#1 cause of major setbacks is...

[Aviah]

You tell me! If you've ever had a major/noticable setback, what has it been?
ETA: I forgot HEAT! Ah well, that was the case for me previously, with dying, scissors and improper moisturization...

 

[DecemberBaby]

My sides and crown broke off I think from wearing a ponytail 24/7 when I was stretching.

 

[Ramya]

scissors! I recently got a haircut because my hair grows in a weird shape and always has to be shaped up to look nice. Some people will wear their hair uneven and wonky but I will not. I sacrifice length for beauty.

 

[Pandora1975]

For me, pure laziness. When I don't follow my reggie, I pay.

 

[Aviah]

For me, pure laziness. When I don't follow my reggie, I pay.

Oh I hear you too clearly...

 

[Mercie]

I've had a big setback when I first started doing my hair.

1. Lack of knowledge
2. Braids w/o letting my hair rest
3. My mom not knowing how to install tracks in well, lol

 

[Natural Glow]

For me, pure laziness. When I don't follow my reggie, I pay.

Yup. Laziness is the cause of most setbacks for me too.
Laziness leads to>tangles and knots which leads to>rough manipulation which leads to>breakage
Also all dyes except semi-perm cause my hair to be VERY dry so I've had a few setbacks because of dyes.

 

[brittdadutchess]

Well my achilles heel is rough manipulation as well as dryness. I go through a common up down cycle with those two.

 

[doll-baby]

1) Not moisturizing my hair enough while stretching relaxers, that lead to breakage ear my nape.

2) I use to always cut my hair "even" to it's shortest length, so if the back of my hair was touching shoulder length and the sides were neck length then I would cut the back to near length. Once I stopped doing that I was finally able to see my hair grow

 

[BeautifulFlower]

I believe heat and improper color application is the main reason alot of ladies on here have lost length.

 

[RadiantBeauty]

When my hair lacks moisture.

 

[sheedahp]

My sides and crown broke off I think from wearing a ponytail 24/7 when I was stretching.

If your ponytails are loose, not too tight, can they still cause breakage?

 

[DecemberBaby]

I think you can still get breakage regardless especially if you wear your ponytail in the same place all the time like I used to do. I would always wear it high instead of switching between high and low, like I do now.

 

[msa]

I haven't had any set backs. But I notice that a lot of people's setbacks come from not knowing what they're putting on their heads and why. Also, it seems to me that people use a product or technique because someone raved about it without asessing whether it will be good for their particular head and that leads to some major problems.

 

[DecemberBaby]

IA. I had to stop jumping on every bandwagon!

 

[Cherokee-n-Black]

I often lose length dealing with professional stylists. Either they are scissor-happy, or they use sub-par products that don't do anything for the health of my hair. Whenever I want to grow my hair out, I avoid professional stylists like the plague. All of my hair missteps have involved professionals who couldn't care less what my hair looks like after I walk out the door of the salon, as long as it looked good when I got out of the chair and pulled out my wallet. My current stylist is a notable exception, but only because I made my expectations clear (and told him NO sodium lauryl sulfate shampoo!)

 

[Lovestyr]

I dont I have expereinced a setback so far. If anything I think I could have had made more progress by now If I would have been moisturizing my hair more often.

 

[sheedahp]

I think you can still get breakage regardless especially if you wear your ponytail in the same place all the time like I used to do. I would always wear it high instead of switching between high and low, like I do now.

does the same go for bunning?

 

[sheedahp]

I haven't had any set backs. But I notice that a lot of people's setbacks come from not knowing what they're putting on their heads and why. Also, it seems to me that people use a product or technique because someone raved about it without asessing whether it will be good for their particular head and that leads to some major problems.

So how do you know what ingredients are good for your hair unless you do trial and error.

 

[STLCoverGirl]

I voted other, for me it's too much heat. Heat is really the only negative thing in my "regimine". I keep it very simple, wash-n-go's, twistouts and braidouts. I am lazy with my hair, but my hair likes to be left alone.

 

[bermudabeauty]

not enough moisture.

 

[msa]

So how do you know what ingredients are good for your hair unless you do trial and error.

Trial and error is good to a certain extent. But what I see on the boards is just product junkyism. It usually doesn't take 13 conditioners to figure out what works for your hair if you've done your research and paid attention to how your hair reacts to products and their ingredients.

The problem is, people don't start by doing the research first. They just see who has the longest or prettiest hair or what's popular at the time and do that. Then they wonder why their hair is breaking or they have a setback.

 

[InnerSoul]

my vote:

relaxer, improper moisturizing, and other.

Other meaning... heating tools.

 

[Iluvsmuhgrass]

MSA excellent post. I had to learn first hand that everything doesn't work for everyone.

My major setback was laziness (when my hair gets it, I moisturize twice a day and pay close attention to my scalp), massive matting (it gets to a certain length then I do something stupid that causes massive mats and I'm back to square one), and trying to follow someone else's regimen (I stick with my mainstay go to's and my hair is relatively happy... when I cross the line, my hair is not happy. At all. )

Oh and improper stretching. When I first started I did some not so smart things when stretching and it lead to breakage galore. Do research before you stretch and by all means listen to your hair.

 

[nymane]

I haven't had a setback, but before I started my HHJ my hair broke off from pure NEGLECT & when that was combine with NO trims...my split ends traveled right up the hair shaft

 

[Junebug D]

Laziness, impatience, dryness, heat, and scissors.

And evil products too.

 

[Pooks]

For me using heat too frequently...

 

[GulfCoastChica]

My biggest setback came from not properly taking out a sew-in. Before that that I had a few minor to moderate setbacks with coloring and not properly moisturizing.

 

[chrisanddonniesmommy]

The first four, definitely! But, more so, having a scissor-happy former "stylist" and dryness hurt me more. However, I've left the stylist (whoo-hoo!) and I'm moisturizing my hair each day. No more setbacks (hopefully).

 

[ShantWhite]

Trial and error is good to a certain extent. But what I see on the boards is just product junkyism. It usually doesn't take 13 conditioners to figure out what works for your hair if you've done your research and paid attention to how your hair reacts to products and their ingredients.

The problem is, people don't start by doing the research first. They just see who has the longest or prettiest hair or what's popular at the time and do that. Then they wonder why their hair is breaking or they have a setback.

Amen.

My problem wasn't trying new things. It was adding new products to my old products (because I KNEW they worked). So I would use them all together or too frequently . Now armed with more knowledge and continuing to do the proper research, I am slowly finding the right balance in the new ones alone.