What do you think of Cathy Howse?

[Chaosbutterfly]

I like that her philosophies are common sense stuff that many AA women can use to at least get healthier hair. And I also like that she preaches simplicity, because I think that too often, we over-complicate this whole hair thing. But I'm not impressed at her hair length or how it looks overall. It looks like to me that she leans back or cocks her head in all her pictures, and her ends are straggly.

If I were going to recommend a hair growth plan to anyone, I'd definitely go with Wanakee over Cathy Howse, just because her philosophies are also simple and easy to follow, and she advocates for protective styling and trimming. Even around here, I notice that people who protectively style tend to have faster progress, and if they are trimming as they go, their ends are more pleasing to look at.

And really, the proof is kind of in the pudding.
I'd rather my hair look like this:

than this:

 

[locabouthair]

I dont think everyone can go without protective styles and poos with sulfates but I guess it works for her.

I saw IRL about 2 years ago. Her hair looked VERY thick but frizzy from the weather. If I was her I would have worn it in a bun or something but I guess if you are trying to sell hair products you should show how long your hair is.

My friend thought her hair looked horrible but I liked how thick her hair was. She told me she was 4b and showed me her kinks I was like your 4b is not my 4b lol.

 

[locabouthair]

Never heard of her and not impressed by her hair, especially after 12 years of growth as stated here: http://www.ultrablackhair.com/beforeAfter/BeforeAfter.html

Maybe she doesn't want it longer than that?

 

[aa9746]

I like that her philosophies are common sense stuff that many AA women can use to at least get healthier hair. And I also like that she preaches simplicity, because I think that too often, we over-complicate this whole hair thing. But I'm not impressed at her hair length or how it looks overall. It looks like to me that she leans back or cocks her head in all her pictures, and her ends are straggly.

If I were going to recommend a hair growth plan to anyone, I'd definitely go with Wanakee over Cathy Howse, just because her philosophies are also simple and easy to follow, and she advocates for protective styling and trimming. Even around here, I notice that people who protectively style tend to have faster progress, and if they are trimming as they go, their ends are more pleasing to look at.

And really, the proof is kind of in the pudding.
I'd rather my hair look like this:

than this:

I'm going to do a google search on Wanakee! She has nice thick ends.

 

[AlliCat]

If I saw her book at the bookstore I would buy it. Though I wasn't impressed with her deep conditioner. I see her as a pioneer of black hair growth, and for that she gets my respect

 

[bride91501]

I like that her philosophies are common sense stuff that many AA women can use to at least get healthier hair. And I also like that she preaches simplicity, because I think that too often, we over-complicate this whole hair thing. But I'm not impressed at her hair length or how it looks overall. It looks like to me that she leans back or cocks her head in all her pictures, and her ends are straggly.

If I were going to recommend a hair growth plan to anyone, I'd definitely go with Wanakee over Cathy Howse, just because her philosophies are also simple and easy to follow, and she advocates for protective styling and trimming. Even around here, I notice that people who protectively style tend to have faster progress, and if they are trimming as they go, their ends are more pleasing to look at.

And really, the proof is kind of in the pudding.
I'd rather my hair look like this:

than this:

I don't know much of Cathy Howse, and only learned of her after joining LHCF.

But isn't it possible that her ends will never look as full as Wannakee's b/c they have different textures &/or density?

 

[Nonie]

Maybe she doesn't want it longer than that?

locabouthair But she doesn't use scissors on it so I don't think it's her decision to keep that length. Methinks her ends just break off due to splits and so it stays that length.

 

[Nonie]

I don't know much of Cathy Howse, and only learned of her after joining LHCF.

But isn't it possible that her ends will never look as full as Wannakee's b/c they have different textures &/or density?

@bride91501 I don't think density/texture has anything to do with ends looking thin. It's not the amount of hair on her head that we're looking at when we say her ends look thin. It is the fact that her ends are see-through and it's not because she has little hair but because some strands have broken off and left holes.

This is fine hair that doesn't have see-through ends:

 

[locabouthair]

locabouthair But she doesn't use scissors on it so I don't think it's her decision to keep that length. Methinks her ends just break off due to splits and so it stays that length.

she doesn't believe in trimming right? Sometimes I think a little dusting every now and then can prevent splits/thin ends. Her hair isn't as full as wanakees but it doesnt look bad to me.

 

[Guitarhero]

I guess I never understood the charge against Howse's ends, she's showing people how to grow without breakage. Anyone using her method could trim their own ends. Her hair is healthy but thinner and I don't believe she does trim. It's not about the style, it's about health and length, I suppose. Regarding broken and holes in the ends...my hair grows like Howse's (liike vines reaching) and I don't trim. No broken holes...just uneven and thinner than Wannake's and not a full waistlength, yet. I always thought I had coarse hair until a stylist told me I didn't. Finer hair typically looks like that. Regarding 12 years of growth, there are some people who do not attain a faster growth of hair.

 

[Nonie]

@Guitarhero The reason I feel comfortable pointing out Cathy's holy ends (bless them)--no pun intended--is because I saw the same thing happen to my fine hair when I switched from following a "closer to Wanakee regimen" with regular trims to following "Cathy's regimen" of no trims.

I adopted Cathy's moisture moisture moisture regimen. I adopted her DCing regimen. Both very good additions that were lacking in my regimen. Logic would tell you that my hair should've thrived and I should've seen even better results. But I didn't. I was doing better things to my hair and my ends thinned like I hadn't seen them do in over 2 years. The one thing I changed (besides adopting two new good habits) was I stopped trimming my ends like Cathy and I paid gravely.

I do not believe fine strands, especially 4B hair can afford to be worn down like Cathy does, never get trimmed and still look full. Everyone knows that hair that isn't moisturized is susceptible to breakage yet for almost 24 months I had seen my hair thrive without moisturizing whatsoever after I adopted a regimen of regular dusting/trimming. Coincidentally it was the same trimming schedule Wanakee advocated. I didn't protective style or seal ends or moisturize my hair with leave-ins so I was slacking as far as Wanakee's regimen is concerned, yet that one thing that Cathy scoffs at stopped my ends from looking like hers and allowed my hair to grow longer than I'd ever known. And when I decided to take her advice and stop trimming, my ends started to look like hers. I had to cut off 2 inches to get my hair to feel like I was used to it feeling/looking like.

I do think for someone who hasn't been on hair forums and seen as many gorgeous heads of hair as I have, Cathy's hair is impressive. I too thought it was before I found forums, which is why I bought her book. I found her book when I had already mastered another regimen (www.blackwomenrejoice.com) and had seen my hair grow longer than I'd known it to grow all my life following that regimen. I was just curious to learn more--which I did: I learned about protein treatments and DCing from Cathy--and then when I found out that some people on the forum didn't trim either, I was convinced to give Cathy's suggestion a try. I regretted it big time in just 4 months. That's all it took for my hair to deteriorate--and that's with MOISTURIZING and DCing added to my regimen.

I believe Cathy has good basic info on how to care for hair and her book is a good foundation for a newbie to forums as it can be a good starting point so you can navigate the forum without feeling overwhelmed, but I do think her not trimming or PSing thwarts her progress and is why her hair doesn't look "impressive" to a lot of hair fanatics even after all those years. The one thing that turned a lot of people off and made her lose credit in some folks (beside pushing her products in her books while knocking others) is she is quick to call every other program out there a scam. She seems to have this chip on her shoulder where she puts a lot of energy painting everyone else doing the same thing she's doing in a bad light. Not cool and unnecessary IMO , coz if you're good, you don't need to knock others down to feel tall.

 

[Guitarhero]

From the pic that was shown of Howse, it didn't appear that her ends were raggedy. They are certainly uneven. I still don't get it. To me, it's not about it looking impressive, but she has attained a lot more length. Maybe her hair just doesn't grow that fast. I do understand that Wannake's look is more professionally polished.

 

[Nonie]

From the pic that was shown of Howse, it didn't appear that her ends were raggedy. They are certainly uneven. I still don't get it. To me, it's not about it looking impressive, but she has attained a lot more length. Maybe her hair just doesn't grow that fast. I do understand that Wannake's look is more professionally polished.

@Guitarhero, even if her hair was growing at the slow rate of 3 inches a year which would be half the normal growth rate, then in 12 years, she should have 36 inches of hair. She doesn't because her hair is breaking as it's growing. It doesn't take much to realize that things in nature deteriorate if they are organic. Hair might be dead but it is not invincible. It wears and tears and the longer it is on your head the more it wears. So her hair's ends have suffered some wear and tear. I don't know how anyone can look at that hair and not see how worn her hair is.
http://www.ubhpublications.com/hairGrowth/HairGrowth.html
In her photo from 1987 and that from 1988, her hair seems to be the same length all around. In 1996, her hair ends still look OK, but she's just reached that dreaded full SL where friction with clothes wrecks havoc on hair. Then the last pic shows really skinny ends over her shoulder. But the other thing to notice is her hair wasn't growing slowly between 87 and 96 and her ends looked so full in 1988. It seemed to be growing at a good rate, but then between 96 and 2001, she seemed to have stalled and her growth rate screeched to a crawl. Methinks her retention is the problem. Also the once hair all the same length is at different lengths due to breakage, and I'm not talking about layers, coz layers look full. I'm talking about if she were to hold up her hair, you'd see thin ends with spaces.

I think my standards of what looks good have been raised by the members on this forum with gorgeous hair. So much so that Cathy's hair would not be the hair I'd use as an example for healthy looking hair if I were showing someone of what our hair was capable of. There's a whole pool of better looking hair here, so you could say I've seen the light. Guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. *shrug*

 

[Melissa-jane]

@Guitarhero The reason I feel comfortable pointing out Cathy's holy ends (bless them)--no pun intended--is because I saw the same thing happen to my fine hair when I switched from following a "closer to Wanakee regimen" with regular trims to following "Cathy's regimen" of no trims.

I adopted Cathy's moisture moisture moisture regimen. I adopted her DCing regimen. Both very good additions that were lacking in my regimen. Logic would tell you that my hair should've thrived and I should've seen even better results. But I didn't. I was doing better things to my hair and my ends thinned like I hadn't seen them do in over 2 years. The one thing I changed (besides adopting two new good habits) was I stopped trimming my ends like Cathy and I paid gravely.

I do not believe fine strands, especially 4B hair can afford to be worn down like Cathy does, never get trimmed and still look full. Everyone knows that hair that isn't moisturized is susceptible to breakage yet for almost 24 months I had seen my hair thrive without moisturizing whatsoever after I adopted a regimen of regular dusting/trimming. Coincidentally it was the same trimming schedule Wanakee advocated. I didn't protective style or seal ends or moisturize my hair with leave-ins so I was slacking as far as Wanakee's regimen is concerned, yet that one thing that Cathy scoffs at stopped my ends from looking like hers and allowed my hair to grow longer than I'd ever known. And when I decided to take her advice and stop trimming, my ends started to look like hers. I had to cut off 2 inches to get my hair to feel like I was used to it feeling/looking like.

I do think for someone who hasn't been on hair forums and seen as many gorgeous heads of hair as I have, Cathy's hair is impressive. I too thought it was before I found forums, which is why I bought her book. I found her book when I had already mastered another regimen (www.blackwomenrejoice.com) and had seen my hair grow longer than I'd known it to grow all my life following that regimen. I was just curious to learn more--which I did: I learned about protein treatments and DCing from Cathy--and then when I found out that some people on the forum didn't trim either, I was convinced to give Cathy's suggestion a try. I regretted it big time in just 4 months. That's all it took for my hair to deteriorate--and that's with MOISTURIZING and DCing added to my regimen.

I believe Cathy has good basic info on how to care for hair and her book is a good foundation for a newbie to forums as it can be a good starting point so you can navigate the forum without feeling overwhelmed, but I do think her not trimming or PSing thwarts her progress and is why her hair doesn't look "impressive" to a lot of hair fanatics even after all those years. The one thing that turned a lot of people off and made her lose credit in some folks (beside pushing her products in her books while knocking others) is she is quick to call every other program out there a scam. She seems to have this chip on her shoulder where she puts a lot of energy painting everyone else doing the same thing she's doing in a bad light. Not cool and unnecessary IMO , coz if you're good, you don't need to knock others down to feel tall.

I like your reply because you have walked the walk. I prefer wanakee myself.

 

[Melissa-jane]

I stated that same fact once that cathy's growth looked off to me and I was shot down! Glad somebody else sees what I see.

 

[Aireen]

Maybe she doesn't want it longer than that?

locabouthair - She doesn't trim so basically her hair is just breaking off at that length. I'm also not impressed by the overall look not just the length. Just my opinion.

 

[locabouthair]

locabouthair - She doesn't trim so basically her hair is just breaking off at that length. I'm also not impressed by the overall look not just the length. Just my opinion.

Aireen

What is it about her hair that you don't like? not arguing or anything. I'm just curious. Is it the thickness or does it look dull? The ends? Not attacking you or anything just wanna know.

 

[Aireen]

Aireen

What is it about her hair that you don't like? not arguing or anything. I'm just curious. Is it the thickness or does it look dull? The ends? Not attacking you or anything just wanna know.

locabouthair -

When I saw the title of this thread along with the OP's introduction, I thought I was going to see a beautiful mass of hair — I didn't. Instead, I just saw mediocre hair (in my eyes) considering all the inspiring models we can look to almost every time we log on. I was expecting a lot more from someone that is supposed to be a published "hair guru" as claimed by others.

For me, my main problem is her ends, they appear to be dry and straggly. I don't like knocking people for not having thick hair but from observation, her hair looks to me like it's thinning from lack of trimming. Perhaps I'd be impressed if I knew of her before I found LHCF? erplexed I usually have no problem with the condition of other people's hair; if I see someone on this forum with their hair in a similar state, I wouldn't have a single thought. Although, since she's published and considered a "hair guru" it does strike me as odd why her hair isn't more striking.

All just my opinion, I hope I don't receive backlash for it later.

 

[locabouthair]

locabouthair -

When I saw the title of this thread along with the OP's introduction, I thought I was going to see a beautiful mass of hair — I didn't. Instead, I just saw mediocre hair (in my eyes) considering all the inspiring models we can look to almost every time we log on. I was expecting a lot more from someone that is supposed to be a published "hair guru" as claimed by others.

For me, my main problem is her ends, they appear to be dry and straggly. I don't like knocking people for not having thick hair but from observation, her hair looks to me like it's thinning from lack of trimming. Perhaps I'd be impressed if I knew of her before I found LHCF? erplexed I usually have no problem with the condition of other people's hair; if I see someone on this forum with their hair in a similar state, I wouldn't have a single thought. Although, since she's published and considered a "hair guru" it does strike me as odd why her hair isn't more striking.

All just my opinion, I hope I don't receive backlash for it later.

No backlash here lol. I see what you're saying. I say a little dusting every now and then doesn't hurt. Some people can get away with the no trimming and others cant.

 

[Guitarhero]

@Guitarhero, even if her hair was growing at the slow rate of 3 inches a year which would be half the normal growth rate, then in 12 years, she should have 36 inches of hair. She doesn't because her hair is breaking as it's growing. It doesn't take much to realize that things in nature deteriorate if they are organic. Hair might be dead but it is not invincible. It wears and tears and the longer it is on your head the more it wears. So her hair's ends have suffered some wear and tear. I don't know how anyone can look at that hair and not see how worn her hair is.
http://www.ubhpublications.com/hairGrowth/HairGrowth.html
In her photo from 1987 and that from 1988, her hair seems to be the same length all around. In 1996, her hair ends still look OK, but she's just reached that dreaded full SL where friction with clothes wrecks havoc on hair. Then the last pic shows really skinny ends over her shoulder. But the other thing to notice is her hair wasn't growing slowly between 87 and 96 and her ends looked so full in 1988. It seemed to be growing at a good rate, but then between 96 and 2001, she seemed to have stalled and her growth rate screeched to a crawl. Methinks her retention is the problem. Also the once hair all the same length is at different lengths due to breakage, and I'm not talking about layers, coz layers look full. I'm talking about if she were to hold up her hair, you'd see thin ends with spaces.

I think my standards of what looks good have been raised by the members on this forum with gorgeous hair. So much so that Cathy's hair would not be the hair I'd use as an example for healthy looking hair if I were showing someone of what our hair was capable of. There's a whole pool of better looking hair here, so you could say I've seen the light. Guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. *shrug*

I think what happened is that she cut off the relaxed ends and didn't document it as a big chop. You know, on Wannake's site, Pierce Bolton's hair is the same, but it's much longer teehee. All I'm saying, her book is successful and works for some. I don't need it. But some people have had success with her methods. Or are the majority claiming that her Mane 'n Tail method (that's what it basically is) is damaging and that she shouldn't claim her method is beneficial? I've seen some bad hair in person...really badly damaged...the last was last night at Sally with a blond woman who french fried hers to straw and was looking for ION products. It was horrible and I hope hers doesn't break off at the roots. Howse's hair looks like typical AA hair to me. Maybe its regional.

Somebody mentioned possibly getting blasted for an opinion on hair. Why on earth would somebody do that for a simple opinion? Hopefully, people don't do that and likewise, no one expects it. erplexed To the bolded, forgive me, but it just seemed a little nitpicky on Howse when she just mirrors the average of what I see posted even here. But I do see your point about preferring that people trim. Dunno...all races...I see success with trims and without.

On another note, who has tried the Verifen? My cousin swears by it! The detangler and the leave-in oil is supposedly the best in the world. It's too pricey, imho.

 

[Nonie]

To the bolded, forgive me, but it just seemed a little nitpicky on Howse when she just mirrors the average of what I see posted even here. But I do see your point about preferring that people trim. Dunno...all races...I see success with trims and without.

Guitarhero I am not nitpicking. I'm being honest. I bought Cathy's book for the same reason I downloaded Brenda's report. Both women seemed to know what it's like to have hair that stops at about 5 inches. They weren't those special people I used to see who were just born with long hair. But they were "normal like me" yet seemed to have found the magic portion that grows long hair. But of course one might be impressed by a fountain until one sees a natural waterfall, which is precisely what happened when I joined LHCF. I got to see hair like Supergirl's to name one person and dreamed of having the same. What's more, I was excited to find that in a place where long hair abounds, Cathy's regimen was used to an extent and I dreamed of getting the best hair ever just like the heads of hair I found here. But instead I went from having thick ends like @Supergirl to having thin ones like Cathy. And a setback does make you open your eyes to stuff you'd missed. I mean, how many times do people join the forum and suddenly things they took for granted stand out to them and they start seeking solutions they never knew were needed? So why is it so hard to imagine me no longer being impressed.

Do you know who led me to LHCF? Sherrylove. I was browsing the Web and happened upon a photo of her hair and was blown away by how long her it was. Somehow that sighting linked me to LHCF and for that whole day, I stalked her posts. I had to have what she was having! But do you know who became my shero once I joined LHCF, not Sherrylove, but Adrienne0914 Her hair wasn't as long as Sherrylove's nor did it bling like Sherrylove's but it was full and just gorgeous and she was another "normal human" who used to have short hair. It was so clear to me why Adrienne's hair was at that time the image of LHCF and on our homepage banner. (Yes before we had those cartoon heads, we had a real photo of a gorgeous head of hair to represent the Long Hair Care Forum!) Later I discovered there were natural type 4 folks on the forum and they then became my gurus: Den1, @Mufasa, @Daughter, @AFashionSlave...to name a few. And if you looked at all their heads of hair, it was fullness galore.

So I am not nitpicking. I do give credit where it's due and Cathy's ends are not worthy. Just like you'll never see me lie to someone and tell her that her hair looks drool-worthy if the ends aren't that hawt. I do compliment progress but I won't be gushing and making a song and dance about it. Now if we look at non-trimming Charz's hair, we see ends that I consider worthy of my kudos. And if @Charz can keep ends like that w/o following a trimming regimen, I'm sorry but Cathy gets no pass, especially when she's supposed to be this guru on haircare who's done extensive research in over 12 years.

To the bold, I do agree, which is why I started a thread on people who don't trim to share their success stories in case there are those who could get some inspiration if trimming isn't their thang. But like with just about everything, some can get away with it and some can't. We just have to find out to which group we belong and adapt accordingly depending on what our goals are.

So yeah, just being honest. For example, this girl's long hair (below) doesn't impress me at all. It actually grosses me out and makes me think of a rat's tail. And no Cathy's is nowhere near looking this nasty; compared to her, Cathy's hair is divine. But different strokes for different folks. Before finding Brenda, Wanakee, LHCF though, who knows, I might've been uber jealous of this chick's hair because I didn't know better.

 

[yamilee21]

I wish there was a way to know whether Cathy Howse's ends are the way they are because she doesn't trim, or because she wears her hair out all the time, or - least likely scenario - because she is one of the people with really short hair life cycles who maybe has a much shorter than expected terminal length. And maybe she has some heat damage too if she straightens regularly. There do not seem to be many posters on this forum who usually wear their natural hair heat straightened regularly AND never use protective styling AND do not trim - the combination of these three things seems rather extreme, no matter how much moisturizing and sealing you do.

 

[Vashti]

I think that her ends look that way because she doesn't use protective styles. if she PSed i think they would look better and thicker.

 

[janda]

IMO I don't think there is a "one size fits all" answer to the question of how to grow your hair long. Based on posts on LHCF, I bought books by Cathy Howse, Teri LaFlesh and Chicoro. I learned lots of each book and use something from each one.

One thing I liked about the Cathy Howse book and challenge is that it gave me direction as a newbie on my HHJ. I wash and DC twice per week with a protein/ moisture combo and my hair is finally thriving.

 

[jerseygurl]

I have to credit Howse wit my HHJ. I found her website while looking for a solution to my dry broken off hair. I bought her books and products and was able to get to APL using her method of no trimming but my ends were a mess though. After a senegalese twist setback I had to cut back to NL and started all over again. I found LHCF in 2008 and discovered a lot more information and even her conditioner recipe. I stopped ordering her products and stayed here LOL.

I think she has a common sense approach to hair care although I found that I had to trim for my hair to look good. I think newbies should start with her book and evolve from there.