Give yourself the piece of (hair) advice you wish you had taken long ago...

[NIN4eva]

1. Girl, you know you need to leave that flat iron and blowdryer alone if you want to retain thickness and length. You're not meant to have bone-straight hair. Come to terms with it.

2. No tight ponytails.

3. Listen to (look and feel) your hair. It will tell you what to do. It's right, you're not.

 

[30something]

1)You regimen don't gotta be perfect girl, chill out... seriously

2) Leave your hair alone! It don't like frequent co washing.. go find something else to do...

3) Mild Relaxer ain't for you.. go find a stronger one

 

[Curlykale]

I remember going to a salon 10 years ago to relax my hair "because I couldn't manage and detangle it and life was hell". The hairstylist told me: "I don't agree. You can manage it. You only need a lot of moisture, try to deep condition twice a week and grease your hair with this completely natural grease whenever it's dry".

He was absolutely right.

The other one: ALWAYS braid or twist your hair while air drying. It took me a while to believe it but it made all the difference.

 

[TRINITY05]

Perming your hair is not necessary. Just know what products work for your hair type and go from there.

 

[Flor]

Never, never overlap your relaxer!!!

 

[Quita3514]

Glue and hair done mix...never again

www.startinfromsquareone.blogspot.com

 

[EbonyHairedPrincess]

1.You're black and you have curly hair, stop letting them fry your scalp very 6 weeks trying to make your curly hair bone straight.

2. Grease does not moisturize and heat isn't necessary for beatiful styles.

3. The stylist could care less that you want thick, healthy waist length hair. You are nothing more than a pay check.

4. Beauty school does not = proper knowledge of hair products, growth, and maintenance. If the stylist has busted, broke off, ratty looking hair so will you if you let her touch your head.

 

[Tif392002]

for me it would be to stop relaxing and deep condtion/

 

[ATLcutey20]

Pink Oil Moisturizer is NOT a moisturizer.

That shine is just oil sitting on top of your hair!

 

[danysedai]

To Dany:
1. Switch to a mild relaxer, you don't need the strongest one you can find. Oh, and stretch those relaxers to more than 8 weeks.
2.Your mom is right, rollers under a hood dryer are best for your hair.
3.A hot "tratamiento" once a month with egg,olive oil and aloe vera plant are great.
4.Do not flat iron root to tip, just the roots after rollersetting. Or even better, learn how to blow dry your roots only.

 

[havilland]

moisturize and seal

if you have fragile hair, protective styling rules. you can always bun under a half wig and still "wear your hair down"

put the flat iron away

natural based products with primarily natural based ingredients are better for long term
results

stay away from direct heat as a the rule. make flat ironing, etc. the exception

deep condition with heat at least every two weeks if not EVERY week

use gentle shampoos or non at all. SLS and it's ugly cousins are not your friend

take pictures....sometimes your progress goes unnoticed by everyone but the camera

relaxed hair doesn't need to be bone straight. if you like your hair to be long and strong, keep your curls (even if you only keep some of them, ie. texlax)

before you jump all into someone's regimen, LEARN YOUR OWN HAIR. then IF YOU WISH, try things ONE AT A TIME from people who have HAIR TYPE SIMILAR TO YOURS! i tried the regi of someone whose hair likes moisture....my hair likes protein....that misstep ruined a YEAR of growth and retention.

if it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[lolascurls]

*Let go of heat and discover your hair's growth potential (should I say retention potential)?
*Moisturize and seal regularly, even when in braids.
*Oil is NOT a moisturizer

 

[nappystorm]

Do everything in sections
Self trim
No Halle Berry cuts
Don't relax
Be patient
If you get bored, get a wig

 

[Highly Favored8]

Don't EVER put gum in your hair....

 

[Ms Lala]

Don't stress over how fast your hair grows or try to force it to do something it's not designed to. Treat it w/care and Let your hair do it's thing and it will surprise you.

 

[Sianna]

conditioner is not optional ♥

Let the Church say Amen... Let the Church say Amen again!
notworthy:notworthy

In addition to the above, I would tell myself to chop off my short, scraggly relaxed hair and go natural. NOW! Moisturize often and NEVER sleep without a satin bonnet or scarf!

 

[divachyk]

Practice makes perfect; patience; moisturize/seal; KISS; and more patience.

 

[nikolite]

Trim off those split ends. Just do it.

If I had done that at shoulder length instead of trying to hang on to them, my ends would look a lot healthier now.

 

[KiSseS03]

1) Shrunken styles are not your hair or your scalp's friend. Keep it stretched out!
2) Stop going back to the relaxer, it is not the solution! Stay natural, you will figure it out eventually-- and when you do you will LOVE the results!

 

[Adaobi]

Relaxing your hair and braiding the same day will keep you eternally bald.

 

[Adaobi]

By the way,this my first posting on this forum. I can't thank you ladies for all the wonderful hair advice. I am happy to be part of his hair community.

 

[lovelexi]

-Do not buy every product that is raved about. Do your research and evaluate the necessity of the product.
-Protective styling is your friend. Don't expect to retain much length by wearing your hair out.
-Switching to natural products is one of the best things you can do for your hair.

 

[phychugirl]

Sectioning your hair is good.

You don't need a ton of products for silky, flowing presses.

Trimming is not as bad as it seems. It's a length investment!

Although the term "wash and go" seems carefree and easy, there is a METHOD to it. Don't think you can just wash and literally walk out the door.

Protective styles are okay sometimes! They're vital to retention, which is the main goal here.

Stop. Dying. Your. Hair.

 

[Americka]

There is no need to relax every 4 to 6 weeks.
There is no need to relax root to tip.
There is no need to use a flat iron or curling iron every day.

 

[maxineshaw]

Forgot one of the best pieces of advice I've ever been given:

Wash your hair in sections!!!!!

 

[Danniquin]

Do not blow dry your hair straight everyday, you don't have hair like the white girls at school... actually my mother did tell me this, I just didn't listen!

 

[arosieworld]

You can tell a stylist NO!
Stylist are not your friend, its a business don't be fooled.

 

[ThickRoot]

1) You have to address this dry hair thing if you want retention, it's not gonna just up and go away.

2) Detangling is key! Take your time and be gentle.

Sent from my MY TOUCH 4G using Long Hair Care Forum App

 

[Carisa]

Dont color and relax together- i could have been bsl by now! And while on the subject dnt do any chemical processing if you dont know what ur doing (incorrectly applying relaxers ect.)

Properly take care of your hair under the weave!

 

[Carisa]

Glue and hair done mix...never again

www.startinfromsquareone.blogspot.com

Oh i forgot about this one! I am so glad i know better now- that glue used to get everywhere when i removed those tracks