TRAUMATIC HAIR STORIES... what was I thinking!!?!?

[msbettyboop]

I have, or rather, I have let stylists do some pretty destructive things to my hair because I didn’t know any better and I thought they did but my hair always bounced back within weeks. The one which finally did it in and sent me spiraling into cyberspace looking for information on how to take care of black hair was at my last retouch in September. This woman was AA and said she had 27 years experience doing hair. I don’t know what she and her apprentice did but the relaxer did not take and after washing the relaxer out she told me I had fine hair which is the first I’m hearing in my life since I know very well I have thick impossible hair. After washing out the relaxer she put all kinds of crap in my head that I don’t know about (I only found this out when I got home and discovered all the accompanying treatments in the ORS kit hadn’t been used). After washing the relaxer out, I got a roller set which didn’t look too good cos the hair was under processed at the back but I didn’t care by then. I just wanted to get away but the “27 years experience voice” soothed me into staying in that chair. She then proceeded to blow dry and flat iron me to within an inch of my life. I told her repeatedly I detest heat and I don’t use blow dryers and flat irons on my head but she kept soothing me. After nearly 2 hours I was set free with my hair floating around my head like a halo. I looked completely mad to me. She said your hair is so soft and beautiful. Then she asked me to come back the next week to touch up the under processed section. I told her I’d rather die then left. I had a severe headache for several hours after that salon visit. One week later my hair began to fall out spectacularly all over especially around the crown!!! Stupid so called stylists!!!

 

[KrystalClear]

The worst thing i had done to my hair was a permanent color when i was relaxed. I bought jet black and i did not do a strand test. The first day it was ok but the second day it started to burn really bad, i washed my hair again and i got all these bumps on my scalp, then the bumps got infected. I don't mean to be nasty but my head was full of puss and my hair was stuck together. I ended up getting sick from the infection and went to the doctor, she said i did not rinse the color out all the way or i was allergic to it. I never tried color again. If i would have did a strand test it might not have been so bad. Totally my fault.

Aww! That sounds so painful!! But thankfully the Lord has healed the pain!

 

[KrystalClear]

In 2005, I let the relaxer "marinade" for 30 minutes on a back section of hair I thought was resistant. When I finally rinsed it out, my SL hair was reduced to a stringy, nape length. Iono what I was thinking..

Well none the less, your hair is gorgeous now! We live and we learn! Inspiration!

 

[KrystalClear]

About a year after being natural I decided to flatiron my hair for the first time. I bought a really cheap flatiron and tried to straighten it without turning it all the way up ( I heard horror stories about heat damage). Well, my hair wasn't getting straight on the ends, so I thought they were damaged because they were rough and resistant, so I cut them off. I ended up cutting about 3 inches because they weren't straight and I underestimated the amount I was cutting.

If I had:
1. Used a better flatiron
2. Not been afraid to turn the heat up to at least medium
3. Stretched the ends before cutting
I would not have had such a major setback.

And because it was my first time straightening, I had no idea the amount of time it would take to regrow that 3 inches of hair. I did not realize my mistake until I bought a better flat iron and used some techniques recommended on here. My hair wasn't damaged, I just didn't know what I was doing. SMH...I was so mad at myself.

I did that too! I swear I've cut off anywhere from 3-6 inches of hair within 3 months!

 

[KrystalClear]

Tried a texturizer I bought at CVS. 'Nough said.

what kind was it ? mine was one with a guy on the front lol

 

[KrystalClear]

NaturalBrownBarbie, I'm ready to call the hair police on you! That's just straight up abuse! LOL

I haven't done anything crazy to my hair in the past 3 years. I've had my own share of self-sabotage though. I remember spraying my ends with Paul Mitchell hair spray, then using the curling iron, loving the sizzzzzling sound and how perfectly curled up my hair would be afterwards. Yeah my hair broke off after a while and I didn't know why LOL

LOL, I have always had some stronggg hair, so I guess my bad habits of doing WHATEVER caught up to me. But that could also be why my hair doesn't grow as long cuz I was always doing somethin CRAZY to my head. I'm taking a vow cuz I can't have anymore setbacks!

 

[KrystalClear]

OP, are you insane?

Your braidout was banging however.

lol, surprised my hair didnt' totally break off... i need to stop takin advantage of my hair and nourish it. i know I wasn't thinking

 

[KrystalClear]

This didn't happen to me, but it happened to my cousin (who, I swear has to be one of the mentally challenged or lacks common sense). She's one of those people who thinks that, just because they have an interest in beauty and haircare, they know everything about it

So, we were in our teens at the time and she'd been dying her hair for years; one day she decides to relax her hair. She asked me to help her, but since I know nothing about those things, I politely declined, and sat back to read a book and every so often watch the expert in action. Mind you, she's relaxing virgin BSL hair by herself. Anyway, she gets the goop in, and sets the clock (she figures you start timing after it's been applied to the entire head), and then she decides since her hair is extra coarse, that she should wait a little longer to make sure it works. While she's waiting, she's saying "When I'm done, I'll relax your hair", I just shook my head, and went back to reading. (I never ever ever thought my hair needed a relaxer, but that's a whole other story)

So, I'm sitting there with a book, and I look up and say, "Um... don't you have to rinse that out?" She rolls her eyes at me and says "My hair needs it to stay in for a while."

I start reaching for the box and I'm saying "But the directions say you have to rinse it out...", but she snatches it out of my hand and says "Shut up, you don't know anything about hair. Read your book! I know what I'm doing, you can't even match your clothes right!" (and yeah, she was right about the clothes, because I'm a total retard about fashion)


Far be it from me to get in between a woman and her hair care, right?



So it starts to burn. She runs off to the bathroom screaming about the burning, and as she starts to rinse, I hear this brutal animal howl of anguish, like the gates of hell swung open and some great hooved behemoth came rampaging out in search for blood. So, I'm thinking "something's up" and as I come to the bathroom, she's shrieking and crying. Her hair is coming out in clumps!



Anyway, she didn't go completely bald and has enough hair to disguise any serious thinning. She wept for a few hours.



When she was done crying, I looked at her and said "Yeah, I don't think I'm gonna be relaxing my hair any time soon."

o wow! that is so bad/sad! Bless her head and her heart.

 

[irsgirl]

The worst thing I ever done to my hair was trying to dye it blonde. I used a stripper and then put the dye in. My hair turned into a big pile of straw(not blonde straw either). After days of people asking me what happened top your hair I went to the barber and had it all cut off. I rocked a short curly fro for a while and I loved it.

 

[washize]

oh lord for When I was 14 my mom put two perms in too close together, my hair statred breaking off like crazy and I stopped perming, instead I flat iorned my hair everyday then I started bleaching my hair twice a month and I colored it every two weeks. Untill I learned about LHCF which was 10 months ago. When I learned about LHCF I tried henna. Worst idea ever. It caused major breakage, made my hair tangled, and brittle.

Now PRactially all of my bleached hair has broken off. I'm still recovering from my stupidity.

 

[TLC1020]

I can't say that I did it on purpose but I didn't realize it until it was too late.. I didn't have enough iron in my daily food intake and thus lower my blood ferritin count and thus my hair began shedding lots of hair during shampooing over time. My hair strands are thick in which my hair is thick and so I didn't notice the thinning until I had see thru ends.. Went to the doctor and she took a look at my hair and scalp said lay off relaxers for a while! I asked her to refer me to a dermatologist in which she was kind of reluctant...

Saw dermatologist she looked at my hair and scalp and could see the thinness and said that my hair was coming out from the root. She stated even though I am not anemic that my blood that stores the iron could still b low and may not be storing any iron and thus is why my hair is not holding on to the root and my hair is falling out from the root b/c it has no life and nothing to hold on to (blood).

Dermatologist had my blood drawn and ferritin level checked.. She called me about 3 days later and said on adult women their ferritin level should be between 40-70.... Mine was 18.. Half that of what's needed in adult women.... She suggested that I take ferrous sulfate tablets for 90 days and follow up after that... Hopefully everything will be back on track soon.... Had my blood check today so I will see if my ferritin level increased some..

 

[lila_baby]

Worst thing I ever did was Glued in Quik-Weave that ripped all my edges out in the front to baldness . I've pretty much incurred permanent damage to some parts so I never wear my hair without bangs/side bangs..​

jennboo: I love black rinses! :heart2:. I've been rinsing black for years but sometimes I feel trapped because I know that if I ever wanted to change my hair color I would have to add in pieces (like my *siggy*) because it's virtually impossible to die over black hair color without having to bleach the hair first, or growing it out/cutting it out.​

What I have found that works to prevent the jarring "Elvira" look as you mentioned is to mix the black rinse with a dark blue rinse before applying it to your head. Sounds weird I know but it gives the color so much more depth and richness, and you don't end up with that flat black color which is never cute lol. This works for my complexion because sometimes black can wash me out. ​

i wish someone could have told me that when i was trying blond dye over a black dye i had done 2 days before !!!
fried hair is what i had!

 

[honeybuni84]

One the worse things I have done was apply some African Pride Highlights to my hair in the front. All the highlights broke completely off. I was left with all these pieces of hair sticking straight up were the color broke off. Thank goodness I only used this stuff in the front.

I tried african pride before.. This was one of several mistakes i made .. I was a teenager and my sister and i applied highlights, the red color, all over my head... They started off red, then slowly as the months went on it turned a strange orange, then blond.. Once I got to the blond it started breaking off like crazy.. Mind you this time i never heard of a DC .. i went from sl back up to NL..

 

[zazzi]

First of all, OP, you and your hair are gorgeous!

Worst thing, which really isn't that bad is asking a hairdresser how much she would take off if she were to 'trim' my ends and believing the teeny amount she showed me. My hair went from probably APL to just brushing my shoulders.

 

[melissa-bee]

Bump......