I wish I would have found this site before...

[O-ren]

my sister relaxed my nieces' hair. She just didn't know how to contain it and define her curls and whatnot. I wish I could have told her that she could leave in the conditioner and all kinds of things like that so she wouldn't have felt like she had to perm it to make it manageable. She relaxed my niece's hair, and then 4 months later I went natural with (half?) a boatload of information. It may have been tough to get her to try things b/c my sis is hardheaded, but I could have given it a shot.

Any drastic decision you ladies made (or saw being made) that would have been altered had you found LHCF sooner?

 

[virtuenow]

I see mistakes being made everyday. Even after you join this site, you still can't stop people! However, you can lead by example. Once they see your hair thriving, then they will begin to ask questions (the door opens!). That has been the case with me. I get q's about regimen and product list from people who never appeared to pay attention to hair care.

 

[My Friend]

I bc'd before I saw the transition thread . At first, I was like , but now I love my TWA and the time we have together. It grows out really quick so takes lots of pics.

I think in 5 years all the information on this site will be main stream.

Last I looked, LHCF had 1 million registered users. Even the one's who come to the site once a year still know the site exist and maybe implement 1 or 2 methods. Even if we all told one other person = 2 million. Keep in mind there are other hair boards and 100's of hair blogs all sharing the same information.

Welcome!

 

[brucebettye]

I wish I would have found this site as soon as I bc. I cut off so many inches of hair because my ends were dry. If I would have know that I needed to put some moisturizer on my ends I would be past apl or even bsl. You live and learn.

 

[ms.blue]

If I founded this site in 2006 I would not relaxed my hair & kept it natural. If I had founded this site 2007 I would have learned about stretching relaxers, dcing w/ moisturizing & protein & reducing the amount of heat. Luckily I founded this site (lurking) in 2008 that I have been able to avoid major mistakes w/ my hair & also my mother's relaxed hair.

 

[virtuenow]

I bc'd before I saw the transition thread . At first, I was like , but now I love my TWA and the time we have together. It grows out really quick so takes lots of pics.

I think in 5 years all the information on this site will be main stream.

Last I looked, LHCF had 1 million registered users. Even the one's who come to the site once a year still know the site exist and maybe implement 1 or 2 methods. Even if we all told one other person = 2 million. Keep in mind there are other hair boards and 100's of hair blogs all sharing the same information.

Welcome!

I wish I would have found this site as soon as I bc. I cut off so many inches of hair because my ends were dry. If I would have know that I needed to put some moisturizer on my ends I would be past apl or even bsl. You live and learn.

Yes, If I had found the site before I bc'd it would have saved alot of inches. I continued to cut for the same reasons, the dry ends! It took nearly a year (maybe more) for me to find the rigtht products to soften my hair. It turns out that natural products work the best on natural hair. Go figure!

Also, "My Friend" (like your name by the way), I think I liked my twa so much that I had an added incentive to keep cutting. I missed it once it started to grow out-- and then I would cut it again for my ends and the look. So definitley take alot of pics! But I cannot wait for this hair care thing to go mainstream for black women. Then we will not have to deal with anymore of this "Good Hair" nonsense!

 

[Lylddlebit]

I went to college. It took me a while to actively apply the hair care practices this site offered. If I would have found this site when I was still in high school I would have had more fun with my actual hair sooner. I would have taken better care of my hair sooner. I didn't have a hair care crisis before this site but a little more direction and a little less trial and error would have made things easier.

 

[CherryCherryBoomBoom]

I remember doing a little quick search online about how to grow long afro hair, back in summer of 2005, but never followed it up and forgot all about it until 3 years later . Honestly, I'm so mad with myself, if I had properly started my hair journey in 2005, I'm sure I would certainly be waistlength by now, relaxed or natural. Oh well, you live and you learn, I guess.

 

[Vintageglam]

^^^ I hear you on that one CCBB

Honestly I didn't take this site seriously initially I didn't even work out that I needed to pay to post until last year.

Such a shame....

 

[Lovie]

Umm, I wish my MOM found this site before I was born.

)

However, I don't even think the internet was open for public use then. Anyway, now we both have LHCF, we both understand our individual hair needs and goals. Rather than complain about what I woulda coulda shoulda done... I continue to love that I can have healthy practices now for me, and I am glad that when I have my own little girl one day, I know of multiple resources that can help me in her journey.

In the meantime, I'm glad I found LHCF when I did. It taught me to love my hair at every length, thickness, texture, color, etc...and enjoy it every day. I saw way too many people on hair boards unhealthily stress and obsess over inches and almost fell into the same snare. Once you grow your hair long, you'll probably not want to cut again -- so why not enjoy a hot chin length bob, or sexy ear length crop cuts while you have it instead of hiding it until you unveil? Its glory now.

 

[LadyRaider]

I wish I'd found this site before I relaxed my hair at the end of April last year. I think I would have found enough good information and role models here that I would have known my reasons for relaxing that time were invalid. I thought relaxing meant no-heat straight hair. Ridiculous!

I would be almost a year and four months post!

 

[virtuenow]

Umm, I wish my MOM found this site before I was born.

).

Hhahaha, I'm sure half this board would cosign you on that!!!

 

[KrystalClear]

I think a ton of us would have never relaxed our hair! OR woulda done it PROPERLY if we had known about LHCF first! lol

 

[BlkOnyx488]

Definately!!
I was natural for over a year maybe 2, I just kind of ignored my hair and wore wigs daily. One day I decided to relax, a month later a friend told me about LHCF. I never relaxed again after that day. I wish I had left my hair alone and just learned how to take better care of it. I would be almost 5 years natural right now

Oh well you begin where ever you are at and just move forward

my sister relaxed my nieces' hair. She just didn't know how to contain it and define her curls and whatnot. I wish I could have told her that she could leave in the conditioner and all kinds of things like that so she wouldn't have felt like she had to perm it to make it manageable. She relaxed my niece's hair, and then 4 months later I went natural with (half?) a boatload of information. It may have been tough to get her to try things b/c my sis is hardheaded, but I could have given it a shot.

Any drastic decision you ladies made (or saw being made) that would have been altered had you found LHCF sooner?

 

[KrystalClear]

Hhahaha, I'm sure half this board would cosign you on that!!!

lol! HECK YEAH. My mom was saying something like that. She was wishing she knew more secrets and tricks too for our hair's sake.

 

[silenttullip]

Before I let my sis put tight headache for 4 day giving braids in my hair, and before I let my other sister give me a big chop thinking I "HAD" to bc at some point instead of just cutting little by little *smoke comes from head* anyway.

 

[I Am So Blessed]

dang, i wish i would have found this board back in 07 when i cut my almost APL hair off to neck length to start fresh, that was probably so unnecesary right? all i needed to do was a search&destroy. i would have been HL right now

 

[lilsparkle825]

i wish i had found it my senior year of HS or my 1st year of college instead of the end of my 3rd year of college. i would have been able to avoid all that damaging box color and stick with the hairstylist who actually helped keep my hair healthy (not long, but at least it had "swang"). instead, i thought i was being smart by saving money and going to the cheaper salon. i also would have known how to take care of that weave i got at the beginning of what turned out to be my transition and perhaps i wouldn't have transitioned out of fear and desperation (initially, anyway).

 

[YankeeCandle]

I never would have done my once-yearly press in September. The heat + stretching were too much for my fine hair, and maybe 1/3 of my curls did not revert back to their curly state when washed.

I did not even realize that was my hair was fine-textured before coming to this site and seeing all of the different photgraphs of different hair textures and types. I assumed that extremely curly hair like mine could hold up to a heat press (foolish, since my own sister's hair has been irrevocably heat-damaged and straightened out from years of pressing and blowdrying).

This site clarified that curl/coil/z-pattern is a separate issue from the texture of each hair.

I don't know if I'll ever risk pressing, flatironing, In-Styling, or otherwise heat-straightening my hair again.

 

[melissa-bee]

I think even if i had found this site before i relaxed my hair, i still would have relaxed in anyway, because it was something that i had wanted to do since i was a teenager but my mum wouldn't let me. I do wish i had found this site before i decided deep conditioning was a waste of time and money. And about this time last year i really wanted to transition because in feb last year i went to mac store and there advertisement poster was of two girls in banging afros. One was mixed and one was white, and i was looking and thinking "my hair looks like that" so i that point because i hadn't read that much and would only open relaxed orientated threads i still couldn't handle the two textures. So i wish i had read more transitioning and natural threads at the time. I thought i was gonna be relaxed for life. If i had transitioned cable when i wanted to i'd be over a year post by now... Oh well i'm 7 months post tomorrow and i will be soon.

 

[Beaute Noire]

hmmm, If I would've found this site before, I certainly would've started to transition to natural sooner but its O.K.....I'm so grateful for finding this site PERIOD

 

[Vashti]

If I hadn't found this board when I did I would either be wearing a weave over dry, brittle hair right now or I would have done my fourth Big Shave out of frustration over my hair.

 

[nichelle02]

For those of you who found this site at a younger age, feel lucky! I wish that even 5 years ago, I'd known half of what I know now. I'm over 40 and now have the best hair I've had my entire life.

I wish I hadn't spent years using bad relaxers. I wish I hadn't spent years chopping off inches and inches of my hair all because I couldn't get the hair in the back of my head to retain length. I'd cut off the rest to 'even it out'. I wish I'd known how to get through winter dryness before my hair suffered breakage and then a cut as a result.

I'm at home in my old neighborhood. Yesterday I went into a beauty supply store and walked the aisles. After a few minutes, I realized that there was basically nothing in that store I would put in my hair now. I wish I'd known this years ago.

I saw a family member recently that I hadn't seen in a year. I thought she was going to lose her mind when she saw how much my hair is thriving. My mother looks at me and comments on "all of that hair!". And it's really not long compared to the ladies on this board. My family is simply not that knowledgeable when it comes to healthy hair care. So, I wish I'd been able to share information with all of the women in my family before now. We could have all used it.

But even with all of those 'wishes', I'm so glad I know what I know now. I no longer worry about my hair. Even though I used to think it wasn't that important and that I'm a great person no matter what my hair looked like, having healthy hair has definitely contributed to an increase in my level of confidence. I love it!

Thanks LHCF.

 

[brucebettye]

^^^^^
Well said and I am glad that you are happy with your healthy hair.