women who started here with short damaged hair.

[aquajoyice]

I started out with short ear length hair. It was very damaged from relaxing improperly, heat damage as well as just not taking care of it. I have pics in my Fotki/youtube video that show what it looked like before the knowledge. First thing I did was cut off all the damaged ends and no heat for 1 year. I wore my hair in protective styles and washed regularly with CON (Creme of Nature). I stopped combing while dry and only brushed my edges with a boar brush. I made it to full shoulder length in 1 year. My hair at shoulder length in the past meant broken uneven ends, but after taking care of it it was healthy and still had the blunt cut at the ends since I rarely wore my hair down. It's all about being patient and having faith that God will see you there.

 

[India*32]

I did not start out with short hair (it was SL length) but my hair was, and still is, full of damage. What helped was GIVING UP relaxers. But now that im on the board, i see all the tricks and tips to keep relaxed hair healthier. i still wont relax, but i think for others, its a personal choice and there are so many pple on here w/beautiful relaxed hair.

If u dont want to BC, i would stretch or transition until ur hair is in better shape. Baby your ends, protective styling, protein-moisture balance, gentle trim from someone you trust, etc. NO chemicals until your hair has regained some strength.

If u DO want to BC that would be a fresh start and it wouldnt matter if u stayed natural or relaxed cuz either way you'd be starting over with better hair practices. If you decided to relax, you would use a protein treatment beforehand, mix the relaxer with some oil or silk amino acids, leave it in LESS time, make sure its properly neutralized etc. and then going forward, just make sure you dont double process ur previously relaxed hair. If u want to stay natural, u will rediscover ur hair and keep it in good shape by moisturizing etc.

Either way, i think its possible to turn ur hair around... good luck

That's such a nice supportive reply. Btw your hair looks beautiful.

India

 

[Geminigirl]

I def started with some jacked hair.(See pics below)

I read the Cathy Howse book while relaxed and came up with a regimne that consisted of me cowashing daily, bunning, baggying. moisturizing atleast once a day and ALWAYS seal with oil, no ripping through my hair with a comb or harsh brushing. Also stretching my relaxers. I would shampoo every 3 to 7 days. When I first found out i CAN wash my hair. I was in it everyday. Shampoo and Condtion and DC every 3 days. My hair thrived. Until I stopped loving it.

I went from this

to this. I miss this length. Not an exact comparison but the difference is obvious.

 

[teysmith]

Thanks alot ladies! You all have been very helpful and encouraging!!! I think that I'm going to cut off all of the damage and wear box braids until I can get to a length were I am comfortable to wear it. I dont know yet if I want to try the natural thing or continue relaxing.. either way one thing I know for sure is that I wont be rexaxing anytime soon..to bad I spent money on the relaxer already..darnit! I'll probably wear braids all winter maybe from the end of this month probably until may if not longer.

I am super excited but I am easily discourage so I just pray for strength! wish me well!!!

 

[locabouthair]

Thanks alot ladies! You all have been very helpful and encouraging!!! I think that I'm going to cut off all of the damage and wear box braids until I can get to a length were I am comfortable to wear it. I dont know yet if I want to try the natural thing or continue relaxing.. either way one thing I know for sure is that I wont be rexaxing anytime soon..to bad I spent money on the relaxer already..darnit! I'll probably wear braids all winter maybe from the end of this month probably until may if not longer.

I am super excited but I am easily discourage so I just pray for strength! wish me well!!!

Just make sure to use a braid spray regularly to keep their hair moisturized. I got the BEST growth, well retention, when I wore box braids.

 

[teysmith]

THANKS VERY MUCH! WILL DO!

 

[soonergirl]

I started with neck length relaxed 4 b hair 3 years ago. It was damaged dry and unmanageable. I protective styled for 3 yes, 3 years... My hair was always in a octopus clip with a leave in and either jamaican black castor oil, vatika oil, or amla oil on it... I now have just below bra strap relaxed hair... I didnt trim off my ends, just trimmed ever so often.. The ends were never out always moist... I limited heat to only during relaxer time which I have now stretched to 12 weeks.... I only trim 1 time a year, go figure!! You can do it!! I just protective styled the whole time, I was not looking cute, but I had a goal... I am still protective styling now, trying to get to mbl....

 

[MissNadia]

I did it. Check the siggie. My best advise is to figure out how much heat your hair can take/not take. Do you need more protein or moisture? Is your hair porous? And is your water hard or soft? What about the climate you live in, is it humid or extremely dry? My regimen has changed with the length of my hair but those main questions helped me find and implement my regimen.

 

[moonglowdiva]

I started out with very damaged hair that wasn't even EL. It has taken 2 years but it is a work in progress.

 

[SCarolinaGirl]

I started out with short, brittle, damaged hair in Jan of this year and my hair has done a COMPLETE turn around. I started washing more often and deep conditioning often. I also use minimal heat and incorporated aphogee products into my regimen. Good luck to you! Check out my fotki.

 

[joib]

Excellent job ladies!!!

 

[blacksapphire]

I wish you the best of luck, after figuring out your regi,( I would suggest KISS all the way) and sticking with it and the encouragement that all LHCF members have in never ending supply that you will achieve what ever hair goal you set out to accomplish

 

[India*32]

I started off relaxed with damaged hair and decided to BC to a half inch of hair, grew it back and relaxed 10 months later.

I just wanted to start fresh I didn't want that ratty old hair anymore. After a while I felt I was wasting products on hair I couldn't revive....but now that I think back, I probably could have kept that ratty old hair and just cut gradually...

Sorry i'm not much help.

Your hair looks so healthy and beautiful. Keep up the good work

India

 

[janeemat]

I did. I don't have a pic except for the short one in my siggy. It was taken after about 4 months of hair care. But can clearly see how short it was. My latest pic is in my avator. A strict regi of deep conditioning 3 times a week got me to almost apl in 1 year.

 

[ajoyfuljoy]

I started out very damaged...a chewed up ear-length mess! Please check my fotki I have gradually cut off all the hair that I grew pre-LHCF. Now, it's like I have a different head of hair I am sure next year will take me into BSL.

 

[halee_J]

I did, I recently shared my progress pictures. I went from thin relaxed hair, to full and healthy relaxed hair.

I started stretching my relaxers. I relax about 4-5 times a year now.
started deep conditioning on a regular.
doing more protein treatments.
Started using orgnanic oils.
Cut out all sulphate containing shampoos. I only use one about once a month and that is to clarify. I have really hard water here, so I have to use a chelator, the filter can't get everything.
Switched to lye relaxers.
Toned down the heat A LOT. More roller setting and silk wraps. I don't flat iron weekly anymore.
More protective styling (buns, braid/twist outs)..

Here is my progress thread, so it is possible.

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=412224&highlight=
I also recommend chinablk fotki. She too had a complete turnaround.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDB-_-qXzKE
here is a video, and her hair has grown even more since this was made.

http://public.fotki.com/bronzeg/hair/

Thanks for sharing exoticmommie your hair really has come around! looks good! I hope to make similar progress this year....

I just checked out chinablk's fotki... her progress is AMAZING!!!!

You are both soooo inspiring

 

[brucebettye]

When I found this hair board I did not have damage hair but it was around ear length because I had cut off all my damaged hair. Thanks to this website I can now but my hair into a bun(small). I was natural put I decided to texlax, but it took me about 4 months to decide. I just say cut it off and think about what you want to do to your hair. If you decide to relax, texlax, or stay natural this website will help you with your decision and also help you to keep your hair healthy.

 

[Nina_deF]

I did.

Since then it's been longer, shorter, relaxed, textlaxed and now almost natural. I never thought it but my hair actually grows pretty fast so being scissor happy doesn't hurt that much.

And if I can do it, really, anyone can!

 

[crazydaze911]

I did.

Since then it's been longer, shorter, relaxed, textlaxed and now almost natural. I never thought it but my hair actually grows pretty fast so being scissor happy doesn't hurt that much.

And if I can do it, really, anyone can!

wow. what a turnaround. looks awesome. u go girl!

 

[DivaD04]

subbing. i don't have long hair but thx to lhcf, i have made a huge turn around since joining and i can easily get sl hair as appose to neck length hair in a year. my habit was always getting that tight twists pinned up style with a bunch of prostyle gel....putting my beloved gel on blast...that used to give me a head ache every time i wore them up into a phony pony. now i no longer wear those head ache styles, instead, i wear my hair loose and i try to k.i.s. everyday. when i feel the need to throw some braids in, i take the time to not braid so danm tight.

 

[Bene]

I don't know if anyone mentioned Crackers Phinn. Her hair didn't start off as terribly damaged, but her latest update pics show some amazing progress. Her hair looks amazingly healthy and it's gained some good length. The difference is astonishing!

 

[Taina]

I have shorter hair now than when i started here hehehehehe
actually i didnt came here because i had damaged hair, it was because i didnt do how to deal with natural hair

 

[Honey Bee]

You wanna talk about chewed up ends, lopsided-ness, and all around scraggly, see my siggy. A HAM if I ever saw one, caused by heat damage (direct heat several times/wk), touching up every 4 wks, and plain old ignorance. I was co-washing, but I wasn't watching out for my protein/moisture balance; I knew nothing about ph's (wrt to hair); I rarely used heat protectant. It was just bad all around.

The first thing I did was add a light protein step to my bi-weekly co-washing (keraphix, followed by a moisturizing dc). I started using henna (an already mixed cream) to add some strength to the damaged parts. I started stretching (can only go 8wks so far, but that's better than before). I started texlaxing instead of perming bone-straight, and I cover my hair with conditioner beforehand (and neutralizer on the ends). I only use heat once a month, for length checks, and I'm almost manic about heat protectant now. Instead of curling my hair several times a week, I do braidouts with conditioner and water: similar look, no damage.

So, looking at my pics, you can see where I began in August. Then, I trimmed to full SL in September

...and the last pic in my siggy is from November 6th- barely skimming APL. I'm actually looking forward to my December length check, all because of the healthy hair practices I learned here.

 

[DarkHair]

I did. I was neck-length when I started. I started stretching from 6 wks to 10 wks, and stopped at 12 wks.

I developed a regimen. I make sure to cut back on the direct heat, alternate rollersetting and flatironing weeks, check moisture/protein balance, apply growth aid, scalp massage, detangle gently and from tip to root, and DONT LET ANYONE CUT my hair!

 

[Lady Esquire]

Before I found the hair boards, I had decided to stop using relaxers because I started developing bad habits that damaged my hair. At first, I braided every month for about 5 months. Then I switched to cornrowing and wearing wigs. After about 8 months of gradually cutting damaged relaxed hair, I big-chopped into a teeny weeny afro. I stayed natural for a year.

During that year, I discovered hair books and then hair boards... and then HERE!

Read SistaSlick's hair articles, create a regimen, and stay consistent. Keep the hair moisturized, fortified with protein, and treat it like fine silk. It takes time. Enjoy the journey.

ETA: Every stage will teach you something, and you'll (hopefully not) have some setbacks. Take as many preventative measures to retain as much as you can.

 

[supermodelsonya]

I started off with an inch of hair filled with bald spots from wearing glue in weaves. It can be done. Time, trial and error, and patience is the trick.

It will happen for you. At least you're in the right place.

 

[fattyfatfat]

this is something that Im working on myself. Im shoulder length now and I dont need no scissor happy stylists cutting my hair.

I did. I was neck-length when I started. I started stretching from 6 wks to 10 wks, and stopped at 12 wks.

I developed a regimen. I make sure to cut back on the direct heat, alternate rollersetting and flatironing weeks, check moisture/protein balance, apply growth aid, scalp massage, detangle gently and from tip to root, and DONT LET ANYONE CUT my hair!

 

[MrsHdrLe]

Bumping for d.

 

[chicacanella]

I started with damaged hair but it wasn't short until I cut it to shoulder length. It took about three years for it to get to a healthy BSL and that was with a lot of cuts and trimmings and oh, I relaxed about once a year too.

 

[cocoaluv]

If you do decide to relax after you take out the braids wait two weeks after you take them out to relax or else you could get breakage and damage.

Go to www.fotki.com/sistaslick Read her hair articles. Those will tell you everything you need for a good hair growing regimen. HTH

OMG I took out a weave and got my hair permed the next day. The perm burned the heck outta my scalp and i had so many "perm burns/scabs" it was scary. That day I decided to transition for real.