I feel like I have, but I'm too lazy to check.
My mistakes are now super illuminating, since I'm learning about my hair
and the products and processes it likes and dislikes.

Twice, I got a type of texturizer from the Jazma salon, here in Toronto,
and I see, years later that not only did my hair fall out from the process, long term,
but it made the way I was able to take care of my hair so much harder.

The transitioning process, which I never planned for, also broke off my hair-
If I had known and planned to transition, I would have bought moisturizing products
that could handle my texturized areas, while paying attention to my new, fresh hair 
areas.

so much more, but the two above were the game changers for my hair and sending it
on a downward hair health spiral.


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## Fine 4s (May 18, 2019)

I’m still unsure about what my hair really needs. All I know is that poo, no poo doesn’t matter but DC’ing does and keeping my hair protective style braids or twists. Other than that it’s all extra stuff that may or may not have worked but I’m ok with the now...


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## Chicoro (May 19, 2019)

For me, trying to save .15 cents by trimming my own, natural hair in 2012. That was a disaster. It set me back five (5) years.


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## Chicoro (May 19, 2019)

icsonia22 said:


> Buuuump
> [...]
> Thank God that I finally have a set regimen that works. I wash in sections, detangle with the Felicia leatherwood brush, deep condition/protein, add glycerin free leave in and blow dry hair with revair before slathering on a generous *amount of whipped Shea butter*. I don't mess with bandwagons and *I'm retaining length*. It only took me 8 years to figure this out smh









Shea butter said? And, you are 
retaining length? Have I spotted a
Shea Made Hair Unicorn?​


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## Fine 4s (May 19, 2019)

@Chicoro are you saying your self trimming back in 2012 set you back? How so? Did you over trim? I’m debating wether to self trim this year or go to a salon. My last salon over trimmed so I’m nervous. What do you think? I don’t wear my hair out so an even cut is unnecessary for me.


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## Chicoro (May 19, 2019)

Fine 4s said:


> @Chicoro are you saying your self trimming back in 2012 set you back? How so? Did you over trim? I’m debating wether to self trim this year or go to a salon. My last salon over trimmed so I’m nervous. What do you think? I don’t wear my hair out so an even cut is unnecessary for me.



Yes, I cut off about 10 to 12 inches. First, one side was shorter than the other. Then, the hair was shaped like an inverted u-shape. I was trying to 'fix' what I had messed up. By the time I looked up, I had lost all that length. Like 6 to 12 inches gone in minutes.

Yes, I over trimmed. I was so focused on 'fixing' it, I kept trimming and before I realized it, my hair was gone. Unless it's for some tangled ends, for myself, I will go to the salon. I learned that I can't trim my own hair. It's just not a skill that I possess.

I suggest that you go to the salon and be polite, but 'Extra'. Explain about your fear and disappointment from the last time. Bring a measuring tape and show them the amount of hair, what you want trimmed, on the measure tape. Never let them blow-dry and trim at the same time. Blow it dry. Then, trim it.

Look at your hair JUST before she trims it. Ask the person to SHOW you and TOUCH on your hair, how much of your hair she is planning to trim off. Ask her to hand you a mirror or be able to see while she trims. Pay attention as she trims.

I'd rather be vigilant and exhausted during the trim, for about 5 minutes, than not watch what she's doing and then have to spend YEARS trying to gain that length back.

BEWARE: Sometimes, the stylist may ask you to NOT come back. That's okay, because you will still have your length intact.


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## FoxxyLocs (May 19, 2019)

FoxxyLocs said:


> Washing my hair loose
> 
> Sleeping with my hair loose
> 
> Daily co-washing (yucky scalp gunk)



I always wash my hair loose now, and sleep with it loose as well. I just had to figure out how to keep it from tangling. 

I co-wash now too, but not daily, only once a week.

Probably the thing that caused me the most setbacks was going to stylists that were scissor happy or just didn't know how to care for natural hair. You really have to be careful who you let touch your hair.


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## Lita (May 19, 2019)

Letting anyone trim my hair “NEVER”again
Not listening to my hair
Not balancing protein/moisture levels
Not using my silk scarf at night

Happy Hair Growing!


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## ThePromise (May 19, 2019)

...


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## PlanetCybertron (May 19, 2019)

This was back when I was natural:

*Biggest screw up I have ever done, was allowing myself, for the very time to put box dye, into my hair. Not to mention I had no business using 40 vol. developer since I had no clue how. I was “transitioning”, but wasn’t sure if I was going to end up relaxing or just let my hair grow out. Needless to say I ended up with about an inch worth of hair all around my head. 

*Second biggest screw up was thinking I could detangle my hair with a fine tooth comb. This was when I was seeing the likes of APL+ being natural, and for the longest I would steady just take an impossibly fine tooth comb through my hair. Wet or dry. But I have since learned from my former, tragic mistakes lol.

*A less major screw up that I still currently do from time to time is that I get hyper focused on my hair. Which causes me to fiddle and mess with it, leading to unnecessary breakage. Since certain parts of my hair are and have always been sensitive, those areas show damage a lot quicker than other parts that tend to hold up well. One time I went from box braids, to twists, to Dutch braids, co-washed a couple of times, to some fancy updo style all within the span of a few days. I just couldn’t keep  my hands out of my own head. The amount of hair that had came out was unacceptable. And since then I have to train myself to leave my hair alone, and furthermore realize that it’s still just hair, and reminding myself that obsessing over my hair does nothing but damage my hair, and damage my expectations of my hair.


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## ElevatedEnergy (May 19, 2019)

PlanetCybertron said:


> This was back when I was natural:
> 
> *Biggest screw up I have ever done, was allowing myself, for the very time to put box dye, into my hair. Not to mention I had no business using 40 vol. developer since I had no clue how. I was “transitioning”, but wasn’t sure if I was going to end up relaxing or just let my hair grow out. Needless to say I ended up with about an inch worth of hair all around my head.
> 
> ...



I feel you on the bolded. If a style cant give me at least 7 to 10 days of not messing in my hair...it's not the style for me. I always try to keep in mind that overmanipulation (for my hair) leads to breakage.


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## Meritamen (May 22, 2019)

Using heat tools on my hair out of frustration. I have heat damage on a good bit of the length of my hair now. It’s still kinky but looser than the rest of my hair. 
I’ve accepted that I damaged my hair, will get a little trim to get rid of the splits, and stay away from from blow dryers and such. 
My hair is too weak and just can’t handle the manipulation on the of the fact I really don’t know what I’m doing. 
So I’m back on LHCF to help me relearn my hair. I’ve already received some good tips.


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## blazingbeauty (May 23, 2019)

• Getting my hair silk pressed once a month - heat damage but I was cute 
• Washing super mini twists every day and keeping them in for a month (every other month)
• Trying to stretch my hair with a cheap blow dryer and no heat protectant
• Boiling my hair after installing senegalese twists
• Messing with/playing in my hair too much
• Being afraid to trim also set me back


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## shanelallyn30 (May 31, 2019)

you were boiling your real hair? 



blazingbeauty said:


> • Getting my hair silk pressed once a month - heat damage but I was cute
> • Washing super mini twists every day and keeping them in for a month (every other month)
> • Trying to stretch my hair with a cheap blow dryer and no heat protectant
> *• Boiling my hair after installing senegalese twists*
> ...


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## blazingbeauty (Jun 1, 2019)

shanelallyn30 said:


> you were boiling your real hair?



Lol yes - I know. I was like  to me too. I was trying to do a braid out on my  twists and I dipped the entire length instead of just the ends into the hot water knowing FULL well, thermal damage respects no one. The style came out just right, but my hair did not. My curls were still there, but I had to cut a good bit over time bc my hair was too weak.


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## tryingto (Jun 4, 2019)

In crochet braids, spraying my hair daily with water not followed with oil or moisture. dried it out to the point of bald areas , still recovering, also not going to a professional, even though I am very challenged when it comes to hair period


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## Lissa0821 (Jun 4, 2019)

Letting my niece who at the time was a new hair stylist convince me to flat iron my natural hair (just big chopped) then curl it with a Marcel curling iron to make sure the curls last.  Every last strand of my hair was heat damaged bad.  For the next year I tried my best to hold on to that damaged hair so I wouldn't be completely bald.


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## oneastrocurlie (Jun 5, 2019)

Dying my hair myself. Results were underwhelming and it didn't do my hair any favors.


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## bellatiamarie (Jun 7, 2019)

Thinking I can go more than three months without a trim.  I lose goodt length each. and. every. single. time. I forgo trimming my hair.


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## ThursdayGirl (Jun 10, 2019)

Listening to a stylist who made me feel terrible about my hair.  Then noticing that every natural in her salon has a pretty much some kind of twa - noticing it a little too late.


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