View Full Version : New to long hair/hair care
bythesea
October 16th, 2013, 07:02 PM
Hi y’all! I’m new to this forum but I’ve been reading things here for a while now. Right now my hair is 32” when measured from the top of my head to the ends (right at mid-back length), and the texture type is described as roughly 1b/F/M/iii and is a medium/light brown color.
This is the longest my hair has ever been, but I’d love to just keep growing it out. I’m in serious need of a good hair regimen though… so I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions? Especially with vitamins and supplements.
Right now I wash my hair about once or twice a week using Head and Shoulders, I have dandruff/psoriasis :( , and condition with an Aussie conditioner. I also use a three minute Aussie hair treatment when I deep condition once a week. While my hair is damp and drying I use a L’Anza anti-aging hair serum because I read somewhere that using serums on damp hair as it dries helps to protect your hair. I also use anti-aging products even though I’m only in my 20s because I read that the ends of your hair are older (obviously) so using the anti-aging serums can help with the protection and texture.
I used to curl my hair almost every day (I know… it’s terrible) but now I only use a heat source on my hair about once every 10-14 days and it’s usually just warmed hot rollers, not blow dryers or straighteners. About 6 months ago I used semi-permanent hair dye to add some low-lights in my hair, but other than that it hasn’t been touched with dye.
So now that you have my hair history, is there anything I should be adding to my hair care routine? Especially since I have psoriasis on my scalp? Will that prevent my hair from growing? I really don't know where to start with serious hair care.
biogirl87
October 16th, 2013, 09:35 PM
bythesea, I just wanted to welcome you to the forums and to caution you with using vitamins and supplements to supplement your diet. Several members on here have said that it's better to get the nutrients from real food so you don't risk overdosing on vitamins and supplements. I don't have any scalp conditions (unless scalp that start itching by day 5 when it's getting to wash day counts), so I cannot comment on whether you would be better off using your current shampoo or switching shampoos. What I would like to suggest though (and I still would not consider myself very knowledgeable in hair care, though I learned a lot here at LHC) is to use a wide-tooth comb when you are detaingling (if you don't already) and to detangle your hair gently.
woodswanderer
October 16th, 2013, 09:51 PM
Ever try to curl your hair without heat? Many people here like to do rag curl or pin curls. You could also probably save money by using coconut oil or jojoba oil on your hair ends instead of the serum. There are all sorts of opinions here about what ways and products are best to clean your hair, so I'm not going to really touch that one, except to say that I like to use 'cones myself...which is what your Aussie products probably are. I use Aussie myself. What works great for some will always be wrong for someone else, so you will have to experiment to see what works for you.
prettyinpink
October 16th, 2013, 11:32 PM
Cut out that heat! Tsk tsk tsk....
=D
Panth
October 17th, 2013, 12:58 AM
1) Don't mess with the supplements unless at your doctor's advice. It is far better to just eat a healthy, balanced diet, try to get enough exercise and try to manage and reduce stress. Supplements, particularly picking and choosing random individual ones, have great potential for either overdosing or causing deficiencies - either directly or because vitamins and minerals assist and inhibit each other's absorption. When, e.g. biotin or iron is listed as being good for hair, what that means is that if you are deficient in biotin/iron/etc. your hair will suffer not that if you take extra it will improve your hair. Being deficient in biotin is highly unlikely as the RDA is fairly low, it is present in many foods and your gut bacteria also produce it.
2) Do you have a proper doctor's diagnosis for your scalp? I ask this as Head & Shoulders is very harsh and a) should not be used in certain scalp conditions but also b) is very harsh on the hair so should not be used unless absolutely necessary if you're aiming for long lengths.
3) Anti-aging things for hair are rubbish. Hair is dead, it's not like skin. The only way you can improve your ends is by growing super-healthy hair (by keeping yourself healthy), not damaging your hair as much as possible, trimming any split ends and perhaps by using conditioners containing ingredients that will temporarily patch-repair the damaged lengths (ask Firefox about this ... I can't remember the list of things that will patch-repair).
Other than that, yes - cut out the heat (although hot rollers may be ok depending on how hot they are and how resilient your hair is). Don't dye again, or if you do try some less damaging methods (did you use a semi- or a demi-permanent? demi-permanents contain developers which will be equivalent to bleach damage). Maybe try to learn some protective updos, particularly if you want to grow to very great lengths or you need to baby your hair because of damage. Oh, and don't cut it more than is absolutely necessary - many members here S&D (search & destroy) aka go through hair and only cut off visible splits.
Good luck and happy growing.
lapushka
October 17th, 2013, 04:35 AM
Congrats, that's quite a feat to grow to midback while heat-damaging. It is going to take years, though, for the heat damage to grow out of your hair. Hair grows averagely an inch every two months. By stopping the heat you are doing a great thing, but the damage is done. I suggest doing S&D missions regularly. This means going through your hair section by section and cutting out the hairs that have either white dots in them or splits.
Your scalp is a totally different issue. I suggest getting it looked at by a doctor and following a regimen they prescribe.
Welcome to LHC!
Firefox7275
October 17th, 2013, 06:44 AM
As pr the lovely Panth's post .... proven beneficial ingredients for damaged or porous hair include coconut oil, hydrolysed protein, ceramides, 18-MEA and panthenol.
And since lifestyle healthcare is what I do for a living .... random supplementation: don't there is little to no evidence they are of use, and they may even be harmful to your health. Nutrients work synergistically and in opposition, randomly supplementing small groups can set up or worsen imbalances. Eat a varied, balanced, nutrient dense wholefood diet and you will get everything you need and more. Especially nutritious foods that tend to get forgotten or under consumed include oily fish, seeds, cocoa powder (!), other seafood especially molluscs, organ meats such as liver.
In seborrhoeic dermatitis and psoriasis a nutrient dense, anti inflammatory diet can be of benefit as can cutting out harsh surfactants such as the sulphates.
~honeyflower~
October 17th, 2013, 08:19 AM
I had poralisis on my scalp years ago, I still think it's a good idea to visit the doctor though. Here's my experience, I went to the doctor and they said I had poralisis so bad, that it was starting to be a fungus. So they told me to sit in the sun but that didn't work as well as I hoped. So I asked my friend's mom since she's a nurse and told me to clarify but use a sls free shampoo and it worked! However, since then I learned about vinegar rinse for hair and it's an antibacterial as well. Haven't had it since! So you can give that a shot. It works on my skin as well. I know how embarrassing it is to have poralisis, just hang in
there! Here's my vinegar recipe: 1/4 cup of
distilled vinegar to 2-4 cups of water. Use after
shampooing but before conditioner and let it sit
there for a good three minutes or so. Then rinse.
I like to make my recipes in big batches so I can
get every inch on my scalp. Don't worry about
the smell, it goes away once it's dried. Use once a week Psss! It also makes your hair supper shiny!
lunalocks
October 17th, 2013, 09:05 AM
I found this forum when I was at 32 inches. Now I am at 37 and aiming for classic. I never would have been able to do this without the information I learned here.
What you will see here is that everyone's hair is different and everyone does a slightly, or dramatically, different routine. Some oil heavily the night before washing. Some wash with conditioner only or water only or none at all (sebum only). Some color and others don't. Some microtrim and others don't. Some try to get their wavy hair to become straighter and some try to coax more curl out of their wavy hair (that's me), and others embrace what they have.
You can, eventually, go into information about people here and read what their routines are. Or read back threads on hair care topics - sebum only, CO, microtrimming, etc. Eventually you will want to try some new things and be overwhelmed where to start. General advise is to change only one thing at a time and see what happens.
What most of us on this forum DO do, is snipping split ends and white dots whenever they appear, lay off the heat and wear protective up do s. You will want to invest in a seamless wide toothed comb (I have a white Madorra comb and love it) and learn to use sticks, forks and spin pins to keep hair up.
I have learned that my hair hates anything coconut and has responded very well to catnip tea soaks after washing and as a leave in (no conditioner) and baby oil to the ends daily, to make the hairs stronger and resist splitting. But this was after trying many, many things I read here, determining what works and what does not, for me.
And so you, too, will find what works for you.
jrmviola
October 17th, 2013, 01:13 PM
As you are trying out new things dont try too many at once that you counteract something. I would choose one or two items that are the most likely to help you and go with that first. The rest can be added back in a few months down the road when you are more sure how you are reacting to that "item" or techneique. For example the Vinegar rinse could help you alot. But "this oil" might counteract it. Its easy to go nuts with all the new ideas :D
bythesea
October 17th, 2013, 06:53 PM
Thank you for all the replies everyone!
For those who cautioned against vitamins/supplements, I was just wondering whether or not multivitamins could have a negative impact on hair growth? I'd say I eat a fairly balanced diet, but I do take a daily multivitamin (Centrum Specialist Energy).
Trying only one thing at a time will be difficult because I'm anxious to do everything! haha
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