thenimblelife22
Active Member
I can still remember what it was like, sneaking down the stairs, painstakingly stepping in just the right spots on every step so that my mom wouldn't catch her 15 year old daughter up and on the family computer at 11pm, pouring over the internet for "grow black hair long" tips.
I remember the glow from the monitor in the dark hurting my eyes as I read every word of every forum thread, admiring all of the beautiful black women with their dark, shining long hair. After having my heart stop for the umpteenth time because I could have sworn I heard my mom get up, I'd shut down the computer, leaving everything in the den exactly as I had left it, only to slither back upstairs and into my childhood bedroom.
Though my eyes would be heavy and the glowing 1:13am on my alarm clock would remind me that I had to get up in less than 6 hours in order to catch the school bus, I would not let an eyelid fall before earnestly praying to God that my relaxed and broken strands would one day reach the lengths of the ladies on the Long Hair Care Forum.
Wow.
Words can't even describe what it's like when you come back full circle. Six years later, I find myself with that same teenage awe when reading this forum. Let me just first say that all the women on here are absolutely amazing.
My journey started like most young black girls in that I had long, thick, press-n-curl hair up until age 13 when I begged and begged my mother for a relaxer. Happily obliging because she was sick of pressing my hair every two weeks anyway, we made the trip downtown to see my very first hairdresser, "Ms. Jenny".
Ms. Jenny was no joke—she and Soft & Beautiful Mild Relaxer had their way with my virgin strands and I was left with every girl's dreams: straight, shiny, silky, blow in the wind, long hair. In my ecstasy, I bopped down my middle school halls a changed person. All the white girls asked what I did to my hair. All the black girls asked me if my hair was real. The boy I liked asked me if I had a head transplant. In 13 year old terms, I was in heaven.
In less than 3 years; however, I was quickly kicked out of the Garden of Eden for tasting the forbidden fruit—heat tools! I had been so elated that I could get a comb through my hair, let alone get it straight, that I was heat styling it 2-3 times a day. Coupled with the fact that Ms. Jenny was deliberately overlapping my touch-ups on my previously relaxed hair to get it "bone straight", my back-length hair quickly broke off to my collar bone.
Horrified when a new stylist told me that she couldn't recreate the Aaliyah style I was so in love with because "my hair wasn't long enough", I quickly took to the internet to figure out how to get my crown and glory back. That is when I discovered LCHF. As a lurker, I learned so much about how to care for my hair that I was almost angry that all the other hairdressers I was seeing didn't take these basic tips into account when dealing with my hair. Also, for the first time I began to learn about the history of African American hair and the psychology behind why I personally felt the need to relax my hair. After a few weeks on the forum at 15 1/2 years old, I decided I was going natural.
In the year that it took me to transition, I was mocked by pretty much everyone around me. At school, my crush would tell me "You'd be fine if you'd just quit with that curly s***" and at home, my dad would yell "Ah! It's Cousin It!" and crack up laughing anytime we were in the same room together. Around every holiday, my mom would beg me to get a perm, pleading that she'd even pay for it if I didn't want to use the money I was earning at my after-school job. At this point; however, I was growing more militant by the day and no one's comments could deter me from my end goal: fabulously natural hair.
At the end of my transition, my whole world changed. Previously deemed a H.A.M., now everyone from the girls at my high school to the grown women in my mother's book club would ask me "How do you get your hair like that?" "Do you put something in it to 'make' it curly?" "Are you mixed?" Fully embracing my new "natural hair guru" status, I became THE go-to girl at home and at college when it came to natural hair questions. In the last four years that I've been away at college, I've directly and indirectly influenced nearly a dozen girls to "go natural". Even with my extensive hair care knowledge and love for natural hair, what most people don't know about me is that I treat my hair terribly.
Since I wear my hair in a large, curly bush most of the time, no one knows that my hair has not grown past shoulder length since I've gone natural nearly 6 years ago, or that I'm plagued with an itchy scalp, and dry, splitting hair. My current routine consist of wash n' gos and sleeping on cotton pillow cases. I know, I know, I cringe even as I type it, but in all my advising over the years, it's like I've completely forgot how to care for my own hair!
Thus, on a whim, I returned to LHCF 6 years later (yesterday), opened a new account and paid the $6.50. When I see women on here who have joined as recently as 2008 and now have gorgeous long hair, my heart sinks because that could have been me. Instead of wallowing, I'm rebelling against my normally extremely independent ways and leaning on all of you to get that spring back in my curl.
I recently ran across LeobodyC5's routine on youtube, and I think that is what I'm going to try (with a few modifications) because it's low-fuss and she has AMAZING hair.
Basically, I'm thinking about flat ironing my hair 1-2x a month just to keep the ends from tangling and to give me a reason to tie it up at night. I like the idea of air-drying for everything and straightening with a Maxiglide (which I have yet to get). When I want to wear my hair curly, I'm thinking a braid-out will do since wash-n-go's leave my hair snaggly. I plan on buying CON shampoo to use before straightening and Tresemme Vitamin E as a regular conditioner. I really like ORS Replenishing Paks for deep conditioning, so maybe I'll go with that. I also want to get some Lacio Lacio for leave-in conditioning and castor oil for scalp massages. Those shikaki shamppo bars are really intriguing too, but I don't know anything about shampoo bars so who knows...
So that's me! I'm excited to be a newbie again and I look forward to participating and growing my hair long! If you have ANY suggestions on routines, etc, it'd be greatly appreciated.
I remember the glow from the monitor in the dark hurting my eyes as I read every word of every forum thread, admiring all of the beautiful black women with their dark, shining long hair. After having my heart stop for the umpteenth time because I could have sworn I heard my mom get up, I'd shut down the computer, leaving everything in the den exactly as I had left it, only to slither back upstairs and into my childhood bedroom.
Though my eyes would be heavy and the glowing 1:13am on my alarm clock would remind me that I had to get up in less than 6 hours in order to catch the school bus, I would not let an eyelid fall before earnestly praying to God that my relaxed and broken strands would one day reach the lengths of the ladies on the Long Hair Care Forum.
Wow.
Words can't even describe what it's like when you come back full circle. Six years later, I find myself with that same teenage awe when reading this forum. Let me just first say that all the women on here are absolutely amazing.
My journey started like most young black girls in that I had long, thick, press-n-curl hair up until age 13 when I begged and begged my mother for a relaxer. Happily obliging because she was sick of pressing my hair every two weeks anyway, we made the trip downtown to see my very first hairdresser, "Ms. Jenny".
Ms. Jenny was no joke—she and Soft & Beautiful Mild Relaxer had their way with my virgin strands and I was left with every girl's dreams: straight, shiny, silky, blow in the wind, long hair. In my ecstasy, I bopped down my middle school halls a changed person. All the white girls asked what I did to my hair. All the black girls asked me if my hair was real. The boy I liked asked me if I had a head transplant. In 13 year old terms, I was in heaven.
In less than 3 years; however, I was quickly kicked out of the Garden of Eden for tasting the forbidden fruit—heat tools! I had been so elated that I could get a comb through my hair, let alone get it straight, that I was heat styling it 2-3 times a day. Coupled with the fact that Ms. Jenny was deliberately overlapping my touch-ups on my previously relaxed hair to get it "bone straight", my back-length hair quickly broke off to my collar bone.
Horrified when a new stylist told me that she couldn't recreate the Aaliyah style I was so in love with because "my hair wasn't long enough", I quickly took to the internet to figure out how to get my crown and glory back. That is when I discovered LCHF. As a lurker, I learned so much about how to care for my hair that I was almost angry that all the other hairdressers I was seeing didn't take these basic tips into account when dealing with my hair. Also, for the first time I began to learn about the history of African American hair and the psychology behind why I personally felt the need to relax my hair. After a few weeks on the forum at 15 1/2 years old, I decided I was going natural.
In the year that it took me to transition, I was mocked by pretty much everyone around me. At school, my crush would tell me "You'd be fine if you'd just quit with that curly s***" and at home, my dad would yell "Ah! It's Cousin It!" and crack up laughing anytime we were in the same room together. Around every holiday, my mom would beg me to get a perm, pleading that she'd even pay for it if I didn't want to use the money I was earning at my after-school job. At this point; however, I was growing more militant by the day and no one's comments could deter me from my end goal: fabulously natural hair.
At the end of my transition, my whole world changed. Previously deemed a H.A.M., now everyone from the girls at my high school to the grown women in my mother's book club would ask me "How do you get your hair like that?" "Do you put something in it to 'make' it curly?" "Are you mixed?" Fully embracing my new "natural hair guru" status, I became THE go-to girl at home and at college when it came to natural hair questions. In the last four years that I've been away at college, I've directly and indirectly influenced nearly a dozen girls to "go natural". Even with my extensive hair care knowledge and love for natural hair, what most people don't know about me is that I treat my hair terribly.
Since I wear my hair in a large, curly bush most of the time, no one knows that my hair has not grown past shoulder length since I've gone natural nearly 6 years ago, or that I'm plagued with an itchy scalp, and dry, splitting hair. My current routine consist of wash n' gos and sleeping on cotton pillow cases. I know, I know, I cringe even as I type it, but in all my advising over the years, it's like I've completely forgot how to care for my own hair!
Thus, on a whim, I returned to LHCF 6 years later (yesterday), opened a new account and paid the $6.50. When I see women on here who have joined as recently as 2008 and now have gorgeous long hair, my heart sinks because that could have been me. Instead of wallowing, I'm rebelling against my normally extremely independent ways and leaning on all of you to get that spring back in my curl.
I recently ran across LeobodyC5's routine on youtube, and I think that is what I'm going to try (with a few modifications) because it's low-fuss and she has AMAZING hair.
Basically, I'm thinking about flat ironing my hair 1-2x a month just to keep the ends from tangling and to give me a reason to tie it up at night. I like the idea of air-drying for everything and straightening with a Maxiglide (which I have yet to get). When I want to wear my hair curly, I'm thinking a braid-out will do since wash-n-go's leave my hair snaggly. I plan on buying CON shampoo to use before straightening and Tresemme Vitamin E as a regular conditioner. I really like ORS Replenishing Paks for deep conditioning, so maybe I'll go with that. I also want to get some Lacio Lacio for leave-in conditioning and castor oil for scalp massages. Those shikaki shamppo bars are really intriguing too, but I don't know anything about shampoo bars so who knows...
So that's me! I'm excited to be a newbie again and I look forward to participating and growing my hair long! If you have ANY suggestions on routines, etc, it'd be greatly appreciated.
What a compelling post! It was a great read. Glad to see you here. Happy growing.
. Oh yeah, 
I hope you retain length from here on in and achieve all the goals you set for yourself.
back to the forum. Wishing you a very successful hair care journey 
