4 year Anniversary

[janeytilllie]

It is soon to be my 4 year anniversary. I joined Christmas day 2008 :)

my hair was around TBL, This was when I was using an all natural routine for my hair. I was no sulfates, no cones and comb (seamless) only routine. I trimmed every 6 months while doing S+D in-between trims. I heard alot of positive raves how hair grew faster, longer stronger etc with an natural routine that sulfates, cones and brushes were the hair devil.

I tried every natural way to care for my hair : shampoo bars, egg washing, herbal washing, natural shampoos, sebum only, water only, conditioner washing, oiling conditioneing only etc....



My albums with my progress are unavailable at the moment. So these pictures are taken from my photo album at home. sorry for the bad photo quality

This was my hair in 2008 using the no sulfate/no cones routine
http://i1354.photobucket.com/albums/q696/janeytillie/2008hair.jpg


My ends were getting thin and damaged.
I still persisted with an all natural routine. I tried everything except sulfates and cones. I was convinced it was the best for my hair.
You can really see the difference with the two photos. They are only 1 year apart. no extra growth just dryness, damage and more thinness travel up.
http://i1354.photobucket.com/albums/q696/janeytillie/2009.jpg

I decided that maybe I still had past heat damage and cut 14" to start with new virgin hair. I thought that this would finally end my hair trouble.

http://i1354.photobucket.com/albums/q696/janeytillie/20092.jpg

I started re growing and reached hip 2x. However my ends were still getting thin. I did not have past damage now so I looked closer at what was the culprit.

My routine was the culprit. The combs was causing breakage, the non sulfate shampoos, soap bar, baking soda etc were causing gunk build up and wasn't cleaning my scalp.

The no cone conditioners were not providing protection or helping with dryness
which resulted in brittle hair.

I had another 2 cuts putting me back at BSL both times.

____________

About 6 months ago I changed everything. I went back Herbal Essences and Pantene shampoos and conditioners
I use a Tangle Teezer brush, BBB and I trim every 3 months.

My hair now

http://i1354.photobucket.com/albums/q696/janeytillie/20122.jpg
My ends are so much better they are softer and are not getting thinness :)

I am now on the way to hip length finally :)





So the moral of my hair story is to listen to your hair not anyone else.
It really is true what works for some may completely ruin your hair.
I learned the hard way.

Thanks for reading and for helping me on my hair journey all these years :flowers:

[spidermom]

I'm so glad that you finally figured out what is best for your hair. It looks lovely.

[dmilton]

Your hair looks great now! I'm glad you've found something that works well for you. Sometimes all the natural stuff that is SUPPOSED to be good for your hair isn't what is the BEST for your specific hair type.

[Tota]

Your hair is beautiful now and it's great that you've figured out what your hair needs. That's what matters the most. Congrats!

[melusine963]

Congratulations on finding a routine that works for you! I've also got over my suspicion of 'cones. I still don't use them myself, but I understand that what works for some people won't work for others.

[einna]

Congrats! Your hair is looking lovely. Interesting to read about how you found your routine! :)

[SnowyDream]

So the moral of my hair story is to listen to your hair not anyone else.
It really is true what works for some may completely ruin your hair.
I learned the hard way.

I'm very glad you said this, I couldn't agree more. Your hair is lovely :)

[Mischamiu]

Congrats! Your hair looks great... and great advice

[janeytilllie]

Thank you everyone for the lovely comments :flower:

[jacqueline101]

I'm glad you've discovered what's best for your hair. In return your hair has made lovely progress.

[Xi]

Congratulations! Your hair is looking shining and beautiful. :)

[Yozhik]

Ooh, congratulations on 4 years!!! :flowers:
Your hair looks so pretty!

It's great that you found your routine.
I also discovered after about 2 years of non-SLS, non-cone routines that my hair does just fine with them, and they're a lot less hassle. :)

[Micayla47]

thank you for the pictures and for sharing your story. all the advice on lhc is awesome, but sometimes we have to experiment and find out for ourselves what works on our hair. i have also found that combs break my hair, but on the other hand i learned lots of great hair care techniques on here that do work for me. i can no longer live without my regular vinegar rinses and smts, to name two.

[dulce]

Listen to your hair sounds just about right! I have used cones for years and never had to clarify,it keeps my hair tangle free and I wear my hip length and still growing hair loose or in a half up.Cones doesn't work for everybody, so it's trial and error to see what your hair likes but cones are not evil!

[starlamelissa]

I love my cheap coney shampoo and my cheap coney condish! My hair is soft and happy!

[hypersensitive]

I think I'm finding out that going cone free is bad for my hair. Like you said, I thought cones, sulfates, all that are bad for hair but really, my hair is telling me that without cones, it's damaging my ends because it tangles so much more easily. Reading about your story confirms that not everything works for everyone. Thank you for sharing!

[Fantak]

This is just speculation, but do you have fine hair? I'm beginning to think people with fine hair are more likely to be better off using suflates and cones.. We should do a poll on the board to check!

[lapushka]

Such great progress. Your hair looks awesome and it improved such a great deal! :D :thumbsup:

[janeytilllie]

I'm glad you've discovered what's best for your hair. In return your hair has made lovely progress.

Thank you :)

[janeytilllie]

Congratulations! Your hair is looking shining and beautiful. :)

Thank you :flower:

[janeytilllie]

Ooh, congratulations on 4 years!!! :flowers:
Your hair looks so pretty!

It's great that you found your routine.
I also discovered after about 2 years of non-SLS, non-cone routines that my hair does just fine with them, and they're a lot less hassle. :)

Thank you :)

[janeytilllie]

thank you for the pictures and for sharing your story. all the advice on lhc is awesome, but sometimes we have to experiment and find out for ourselves what works on our hair. i have also found that combs break my hair, but on the other hand i learned lots of great hair care techniques on here that do work for me. i can no longer live without my regular vinegar rinses and smts, to name two.

Thank you :)
Experiments and learning from them is the key to a great routine :)
I love LHC I have learnt so much from here :)
Yay for LHC :D

[janeytilllie]

Listen to your hair sounds just about right! I have used cones for years and never had to clarify,it keeps my hair tangle free and I wear my hip length and still growing hair loose or in a half up.Cones doesn't work for everybody, so it's trial and error to see what your hair likes but cones are not evil!

I completely agree :agree: It's all about tweaking and experimenting then creating a routine that works for your own individual hair :)

[janeytilllie]

I think I'm finding out that going cone free is bad for my hair. Like you said, I thought cones, sulfates, all that are bad for hair but really, my hair is telling me that without cones, it's damaging my ends because it tangles so much more easily. Reading about your story confirms that not everything works for everyone. Thank you for sharing!

I would try going sulfate/cones routine if your hair was fine before with them.
or maybe even sulfate free with a coney leave in then clarifying with sulfates now and again.
See how your hair/scalp reacts and take pictures to compare.
I hope you find a routine that suits you. Good luck :)

[janeytilllie]

This is just speculation, but do you have fine hair? I'm beginning to think people with fine hair are more likely to be better off using suflates and cones.. We should do a poll on the board to check!

My hair type is 2c/M/ii/iii

My hair is prone to dryness and can get breakage easily if I use the wrong tools etc.

[janeytilllie]

Such great progress. Your hair looks awesome and it improved such a great deal! :D :thumbsup:

Thank you! :flowers:

[spidermom]

I have the dryness, splitting, and breakage problem, too.

[Yozhik]

My hair type is 2c/M/ii/iii

My hair is prone to dryness and can get breakage easily if I use the wrong tools etc.

It seems like we're almost hair twins -- hair cousins, then? :flower:

These days (with cones and SLS), I'm a 2b/m/ii/iii. :)

[janeytilllie]

I have the dryness, splitting, and breakage problem, too.

This is one of the reasons I must trim every 2-3 months. If I don't, it's hair hemline disaster for me.
Your hair looks so beautiful in your siggy picture :)

[janeytilllie]

It seems like we're almost hair twins -- hair cousins, then? :flower:

These days (with cones and SLS), I'm a 2b/m/ii/iii. :)

It does indeed :)
Your hair looks really similar to mine even the colour in some photos :) we're even nearly the same length.
cool. :D

[10000days]

That's a very, very helpful lesson- thank you! I've been considering that I need cones on my peroxided hair because it just seems to look and feel better when I use it.

[heatherovka]

Thank you for sharing, your hair looks great! Yay for finding out what your hair really wants!! I'm struggling with thinness too, from APL to waist, for the second time. I'm just about at waist now. Last Christmas I trimmed 4 inches, and I am at exactly the same length and condition this year... despite all my tlc. I think for 2013, I will try more trimming and I won't avoid cones as much. My hair has always been bad about splits. I wasn't sure I would be able to thicken the ends. Thanks for the inspiration. :)

[janeytilllie]

That's a very, very helpful lesson- thank you! I've been considering that I need cones on my peroxided hair because it just seems to look and feel better when I use it.

Thank you :)

Your hair colour is lovely :)

[janeytilllie]

Thank you for sharing, your hair looks great! Yay for finding out what your hair really wants!! I'm struggling with thinness too, from APL to waist, for the second time. I'm just about at waist now. Last Christmas I trimmed 4 inches, and I am at exactly the same length and condition this year... despite all my tlc. I think for 2013, I will try more trimming and I won't avoid cones as much. My hair has always been bad about splits. I wasn't sure I would be able to thicken the ends. Thanks for the inspiration. :)

Thank you :flower:

Trimming regularly taking alittle of each time has helped me alot better. I found trimming every 6 months or year was not worth it for me.
In the long run I ended up cutting more off, sure it grew faster but grew out damaged.

Cones have also helped me from splits getting out of hand and helped me with dryness issues and tangling issues.

You will succeed! :thumbsup:

I too was in the same position and thought I would never never get a hemline/length I wanted.
Keep going, experimenting, listing to your hair and noting what it likes. You will get there! :)

Good luck :)