Pre LHCF: I honestly didn't think it was wrong

[pink gator]

Some of y'all's reasons are making me cringe...but I have some that will make you squirm!

Before LHCF, very recently, I never thought it was wrong to:

1. use holding spritz on each section of hair before flat-ironing;

2. not moisturize because I felt it would break my face out and weigh my hair down;

3. not DC at least once a week;

4. use the highest setting on my flat iron;

5. not totally read the ingredients on a product label. As long as it didn't have beeswax or lanolin--which really breaks me out, then it was all good.

6. let stylists have free reign on my hair. I had a stylist who used a rattail to comb the relaxer through--from my scalp to my ends. And I wondered why: a) my hair was sooo thin; and b) I had hair sticking to my scalp from burns and patches that I'm now starting to regrow.

7. believe most stylists' advice were bond. My last stylist claimed that she hated taking care of her OWN hair!

8. flat iron dirty hair when it just wouldn't "act" right instead of just co-washing or shampooing. I know my strands were screaming!

9. not to pre-poo to retain the moisture level in my hair.

10. not to use a leave-in after EVERY co-wash and poo.

 

[natieya]

Yooo I thought my new growth was my hair reverting after a relaxer. Sooooo damn dumb. Smh @ myself.

This was me, too! Especially because everyone I talked to thought (and still think) that certain products can cause your hair to revert. I now know that a relaxer is a permanent process. There is no such thing as reversion.

I also didn't use neutralizer all the time, and I used the highest heat settings all the time on my flat iron and curling iron. I rarely used any kind of heat protection.
Oh, and I used to relax my hair ever 4 weeks. My hair used to be a lighter brown from all the chemical damage and overlapping.

 

[blasiancurlie]

I think my number one thing is that i thought that i NEEDED a relaxer to tame my hair. After coming to LHCF and seeing the beautiful natural heads, I realized that you can manage natural hair with the right techniques and products and most importantly natural hair can be BEAUTIFUL.

So with that said, I wouldn't say that relaxing my hair was wrong. But I just mistakenly thought that that was my only option.

 

[natieya]

Some of y'all's reasons are making me cringe...but I have some that will make you squirm!

Before LHCF, very recently, I never thought it was wrong to:

1. use holding spritz on each section of hair before flat-ironing;

2. not moisturize because I felt it would break my face out and weigh my hair down;

3. not DC at least once a week;

4. use the highest setting on my flat iron;

5. not totally read the ingredients on a product label. As long as it didn't have beeswax or lanolin--which really breaks me out, then it was all good.

6. let stylists have free reign on my hair. I had a stylist who used a rattail to comb the relaxer through--from my scalp to my ends. And I wondered why: a) my hair was sooo thin; and b) I had hair sticking to my scalp from burns and patches that I'm now starting to regrow.

7. believe most stylists' advice were bond. My last stylist claimed that she hated taking care of her OWN hair!

8. flat iron dirty hair when it just wouldn't "act" right instead of just co-washing or shampooing. I know my strands were screaming!

9. not to pre-poo to retain the moisture level in my hair.

10. not to use a leave-in after EVERY co-wash and poo.

I did all these, too. Oh yeah, I also NEVER deep conditioned. It was too time consuming, IMO. I know better now. And my hair & I are now friends...as opposed to the bitter enemies we used to be, lol.

 

[prospurr4]

I really thought it was okay to...

• think that my hair would never grow as long as my sister's who has 3c/4a hair when mine is 4b. NOTE: Now, my hair is longer than hers.
• have hair all over the sink and floor after I finished flatironing
• hear a sizzling sound and/or smell burning hair during flatironing
• run the relaxer cream down the length of my hair
• saturate my hair with wrap foam that contained SD Alcohol as the 1st ingredient
• have hard, crunchy hair because afterall, the curls would last all week
• sleep with my hair uncovered on a 100% cotton pillowcase.
• tie my hair down with a cotton bandana
• let my ends rub along my collars/clothing
• never moisturize my hair or ends...it never even occurred to me to do that.
• have a crappy diet and expect thick, healthy hair to emerge from my scalp

No wonder my hair never grew! Thank God for LHCF!!!

 

[tocktick]

flat-ironing & blow-drying without heat protectant
not using conditioner
blow drying after almost every wash
flat ironing nearly every day
leaving relaxers on for 40mins+
sleeping with nothing covering my hair
not shampooing whilst hair was in braids (so 2-2 1/2 months at a time)

there was many more unfortunately.

 

[Solitude]

I think that what is bad and what is good is all relative.

Some think that relaxing every 4-6 weeks is bad. I did that before and still do and I have no problems.

Some think that using heat is bad. Some can do it everyday w/ no problems while if others do it 3x a week they get breakage.

Its all relative.

I agree that it's all relative. I especially get tired of all the grease-bashing on this site. While some things are clearly damaging to the hair, other things are to each it's own. Some folks use hair grease, cheap products & wash every 2 weeks while others use $300 hair dryers, $60 perms, growth aides, and other pricey products while co-washing constantly with the same results .

• For me, I've learned from this site that I need to limit the heat styling and take better care of my ends.

 

[GodsGrace]

Let's see, pre-LHCF, I used to think:

All hairdressers knew what was best for my hair, even when I knew better
Blowdrying wet hair was ok (that still makes me cringe)
I had to relax as soon as I felt any kind of newgrowth
It was okay to relax down to the ends
Braids put in too tight were okay (my edges are suffering now)
Sleeping with a cotton bandana on a cotton pillowcase was okay
Washing my hair once a week was too much (according to granny)

 

[msa]

I honestly didn't think it was wrong to keep my braids in for months until they were hanging by a couple of hairs without washing them not once.

 

[marla]

1. To either never wash or wash once in between relaxers because I didn't want to "wash out" the relaxer.
2. Blow dry on high heat, then flat iron on high heat as well. I broke all of my hair off. I was in tears for days

 

[Platinum]

*Leaving relaxers in for atleast an hour because I wanted "bone-straight" hair.
*Removing my microbraids and applying a relaxer immediately after.
*Relaxing my hair every 4 weeks.
*Having braids and not washing them.

 

[cocoaluv]

1. To either never wash or wash once in between relaxers because I didn't want to "wash out" the relaxer.
2. Blow dry on high heat, then flat iron on high heat as well. I broke all of my hair off. I was in tears for days

My mother still believes this and cringes at the fact that I was my hair 1-2 times a week.

 

[cupcakes]

i used 2:

comb my hair like 20 times a day
never moisturize
and wash every 2 or 3 weeks

 

[locabouthair]

to relax right after i took my braids out. this really damaged my hair.

 

[anilyn]

How did we even get stuck in this washing every 2-3 weeks thing? I mean, is it written in the black folks rule book somewhere? My mother is beautician and she still schedules her clients for washes every two weeks. I don't even tell her how often I wash and co-wash because I'd for sure get the "you're gonna dry out your hair washing it that much" speech.

 

[Extremus]

1. Only washing my hair on relax days
2. The rare time I did wash my hair at home, I wouldn't use a conditioner erplexed Then would proceed to blow-dry (on wet hair) and then flat-iron. No heat protectant and probably Pink lotion as my leave-in
3. Since I only washed my hair for every 4-6 weeks, I would have MAJOR build-up. Again my "leaave-ins" were: Pink lotion, oil sheens, and oils (but weren't used as sealants) My wraps and ponytails were soooo stiff!
4. Dirty hair grows! I lived by that! my hair was past APL, but that's disgusting now

Blowdrying wet hair was ok (that still makes me cringe)

It's wrong? I still do this

 

[GodsGrace]

1. Since I only washed my hair for every 4-6 weeks, I would have MAJOR build-up. Again my "leaave-ins" were: Pink lotion, oil sheens, and oils (but weren't used as sealants) My wraps and ponytails were soooo stiff!

It's wrong? I still do this

I used to use Pink lotion too, the original thick gooey one. I don't know what I was thinking, that made my hair so sticky and stiff, but I used it religiously.

About the blowdrying wet hair, it's more damaging to blow dry wet hair because your hair is most fragile when it's wet and all the tension and heat will cause it to break more easily. It's better to let it dry (either air dry or under the dryer) about 80% first, then you can blow-dry it (using a heat protectant) and flat-iron it or what not. Or you can do a rollerset, whichever method works for you.

 

[PuddingPop]

Leaving braid in for months at a time without washing them. I did sea breeze my scalp though.

Not deep conditioning

Putting relaxer on my broken. frizzy ends thinking that would help the situation.

Not using a moiusturizing conditioner ever. I used Motions CPR as my only conditioner for well over a year. At the time I didnt know anything about moisturizing and protien conditioners. I thought all conditioners were the same

I once did an Aphogee hard core treatment and followed it up with the 2 minute reconstrustor. I was wondering why my hair was still breaking after I used this miracle treatment that everyone recommended.

 

[lovenharmony]

I didn't think it was wrong to;

1. Not moisturize my hair for two weeks or longer
2. Wear cotton bandannas, stockings, cotton t-shirts etc. on my hair to bed instead of silk bonnets.
3. Not wash my hair for two weeks or longer
4. To use sponge rollers instead of plastic
5. Not use a heat protectant when I blowdried my hair.
6. Use mineral oil and petroleum to "moisturize" my hair
7. Detangle my hair starting at the roots
8. See alot of short hairs on my shoulders..I thought it meant my hair was shedding instead of breaking!
9. Everytime I wash my hair to wash it two or three times with a non-moisturizing harsh shampoo to be sure my hair was really clean
10. To hear a sizzle when I was flat ironing or curling my hair - I thought it was the iron working to get my hair nice and smooth
11. Brush my hair with hard plastic bristles to get it smooth
12. Put alchohol based products in my hair like gel, mousse and hairspray and not clarify and condition soon afterwards
13. Neglect using products that were not specified for "kinky, curly" hair - in other words, if it didn't have a black person on the front of it or had the words Africa, relaxed, braids or frizzy on it, I wouldn't buy it.
14. Not deep condition...thought it was too much "extra" for me to do and that only the salon could do it right.
15. Change relaxer brands
16. Relax every time I felt NG
17. Double process my hair (relaxing AND using permanent light brown color on ultra damaged hair)
18. Overlap my relaxer during a touch up.
19. Have chemical burns on my scalp when I relaxed - I thought that meant that the relaxer "took" well.
20. Think that all people with curly, kinky textured hair was destined to have short hair and the ones that did were either "mixed" or were lucky that they had genes for long hair.
21. Believe that using relaxers was the only way to acheive long hair
22. Believe that you either had Kinky, curly hair or you had straight smooth hair...no textures in between

Boy have I come a long way!!!

 

[AlkalineSteam]

I didn't think it was wrong to:

• blowdry my wet hair (my stylist did, so why shouldn't I?)
• to have no clue about DC'ing. I was always annoyed when my stylist did it since I felt like it took too long.
• to never moisturize. I'm still trying to find the right products, but at least now I make an effort.
• envy other folks hair. I remember when I saw a sista with my dream hair in the mall. I went to the restroom and cried!

 

[infojunkie]

1. Thought washing my hair once every 2-6 weeks was ok

2. Used Pink Oil like it was something special

3. NEVER slept with any scarf on my head unless I had just gotten my hair done that day.

4. Used blow dryers and curling irons at the highest setting possible and the curling iron was used daily ( since being on this site and going to the dominicans I havent used a curling iron in YEARS).


5. Cutting my hair ( no trim but CUT) every 6 weeks after a relaxer is the only way it would grow. God I was stupid with this one



6. I could NEVER do my hair on my own.

Well now, I've got nothing to add cause I did everything on this list. I found this site looking for a new cut.