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If you've always been APL or longer what were your thoughts...............

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About other AA who seemingly could not get past el, nl or sl?

Before hair boards did you think they had the short hair gene?

Did you think rentention and/or bad hair practices was the reason back then?

Did you think they just preferred short cuts?

What were you doing back then that now you realized contributed to your growth and/or retention?
 
About other AA who seemingly could not get past el, nl or sl? I did think it was genetic and that they just could not grow long hair

Before hair boards did you think they had the short hair gene? Yes

Did you think rentention and/or bad hair practices was the reason back then? Yep

Did you think they just preferred short cuts? As far as my sister yes, but some of my friends had little pig tails as kids so no I don't think they preferred that

What were you doing back then that now you realized contributed to your growth and/or retention? My hair as a kid was always in between SL and APL, once I got into high school and started doing it myself, I wore pony tails for a while and passed APL so I was protective styling. Once I went into the military, I got a shaved cut/bob and once it reached my collar I had to protective style again(buns) mostly. I always used olive oil to wrap my hair and very little heat because I didn't have the skills to flat iron/curl. I went from a shaved cut right after basic training and was BSL when I got out. The main contributors I guess being little heat and protective styling no or very little DCing and Moisturising and Sealing, besides olive oil(none of which I was doing purposefully)
 
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My hair was pass APL 2 years ago, meaning to say this is the first time my hair has ever been this short. I had long hair most of my life, so take my opinion for what it's worth.

About other AA who seemingly could not get past el, nl or sl?
-I really paid them no mind, but when I thought about it I figured most had just preferred to keep their hair short to style it. Shorter hair is easier to style and I never really did much with my hair.

Before hair boards did you think they had the short hair gene?
-To be honest yes I believed this. Either that or they just cut it too often so we never see the retained length.

Did you think rentention and/or bad hair practices was the reason back then?
- Yes and no. Short hair does not necessarily mean unhealthy hair. There are some healthy heads of hair that are short. But the choppy hair means you are not doing something right and not applying healthy hair care practices. There were quite a few of my classmates whose hair would NEVER grow or rather retain length and was very see thru... I have a friends who has always had short hair but it was healthy looking. I think she just preferred it that way. Other times there were classmates whose hair was very damaged/thin and after several months their hair was still the same length. Usually these ones wore weaves, used a curling/flat iron everyday religiously, moisturized with grease, and got relaxers every 4 weeks.

Did you think they just preferred short cuts?
-Like I said before yes, but they would always be in awe over the length of my own hair. So they definitely found long hair to be pretty, but most could either not grow pass SL or kept it short on purpose.

What were you doing back then that now you realized contributed to your growth and/or retention?
-I wore braids and buns almost year round. Never wore my hair out, except on special occasions. I used heat very sparingly, mostly because I did not even know what a flat iron was all I knew was the pressing comb.. I also never moisturized my hair yet it grew pass APL. I shampooed once a month (no, my hair did not stink) and I ate tons of junk food. Two years go, I did not even know what conditioner was. As a result my hair was full, thick, and healthy looking. At my current length, I will be bunning regularly, using almost no heat, taking my vitamins, and taking care of my hair. I have no doubt that it will grow back to my previous length and beyond.
 
About other AA who seemingly could not get past el, nl or sl? see below

Before hair boards did you think they had the short hair gene? no

Did you think rentention and/or bad hair practices was the reason back then? no

Did you think they just preferred short cuts? I didn't know

What were you doing back then that now you realized contributed to your growth and/or retention? see bekiw


I didn't have the particular train of thought of your questions. I would notice the length of another girl's hair then notice the style and form an opinion based on how good I thought her hair looked in general. I always had that idea that hair grew pretty fast because I would notice new growth on people who wore braids like I used to all the time. I only thought of hair growth in terms of the new growth I could spot. My hair practices weren't good back then. I would rip through my hair whenever I combed it out, luckly I used to wear braids for 3 months at a time so manipulation outside of my "rip out" days was minimal and once my hair was done even if I did rip chunks out it would still look really good. When I was doing a good job I washed my hair once a month and that was only because on the days I washed my hair I was either taking down my braids, redipping them to freshen my style, or on press or perm day. I used deep conditioner every wash and used some type of braid spray or moisturizer every day.
 
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About other AA who seemingly could not get past el, nl or sl?

They'd always tell me things like: "My hair was long then I cut it and it never grew back" and when I was a kid I believed them lol!

Before hair boards did you think they had the short hair gene?

No, before hair boards i'd never heard of a "short hair gene" lol that mess I discovered here on lhcf

Did you think rentention and/or bad hair practices was the reason back then?

After I realized how much of a lie the "it didn't grow back" thing was, I did think that they just didn't take care of their hair.

Did you think they just preferred short cuts?

only the girls who had cute short cuts.

What were you doing back then that now you realized contributed to your growth and/or retention?

I was always a conditioner junkie, and I left my hair alone a lot. Even though I was texlaxed, I was pretty low manipulation. I'd do a wash n go that would last 2-3 days, and then pop the hair in a pony or a messy bun on top my head for a day or two before washing again.
 
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I was was SUPER ignorant back in the day! I used to believe in the "good hair" crap!:nono:

I never think or thought of myself as better than anyone...but before the hair boards i believed that girls who had and stayed at EL-SL had "bad hair". And that they didn't have the "genes" to grow their hair longer.

I only continued to believe it bc my mom would always say things like "You have a good grade of hair" or my peers would say things like "you got that good hair" or "You must be mixed"....and since the majority of people around me believed these things...i believed they were true bc it just seemed to be common knowledge:perplexed

Now when i look back....i believe my hair retained length and grew bc for one...i was somewhat of a tomboy growing up. I stayed active, so my hair was either in a ponytail or a bun most of the time. I would get it braided a lot too. And even before finding the boards i LOVED to wash my hair. I went from the monthly washing :barf:, to the washing every 2 weeks and then after high school i started washing weekly.

Get this....i didn't understand the concept of conditioner then...but bc i liked how it made my hair feel after shampooing...i would use it:yep: But i did a lot of flat ironing, i used to rip through any tangles....whooo chile i was a mess!:lol: Now??

Lol! I'm sittin here ret nah tryna figure out if i wanna get that liter bottle of Oyin Honey Hemp today or should i wait?:lachen:

And for the record...i now believe ANYBODY can grow longer hair...especially after seeing how my sister's hair has grown since she went natural!!!! I thought SHE somehow didn't get the good hair gene:sad:..but now i see that that is not true at all anywhere...my sister has sooooooooooooo much hair now!

Knowledge is powah!:yep:
 
I always wonder if women with long hair have opinons about women with short hair.

I had women with long hair tell me.that cant have short hair because they would look like a boy. And I am standing there like, so you think I look like a boy?
 
diadall said:
I had women with long hair tell me.that cant have short hair because they would look like a boy. And I am standing there like, so you think I look like a boy?
Click to expand...

No, I don't. Most people look fine but I think I'd look like a boy. :/ I don't think my face is cute enough to pull off a pixie cut. I need at least sl.

What were you doing back then that now you realized contributed to your growth and/or retention?[/QUOTE]
Well when I first saw my new neighbors, i told my mom their hair is short. I was like 7 at the time. I was kinda shocked at the el hair. I realized my hair was longer than most black girls I knews but I didn't think about it much. Well I didn't think about their hair much.

I don't know if i thought there was a short hair gene but i thought long hair was a familial trait (most of my extended family on both sides did have long hair.)

Well i wore my hair in a bun/pigtails/braid everyday. So I'm sure psing worked. I have no idea what my regimen was but I'm sure it was pretty healthy.
 
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About other AA who seemingly could not get past el, nl or sl?
I just thought their hair never grew and would be that length forever. Im not going to lie, i was happy i was not them and i could get my hair into a nice ponytail.

Before hair boards did you think they had the short hair gene?
Yes, although we didnt call it that. It was just a known assumption that certain girls hair would not grow.

Did you think rentention and/or bad hair practices was the reason back then?
Not at all. It didnt grow because they didnt have the "genes"
To grow long hair.

Did you think they just preferred short cuts?
I think the girls who hair wouldnt grow, prefered short cuts. But ive had quite a few friends who cut their long hair short. Ive cut my hair short many times as well.

What were you doing back then that now you realized contributed to your growth and/or retention?
Honestly nothing. My hair is the longest when i leave it alone.
And no matter what i did to my hair it always returned back to apl. Its getting past apl that is the problem for me.
 
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diadall said:
I always wonder if women with long hair have opinons about women with short hair.

I had women with long hair tell me.that cant have short hair because they would look like a boy. And I am standing there like, so you think I look like a boy?
Click to expand...


:lachen::lachen::lachen:
 
About other AA who seemingly could not get past el, nl or sl?

I just assumed that their hair grew to a predetermined length and then stopped growing :lachen: I guess I thought hair was like height.

Before hair boards did you think they had the short hair gene?

I can't remember when I heard about the sort short gene. But, I thought it made sense so I went with it.

Did you think retention and/or bad hair practices was the reason back then?

I realized as I got older it was because they were over processing/not taking care of their hair and that's why it looked like it never grew.

Did you think they just preferred short cuts?

I knew some people chose to wear their hair short, but I don't think I put much thought into it.

What were you doing back then that now you realized contributed to your growth and/or retention?

I treat my hair better now, so I have no idea why my hair was a long as it was/is. My mother hot combed my hair every week. And then I started getting relaxers at 12. :perplexed
 
I wasn't always APL but given that my sis is MBL, my mom is WL and I usually hovered between SL and APL, I feel qualified to respond.:grin:
******************************************
About other AA who seemingly could not get past el, nl or sl?

Before hair boards did you think they had the short hair gene? No, I thought they simply relaxed, too frequently. My cousins who had 50% the same genetics had short, chewed up hair so I knew it wasn't genetic.

Did you think retention and/or bad hair practices was the reason back then? Yes, namely relaxing every 6 weeks. My mom would not relax us more than twice a year.

Did you think they just preferred short cuts? No, it was always obvious who had breakage from the chewed up ends.

What were you doing back then that now you realized contributed to your growth and/or retention? Stretching relaxers and protective styling.
 
About other AA who seemingly could not get past el, nl or sl?

I thought it was because they didn't take care of their hair. My mom taught me from a young age about hair care. She never let me get extensions, use glue, brown gel, etc. Never pulled my hair too tight. She taught me to never, ever buy a relaxer from the drug store, and that my friends had messed up hair because they did their own relaxers. She also encouraged me to stretch my relaxers, although we didn't call it that then. I went 8-12 weeks between touch ups.

Before hair boards did you think they had the short hair gene?

No I never thought anyone's hair couldn't grow.

Did you think rentention and/or bad hair practices was the reason back then? See above

Did you think they just preferred short cuts?

If I saw someone's hair cut in a style, I assumed it was by choice, but if it was broken off and chewed up, I assumed it was because they didn't know how to take care of it.

What were you doing back then that now you realized contributed to your growth and/or retention?

I didn't use heat except at the salon. My mom always went with me and watched like a hawk to make sure the stylist didn't cut too much. Once my stylist gave me a trim while she wasnt there and she came back and cursed him out, lol.
 
Before hair boards did you think they had the short hair gene? yes

Did you think rentention and/or bad hair practices was the reason back then? yes

Did you think they just preferred short cuts? maybe

What were you doing back then that now you realized contributed to your growth and/or retention? Honestly, I didn't do much and my hair still grew. Even with the best hair practices, hair can be contributed to genetics, too.
 
I never thought about it. I just assumed people with short hair wanted short hair. I always cut my hair whenever I was going through a major change or wanted to do something different. I did think black hair grew slower, the few times it occurred to me, because people often commented on our texture and that our (my siblings and I) hair grew fast, stating there must be some unaccounted for factor in our genes (both my parents are Nigerians). In hindsight, the ignorance is staggering.

I now know more about hair than I ever thought necessary so I know better.
 
About other AA who seemingly could not get past el, nl or sl?
I'm sitting here thinking about it, and I'm not sure I ever really noticed or had specific examples of people that I thought were "stuck". I never talked about hair with other girls.

Before hair boards did you think they had the short hair gene?
I'd never heard of this before I joined hair boards...

Did you think rentention and/or bad hair practices was the reason back then?
I do remember in 6th-7th grade seeing a few really bad weaves and clearly visible scalp sores, so I guess I figured they just had bad practices.

Did you think they just preferred short cuts?
No, but again I'm not sure I thought about it that deeply

What were you doing back then that now you realized contributed to your growth and/or retention?
My mother was a cosmetologist once upon a time (before I was in the world), and no one did my hair except her. My sister and I never had relaxers more than 3-4 times a year, always deep conditioned (LeKair Cholesterol always reminds me of my childhood :lol:), always used daily moisturizers, always covered our hair at night, etc. because it's just what we were trained to do.

I remember being younger and family/family friends commenting on how nice or long our hair was (especially my sister's, because her hair is much thicker than mine), but it never occurred to me to care what was going on with their hair. I guess I was just too self-absorbed :lol:

It's also the case that I didn't grow up around a lot of AA kids, so I think I was just sort of oblivious to a lot of things about the Black Hair topic.
 
About other AA who seemingly could not get past el, nl or sl? I thought it was genetic and that I had a better "grade" of hair.

Before hair boards did you think they had the short hair gene? Yes

Did you think rentention and/or bad hair practices was the reason back then?
Yes
Did you think they just preferred short cuts? Only if it was in a fly hair cut..other than that no.

What were you doing back then that now you realized contributed to your growth and/or retention? My mom didnt let me get things that other girls got that broke their hair off. I never had a jerri curl, never got braids with fake hair..I washed frequently..My mom kept my hair in braids and moisturized..
 
I haven't always been APL or longer, but I was BSL/MBL until my teens although, I haven't seen it since then.

About other AA who seemingly could not get past el, nl or sl?
My sisters' had short hair so I saw what they did to theirs. There hair was much coarser than mine. They didn't necessarily do more than what I did but somehow they took care of their hair less. I always thought they rubbed the back of it out in their sleep because the hair at the backs of their heads was always 1 or 2 inches. :perplexed

Before hair boards did you think they had the short hair gene?
Not necessarily, my mom has never had longer than ear length hair so I thought that it could be genetic with her.

Did you think rentention and/or bad hair practices was the reason back then?
I knew it had something to do with retention because it was usually chewed off looking.

Did you think they just preferred short cuts?
:lol: No because these same women/girls would have a heart attack at the sight of some scissors and their hair never looked cut, just ragged. Long hair was also a big deal to most black girls.

What were you doing back then that now you realized contributed to your growth and/or retention?
I didn't do much of anything. I wore a super high pony at the very top of my head. :look: I rarely even washed my hair...gross, I know. I didn't use products, heat, anything- just put it in the high pony, wore a scarf at night and put some water on a brush and fixed the edges every morning. I didn't even redo the ponytail, just pulled the hair at the top to tighten in every few days- super low manipulation.
 
About other AA who seemingly could not get past el, nl or sl? I always wondered why that was. I thought some of it had to do with bad hair practices. I also noticed at an early age some textures seemed more difficult to grow long.

Before hair boards did you think they had the short hair gene?
No. I never thought about this. I just believed that people were not doing rights things for their hair texture to thrive.

Did you think rentention and/or bad hair practices was the reason back then?
I always felt like bad practices played a role.

Did you think they just preferred short cuts?
No. Most of the black girls I grew up with did not ever cut their hair. I also could tell the difference between black women who had cut their hair and women whose hair had broken off.

What were you doing back then that now you realized contributed to your growth and/or retention?

My mother is the one who first taught me about proper hair care. Sometimes different friends and relatives would ask to braid my hair (not because it wasn't cared for but I think because it had grown long people thought it would be fun to style) and someimtes she would say no. When I asked why, she would say because they combed and brushed my hair too rough and she didn't want it to break off. She said she didn't understand why some black women combed and brushed their hair so rough. She said she didn't believe in that. I guess at an early age I was able to pick up on how you are supposed to properly detangle hair and not over manipulate it amongst other things.
 
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