Hi! New Here!! I come with Questions lol

[Farina]

Hi! My name is Stephanie (Farina is my nickname) and I am a 20 year old college student living in NY. I have always loved long hair and in high school I had beaaautiful chestnut colored hair that was down to my butt in a perfect U hemline and then I proceeded to ruin that beautiful hair for the next 4 years (bleach, blow drying, straightening dying it all the time layers, etc.). I have come to my senses and I am back on the journey to have my old hair back!


I have two pictures of my hair... One is it scrunched and the other is it blow dried and straightened ( i know it's bad but i can't get away from it! )

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v14/insaneandsmiling/Stuff041-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v14/insaneandsmiling/Stuff042.jpg

I was wondering if someone could hair type me and decided what length I'm at? I don't know if these are good pictures for that or not.. if not I'll put up better ones.


Anyway... I am using Alba Botanica the Hawaiian line for shampoo and conditioner and a deep conditioner made by neutragena(sp?). I also have a clarifying shampoo made by VO5

I'm still shampooing and conditioning everyday ( i know that's bad ) I have very oily roots and dry ends though and I don't know how to fix this. (help?)

Also... I am seriously hating my hemline it is very pointy and thin at the end due to layers. Is there anything I can do to make it a little thicker and more of a U? My layers start just below my chin so I'm not really game for cutting 4 to 5 inches off.. :-\

Also... I'm having a hard time getting into a routine. I kinda just do everything randomly lol. If you guys could suggest some kind of routine I could try I would really REALLY appreciate it.

Good things I am doing though is S&D every chance I get to snip away my damaged dyed ends. I am also using Alba cause it has no sulfates and silicones in it which from reading around the site seem to be bad (correct me if I'm wrong). I have been using EVOO for my ends when they seem super dry. When I blow dry and/or straighten I do it on the warm and cool settings and I put the straightner on the lowest level I can. Also, I stopped dying my hair !

So yea, any tips or wise words would be awesome :)


Sorry for the long post !

[Elphie]

You have very pretty hair, I love the color!

In order to hairtype someone, you'd need a photo of your hair that's only washed and airdried without being touched, scrunched or combed out. I'd venture a guess that you have some waves based on the first picture but it would be impossible to say how much or how little.

Welcome to the LHC!

[mira-chan]

Welcome to LHC neighbor! :)

Your hair looks to be just below BSL and from the scrunching picture around 2a or so though for the hair typing it should be air dried, no product or combing to be fully correct.

For the dry ends, keep oiling. Maybe oiling damp hair after washing and a heavier oiling pre-wash would help. Tough not using the heat styling would help even more for the ends.

The hemline, maybe you could trim off a quarter to half inch a month until it's at the hemline thickness you like. That way you'd either stay at your current length or gain a bit of length whilst trimming, though slower.

[MagnusXP]

Welcome :)

[Honestwitness]

Hi, Farina! Welcome! I'm a newbie, too. I've been a member for less than a week, but I have learned sooooo much by reading various threads and articles. Just keep exploring and you'll find a lot of good advice from these nice people.
Honestwitness

[Cinnamon Hair]

First of all, welcome to the boards and thank you for delurking to post photos! (We live for photos :)) For a hair typing photo you will need hair that is freshly washed and combed no more than once during the drying process, air dried. Now, let's get down to business...

You know that they are bad, yet you are still blowdrying, straightening, and shampoo/conditioning daily? If you are serious about reclaiming your long hair you need to break yourself of most, if not all, of those habits.

Next, you have layers up to chin length and are unwilling to cut but want thicker ends? If there were a way to get a thicker hemline without cutting we'd all be doing it!

I'm sorry to be harsh, but those are the facts.

My advice is to find a washing method that works for you. If you must wash daily either CWC, CO, or scalp wash. Either commit to trimming at least some of your monthly growth, or learn to love fairytale ends. Don't blowdry or straighten expect for special occassions. Do you use deep conditioning treatments? Your hair could probably benefit from a weekly or biweekly DC. Oils or a good leave in would probably help your ends as well...EVOO is fine if it works for you, but most find it a little heavy which causes greasy looking ends. Protective updos would also help.

[Honestwitness]

Hi, Farina! Welcome! I'm a newbie, too. I've been a member for less than a week, but I have learned sooooo much by reading various threads and articles. Just keep exploring and you'll find a lot of good advice from these nice people.
Honestwitness

[Farina]

CinnamonHairLOL it's ok you need to be harsh with me because I am a thick head. I'm actually going to experiment with CO and the CWC methods and see if those are good. I'm weening myself off the blow dryer and straightener but it's just like breaking any habit. I also feel my hair looks out of control when I don't do those things so I'm not sure how to minimize that either. I did trim about an inch this month and I'm going to do the same in 6-8 weeks to try and even things out.

Thanks for all the advice from everyone though !

[maskedrose]

Welcome to LHC! Like Cinnamon Hair said, you may have to give up a lot in order to get the long, healthy hair that you dream of. If you want to get a thicker hemline right away and get rid of the V you might want to consider trimming a couple of inches off of the bottom. Thats what a lot of us have done to get rid of layers - trim a couple inches, wait 6 months, trim a couple more.

If you feel like you need to wash your hair every day, check out the CO (conditioner only) washing thread. I CO every other day and have been for the last couple of years. It works great for me.

There is a ton of information on the forums - don't be suprised if you get lost for hours and hours in here in the beginning :)

[Farina]

Also... is it possible for your hair to change color? I used to have light brown hair in highschool and then I dyed it all the time so my natural color was never shown and now the last time I dyed it was in Sept but I have no roots it seems. Is that possible or is it in my head ?

[Opal25]

Welcome to LHC!

As far as hair changing color, my experience has been that in the summer or warmer months my hair gets lighter because of the sun; may this is the case for you or maybe other factors like swimming in chlorinated water (pool) might be affecting your color....

[RancheroTheBee]

Also... is it possible for your hair to change color? I used to have light brown hair in highschool and then I dyed it all the time so my natural color was never shown and now the last time I dyed it was in Sept but I have no roots it seems. Is that possible or is it in my head ?

In your head... Nahahaha. :)

No, it's not. People's hair color changes over time.

[Farina]

Ok So I washed my hair and combed it once and let it air dry and this is it! Hair Type away you all knowing hair goddesses :p

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v14/insaneandsmiling/hair001.jpg

that one is without flash

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v14/insaneandsmiling/hair002.jpg

that is with flash




I'm actually pleasantly surprised at how much fuller the ends are in comparison to the scrunched picture. Maybe air drying isn't so bad after all!

[Aditi]

Welcome to LHC Farina and your hair color is very lovely.

[Farina]

Thank you all for the kind welcome !