PDA

View Full Version : Has anyone experienced a hair type change since joining LHC?



Sissy
January 4th, 2009, 12:54 PM
This sounds weird but... I think my hair is changing. Has anyone else noticed their hair texture or typing changing since joining LHC and making changes to their routine?

I'll describe my situation below:

It used to be quite crimpy/waves when I let it air dry:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=2161&pictureid=26007
That is why I always used a hair dryer. On days when I went swimming or my hair got wet and I didn't dry it it would come out really frizzy and what I call crimpy, uneven waves.

I have been on holiday since before Christmas so stopped using the hair dryer and my hair seems to be changing. More and more, it is drying less crimpy/uneven waves. It is drying sleeker.... not completely 1A sleek mind you, but it's getting there!
Here's a couple examples of how it's dried recently:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=2161&pictureid=28287
after cholesterol and deep conditioning treatment

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=2161&pictureid=28531
today, after using Suave Naturals Lavender Lilac as a CO only. It's a tad wavier today, it dried straighter yesterday when I washed out heavy overnight oiling of EVOO and used JASON biotin shampoo and conditioner (unfortunately I didn't take a pic).

I am wondering what is causing this???

Is my hair just thanking me for giving up the heat styling? Is that in some way calming it?

Is it the CO only washing? Several times now, I have used only conditioner on my hair. Sometimes, I have been using a lighter conditioner such as VO5 and then a heavier one such as Giovanni.

Is it the heavy overnight oilings? I've done (I've used oil mixtures of sweet almond, jojoba, shea butter and I've also used coconut and EVOO alone).

Is it the protein/cholesterol treatments?

Is it the switch to healthier products which contain more oils and herbs? I've been using CV shampoo bars on and off, the Giovanni Organic line, and a few other cone frees I purchased.

If i could just figure out what's doing this... I'd be willing to do it every night to help my hair get sleeker overtime. For example, if it was determined to be the overnight EVOO oilings then I'd slather my hair in EVOO EVERY bloody night if that's what it took. I so want sleek and shiny hair!

Please respond if you have experienced this, have any thoughts on this, or have any recommendations for me.

Thanks!
Sissy

kam984420
January 4th, 2009, 01:01 PM
Could it be the weight of your causing it to straighten? Im not sure just a thought.:confused:

eaglefeather71
January 4th, 2009, 01:12 PM
My hair is straighter and sleeker now than it was before. It's shows up the most after Henna, Yogurt, or oilings. Henna has really thickened my hair shaft, my hair is heavier and less fragile now. The oilings definetly make it straighter, shinier, and sleeker. The only frizz I get after an oiling is whispies from regrowth. Here are a before Henna, after henna but before oiling, and after oiling pictures.
http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc104/ckatto71/BackShot2.jpghttp://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc104/ckatto71/Henna008-1.jpghttp://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc104/ckatto71/002-2.jpg

The second one is blowfries, and last one is terrible as far as exposure, but hopefully it shows the difference.

Sissy
January 4th, 2009, 01:14 PM
Could it be the weight of your causing it to straighten? Im not sure just a thought.:confused:

The weight of my what? Sorry, I wasn't sure what you meant.

BTW, I am also aware that my ends are in severe need of a trim and are looking uneven and damaged (haven't had a trim in over a year). I am kinda embarrassed even to be posting the pics LOL. I am getting a trim soon hopefully. The person who does it is out of town currently.:o

Sissy
January 4th, 2009, 01:14 PM
My hair is straighter and sleeker now than it was before. It's shows up the most after Henna, Yogurt, or oilings. Henna has really thickened my hair shaft, my hair is heavier and less fragile now. The oilings definetly make it straighter, shinier, and sleeker. The only frizz I get after an oiling is whispies from regrowth.

If this is the case I see myself sleeping with a bag on my head doing heavy oilings frequently LOL.

RavennaNight
January 4th, 2009, 01:43 PM
When I used to heat-style profusely, and then started air-drying, my hair type changed and didn't know what to do with it. It became crimpy wavy and unmanageable. And then it went 2C in the summer, and I was a bit confused and went out and bought a bunch of curling creme. And then I started henndigo, and it started straightening out a bit, but still a 2a. Sometimes if I comb as it air-dries and then brush, it gets straight, and everyone asks me if I ironed my hair :confused:. It gets pretty straight if I sockbun my hair. My hair type changes with it's mood, I guess.

Sissy
January 4th, 2009, 01:43 PM
My hair is straighter and sleeker now than it was before. It's shows up the most after Henna, Yogurt, or oilings. Henna has really thickened my hair shaft, my hair is heavier and less fragile now. The oilings definetly make it straighter, shinier, and sleeker. The only frizz I get after an oiling is whispies from regrowth. Here are a before Henna, after henna but before oiling, and after oiling pictures.
http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc104/ckatto71/BackShot2.jpghttp://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc104/ckatto71/Henna008-1.jpghttp://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc104/ckatto71/002-2.jpg

The second one is blowfries, and last one is terrible as far as exposure, but hopefully it shows the difference.

Yes, I do notice a difference in your hair and you're not the first person on LHC to comment that Henna calmed their waves or took their waves way. Therefore, I am very interested in Henna as I'd like my waves to be gone. However, I don't think I can use Henna as I only want my hair darker (I would love a deep dark brown close to black) not redder. Does henna just add red? Or can you buy a Henna that would make your hair dark brown?

Thanks,
Sissy

HairColoredHair
January 4th, 2009, 01:53 PM
Henna is red. You could mix henna and indigo to get a dark brown, but it would still probably shine a little red.

DragonLady
January 4th, 2009, 01:59 PM
My hair has gotten a bit thicker and a lot stronger since I've been here. I blame both the catnip treatments and the heavy oiling.

I used about a tablespoon of coconut oil on it before washing yesterday, and when it dried my hair was the sleekest and silkiest it's ever been.

I'm still 1a, and think I probably always will be, but I've learned to quit yearning for curls and crimps and bumps and just loving what I have. And that's probably made the biggest difference of all. :)

karli
January 4th, 2009, 02:09 PM
Iīve been co-washing my hair for six month now, and I feel about the same as youīve described. For me itīs probably that that my hair contains more moisture now that I donīt strip out with sls. Oh, by the way, I got Lush henna, caca brun, that I pour some tee three drops in, somewhere I read that tt would make it darker. But itīs really close to my real color, it just added some depth to it

Themyst
January 4th, 2009, 02:20 PM
I just got out of the shower and for the first time, I've noticed a little change.

I've been using the CWC method and I've also done two cassia/amla treatments and one henna/cassia/katam treatment. While finger combing the conditioner in my hair today, I noticed some sheds were REALLY thick - I mean, twice the size of my regular hair. I wonder if it was from the one big straight henna strip I tried in my hair a while back. Well, I wish all of my hair was like that and maybe someday it will be.

nicolezoie
January 4th, 2009, 02:58 PM
I wouldn't say it CHANGED types, I think I just figured out how to stop FIGHTING my type. :)

When I first started frequenting hair boards 7 years ago, I was pretty convinced my hair was mostly straight and prone to periodically getting the bends, like 1B or so, but nowadays, even with gaining tremendous length, my hair's clearly in the 2 range.

kam984420
January 4th, 2009, 03:54 PM
The weight of my what? Sorry, I wasn't sure what you meant.

BTW, I am also aware that my ends are in severe need of a trim and are looking uneven and damaged (haven't had a trim in over a year). I am kinda embarrassed even to be posting the pics LOL. I am getting a trim soon hopefully. The person who does it is out of town currently.:o

The weight of your hair. Sorry i left out the word hair up above. Im tired.

eaglefeather71
January 4th, 2009, 04:29 PM
My hair is naturally very dark brown, and straight henna doesn't change it much. I just have a henna glow in the sun. If you don't want any red or the least amount of red possible you would need to use Henndigo/amla, or Henna/katam/amla the Amla cools the red in the henna and makes a more ash bown. The hair health effects of henna are worth it to me, and besides I love red hair and really enjoy when I get a glimps of the Henna Glow now and then.

eaglefeather71
January 4th, 2009, 04:34 PM
My goals with the Oiling is to do a deep oiling before each washing and to keep my washings to 2x/week. I'll be rotating between washing material (Dr.Bronners Peppermint Liquid Soap (diluted), Homemade Egg Wash, Soapnuts, and other Indian Herbs). So, I'm hoping with the 4 layers of Henna I have, and Oiling at least 2 times a week my hair will stay straight and sleek without becoming lank and stringy.

vamq
January 4th, 2009, 05:24 PM
A lot of people in this thread go from curly to less curly hair.
I have the opposite. I once really was a 1a, and even a braid coldn't give me waves for a whole day.
When I started to let my hair grow it became a 1b

And now I've been on the Dutch board for a while, and here. I can see the difference. Some days, I'm still 1b/1c, but other days I'm as curly as a 2a, so thats quite a difference.
And Henna (I use the non-color thingie) makes my hair a lot curlier actually.

http://www.members.lycos.nl/criminalplaza/Pictures/Hair/hairtype%20change.bmp you can see the difference quite well here

I'm also a lot happier now. So I don't have really thick hair, but it's healthy and long. Being happy about it means a lot to me. I still wasn't happy about it until half a year ago.

Silver Grace
January 4th, 2009, 06:09 PM
Like some of the others, I don't think my HAIR has changed as much as my ATTITUDE to it has. I now appreciate it for what it is: fine, straight and very definitely getting more and more silver with each passing month! I'm resigned to the fact that I'm never going to have a head of thick, red spiral curls!! My hair IS thicker though, and shinier, and I put that down to the better care I now give it. I've learned so much here and I shudder when I think of the "hair crimes" I've committed in my ignorant past!

teela1978
January 4th, 2009, 06:15 PM
I went from thinking I had straight hair, to acknowledging my wavy hair, to growing out to virgin and discovering that it's not so wavy when not damaged from chemical dye :)

I find that cones often straighten out my hair a lot if you're looking for that sort of thing.

Elphie
January 4th, 2009, 06:20 PM
I don't think my hair type has changed so much as I've always had chameleon type hair, I do think I've been paying closer attention to it the past six months and I've gotten better at realizing what's causing the changes. My hair tends to be wavier without cones, wavier with shea and straighter with olive oil. While my hair also takes a curl easily (ie: curlers, braidwaves, bunwaves) I tend to lose my own waves easily as it dries.

Curlsgirl
January 4th, 2009, 08:09 PM
The length of your hair could definitely be weighing it down more and the products you use and the health and moisture/protein balance all could have an effect on making your hair look shinier and sleeker. I think the wave you have in your hair is lovely. My suggestion would be to concentrate on the health of it and the shine and sleekness will follow. My advice is to learn to love your hair the way it is otherwise. It's very beautiful!!!

NebraskaChick84
January 4th, 2009, 08:14 PM
I did my first semi-heavy (evoo) oiling a few nights ago and I noticed my hair is a lot straighter and a lot less poofy.

Sissy
January 4th, 2009, 09:31 PM
Thank you all for the replies. It's nice to see others have also experienced such changes with their hair. I saw that a few of you are saying EVOO makes the hair straighter and smoother. This may have been what has done it for me. I never did heavy overnight oilings before joining this site. So, this could very well be it. Also, perhaps it's just calmer from not heat damaging it. Either way, this is great :cloud9:

Sissy
January 4th, 2009, 09:33 PM
My hair is naturally very dark brown, and straight henna doesn't change it much. I just have a henna glow in the sun. If you don't want any red or the least amount of red possible you would need to use Henndigo/amla, or Henna/katam/amla the Amla cools the red in the henna and makes a more ash bown. The hair health effects of henna are worth it to me, and besides I love red hair and really enjoy when I get a glimps of the Henna Glow now and then.

I wouldn't really be interested in any red as I don't think it suits my face/complexion. However, I am very interested in making my hair darker brown. What I worry about though is what sort of damage I would do to my hair by doing this. What are the downsides of using a product (not sure if it's considered a dye) like Henna/Katam/Alma or such?

Melisande
January 4th, 2009, 10:31 PM
Did you think about using walnut shells? They give a beautiful brown color.

I use a commercial mix of herbal dyes available in Germany. It contains henna, walnut shells and other plant ingredients. The result is brown with a reddish shimmer. It's very good for the hair. I don't know whether the improved structure of my hair is the result of the henna or the walnut shells.

My hair has gone from a thinnish 1a towards a bit fuller head of slightly wavy 1b. I'm very happy with it.

The reasons may be: frequent deep oilings that strengthen the hair, my plant dye, my natural gray growth going coarser and stronger, the essential oil massages that strengthen new growth... I really don't know.

RocketDog
January 4th, 2009, 10:47 PM
I don't think my hair type has changed since finding LHC, but I do know that my condition has improved, which in turn transformed my once-obnoxious flyaway, floofy-frizzy-almost-curly hair into manageable curls at long last!

CO-washing, jojoba/coconut oil soaks and tender combing work for me, and I have LHC to thank for it :D

HazelnutDelight
January 4th, 2009, 11:41 PM
I'm not sure if it's because of joining or I just never noticed, but my hair isn't completely straight as I always thought it was. When I saw in the hair typing system that there is 1a,1b and so on I realized my hair doesn't have to be very wavy all over to be considered wavy. All of my new growth starts out wavy and I have a few waves in different parts of my hair but not so obvious. It's pretty surprising to me since I have always thought of myself one way and it turned out another. I'm sure taking care of it better with all the extra moisture helped.

Fillette
January 5th, 2009, 12:45 AM
My hair has definitely straightened out a little bit since I have started CO, henndigo and using coconut oil on the lengths. It looks more wavy than curly most of the time. I believe this is also due to wearing buns constantly. I used to be a 3b/3c but now, I am mostly 3a/3b and some days I am even straighter than 3a. I really enjoy the different moods and textures my hair has. I never know what it is going to look like. DBF loves it too. He says my hair has personality. Bless his heart!

Phalaenopsis
January 5th, 2009, 01:17 AM
My hair used to be definitely 1b, and a short while ago I was even doubting if I was 1a.

By taking good care of it, hair can change a lot:)

Katze
January 5th, 2009, 01:32 AM
Mine changes regularly.

Before coming here I thought my hair was 'straight but misbehaved.' I had a lot of damage, so the top would be flat but the ends poofy and kinky. It took a lot of time to get out of this phase!

After a few months at LHC, I started noticing spiral waves on my length. As my hair has grown, it has gotten wavier...until I got pregnant! Now my hair is mostly straight, but some days it still surprises me with huge wild waves all over. Moisture does help, but there is no real way of guaranteeing my hair is either straight or wavy.

I think after my baby is born I am going to have to reassess my hair type, again. My hair can be straight, and it can be braid-wave-wavy, and there does not seem to be any rhyme or reason - it just goes from 1b to 2b as it sees fit!

WavyGirl
January 5th, 2009, 02:02 AM
Mine changes regularly.

Before coming here I thought my hair was 'straight but misbehaved.' I had a lot of damage, so the top would be flat but the ends poofy and kinky. It took a lot of time to get out of this phase!

After a few months at LHC, I started noticing spiral waves on my length. (snip)

Me too! I was in serious denial about what type of hair I had. I knew it had a bit of wave, but no true idea of how much. Right before I joined LHC I had it chemically straightened. It still wasn't truly straight, but much less wavy than before. Of course, it was terribly damaged too. I wasn't really sure how to classify it as it had strands of 2a, 2b and the occasional spiral, but it was extremely dry and frizzzy. Now 2.5 years on most of that damage is gone and I've learnt a lot about how to deal with wavy hair. It is mainly 2c now with the odd patch of 3a. I want to learn how to make the curls look their best this year as up to now I've been wet bunning and wearing it up all the time and I figure the curls are here to stay so I better learn to deal with them.

BlackfootHair
January 5th, 2009, 02:16 AM
Since I started letting my hair air dry and I use coconut oil my curls had really sprung to life. Of course the henna pretty much killed it though. :-(

willowcandra
January 5th, 2009, 03:10 AM
My strands got individually thicker after I ditched the blow fryer, gave up colouring and gave up smoking. If you hold one up to examine in the light you can see the strands are twice as thick where the coloured part ends.
(I gave up colouring and smoking at the same time four year ago exactly. so I can't tell you which had the most impact-probably the smoke.)

It's probably a little more wavy with good care.

But my overall width decreased by up to two thirds due to a hormone imbalance. But now that's being treated I hope to have a full head of hair again in future.
And a big patch turned white due to an auto immune disease.

LOL but the biggest change is that it was chin length and now it's classic.fwiw.

howsitgrowin'87
January 5th, 2009, 02:28 PM
I have seen a change in my hair since coming to LHC. Before when I wasn't taking care of my hair, and trying every other thing under the sun to fix it other than what it needed, it was poofy, frizzy and rather curly (and I've always wanted straighter hair).

But now that I don't wash as frequently, comb instead of brush, and use jojoba oil, it's like a total turnaround. I would even say i have about 1c hair rather than when I thought I had 2c! I love my hair now! Thanks LHC!!:joy:

beehives
January 5th, 2009, 03:21 PM
A lot of people in this thread go from curly to less curly hair.
I have the opposite. I once really was a 1a, and even a braid coldn't give me waves for a whole day.
When I started to let my hair grow it became a 1b

And now I've been on the Dutch board for a while, and here. I can see the difference. Some days, I'm still 1b/1c, but other days I'm as curly as a 2a, so thats quite a difference.
And Henna (I use the non-color thingie) makes my hair a lot curlier actually.

http://www.members.lycos.nl/criminalplaza/Pictures/Hair/hairtype%20change.bmp you can see the difference quite well here

I'm also a lot happier now. So I don't have really thick hair, but it's healthy and long. Being happy about it means a lot to me. I still wasn't happy about it until half a year ago.


Wow, your hair is stunning! So shiny and healthy! I love the color and your new waves are so nice.

LadyEliza
January 6th, 2009, 03:24 AM
Well, not since I joined here, because I only just joined, but when I was 40 my hair went from 1A to 2C! I now have some straight bits, most of it is very wavy, and I have some bits at the top that ringlet.

Appearently it was hormonal changes as I started to go through menapause. I'm 46 now (almost 47) menapause is over, and the curls are still there.

Sissy
January 7th, 2009, 09:43 AM
Did you think about using walnut shells? They give a beautiful brown color.

I use a commercial mix of herbal dyes available in Germany. It contains henna, walnut shells and other plant ingredients. The result is brown with a reddish shimmer. It's very good for the hair. I don't know whether the improved structure of my hair is the result of the henna or the walnut shells.

My hair has gone from a thinnish 1a towards a bit fuller head of slightly wavy 1b. I'm very happy with it.

The reasons may be: frequent deep oilings that strengthen the hair, my plant dye, my natural gray growth going coarser and stronger, the essential oil massages that strengthen new growth... I really don't know.

I have never heard of walnut shells for dyeing hair. Can you buy them alone? I don't think I'm interested in Henna. I don't want the red tons, just a darker brown from what I have.

JamieLeigh
January 7th, 2009, 10:39 AM
I've only just joined LHC in the latter part of last year, but I went no-blowdry and CO-twice a week about 2 years ago, when I started lurking around here. So technically...LHC was responsible for the positive changes in my hair, and now I'm not freaked out by message boards, so I can post about it! ^_^

BlndeInDisguise
January 7th, 2009, 12:31 PM
I think my hair has gotten a little more curly/wavy since joining LHC. :)

SHELIAANN1969
January 7th, 2009, 01:40 PM
I have noticed a change only because I do things differently now.

In my younger pics when I was 5/6 years old, my hair was wild and curly, in my school photos, it is combed down and in a shag hair style.

I have always known I had wavy/ slighty wavy hair, but untill I stopped combing and brushing the curls to death, I didn't know I had so much curl and have *discovered* my curls and embrace them whole-heartedly!

I also don't use as much shampoo, use less harsh shampoos, use more conditioner and use oils as well, so things are indeed different in appearance.

Also, with henna, I have super hair, it's always been thick but the henna adds an additional *oomph* that I adore!

I <3 TLHC! :D (and I <3 all of the members who are so patient and helpful and enabling etc etc etc) :D

sugar_rush
January 8th, 2009, 05:32 AM
Yes, I definitely did. I haven't been posting for a while, but I joined about two years ago. I used to think I had stick straight hair lying flat on my head (even though I had corkscrew curls as a child)
After a few months of new routine with lots of conditioner and almost no hair brushing I noticed some wave.
Now that wave is more pronounced, though brushing evens it out. And when I go to bed with my hair wet, the lower layers get practically curly. I think I'm getting closer to 2b now.

Arctic
January 8th, 2009, 06:54 AM
I used to have straight hair (1b) and only few weeks after I joined here and changed the way I care of my hair, it got wavy. The underlayer got really wavy and the canopy a little bit, so I have now 1c canopy and 2b underlayer :D It has taken a lot of getting used to and I sometimes miss my "old" hair but I have learned to love my "new" hair also :inlove:

LadyMoon11
January 8th, 2009, 07:55 AM
Yes-
I was certain I was 1a, but once I had stopped using heat styling, less brushing and heavy 'cones, my hair actually took on a bit of volume and some wanna-be waves.
So- 1b it is :D

jojo
January 8th, 2009, 09:36 AM
My hair has got more wavy since joining but the main improvement for me has been in the thickness which pleases me much, my hair has never been what I would call thick but I am getting there.