Wow, Girl! How'd you break your hair off so fast?

[SelahOco]

I was just looking at Ms. Jody's progress pics (her hair looks great btw) and someone said "You must be doing something right!"

So I wondered if we could all share some war stories about what we were doing wrong in the past. What hair practices were the most damaging to you before you learned how to properly care for your hair.

What things would you NEVER do to your hair again?

Tell me, in the past....how'd you break your hair off so fast?

 

[SelahOco]

For me, I think it was a number of things. I overlapped my relaxers quite a bit, but I don't think that was the worst of it.

Once, I got my hair colored blonde over a relaxer (which some people do successfully), but I NEVER wrapped my hair up at night. I slept on a cotton pillow case and woke up in the morning and raked thru my hair like it was nothing.

Now, if I hear a hair pop or break, a little piece of my soul breaks with it. I immediately stop whatever I'm doing and gently tend to the tangle. Back in the day, I didn't even hear that ripping and tearing. I just had no concept of how delicate hair can be.

I had no respect for my hair, and I didn't expect for it to grow long, so I never developed a caring, long-term relationship w/ my strands.

Now, my hair and I are lovers I want to keep every inch of it healthy and happy. I plan to never turn back to the uncovered hair that I ripped thru with the combs.

 

[sqzbly1908]

Letting the Master Stylist/Colorist to the stars relax and apply highlights the same day!

 

[JayAnn0513]

glued in weave

flat ironing daily on dry hair

no deep conditioning

ripping through my hair with a rate tail comb

using crap products

 

[Charz]

My main problem was overlapping relaxers.

 

[poookie]

over-manipulating my fine hair while it was wet. broke my ends right off.

 

[aquajoyice]

I did a lot wrong before the knowledge...
Relaxing every 4 weeks
Lots and lots of heat
combing and brushing dry throughout the length of my hair
No deep conditioning
washing once every 2 weeks
being rough with my hair
only moisturizing maybe 2 a week
lathering up my hair with shampoo and scratching my scalp as I washed then rubbing aggresively with a towel afterwards
i'm sure I could go on and on but i'm sure you get the idea, lol

 

[yaya24]

Getting a relaxer every 6 weeks.. My hair was so darn thin.

 

[Supergirl]

I would just say overusing heat--middle school
also, putting sun-in in my hair--middle school

Hmmm... a pattern with middle school!

 

[Mizz Diamonds]

Using a small toothed comb to rake through my hair especially going a few days with out combing my hair and it ended up as a tangled mess

letting someone put Dax wax thing in my hair (however I did learn that this was bad the
1st time round)

using heat on my hair with no protectant.

using bad products

 

[Katherina]

Now, if I hear a hair pop or break, a little piece of my soul breaks with it

me 2.

hot combing relaxed hair (my only perm)
brushing my natural hair like i was crazy
fine tooth combing
scrubbing all of hair with shampoo instead of scalp
detangling without conditioner
straightening too much (made my natural hair a frizzy mess instead of the curls that i never knew i had until i stopped straightening so much)
using the curling iron every day
kinky twists that i didn't moisturize
microbraids that i didn't moisturize
wearing my hair out when natural without moisturizing (KNOTS)
permanently dying my hair a few shades lighter...erplexed
blow drying my natural hair, THEN detangling, then pressing it...
trying new things too much

in general...just being mean to my hair

I used to always see those tiny 1 inch hairs all over the sink whenever i'd blow dry my hair before pressing it. and for some reason i'd still wonder why my hair wasn't gaining any length.

now i love her and she loves me back

 

[that_1_grrrl]

Not much really. I think my biggest faults were just not moisturizing my hair and not keeping it protected. I used to use a lot of grease until I got to high school.

Um, my family was very choosy about our stylists, so I think I only had relaxer damage once when I was a little girl. This stylists left it on my scalp too long, my hair burned badly, and I had scabs. Never went to her again as far as I can remember.

I only washed once a week (biweekly after a fresh relaxer), but I don't think that was bad. It was the lack of moisture in between washings and raking my hair with a comb that did me in. My hair was always longer at relaxer time, but my stylists would always trim my hair. One of them even told me that if I grew my hair long, my ends would be thin, so it was best to keep them trim. Ugh, I wish I knew better back then. I did have nice hair, and it could have been great if I knew to be gentle, moisturize, and say no to trims.

 

[bumblb87]

Everything wrong under the sun!!!!!!!!!

1) Relaxing root to tip every 4 weeks......

2) Never moisturizing.......

3) Wrong products......

5) Never using heat protectant.......

I could go on and on..... I knew absolutely nothing about hair care

As you can see from my starting picture below

 

[BellaLunie]

Wow where do I start?!
Applied relaxer from root to tip
Never wrapped hair at night
Never washed/dc'd
flat ironed EVERY day w no heat protection
Combed from root to tip
Pink lotion-need I say more?
Tight braids/micros left for months at a time(i would re-do the edges and perimeter so it would look "fresh") without washing just "greased" my scalp with Blue Magic

 

[chebaby]

my problem was bleach and no moisturizer.

i was good about getting relaxers only 3-4 times a year and wraping my hair in a silk scarf at night but none of that mattered becasue my ends kept breaking because of the bleach and i had no idea what moisturizer was. i only used african pride oil.

 

[ceebee3]

No deep conditioner / conditioner
No leave ins
No shampoo for weeks at a time
Dragging the comb through dry hair caked up with let’s jam
Slathered let’s jam on everyday
No covering my hair at night
No moisturizing whatsoever

My hair was as dry as the Sahara. I never used heat because I didn’t know how and I relaxed like once or twice a year if I relaxed at all.

My hair stayed at shoulder length.

 

[Nayna]

I didn't understand the difference or better yet the purpose of certain conditioners. For example at one point I was using Nexxus Emergencee every single week! But I figured it was a deep conditioner so that's how it was supposed to be used, lol. What's worse is that I was going to the same salon and the stylist never corrected me.

Oh yea, and weaving my hair. The thread did my thin hair no justice. And wearing straight weaves and heat straightening my hair too often to make it blend.

 

[Ivey14]

***Deleted***

 

[Letta]

going too long w/o combing my hair and then using a small tooth comb and yanking at my head lik I was a nappy headed black barbie

not wrapping my hair up at night. I would either 4get to put on a scarf or I was such a wild sleeper it would b like near my feet when I woke up

getting relaxers in the 1st place. My hair never truly liked them too much.

getting those blond highlights thinkin I was being cute to this day my mom is lik "i told yo *** not to get them damn highlights but NOOOOOO u jus had to have ur way" LOL I was middle school wat do u want from me lady

not asking for help. I never really learned to wash, style, or evn properly braid my hair.

being lazy. I was a salon girl. They did all the work so once it got 2 b my turn I was lik "wth do I do with this?"

not properly taking care of my edges when I was wearing my wigs. I broke them off so now I'm trying to grow them back. I hav lik a twa jus at the front and its long evrywhere elseerplexed

not going to the dermatologist faster. I was so concentrated with college that I was letting the stress get to me and I was neglecting my health. I lost a lot of hair just from that alone

 

[Arian]

I did a lot wrong before the knowledge...
Relaxing every 4 weeks
Lots and lots of heat
combing and brushing dry throughout the length of my hair
No deep conditioning
washing once every 2 weeks
being rough with my hair
only moisturizing maybe 2 a week
lathering up my hair with shampoo and scratching my scalp as I washed then rubbing aggresively with a towel afterwards
i'm sure I could go on and on but i'm sure you get the idea, lol

ITA. Only to add sleeping with my hair wrapped up in a cotton scarf instead of satin or silk.

 

[PPGbubbles]

By far the worst thing I did was in the process of removing my human hair micros, which I wore a lot....I would just wet my hair and use a vent brush and brush the hair out!!! and while they were in my hair I never moisturized them.... I couldnt even fathom doing a thing like that to my hair now.


As Ocolove said..... "I had no respect for my hair".....the same was true for me.

But now I spend QT with my hair and give it alot of TLC

 

[JaiRox]

Thanks OcoLove

And what got me to my beginning point was:

1 - Colored my hair and I knew nothing about moisturizing, so it started breaking.

2 - Relaxed about two weeks later and a week after that my roots were showing so I decided to do a touch up on the color and my hair started coming out in my hands while washing it out. I was in tears. Thats what led me to find this forum.

I know better now and my hair is thanking me.

 

[lilsparkle825]

clearly, one of the most CONSISTENT things i did was flat ironing my roots/edges every day/every other day...

but the one thing I did to break off my hair in one day was allowing my cousin to take down my sew-in, wash with shampoo ONLY (no conditioner), and detangle my hair root to tip with a fine-toothed comb. i literally went from SL to EL/NL in about 2 hours, no scissors required. she told me to never get a sew-in again, and i agreed, but now that i know how to take care of my hair underneath i am contemplating getting one again.

 

[MrsSmitty77]

me 2.


I used to always see those tiny 1 inch hairs all over the sink whenever i'd blow dry my hair before pressing it. and for some reason i'd still wonder why my hair wasn't gaining any length.

That was me all day long!!!!
My sins were:
Relaxing every 4-5 weeks
Using rattail combs in wet hair to detangle and wrap
Using too man bad products with mineral oil
Sleeping on cotton pillow cases
Brushing hair roughly when wet
Lots of brown gel for phony ponys

 

[Taleah2009]

1-Applying perm from root to tip. SMDH! I used to have such thick hair when I was a child, now I hate my thin perm ends!
2-Deep conditioned with ORS hair mayo on a weekly basis, and wondered why my hair and my rollersets were hard. Knew nothing about the difference between a protein conditioner and a moisturizing conditioner
3-Moisture what??? My idea of moisturizing was applying ORS carrot oil to my scalp. I didn't want to weigh my hair done with any products.
4-Not using products at all. I am/used to be a salon girl. I thought it was cute that I didnt even own shampoo and conditioner. I just got my hair done every 2 weeks
5-No deep conditioner
6-Tying my hair up with a bandana, and not a silk or satin scarf. I used to hate those because they slide off my hair.
Man this list can go on forever

Good thing I found LHCF last month!

 

[prospurr4]

- Using a curling iron daily on my hair until it "sizzled"
- Running a comb through dry hair
- Overlapping relaxers, too-frequent touchups and leaving the creme on for too long (up to 30 min.)
- Sleeping on 100% cotton pillowcases with uncovered hair
- Using alcohol-filled wrap foam on my hair, extra firm formula, of course
- Letting my hair/ends drag across my shoulders and rough clothing
- Never moisturizing my hair/ends

 

[mscocoface]

My offenses are many, I was ignorant and I throw myself at the mercy of the court!'

Let's just say I am very happy to have found the hairboards, Cathy Howse and a few blogs.

I was BLIIIIIIIIIIND now I SEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

 

[Dominican09]

hmmmm.... I would say

Relaxing every 2 monthns
Having my hair down everyday
Heat
products that did not work for my type of hair
moisture and protein balance

 

[brebre928]

Waaaay back in High School...not washing my hair at all (or only when I felt like it) Not wearing a satin scarf and sleeping on a cotton pillow case. Overlapping my relaxers and applying too much heat to my hair.

 

[that_1_grrrl]

Omg!!!! That sounds so painful.

clearly, one of the most CONSISTENT things i did was flat ironing my roots/edges every day/every other day...

but the one thing I did to break off my hair in one day was allowing my cousin to take down my sew-in, wash with shampoo ONLY (no conditioner), and detangle my hair root to tip with a fine-toothed comb. i literally went from SL to EL/NL in about 2 hours, no scissors required. she told me to never get a sew-in again, and i agreed, but now that i know how to take care of my hair underneath i am contemplating getting one again.