Hey, here's my story tell me what you think?

[XfrustratedX]

Okay so about two years ago (april) I decided I was going to get a spiral perm, it looked decent for some time but as you might imagine I got bored. My mother actually used to be a hairdresser herself and I asked if she could bring my hair back to straight about august of two years ago, and so she did. Once again as you can imagine, my hair looked like crap. It was slightly below my shoulders very very dry and just [nasty]. I spent so much time upset but then about a year ago (april) I decided to do some low lights which came out nice but my hair was still dry and brittle. I would blow dry and straighten my hair just about everyday for several months and then I learned how much damage I was doing so I stopped. Several trims later my hair is about 15 in I really would love for my hair to grow to about 25 in but im trying to take it an inch at a time. I really don't know where to start, my growth is slow and my hair is dry and has split ends. What is your advice for me? I feel so desperate and anything will help. Thanks alot for reading, I know it was alot and thanks in advance for all the feed back!!

[SHELIAANN1969]

I would simply say that you have made a good start by "stopping" the blow frying, thats a major step forward.

If you can stand to "trim, or dust" the ends to get the splits off that would make your hair look better and make you feel better.

If you wash often, stop washing as much and try condition only, I use shampoo/poo bars maybe 2x a week. But I condition only every day.

I also use a leave in conditioner after letting it air dry a little , then I use a mister of some homemade concoction afterwards also.

Its all about the moisture, use some oil on the ends, treat your hair like a lover, gentle and caring ( I hope that didnt sound creepy) lol

If you have any questions the ladies n gents here are worth their weight in gold!

Welcome to LHC!!!

[Blueglass]

Lots of moisture, protein, trimming. Maybe you could try henna or Cassia, for strenghtening.

[Delilah]

Treat your hair like an expensive delicate piece of clothing. Some here say 'treat it like antique lace' but how many of us actually have antique lace?
That means no heat, little washing, gentle products, and NO MORE DYE AND PERMS.
You wouldn't throw a designer dress in the washer and dryer with your towels, or dye ridiculously expensive lingerie would you? You want to keep your hair beautiful for a long time like you would these garments. The tips of long hair is very old, and for it to be a few years old and look good it has to be babied.
Experiment with natural haircare and see what your hair likes. There is a ton of information in the 'recipes, henna, and herbal haircare' forum to read through. I thoroughly recommend finding an oil your hair likes and learning to use it.

When I came to this forum I had a pixie cut that had been bleached and dyed fire engine red, then bleached again to get the red out, then dyed brown and finally black. All in about 4 months, and I coated it with gel daily then curling-ironed the ends. It was seriously nasty. 2 years later I have almost trimmed all of it off, and have healthy thick hair about 24 inches long.

[missmanytoes]

If you shampoo every day, see if you can knock that down to every other day then about a month later see if you can knock it down to twice a week and a month after that see if you can shampoo once a week. That is the way I weened myself off of daily shampoos. If you feel as though you MUST shampoo every day, try shampooing only the scalp or dilute your shampoo. Condition every day. That one is a must. Oil every night. I prefer olive oil. I think I read somewhere that olive oil actually penetrates the hair shaft. I take the olive oil bottle, turn it upside down on my palm and flip it back up. That is the oil that goes onto my hair and I have hair that is just barely to the top of my bottom. You'll probably have to adjust your oil amount accordingly.

[XfrustratedX]

Hey everybody thanks for all the advice I will definitely be putting it to good use! I really hope so increase my growth rate as well break my hair back to life! :)