Teris 'unpopular answers' - what do u think?

[crazydaze911]

Hey ladies:
By now most of you have heard of Teri LaFlesh from Tightlycurly.com (advocate of the tightly curly method which uses tons of conditioner to define curls). After damaging her hair most of her life, she finally grew it beyond her butt!

in any case, she has a new questions and answers page and boy did i find some of her answers controversial... so i wanted to bring it here for discussion.

Here are two of the answers that really had me concerned...

Question:
Can I Use Baking Soda in my Hair?
Answer:
For the sake of your hair, never use baking soda. It's highly destructive to your hair. It's basically salt, and salt is highly corrosive (if you've ever seen what it does to the metal of cars in places where they use salt to melt the snow, you can get some idea. And if you've ever eaten something really salty, it often makes your lips sore).

dont alot of ladies on this board use this and swear by it? could she be right?

Question:
Is It Possible To Over Condition Your Hair?
Answer:
I guess it depends...It is possible to put something on your hair that's too greasy, or makes it too stiff, or builds up too much. But that's more a result of using the wrong ingredients in a product. Also, for hair as curly as ours, I leave in a good conditioner to weigh my hair down. For someone with fine, limp hair that's easily flattened, this would totally flatten their hair. So in that case, their hair would be over-conditioned by leaving in conditioner like I do. But for very curly hair like mine, I want to weigh my hair down, so leaving in the conditioner makes my hair moisturized, clumped, and happy. If you leave in conditioners that have damaging ingredients in your hair (like salt, and some others), then that won't be good for your hair and may cause breakage. And then the issue wouldn't be over conditioning, but leaving something on your hair that's got harmful ingredients in it. But having constant conditioning (from products that have no harmful ingredients to your hair) is good. There is nothing in the conditioners I recommend that will hurt your hair. If this were damaging, I would not have been able to grow my fragile hair down to my hips. But this won't work with any conditioner. Some will hurt your hair if you leave them in. That's why I specify conditioners that work on my site.

i think this answer was too simple, and was concerned it didnt mention moisture/protein balance

 

[brucebettye]

I have no problem with her answers. She has grown her hair from very short hair to very long hair. So whatever she does works wonders for her hair and I have nothing bad to say about it. I also like her website.

 

[Sapphire_chic]

I may agree with her first point.
i used to use baking soda exclusivly on my hair and scalp for cleanising but after using it as an exfoliating face mask and being left with dozens of Painful tiny scratches on my face i stopped using it because i felt it was harsh.
my hair has thickened since i stopped but this could be down to several things.

i don't think she answered the over conditioning question extensivly enough either

 

[crazydaze911]

I may agree with her first point.
i used to use baking soda exclusivly on my hair and scalp for cleanising but after using it as an exfoliating face mask and being left with dozens of Painful tiny scratches on my face i stopped using it because i felt it was harsh.
my hair has thickened since i stopped but this could be down to several things.

i don't think she answered the over conditioning question extensivly enough either

Thanks. I was going to start using it after i finished my shampoo stash, but now im rethinking that.

 

[diva24]

Baking Soda is too harsh for my hair. I also used it as a liquid exfoliant on my face and had scrapes. Also I never met anyone that had over conditioned hair. That seems to be a self correcting problem IMO. If your hair feels mushy, lay off the conditioner for a week and see if it does not return. Or use a conditioner with a little protein in it already.

 

[NikStarrr]

what's her web address?

ETA: nevermind, got it.

 

[PinkSkates]

I agree with her answers...and I had no idea they are considered unpopular. I'm glad I march to my own hair beat and not the popular ones.
Her hair is gorgeous and looks very healthy.

 

[msa]

I think her second answer was a little too simple...but it wasn't "wrong" either. I get the point she was trying to convey.

And about the baking soda...she's right. It can be very damaging to the hair. Here's something Gymfreak said about it in a thread:

First off, when you open the cuticle layer up, you make the hair very soft. I know everyone loves the feeling of a baking soda rinse and the reason being is because the high pH throws your cuticle open and affects the bonds of your hair (all 3). It might feel good but you make yourself open to damage your hair. It is easier for pieces of the cuticle to chip off and other things of that nature. High pH solutions are also not healthy for the scalp. You can cause the scalp to slowly thin and weaken, making you more apt to have burning during relaxer processes and more thinning hair. A shampoo with a low pH still cleanses the hair without leaving you open to damage your hair as much.

I still use baking soda...but not nearly as much as I used to nor as often as I use to. And I dilute it a bunch with water and thick conditioner. But it's definitely not the best thing to use which is why I switched to bentonite clay.

 

[shocol]

Baking soda can be very harsh on the hair so I do agree somewhat with her answer to the first question. I wouldn't say never, but do limit the use of baking soda.

I think the second question should have been, "Is it possible to overmoisturize your hair?"

 

[BeetleBug]

I agree w/ her first point. Diluted baking soda burns my skin so imagine what it would probably do to my hair.

 

[NikStarrr]

I agree with her answers. As far as conditioning, just because someone has a website, doesn't make them a chemist. Haha I think she answered the best way an average Joe could.

 

[Crown]

Baking soda is too harsh for fine hair. It took me time and treatments to recover my fine strands.

 

[ResultsMayVary]

I use a baking soda/conditioner mix once (sometimes twice) a month
no complaints
but to each its own ... I always say

 

[JayAnn0513]

I get what she is trying to say in both responses, but I do think it is possible to over condition hair. Everyone's hair is different and if you are using too much of a moisturizing condish or too much protein condish you can do more hard to your hair than good. Neither Mush or hard hay hair is a good thing.

 

[ceebee3]

I wouldn't put baking soda in my hair so I agree with her on that point. Conditioner works differently for everyone.

 

[chebaby]

i would never use baking soda on my hair. i've never used it on my face either but the thought just makes me cringe.

 

[lilsparkle825]

I have always heard baking soda rinses are great if they are followed up with an ACV rinse to close the cuticle, but I have only used baking soda once or twice so I'm no expert. As for her second point, the only reason cowashing every day wasn't good for my hair was because of the amount of manipulation, not because the conditioner ruined it.

 

[audacity.]

unpopular?

i say to each her own...do what best for YOUR hair and YOUR lifestyle.

 

[BlkOnyx488]

Hey Ladies FYI she is a member here. She joined after she created her website
so don't think she took everything we said and made a webstie from it LOL
Not like some people who shall remain nameless.

She is right about baking soda, I use it to clean my silverware, and clean the rust off of antiques, I mix baking soda and lemon juice. Works like a charm. But I have used it on my hair I didn't like it as much I like Apple cider vingar rinses. Like everyone has said you just have to dilute it properly

 

[almond eyes]

For women with fine hair baking soda can be very harsh. I know from experience when I jumped on that bandwagon a few months ago luckily after the first time I stopped.

Also when you have fine hair, over conditioning can happen. If you sit with the conditioner in your hair for too long or over weighing your hair with too many products and glopping on too much product.

Teri is definitely speaking for the fine haired sisters. And by fine hair it could be fine hair 4b/4a/3c/3b etc.

Best,
Almond Eyes

 

[classychic1908]

Salt in moderation, in a rinse out fashion, is fine in my opinion. I'm seriously loving my weekly Kiafizzle.

And I completely agree with her second point. I almost always leave conditioner in my hair with no ill effects, and I have never used hardcore protein ever. I think you have to be careful about what ingredients are listed in your conditioners. I use my Aubrey Organics white camelia. I see leaving condish in like using a creamy moisturizer...if you think about it, how different are they?

 

[SweetSpirit86]

I understand your point...but she's probably just speaking from her own experiences and P.O.V. Some people just straight up don't need a "protein/moisture balance." I'm one of them. For me, it's moisture, moisture, moisture...let some protein jump in the mix, and my hair dries out. It just makes no sense how poorly my hair reacts to it. I don't know much about the baking soda thing..my original assessment of that was the same as her answer. I thought of it exactly like she said and decided I didn't want it in my hair. I'm far from an expert, but I figure better safe than sorry.

 

[BostonMaria]

I can't use baking soda either. I tried it once and I felt like my scalp was on fire.

 

[Duff]

baking soda dryed out my hair so I agree with her. Love her hair!!!

oh and yes she is a member.

 

[gissellr78]

WOAH!!! thank god i skipped the baking soda bandwagon..........I will stick to clarifying poo.

 

[MJ]

Her answers are actually true for some:

I used to use baking soda regularly in my hair, weekly in fact. I stopped because of adverse effects due to long-term use: my hair became hard and brittle.

I've overconditioned my hair once. I was in Jamaica, and I had my hair done in twists. Because I wanted to keep my hair looking neat, I would just apply leave-in conditioner and a bit of castor oil every day. Within a week, I noticed that something wasn't right. Up until that point, I didn't believe it was possible to overcondition hair, especially natural hair. But after seeing my hair in that mushy, stretchy state, I realized that overconditioning can happen. It has never happened since.

 

[crazydaze911]

Thanks ladies. BTW - my beloved Joico K-pack condish has salt (sodium chloride) in it, so im rethinking my use of it... u think it could ruin my hair in the long run?

 

[Solitude]

I think she might be right about the baking soda. When I was a kid, my mom would make us brush with toothpaste AND baking soda. The baking soda stung my gums and made them red.

I still haven't figured out conditioning, but Teri's hair is beautiful.

 

[audacity.]

Thanks ladies. BTW - my beloved Joico K-pack condish has salt (sodium chloride) in it, so im rethinking my use of it... u think it could ruin my hair in the long run?

personally, i don't think so....but i'm no scientist and neither are most of the folx out here in the hair growing community. most give advice based on their own personal opinions and experience - mixed with a little bit of research to back it up, of course.

but there are no steadfast "rules" when growing your hair. some people avoid certain products, ingredients, tools and methods like the plague and grow their hair to great lengths...others will use those SAME products, ingredients, tools and methods and grow their hair to great lengths, too....so what's right and what's wrong? for every piece of "research" that supports a claim, there are just as many that negate it - in some, not all cases

many people have used salt with success and many have not. if joico works for your hair, use it! until you notice for yourself that it is not working, keep doing what you find is best to give your hair the results you want in terms of growth, strength, appearnce and retention.

 

[crazydaze911]

I think she might be right about the baking soda. When I was a kid, my mom would make us brush with toothpaste AND baking soda. The baking soda stung my gums and made them red.

I still haven't figured out conditioning, but Teri's hair is beautiful.

Yeah, it is soooooooo drool worthy. When i use her tighly curly method and drown my hair in condish - my texture looks almost as good as hers. I WISH WISH WISH my hair will grow up to be that long and beautiful