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Jeannie

Manchester , New Hampshire

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Jeannie

Updated: 10/31/2008

I 've had long hair through most of my life but never learned to take care of my hair without help. Now that my mother is not around I've gone through ugly times bouncing from beauty salon to beauty shops seeking the pros results. I was able to maintain healthy lengths for a couple years while visiting my hairstylist religiously but I decided to put an end to that and learn to take care of my own hair. I first started with the idea that it would help me save some money as I was going on a weekly basis but it later grew in me that I should be able to learn to take care of my own natural hair for the plain fact that if God gave me this hair that hell I should learn to live with it. And so I did. I actually stopped relaxing for good about 5 years now. I realized though that after a while my hair was not as healthy and styling time was getting longer and frustrating. So I did some research and signed up to hair care forums, followed some member care routines and recipes... knowing that other girls were also going through the same frustrations as me helped me gain some pride. I later decided to combine old family care methods with other member suggestions and have been able to achieve stronger, healthier strands. That was my goal this year since my hair dilema.

HAIR HORROR STORY: I decided to experiment with Sebastians Color Celophanes and did not rinse out the product very well.. I mean the bottle clearly says to shampoo after application but something told me that if I only rinsed and flatironed I would get better results. MAJOR MISTAKE! This was the beginning of my hair nightmares that recently ended on Sep 08. My hair got thinner, extremely dry (as ever before) and had problems detangling on wash days. End of Horror Story.

I've bought products, done treatments, taken vitamins, tried protective styles and was finally able to bring back the life of my hair. I recently trimmed my hair although I did'nt want to but knew that it was the best thing my hair ever needed. Now I can say my hair is healthy and am planning on maintaining it that way. My new goal is length length length is all I could think about now. Keep working on those protective styles and avoiding the flat-iron as most possible.

I know that caring for long hair is time consuming compared to caring for short hair. Just washing and drying long hair is quite a task itself. Some tips I am considering now with my hair goal in mind is the following: (Some of these tips from My Wise Mother Who Was Also a Professional Hairdresser other tips from random forum members)

-Even if you plan on growing your hair out further you should trim your hair once every 3 months, if not split ends will cause your hair to break off and your hair will begin to lose it's beauty, if you plan on just maintaining your length, a trim once every month and a half to two months should suffice.

-Be gentle when detangling, pulling down on your hair too hard will cause breakage. (learned that myself the hard way)

-Don't rub your hair dry with a towel, instead blot the water out of your hair, when you rub, it'll cause your hair to tangle and you are rubbing out its natural oils.

-Hair can get caught on cotton pillow cases and break when you are sleeping especially if you toss and turn a lot when you sleep. Using a satin or silk pillowcase. Another tactic to prevent breakage is to put your hair up in a ponytail on the top of your head with a scrunchy or specially treated band (that prevents breakage) and or tie up a hair net.

-Brushing or combing your hair at least once daily is important because it spreads the hair oils out across the length of your hair. However, if you are working with daily protective styles to avoid manipulating the hair too much during the week, make sure that you at least apply moisturizers that can do this job for you.

Although my hair was chemically relaxed I had my hair cared at a beauty salon every week. Their weekly routine was: treatment and conditioner applications after wash, roller set and careful blow drying. Never did I ever see a flat or curling iron used, hence the condition of my hair back then. Thanks to technology it is easier to straighten our hair with the different flat irons that the market has to offer. After my nightmare experience, I have decided to avoid the use of the flat iron completely from my styling routine and considered going back to the ancient roller setting methods to achieve my goal. Here I will keep a monthly timeline of my hair regimen. It will be posted in my journals. So feel free to read and view my pictures as my hair continues to progress.

For all of you who are working on transitioning to natural curls, good luck to you all and keep up the good spirit!

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