Hair "myths"

[catoala]

What are some things your parent(s) used to do for your hair (brushing and so on like usually parents do) that made you think it's correct? Not sure how to form it, but as in brushing your hair, despite you having curly hair and they did not know how to care for it, so they just.. brushed it, for example.

It interests me as people have similar experiences like that. :popcorn:

[Entangled]

All thin ends or taper are the result of damage.

[catoala]

All thin ends or taper are the result of damage.

Hahaha, I actually have thought the same thing until recently.. People usually consider it that way because they're used to "thick" hemline and all other.

[blackgothicdoll]

"You HAVE to have a relaxer".

The hot comb.... *shudders*. Wasn't really a myth but, what else were you supposed to do with children's hair!?

Greasing the scalp.

[Tinyponies]

(As a child) “If you eat your (bread) crusts your hair will go curly”.

I ate all my crusts and never a curl. Had I not been raking through my hair with a brush while damp and then blow drying it maybe I’d have discovered the little wurls I only found in my 30’s!

[Haven]

Just the usual "you have to brush or it's messy." It worked when I actually had 1b hair as a little kid, but I think I would have noticed my texture changed earlier if I'd known it's okay not to brush sometimes.

[Scyphozoa]

Don't know if this really counts, but mom tells me my hair is super thick, despite my ponytail circumference being only ~3.5 inches. Maybe because her's is quite thin.
She also told me that if I cut my hair short my face would look awful. I did cut my hair short eventually, and I really liked it that way. I buzzed my hair every few weeks for years.
Now, obviously, I've decided to grow it out though.

[Vacurlylady]

My mom has always gotten her hair cut every 4-6 weeks my whole life. She keeps it ultra short, she said her hair got too bushy if she let it grow any longer. I had that same mindset, until Jan 2018! I haven’t had it cut since. Now I can’t imagine sitting in a “chair” 😱

[Natalia_A00]

"Your hair will grow stronger if you cut your ends"
My mother tells me that all the time and I always tell her that it doesn't make any sense. Me cutting my ends have nothing to do with hair growth.
Also: "oil will save your fried hair" and similar ones
If your hair is completely fried, I'm afraid few things can save it. You can make it look better, but the damage won't fade away. It won't be healthy hair.

[lithostoic]

You have to wash your hair every other day. Lmao. My hair was sooo oily/dry when I followed that advice.

[AutobotsAttack]

1. You’re not “accepting” yourself if you relax your hair
2. Trimming your ends make the hair grow faster
3. Your hair will be thicker if you went natural
4. “Dead ends”
5. Hygral fatigue. (Isn’t so much a myth as it is much more less common than people think)
6. Your hair is damaged if it isn’t shiny
7. Oils moisturize. (With the exception of coconut oil, and even then it’s not really moisturizing, it’s just binding to proteins. Doesn’t mean any moisture has been added to the hair)
8. You have to detangle from ends to roots
9. Your hair can’t grow long if it’s relaxed(not true)
10. Relaxers cause fibroids (also not backed with proper research, if any)
11. Hair can be “healthy”. (It’s not alive. Hair can only be well maintained)

I have more but those are just a few

[Dark40]

As a child my mom was triming my hair every 6-8 weeks saying that "it will grow faster." I've learned that it was a "myth." It did not help or make my hair grow any faster. Every time I got my relaxer which was every 6-8 weeks she would trim an inch off. At those times I was feeling that I was loosing length instead of gaining length.

[Carrieberry77]

"Cutting hair on certain lunar dates will make it grow faster."
If the lunar cycle is influencing hair growth it will obviously do so whether you cut it or not lol.

"I will just trim your ends"
Ended up with a short haircut. I don't trust hairdressers.

"older women need to cut their hair short to look younger."
This is false. It took me a couple of years to convince my mom that long hair suited her, she absolutely thought she couldn't pull it off due to her age. When she grew her hair long people commented that she looked 15 years younger than before.

[Tinyponies]

Carrie, yep - “just trim the ends, please”

*cuts off half of the hair* :(

[Garnetgem]

(As a child) “If you eat your (bread) crusts your hair will go curly”.

I ate all my crusts and never a curl. Had I not been raking through my hair with a brush while damp and then blow drying it maybe I’d have discovered the little wurls I only found in my 30’s!

I remember that saying about the crusts...parents way to make us eat them but that made me not eat them more,i didn't want curls as a child!

[gustavonut]

You need to comb it while it’s wet/while drying.
Straightening hair smooths down split ends/makes hair healthy

[TheDebby]

My mom keeps saying that my hair chanced after I've dyed it (as a teenager)....
She pretends like it has never been the same ever since. :rolleyes:

[TreesOfEternity]

A classic through all my life; you have to shampoo twice, roots to ends to get your hair clean every time you wash.

[lapushka]

A classic through all my life; you have to shampoo twice, roots to ends to get your hair clean every time you wash.

Since I weekly wash, this "kinda" holds true for me.

[Simpscone]

My mum never thought my hair was wurly, just bushy and frizzy "like hers", so she brushed it everyday. I had no way of knowing otherwise! I'm never going to convert her to wearing her hair wurly because she's never seen it's potential, but now she loves mine which feels amazing.

That I didn't have to treat shampoo and conditioner differently - never left conditioner on my hair, just rinsed it through like shampoo.

Washing my hair every other day. Now I do it twice a week.

That you have to cut your hair every 6-8 weeks to prevent splits.

That tapered ends mean damage - I'm still trying to unlearn this one since joining the forum!

[leayellena]

from my family, hairdressers and the internet: the same stupidity (pet shop boys "give stupidity a chance" rings a bell?):
"your face is round, you need to cut it at chin length to frame your jaw and have volume on the crown"
result: an 80's mullet. hello kim wild 1981. enjoy the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKTVGXbV-GM

[TreesOfEternity]

Since I weekly wash, this "kinda" holds true for me.

You are right! :) I guess it’s was just too much for my length, because it gets incredibly dry but most of all because I wasn’t using any moisturizing treatments back in the day now that I think about it haha.

[lapushka]

You are right! :) I guess it’s was just too much for my length, because it gets incredibly dry but most of all because I wasn’t using any moisturizing treatments back in the day now that I think about it haha.

Yes times sure have changed. I used to wash 2/3 times a week, and for that often washing like that is a bit "much", but if you only do it once a week, it needs a good proper cleaning in my case. :D

[enting]

"Squeaky clean" is a good thing for hair.
Cutting it frequently will make it grow more.

[YvetteVarie]

- Getting hair braided tightly will get it to grow faster
- Not washing your hair frequently will make it grow faster
- If you wash relaxed hair with Coke, it will wash out the relaxer

[TheDebby]

Every time I go and get a haircut (luckily that is no more than once a year):
- Don't you get a headache from the weight of your hair?
- Isn't it disgusting to have such long hair?
- You will get bald if you keep your hair in that length.

[lapushka]

- You will get bald if you keep your hair in that length.

I've heard that one too!

[Joules]

My parents always told me that my hair would fall out if I wash it too often or use any sort of conditioner. They even provided examples like "my friend from school used conditioner and now they have bald patches!". I don't know if they really believed it or if they just didn't want me to spend money on haircare. It's funny, I brought it up the other week and they acted as though they never said such things :lol:

Mom also told me similar things about makeup and skincare, according to her it would age my skin faster and by the time I turn 25 I would look like a grandma. I used face washes, moisturizers and foundations despite her warnings, and now at the actual age of 25 I still have baby face :lol: and of course she doesn't remember ever telling me that :lol:

[lapushka]

My parents always told me that my hair would fall out if I wash it too often or use any sort of conditioner. They even provided examples like "my friend from school used conditioner and now they have bald patches!". I don't know if they really believed it or if they just didn't want me to spend money on haircare. It's funny, I brought it up the other week and they acted as though they never said such things :lol:

Mom also told me similar things about makeup and skincare, according to her it would age my skin faster and by the time I turn 25 I would look like a grandma. I used face washes, moisturizers and foundations despite her warnings, and now at the actual age of 25 I still have baby face :lol: and of course she doesn't remember ever telling me that :lol:

It's odd, isn't it, how parents "forget" things. ;) :p I have these discussions with my mom as well, over things she said when I was a teen. "I never said that!". LOL!

[plonter]

My mum never thought my hair was wurly, just bushy and frizzy "like hers", so she brushed it everyday. I had no way of knowing otherwise! I'm never going to convert her to wearing her hair wurly because she's never seen it's potential, but now she loves mine which feels amazing.

That I didn't have to treat shampoo and conditioner differently - never left conditioner on my hair, just rinsed it through like shampoo.

Washing my hair every other day. Now I do it twice a week.

That you have to cut your hair every 6-8 weeks to prevent splits.

That tapered ends mean damage - I'm still trying to unlearn this one since joining the forum!

My mom was the same way! She used to tell me it looked messy down and wurly (2b/c) and told me to brush it, so I straightened it, cut it all off, anything. Then a couple years ago a hair dresser told her she had wurly hair and since she stopped blow drying her hair has never looked better. I'm biased, but I think it's better in it's less fussed with state, and she feels the same about mine. Maybe your mom will come around!

[Dark40]

"Squeaky clean" is a good thing for hair.
Cutting it frequently will make it grow more.

I keep on hearing those things too! What I do is ignore them. Because, they are all lies. Of course I like for my hair to be clean by it doesn't have to be "squeaky clean" in order for my have to grow faster, and until I joined here at the LHC in 2010 I've always didn't believe that cutting your hair frequently will make it grow more. That is not true. How can you see or gain any length it you're constantly cutting your hair every 3 or 4 months?

[Khristopher]

My childhood hair myths were pretty much covered here, looks like they're fairly common! Trimming often makes your hair grow stronger, you need to wash everyday (I was lazy and started washing every other day and discovered that my hair was nicer the more I 'forgot' to wash it hahaha), taper means damage, and not my parents but I've heard people believing long hair is so heavy it gives you headaches.
Oh, I just remembered this one: if you pick out a white hair, 3 more will grow in it's place! I always asked my mom to pick out my early whiteys, I wanted to have grey hair when I was little :inlove: too bad it didn't work, now I leave my whites alone and they're copper thanks to henna.

[enting]

I keep on hearing those things too! What I do is ignore them. Because, they are all lies. Of course I like for my hair to be clean by it doesn't have to be "squeaky clean" in order for my have to grow faster, and until I joined here at the LHC in 2010 I've always didn't believe that cutting your hair frequently will make it grow more. That is not true. How can you see or gain any length it you're constantly cutting your hair every 3 or 4 months?

It turns out I do actually have to trim pretty frequently because my hair is fragile and breaks off, but I *trim*, I don't chop the way a hairdresser would. Goodness, if I had gone to a hairdresser as often as I trim my own hair now, I would have had a pixie! They always took off at least 4 inches at a go.

[Lizabeth94]

That my hair will grow faster if I get more frequent trims. :rolleyes: Even as a kid I knew that made zero sense.

[Kalamazoo]

I think that some of these hair myths are true some of the time for some people; the mythology lies in believing that all of them are true all of the time for all people.

Example: "100 strokes/day."

Reality: I go WAY OVER 100 strokes/day, every day! BUT, my hair's noplace near 4c texture, AND I'm not using plastic, AND I'm using a comb instead of a brush, AND I'm being really careful about my comb technique (which I described at https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=149376&page=3 ) ... So, it works for some, but definitely not for everybody.

And I'm really not happy with my hair if it doesn't get squeaky-clean when I wash it. But I concede that different hair types have different needs, & different people honestly are looking for different results, because they like different things.

There really is no one right hair care method for everybody. Maybe the biggest myth of all is thinking otherwise, &/or believing the advertisements.

[Joules]

Squeaky clean is good though. BUT only at the roots. Most people do need thorough deep cleansing of the scalp, and it means hair woukd be squeaky there.

[Rosanna]

Thin/fine haired scandinavian here; growing up my mother would always convince me that conditioner shouldn't be used because it'll weigh down the hair. And I would wonder why my hair was always so dry and tangly :rolleyes:

[erin.g]

Yes!! Same here! It just took me way too long to realize the whole “trimming” thing was a myth