If u were startin over, what would u do differently?

[SequinsAndAbsinthe]

Hi, i'm a newbie and this is my first post. I'm live in Yorkshire in England where there is a scarcity of good afro hairdressers, so i do my hair myself. I have a virgin afro hair but wanna go straight. My hair is about 6 inches short so i can't do crazy stuff with...

If u were starting afresh, what would u do now that u didn't think to/ didn't know about before? I'm going to spend a semester in Sweden next yr and I wanna get into a good functional routine b4 iget there, cuz i think it'll be even harder when i get there!!!

 

[YasmanSoBe]

Welcome to LHCF!

That's a good question!

Let's see..what would I do differently...?

I would definitely stay away from my CHI iron. Or at least not use it as much as I have.

I wish I would have used the bun method a long time ago. It would have helped me retain so much more length.

I would definitely stop going into salons on a whim just for a trim. By this I mean going to a salon where you're not a regular customer, you don't know the stylists well, etc. At my last trim in May, I wanted to smack the guy who trimmed my hair. He got a little too scissor happy with my hair. And charged me $30 for the trim! Please, it was not that serious and this was no upscale salon where I could see the price being justified.

If I were going to relax my hair, I would get a professional service. In my experience, store relaxers (those you can buy in Wal-Mart, Target, etc.) have dried my hair and left it underprocessed.

 

[caribeandiva]

Welcome!

i would stop depending on my hair stylist to grow my hair out for me. she obviously didn't know jack if her own hair wouldn't grow.

 

[breezy]

I would start w/ fresh new ends and never blow dry again.

 

[CaramelMiSS]

I would start w/ fresh new ends and never blow dry again.

Same here!!!! Because I was hot iron crazy my ends were messed uo can you say H.A.M.???

 

[Ayeshia]

I wouldnt have done 4 huge trims after my intial BC ....but back then when I first joined, there weren't as many naturals on the board as there are now. Most of the old heads who are natural now were in transition when I started and are nearly waist length while I am still at my damn schoulders for being so scissor happy a mess. It took me awhile to get off the frequent trimming bandwagon but once I saw members like Cichelle (never trims) and Chicoro (trims once a year), and Bublin and Midnitecurls ( S&d's/dustings) I knew that frequently cutting wasnt necessary and it never solved the single strand knot problems

 

[angelita842002]

Not depend on stylistsor cut my hair as much as i did and def moisturizing and bunning especially ends.

 

[nicki6]

I would have truly stayed away from the salon and 'trims' that were really 'cuts'. I am a HUGE fan of blunt ends and, even after months of being on this forum, I didn't realize that I was allowing my stylist to cut my progress of every 2 months My hair grows unevenly and has thin ends until it fills out to the next level (if that makes sense). Once I recognized that, I kept my hair up in a bun. Out of sight, out of mind helped me to finally surpass shoulder length.

I would pay greater attention to keeping my ends healthy and moisturized.

Lastly, I wouldn't run out and bu everything mentioned on here. My first 6 months were PJism gone wild!!

 

[taraglam2]

I would have started daily co-washing much sooner. My hair loves it !

I would have just stuck to a few keep it simple products instead of a whole hair arsenal===it just made making choices on deep condition / hair day almost unbearable.

 

[DDTexlaxed]

I am starting over and the one thing I'm doing differently is never trying to relax my hair strait ever again. I am also working on trying to stay natural and learn how to do braids, twists, and bantu knots. I learned how to wean myself from gel. I am able to do anything now.

 

[RainbowCurls]

Welcome!

Hmm... I would wear protective styles, do things like rollersets and non heat styles, limit direct heat usage.
I would have never relaxed my hair, but that's just me. Now (thanks to hair boards) I know having healthy relaxed hair can be done, relaxers are just not for me.

 

[AngiGirl]

Not buy everything on the market looking for the "cure" to short hair.
Banish the myth that black people can't have long hair.
I would focus on keeping my ends moisturized.
Not be afraid to wet my hair.
Realize the relaxer wasn't the the enemy, improper application and care is.
Really appreciate and respect how delicate and wonderful 4a4b hair is.

 

[Peachtree]

I would have transitioned yrs earlier... instead of re-applying relaxers...

 

[Wishin4BSL]

I would have said NO when my second stylist (in my life) said, "You need a trim!" when I first meet her. She took me from thick, luscious APL to thin, above shoulder length hair (but shiny!) in one sitting and I had NEVER had a trim before!!!

 

[Cheleigh]

I would have transitioned several years ago, so I'd be at BS now (stretched).

 

[PretteePlease]

start natural, stay natural, moisturize moisturize moisturize
never touch a perm box or othewise, never pick up henna
i would never try to please a man as far as my hair goes
i would never pay $100 + for a flatiron/trim
i would leave when i felt a scissor happy stylist comming my way
i would wig/box braid/twist extension it to def

i really wanna big chop but i'm trying to get to brastrap in 07-08
i dont think i'll be touching up my text and i think i will make several
chops after i reach my goal and go natural again.

 

[jtsupanova]

I would have used my common sense and stayed with the regimine and product I had when I first BC'ed
I would not have constantly trimmed
i would not gave got kinky twist extensions (riped out my hair line and its a waste of money I have my own darn twist)
I would not have put a rinse my hair (even though its gone now it took awhile to go)

 

[rdm]

For four years, I went to a stylist FAITHFULLY every week. My hair grew a total of 5 inches in those 4 years. Why? Because she would use extremely hot flat irons on my hair. It would look really good and straight!!! But, it would be crunchy when I got home, meaning it was so fried I could not even comb it. To top it off, she would spray some spray w/ alcohol in it and then flat iron. I think that she hated me. Hindsight is 20/20.

As soon as I left that city, I found another stylist who really emphasized the health of my hair. She did not assume that my coarse hair could take a lot of heat. Needless to say, my hair grew like a weed after I left the aforementioned stylist. The only thing I dont like about this new stylist is that she advocates cutting off 2-4 inches of hair each Spring. Of course, I never let her do that. She knows what my hair goals are.

I have confessed earlier that I am going to cheat on her though. I am going to another stylist this Saturday. Can't wait!!!!

So, if I could do it all over again...I would limit the amount of direct heat.

 

[JazzyDez]

if you were talking about starting over with the healthy hair care thing, there really isnt much I would do differently. I stretch, use minimal heat and moisture and condition regularly. I am a certified PJ but I have an excuse since I am still in my "trial and error" phase. If anything I would say stop running out and buying everything mentioned here as someone else said, but I am still trying to solidify my top products, so I am allowing myself a few more splurges.

 

[scoobygirl]

I wish I would have:

Found the best products for me sooner
Learned how to stretch (I started at 5 wk touch-ups then progressed to 6/7 now I'm at 8)
Stop relying on poorly trained stylist who didn't care about overlapping, heat damage, excess trimming

 

[atrinibeauty]

If I could start all over,I would be au naturaland never put a relaxer back in it again after I bc'ed in 2000.

 

[i12sitonmyhair]

I would have bought colored wigs instead of coloring my hair (all 14-million times).

 

[e$h]

First off, WELCOME!

Well I definitely wouldn't have put any highlites in my hair. I wouldn't have let my stylist clip my ends everytime she felt the need to. I would have been co-washing, moisturizing and sealing my ends and bunning more often.

 

[Ms Lala]

I wish I had NEVER relaxed my hair, it was so much healthier before that. My hair just can't take chemicals (motions relaxer took my hair out). I think the blowfryer was even worse though. I would have air dryed and gotten my hair pressed or flat ironed if I wanted it straight. If I ever decided to use chemical I never would have relaxed my hair bone straight, this is when I started losing hair. I would teturize it and use rollersets or a flat iron to get it straight. I would have deep conditioned more often and used heat much less. And the worse thing I think I ever did was flat iron wet hair, what was I thinking. I did it several times, that was super dumb. OH I know and use more moisturizer; I was always oiling my hair and then wondering why it was still dry, duh.

 

[shocol]

My 4a/4b hair is pretty strong, and has taken much abuse over the years. But the ONE thing that pretty much broke off all my hair is putting permanent color in while having a relaxer. Lesson learned

 

[N.P.R. Addict]

Welcome aboard!

You are doing exactly what I wish I had done; ask someone what I should do before I go on the path to healthy hair. The other things I wished had done:

1. Be patient.

2. Do research about what works and what does not.

3. Moisturize more.

4. Do the baggie/bun methods.

5. Not color so much.

6. Stay away from heat.

7. Never relaxed.

 

[pistachio]

Started wearing my real hair and bunning sooner that I did. Weaves helped my hair grow, but I still lost hair even from doing THAT.

 

[Ariana4000]

The main thing I would do is air dry more and not blow dry at all. Second, I would not have relaxed every month.

 

[esoterica]

i would have never had a relaxer. also, no bleach on top of a relaxer and no flatironing every day.

 

[Miosy]

Welcome!

What I would have done differently
1. Wet detangle w/ care
2. Dust regularly
3. Go natural