I'm back from the salon . . . and not so happy

[Poetic]

I went to the salon yesterday to have my hair dematted/untangles. And while all the mats seem to be gone and most of the tangles, I fear most of my hair went with them. The stylist started by having me unbraid my hair. These beautiful soft braids reached well below my breasts and when stretch fell at tailbone. Hair undone the stylist proceeded to put cuts in what she assured me was only matted hair, so that she could "see my scalp" and remove the hair. I thought nothing of this, it was only mats right?

Well when she began to "open" the mats (her word not mine, She stated "I'm only opening the mats, not combing, when I mentioned the the lack of conditioner) I noticed that as I was helping her detangle huge braid-size clumps of hair began falling to the floor. There was enough to make a large dog:puppy: and have hair left over. She combed through my hair, there was yet more hair in the comb, shampooed me and lightly blow-dried. She was afraid my hair would attempt to mat again if she let it air dry.

I kept asking her how my hair was looking, as I could see most of my hair, and had I lost a lot of length. "No, mostly shed hair." But when I stretched it, my hair reached only to my breasts at best. I told her I thought she said I hadn't lost a lot of hair, repeated to her that my hair normally would reach tailbone. She replied lets be happy we've gotten the tangles out and that your scalp is exposed.

I don't know what to think. I cannot really examine any damage because despite her doing several treatments on my hair it is so dry and my normally 3b/3c hair feels and looks more like 4a.

My sister and mother tell me it does not look that damaged and that the reason my hair may not be reaching its normal length or be its normal texture is the many shampoos I was given. My hair was shampoo 4 times, a straight apple cider and baking soda rinse being placed on my hair before-hand.

I would like any opinion you may have. I don't really use shampoo on my hair and never baking soda. Could the appearance of major lost of hair length be the result of dryness and shrinkage? And if this is the case, how do I recover my moisture?

Sorry that this post is so long. Thank you for reading.:flower:

[Xandergrammy]

Would you be able to have someone take a picture of your hair? I don't have any advice as far as repairing the baking soda dryness, but I think other people have had good luck with doing lots of deep moisture treatments. :grouphug:

[angelthadiva]

Hiya, :waving: I posted well wishes to you in your last thread prior going to the salon.

Did you happen to take before and after pics? I don't know about anyone else, but it would help me give you better thoughts if I could see what you were talking about.

I also wanted to add, that I have hair that is about your former length, but I'm not as curly as you...Curly hair does spring up (as you well know), so if your hair is dry and you extend it out as far as it will go and your length is only at bre@st length, she cut a lot of length, me thinks!

So, she didn't use conditioner, she only cut?

[FrannyG]

Well, my first thought is that with all those mats, your shed hair was stuck in your hair for weeks. So it does make sense that there would be lots and lots of hairs shed during this process.

As far as your perceived loss of length, how much shorter exactly does it seem? It may be due to dryness, and after a good moisture treatment, you may see your curls loosen a bit.

I know that you don't seem happy right now, but don't forget that you feared that you may have had to cut your hair off near the root, so to me, this sounds like success! :)

Please post some photos if you can, to give us a better idea. :flowers:

[Islandgrrl]

Poetic, I know this has been such an ordeal for you and so stressful. I'm so sorry you're going through this.

I'm with everyone else here - it would help to see pictures.

So if you've lost the length, there's obviously nothing you can do but focus on getting your hair back into the best possible condition. Maybe some deep moisture treatments would help make your hair feel better?

Hopefully as your hair calms down more length will become apparent and things will look a bit brighter!

[spidermom]

I think it's likely that a high percentage of the hairs that you lost were shed hairs. That may be why the length seems shorter now, too. I used to have a friend with one braided lock that she bound up with floss. While the rest of her hair had a terminal length of around BSL, the last time I saw her, that lock was thigh-length, which I think was because her shed hairs were kept bound up with her growing hair.

I recommend lots of deep moisture treatments. When I tried baking soda to clarify, it made my hair like felt, and I loaded it with conditioner or SMT every day for at least an hour. It took 2 weeks for my hair to return to normal.

[Darkhorse1]

Your hair sounds very curly, correct? I know when I wash my hair, it tends to pull it 'up', giving it the illusion of being almost an inch shorter than when it has some natural oils in it. This is probably what you are noticing.

Also, it's much better to have your scalp exposed--I read somewhere that cornrows and dreads are not the best, as the style is very tight and causes problems at the root.

I would suggest leaving your hair alone for a few days, then perhaps doing an oiling treatment? You also said you'd been sick lately, which can lead to massive hair shedding due to illness/high fever.

Try not to worry and make sure you get plenty of fluids and rest. :)

[Poetic]

Thanks everyone. Unfortunately my sister's camera was not working before I went to the salon. I will hopefully see her this weekend and have her take a picture so that I can post it.

[wintersun99]

For moisture, maybe look up the recipe for the Carmel Treatment... sounds like your hair could use some serious moisture and loads of love... :)

[Alethia]

Well, I'm glad she managed to get the mats out. I think you need to reassure yourself that you will have shed a lot of hair during the time you were ill - you may also have shed more because you were ill. As a heavy shedder myself, I know that if I avoid brushing or combing for even a few days, I get a reasonably dense handful of hair after brushing on the 3rd or 4th day. If I wash my hair after not brushing daily I could probably make myself a wig....or reasonable hairpiece!

Yes, you will have shed a fair bit of hair through the mechanical trauma of having the mats dealt with too, but I don't think that all that hair on the floor was from the detangling process. I think it would have helped reassure you if she'd put mirrors all round so you could have seen what she was doing.

Why you should have lost length, I don't know unless she gave you a trim in the process.

If your hair feels very dry, I'd do an SMT soon and maybe a Caramel treatment later in the week - curlies usually do very well with this rich, oily treatment.

Caramel Rx
2 over-ripe bananas,
1/3 C Honey
1/3 C Molasses
1/3 C EVOO
1/3 C Coconut Oil
1 capful ACV

I just throw this all in a blender. It freezes rather well, so you won't have to keep making mini-batches every time you wanna use it, just thaw out. It should be a caramel cream look and consistency. Once you coat it on your hair, leave on for a couple hours. If your hair is longer than BSL, it may be easier to put your hair in a ponytail and just do that ponytail portion and loose baggy it to keep it from getting messy. Do not try to manipulate your hair during this time, it is very sticky. Rinse out in the shower. If you have fine hair, this may be all you need, but if you have coarse hair, you may want to follow up with a reconstructor and/or deep conditioner. It doesn't matter how kinky/curly/frizzy your hair is... it will shine like you've never ever seen it do before. I am now a big believer in this and will tell anyone who will listen. It really works!

Some fine hairs find they do better if they wet their hair before applying to stop it absorbing too much oil and becoming sticky. If you hair is a little coarse I'd leave it to absorb as much oil and moisture as possible! Good luck