Pre-LHCF: What were you doing wrong?

[Junebug D]

Never deep conditioned. I think I had DC'd approximately twice since I'd been taking care of my own hair.

 

[destiny616]

relaxing bone straight

using my flat iron daily

 

[SlantedEyezMiss2003]

UMMMMM......Let's see.......flat iron everyday, wrong shampoo, not enough moisturizer, or the right moisturizer, grease my scalp, blow dry once a week, trimming more than an inch, relaxers every 6 weeks, brusing my ends, brushing 100x a night....no heat protectant, etc.....

 

[NappturalWomyn]

Everything.

 

[Cichelle]

I relaxed my hair 4 times a year from root to tip.
Used horrible, cheap combs and brushes and ripped through my hair with them. (I used to wait until I had matted hair and then yank through the tangles. I cringe when I think of it.)
Went through long phases of using a blow dryer every day...on dry hair. Plus, there were those times were I loved to sizzle my hair with a HOT curling iron, with no heat protection.


Those were the top offenders, I think. I suspect, but am not sure, that not keeping a clean scalp and hair (not washing enough) also played a role in it. I was stuck at just barely bsl for like 30 years or something. A long time. I thought my hair didn't grow longer than that. But as soon as I stopped doing the above, I was able to retain length and see results.

 

[Kneechay]

Ugh,
- Used a relaxer to mask/fix my hair issues
- Never deep conditioned
- Washed, blow dried and flat ironed every week, sometimes twice a week
- relaxing form root to tip
- Brushed like there was no tomorrow and then gelled down my edges.

 

[Lovestyr]

i was doing a couple of things incorrectly . i was getting my relaxers every six weeks because my beautician told me too , or my hair was going to break off. i use to only deep condition my hair every two weeks , cuase i thiught that was the norm . i used grease and petroleum jelly . i no longer do none of those things . i know relax every three months and i deep condition every week and i use only ne=atural organic products on my hair and i moisturize every dayyyyy.

 

[KAT25]

going to the hair dresser and letting her cut cut cut!! snip snip snip

 

[**SaSSy**]

Pre-LHCF:
I was natural with very dry NL-SL hair that I was getting very tired of.
I didn't have a regime, the only thing I did was comb/brush my hair violently when dry or wet. I only apply grease to my hair and scalp thing that was moisture. When I did apply something that was water-based it was only on wet hair, but it was once a week or less. I was using extreme amounts of heat. I was the same lenght for almost 5 years!

LHCF:
I got a relaxer and started to wash my own hair atleast every 3 to 4 days, DC with moisture-based products and only use protein when necessary. I moisture with only water based products 2x a day, and seal with natural oils afterwards. I don't trim, I only dust, and only go to salon only for touch-ups. I don't use heat, only when I get a touch-up. I co-wash atleast once a week. I bun everyday, with a baggie or phony donut hole. Now I'm APL, pushing for full BSL by Dec. 2009!

 

[loulou82]

Washing only at the salon every 2 weeks
No moisture between salon visits (I did have a jar of Profectiv and Razac for Perms but didn't use it consistently)
Relaxed every 6 weeks
Not sleeping without a scarf or bonnet beyond 4 weeks

 

[Prose Princess]

Wow. Ok...
1. Greasing my scalp and hair was the only moisture my hair got, and even then only every other wash I think
2. DC to me was 15 minutes under the hair dryer once a week with whatever conditioner I found lying around
3. Not balancing moisture and protein
4. Washing once a week, sometimes every other week
5. Relaxing my almost bald crown in between my 6 week relaxers thinking that it wasn't growing because the texture of the hair was just too nappy to be healthy without constant relaxing
6. Running a fine toothed comb through my weak crown trying to get it to lay down and cover my scalp on a daily basis
7. Blow drying and flat ironing my roots without any heat protectant ALL THE TIME
8. Putting gel on my hair and curling it with a hot curling iron and loving to hear the sizzle
9. Lottabody setting lotion
10. Minoxidil on my crown, thinking I was balding when all it needed was some MOISTURE

There's probably more, but that's all I can think of right now. I was completely clueless. I just wish I had found LHCF YEARS ago. But I'm here now and looking forward to MBL in 2010!

 

[skyborn09]

-too much flat ironing
-no deep conditioning
-too much manipulation
-no protectice styles
-Washed hair 1x or 2x a month

 

[Dlewis26]

relaxing way too offend

 

[hardymem]

Not moisturizing enough like ever, relying totally on my stylist for hair care, relaxers every 4 weeks.

 

[FelaShrine]

Washing hair every 2 weeks
Flat ironed hair every day
Never used protein
Never moisturized
Used pink hair lotion (SMFH)

 

[Divine Inspiration]

Trusting my stylist to be an ambassador of healthy hair.

 

[Solitude]

never DCing
using direct heat daily
self-relaxing incorrectly
never moisturizing
not using protein for protection from chemical services & direct heat
letting stylist "trim" my hair all the time or trimming my own hair after each relaxer
relaxing too often for my hair
not believing that my hair would ever grow really long

 

[Solitude]

erplexed My mom used to scream at me every morning because after brushing my hair, there would be tiny broken pieces of hair all over the bathroom.

I can't believe I was ripping my hair out for so many years!

Oh my, this brings back sooo many memories. My bf's mom was a stylist & she would go crazy when she saw those broken hair we (mostly I) left in the sink. I always felt so embarrassed, but she never told me what I could do about it and I didn't know, either!

 

[vestaluv1]

*coughs*...

• No moisturising whatsoever
• No deep conditioning whatsoever
• No protein treatments
• Using GEL on edges/top... remember, I never moisturised
• Relaxing as often as I wanted... sometimes more than once in a month
• Combing my hair from root to tip harshly... *BREAKAGE GALORE*
• Burning parts of my hair with the hot comb
• Never using heat protectant
• Putting in braid extensions and ponytails way too tight
• Sleeping with no scarf/bonnet
• Shampooing with no conditioner sometimes

I think its safe to say that I really didn't care about my hair until last year... looking at this list, I'm suprised I had hair when I joined LHCF!

 

[Lucky's Mom]

Before 1998:

Relaxing.

Bad information and all the wrong products.

 

[Ivy Santolina]

No protein/moisture balance - I didn't know it existed.
Not being patient with my hair - I was always in a hurry and never took the time to take care of my hair which resulted in a lot of breakage.
Not DCing after shampooing - I would just put either oil or a leave-in condish in my hair after shampooing.
Not sealing moisture in my hair with oil. I confused oil with moisturizers. I didn't know to put the leave-in moisturizer in my hair first then seal with oil.
Not chelating my hair. I didn't realize the damage the hard water was doing to my hair. Now I use conditioners specifically designed to deal with hard water.

 

[SimpleKomplexity]

- I didn't consistently sleep with a satin cap on my head. I just...slept
- I never moisturized my hair
-I always deep conditioned, but I only used products my friends used. I never used products good for MY hair
- I always had these hard styles in my head
-I pulled my hair tight all the time, to make it look like I had a fresh relaxer. (I didn't have any edges when I came to LHCF)
-I washed my hair every 2 or 3 weeks
-I liked the flat iron...A LOT when I first came to college
-I had that good hair with a LOT of (growing dandruff) thanx to greasing my fine strands everyday
-Brushing stimulates the scalp so I'd do it all day to stimulate my hair to grow

 

[beans4reezy]

I was way too cheap to ever get my hair DC'd
Never added Moisture (it messed up my pin curls)
Washed my hair when I had time AND money.....I would sometimes go 3 weeks without a wash!!
Excessive heat!

 

[A_Christian]

My biggest mistakes were not using the right type of moisturizing products and letting stylists have too much control regarding my hair care decisions.

Once I found the board and took control over what would and would not be allowed regarding its care the condition of my hair began to improve.

 

[Rain20]

I mainly let the hair stylists do my hair without much care in b/w visits. Also I have weaved my hair way too long. The traction has really thinned my hair because it's fine. I finally stop weaving in Oct'08.

Prior to LHCF I was really good about conditioning frequently and using appropriate products for my hair.

I also did not realize I did not need much in the way of relaxers. I can texturize my new growth for 3-5 mins every 3-6 months depending on growth and that allows me to wash-n-go or straighten.

 

[Denise11]

I was not moisturizing or sealing.

 

[Urban]

I totally feel y'all about the violent combing. I used to do this and have handfuls of hair at the end of it. I thought nothing of it, and probably thought it was normal. Thank God I now know better.

 

[blue_flower]

-using too much heat
-relaxing too often
-not washing my hair frequently
-using rubber bands
-not enough moisture

 

[that_1_grrrl]

Before 1998:

Relaxing.

Bad information and all the wrong products.

Is your hair flat-ironed in your avatar/siggy? Or is that from one of your steam + coconut & lime treatments? It looks soooo good in those pictures.

 

[FluffyRed]

Trusting my stylist