How OPEN are you about your hair woes?

[SoforReal]

It's very easy to post pictures in your hair albums when your progress is going well. But honestly are you this open when your hair accidently gets severly damaged or cut off?

I had a big chop a few months ago and to be real with you my first reaction was to temporarily close my Fotki. I had to muster up every bit of courage to post those pics.

Ladies, how open are you when you're confronted with a setback? Please share your experiences.

 

[sareca]

I tell all. I don't always start a thread about it, but I definitely write it in my album. If I don't and I have the problem again I'll remember having the problem, but I won't remember the fix.

 

[january noir]

Good questions.

I am able to talk about it, but I don't want to show pics really because I don't like to see my hair that way let alone others see it.

I have had to cut (since I joined LHCF) a total of 4 inches of hair so far.
My hair has not progressed the way I thought I would (and I didn't have lofty goals either!)

It will get long, but it's not even or lush. It get's depressing when you see all the lovely heads of hair on this forum.

 

[charmtreese]

I show the good the bad and the ugly....However, there have been times when uploading pic's from my camera to my PC where Im like erplexed that's what my head looks like. I put them on my fotki anyway because there will be up's and down's and It's always nice to look back at where I came from. Setbacks are gonna happen, I hate 'em but I take 'em in stride...I gotta fotki to prove it!!!

 

[MZMATTHEWS]

I was just thinking about this the other day. I started out natural at apl. I ended up relaxing and cutting my hair to chin length. My BF asked why did you cut your hair and I lied and said I wanted a change. I cut my hair because it so thin and coming out by the handful and I couldn't do anything else with it. So I'm not open about my hair woes.

 

[InnerSoul]

It's very easy to post pictures in your hair albums when your progress is going well. But honestly are you this open when your hair accidently gets severly damaged or cut off?

I had a big chop a few months ago and to be real with you my first reaction was to temporarily close my Fotki. I had to muster up every bit of courage to post those pics.

Ladies, how open are you when you're confronted with a setback? Please share your experiences.

I put it in my journal that I had major relaxer damage from me leaving it on too long... but I learned through this to not leave it on as long so therfore I will be texlaxing and I am switching to lye relaxers due to constant dry, brittle hair. My damage is in the crown area which is the hardest to keep moisturized! oh I was sooooo discouraged and bout near tears. But instead of cutting it all off.. I am going to get braids for awhile so that I don't have to look at my hair constantly. I will continue to texlax in between braiding appointments though. In the past braids really helped my hair retain much length. I now camoflauge my breakage by bunning at night and the waves from the bun the next day leave my hair with a semi wavy look.. so it doesn't look like I have different lengths. The very back of my hair always retains moisture and much length... its that dry crown area that has me doing this !

 

[InnerSoul]

I was just thinking about this the other day. I started out natural at apl. I ended up relaxing and cutting my hair to chin length. My BF asked why did you cut your hair and I lied and said I wanted a change. I cut my hair because it so thin and coming out by the handful and I couldn't do anything else with it. So I'm not open about my hair woes.

offtopic:
I am going to wish you a HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY!! because mine is on the 4th and you are on the 5th!! GO GIRL!!

 

[MZMATTHEWS]

Thank you Inner Soul and Happy Birthday to you too

 

[fluffylocks]

I dont have a fotki yet, but if i did, i think i would post the worst also to give people inspiration and let them know that setbacks do happen

But, in my everday life i will not be open about setbacks to people because my hair imo isnt long enough. Alot of my family & friends thinks i need to go to the salon, and i really dont know what im doing/im crazy, and that i will damage my hair with all the self-relaxing and protein treatments and mixing of stuff. When i started off i hid my hair under braids/weaves untill it got to this length, so they really dont know how far i've come (execpt my mom), if i showed them any damage it would just be nothing but critizism, & proving their point that black people cant grow hair anyway & i've been waisting my money/time. So i will reserve being open about my hair woes to people around me untill i get to a hair length where they will have no choice but to understand i know what im talking about and not judge me. (that will probally be APL, alot of my family thinks shoulderlength is the longest are family can grow and anything else is impossible or a weave)

 

[tyrablu]

I was just thinking about this the other day. I started out natural at apl. I ended up relaxing and cutting my hair to chin length. My BF asked why did you cut your hair and I lied and said I wanted a change. I cut my hair because it so thin and coming out by the handful and I couldn't do anything else with it. So I'm not open about my hair woes.

This sounds like me dilema when I first got a relaxer 3 years ago. Only thing was I had to cut from bra strap length to shoulder length, and from shoulder length to just at my ears (what length would you call that?).

Funny thing is at that time I was going to the salon every weekend, never missed a week and I still ended up with thin hair coming out every which way. erplexed

I joined this forum and have learned a whole lot (thanks sistaslick), but really I am not where I wanted to be. I guess I keep comparing what I have now to what I had before.

But I am open in telling others about my hair woes, I am just not proud of it

 

[SoforReal]

I show the good the bad and the ugly....However, there have been times when uploading pic's from my camera to my PC where Im like erplexed that's what my head looks like. I put them on my fotki anyway because there will be up's and down's and It's always nice to look back at where I came from. Setbacks are gonna happen, I hate 'em but I take 'em in stride...I gotta fotki to prove it!!!

I think that's a great way to look at it.

 

[HoneyA]

I tell all. Any setbacks I have, I come right here for advice anyway. I don't even ask my hairdresser anything anymore. I come straight here.

 

[turnergirl]

I post the good the bad and the ugly. It is the only way I can tell if I am really making progress. Having a detailed history of what I am doing will help me make the best decisions for my hair. I also feel that posting pics with detailed explanations about my disasters will keep others from suffering the same fate.

I Hate my hair right now and if you went to my fotki, you could see why and you will see me openly discussing it.

 

[bLackButtaFly]

I don't post it, not b/c I don't want, but b/c it's so hard for me to remember to take pics not to mention post them. I always get caught up in another project, and neglect my fotki. I've had a couple styles I've done(my first rollerset), thought it looked awful took a picture adn was surprised it actually didn't look that bad.

The only time I seriously didn't want my hair pic posted was when I had it done badly at a salon on my bday(it was my bday, so I only took pics when it looked good, nobody took any pics of me until after 7 pm seriously), and when I bc'ed (I only have one pic of my hair out of braids or twists) I just thought I looked awful, but once I chopped there was no turning back, and I just had to wait for it to grow.

 

[northernbelle]

For the most part, the information which is shared is useful. That being said, not everything which is going on with one's hair needs to be shared. Just a thought.

 

[IntoMyhair]

I'm open though I don't always have pictures, I do have plenty of questions lol.

 

[baby42]

I DONT HAVE A SITE YET BUT I HAVE A PIC FROM WHEN IT WAS SHORTER THEN IT IS NOWI LOST MY TEMPLES BOTH SIDE. I LOOK AT THEM TO DAY AND THEY ARE RUNING BACKBUT I COULDNT SHOW MY NEW GROWTH ALL SUMMER CAUSE I HAD NO SIDESI AM VERY OPEN ABOUT IT WITH PEOPLE WHO CARE ABOUT HAIR.WHY LIE I LOOK AT EVERY BODY HAIR HERE AND IT HELPS ME KNOW THAT ITS SLOW GETTING LONGER HAIR BUT IT CAN BE DONESO I DONT WORRY ANY MORE JUST LET IT HAPPEND I LEARN TO DEEP CON USE PROTEIN MOISTURIZER BEFORE WHEN I TOOK OUT MY BRAIDS MY HAIR WAS LONGER BUT I DIDNT TAKE CARE OF IT JUST LETING SOMEBODY DO IT EVER TWO WEEK .AND THEY DIDNT DO A GREAT JOBSO NOW ITS MY TURN TO LOVE MY HAIR AND GET TRIMS NOT HAIR CUTS GETING TOUCH UP TO SOON THEY DIDNT CARE THAT IT WAS BREAKING OFF. ALL THE SAID WAS OH LETS CUT IT ITS SO SHORT IN SPOTS THEY NEVER DEEP CON IT OR PROTEIN MY HAIR ALL WAYS SAYING YOUR HAIR IS SO STRONG YEA RIGHT. THEN I TOOK MEDS FOR A YEAR AND BOY DID THAT DO IT OWN JOB ON ME .THEN I CUT IT NOT 1 TIME BUT 2 TIME IN ONE MONTH WAS I CAZY????? BUT NOW I KNOW BETTER SO MY HAIR IS A OPEN BOOKI JUST KNOW NOW WHAT NOT TO DO AND TO ACT FAST WHEN I SEE MY HAIR ACTING UP.AND I LOVE TO BAG MY HAIR THATS MY STORY

 

[Sweetyb]

I'm not too open when I'm going through it. I usually disappear from the LHCF community for a while until I get a handle on things. The most I'll do is post for help if I need it. Other than that, I talk about it once I'm way past that stage and I'm on the right track again.

 

[Quest4healthyhair]

I find it very easy to share my hair woes. You know why ?

1. There is someone out there going through the same thing you are going through. You are not alone.

2. There is someone out there that has lived it and their help and insight can make a world of difference.


So post those pictures. Show the bald spots, the breakage, the broken nape and sides and I guarantee there will be a helping hand.

 

[hondahoney007]

I add the ups & downs to my fotki. Its nice to see the progress made from a bad experience. Sometimes you help others out if they have similar problems.

 

[LynnieB]

i don't hide nuttin. From the hideous bald patch (alopecia areata) to my trials and tribulations (*see crazy lookin hair) of transitioning and right through my journey as a new natural sistah - it's all laid out there for all to see.

if someone else can learn, grow, become empowered or get some sort of encouragement from my album, then it's job is done.