Hair regrets

[bludacious]

I regret(all out of order. I was natural until I was about 21.)

1.....getting a relaxer
2.....finding box perms
3.....thinking I could relax my own hair
4.....putting gel and water on my then natural hair so that it will curl instantly. It would curl but the gel broke it all off.
5.....going off to college and buying a electric staightening comb for my then natual hair. It burned my hair out, yall.
6.....thinking that I could highlight my own hair. Broke me off like something proper.
7.....discovering spritz to make my hair stay in place. Broke me off like something never before
8.....thinking that I could press relax hair
9.....not know about protein treatments sooner
10....not finding LHCF before February 2005. ( I was lost but now I am found!)

After LHCF, My hair is own it's way. When I started in February, My hair was very damaged. I got a cut about 3 weeks ago. My hair took a 365 degree turn around. I am using what I learned from LHCF and I am sticking to loving my hair.

 

[Starian]

1. Putting in a glue in weave when my hair was already about 3 inches from brastrap. It just wasn't "long enough" for me and I wanted to look pretty.
Even my ghetto cousin who was doing the glue in was like "But your hair is already long, what do you need this for?" I guess I was a ride or die bi*ch at the time...^_^;;

2. Not realizing that is wasn't okay for her to glue the tracks in, then spray the glue with spritz, then put a HOT ASS BLOW DRYER on top of that to make it dry faster.

3. Thinking that I could keep all my hair as long as I moisturized the hair underneath the tracks. Nah, son. My hair was like "F*** that!"

4. Sleeping with those rubber metal ponytail holders in my hair.

5.Sleeping with no scarf. Which I still am REALLY bad about. But hey, I've come a long way. ^_^

 

[IONENABILLION]

I let my cousin cut my hair once.

 

[cece22]

I regret wearing glued in weaves
Too tight braid and cornrows
Not caring when my edges fell out cause they always grew back
Not knowing about moisturizing shampoos and conditioners
Never caring for my real hair since I could always buy some
Relaxing all my hair shaft
Then eventually though not relaxing the whole head ovelaping
Over processing my hair thinking it should be bone straight
Using the pressing comb and burning out a patch of my hair
Not rinsing the relaxer out all the way
Not washing weekly
I also regret hearing thos dreaded snaps while using ponytail holders

 

[Poohbear]

Using a blow dryer with a comb attachment

Hey! This is my friend you're talking about!

 

[Poobity]

Getting my hair pressed weekly whether it was washed or not.

*shudder*

 

[Crysdon]

I regret (12 years ago) letting my brother's girlfriend put a relaxer in my hair from root to tip and NOT using a neutralizing shampoo afterwards. My hair felt very soft and mushy, like a sponge, when she rinsed it out. I eventually had to cut it.

 

[hottopic]

I regret:

-washing my hair only once every 2 weeks
-using a curling iron almost everyday with spritz
-weaving my hair with glue....the front of my head is almost bald because of it
-as a teen I would let my friend relax my hair, when my mother could not do it.
-pulling the relaxer through the whole head. (stupid move)
-getting a relaxer every 4-6 weeks because I saw napps...I love my napps now.
-cutting my hair because the stylish told me my ends were damaged
-coloring my hair...never do that again.
-using heavy grease when I remembered to grease my scalp.
-using a small teeth comb and using hard brushes everyday.
-not caring about my hair.....

 

[*Happily Me*]

My biggest hair mistake was putting braids in just washed, not combed-out 8-week post relaxer hair. I left the boxed braided extensions in for 2 months.

My hair was wrecked after that! It became dry, brittle and damaged. I am still trying to reverse that mistake!

 

[CarLiTa]

Hmm... I regret:

1) Having been anemic for a few years, that wasn't really my fault but all the superficial food of the US. I succombed though!
2) In 8th grade, not knowing that there was such a thing as split ends, and keeping them that way until my aunt finally cut them
3) 9th grade, flat-ironing my hair EVERYDAY like I was crazy, so it made one side of my hair longer than the other
4) 10th grade, I gotta give myself credit, i cut off my own split ends when they got bad, but being in Band practice in Miami sun and heat and not wearing a hat dried out my hair

MOST IMPORTANTLY

5) Listening to these doggone white websites telling me how to take care of my hair. I really thought they knew what they were talking about! They said:

*Trim your hair OFTEN, every 4-6 weeks. If you're experiencing a little more shedding than usual, it's time for a trim. So, I trimmed away, every MONTH. As it turns out, it was breaking from dryness, not in need of a trim.
*If you are Black, do not wash your hair more than once a week. Try EVERY 10 DAYS! Otherwise your hair will dry out and break. So yeah, I'd finish exercising and think 'oh no, I cant let my hair dry out' and not wash it because I didnt want to go over the 1x/week limit.

6) Letting these scissor happy stylists cut my hair OFTEN. Sometimes, I'd go to the hair salon and the lady *Hispanic but with really short hair- jealous, I think* would tell me "You need a haircut" and since I trusted her behind, she'd cut away trying to even out EVERY SINGLE STRAND of my hair. I'd get all this new growth, then decide to get my hair done professionally after a few months, and I'd come out RIGHT BACK WHEN I STARTED: MY SHOULDERS! UGH!

~I'd like to say, now that I've been on LHCF *only 3-4 weeks* I discovered the truth, and my hair benefits from frequent washes, and I decided not to step into that woman's hair salon anymore. I"m glad to be here!

 

[Jewell]

Let a so-called "friend" do my relaxer. She overprocessed it something serious, and I had to get a major cut. I also put Dark N' Lovely permanent haircolor in...it dried my hair out like straw. That stuff is garbage.

 

[Lucia]

frying, dying, denying anything was wrong with the way I treated my hair.

 

[Dolapo]

getting a flatiron when i went to college and using it everyday.
not washing my hair often
dragging my comb through my hair
just mistreating my hair in general

 

[SUPER SWEET]

Letting stylist do what they wanted to my hair for years.
Getting Micro Braids....my temples are just recovering from 2003!
Let my stylist color my hair NEWYEARS EVE 2005!
Not being proactive in at home care....

 

[caligirl]

1) working out on the treadmill everyday, but only washing my hair every 3 weeks.

2) waiting 2 months to wash my hair because I could not find someone to press it

3) curling my bangs with a curling iron and spraying it with hairspray while the hot curling iron was still in my hair.

4) putting Rio on my hair

5) letting girls make me feel bad about myself in high school because I didn't have a perm.

 

[crazyabouthair]

Relaxing my own hair
Relaxing every 4-5 weeks because it was so underprocessed
Hot curling everyday without any kind of heat protection
Letting scissor happy stylists come near my hair
Sleeping with my hair loose

 

[hairmaster]

webby- whats password for album

 

[balisi]

Regrets!!!!!!

1. Getting a Juicy Curl (Jeerry)

2. Letting this man at Jackson's Hair Salon on Wilson Ave. in Mobile, AL do my first relaxer after taking braids out! He put a SUPER Creme of Nature RElaxer on my hair ( my hair breaks down quickly and I have a sensitive scalp). I was in the fifth grade and my hair was BSL and when I left I had a ear length mushroom!

3. Went to college and was on dance team and we had a hair sponsor. She braided my hair and then glued the track on top of the braid!!!!!

4. Getting my hair cut all the way off shorter than Fantasia.

5. Letting "The Purple Door" in Atlanta, GA on MLK do my color. They used a 40 volume (very harsh on your hair).

6. Not wearing my natural color (I like now)

7. And last but sertainly not least taking so long to find LHCF

LOL @ #5! You tell it, girl!
a. I regret not going natural sooner
b. Getting twist extensions put in my hair (twice!) -- all that harsh treatment by the braiders -- it was a good two weeks before my scalp loosened up!
c. Getting my brastrap length hair cut to a Halle Berry length -- Why? Too many reasons to mention.

 

[lovelymissyoli]

One of the worst things I’ve done to my hair was not finding out about LHCF sooner. Because of that: I never washed my hair (I left it up to someone else to do ---my former stylist), I allowed my braider to braid extremely small sections around my hairline which has left me with regrets even today, and so much more.

By far, I think the worst thing I’ve done to my hair was not accepting it for being just that…my hair! I was always ashamed to show my hair length because I allowed a scissor happy and over processing happy stylist to ruin my hair. Secondly, if I would not have relaxed my hair in July, I would have a beautiful head of natural hair today!

So many regrets but it was all for a reason. Now I’m more determined and well equipped with the knowledge to take better care of my hair.

 

[CatSuga]

I regret.............

Relaxing my hair from SCALP to END.
Relaxing my hair from SCLAP to END every month.
Paying someone to relax my hair from SCALP to END every month.
Letting the stylist "trim" my hair every month. 1" grow....1" go!
Believing that if it burns it is working.
Coloring my hair after relaxing.
Slathering my scalp with vasaline, grease, lotion, oil, etc......
Believing that "miracle grow" would make my hair grow.
Glue in weaves.
Applying spritz to the glue
Then hit the glue/spritz with the curling iron till you heard the sizzle.
Flat iron my hair till you heard the sizzle.
Curling/flat ironing my hair every day.
Not covering my hair at night.
Using Pink Oil Moisturizer.
Believing that if braid my hair really tight will make it grow faster.
Cutting my hair.
Have some stupid crack head braid it and fall out.
Believing that water will make your hair fall out.
Believing that Suave is "white folk" condtioner.
Believing that nappy hair is a curse.
Not going natural sooner.

 

[shawniegee]

I regret my mother putting a jheri curl in my hair!!

Why was she afraid to wash it? I stunk something mad, I begged her to wash it. On top of that she pressed it, and my mid length hair had to be cut off and was then 3 inches.

I regret letting my stylist overlap my perms and not knowing how to manage my new growth. I've always been blessed with nicely growing hair but that thick new growth will break from my harsh combing, I have never consistenly maintained length.

Discovering this forum as made me confident about taking care of my hair and also how uneducated we are about what our lovely heads of hair of capable of. I just wish I would have had this knowlege sooner.

 

[Iluvsmuhgrass]

My biggest hair woe was going to a "stylist" and letting her put in a relaxer. I had been going to her for a while soooo i thought everything would be ok. She left a relaxer in my hair for too long (I told her it was burning four times). I ended up cutting my below shoulder length hair up to above chin length. I was so hurt. I had major breakage and scalp burns. That was a year and a half ago. Thankfully my hair is now longer and healthier than it was before.

 

[fletgee]

It was back during my BHSGO days. The board was buzzing about a relaxer called Naturalaxer. I finally gave in and tried it. My hair came out crunchy, it was so dry I could not comb it. The knots in my hair were horrible (we are talking like 50 cent piece sized knots). I could not comb my hair, I was literally ripping it out of my scalp.

I called the company and was told that my hair was just "dry". They would send me free products to correct the damage. Well, what I received were the same products I got with the Naturalaxer minus the relaxer itself.

My hair went from shoulder length to the nape of my neck in 1 day. It took my hair more than a year and a half for my hair and scalp to calm down. My hair's thickness has not returned. And to this day I have a section right behind my front hairline (as big as the palm of your hand) where my hair is very thin. I cannot wear my hair back, cause you can see the spot. I have to do a right side part and cover it over.

The little hair left in that spot is like fine baby hair. I feel new growth in the rest of my hair but never there. No growth-only super fine hair.

Sigh.

 

[karezone]

It was back during my BHSGO days. The board was buzzing about a relaxer called Naturalaxer. I finally gave in and tried it. My hair came out crunchy, it was so dry I could not comb it. The knots in my hair were horrible (we are talking like 50 cent piece sized knots). I could not comb my hair, I was literally ripping it out of my scalp.

I called the company and was told that my hair was just "dry". They would send me free products to correct the damage. Well, what I received were the same products I got with the Naturalaxer minus the relaxer itself.

My hair went from shoulder length to the nape of my neck in 1 day. It took my hair more than a year and a half for my hair and scalp to calm down. My hair's thickness has not returned. And to this day I have a section right behind my front hairline (as big as the palm of your hand) where my hair is very thin. I cannot wear my hair back, cause you can see the spot. I have to do a right side part and cover it over.

The little hair left in that spot is like fine baby hair. I feel new growth in the rest of my hair but never there. No growth-only super fine hair.

Sigh.

Oh girl. Have you thought about trying minoxidil to grow it back.

 

[Tami]

trying to comb out weave glue and ripping my hair out trying to get it untangled
getting my hair highlighted and not moisturising
washing my hair just whenever I remembered too ..

 

[Bublnbrnsuga]

Actually, I have no regrets. I was curious about relaxers and I got one. Now I am natural again and waiting for my hair to grow back to the length it was before a relaxer. I can look back on that experience and say 'been there,done that,' instead of 'I wonder how I would look with relaxer.'

 

[Stormy]

I regret:

Letting stylists brainwash me into thinking I needed to get my hair relaxed every 4-5 weeks

Self-relaxing, every now and then I would get it right, but for those times that I didn't it was very damaging to my hair. It's hard to see what you're doing to the back of your head.

Letting someone else braid my hair. I NEVER used to let anyone else braid my hair (with micros or individuals) because of fear that they would take it out. I went to this Braid shop and that's exactly what they did. This set me back.

Getting another relaxer. Just got one last month. Now I wanna transition and it's going to take forever. erplexed

 

[Poohbear]

I regret.............

Believing that nappy hair is a curse.
Not going natural sooner.

Same here!!!

 

[vaqtea]

Believing that nappy hair is a curse.
Not going natural sooner.

Okay I'm co-signing on that.
I regret not loving my super thick,nappy hair.
I regret constantly trying to get it bone straight which
will never happen in this lifetime!

 

[fletgee]

karezone
I thought about using it once. But I don't want to rely on something that I have to use for the rest of my life just to grow my hair. Plus the expense.

Plus that part of my scalp has very little feeling. Yet it is super sensative.