History of LHC

[barnet_fair]

This is one for the mods and old members, who I hope will direct me elsewhere if what I'm looking for already exists. Otherwise:

LHC has been around for a long time. As a new member of LHC, I get glimpses of that here and there - antediluvian references to the "old forum", ancient links to long-lost articles, first posts from 2008 in which members greet each other as old friends.

Internet forums that have been going for a long time tend to have a fascinating history, and The Long Hair Community has some features that I'm sure have encouraged this longevity: large age range and geographical distribution of members, a friendly and well-moderated community of kind people, and a "hobby" that always takes years to practise if done properly. I believe that's what keeps members coming back over the decades.

However, as webmaster myself, I know how hard it is to keep websites available over long periods of time, and I am always saddened when I find a broken link to a personal page (how many of us mourn our GeoCities or AngelFire personal webpages?). My thanks go out to the owners and mods of LHC who keep our community alive.
As someone who works with computers, I'm interested in archiving the public pages myself. Some of them are available on archive.org, which crawls and archives public websites automatically, but in an incomplete form (e.g. https://web.archive.org/web/20140805000859/https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=108732).

For those who are curious, or who have a background in more traditional archival practices, this is often called digital preservation, and you can read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_preservation.

So I want to bring together some of the oral history of LHC in once place, for the education of new members and the entertainment of old ones. I'll start off with some questions that I was curious about.


When was LHC created?

According to the following thread, LHC was created by Stephanie, the site owner, in 2002.
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=108732

What changes has LHC undergone since 2002?

I know that at some point the forum was migrated to new infrastructure with led to the articles reorganised, and I think a change occurred that led to some old photos not being displayed in posts any more, but I'm not sure about dates or details.

Did LHC follow from another forum with a different name?

Are there any other significant changes or milestones in LHC history?

[lapushka]

We had the site break down at one point, and it had to be started from scratch, but I can't pin a date on it. I think it was before I joined here, so before 2005. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. :)

[MusicalSpoons]

Oooh this is such a wonderful idea!

There are sometimes references to The Beauty Bottle way back in some of the oldest threads (I think I found a link to a bun created/explained over there - Nightshade's Equilibrium Bun, IIRC) where it seems members hung out whilst LHC was down at one point. I would certainly be interested in hearing more about that.

I would also be interested to know when the current privacy structure was defined, and any previous security measures before the current one was arrived at. I've not experienced something like it before on a forum, but I think it's a fab idea. [Before I came here I had no idea a certain subsection of the internet specifically stole photos of long hair :bigeyes:] I also like that spammers and trolls don't usually get past the first level :grin:

[EdG]

I joined in December 2007, just before the Great Crash of 2008.

Most people associate that phrase with a financial crisis, but the real crisis was LHC being down in January and February of 2008. ;)

LHC has outlived all the other Internet long-hair forums that I know of. I think the reasons for LHC's longevity are:

LHC is for people who have long hair or are growing long hair. Unlike other forums, LHC proactively keeps out "hair admirers" because they are no fun for people who actually have long hair.
LHC welcomes both long-haired men and women. That makes LHC much more interesting than boards for only long-haired men or long-haired women.

LHC is also unique in that I have met many LHC'ers in-person over the years. We have a blast whenever we get together. :)

I know what you mean by digital preservation. For that reason, I keep local copies of everything that I have ever posted to the Internet. Websites vanish because they were losing money. LHC seems to get enough traffic to cover its expenses.
Ed

[Zesty]

This might not be what you mean, but the cultural ebbs and flows of the LHC interest me. Hair toy makers that come and go, different users being active during different time frames, etc. And some trends in hair care. When I first joined I remember sulfates and silicones and even brushes being demonized way more than they are now, for example. (Nothing crazy, but attitudes seem to have shifted.) Plus I haven't seen the Monistat thread in a long time -- maybe that's good. :lol:

But the best things about the LHC endure, and have been listed more eloquently already.

But anyway, I'm not a super oldie. Just old enough to remember when the landscape was different. It's fun to see the people who have stuck around and continued to grow, also. Like... does anyone else remember SarahLabyrinth's early posts? Her hair has grown a bit!

[lapushka]

I joined in December 2007, just before the Great Crash of 2008.

Most people associate that phrase with a financial crisis, but the real crisis was LHC being down in January and February of 2008. ;)

LHC has outlived all the other Internet long-hair forums that I know of. I think the reasons for LHC's longevity are:

LHC is for people who have long hair or are growing long hair. Unlike other forums, LHC proactively keeps out "hair admirers" because they are no fun for people who actually have long hair.
LHC welcomes both long-haired men and women. That makes LHC much more interesting than boards for only long-haired men or long-haired women.

LHC is also unique in that I have met many LHC'ers in-person over the years. We have a blast whenever we get together. :)

I know what you mean by digital preservation. For that reason, I keep local copies of everything that I have ever posted to the Internet. Websites vanish because they were losing money. LHC seems to get enough traffic to cover its expenses.
Ed

Gosh that means I already was here. That darn memory of mine! <grumble> I was convinced I joined post-crash. But that obviously didn't happen. Haha!

[Shorty89]

I remember the great crash. What a terrible time in LHC history. I think I had a Word document that I used instead of a hair journal when LHC was down. :lol:

[embee]

Way back, we used to have "group orders" - in which members could join to order large quatities of some item. I joined in a microfiber towel order. Somewhere I have the paperwork from the package my towel came in, and I paid by personal check as I didn't have PayPal and such available. Yes, I still have the towel. It's large, and it was originally intended for a large *dog*! :) Because we long-hairs couldn't find microfiber towels the right size for our hair. It was organized by drblue79, in December of 2005. I feel as though the "feedback score" is connected with the group orders.

Also, when I joined, one had to have a certain number of posts to become a "guru". It was a rather large number, like 100 or 1000, as I recall. :)

I still miss some of the old members. We had a good time. Justy, LisaJaney, TeacherBear...

[Dark40]

This is a great idea! I joined after the crash in 2010.

[Shorty89]

Way back, we used to have "group orders" - in which members could join to order large quatities of some item. I joined in a microfiber towel order. Somewhere I have the paperwork from the package my towel came in, and I paid by personal check as I didn't have PayPal and such available. Yes, I still have the towel. It's large, and it was originally intended for a large *dog*! :) Because we long-hairs couldn't find microfiber towels the right size for our hair. It was organized by drblue79, in December of 2005. I feel as though the "feedback score" is connected with the group orders.

Also, when I joined, one had to have a certain number of posts to become a "guru". It was a rather large number, like 100 or 1000, as I recall. :)

I still miss some of the old members. We had a good time. Justy, LisaJaney, TeacherBear...

Don't you still need 1,000 posts or so to become a guru?

[embee]

Don't you still need 1,000 posts or so to become a guru?

I have no idea - never see anybody listed as a guru nowadays, do you?

[MusicalSpoons]

Don't you still need 1,000 posts or so to become a guru?


I have no idea - never see anybody listed as a guru nowadays, do you?

1000 posts is when you can edit your member title and promote things to articles; I'm not sure what else (maybe an animated avatar or sigpic? I can't remember). But I don't think 'guru' is a title used any more.

[Spikey]

I'm too new to contribute much to this thread, but I do know one very very useful thing that has to do with the site's history: How to see (some) vanished pictures .

Prior to a few years ago, photo links on this site started with "http://" but that has changed to "https://" since. That one litle missing letter "s" is what makes a lot of the old photos invisible. So, if you're reading old posts and someone implies that a picture accompanies the post but you don't see ANYTHING there, not even a "photobucket error" sign, try this:

1) hit "reply with quote"
2) look for a long URL that magically appears in the post where a picture should be
3) type in an "s" to make it "https://"
4) copy and paste the URL you just modified into a new window

I'll try to demonstrate below! This is what it looks like in the thread, there's no picture:

Not to brag too much, but I wear another new one today, it's the new dark amethyst lotus, also from Quasi! I love this one also, but then few I don't love lol... It's not as dark as I thought it would be....

Cloudy day, I don't have a picture in the sun...


But when you quote it and look at the code, a bad link appears where a pic should be:


Not to brag too much, but I wear another new one today, it's the new dark amethyst lotus, also from Quasi! I love this one also, but then few I don't love lol... It's not as dark as I thought it would be....

Cloudy day, I don't have a picture in the sun...

http.://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p426/Adiro13/222a90894bb85a499c0212842a204987.jpg[/.QUOTE]

And when I add an "s":
[QUOTE=Adiro;3059894]Not to brag too much, but I wear another new one today, it's the new dark amethyst lotus, also from Quasi! I love this one also, but then few I don't love lol... It's not as dark as I thought it would be....

Cloudy day, I don't have a picture in the sun...

https://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p426/Adiro13/222a90894bb85a499c0212842a204987.jpg
If you want to see what it looks like in a thread, I pulled this quote from https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=3005&page=2406 and it's post 24054. (I just picked a totally random one, Adiro, if you're still around let me know and I'll use another post) Hope this helps someone!

[trolleypup]

Way back, we used to have "group orders" - in which members could join to order large quatities of some item. I joined in a microfiber towel order. Somewhere I have the paperwork from the package my towel came in, and I paid by personal check as I didn't have PayPal and such available. Yes, I still have the towel. It's large, and it was originally intended for a large *dog*! :) Because we long-hairs couldn't find microfiber towels the right size for our hair. It was organized by drblue79, in December of 2005. I feel as though the "feedback score" is connected with the group orders.
I wasn't on that group order, but I am still using my giant dog towel!

[FrayedFire]

I'm too new to contribute much to this thread, but I do know one very very useful thing that has to do with the site's history: How to see (some) vanished pictures.

Prior to a few years ago, photo links on this site started with "http://" but that has changed to "https://" since. That one litle missing letter "s" is what makes a lot of the old photos invisible. So, if you're reading old posts and someone implies that a picture accompanies the post but you don't see ANYTHING there, not even a "photobucket error" sign, try this:

1) hit "reply with quote"
2) look for a long URL that magically appears in the post where a picture should be
3) type in an "s" to make it "https://"
4) copy and paste the URL you just modified into a new window

I'll try to demonstrate below! This is what it looks like in the thread, there's no picture:


But when you quote it and look at the code, a bad link appears where a pic should be:

[QUOTE. =Adiro;059894]Not to brag too much, but I wear another new one today, it's the new dark amethyst lotus, also from Quasi! I love this one also, but then few I don't love lol... It's not as dark as I thought it would be....

Cloudy day, I don't have a picture in the sun...

http.://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p426/Adiro13/222a90894bb85a499c0212842a204987.jpg[/.QUOTE]

And when I add an "s":

If you want to see what it looks like in a thread, I pulled this quote from https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=3005&page=2406 and it's post 24054.

Oh wow that is useful! I've been back in the depths of 2008 recently and there is a LOT of missing images and broken links to sites that don't exist anymore. Nice.

[lapushka]

I wasn't on that group order, but I am still using my giant dog towel!

Just to give people here a hint... these days the sports section often has microfiber bath towels, and they are without the loops on them, so totally smooth. I bought 2 (Aldi) and my mom turned them into 2 gigantic turbies by sewing the one end shut (longways). These are awesome, and I bet that dog towel is too. :D

[Spikey]

I'm not sure it works for the pre-2008 site! I've only ever done it on pictures since 2008.... might need to experiment.

EDIT: seems to work for the old forums too :thumbsup:

[Beatnik Guy]

Did LHC follow from another forum with a different name?

Yes. Sorta. There was a site called Long Hair Lovers, but after some crap I can't quite remember, most of us migrated to LHC -- which at that point was a message board type forum. Later, Stephanie took it over and built this home for us with vBulletin.

Before then... there were other sites, such as TLHS.org (now defunct), Hairboutique.com, others that I forget... :P

[Shorty89]

Did LHC follow from another forum with a different name?

Yes. Sorta. There was a site called Long Hair Lovers, but after some crap I can't quite remember, most of us migrated to LHC -- which at that point was a message board type forum. Later, Stephanie took it over and built this home for us with vBulletin.

Before then... there were other sites, such as TLHS.org (now defunct), Hairboutique.com, others that I forget... :P

There was also that one that got created after a former member got angry and flounced out of LHC. Pretty sure that one is also defunct.

[EdG]

There was also that one that got created after a former member got angry and flounced out of LHC. Pretty sure that one is also defunct.That was Untamed Tresses (now defunct).

UTT was formed by a few problematic people who got booted out of LHC. The irony is that those same people eventually got booted out of UTT. It turns out that bad behavior is not welcome anywhere. :)
Ed

[LittleHealthy]

Dog towels! To think they invented those lovely microfiber towels for drying dogs before they became more common for use on humans! :D this thread is fascinating.
When I discovered the LHC website it was actually via some kind of post elsewhere referring to 'The Beauty Bottle'. My memory fails me but, yeah!

[Beatnik Guy]

That was Untamed Tresses (now defunct).

UTT was formed by a few problematic people who got booted out of LHC. The irony is that those same people eventually got booted out of UTT. It turns out that bad behavior is not welcome anywhere. :)
Ed

LOL, yes, I'd forgotten that. LHC now just eats all the other sites.

[Shorty89]

That was Untamed Tresses (now defunct).

UTT was formed by a few problematic people who got booted out of LHC. The irony is that those same people eventually got booted out of UTT. It turns out that bad behavior is not welcome anywhere. :)
Ed


Hah, I never knew that part.

[EdG]

LOL, yes, I'd forgotten that. LHC now just eats all the other sites.
Hah, I never knew that part. We are invincible. :rockerdud

"The sun never sets on the Long Hair Community. :)

Ed

[Ylva]

I stumbled upon this thread again and decided to bump it in case anyone has anything to add. It's fascinating. :)

[SnowSpot]

As a fresh member (not even a full year yet) and a history enthusiast I’ve been reading this thread with great interest! I hope LHC will be around for a long time. ☺️

[GoddesJourney]

Dog towels! To think they invented those lovely microfiber towels for drying dogs before they became more common for use on humans! :D this thread is fascinating.
When I discovered the LHC website it was actually via some kind of post elsewhere referring to 'The Beauty Bottle'. My memory fails me but, yeah!

Exactly. Just like the silicone dog brushes for massaging your scalp in the shower. Then someone finally made mainstream human ones available all over Amazon.

I remember the crash. I think that people who have been on the site a long time sort of come and go. So if you haven't logged in in nearly a year, you could easily miss an entire crash. I post more than is necessary for sure, but then I tend to disappear for awhile and that seems very common.

I do remember a lot of people getting kicked off in a row at some point. I think the KNIT community behavior really allows things to continue. We are all very different people and few of us will see eye to eye even most of the time considering how many of us there are. The willingness to keep it civil and attempt to cooperate is invaluable. Honestly, I have learned quite a lot about social behavior (not something that always makes any sense to me) and people from other cultures (and we are many) just be being a part of this forum. The other nice thing is the writing standards. I honestly wouldn't be willing to deal with it if people wrote their posts the way so many write their texts or comments on YouTube. It is exhausting to me to try to decode every attempt at a sentence and I am native to English. I can only imagine how pointless it would be to even try to understand if I was a non native English speaker.

ETA: Maybe I'm thinking of the wrong crash. It could be that it was just a down period. I do remember shifting from the old forum to the new one. I also remember how great it was when there were no ads, but I get the need for funding to maintain sites.

[eresh]

Aaaaaah memories :D Geocities, wow, that was where I made my very first website. 1996! Area 51!
Maybe it's a good thing it can't be brought back LOL
I joined here before the great crash, most photoablums here were also lost.
Eadwine also showed me the way to the Dutch/Belgian forum, which also still exists, but is way smaller than it used to be, partly moved to Facebookgroup.

I'm still in touch with some old members, like Igor, Rach, Cinnamonhair, jackiesjottings, LittleOrca, Xandergrammy...
I miss my hair idol Dianyla and Lady_Godiva!
And Amoretti, Emichiee, Pegasus Marsters, Stagecoach, Teazer, I wonder if they still look in from time to time.

There was also a very fun Amsterdam meeting at one point :D
Where BeatnikGuy and I were braided together and angry churchgo-ers chased us away ;)

LHC has trends, When I joined, silicones where TEH EVIL.
This is nice, nowadays everything is accepted, whatever works for your hair.
I like how there were hairtoy databases created, like the big Ficcare database, and more recently the Flexi database.
My hairtoy addiction started here :D I learned braiding techniques and bunstyles with the big hairdo thesaurus here,
and superhandy YT tutorials made by members here.

Oh and I learned here that cheese has special powers!

[ReadingRenee]

I miss my hair idol Dianyla and Lady_Godiva!
And Amoretti, Emichiee, Pegasus Marsters, Stagecoach, Teazer, I wonder if they still look in from time to time.

LHC has trends, When I joined, silicones where TEH EVIL.
This is nice, nowadays everything is accepted, whatever works for your hair.


Oh and I learned here that cheese has special powers!

I miss those posters too! I wonder how they are. I am sure there are more I can't think of right now... Oh like Snowymoon. I loved her hair.
Not just silicones were evil but blow drying, hair dye, not wearing your hair up, choosing to have short hair... I think LHC now is a much more accepting place.

[captainjanuary]

I think that people who have been on the site a long time sort of come and go. So if you haven't logged in in nearly a year, you could easily miss an entire crash. I post more than is necessary for sure, but then I tend to disappear for awhile and that seems very common.

This has been my experience. I signed up around 2007-2008 with an account that I lost (I lost access to the email address attached to it and couldn't reset my password) but I vaguely remember that the site was unavailable for a while, and perhaps that is why I stopped visiting. I remember posting before that time and realizing I couldn't see any of the photos of myself that I had posted! I'd actually even forgotten the name of that earlier account until I came across one of my old posts while searching for a hair care issue that I'd asked about before, which was pretty funny.

I pop in during phases of my life when I'm more interested in my hair and invested in natural hair care, usually when I'm taking better care of myself in general.

I think what is special about LHC is the consistently high quality moderation and high level of civility shown by the members here. Whenever I return, it is still a welcoming corner of the internet. I've been a member of quite a few online communities, but there's something meditative about hair care that seems to attract good users to the forum and also precludes spirals of drama. I'm not a power-user by any means, so perhaps that's something that exists and I simply haven't seen it, but this is the first meta thread I can remember reading about here on LHC and it is a positive one! That's so rare on the internet.

[lapushka]

I miss those posters too! I wonder how they are. I am sure there are more I can't think of right now... Oh like Snowymoon. I loved her hair.
Not just silicones were evil but blow drying, hair dye, not wearing your hair up, choosing to have short hair... I think LHC now is a much more accepting place.

Madora, for one! I miss her being around.

[eresh]

Madora's still active on the LHC facebookgroup :)

I also wonder how Heidi W is doing

[Shorty89]

Madora's still active on the LHC facebookgroup :)

I also wonder how Heidi W is doing

I've seen Heidi W. pop in now and then here in the last year or so.

ETA: I just looked and apparently she hasn't posted since 2015 so I guess I'm just going crazy. :lol:

[eresh]

I think there has been another user with Heidi in her username, but I'm not sure either:laugh:

[Beatnik Guy]

There was also a very fun Amsterdam meeting at one point :D
Where BeatnikGuy and I were braided together and angry churchgo-ers chased us away ;)


:disco:
..

[DropStitches]

Madora's still active on the LHC facebookgroup :)

I also wonder how Heidi W is doing

Ooh, that's nice to know that Madora is still out there! I checked out one LHC facebook group a while ago, and it looked like it hadn't had any posts for years, but maybe I was looking at the wrong one?

I spent four years of a history PhD stalking random sixteenth-century weavers through the archives, so thank you, barnet_fair, for bringing to my attention that there is a digital version of this practice! I definitely feel curious about people who were once very active on here, then disappeared.

[missmelaniem]

I miss CinnamonHair. She also used to make YouTube videos and I think her account was hijacked or something. Lots of good stuff there though.

[Stagecoach]

I miss my hair idol Dianyla and Lady_Godiva!
And Amoretti, Emichiee, Pegasus Marsters, Stagecoach, Teazer, I wonder if they still look in from time to time.



Awww, this made my day!

I'm still around but don't check in often. Back in 2014 I chopped my knee length hair off to chin length and loved it short for a few years, but I'm back down to tailbone length now.

My hair journey changed so much when I became allergic to coconut oil. And in this past year that's extended to shea butter and cocoa butter, so my hair product choices are non-existent. Which has taken much of the experimenting fun out of growing!

[eresh]

Oooh Stagecouch so good to see you!
That's tricky all the allergies.
But there's still hairtoy fun :)

[Kat]

This might not be what you mean, but the cultural ebbs and flows of the LHC interest me. Hair toy makers that come and go, different users being active during different time frames, etc. And some trends in hair care. When I first joined I remember sulfates and silicones and even brushes being demonized way more than they are now, for example. (Nothing crazy, but attitudes seem to have shifted.) Plus I haven't seen the Monistat thread in a long time -- maybe that's good. :lol:

But the best things about the LHC endure, and have been listed more eloquently already.

But anyway, I'm not a super oldie. Just old enough to remember when the landscape was different. It's fun to see the people who have stuck around and continued to grow, also. Like... does anyone else remember SarahLabyrinth's early posts? Her hair has grown a bit!

I remember the various board obsessions... when hair scroos first came out, I think they were maybe only available in Europe or something (way before the "mainstream" companies like Goody/Scunci picked them up), so a bunch of us did a big group order. I remember when everyone was making their own kohl eyeliner. There were a few other things that are slipping my mind, too. Ficcares used to be a biiiiiig deal, I remember.



Did LHC follow from another forum with a different name?

Yes. Sorta. There was a site called Long Hair Lovers, but after some crap I can't quite remember, most of us migrated to LHC -- which at that point was a message board type forum. Later, Stephanie took it over and built this home for us with vBulletin.

Before then... there were other sites, such as TLHS.org (now defunct), Hairboutique.com, others that I forget... :P

Long Hair Loom! I had actually found/used that one first, and then found LHC through it.



That was Untamed Tresses (now defunct).

UTT was formed by a few problematic people who got booted out of LHC. The irony is that those same people eventually got booted out of UTT. It turns out that bad behavior is not welcome anywhere. :)
Ed

Wow, I never even heard of that one. But, I think I was gone from here for maybe a year or two-- just didn't get around to visiting. I don't remember when that was, but maybe it was around that time. I can't remember if my time away was also when the crash happened, or if the crash was the reason I was away for a while... no idea. So there was stuff I missed, definitely.

[Bill D.]

Also, when I joined, one had to have a certain number of posts to become a "guru". It was a rather large number, like 100 or 1000, as I recall. :)

That was the genesis of the line "not a guru" above my avatar. I'd made it to "guru" status (1000 posts) but didn't feel the tag really fit me.


I'm still in touch with some old members, like Igor, Rach, Cinnamonhair, jackiesjottings, LittleOrca, Xandergrammy...

Elizabeth and I have been wondering about LittleOrca. We met her years ago when visiting her city and then she stopped posting here. It's good to hear that she's still around and (I presume) doing well.

Bill D.

[nicolezoie]

I still check in from time to time to see what people are talking about. Phases and fads here have always fascinated me. I recall the shift from one board to another in Feb 2003 because I had quite the hair journal on the old one. Somewhere there used to be an archive to the old board, but I haven’t looked for it in awhile.

[eresh]

That was the genesis of the line "not a guru" above my avatar. I'd made it to "guru" status (1000 posts) but didn't feel the tag really fit me.



Elizabeth and I have been wondering about LittleOrca. We met her years ago when visiting her city and then she stopped posting here. It's good to hear that she's still around and (I presume) doing well.

Bill D.

LittleOrca is on facebook :-)

[Bat]

I still check in from time to time to see what people are talking about. Phases and fads here have always fascinated me. I recall the shift from one board to another in Feb 2003 because I had quite the hair journal on the old one. Somewhere there used to be an archive to the old board, but I haven’t looked for it in awhile.

Nothing to do with history but your sig, are you aiming for floor still :O or its floor now?

[nicolezoie]

Nothing to do with history but your sig, are you aiming for floor still :O or its floor now?

It’s been to the floor for.. 8 years now, I think? I noticed it was there sometime in 2013, and by the time I realized it was to the floor it was actually floor+3” (75”).

[Bat]

It’s been to the floor for.. 8 years now, I think? I noticed it was there sometime in 2013, and by the time I realized it was to the floor it was actually floor+3” (75”).

That's incredible, I'm jealous haha

[Asrai]

This thread made me realize I’ve been on this board on & off for over 10 years, wow. I’ve always mostly lurked, as I do on most forums, but I think I’ve always at least popped in a couple times a year. I remember a few of the trends, like hair tinsel (I still have my collection of Sulky Holoshimmer thread & 100% plan on putting some in my hair once it’s long enough again), the shift in attitudes towards silicones & sulfates, & several phases of different types of semi-perm dyes being big (I remember when people started getting into Pravana & back when Elumen was the dye of choice if you didn’t henna).

A lot of my hair idols aren’t really around anymore, though on the flipside, I always do a double take when I realize how long some members’ hair has gotten. Like every time I see one of Zesty’s photos, I’m just like “whoa, weren’t they just at bsl???” & then I remember that was like five years ago or something haha.

[BuddhaBelle]

i love this thread!!! please keep adding to it!

[Beatnik Guy]

That was the genesis of the line "not a guru" above my avatar. I'd made it to "guru" status (1000 posts) but didn't feel the tag really fit me.


Good to see you here, Bill! I'm here somewhat less often than was once the case too... ;)



And Amoretti

On FB. :)


It’s been to the floor for.. 8 years now, I think? I noticed it was there sometime in 2013, and by the time I realized it was to the floor it was actually floor+3” (75”).

As always, :rockerdud

[Kat]

I remember a few of the trends, like hair tinsel .

Why don't I remember this one???

[Bill D.]

Hi Nicole, Beatnik Guy, and Eresh! Glad to hear that Amoretti is still around, just not here. The Countess and I aren't on Facebook for privacy and other reasons. Otherwise we're doing reasonably well and just biding our time until we can get out and about more.

[Bat]

In 2020 I flew in and began giving everyone whiplash... The rest is History

[spitfire511]

LittleOrca is on facebook :-)

Eresh I have had the same issue as others - would love to know which FB group people are on as the official one has very little activity? (could you DM me maybe if we dont want to post on the mane forum?)

[bparnell75]

I miss Arete. She did creative hair toys too, Then she married and slowed down her posts. Haven't seen her post in many month maybe a couple of years.

[BuddhaBelle]

I've been thinking about this for a while. WHO created LHC?? Do they have the longest hair in the world?? How do mods get decided??? this all seems so magical

[lakhesis]

Eresh I have had the same issue as others - would love to know which FB group people are on as the official one has very little activity? (could you DM me maybe if we dont want to post on the mane forum?)

I am also interested, I am in a few hair groups on FB, but I didn't recognise any LHC members there? :)

[Bellona]

I haven’t been on here in like 10 years! I was super happy when I decided to search for the site and it was still here.

[Gem]

I've been here a minute. I've had the same avatar since I was 19 years old.
I've never gotten super involved socially, especially in the last few years, but I do a lot of reading and I remember people. I've gone to a couple meetups and ole gray mare visited me when my baby was hospitalized. That baby is almost a teenager now. I didn't migrate in the Great Crash and have kept LHC separate from FB (except for a local person who I discovered was already involved in some of my local social groups!). I regret that. Lots of people who were important to me have left.
I remember the first NW/SO thread when it was a couple pages of "Penny did WHAT?!" followed by "How would that work?" and now we have people who have successfully done it for years at a time.

[LemonadeCandy]

This is a very interesting topic. Definitely subscribing!

[Shorty89]

In 2020 I flew in and began giving everyone whiplash... The rest is History

:lol: Very true!


Why don't I remember this one???

I think it was also popular in mainstream culture. I remember seeing it at church.

[ArtOfNoot]

This was amazing to read through. I'm so glad LHC has become such a mild mannered and kind place. I truly couldn't image any truly nasty discourse happening here now! So thank you to all the LHCers who came before me and paved the way for this beautiful cite

[baanoo]

I've been thinking about this for a while. WHO created LHC?? Do they have the longest hair in the world?? How do mods get decided??? this all seems so magical

My question 1000%!

[EdG]

I've been thinking about this for a while. WHO created LHC?? Do they have the longest hair in the world?? How do mods get decided??? this all seems so magicalStephanie (https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/member.php?u=1). User ID = 1.

A large percentage of the mods are in the "knee-length-and-beyond" group.
Ed

[FaeBroom]

Stephanie (https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/member.php?u=1). User ID = 1.

Ed


All hail the Queen! :king:

I'm glad to have this knowledge, thank you EdG!

[baanoo]

Stephanie (https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/member.php?u=1). User ID = 1.

A large percentage of the mods are in the "knee-length-and-beyond" group.
Ed
Ah! Merci merci. :)

[morrigan*]

Wow it will be 10 years since i joined this year. But years when i was most active was when this forum was super popular. And there were a ton of swaps and used hairtoys for sale. Also ficcares sold for really high prices. I bought two large ficcares, one new and one from swap and since they didn't work for me i think that in the end i sold them for 3 times more.

But i don't miss like 10+ threads about same trend in a few days :D.



That was Untamed Tresses (now defunct).

UTT was formed by a few problematic people who got booted out of LHC. The irony is that those same people eventually got booted out of UTT. It turns out that bad behavior is not welcome anywhere. :)
Ed

I remember that one, it was really nice when it existed, at time there was a lot of people on LHC, so UTT was way more personal.

[Ylva]

Stephanie (https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/member.php?u=1). User ID = 1.

A large percentage of the mods are in the "knee-length-and-beyond" group.
Ed

Hmm, perhaps, but I'd like to think that hair length has nothing to do with anyone being made a moderator. physicschick explained the mod selection as follows in this thread (https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=37441&page=22):


Although there isn't a formal application process, we occasionally have members PM the mod team and volunteer to serve as moderators. Anyone is welcome to do that, although since we just got a couple new mods, it'll be a while before we need to think about that again. Volunteering isn't a guarantee of selection, but it puts people on our radar as potentially being interested. There are a lot of things we consider when looking for new mods. Some of it you'd expect, like being active and helpful on the boards, but there are other considerations like maintaining a balance on the mod team--diversity of viewpoints, mods in a variety of time zones, etc.

[MusicalSpoons]

Hmm, perhaps, but I'd like to think that hair length has nothing to do with anyone being made a moderator. physicschick explained the mod selection as follows in this thread (https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=37441&page=22):

I think it's probably just a correlation - lots of the mods have been here for a long time and a fair proportion of them happen to have just ... kept growing as far as possible :shrug:

[Bat]

:lol: Very true!



I think it was also popular in mainstream culture. I remember seeing it at church.

> : D

.........

[Bat]

Stephane is a magical unicorn I've not seen them around. Do they still actively look after the site or Is it run by Chomis. Neko and co?

[Chromis]

Stephane is a magical unicorn I've not seen them around. Do they still actively look after the site or Is it run by Chomis. Neko and co?

She is a magical unicorn! She does pop round the forums sometimes, but does more behind-the-scenes keeping the server-side ticking along.

[Bugg]

She’s truly a saint for having this platform for us. I’ve had a rough past few weeks and being able to interact with everyone on here has been so helpful! Everyone is so lovely, she’s built up a community of wonderful souls.

[Bat]

She is a magical unicorn! She does pop round the forums sometimes, but does more behind-the-scenes keeping the server-side ticking along.

A Wild Chromis appears! That is good! Must be a tough job with how old the server is

[morrigan*]

She’s truly a saint for having this platform for us. I’ve had a rough past few weeks and being able to interact with everyone on here has been so helpful! Everyone is so lovely, she’s built up a community of wonderful souls.

I know. People here are so nice. I'm not even here so much for hair, but for community.