Crossing the hair threshold...how did you know your routine was working?

[Sweetest_Honey]

My hair had always been the same length since high school. One reason is because when it grew to a certain length, I'd get annoyed and cut it. Later, it was just because I wasnt taking care of it. Completely naive as to how to take care of it.
Then I found you guys!!
With alot of trial and error I realized my hair doesnt like much heat (although I wasnt using all that much) so I started airdrying 1/2 way with moisturizers then blow-drying to straighten.
I learned to comb gently and use widetooth combs. Its funny, because I never realized that all that hair in the comb was bad. Now if I hear a few snaps, I'm on top of the situation!!
I also realized that my hair grew its longest when I left it alone (no curling irons and lots of buns). And also when it was very well moisturized. My hair is like a daggone sponge sometimes.
I discovered that products with water as the first ingredient made my hair feel hard and wirey, so I skipped those. And wrapping my hair every night (naptime included) was another addition.
I realized that I'd finally crossed the threshold from "same ole same" to "whats this?? Its working!!!!! I can see a difference!" while combing in the mirror one night. It took alot of growth before it was apparent to me because I was so used to it being the same length all the time! It took about 5-6 months for me to finally believe that I was making progress.

What brought you to realize that you were doing good? Did someone comment on your hair? Did you get accused of having a weave when you didnt? Or were you like me and just "woke up" one day and realized that you dun good??
What were your routine additions and/or deletions that made it possible?

 

[CarLiTa]

that is an awesome question!

ok hmm i'm not sure how to answer though ...i've been at this haircare thing for just about 8 months now... and when did I know it was REALLY working? I"m not sure... I mean, I tried some things that did work, like clarifying, and washing more often to eliminate dryness but I went through a period of not knowing what the heck to do with my hair because it seemed like nothing was working. I was still getting growth or whatever, but my hair just was NOT behaving! I found out it was becasue of no-lye relaxers and because I would sweat too much at practice.

Then, I found Nexxus products with the help of another lady here, DivineInspiration. now i'm pretty sure its working but i haven't used them for that long yet. So far, so good though. I'm happy.

 

[Angelicus]

When I was actually able to comb through my hair without becoming depressed, I knew something was working.

 

[Healthb4Length]

When I was able to stretch my texturizer touch ups to 7 or more months and able to handle 2 or more different hair textures without too much breakage or dryness. Great question!

 

[imani97]

I knew that I was making progress when my ends were nice and as thick as my roots. No more see through hair! It's normally much thinner the longer it gets. I thought that that's just what happened to long hair. Thank God ya'll taught me differently.

Oh, and I also knew I'd made progress when people started talking about my hair, how it had grown so much and that it was pretty. My hair pretty? It was actually the topic of discussion in my classroom of 9th graders one day.

 

[Sweetest_Honey]

Thanks CarLiTa and Alli!

You guys reminded me of some other things. I now relax every 6-8 weeks instead of 4 (sometimes 3...I was bad ya'll). I'd love to be able to stretch my relaxers to 7 months and maintain, but I am not that good yet. Once I cannot make a visible part in my hair anymore...I'm off to the salon!
I also wash more. I admit.....I didnt wash very often at all before . I thought I hated to wash, but it was actually the blowdrying that annoyed me. Now that I partially air-dry, it takes less time to blowdry, I have less breakage and my hair feels thicker!

*Good to have you back Anky!*
I never really hated combing. I'd just rake the daggone comb right through without realizing what damage I was doing. Then I'd go into the bathroom and shrug my shoulders to imagine what it would feel like to have hair that reached my shoulders, wondering why it wouldnt grow...meanwhile all my new growth was in my comb.
My ends are thickening up...but they are still a bit see through. I guess when it grows to a certain length I'll start implenting small trims to even it all up. Maybe....

 

[bajanplums1]

When I noticed:
*my hair stayed moist all week without extra products
* I could comb it without breakage, touch it without breakage
* It had movement and body
* I could take it out of a pony tail, fluff it with my hand and it would fall right into place
* the bounce and curve of the rollerset lasted all week even if I pinned it up and wrapped it overnight
* I could stretch my relaxer with no problem or stress or breakage.

I realized I found the right regimen for my hair.

 

[metalkitty]

I think figuring out your regimen comes out in a series of 'a-ha' moments some of mine are:

- Sitting yourself down and writing down what you want specifially and how you're going to get their with products/ techniques/ routines, aka. getting semi organized.
- Being 4 months post relaxer and being able to comb out twice a day with barely if any hair in the comb.
- Realizing that its easy to grow hair but retaining the ends is the biggie for me.
- Cutting down on PJ-ism, how do you know what works if you're constantly switching and experimenting?

 

[Isis]

Great thread!

My hair also doesn't seem to like heat (I know now I was using it improperly). I woke up after discovering LHCF and seeing the progress on my fried, see-through, thinning, breaking hair. I saw the progress very soon, like a couple of weeks or less after I learned to develop a hair regimen. No more broken hairs all over my bathroom or in my comb! No more burned hair smells! Yay!

Washing my hair more often, keeping the ends moisturized, stretching my relaxers and staying away from heat was totally new for me. I learned to rollerset for the first time to "straighten" my hair. I learned what airdrying meant and I do this for my rollersets (or use the cool setting on bonnet dryer). I only comb on wash day to detangle after conditioning and under a shower. All of this has been eye-opening and I'm still in awe.

 

[Suri]

This is a great thread. I have only been here since August, but I got a world of information and found that some of my own practices were good already.

I agree that cutting the PJ-ism helps because you don't really know what works until you get organized.

When my boyfriend noticed that my hair was growing --he never pays attention to that kind of stuff.

When I combed my hair with big tooth combs and it was so thick, it struggled to get through.

**When in the shower after combing through my conditioner my hair laid down instead of going out.

Sticking to a routine really helped me chose a few good products that will be my staples. The PJ in me still has new products to try though.

 

[Belle Du Jour]

Great question. Being natural it's hard to SEE that my hair is growing/progressing. So I have to go by how my hair FEELS. If my hair is soft, moist, etc, then I know I'm doing okay. If my scalp is irritated and my hair is dry, then I know I need to tweak the routine.

 

[Sweetest_Honey]

I think figuring out your regimen comes out in a series of 'a-ha' moments some of mine are:

- Sitting yourself down and writing down what you want specifially and how you're going to get their with products/ techniques/ routines, aka. getting semi organized.
- Being 4 months post relaxer and being able to comb out twice a day with barely if any hair in the comb.
- Realizing that its easy to grow hair but retaining the ends is the biggie for me.- Cutting down on PJ-ism, how do you know what works if you're constantly switching and experimenting?

I think one of the best pieces of advice I learned was that you will never see any progress in your length if your ends keep breaking. I was always confused as to why I'd have tons of new growth, but my hair always remained the same. It was breaking off at the ends as fast as it was growing from the roots! Moisturizing my ends nightly really curbed the problem. I get flashbacks sometimes when I see people with shirts decorated by 1/2 inch broken hairs.
I am paying so much more attention to my hair now. I never realized soft my new growth feels after a good wash!

And yes, that burned hair smell was very stinky!

 

[MissYocairis]

I haven't worn my hair out to a family dinner since January 05. At thanksgiving, I wore it out. My aunt froze in astonishment, called me over and tugged at my hair and made me turn around and questioned me about my hair because of the growth. She asked me if it was all mine. I had cousins staring at my hair and asking me how I grew it out while some just stared and said nothing. I had other cousins asking hair advice for different methods they'd been trying. And, it just felt so good because I knew that I still had 13 weeks of new growth and my roots were not completely straight so, if they were impressed now, wait till I relax at 16 weeks!

I have also had men at work not recognize me or stop and stare when I've worn my hair out because it's always in a bun and it just doesn't look long at all in a bun.

I adore LHCF. The best things I've learned are relaxer stretching, phyto-ing, mtg-ing, protective styles, baggie methods, protein science, co-washing, and pre-poo and deep conditioning methods/science. These are all things I had no clue about prior to joining LHCF. My hair is currently the longest it has ever been in my life and I have goals for growth I never imagined I could achieve but now, I do believe I will! THANK YOU LHCF!

 

[Jewell]

I knew my routine was working when I noticed I was getting 3/4 to 1 inch a month in growth and I had NO split ends/breakage. This is my current status-no splits/no breakage, fast growth. For me its the daily CW's. They worked to increase the growth rate earlier this year and they are tried and true once again!

 

[NoNapNique]

Unfortunately I figured it out the hard way... By deviating from it! I ended up having breakage when I tried incorporating a few new things.

 

[carameldiva]

i am currently experiencing a serious growth spurt. No breakage at all- i have learned that rosemary oil is great for me and my hair in terms of growth. Also glycerin and liquid aloe vera are some of my new best friends. My hair is softer and more moisturized now and others have noticed that my hair is really sprouting out now. i spritz daily with a glycerin/water/aloe vera/eo mixture and oil my scalp /ends at nite and baggie up. I use castor oil or jamaica black castor oil as a pre-shampoo/ends treatment.

I also use coconut oil, eveing primrose oil, sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil, grapeseed oil and palm oil at nite to keep away dryness.

 

[Caramela]

This thread is great! I haven't seen one like in all these years.
I knew when:
my breakage stopped and my shedding slowed way down
other people started asking me for hair advice

 

[Honi]

I knew it was working when I was able to stretch my touchups past 3 months. This past Thanksgiving, I had my hair in a high ponytail and it was hanging almost to my bs with a braid out (it never looked like that before). My niece asked me if I was still doing those "things" I told her about last year as she groped my hair. LOL

 

[Sweetest_Honey]

My mom has actually started asking me for advice! That was a big moment!
I bought her a "HairCare Gift Basket" as one of her presents for Christmas. I filled it with some oils, a wide tooth comb, Aphogee, Mane N' Tail, Surge...and some other things. At first she kind of turned her nose up at it, but when she started noticing some breakage, she dove right in there!
Even called me up to find out how and when to use each one!

 

[taraglam2]

I knew my routine was working when it started taking nearly 3 hours for me to dry my hair under the hooded dryer. ( 7 months of serious haircare) Another hint was when I would get more waves and "twists" from my roller wrapp because I needed to upgrade to the next larger size magnetic roller. I celebrated like crazy when I went to purchase my 5 packs of Diane snap on cover Orange Magnetic Rollers!--I was so happy I went ahead and got the purple ones so I would be ready when the hair grows even more ! That is when I knew that as tedious and "time consuming" as my routine was...it was definitely working and I was like yes- the hard work does eventually pay off. At work I am the one everyone comes to for hair information and I get asked who does my hair all the time.

 

[SandySea]

Great thread!! I think that now is when I realized that I have been blessed to cross that hair threshold. My hair is the healthiest that it has been since high school (almost ten years ago). I've been through so much hair drama since then, and my turning point happened when I found this forum. I was just thinking that this is the most I've worn my hair down in almost five years because it's been in hiding for so long. When I went home for Thanksgiving, the first thing everyone noticed was my hair--even my dad. Even the cashier at the local Staples told me "the Lord is blessing your hair." That made my day. I'm really grateful to finally be able to wear my hair down and not feel paranoid that it's looking thin and unhealthy.

Anyhow, this is how I know that my regimen (along with prayer) is working.

 

[Sweetest_Honey]

I knew my routine was working when it started taking nearly 3 hours for me to dry my hair under the hooded dryer. ( 7 months of serious haircare) Another hint was when I would get more waves and "twists" from my roller wrapp because I needed to upgrade to the next larger size magnetic roller. I celebrated like crazy when I went to purchase my 5 packs of Diane snap on cover Orange Magnetic Rollers!--I was so happy I went ahead and got the purple ones so I would be ready when the hair grows even more ! That is when I knew that as tedious and "time consuming" as my routine was...it was definitely working and I was like yes- the hard work does eventually pay off. At work I am the one everyone comes to for hair information and I get asked who does my hair all the time.

I was so excited when my beautician began using bigger and bigger curlers! Isn't that the best!!

SandySea: I think high school was probably the downhill turn for alot of us, because thats when we either got to busy to keep up our regimens or thought we were cute and fried our hair with curling irons.

 

[Divine Inspiration]

VERY good topic!

There are a number of time when I realized I was doing something right:

1. The first time I stretched and didn't use direct heat and stuck to my Nexxus regimen. I got a relaxer, and my hair was gorgeous! I definitely knew I was on to something, and I was motivated to continue my journey.

2. One night after I hadn't washed my hair for about 10 days, I took it down out of a ponytail and it was actually "heavy." Hard to explain, but it just had this weight to it, and my styles after that have fallen into place MUCH easier.
I've always wanted that weight, and I finally got it.

3. I was in the BSS buying some goodies, and the lady at the counter bagged my products and said, "Oh my, your hair is so beautiful." I said thank you, and then she said, "We sell that kind here. See?" and pointed to the wall of hair behind her. How do you respond to something like that? As politely as I could, I told her that my hair was real, and she immediately started giving me the third degree about my regimen. She took my products OUT of the bag and studied them. I was trying to answer her questions but I think she thought there was one magic thing that was the key, but for me there isn't. It's the combination of SOOOO many things that I couldn't possibly tell her all of my secrets in 2 or 3 minutes.

4.At Thanksgiving I saw one of my best friends for the first time since last Christmas. She was like " Girl what are you doin to your hair? It's so long!" I said thanks and told her I was just sticking to things I had told her about all year. It's harder to see progress when you're in the mirror every day, but when people who haven't seen you in a while compliment you, you know your techniques are working.

 

[Sweetest_Honey]

VERY good topic!

There are a number of time when I realized I was doing something right:

1. The first time I stretched and didn't use direct heat and stuck to my Nexxus regimen. I got a relaxer, and my hair was gorgeous! I definitely knew I was on to something, and I was motivated to continue my journey.

2. One night after I hadn't washed my hair for about 10 days, I took it down out of a ponytail and it was actually "heavy." Hard to explain, but it just had this weight to it, and my styles after that have fallen into place MUCH easier.
I've always wanted that weight, and I finally got it.

3. I was in the BSS buying some goodies, and the lady at the counter bagged my products and said, "Oh my, your hair is so beautiful." I said thank you, and then she said, "We sell that kind here. See?" and pointed to the wall of hair behind her. How do you respond to something like that? As politely as I could, I told her that my hair was real, and she immediately started giving me the third degree about my regimen. She took my products OUT of the bag and studied them. I was trying to answer her questions but I think she thought there was one magic thing that was the key, but for me there isn't. It's the combination of SOOOO many things that I couldn't possibly tell her all of my secrets in 2 or 3 minutes.

4.At Thanksgiving I saw one of my best friends for the first time since last Christmas. She was like " Girl what are you doin to your hair? It's so long!" I said thanks and told her I was just sticking to things I had told her about all year. It's harder to see progress when you're in the mirror every day, but when people who haven't seen you in a while compliment you, you know your techniques are working.

That is the best reinforcement! When the haters take notice...

 

[MiWay]

I went to a Dominican salon this weekend and had my hair blown out and trimmed. I realized something is working because after the trim, my hair seemed to be the same length it was before the blowout. So I'm pretty excited now. Keep up the good work ladies!

 

[Ms Red]

I realised I was doing something right when the strands of my hair were extremely hard to break. Washing twice a week and deep conditioning did wonders for my hair. Now that I am transitioning and I am 8 months post-relaxer, my hair is thicker, curls easily and the natural parts really take well to organic products.

I also have not used heat in 6 months and wearing protective styles has helped me retain a lot of length. I'm loving my hair right now!