New Kid On the Block

[hunnybunny81]

Hello all...i've read through doezens and dozens of posts on this board and must say that i'm impressed by the amount of information I found! I've learned so much just reading these posts, but am a little confused as where to begin!! I want to grow my shoulder length hair about 6 inches longer, and while i know this can take anywhere from a year to a little longer, I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea of where to start..sorta like an outline, a starting point...ya know the basics....some advice to get me going...all and any advice is welcomed and sincerely appreciated!!! Thanks soooo much in advance..i look forward to learning!!!(and growing of course!)

 

[ms_kenesha]

Hey hunnybunny81,
I see we live in the same area, though I'm in MD. I would say the first thing to do is start by lessening any heat styling you do, then to find a regime for caring for your hair. It seems like everyone's is a little different, but I'd outline <ul type="square"> [*]The Frequency of Hair Washings/Rinsings
<font color="red"> I'd say at least once a week (I go every 3-4 days) </font color> [*]The Products used for Washing &amp; Conditioning
<font color="red"> this should include a moisturizing &amp; protein conditioner </font color> [*]The Products used to moisturize your hair
<font color="red"> shea butter, coconut oil, olive oil, jojoba, carrot oil, etc. </font color> [*]Ways to Style/Wear Your hair
<font color="red">wraps, roller sets, protective styles, etc. </font color> [/list]
That's my outline for making your own regime!

HTH (Hope That Heps) /images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[hunnybunny81]

Thanks sooo much for replying!! I really appreciate the help...I have to admit the hardest thing for me will be the heat styling...but I guess its all about discipline right?? thanks again ms_kenesha!!!!!!

 

[ms_kenesha]

How often do you heat style? That's the hardest part for me right now as well. I'm growing out my hair and at this length I can't really put it up and sometimes I get too lazy to rollerset. But I'm trying.... /images/graemlins/frown.gif
The good things is that once I style whether with a rollerset or the dreaded curling iron, my style stays until I shampoo again, so I don't use it everyday.

 

[hunnybunny81]

well...for the most part i wrap it up every night..so the next day I only use the curling iron on parts that didn't wanna wrap right..lol..which usually happens in the back...see I have this idea that my hair isn't manageable unless its straight...and i can only get it straight with heat..but i'm sure if i was more patient i could find another way...i'm too impatient to sit under the drier and air drying makes my hair super frizzy....so that means i end up blow drying everytime i wash it...which is like every 7-9 days...maybe i should wash more frequently, but then i feel i'll have to use more heat....(sigh) anyways...i'm not sure if i can go without the curling iron all together...but i'd be willing to do without blowdrying...u think that'd help????

 

[ms_kenesha]

Yeah start small and work your way up. I don't think anyone ditched all their bad hair habits in one sitting. For instance, if I use the curling iron then I make sure to air dry (sometimes if my ends are still damp I'll use the blowdryer on a cool setting), but I've told myself I won't do both to my hair at the same time. Have you tried doing rollesets or roller wraps. I know when I did the wraps at night I'd be tempted to heat style where it came out wrong as well. How long is your hair right now? I know the longer your hair is the straighter the wrap seems to be in the morning (and not in a good way) the longer my hair is the more I feel like I need to bump it after I unwrap it in the morning or it's just hanging there.

 

[hunnybunny81]

yea i guess small steps would be ideal at this point...cause i guess this is a process! But for the most part my hair is layered...the shortest part(my bangs)reach my nose..and the longest(the back) about 2 1/2 inches below the bottom of my neck...its way past my chin...but just barely touching my shoulders..i'm not sure if that gives u an idea?!

 

[adrienne0914]

hi, hunnybunny!

welcome to the group, and don't feel bad. i think giving up the heat was also the hardest part for me. i washed, blow dried and curled my hair twice a week. there was no other way for me to do my hair at the length it was when i first found the boards. i think mine was about the same length as yours in back, but my bangs were right above my eyebrows.

it seemed like everyone else on the boards was doing protective styles, mostly the bun. what i did to get my hair long enough for a bun was wear medium individual braids on and off for 8 months. now that my hair's longer, i wear the bun/drawstring ponytail 90% of the time. if braids are not for you (some people can't wear them for whatever reason), i'd say to try some styles that require no heat like braid or twist outs, or even decrease the number of times you use the curling iron. every little bit helps! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

adrienne

 

[pebbles]

Hi hunnybunny!

Welcome to the board! Give up using the heat appliances as much as you can. Your hair will thank-you for it. /images/graemlins/wink.gif Good luck! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Ennyaa]

Welcome Hunnybunny! You and I have hair about the same length and I do the bun/drawstring ponytail method when I'm not wearing braids (like right now). Actually I found that giving up heat wasn't hard at all for me, mostly cuz I was too lazy to stand there curling or blowdrying my hair anyway /images/graemlins/crazy.gif. But believe me, once you see how much better your hair does when you stop using the heat you'll be about ready to throw that curling iron in the trash.

 

[lshevonne]

Hi and welcome...
Like everyones says give up the heat. I did it and it wasn't that hard after all. My thing was the curling iron. Well, I gave up the blow dryer first, then the curling iron. Hey, the activator everyone talks about helps me out a lot...

 

[Integrity]

hunny, for me going heat free has been very very easy!!i stopped using curling irons and blow dryers COLD!my hair really holds moisture very well now, we are both happy /images/graemlins/grin.gif i hope u find it like that as well!

 

[AmilLion]

Welcome HunnyBunny.

My suggest to you to help you on your way to long healthy hair would be first try to identify what your hair likes. For you, it may take some time experimenting with different products until you can find a routine that works best for you. Black hair requires moisture, moisture, moisture and more moisture. The best moisture we can give our hair would be water and that can be replenished during a shampoo, rinse or a condition wash. Some advise to shampoo hair at least every three or four days, but I find every 5-6 days is more effective for me. Why? My hair barely sheds if washed and conditioned properly and requires barely any moisture until my next wash. I notice I lose more hair about the 5th to 6th after my last wash. I use this to dictate how often I should wash my hair, however, I never go longer than a week. So to say, if I washed my hair on a Saturday and for some reason, my hair is coming out a little more on a Tuesday, then I will wash my hair that Tuesday. If I washed my hair Saturday and it's coming out a little more by Thursday, then Thursday I'll wash to replenish moisture.

When washing, you only want to wash away surface dirt and oil, not your natural oils. So therefore, after washing, your hair should feel somewhat slick, not squeaky clean. If so, you could be stripping your hair therefore damaging it. The trick, try to use a shampoo that's sulfate free as sulfates are a DETERGENT and we all know how harsh DETERGENT's are. We used them to wash clothes, carpets and etc. Obviously, the substances are much stronger than hair strands. Many of us on the board lather our hair once to maybe twice. Recommended shampoo's from what I've read that are pretty good would include, Crème of Nature, Jason's, Aubrey's, BreakThru and Elucence.

Now you its time to condition your hair. There's different options you can take depending on the products that you use. However, the hair requires protein treatments which are the same as reconstructors. Don't be fooled by the labeling. Some protein you can use every week, some, every other week, others once every 6 weeks. I find the protein that you can use every week would be more of a creamy consistency. I like to leave protein on my hair for about 30 minutes with heat. Some mix their protein treatments with olive oil to add moisture. You must remember, protein helps strengthen our hair, but it's a drying substance. You MUST follow a protein treatment with a moisturizing conditioner. Some use only a leave-in, others use a crème and sit under a dryer, or rinse off within a few minutes. I like to leave on my crème moisturizing conditioner for about 10 minutes with no heat then rinse. Recommended crème protein treatments include Motions CPR, ORS Hair Mayo. Recommended strong Protein Treatments would include Aphogee Treatment for Damaged Hair. (I think that would be unanimous on this board). Recommended moisturizing conditioners would include far too many to name, however, I find many are found of Mizani Moisturfuse, Hydrafuse and Motions Moisturizer. Some of my personal moisturizers include, Mizani Moisturfuse, Ultra Black Hair Dew Leave-In, Elucence Moisturizer, Arosci Leave-In Conditioner, Professional Rx Leave-In Conditioner.

I prefer leave-in conditions over setting lotions as they do an excellent job detangling, softening and moisturizing my hair. I use only Leave-in to roller set my hair. I really love Arosci and Professional Rx. Maybe some of the girls on the board can give you recommendations for setting lotions.

Now, it's time to dry your hair. I think everyone will agree NO HEAT with the exception of a hood dryer. Heat damages, PERIOD. No if ands or butts lol. I roller set my hair and sit under a hood dryer on a cool-warm setting. Others wrap, dry their hair using a ponytail method, or air dry.

Ohh, as for daily maintenance, there's different options to use. I like to spray leave-in conditioner on my hair if it requires moisture. No, it does not cause frizzes with me because I usually will do this at night and immediately wrap my hair thereafter.

Good Luck

 

[Integrity]

good advice amillion! now, when is that hair book of yours coming out??!! /images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[AmilLion]

Thanks pandora. lol, check your local bookstore by February lol

 

[Kitkat]

Hi HunnyBunny, and welcome! /images/graemlins/grin.gif I ditto what everyone else here sez: you gotta give up the heat, girl. Heat is BAD! With the exception of using my hooded dryer to deep condition and sometimes dry my hair, I don't use heat at all. I used heat religiously in the past and since I washed my hair only once every 1 - 1 1/2 weeks I was curling dirty hair. Naturally, my hair broke like crazy. It's doing much better now, thanks to the advice and support of the ladies on this board. /images/graemlins/grin.gif You should try roller sets as an alternative to heat.

Adrienne's suggestion regarding braids was a good one. That's what I used to grow my hair to the length that it is now, and I plan to go back into braids to grow it out to the length where I can do a bun neatly. Can't go into braids now because I'm job hunting, but once that's done I'm there.

I like your name - are you a 'Pulp Fiction' fan? One of the characters in that movie referred to his girlfriend by your moniker.

Again, welcome. You'll love it here.

 

[hunnybunny81]

Thanks everyone so so so much for the advice!! I see that I need to give up the heat!!! I really sincerely appreciate everyone taking the time out to help, it means a lot to lil ol' me....thanks again everyone!



KitKat-I picked that name cause thats the nickname my boyfriend calls me ..I never knew that was in that movie...lol

 

[hairfanatic]

Welcome HunnyBunny,

The first thing is to get on the vitamins to help the growth kick in.

Wash Frequently

Wear Styles that are easy on the hair.

Condition, condition and condition

and what I have definately learned...LEAVE YOUR HAIR ALONE.