THEN & NOW: before LHCF, what "bad habits" were you doing to your hair??

[vivEz daNs lamouR]

I used to treat my hair like if it was Superman, no matter what I did I knew I'd have it so it doesn't matter. Color? Psh, you only live once to bleach and get BRIGHT BLOND hair! I think this will be funny AND also a way for us all to really see how we used to care for our hair and how we do now.

Here's mine:

- Bleached my whole head and got it permanently colored, then got a perm 3 weeks later. (Yeah, I'm surprised I'm not bald from this alone).
- Got my very first weave put it and didn't bother to moisturize the braids at ALL. Result: lots of breakage.
- Bleached my hair twice in an 8 month span.
- Scratched my scalp & got a perm the next day.
- Slept without a satin scarf.. instead I used a COTTON scarf that pills and pulls the hair. (What was I thinking? )

I'm sure I have some more, I just need to dig into my mental memory box...

 

[Cayenne0622]

I had somewhat healthy hair practices but....

I was using alcohol based spritz and gel on my hair....booooo!
I was relaxing every 6 weeks.

I've learned alot since I got here!

 

[Kurlee]

used to kill it with the blowdryer which = SPLIT ENDS! That and scissor happy sylists

 

[hair_wit_favor]

I faithfully used black gel EVERYDAY...blowdried on the regular, also NEVER put a scarf on at night...and now I wonder why my hair was JACKED UP!

 

[Incredible1ne]

No moisture at all. I thought hair grease = moisturizer. I even asked a hair stylist what to do about my dry hair and she recommended a hair grease .

 

[Energee]

I'd have to say that I abused heat daily! I'd use a flatiron, curling iron and blowdryer like a crazy person to get the perfect look. Sometimes I wasn't even using a heat protectant...even when I did use one the heat was just too much. I'd put the flatiron on the highest setting possible.
Never had a problem growing my hair. My hair grows very well and fast..I just had a problem maintaining the ends of my hair--I was scorching them off and didn't care because I wore my hair in a short cut anyway. Terrible!

I also used to just comb my hair any kind of way and brush it. If I had tangles while washing I'd just rip the comb through it and didn't think anything of the few hairs in the comb that were yanked out in the process each time. Now I'm SOOOOOOOOO very careful when I detangle my hair wet or dry.

I also used to get a relaxer every 4 weeks---too much! Too MUCH! I was killing my hair. I also felt that it was no problem since my hair grows so fast. I'd think that it was no problem because my hair grows so fast so that whenever I chose to grow it out I would and it would be easy...lol. Not so...Now I know that you must take care of that growing hair and the ends especially to retain growth. I'm so thankful for the books I've read, people who've helped (family, friends and this board) for teaching me to be gentle with my hair. Thank goodness my hair is strong and still did well even though I was harsh with it but I know I'd be so much further in my journey if I'd started being more careful earlier on. I'd be APL-BSL and beyond by now like a lot of the women in my family.

Anyway...no looking back...I've moved forward and know better now...so I'm doing better and my hair is loving me for it!

 

[MsAngie]

This list could be long, but I'll just list my "favorites"...
~Slicking my hair down with brown gel and pink oil moisturizer and then putting a super tight ponytail in.
~Relaxed my entire head every 4 weeks.
~When my hair wasn't up in a super tight ponytail, I curled it everyday.
~I put permanent color on my hair one week and decided that it didn't take good enough. The next week, I did it again--on relaxed hair.

My hair and I are so happy we discovered you, ladies! I feel like an idiot for telling these--because they are so stupid--but at least I know they're stupid now! lol

 

[chenai]

My worst crime was not using any type of conditioner on my hair erplexed, just shampoo then pink oil lotion before blowdrying and curling.
I never used heat protection and I used my curling iron almost everyday.

 

[anherica]

I think my biggest crime was brown gel. I was hooked, and applied it every day like clockwork. Sometimes I even had the nerve to rehydrate the residue and use a hard brush to lay my hair down. And Pink Oil Moisturizer, I used it regularly. I liked grease too.

Since going natural and findng LHCF my hair is in so much better condtion. Thanks for saving me from myself ladies.

 

[bluediamond0829]

coloring...putting colors on top of each other...i was surprised i had some hair then...

removing braids and relaxing and reapplying braids...

i think those are the two things i used to do that was very very bad...

 

[troz's_lady]

My bad habits included Bleaching relaxed hair, using permanent hair color way to much, blow drying & flat ironing hair all the time.

Now I've let go of the idea of having Blonde hair. If I was suppose to be a blonde I would've been born that way!!! Also I no longer use the blow dryer at all. I just wrap my hair & let it air dry!!!

 

[SelfStyled]

Oh gosh....

-attempted to die my hair blonde, it turned orange and FELL OUT.

-weaved for 3.5 years straight, my hair did not see the light of day, I starved my poor hair, best believe, I was not taking care of my own hair underneath the weave, I didn't even know I was supposed to.

-relaxed at 6 weeks

 

[Sugar Brown]

• I colored my hair 3 times in 1 week to get the color right. I couldn't even figure out why my stylist choked when I gave her that update.
• I wore tight braids for an entire year and didn't even realize that my edges were gone.
• In my relaxed days, I used a gold-n-hot curling iron on dirty hair

 

[madamone]

Let's see..where to begin?

I used to relax every 4-6 weeks. I used heat with no protectants. I went ungodly lengths of time without washing. I never deep conditioned. I didn't moisturize. I thought greases and creams were for moisture. I wore my hair pulled back tight..no moisture..for days at a time. Whenver I went to the shop I got it cut.

Sigh...so glad I know better now!

 

[GrowinLonger]

Oh, so many to name....

1. Used grease all da time for 'faster growth'.
2. Washed maybe every 2 weeks sometimes longer.
3. Frowned on any product that listed water as the first ingred. bc I thought that made it cheap.
4. Never, ever dc'd.
5. 'Moisturized' with oil.
6. Heat, heat, heat w/o protectants.
7. Bleached and relaxed within a week of eachother. Hair broke off in handfulls.
8. Relaxed every 6 wks. Now going for 16!
8. And for the biggie...... Glue in weaves all during high school! Agh! I cringe at the thought!

Thank GOD! I know better now!

 

[chica_canella]

After doing all that damage, no wonder stylists cut it! It needed to be.

Umm, my former habits:

-Used pink oil moisturizer thinking it moisturized my relaxed hair in high school and wondered why I would have long strands of breakage on the back of my shirt.

-wrapping the same direction forever.

 

[Artemis]

-Whenever I did wear my hair out (I wore braids most of high school) I would curl it or flat iron it everyday and not wash for like 2 weeks I'm so ashamed. But I always kept it short, so my special self thought it was healthy. The longest it's ever been has been to my shoulders, but it would look like the end of a broom so I'd chop it off...I didn't know what deep conditioning was until I went natural at the end of high school/beginning of college

-In addition, my stylist relaxed me bone straight and chopped something off evertime I saw her...just horrible!!

-Looking back, I don't think I even OWNED a moisturizer. I thought that all moisturizers were just like that Pink Oil mess which dried me out, so I didn't use any at all. I just greased my scalp at nite, wrapped it (really tight!!) and when to bed.

Just stopping even the little bit of insanity at the start of my journey I realized that my hair wasn't as "naturally thin" as I thought. Who knew!?!?

 

[motherx2esq]

Not one drop of moisture! Relaxing my entire head, blow drying, flat iron (sometime after all that still pressing my hair!) with NO heat protection at all! Using any scarf I had on hand.

 

[motherx2esq]

Oh, so many to name....

1. Used grease all da time for 'faster growth'.
2. Washed maybe every 2 weeks sometimes longer.
3. Frowned on any product that listed water as the first ingred. bc I thought that made it cheap.
4. Never, ever dc'd.
5. 'Moisturized' with oil.
6. Heat, heat, heat w/o protectants.
7. Bleached and relaxed within a week of eachother. Hair broke off in handfulls.
8. Relaxed every 6 wks. Now going for 16!
8. And for the biggie...... Glue in weaves all during high school! Agh! I cringe at the thought!

Thank GOD! I know better now!

This sounds just like me!

At least you relaxed every 6 weeks. I use to do it every two weeks. Good thing all my hair is not on the ground somewhere!

I still will glue weave in but I pre poo over night to remove it and that works wonders.

 

[SpyCats]

I didnt have a relaxer prior to finding LHCF, however I used to comb thru and twist my hair every night for bed - too much manipulation

-grease/oil was used for "moisture"

-no dc'ing EVER!

 

[locabouthair]

relaxed every six weeks
NEVER used a moisturizer
used grease
removed my braids and relaxed the next day
used a fine tooth comb
never clarified
combed several times a day

 

[Luvmylife]

This is no jokeI swear I think in some point in my life I have literally done EVERY SINGLE THING that has been mentioned in this thread so far:

1. Trying to dye already over-relaxed hair sandy brown like my moms...it turned orange
2. Relaxing every 6 weeks
3. That alcoholly spritz that made your hair crunchy (was that Isoplus?)
4. I have used every gel ever put on the market
5. I used to go through a can of hairspray a week
6. Pink Oil
7. I used to put my hair in extremely tight a$$ ponytails trying to straighten it out
8. Gold n Hot Curling iron EVERYDAY on dirty hair
9. I tried that "Brushing 100 strokes a night" BS
10. Greasing Scalp
11. Sponge Rollers
12. Spring rollers without the papers
13. Taking relaxer all the way out to the ends
14. No moisturizer at all
15. Not shampooing after swimming
16. Using dirty ratty combs/brushes
17. Mousse
18. Gold n Hot Flat Iron
19. No heat protectant
20. Cutting with regular scissors
21. Cotton scarf (I even used to use an old pair of pantyhose)
22. using any old "perm kit"...lye/no lye, who cares!
23. Sleeping without a scarf at all
24. Too tight braids
25. Bonded (glued) weave
26. Sew in on just relaxed hair
27. Not washing for weeks on end
28. Not using conditioner
29. Leaving conditioner in hair for days
30. Detangling? Just rip through it with the tiniest toothed comb you have


It's a wonder I have any hair left at all!

 

[meaganita]

I used to "Supaman dat hair!"

*Literally fried setting lotion onto my hair using a curling iron or crimper

*Used products saturated in mineral oil, petroleum, and lanolin

*Go to stylists I didn't know

*Blowfry on HIGH with the fine toothed come attachment

*Man-handle the hair by tugging, pulling, yanking, and ripping out tangles

*Relaxed my thin edges so they would "blend" with the weave hair

 

[GrowinLonger]

This sounds just like me!

At least you relaxed every 6 weeks. I use to do it every two weeks. Good thing all my hair is not on the ground somewhere!

I still will glue weave in but I pre poo over night to remove it and that works wonders.

Yes, a hot hair mess...Lol

I'm just thankful it still wants to grow!

 

[mytia]

I used heat constantly, I would blowdry my hair weekly then flatiron and touch up with the flatiron throughout the week. And I never had enough moisture because of this, not to mention I never did much to add back moisture. I also relaxed every six weeks. I'm surprised I ever made it past shoulder length but the ends were awful so it really didn't matter.

 

[prospurr4]

Let's see, my top 3 offenses are:

3) Using lots of alcohol-based spritz on my curled hair (weekly) until the curls were hard. I thought the harder, the better, because then, my curls wouldn't droop. I had constant breakage.

2) Using a cheap plastic hair pick, with raggedy seams, in my dry hair. That pick would be full of broken strands of hair after I was done, but it didn't occur to me to be bothered by that.erplexed

And my Number 1 offense *drumroll please* Allowing the relaxer to marinade on my "resistant" areas for 30 minutes. My hair broke off completely in those same areas.

 

[FlawedBeauty]

sprayed about a gallon of oil sheen on my hair and ironed it down every morning yes...with a real iron

 

[Brownie518]

Let's see:

Brushing all the time
No deep conditioning
Direct heat all the time
Using curling iron
Never moisturizing (and would have the nerve to wonder why my hair was so dry erplexed)
Relax every four weeks

Basically, I just never paid my hair any mind. I never had a stylist with enough sense to clue me in on my wrongdoings and put me on the right path. I, myself, never had enough sense to say 'What the heck am I doing to my hair.' When I finally asked that question, I found LHCF. I looked at my hair one day and I was disgusted and decided to teach myself how to properly care for my hair. So, here I am.

 

[GoldenBreeze]

- Used heat twice a month to straighten my natural hair

- Cut 1/2 - 1 in every other month to keep it the same length.

 

[Brownie518]

sprayed about a gallon of oil sheen on my hair and ironed it down every morning yes...with a real iron

:buttkick:

Well, I guess you have learned your lesson! Your hair looks great