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View Full Version : What's The Best Thing You've Done For Your Hair?



nycelle
October 10th, 2018, 09:54 AM
Since we have a couple of threads asking what are the worst thing we've done and such, I'm curious about the best things.

So what has helped you grow your hair the most? Or what steps do you take to keep it healthy?

I'm always looking for ways to improve my routine, so it's great so see if I can incorporate some ideas into my lifestyle.


For me, the best thing I could have done for my hair is find products that work. I know that a lot of thought is given to oils, leave-ins and stylers on this forum, but switching to extremely moisturizing shampoos and conditioner without protein, going back and forth between cowashing and lowpooing, and sleeping in a silk cap, has caused the greatest improvement to my hair.

My breakage is at a minimum, frizz is manageable even in the highest dew points, and my hair just feels good.

I went on a product ban about a month ago and can't say I even miss buying anything, that's how content I am with what I use.

What's helped you guys the most?

Makyle
October 10th, 2018, 10:00 AM
I went from this :

I brushed my hair without too much thought for breakage
I straightened my hair weekly - more often if I was going out
Blow dried it after washes or brushed while wet
Back and forth between dying dark hair to bleaching platinum - once doing it in 24 hours from dark to blonde
I was ableach addict so much so that a hairdresser accidentally gave me a chemical cut from MBL to chin - hello bubblegum wet hair.
But that didnt stop me bleaching yet - I had it colour corrected and carried on with highlights.
I never/hardly ever used oil
Never ever did a deep oil treatment.

To This:

Fast forward to now and I have dyed out the demarcation line to match my natural colour (I have left the roots untouched)
I oil daily with either coconut or argan oil
I oil pre poo
I do deep conditioning and oil treatment and masks
I own a tangle teezer and BBB and only use these
Never brush when wet
and have sworn off heat COMPLETELY.

If you had to ask what has helped my hair the most I would say besides obviously cutting out bleach - coconut oil has been a saviour.

restless
October 10th, 2018, 10:11 AM
The very best? Coconut oil hands down :D

Sid0rela
October 10th, 2018, 10:16 AM
giving up heat (i never used to wear my hair down natural, only straightened. now i go around with natural textured hair, and my hair got less frizzy and looks almost straightnened. i dont use a blow dryer either)
using argan oil.
wearing my hair in a bun or braids, when i dont feel like having it loose.
having a satin scarf i use as a pillowcase.
giving up bleach and dye altogether since a year ago now.

Ylva
October 10th, 2018, 10:22 AM
Going silicone free was the best thing for me. It allowed me to truly see the condition of my hair and how it reacted to different ingredients and formulas. It allowed me to clearly see the progress I made with my hair. It made it possible for me to wash my lenghts very rarely, which helped keep my hair hydrated.

r3d
October 10th, 2018, 10:24 AM
This is my "routine", I would say almost ten years, and the best thingS i have done for my hair!

I've been no poo and it works amazing for me. the only times I use shampoo/conditioner is when I am travelling and if I need to wash my hair, otherwise it stays unwashed.
I rarely wash my hair (every 4 to 8 weeks)
I do dye my hair, but only once every 3 to 4 months. I do an overnight coconut oil treatment before dyeing my hair.
I only straighten my hair once a month.
I have a silk scarf I use as a pillow case and silk scrunchies.
I rarely cut my hair.
I do the inversion method.
I have the aquis hair towel ( love it )
I have a decent brush.
I don't use any products in my hair.

Okay, I think that is it lol.

Milkchocolate
October 10th, 2018, 11:22 AM
I saw a major difference when I started cutting my hair wash days to 2 days a week instead of 7 days a week. It happened gradually of course, over a 12 year span.

Shampoos with proteins did benefit my hair! I find it to be more stronger and thicker than ever.

Deep conditioning treatments is something that was a game changer. I used to use those simple wash out conditioners, but the DC products I use now contain nourishing ingredients that leave my hair feeling softer yet stronger at the same time :)

Letting go of a hair dryer and opting for a house fan instead :)

^Never going to sleep with wet hair again. I used to do this all the time, and my hair would never get rid of that damp sticky feeling. It would never fully dry at night and strands felt weaker.

Being more gentle with hair brushes= less hair loss. (Wet brush, tangle teaser)

Vitamins and micro trimming !

MusicalSpoons
October 10th, 2018, 11:33 AM
Single best thing was wearing it up with sticks, forks and other hair-friendly hairtoys (instead of elastics, which destroyed my ends).
Other beneficial things include ROO, finding a shampoo that keeps my scalp happy enough, using MORE conditioner - I think the umbrella term for those things would be understanding different types of ingredients and listening to what my hair is telling me it wants/needs.
Sleeping on/in satin really helped cut down breakage at night
Detangling gently

The rest of my routine is designed to help, of course, but those are the biggest things that are most effective.

mwallingford
October 10th, 2018, 12:37 PM
^^^^AMEN!^^^^

Can't say I've ever tried the ROO method, but everything else is almost exactly what I was going to say. (Plus the Tangle Teezer!!!)

Doreen
October 10th, 2018, 12:39 PM
CWC and S&D. I also love my Tangle Teezer; before I was using one of those spiky brushes (not sure what to call it) and it would rip a lot of hair out.

kikikhaleesi
October 10th, 2018, 12:48 PM
1. wearing my hair up in a bun compared to wearing it down everyday
2. giving up heat products (maybe use once a month) compared to using a straightener every other day
3. sleeping on a satin pillowcase
4. head massages / inversion method

Alibran
October 10th, 2018, 01:10 PM
Finally realising that the advice to only use small amounts of moisturising products (conditioner and oil) is totally wrong for my hair. I need to use handfuls.

nycelle
October 10th, 2018, 01:15 PM
Finally realising that the advice to only use small amounts of moisturising products (conditioner and oil) is totally wrong for my hair. I need to use handfuls.

OH WOW.. I can see why that wouldn't work for you. Yeah, based on your pic you would need a ton of conditioner and such.

lakhesis
October 10th, 2018, 02:44 PM
detangling with my fingers first, wearing hair up and deep conditioning more often :)

lapushka
October 10th, 2018, 02:55 PM
Keeping it well moisturized, for me, is the best way to go about it. And I do moisturize very well, and still I have drier lengths. I wouldn't go as far as to say that it helped grow my hair, but it's not hurting and stunting my growth either.

And I love the rinse-out oil method (oil rinse). Yeah. Almost 50 weeks in a row now, so... almost a year. :D

Corvana
October 10th, 2018, 06:49 PM
Two things were the best, and the two that are easiest for me to continue doing:

Using a more gentle brush (wet brush) to detangle, and using it more gently overall
Using sticks/forks to put my hair up with instead of hair ties

Lack of hair tie use has protected my ends, so they're only damaged a little on the last inch or two. The way I'd put my hair up years and years ago led to damage higher up (half-up pigtails, pigtails, and pigtail "pony buns" where you only pull it through the last loop halfway), which of course led to my hair feeling like absolute garbage all the time. Plus it wasn't so great for my hair being truly "out of the way", as the pony buns could only get so big before they were getting in the way themselves.

The brushing has of course left me with more hair attached to my head, since I'm no longer just ripping out tangles. And more gentle detangling has meant less breakage!

The other things (going sulfate/silicone free, using leave ins, oiling, etc) is all very nice, but the two things above are the ones that truly stand out as the best things for my hair.

lithostoic
October 10th, 2018, 07:26 PM
Not bleaching or using sulfates, using deep conditioners and protective styles.

MotherofPhoenix
October 10th, 2018, 08:12 PM
Keeping it well moisturized, for me, is the best way to go about it. And I do moisturize very well, and still I have drier lengths. I wouldn't go as far as to say that it helped grow my hair, but it's not hurting and stunting my growth either.

And I love the rinse-out oil method (oil rinse). Yeah. Almost 50 weeks in a row now, so... almost a year. :D

I read this and the roo method was the first thing to come to mind. It is amazing. You and another girl recommended it for me last week and my hair is loving it. The best thing I've done for my hair in a long time.

MotherofPhoenix
October 10th, 2018, 08:16 PM
I also wanted to add giving up hair ties. I wore one the other day because i couldn't find my clips and i had so much breakage and my hair was royally tangled by the end of the day. I was immuned to the amount of damage it truly caused but now it's very apparent.

priinnz
October 10th, 2018, 08:17 PM
Hair skin and nail supplements
Coffee Rinses
CWC

Dark40
October 10th, 2018, 09:40 PM
The best thing I've done for my hair is keeping it moisturized with conditioners and oils. What helped my hair to grow it co-washing more often than using shampoo, and also deep conditioning twice a week. With my hair type I have to keep it moisturized, and also adding silicones to my hair has helped as well.

Natashap
October 11th, 2018, 12:02 AM
Strted conditioning lengths only for tangly mess.

my ends are splitty mess ,had spiltty hair since teenage years .

Cannot fix it.

EmeraldSkies
October 11th, 2018, 04:44 AM
The best thing i have done for my hair is stretching washes and using sulphate and silicone free hair products. I suspect that sulphate and silicone products is causing my hair to shed more. Silk pillowcase also help to protect my hair from damage since i move around a lot when sleeping.

embee
October 11th, 2018, 05:43 AM
Best thing? Wearing it up. As a young woman I thought my terminal length was BSL. Wrong! :D It was just getting damaged and broken off at that length - what with school desks/chairs, office chairs, backpacks, and other such things.

nycelle
October 11th, 2018, 10:31 AM
Going silicone free was the best thing for me. It allowed me to truly see the condition of my hair and how it reacted to different ingredients and formulas. It allowed me to clearly see the progress I made with my hair. It made it possible for me to wash my lenghts very rarely, which helped keep my hair hydrated.

I had the same experience. Going sulfate free felt better for my scalp, but I didn't see a difference in my hair until I went silicone free.

It's now been about 6 months and I'm still seeing the change in my hair texture. It went from straight to wavy, and from dry to softer. Really surprised by the changes.

Joules
October 11th, 2018, 11:05 AM
Ultimately I think the best thing I've done for my hair is stopping mindlessly listening to what commercials promise, looking into actual ingredients and finding out what my hair likes. That includes everything: oils, silicones, sulfates, leave-ins... I've done my fair share of experiments like egg yolk washing, going completely no-poo (for which I paid the price, and it wasn't nice at all), going cone-free, you name it.

I'm still on my journey to long hair though, but I think the best thing I could possibly do for my hair would be keeping an open mind, not labelling certain things as evil unless they have been scientifically proven to be evil, learning more about what hair is and how to take care of it. Baking soda is still Satan's invention though.

MusicalSpoons
October 11th, 2018, 11:22 AM
I'm still on my journey to long hair though, but I think the best thing I could possibly do for my hair would be keeping an open mind, not labelling certain things as evil unless they have been scientifically proven to be evil, learning more about what hair is and how to take care of it. Baking soda is still Satan's invention though.

Is it inappropriate to be :rollin: at that? :D I did actually try baking soda a few times, after the first couple of times I realised it wasn't doing anything useful and decided to try it in baby shampoo. Yahoo, double-whammy of terrible pH for my hair!! :doh: Thankfully I quickly learned that baby shampoo is only gentle on the eyes, not the hair - another win for learning and knowledge :cheer:

I've also learned that I need to be open-minded thanks ot everyone sharing their various experiences on LHC. One of my best conditioners is very rich in plant oils but also contains PEG-?-dimethicone - before, I was sworn off all silicones, but since learning more I now have a more balanced understanding of cones (and sulphates). My hair loves the conditioner, so I happily and liberally use it every wash :shrug:

nycelle
October 11th, 2018, 11:28 AM
Regarding products, I agree.. it's all about what works for your hair. And if someone hasn't found something that works, they shouldn't write off any ingredient unless they have an unhealthy reaction to it.

xoAshley
October 11th, 2018, 11:31 AM
The hands down BEST thing I've ever done for my hair, is I stopped WASHING, BLOW DRYING & STRAIGHTENING every. single. day. ...sometimes every other shudder: It's been 5 years since I was doing that... I NEVER EVER blow dry or straighten any more. And now my hair is trained to go 4 days without washing. Luckily any damage I'd done is long gone (since I've grown out / cutback multiple times since then). It was never that damaged ( somehow ) but I definitely had more split ends and white dots back then!

AutobotsAttack
October 11th, 2018, 01:30 PM
Best thing I’ve done: left it alone... for certain periods of time.

Spar
October 11th, 2018, 05:36 PM
Leave in conditioners and silicones. My hair is so much better, stronger, and softer.

littlestarface
October 11th, 2018, 05:52 PM
Is it inappropriate to be :rollin: at that? :D I did actually try baking soda a few times, after the first couple of times I realised it wasn't doing anything useful and decided to try it in baby shampoo. Yahoo, double-whammy of terrible pH for my hair!! :doh: Thankfully I quickly learned that baby shampoo is only gentle on the eyes, not the hair - another win for learning and knowledge :cheer:

I've also learned that I need to be open-minded thanks ot everyone sharing their various experiences on LHC. One of my best conditioners is very rich in plant oils but also contains PEG-?-dimethicone - before, I was sworn off all silicones, but since learning more I now have a more balanced understanding of cones (and sulphates). My hair loves the conditioner, so I happily and liberally use it every wash :shrug:

I remember when I did baking soda crap that was supposed to be a clarifyer HA! man my scalp hurt like crazy afterwards and got crazy splits loool never doing that again

blesseddamozel
October 11th, 2018, 07:37 PM
For me the best things have been
1)Using protective styles more often than wearing it down
2)Abandoning traditional hair elastics. I only use soft scrunchies and hair sticks for the most part now. My hair has SO much less breakage thanks to that
3)Oil Treatments
4)Just learning to be gentle with my hair as a whole
5)Stopping bleaching my hair

Eastbound&Down
October 11th, 2018, 08:05 PM
My Tangle Teaser and good hair cutting scissors for S&D and trims when I do them.

squirrrel
October 12th, 2018, 12:00 AM
Changes I have made for the better include hair scissors, silk pillow case, and a move away from traditional bobbles.

I think that the most useful change was when I started wearing it in a plait most of the time. This one move did more to reduce tangles than anything else. I do sometimes experiment with new updo’s, but if I can’t do it with plaited hair, it’s more likely to end up in a tangly mess than anything else.

paulownia
October 12th, 2018, 12:16 AM
In general learning the haircare basics helped me in my growing journey. The best I could do was regular oiling (huge improvement in frizz and dryness reduction, no split ends).and learning how to style my waves.
Other than that, henna! Amazing strenght and shine, beautiful color.

illicitlizard
October 12th, 2018, 02:31 AM
Joining LHC! Plus being more gentle, no sulphates (that's more the best thing I've done for my scalp) and actually deep conditioning which I never used to do. Hair feels so soft with this regrowth I love it! Oh and of course, not dying it all sorts of colours :P

MoreSky
October 12th, 2018, 08:30 AM
Three things: henna, coconut oil, and Suave tropical coconut conditioner. Changing shampoos and other products doesn’t seem to matter, but these three things have made the biggest consistent difference over 10+ years.

sophia_
October 12th, 2018, 03:48 PM
Exercising and eating every day, lol.

Synester
October 12th, 2018, 08:19 PM
joining LHC, getting serious about it. and becoming more knowledgeable about it. stop using heat. stop dying and bleaching. growing out my normal color. oiling!!!! that stuff.