The Dumbest D!#n Hair Advice You've Ever Heard (given or received)

[aquajoyice]

-Letting a relaxer burn on your head means it's taking.
-Dirty hair grows faster
-greasing your scalp will help your hair grow faster
-cutting your hair every 3-6 months will help it grow faster

 

[nicki6]

You must trim after every relaxer to get rid of the 'dead ends'

 

[jessicarabbit]

Also "white" people hair products do nothing for my type of hair...erplexed

Growing up, I heard this quite alot. Makes me kinda mad to think about it now. I cant wait to prove to both of those people who told me this wrong. Both are biracial females who've had extremely long hair all there lives and look down on the good ol 4b's and c's. (Not saying that all biracle females are like this, but these too particular females were very snobbish and always bragged about their hair, race, etc)

 

[all_1_length]

You wash your hair too much, you think your a white girl.

^^Yeah I got this one from my mom. This is probably why I barely remember having my hair done by my mother, she probably only washed it 2-3x a year back then.

Oh yeah and I heard about the dirt growing hair thing from the owner of a small beauty supply store. Here I am thinking if dirt grows hair then why would anybody come in and buy your products?erplexed

 

[Ivonnovi]

JUST MHO on how these outdated beliefs got started; which proves that WE ALL have got to periodically UPDATE our UNDERSTANDING of what is and IS NOT logical.

-Letting a relaxer burn on your head means it's taking. (I believe this is why my scalp HAIR is so sparse in the crown area…..the relaxer “took” real good there! Don’t’ know how that BS got started)

-Dirty hair grows faster (- Not many products were made for "our" hair, and were in fact stripping or harsh; leaving it alone was probably the better option to constantly stripping; IMHO this is where this (now out of date) belief came from)

-greasing your scalp will help your hair grow faster (- The hair had to be replenished after stripping; for years grease was the only option "we" knew of; ...detangling/combing the lubricated the strands of our coily hair was better than doing it on dry/stripped hair; this lead to increased length retention and the appearance of more growth)

-cutting your hair every 3-6 months will help it grow faster (-this I can't justify unless we were trimming the crunchy-dry ends that resulted from the use of harsh products)

 

[Missdelicious1]

When I used to get my hair braided as a kid, my mom would tell me to stop counting the braids or my hair would fall out.

 

[candy626]

Wow there's some funny stuff in this thread.

I can't think of anything to add, other then if you wait too long to relax your hair your hair will fall out or start to break off

I also knew many people who believed that greasing your scalp would relieve dry scalp or dandruff. Though we all know this makes matters, much much worse.

I was told scratching dandruff would help get rid of it (I actually used to do this :-S)

 

[D.Lisha]

"If you hair has alot of dandruff it means it's growing="growing dandruff"
psh!
Come to find out I had a case of sebhorreic dermatits (sp)!!!!! Not no d*mn "growing dandruff"

 

[HighAspirations]

When I used to get my hair braided as a kid, my mom would tell me to stop counting the braids or my hair would fall out.

Aw man i counted them all the time

 

[tamm]

If you have long hair and you cut it short you will shock your hair and it will not grow back

 

[HighAspirations]

Cowashing everyday will make my hair fall out
Color perms make your hair grow

 

[ManiiSweetheart]

The rain will eat your hair up and you'll be bald ....
What kind of Mess?!

 

[Kiowa]

Don't let a pregnant women put their hands in your hair..otherwise it will start falling out..

 

[briana87]

After reading this thread, all I can say is thank God we found LHCF!!

Most of the dumb advice I've received has been posted already (especially the "dirt makes hair grow") That was told to me by my aunt. Her hair has been shoulder length for over a decade.

But perhaps the dumbest advice that I personally have heard was that rubber bands (the small black ones that snag every piece of hair they touch) would help a baby's hair grow.

Both my nieces had very little hair in the back of their heads when they were born. My mom, aunt, and some other women told their moms that if they put those tight rubber bands on the hair, it would "pull" the hair causing it to get longer. Needless to say neither of these babies have longer hair. I mean it's grown since they were born but not enough to "prove" that theory.

 

[TeeDee66]

Growing up, I heard this quite alot. Makes me kinda mad to think about it now. I cant wait to prove to both of those people who told me this wrong. Both are biracial females who've had extremely long hair all there lives and look down on the good ol 4b's and c's. (Not saying that all biracle females are like this, but these too particular females were very snobbish and always bragged about their hair, race, etc)

Wow! I'm biracial and white products do nothing for my hair. I have a friend who is very dark African American and has straighter hair than me (2 type) and the white products don't work on her hair either. I think it depends on how your hair reacts to certain ingredients not your race because my white Swedish friend (blond hair blue eyes) uses my African Amerian products. As a matter of fact when she visits me, she won't keep her hands out of my hair products.

 

[Missjae09]

Someone told me that her mother has been cutting her hair for so long that it just doesn't grow anymore.... WTH?!?! lmbo... at that point I exited the conversation...

 

[danysedai]

I got a GREAT one! Last time I went to the hair salon (funnily enough), I asked her what my hair type was. She bent over, looked, said "ummm..." and then said "Medium". Ain't been back since!

In her defense, Andre Walker hair typing system is not super well known and not everybody uses it. I think there are other ways to type hair and even then some people are against hair typing. I'm not saying this is what happened to your hairdresser who answered maybe without knowing what you were asking, just as not to appear ignorant.

I used to believe that leaving conditioner in(as a leave in conditioner) would make hair rot.

Two black friends (both relaxed) talking about Chris Rock's Good Hair movie, they were insulted and saying that nobody uses lye relaxers anymore. I raised my hand and said that I do and then asked them what kind of relaxer did they use. They did not know there were different types of relaxers.

A hairstylist argued with me that she had "growing hands", that she knew hot to cut hair to make it grow. That it depended on the position your hands held the scissors. If you held the scissors like THIS your hair wouldn't grow, but if you held them like THAT your hair would.
No, she did not cut my hair.

That all black women require a super or strong relaxer. My mom was amazed to see that I use a mild one.

 

[caribeandiva]

"What do you mean you won't flatiron your hair because it's dirty. Your hair will never grow anyway so stop fussing!" - said to me by a friend's friend who had a weave in just so her hair could reach ear length. Enough said.

 

[greenbees]

Don't let a pregnant women put their hands in your hair..otherwise it will start falling out..

My grandma told me this

Someone told me that tight cornrow extensions make your hair grow because it's pulling on the scalp...

 

[DarkJoy]

My first beautician when I was 14 told me the lye burning the scalp was a good sign because it meant the relaxer was working. Best to keeep it on as long as you can stand the pain. Doh!

 

[candy626]

But perhaps the dumbest advice that I personally have heard was that rubber bands (the small black ones that snag every piece of hair they touch) would help a baby's hair grow.

Both my nieces had very little hair in the back of their heads when they were born. My mom, aunt, and some other women told their moms that if they put those tight rubber bands on the hair, it would "pull" the hair causing it to get longer. Needless to say neither of these babies have longer hair. I mean it's grown since they were born but not enough to "prove" that theory.

LMAO : What in the world? I've never heard that one before.

 

[caribeandiva]

My first beautician when I was 14 told me the lye burning the scalp was a good sign because it meant the relaxer was working. Best to keeep it on as long as you can stand the pain. Doh!

i was told that by several people not just beauticians. In a way it worked because all that burning caused damage to my scalp that forced me to transition to natural. I'd never know how fabulous my natural hair was if that hadn't happened.

 

[wheezy807]

Growing up i always heard my aunt telling others that our hair grows better dry And dirty. Thank goodness it never stuck with me. Even when i didn't know how to properly take Care Of my hair, that just didn't sit right In my head, lol.

 

[cutiepiesensei]

I asked my stylist about better ways to take care of my hair. I had informed him that I planned to try to moisturize at night to keep my hair from getting dry. He said to never put water based moisturizer in my hair, only put oil in my hair at night because the moisturizer would make my hair revert.

 

[My Friend]

Why is it that AA/A have all these hair myths? Who started them? Why do so many people still believe them?

 

[PersuasiveBeauty]

Trim your hair often, it will make it grow faster. Don't wash your hair often. Detangling should be done in a hurry. Braiding your hair tight makes it grow faster. You're black, no matter what, your hair won't be long.

 

[Ivonnovi]

@My_Friend See Post #245

 

[WhataDoll]

My mom (bless her heart), everytime she sees someone with a hair color or hair style/ texture that she likes, will say "you need to do your hair like that!"

Even if the person has a totally different kind of hair than me (for example, 3c curls when my hair is 4a/4b) she will still say, "You need to wear your hair like that!"

She'll find pictures in magazines, off of billboards, anywhere- blonde hair, copper hair (you should get that color!), crazy artistic assymetrical cuts ( ooh, why don't you cut your hair like that?) it's just funny.

I used to get annoyed, but now I just say " yeah, I might do that". Bless her heart, she means well.

 

[kimpaur]

BUMP BUMP BUMP

 

[TheVioletVee]

"Natural hair grows faster than relaxed hair."

Huh? It doesn't matter whether you're natural, relaxed, texturized, etc. Your hair comes out of your scalp in it's natural texture. That's why people keep getting touchups. A person might be able to RETAIN more length natural vs. relaxed or vice versa, but it's not growing any faster.

& when I washed my hair once a week: "You're washing your hair too much!"

Comments and stories like the ones on this thread is why I only discuss hair online or w/ my sister. In real life, so many people have no clue what they're talking about.