Healthy Hair Gone Bad

[cantate]

I am new to this site. I have watched my sisters hair grow like crazy since joining this forum. So I've decided to give it a try. Normally I have thick, beautiful hair. The problem is over the last two years(due to my job....professional singer/actress), I have been through micro braids, weaves and yes color. My hair had been natural for the past 2 years until April, I gave up and relaxed it. It was soo thick and hard to manage. I watched my thick head of hair become brittle. My edges for the first time in my life was thin and on the left side.... a bald spot! One side healthier and longer. The side that is extremely damaged is where it just broke off due to the color. Since the relaxer, I have let my edges breathe and they are growing back. But the problem is I still have color on the ends of my hair. I am in the process of finding a short style, cutting of the color. My hair has never been soooo short. I miss my hair but want it to be healthy more than anything. Please help!!!! I am open to any advice.

My regimen now is as follows:
I wash 2 times a week with redken extreme shampoo and conditioner. One of those times I deep condition. Then I normally lather it with dudley moisturizing creme, and let it air dry. Lately I have been wrapping my hair and letting it dry overnight. I also use aveda anti-humectant pomade to help style.

 

[MJ]

Cantate

 

[IrisDaVirus]

Welcome to the site and don't give up. Your hair will grow back with a lot of tlc. There are plenty of members who can give you great advice and tips on how to revive your hair. Good luck.

 

[PinkPeony]

Bey is that you?







Anyhoo welcome Cantante and I hope you'll enjoy the board.

First I suggest you do a strand test to determine if your hair needs protein or moisture.
it sounds like you need moisture but better safe then sorry.
I don't know what ingredients redken shampoo and condi have but I would try and limit the use of shampoo to about once a week and wash the other time just with a condi.

Keracare Humecto
Nexxus humectress
Any suave or v05

Are great moisturizing condi's and good for co-washes(great in my experience maybe your hair likes something else).

 

[loveable37]

DONT GIVE UP!!!!
I had long (almost) waist length hair,and i decided to strengh my relaxer out by makin lots of plaits with beads.

I didnt give my hair any TLC so i decided to take them done after 4 weeks MATTED.KNOTS i cut almost 10 inches off now my hair thin like water so i am not gonna give up we know what it takes to acieve our goal again so lets GET TO IT!!!

 

[Amber_moon]

Try substituting one of those shampoos with a no poo/cowash and have you tried try laying off the color for a little while.

I'm still pretty new here myself.... but when I started my hair was a lot like yours (dry and brittle) and I started co-washing once a week and WOW! What a difference it made!!

Also, is there some way you can sneak some avocado butter into your daily routine? That stuff softened up my hair so much!

 

[hairmaster]

WELCOME
REDEKEN Extreme is a very good place to start the anti-snap works it's a leave in

 

[Amour]

Bey is that you?

 

[mochamadness]

Welcome!

 

[Enchantmt]

Welcome to LHCF! Here are some threads to get you started:


DSD's New comer's guide to starting out

Sistaslick's Hair Breakage 101

Supergirl's guide to breakage

I hope those help. Good luck!

ETA: 2 more

Help for searching and using LHCF

A Dose of Inspiration: Day to night drastic hair changes

 

[Seeking8Rights]

I am new to this site. I have watched my sisters hair grow like crazy since joining this forum. So I've decided to give it a try. Normally I have thick, beautiful hair. The problem is over the last two years(due to my job....professional singer/actress), I have been through micro braids, weaves and yes color. My hair had been natural for the past 2 years until April, I gave up and relaxed it. It was soo thick and hard to manage. I watched my thick head of hair become brittle. My edges for the first time in my life was thin and on the left side.... a bald spot! One side healthier and longer. The side that is extremely damaged is where it just broke off due to the color. Since the relaxer, I have let my edges breathe and they are growing back. But the problem is I still have color on the ends of my hair. I am in the process of finding a short style, cutting of the color. My hair has never been soooo short. I miss my hair but want it to be healthy more than anything. Please help!!!! I am open to any advice.

My regimen now is as follows:
I wash 2 times a week with redken extreme shampoo and conditioner. One of those times I deep condition. Then I normally lather it with dudley moisturizing creme, and let it air dry. Lately I have been wrapping my hair and letting it dry overnight. I also use aveda anti-humectant pomade to help style.

The other post and links are very good suggestions. Stay encourage as my hair was about 1.5 inches long in 2003 and is now at about bra-strap length.

I would also like to mention that since your hair is relaxed, you now should focus on maintaining proper moisture and protein balance. I'm an advocate of maintaining a healthy diet rich in protein, vegetables, water, fish, and fruits. Our hair grows from our scalp which the skin and to nuture such we first start with maintaing a healthy diet of which will permeate throughout the rest of our hair. Gymfreak336 another LHCF member has a really good thread on hair and nutrition, that I would endorse any day. http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=132569

Redken Extreme is a good product line, however, try to be careful of sulfates in shampoos as too much can dry hair out. A couple hair care lines to consider is Aveda or Davines (I love both, but Davines is better, IMO).

Give yourself a moisture repair treatment to soften up your hair, Biolage Cera Repair Hydratherapie is a very good product. They also have a Fortetherapie that will strengthen hair as well.

Also periodically clarify, some one here clarify weekly and some monthly. It's a good routine for your hair because it helps remove build up and allows for the hair to get oxygen and breath so your hair can grow at a normal rate. When you clarify, always follow with a rich moisturizing conditioner or treatment.

Due to your profession, I'm sure it's hard to stay away from heat and it's okay. Just make sure you deep condition every week to offset any possible damage from excessive usage of heat.

To get some ideas of what other ladies are doing, try Fotki browsing (photo sharing virtual albums and many include their regimens, product reviews, hair progress, etc). Most of the ladies include links in their signature via picture or just the link itself.

Feel free to pm me with any questions and I would be glad to help.

 

[curlycraze]

Good luck with you new hair journey. I pre-poo with Redkin Extreme condish.

 

[betty-boo]

Hello! Welcome! I'm sure you'll get a lot of advice. This board is excellent! What everyone has said so far is good advice. I just also want to know, are you wrapping your hair while its wet?

Macherieamour has a good tutorial on wrapping hair amongst lots of other good things!:

http://healthytextures.typepad.com/my_journey_to_healthy_hai/2007/06/index.html