#1 cause of major setbacks is...

[JenBenCal]

Well I just recently started my hair care journey, but I got lazy one week and skipped my co-washes/moisturize & seal which seemed to piss my hair off haha. I saw a lot of breakage so, for me it was the dryness that came with not moisturizing daily and not co-washing.

 

[FluffyRed]

I have had SO MANY setbacks!
- stylists (several, but one major)
- heat (several times)
- friction on a cotton pillowcase (several times)
- lack of protein at the line of demarcation while stretching (one major time)
- overmanipulation
- no manipulation, if shed texlaxed strands are allowed to cause mats (a couple times)
- overprocessing/not protecting relaxed ends

My hair has broken off *many* times over the years (sigh). Hard to pick just one top cause!

 

[the_sweetest_berry]

My major setback is not being consistent. I know what I should be doing for my hair but I have trouble doing it regularly and for a long period of time.

 

[manter26]

I had a major setback from overdoing the hair care thing and trying to do absolutely everything I saw on the boards. What works for some does not work for everyone.

I cowashed daily and even though my hair was suffering major breakage, it took me a while to face the fact that what I was doing before was working much better for me. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Do things with the understanding that it's trial and error. If you experience error, move on.

 

[Duff]

for me it was braids. my hair and braids are like . at least with the fake hair kind. this happened when I was younger

 

[MACgirl2k2]

what did you do?

A little bit of everything. Transition, Relax, too much protein, too little protein, lack of moisture, overlapping relaxers. I'm ready to do a solange knowles. But then again, I might *** that up too.

 

[Ms_CoCo37]

For me it was a combination of rough manipulation (due to impatience), wrapping my hair too much, and not moisturizing enough.

I'm so glad I found this site!!!

 

[bablou00]

I had a major setback after going 2yrs strong and my hair was almost full brastrap. However I let a friend relax my hair, started hot yoga and cowashing my hair daily with hard water, colored my hair with feria and stopped coming to the boards....all that combined f*#ked it up. Now that Im natural cowashing is okay on my hair when twisted up. However I am happy that it happened because I probably would of never been thought about going natural.

 

[ThePerfectScore]

Flat irons... which I cut out... um... and rough handeling.. I tried to comb out 5 months post one time.... NEVER AGAIN.. I will Co-wash it detangle,, then blow dry the roots before I try to brush or comb to style my NG

 

[LadyPaniolo]

Oh man... So many setbacks.

It seems like every time I try to do a protective style I end up accidentally lopping off a huge chunk of hair. I have put in so many weaves and I have sworn again and again that I will never do it again but I can't seem to stop.

Right now I know I need a trim pretty bad but I'm THIS CLOSE to WL in the back at least, and I am afraid to trim before I reach that milestone I know it's ridiculous. DH looks at me like but I just want to be able to say I made it from TWA to WL in 3 years... I know some would say what's the big deal? So you'll make it to WL in 3.5 years or whatever. I guess it's a pride thing.

Right now I'm putting in micros myself and as I go I've been trying to trim all the damaged ends without clipping the undamaged ones.... do you have any idea how long that takes!!! Sigh. I'm just rambling now.

 

[metro_qt]

My biggest setback to date was because of me trying to improperly do my own relaxers.
It made me BigChop before BigChopping was even cool... 10 years ago....


My other setbacks have mostly involved knots... and the detangling of my hair...
Have lost a LOT of hair that way over the years...

 

[Jetblackhair]

My setback just recently happened and to be honest I don't know what went wrong. I suspect it was a few things versus just one.

 

[discodumpling]

I have yet to have a setback since I started my journey. Lack of patience and non-acceptance of "what is", & boredom seem to be a major problems around here IMO.

My hair idols for the most part do "nothing" with their hair. They keep it simple & it seems to work.

 

[FAMUDva]

My biggest set back has been heat damage and stylist who cut when they are "trimming". I love the fresh look of nice crisp ends so I approve of trims, BUT I don't like to have 1-3 inches chopped to get those crips ends.

And the heat damage... that has set me back more than anything!
It only takes one time!

 

[Taina]

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.

WORD
I don't see the point of having long but ugly, empty ends, careless hair. I preffer to have it short but pretty.

I guess for me is also scissors, i'm a scissors maniac, whn i was relaxed i lUV to had short hair, but i preffer it long when it's natural .. so i'm gonna guess wht is going to be now

 

[Encore]

Dryness and overprocessing.

 

[n_vizion]

For me it's been too much touching. I have this strange habit of always fiddling with my hair. I can't keep my hands out of it. I know all that manipulation can't be good.

Another major set back for me was when I didn't condition my hair properly. I would condition the front and sides of my hair properly because I could see it and easily get to it. Meanwhile, the back of my hair suffered. Now I make a point to step out of the shower and apply deep conditioner section by section even if it takes twice as long as before.

 

[Aviah]

Seems to be the main cause is dryness and improper moisturization, followed by rough manipulation. That was probably why I had to rim so much last winter, I was impatient for class some mornings, and tooo lazy to moisturize some nights... Or even cover my hair

 

[jerseygurl]

Pre-LHCF, I had a setback with braids (improper detangling) that took me from near APL to neck length. But since I found the boards, I haven't had a setback yet and I pray it stays that way.

I try not to jump on any bandwagons, research products before I use them, and limit heat use since it causes split ends for ME. I wash with shampoo twice a week and DC each time, only use protein if I feel my hair needs it and I stretch my relaxers as much as I can.

 

[Spongie Bloom]

I've never had a setback (thank God) but I almost had one when I was relaxed, I went to get a relaxer in a salon she almost over processed my hair which led me to self relax. My hair thanked me for it

 

[BeautifulRoots]

When I was in my teens I had some...simply because I did not know how to properly care for my hair, laziness, and trying to get my hair to do what it couldn't do...

 

[CenteredGirl]

For me it's washing my hair too frequently. It destroys my natural oil (sebum) and makes my hair hard and brittle and broke as a joke. I only wash every month to 10 weeks.

 

[Lucky's Mom]

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.

Agreed. Once you find it....You're good to go.

 

[LovinLea]

Rough Manipulation.

my hair can get tangled (10x when i take out my braids) and i don't always take my time.. i hate to hear that snap, crackle, pop. that caused the center of my hair to break off one time. that and the fact that it was so dry.

 

[Prudent1]

Hand's down improper lack of moisturization!! That caused a trickle down effect when I would use other products like color, flat irons, etc my hair was so dry from the inside out. I would then apply oils which should've been used as sealants which sealed out any moisture. So then I had dry, broom straw, oily hair. Whew!! Thank goodness for LHCF!!

 

[chiconya]

For me it's over-under processing I have receive the most breakage from under processing.

 

[kblc06]

For me it's scissors because I get single strand knots and mid-shaft splits which is ultimately due to dryness, excessive manipulation, and neglect (even if it's only an hour).

 

[galleta31]

I'm going through my first set back right now. Not enough moisturing/condition + protein treatment on fine hair = MAJOR SHEDDING. My hair was growing well and I thought that a protein treatment would help retain length and did what I thought was not a major treatment about 3 weeks ago. It is unbelievable how much hair I have lost. It didn't help that I wasn't keeping up with the moisturing before and right after the treatment. Agree wholeheartly that if it ain't broke, DON'T CHANGE IT. I'm back to square one again.

 

[TheQueenBeeMaya]

the cause of my most recent setback was not covering my hair at night (i was wearing my hair in a natural state at the time) ughh just thinking about it makes me sick!

 

[jasmin]

My hair came out ...found out I was anemic.