Looking back and moving forward....

[foxieroxienyc]

Good morning ladies... So it's Saturday morning, and I'm sittin here watching my cartoons (yes 28 yrs old and I still dig Sat morn cartoons and cereal, lol), and I'm pincurling my hair after a fresh wash/roller set last night (Shtow's method - thanks girl works like a dream!) . And I'm sitting here thinking about all the horrible things I've done to my hair and thankful for what I know now. So I thought it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane and actually spill the beans on your hair faux pas and/or embarassing moments!

So I'll be the first to confess...

About 3 or 4 years ago, when I was wearing my hair natural I decided to - for a performance with my dance company at the time - "straighten" my hair. Well I proceeded to straighten "said hair" with an electric hot comb and crispy burnt plate flat iron (I liked it cause it got REALLY hot). I'm not even sure I used a heat serum or not, no clue. Well by that evening, my hair was a poofy mess and didnt actually straighten well at all - but in MY eyes, I was ROCKIN the hell out of a flat ironed look. My best friend (a guy who knows hair) said to me Rox, you didnt straighten it enough if you did it right it would have a bounce and swing to it. I was like, um no you're wrong I look fabulous. Well the other day, we were talking about my hair and how it's come a long way and is so healthy and has so much bounce and he brought up this situation in our past and told me that I looked like a MESS! LOL . Looking back HE WAS RIGHT!! I'm so embarassed over that one, I wish I had pics to show, but trust me, you guys would CRUCIFY ME if you saw it. lol.

Other hair nightmares I have committed:

• Using an electric hotcomb on my ends in my weave THEN flat iron on high to get that ultra straight look... I did that every other day or so... Can you say broken ends...

• "Trashing Out" my hair (dry detangling very roughly and pulling clumps of hair from the comb or brush)

• OVERPROCESSING my relaxers, attempting to do them myself and relaxing the entire head instead of JUST the new growth (I have vowed to only go to the salon now to get my relaxers. There are just some things I feel more comfortable leaving in the hands of a professional. My stylist is amazing).

• Believing that the reddish brown hue to my hair was my natural hair color and highlights that came out in the sun.... lol Yeah the hair that grows from my hair is a beautiful dark healthy brown/off black (I love my raven head natural look).

Knowledge is definitely power!!

Now it's your turn....

 

[malibu4590]

Looking back...I knew bonded weaves (without a cap) were horrible for my hair yet I didn't care because my hair looked so "nice".

Moving forward...I will kill anyone who comes near me with that glue

My siggie tells the tale of my hair transformation and that's not even my most updated hair photos.

 

[Leslie_C]

Looking back:
once upon a time I blow dried and curled with a curling iron daily, relaxed root to tip, thought hot 6 oil was a moisturizer, didnt deep condition.....and the list could go on.

Moving forward:
After transitioning to natural for a year and gradually cutting off my relaxed ends...in early 2007 I texlaxed a virgin head of haid and have treated it right ever since. I have a totally different head of hair than I did a few years ago. Ill be continuing on this path to reach great lengths in 08!

PS whats Shtow's method ?

 

[foxieroxienyc]

Thanks for sharing ladies!

I dont want to botch up her method by trying to type it out, go here to find her fotki:

http://healthytextures.typepad.com/my_journey_to_healthy_hai/2007/12/pincurling-tuto.html

And then you can get her password in her LHCF profile.

This method produces a tighter more spirally curl. I also do regular old fashioned pin curls to depending on the look I want to achieve...

 

[shtow]

OH GOODY SOMEONE TRIED MY PINCURL METHOD! I AM SO GLAD IT WORKED FOR U CUZ IT IS WORKING LIKE A CHARM FOR ME. I WANA C PICS GIRL!!!!

-My hair blooper was dying it fire red, and then adding rinse over rinse when the color washed out. Oh yeah, putting baby oil on hair and flat ironing with dax wax and castor oil. It came out straight but greasy as heck

 

[prospurr4]

Looking back, it's a wonder that I have any decent length at all. I self-rexlaxed incorrectly for years, regularly running the relaxer down the length of my hair. On a weekly basis, I used to set my hair with gobs of Motions Wrap Foam (extra firm formula, of course) to make "hard" curls. Then I would follow-up with spritz to make sure my curls "stayed hard." I didn't use direct heat too often, but when I did, I would lose so much hair...and I thought this was "normal." If I didn't hear a sizzle, if steam wasn't coming from the curling iron or flatiron, or if there wasn't a burnt smell in room, I wasn't getting my hair straight enough. Amazingly, with all this abuse, I still managed to stay around a damaged SL.

I am so grateful for LHCF and other hairboards. From the knowledge I have gained, my hair has made a complete turnaround. I still prefer to self-relax (well actually, texlax). I don't use direct heat or any products that contain SD Alcohol (above-mentioned wrap foam, spritz, etc.).

My hair is healthy now, and in 2008, I expect to reach full MBL, then WSL.

 

[WriterGirl]

If I didn't hear a sizzle, if steam wasn't coming from the curling iron or flatiron, or if there wasn't a burnt smell in room, I wasn't getting my hair straight enough.

YES! I thought the same thing! And I wonder why I saw breakage all over my bathroom floor...

Looking forward, I just want my hair to get back healthy and then retain length. My goal is to get to SL in 2008.

 

[foxieroxienyc]

Shtow girl you know I already took pics... lol I'm a camera whore. I'll be posting them later in my fotki.


OMG can I tell all of you how I would straighten my hair!!? So when I did have the weaves in, I would use serum to straighten my hair that I left out. But I used both the electric hot comb AND the flat iron to do it (both on high of course). If I didnt hear that sizzle and smoke coming from the irons, it wasnt high enough. My room used to be FILLED WITH SMOKE! Like I was having a barbecue and didnt open the windows! Luckily I didnt leave too much hair out when I did my weaves - I didnt want to deal with my own hair...

Moving Forward: I have an intensely positive view of my own hair. There was a time when I decided that it would never see the light of day again. And that's scary to think that my mind got that warped when wearing weaves. I have VOWED to myself from here out to take care of it, and learn what makes it thrive because black hair is beautiful. I dont want to have to rely on a salon and stylist to do it for me - it grows out of my head and if I can learn what my body needs to be in optimum condition, I can do the same for my hair. For me my hair journey is about learning how to love myself from head to toe.

 

[ryanshope]

Looking back---Spritzing my hair with Pump IT up spray to get the curls superhard, never slept with a doo-rag, relaxers every month

Moving forward--loving my hair's texture, limiting relaxers to 3 -4 times a year, cutting the flat iron use down and staying healthy(for myself and hair)..