Please Explain your Setbacks!

[Dposh167]

I read a lot of posts about people having setbacks and had to chop/trim/startover. Nobody really goes into detail about it though. I'm curious b/c I wanna know if this is something that u did out of neglect or was it something that u had no control over.

what exactly happend that made u have a setback? and what was the result of that setback?

 

[IntoMyhair]

Last year I did a cut that was uneven. All the hair that regrow was in a big slant. So i hade to cut it again to shoulder length. I am now dealing with breakage so i may chop it off again back to shoulder length. That way it will all grow in thick and even and i'll get rid of my l and s shaped ends.

I feel i had no control over my cut. The short side would never have caught up with the long side.

 

[gymfreak336]

I have had a couple of setbacks

For starters.... My first major set back was from being overprocessed and having a bad dye job. My color was very pretty but I let my usual stylist do it when I should have gone to a colorist. My hair was almost shoulder length when this happened so I had to grow all of that out first and formost.

I underprocessed myself 2-3 times this summer which lead to breakage. I lost alot of thickness when that happened and cut maybe 2 inches total

I got an impromptu cut at a beauty school, The girl cut my hair as she rolled it and I didn't even know until it was done- 2 inches lost

When I first started out here, I was a little too over zealous and started using more protein conditioners. I had a little breakage steadily the whole year before I figured out I was overdoing the protein.

Now, I have maybe 2 inches of overprocessed really straight ends left and they are starting to split no matter what I do. I am slowing trimming those off.

 

[InnerSoul]

I used ORS no lye back in July and since the kit does not come with a pre-relaxer treatment... my hair basically melted off from the previously relaxed hair and the new growth.. which it was my fault because I shouldn't have left it on for more than necessary(crown area). Now I have to pay for it! But hey you live and learn! its growing back very nice and coily! So I won't have to focus on my different hair lengths anymore... I use kinky twists off and on. What did I learn? to make sure I have a pre-relaxer treatment.. and I sdecided to switch to lye to retain more moisture when I texlax.

also check my journal in my profile its more detail found there.

 

[locabouthair]

My setback was when I started going to the Dominican salon and they would overlap the relaxer. This caused my ends to get very thin and both my sides broke off very badly.

I have about 4 inches to cut but I am slowly trimming them. so at the end of this year they should be gone.

 

[Spongie Bloom]

for me it was very bone straight and over processed hair i got at a salon i put on some kinky twists three months later i removed them chopped off all the relaxed ends and was left with about 3 inches of natural hair that is how i started over, i used braids mostly to grow out my hair and my hair has grown out well not evenely my hair in the front seems to grow slower than the rest of my hair so its in 2 layersi have suffered a bit of a setback now as well my stylist left out my ends in soem of the braids i last wore so now i have sum split ends, n l shaped ends...especially in the front hair...which are the shortest layers! n im getting a bit too scissors happy with it..so im going to stop now

 

[sareca]

March 2006 I dyed my hair black AFTER I'd just chopped off the side that was 1.5 inches longer than the other. Anyway, my hair promptly dried up and broke off. I switched to henna 2 months later...

 

[EMJazzy]

My hair was growing nicely when I first joined LHCF I decided to try crown and glory to grow my hair the rest of the way to my goals. The fake hair dry out my hair very badly and when I took out the braids my hair promptly broke off in protest. (pics in fotki)

 

[Kalani]

I've had numerous setbacks, 2 of them requiring me to cut about 4+ inches off my hair. All occasions was a result of neglect on my part. I'm an "on the go" type of person that doesn't like to spend much time on routines, whether its putting on make-up in the mornings (don't like to spend more than 3 minutes), or skin care routines at night.

Although I started out all gung-ho on haircare routines when I first joined the forum, I gradually lost patience and skimped out on certain practices. I often would go to bed with my hair all out (not securing it or putting it into a scarf). I had a bad habit of not being consistent in taking care of my ends. It got to the point where my ends where lucky if they got any care on a bi-monthly basis.

Needless to say, I would end up with the straggly, dry, see through ends which I would start out trimming little by little but end up chopping off a whole bunch in a bout of anger (I need to work on that ).

The last setback was a result of improper ceramic iron use. The funny part is I hardly ever use the thing, but one day I had rollerset my hair in preparation for a evening out. When I took the rollers out my hair was not to my liking so I went over it with the iron. The bad part was I had put oils in my hair for the rollerset so when I ironed it, I think it was cooking my hair. erplexed The health of my hair, particularly the last 4-5 inches, went downhill after that.

Anway, I have finally learned my lessons and have forced myself to invest more time, energy, and money in maintaining my hair health!

 

[naijamerican]

My hair was growing nicely when I first joined LHCF I decided to try crown and glory to grow my hair the rest of the way to my goals. The fake hair dry out my hair very badly and when I took out the braids my hair promptly broke off in protest. (pics in fotki)

This is precisely what happened to me last year (twice, as a matter of fact). I came to the sad conclusion that my hair does not like fake or human hair that does not grow from my own head. I had to cut off 3 inches last summer. It was disheartening but my hair was much healthier and actually, it has mostly grown back.

ETA: I just read dtachi's response and I am similar to her, too. I'm just too lazy to take care of my hair but shame is making me change because my hair has not retained as much length as it should have, and it's all my own fault.

 

[krissyprissy]

I had a set back at the end of 2007 due to self-relaxing. I was using Silk elements and followed all the steps. The issue was covering all the spots. I ended up with broken off spots thought my scalp. My hair is still BSL but about 35% thinner due to hair loss. I no longer relax my own hair as of Nov. 07.

 

[FineChyna]

major setback: about 2 years ago i went to a salon to get my hair pressed and trimed and the lady cut like 3inches off so i was back to shoulder length

other problems i had for using products that didn't work for me which caused breakage. some dried out my hair something fierce. instead of tossing it immediately i was trying to find wasy to make it work. bad idea

 

[septemberbaby]

what exactly happend that made u have a setback? I had radioactive iodine treatment done in May for an overactive thyroid. Then my thyroid became underactive. I also started a new medication for the underactive thyroid.

and what was the result of that setback? My hair became extremely dry, brittle and thin. It began breaking off and falling out like crazy. My hair has yet to recover. I don't think it will until my thyroid levels are back in their normal range.

To do this, I must:
STAY on top of my endocrinologist appts
Take my meds everyday
Eat plenty of fruits, veggies, fish, protein
Drink plenty of water

Since my condition is internal, I have to put better things into my body.

I will also do more conditioner washes to keep my dry hair moisturized & stretch my relaxers so as not to overprocess my thin, extra delicate strands.

 

[crazydaze911]

heres the laundry list....
1. got layers, which was fine. when i went back to trim and the lady asked me if i had layers, i said yes. so she wanted to trim the splits from the layers to, rather than just the last layer. sounded like an ok idea. WRONG. she kept trimming and tried to style it. i ended up with an above shoulder length jennifer aniston type cut - ick!
2. dyed my hair while it was relaxed - did WHOLE HEAD 3 times - cuz thats what i used to see my mom do. dumb, dumb me. hair kept drying and i had to trim ends like EVERY TWO weeks. i thought the stylist just wanted to make money off me. they never explianed the the COLOR was the problem!
3. tried african wonders naturalaxer after being natural almost 2 years. WORST MISTAKE EVER. It said it was natural and that you shouldnt fear overlapping or overprocessing. WHAT A LIE! I left it on the recommended time and went into the shower to rinse. my hair was falling out in CLUMPS from the roots. it was horrifying! it was WORSE than a regular relaxer.
4. went to mizani stylist for thermasmooth. he argued with me for more than 1/2 hour about getting a trim. he even brought my step-daughter in to look at my hair and convince me. i gave in! Lost about 3 inches. Went from bra strap (the longest i'd ever had my hair ) to APL.
5. Tried trimming my own hair. Did it in sections. when i put all of my hair 'back together' i realized i cut way too much off! you dont realize it when ur doing piece by piece sections. I was so mad at myself!

B/c of all this i'm very scared to trim professionally or myself and have not in many months. My hair is back to around APL - its been btwn APL and SL most of my life. Hope these horror stories help someone and keep them from making similar mistakes

 

[prospurr4]

I have been a self-relaxer for many years. Well, in December 2005 (before I found hairboards), I decided that the back of my hair was "resistant," and I needed to let the relaxer marinade on that section a little longer.....like 15 minutes longer, for a total of 30 minutes! To make matters worse, I had even pulled the relaxer down the length of my hair, with no protective barrier (i.e. conditioner, oil, etc.) on my previously-relaxed ends. When I finally rinsed the relaxer out, the nape was basically gone, and I had breakage throughout the back section...pieces as long as 3-4" long had just broken off. Before this incident, the length of my hair was between shoulder and armpit, but after the damage, the ends of that section barely reached the bottom of my neck!

As a result, I began to regularly moisturize that section, stopped using all direct heat, and began shortening my relaxing time (texlaxing). Six months later (June 2006), I found hairboards and now my hair is thick, healthy and brastrap. I still self-relax (texlax), but I have a much better understanding of what I am doing now. My nape has grown back and is now the same length as the rest of my hair.

 

[rae126]

I suffered a bad case of postpartum shedding. The back of my head has less than a inch of hair I'm seriously considering cutting the rest of my hair to match.

 

[janeemat]

Dec 2006. I get mad when I think about it. This stylist cut my shoulder length hair to the top of neck length after I had spent all year growing it out. Now one year later I'm about an inch from APL!

 

[ManeVixen]

My setback came when i was transitioning I was almost shoulder length and had less than 1/2" of permed hair i was holding on to. So i purchased one of those flat irons the people at the kiosk in the middle of the mall sell. I set that thing at 475 degrees and coudnt believe how much bounce and shine i had, so when i went to wear my hair in its natural state boy o boy my hair was bone straight after i washed it no curl at all! so now i have to grow the hair that wont revert back. Darn it!

Harsh water also damage my hair but i was told i can counteract the damage that causes.

OT: is blowdrying hair after a rollerset considered direct heat and does it cause less damage than blowdring wet hair?

 

[crazydaze911]

My setback came when i was transitioning I was almost shoulder length and had less than 1/2" of permed hair i was holding on to. So i purchased one of those flat irons the people at the kiosk in the middle of the mall sell. I set that thing at 475 degrees and coudnt believe how much bounce and shine i had, so when i went to wear my hair in its natural state boy o boy my hair was bone straight after i washed it no curl at all! so now i have to grow the hair that wont revert back. Darn it!

Harsh water also damage my hair but i was told i can counteract the damage that causes.

OT: is blowdrying hair after a rollerset considered direct heat and does it cause less damage than blowdring wet hair?

Yes, that is definitely direct heat. And i dont think ethnic hair should EVER be blow dryed from wet (Although i used to be guilty of that myself, trying to convince myself i could get out of the salon faster like the straight haired girls). It takes alot more heat to straighten from wet, as opposed to hair that is 90% dry from a roller set already.

 

[Missi]

>I washed my hair: so i had no products in it for my relaxer: and i airdried my hair in a ponytail:
>'2' days later: I undid my ponytail and proceeded to relax (not realizing where my ponytail was: my hair was still damp):
>so after my relaxer was applied it started burning: i started rinsing off that area and my hair started snapping at the scalp:
>so i left that area alone and only washed w/ the neutrolizing poo: after it was dried: i flatironed my hair (my April pics) (looks good still).

>>because my roots were thin (hair in back that didn't break) at the scalp: as my new growth was getting longer: that demarcation line of strong curled new growth to thin damaged hair broke like fish flakes whenever i combed that area to rollerset

now my hair has grown about 4 inches: bad part is so did the rest of my hair so its still even: GOOD NEWS is my hair is healthy and this mistake won't ever happen again.

 

[IrisDaVirus]

I suffered a bad case of postpartum shedding. The back of my head has less than a inch of hair I'm seriously considering cutting the rest of my hair to match.

I can relate because I've cut off seven inches of hair in the past three weeks. But it had to be done to get my hair back on track. Between the thinning hairline, broken patches in the center of my head and split ends, I couldn't take it anymore. My hairline is pretty much grown back in but the rest of my head was a mess. So I cut my hair in two stages. I cut the top down and did the rest this past Sunday. It's now down a short, kinky afro. Very drastic but necessary.