Mainstream Myths and Mistakes

[Heavenly Locks]

So, before you found LHC or did other research into hair care...

What were you led to believe, and by who?

What did you fall for?

What mistakes were you making on a regular basis without even knowing?

I was led to believe that only 'lucky' people could grow their hair long and have it look healthy. I was led to believe that extra long hair would always look damaged on the ends since the hair was the oldest. I was led to believe that salon products were always better. I was led to believe that damage, was inevitable.

[Zindell]

What were you led to believe, and by who?
By hairdressers:
"Your bangs/sidehair can probably not grow long"
"You need to cut your hair about every 6th to 8th week"
"Salon products are best for your hair"


By friends:
"If you cut your hair it grows faster" (I never fell for that one though)



What mistakes were you making on a regular basis without even knowing?
I permed it regularly between age 13 to 32 (ish)
I highlighted it reguarly between age 30 to 37 (ish)
I let the hairdressers cut it too much every time

Back then I couldn't figure out why my hair never grew longer than between APL and BSL. Do'h! :rolleyes:

[Unofficial_Rose]

For me, it was the "salon products are better" hype. By hairdressers ;) - they must get some commission for selling the stuff?

Honestly, I must have wasted a ton of money on coney Kérastase and Redken stuff when I could have used Body Shop shampoo and Aussie Miracle Moist with a dollop of honey! :rolleyes:

I also didn't realise blow-drying was so bad for the hair. This will be why the sides of my hair never grew much! And I allowed them to flat-iron me. :eek:

[marialena]

The biggest myth is the one that says that if you cut your hair will grow faster. The truth is that they never grow but how the hairdressers will going to make fortunes?

My biggest mistake is that as long as I was married I used to cut my hair in order to have them groomed. But this was far before I find LHC.
I haven't cut my hair for about 6 years. :D ( satanic smile for the hairdressers hi hi hi ! )

[Heavenly Locks]

Another one that gets me is how some heating products like blow dryers and flat irons can claim that there is 'something' about their product that makes it less damaging somehow. You are BOILING your hair...going to get damage!

[Zindell]

For me, it was the "salon products are better" hype. By hairdressers ;) - they must get some commission for selling the stuff?

Ah yes! *adds that to my list too*

One of my hairdressers even told me how much commision she was getting for selling the stuff. And then tried to sell it to me... :D

[marzipanthecat]

I still get told that if I cut my hair it will grow faster. It will grow longer if I cut off 8 to 10 inches (no I never understood that one either).

Dying hair will improve its condition. (There's a big TV campaign at the moment with a well-known presenter sayng exactly that.)

Quite a lot of women ask me what shampoo/conditioner I use, and get a bit upset when they find out it's not expensive stuff. (And I don't even use the same brand all the time - currently using Elvive, but will change again when I come to the end of the bottle...)


I admit I just didn't listen to anyone. More to do with me being too lazy to do much than not believing them. Apart from the "cutting makes your hair grow faster" - well, that obviously is not true!

[boukje]

- healthy hair equals clean hair, so wash with a 'quality' expensive (brand) shampoo every day, and use conditioner on the length every day.

- loads of brushing (also when wet) removes tangels which makes hair smoother and grow longer.

- hair down is less damage because hair is not contained.

- you must cut your hair every six weeks otherwise the damage goes up the hairshaft

-hair doens't have a longer growth cycle than four years

[Samitra]

I believed it ALL, everything you have mentioned. Since I didn't have a clue about hair care, I believed everything my hair dresser told me, and everything my friends told me...

I also believed that using conditioner would make my hair greasy, even if I didn't use it near my scalp, because it would "travel up". (:confused:) My mother told me that, and she also taught me how to wash my hair (pile it on my head to get it all clean)

[Jessclewlow]

yeah the cutting thing was a big one for me! bloody hairdressers :/
... now i just S&D

i also believed in all these stopid miracle grow formula junk thats out there :(

least i got you lot to steer me in the right direction eh ;) haha

[Carolyn]

Stylists would tell me that layers would make my hair fuller and add "body". Um no less hair does not make it fuller. Geeze. They also said I needed to trim every 6 to 8 weeks for it to grow. It would only get shorter :crazyq: I've also had stylists tell me I need to use twice as much shampoo as conditioner :wacko:

[MsBubbles]

I heard and believed:

That there was nothing you could do with long hair other than wear it up in a ponytail the whole time.

That women over 35 or so are forbidden to have long hair.

That fine, straight hair doesn't grow long, and if it did, it'd look awful.

I committed these sins:

Perms

Highlights

Blowdrying on velcro rollers

Having my hair trimmed every few months when there was nothing wrong with it.

[practikalmagik]

Steps to healthy hair:
*Shampooing twice to get all the evil dirt out. Any oil must be removed as it means DIRT.

*Brush hair when wet, and use barrell brushes when blow-fry...i mean -drying it.

*Using hair protecting masque-gel-serum to protect it as you style using special ion-teflon coated super ceramic straightners that actually smoooooth you hair cuticle as they straighten.

*Split ends caused by normal wear and tear (read: bleaching/straightening/frying/dyeing/scrubbing hair) can be cured with the new scientifically proven hair coating and protecting deep treatment masque (only £49.99 from all good hairdressers)

*Repeat EVERY SINGLE DAY


I'll stick with washing it about twice a week and leaving my waves naturally where they are thank you. Sorry for the sarcasm but I can't stand the stupidity of the general public for things like this.

[embee]

Arrgh. When I was in school a girl (who was one of the leaders, a very popular girl) told us that if we cut our *eyelashes* they'd grow longer... and we all, like sheep, chopped off our *EYELASHES*! And looked diseased for a long time until they grew back. (rolls eyes) Indeed, they did look longer when they grew back in - longer than no eyelashes. Duh...

And that was my introduction to hair myths.

Although I did get perms and chops and styles I did not believe what anybody told me any longer. Now I go my own way, Benign Neglect, and my hair is long and smooth and sleek and comfy for me. :) At last!

[earthdancer]

I also believed that using conditioner would make my hair greasy, even if I didn't use it near my scalp, because it would "travel up". (:confused:) My mother told me that, and she also taught me how to wash my hair (pile it on my head to get it all clean)

LOL, my mom, too, on both counts! It took some experimentation when I was a teenager to figure out what was really good and what was really awful for me. I even tried the water-only wash once--that was a disaster for my oily scalp, but at least I learned that my length looked better without shampooing the life out of it.

The hair-piling thing was maybe something gleaned from shampoo commercials way back when - I remember that's how they showed the actresses washing their hair, so maybe people thought that was the way to do it?

[goodluckcharm]

1) Layers are the best thing for curly hair. If you don't have layers, you will look like a mushroom.

2) Thick hair needs to be thinned out with shears or your hair will never lie flat.

Yeah, trying hard to grow out those two.

[practikalmagik]

2) Thick hair needs to be thinned out with shears or your hair will never lie flat.

Yeah, trying hard to grow out those two.


OMG I hear you on that! :brickwall Thick wavy hair needs to stay very far away from shears thank you!

[Yulivee]

I totally believed in those products against "frizz" = cone-bomb :rolleyes:
Well it always worked... two times or so. Then I had to rescue my scalp for about two month.
And then I saw the next miracle hair cream... :o

[Sheltie_Momma]

Big lie # 1: My thick hair requires "thinning" with the thinning shears. This essentially cut thousands of tiny layers into my hair at all different lengths and took the better part of FIVE years to grow out.
Big Lie #2: Razoring my hair on the sides is a good idea. NOT. I could hear the scissors ripping through the strands. On my thick coarse hair the razored edges look like major damage and within weeks turned into split ends because I kept trying to use heat tools to hide the way it looked. Ugg.
Big Lie # 3: Don't use conditioner near the scalp. Definitely not true for me - my scalp LOVES a good coconut oil massage and the super curly bits at the nape of my neck and behind my ears really behave better for being uber conditioned.
Big Lie #4: Long hair is only mangeable if you have layers. I'm working to grow mine out - they actually make my hair harder to manage because the layers flip out of all the updo's I try to do, and make my braids frizzy and thin at the ends. I can't wait until I can have it all one length, never to return to layers again!

[viking_quest]

The biggest lie was that I had to wash my hair everyday or else it would be extremely oily. Yeah, right parents.

[Darkhorse1]

See, some of these are true for me:
Can't use conditioner on my scalp or else it's greasy and itchy
I have to wash 2x when shampooing or else my hair doesn't get clean (I have a very oily scalp)
A friend of mine gets her spiral curls layered and it looks wonderful.

I think there is a balance of information about hair--you have to do what's right for you, not others (in some cases).

Such as, yes, frequent trims will help hair grow because you are removing split ends, which can split further up the shaft of the hair and cause breakage, however, if you CUT it all the time, no, it won't grow.

Razor cuts are great for people who have coarse/thick hair. However, I'm sure it's not as gentle on the shaft as good, sharp scissors. Again, I've seen the results from friends of mine who've had this done and it looks amazing and they loved their hair/style.

So, some myths/mistakes that may be wrong for 1 person may not be wrong for the person next to you.

Such as, coloring hair DOES improve it---temporarily--while color is on the hair, it makes it shiny and soft. When it starts to fade, the damage shows. (ie, if you are coloring hair in the hopes to improve it, it will only improve it's apperance, not the actualy health of the hair)

One thing that didn't work for me--Sun In. FYI, if you are dark haired, sun-in leaves your hair orangy/coppery. YUCK!

[Tabitha]

Arrgh. When I was in school a girl (who was one of the leaders, a very popular girl) told us that if we cut our *eyelashes* they'd grow longer... and we all, like sheep, chopped off our *EYELASHES*! And looked diseased for a long time until they grew back. (rolls eyes) Indeed, they did look longer when they grew back in - longer than no eyelashes. Duh...

You too! :eek: this happened to me in England in 1972.

[Fethenwen]

This thread is hilarious, it's so true :p Amazing what hairdressers and hair product companies are trying to make us believe just to make money. And the result: most people are going about every day with zombie hair - straight, unnatural, dull, overly siliconed with itchy scalp and layers.

Edit: Nothing wrong with layers, but I meant that everyone has them today, whether it suits them or not.

One thing which I believed in hundred percent a few months ago before I joined this fantastic community was that; clean hair means squeaky clean, and that sebum is bad for your scalp :rolleyes: causes dandruff and stuff...
And also I believed that long hair without layers is hair that you can't style. My God...

[myotislucifugus]

I used to believe cutting would help the hair grow, because I was told that the "hair" would spend energy on healing the splits, and not on growth. I believed them. Even though I KNOW that hair is essentially dead and does not do that.:rolleyes:
I did have one hairdresser (she was actually able to demonstrate the accurate length of an inch on the first try) who warned me against really cheap shampoo because of the alcohol content, and how drying it can be. She didn't push the salon brand, just said to get higher quality stuff. Her commentary, by the way, was a result of my dry scalp, which I didn't know I had at the time until she showed me all the flakes.:(
It pushed me to really look for more things in my shampoo, and after the shock and horror that I was washing my hair with antifreeze (propylene glycol) and table salt (sodium chloride) I switched to CV shampoo bars.

I don't think it's what she had in mind, but it worked.:D

[myotislucifugus]

Just a thought, now that I'm thinking about it, my hairdressers have always said the only safe way to wear your hair is down, because updos lead to damage (twisting, braiding, etc). Now, I almost never wear my hair down, for both practical and personal reasons, and my hair is in fine condition, so I'm going to keep doing it.

Here at LHC, we do updos to protect fragile strands, but is there a minimum for wearing it down that is healthier? I used to sleep with it loose, but I've grown paranoid, so now it's in a loose sleep braid at night. Anyone know this? I know there's a thread for sleep styles, but what about in general?

[janeytilllie]

I was told mostly by my hairdressers.

* Expensive salon hair products are better than cheaper products.
* Cutting hair every 6-8 weeeks makes hair grow faster.
* Buying very expensive designer heating appliances e.g. irons,blowdryers etc reduces heat damage! :rolleyes:
* Colouring hair with chemical dyes, improves your hairs condition! :rollin:
*Using henna for colouring is bad for your hair, it makes it dry. :rolleyes:

[earthdancer]

Just a thought, now that I'm thinking about it, my hairdressers have always said the only safe way to wear your hair is down, because updos lead to damage (twisting, braiding, etc). Now, I almost never wear my hair down, for both practical and personal reasons, and my hair is in fine condition, so I'm going to keep doing it.
Every time I wear my hair down when I leave the house, I come back with at least 50 new split ends. It's probably because it is so windy here! We fly the flag at my house, too, and by 3 months, it is tattered to shreds at the bottom.

[goodluckcharm]

Big lie # 1: My thick hair requires "thinning" with the thinning shears. This essentially cut thousands of tiny layers into my hair at all different lengths and took the better part of FIVE years to grow out.
Big Lie #2: Razoring my hair on the sides is a good idea. NOT. I could hear the scissors ripping through the strands. On my thick coarse hair the razored edges look like major damage and within weeks turned into split ends because I kept trying to use heat tools to hide the way it looked. Ugg.
Big Lie # 3: Don't use conditioner near the scalp. Definitely not true for me - my scalp LOVES a good coconut oil massage and the super curly bits at the nape of my neck and behind my ears really behave better for being uber conditioned.
Big Lie #4: Long hair is only mangeable if you have layers. I'm working to grow mine out - they actually make my hair harder to manage because the layers flip out of all the updo's I try to do, and make my braids frizzy and thin at the ends. I can't wait until I can have it all one length, never to return to layers again!

I hear you!!! I've had all things things done to my hair as well (last November) and am paying the price! :brickwall

[Fethenwen]

I was told mostly by my hairdressers.

* Expensive salon hair products are better than cheaper products.
* Cutting hair every 6-8 weeeks makes hair grow faster.
* Buying very expensive designer heating appliances e.g. irons,blowdryers etc reduces heat damage! :rolleyes:
* Colouring hair with chemical dyes, improves your hairs condition! :rollin:
*Using henna for colouring is bad for your hair, it makes it dry. :rolleyes:
Oh yeah, I forgot about those :p I have also heard from a few hairdressers that chemical dyes improves the hair structure. And that henna is bad for your hair and may cause cancer!

[LutraLutra]

- you must have your hair cut every 6 - 8 weeks at least otherwise it will look so bad that people will point and laugh at you in street

- colouring with conventional dye is really, really good for your hair as it boosts colour and shine

- most people can't actually grow their hair any longer than shoulder lenght

[LutraLutra]

(snip)I have also heard from a few hairdressers that chemical dyes improves the hair structure.
What is with that? Oh my gosh.

[Anje]

I wasn't too bad...

I believed I could comb or brush my hair roughly.
Believed that more expensive products would be better. (Decided to go from Suave to Aussie because I could finally afford it. Got dandruff after a few weeks, so I went back to Suave, which solved that problem.)
It never occurred to me that I could shower without washing or even wetting my hair. Duh! Showers are so much faster now!

[Fethenwen]

What is with that? Oh my gosh.
Hah ^^ I believe it must be because hair gets temporarily shinier and easier to maintain from chemical dye. I think that must be a one of the main reasons people dye their hair all the time.

[Samitra]

1) Layers are the best thing for curly hair. If you don't have layers, you will look like a mushroom.

2) Thick hair needs to be thinned out with shears or your hair will never lie flat.

Yeah, trying hard to grow out those two.


That's funny, because my hair dressers always have told me that

1) Layers are the best thing for straight hair. If you dont't have layers it'll look too flat.

2) Fine and average thick hair need to be thinned out with shears, at least in the top layers, or your hair will look dull and boring.

Still growing that out. Seems to me that stylists are trying to give everybody layers, like it's some sort of magic treatment that will make ALL hairtypes look wonderful... :rolleyes:

[marialena]

[...]
- most people can't actually grow their hair any longer than shoulder lenght

Surely!! If we are visiting their salons that will happen. :p
I read the previous posts and I laughed with the claim that hair needs to be thinned out with shears. It remembered to me what happened to a friend of mine some years ago.
She has very very thick hair like Aisha has and she went to a hairdresser who insisted to thin her hair with shears in order to make them more flat. I told to my friend not to do it but she was convinced by the hairdresser.
It was THE total disaster! After a month she looked like she had two haircuts in her hair. One flat-topped like Grace Jones haircut and a second long one. My friend had to wait 6 months to grow her hair in a normal length to stop staying up..:rolleyes:

[Islandgrrl]

Considering that I've had knee-length hair in the past that was achieved mostly through benign neglect, I didn't really fall for much other than, Salon Products Are Best and Healthy Hair Is Clean Hair.

Of course, being the lazy and, ahem, frugal slug that I am, I pretty much blew off the whole Healthy Hair is Clean Hair idea, since it can take a LOT of product to wash that much hair every day. Not to mention time and energy. Did I mention that I'm a lazy slug? http://www.iwgd.com/lhc/slug.gif

[Eden Iris]

-Expensive is better.

-Layers will make your fine/thin hair look thicker.

-Your hair is too fine/thin/boring to grow long. You'll look old without face-framing layers.

-You need a cut every eight weeks to trim off the damage [this was true, as the damage was caused by the salon products I "needed"].

-Brush your hair every day.

-Henna will make your hair orange/green/horrible/fall out.

So glad I found this place. Haven't been to a salon since September 07, and my hair has never looked better.

[LadyLongLocks]

#1 is that when you are over 40 you should have SHORT HAIR, or you will look old and ridiculous.

100 strokes a day..I would have no hair if I did that. I hardly comb or brush at all and I think it had helped reduce damage.

That if you have bangs it slows down the growth of the longer hair and that hair should be one length. Somehow IMO, I just don't believe this theory since technically the head has hair that is hundreds of different lengths. I also have had bangs in the past and my hair grew the same.

[RancheroTheBee]

It's funny, actually. When I was growing up, I heard the 'trim every 6-8' weeks and thought, "Yes, good idea." But never, ever went into a salon for a trim until my mother had to physically restrain me and get them to cut my hair. I would go in for a trim maybe once, twice a year.

Now that I'm all gung-ho about growing my hair out, I always feel the need to trim, because I'm terrified of splits in a way that is new and alien to me. I would I could recapture that youthful defiance.

[JamieLeigh]

I heard that trimming will make it grow longer.

I always thought that Pantene was the absolute best thing for hair...EVER.

Boy was I wrong, LOL. (Luckily I found out about the fallacy of Pantene years before joining LHC, otherwise I'd be in a pretty state! :pinktongue:)

[marzipanthecat]

I heard and believed:
...

That women over 35 or so are forbidden to have long hair.



I forgot that one! Although I was told that anyone over 15 should not have long hair. Mind you, I grew up and went to school in a predominantly Hindu/Muslim area, where long hair on women is absolutely normal, so I didn't really seem at all odd with waist length hair.

[invisiblebabe]

Arrgh. When I was in school a girl (who was one of the leaders, a very popular girl) told us that if we cut our *eyelashes* they'd grow longer... and we all, like sheep, chopped off our *EYELASHES*! And looked diseased for a long time until they grew back. (rolls eyes) Indeed, they did look longer when they grew back in - longer than no eyelashes. Duh...


:bounce:

I laughed so hard at this :D

[sukhi_v1023]

Wow... So many of us have been told so many stupid things.

Here are some of mine.

#1. Lather, rinse, REPEAT.
I used to do this all the time. That was probably why I looked like I'd stuck my finger in a socket. "Hello, how would you like your hair today? Fried! Why that's my specialty!"

#2. Layers will make your hair healthier/fuller/better/whatever.
I've been paying the price for this for goodness knows how long. After I grow out the layers, I am NEVER doing that again. It just sucks beyond all belief.

#3. Blowfrying your hair is perfectly okay! I do it all the time!
I was told this by one of the most annoying, rude, and spiteful hairdressers ever. She was Asian with caramel blonde hair, and enough makeup to last the average woman for about 2 and a half years. Let me just say that I didn't take to her advice very easily, thank gosh.

These are my 3 basic biggies.

[Runzel]

I was told, and believed, that my hair was naturally extremely frizzy and I should either learn how to live with that or else flatiron it every day. :doh:

That frizz just wanted a little moisture, poor thing!

Thankfully, I've never been to a hair salon. Growing up my mom cut hair for the whole family, and when I grew old enough I carried on the tradition by learning to cut my own hair. So I was spared from taking most of the myths seriously because I only heard them from people who I knew were clueless about hair anyway. :rolleyes:

[Flynn]

...That for some people (read: me), frizzy/fluffy is just a hairtype, and that leaving hair damp causes damage.

Wrong, and wrong again, though I can see where they were coming from for the second one.

Edit: oh! forgot one! Also, no matter what you do, hair's thickness tapers out past shoulder length (i.e. fairytale ends start from the shoulders and can't be avoided even if you want to). Unlike plenty here, I am a frequent trimmer (2-4 times a year, usual "hairdresser trim" of 3-4 in., usually done by the barber), and maintain my hair at the same thickness from scalp to waist-length ends.

(My hair grows very rapidly, so I can get away with the frequent trims and still have it, on average, getting longer.)

[Peregrine]

"You have to wash your hair everyday or you're dirty." Told to me by my best frenemy, who would often wash her hair twice a day with expensive salon brand shampoo.

"Brush your hair!" by my mother. :p The result of these two suggestions left me with dry, frizzy hair that was twice the size of my head. I also couldn't put my hair up even in a ponytail at that point so I had to go to school looking like that.

Mistakes would be lying out in the sun for hours with my hair spread out so that the sun could lighten it better. The thought process there was that since the sun was natural it wouldn't be as damaging to my hair as bleach would be. My own convoluted logic here.

When showering I would use a handful of shampoo and pile it on my head. Afterward I would rarely use conditioner and I would also rip (literally) a brush/comb through my wet hair.

[LadyEliza]

That long hair would give you migrains.

I've always had migrains. When my hair was short and when it was long. When it was long, however, it's blamed on my hair!

"If you would just cut your hair you wouldn't have headaches anymore"

[Flynn]

That worked for me. I chopped my hair to pixie, I got fewer migraines, to the point they almost stopped. Then I started on the pill, and they ceased entirely. Let my hair grow out again, and now I have to be careful of how I wear it -- I can't, for instance, wear it "up" too often (which seems to be "more than once a week") or for too long or I start having problems.

So, perhaps that's not entirely a myth, but more a generalistion...?

[leahrachelle]

The biggest myth is the one that says that if you cut your hair will grow faster. The truth is that they never grow but how the hairdressers will going to make fortunes?

My biggest mistake is that as long as I was married I used to cut my hair in order to have them groomed. But this was far before I find LHC.
I haven't cut my hair for about 6 years. :D ( satanic smile for the hairdressers hi hi hi ! )

I have been told this one time and time again. The thing is, I heard it from people whose hair grows insanely fast, so it made it a lot more believable.

[babbleball]

The only one I ever believed was trim on the new moon for for thicker growth and on the full moon for faster growth. Not every full/new moon just when you needed a little trim up.

We are not a high maintenence family. Trims were for scraggly hair, bad haircuts grow out, blow dryers and products are more hassle than they worth, and whatever was cheapest and didn't cause instant headaches when being sniff tested. As a family we're pretty sensitive to smells/fragrances.

[MuzicalH3rb]

I just joined this website and I love it. I must say this past December I bought into "If you have fine hair, you need lots and lots of long layers so it grows out better"

..this is right after I told her I wanted to grow my hair waste length...

...and then she said she would only take off a little...

[Flynn]

Aaw...

I'm sure it looks lovely, though, and hair does grow out. ^__^

(I'm sure they only have this thing about layers because it's harder to see their mistakes then!)

[Ndnlady]

I fell for both:
Make sure you always get your hair cut every 4-6 weeks to make it grow and you will only have beautiful hair if you buy the most expensive shampoo and conditioner in the hair salons.:rolleyes:

[florenonite]

I think the "thick hair needs layers" has some basis in truth. My hair is thick, and when it's about shoulder-length it needs layers if I want to wear it down. I have a thin face, so my hair forming a pyramid shape is a big no-no for me because I end up with more hair than face!

That said, now that it's longer it's weighed down nicely by itself and doesn't need layers, and the layers are a right pain in the arse for updos.

[EdG]

The myth that I believed for years was that hair needs to be washed often. Like every day. shudder:

Thanks to LHC, I know better now! :cheese:
Ed

[enfys]

You too! :eek: this happened to me in England in 1972.

Dear goodness. Seeing this made me look at how old you are. You look very young from behind!

Um I never much went in for myths. My mum had very long hair as a younger lady; she used to use beer and vinegar in it even. So I had a good start there.

I've never been the client of a hairdresser. Only ever set foot in one once, wating for my mum Infact, I've been into more barber shops than hair dressers. 3:1. So never caught out there.

And then in 2003, aged 14, I discovered the internet had lots of hair-clever people and never looked back.

Phew.

[NebraskaChick84]

I believed:

oil was bad.

blow drying added body.

conditioner was not needed.

sins I commited:

blow drying after swimming (at school)
dying my hair (blonde so that if I had lice they would die/and if I didn't so they wouldn't like my hair)
using hair elastics

[NebraskaChick84]

Of course, being the lazy and, ahem, frugal slug that I am, I pretty much blew off the whole Healthy Hair is Clean Hair idea, since it can take a LOT of product to wash that much hair every day. Not to mention time and energy. Did I mention that I'm a lazy slug? http://www.iwgd.com/lhc/slug.gif
A big 'same here!' to that! I never could find time EVERY DAY to shower and wash, or to blow dry every day...or do all the other crazy stuff. Haircuts every 2 months? WHY? I neglected my hair shamefully, showering twice a week, using copious amounts of conditioner and never brushing until it was dry, wearing my hair up in braids and ponytails, air drying and cutting it only once every couple of years (usually when it started tickling my elbows when down)

[Copasetic]

I definitely fell for the myth that the more expensive a product is the better the quality is. Now I use Suave and my grocery store brand conditioner, and my hair has never looked better.

Somewhere I read that the more often you wash your hair, the faster it would grow. So for a while, I would wash my hair like 3 times a day. BIG mistake.

[jay0]

I thought I had to shampoo my hair every day to keep it clean, and I used too much shampoo.

[rose_in_bloom]

I believed my mom's hairdresser when she told me that fine hair should NEVER be longer than APL, and that layers were the best thing ever for my hair. :rolleyes:

I also thought that people would think I was disgusting if I didn't wash my hair every day (sometimes twice a day *cringe*) and that blowdrying daily would not damage my hair. Sigh...

[Jessica Trapp]

What mistakes were you making on a regular basis without even knowing? .


h'mmmmmmmmmmmmm... lemme see:

heat
curlers
hairspray
coloring
overwashing
under-conditioning
washing it daily in the bathtub in HOT HOT HOT water with the ends trailing in
using bands on the ends
sleeping with it loose
wearing it down
brushing
brushing
more brushing
did I mention brushing?

And so, it broke off. ALL THE TIME.

My hair grows kinda slow but I am (HOORAY!) now at 40 inches or "can-I-call-this-classic?"

[Nynaeve]

Brushing, a lot, with really awful pokey brushes with the dots on the end, and the folded-over plastic on the bottom that my hair got stuck in.

Getting my hair cut cause I wanted something new.

Taking baths.

FORGETTING that I **had** gotten my hair cut, then flinging my head up to get it out of the bathwater, like usual, and discovering that I did not need that velocity with the short hair. Yes, I did hit the huge water tap in the sink with my head. Yes, it did hurt very badly. No, it was not fun or funny at the time. (I began taking showers immediately after that.)

Wearing my hair in a high, tight ponytail all day every day. Letting the soccer sweat dry in my hair with the tie in, then taking it out at **just** the wrong time, so that it hurt my hair more.

Sleeping with it loose constantly

Washing with too much, and undiluted shampoo, specifically Pantene, cause it is apparently "the best" according to my family.

Not conditioning enough.

Not taking vitamins for my body and hair.

Allowing my family to sway me about the making sure to trim often thing, because cutting often will make it grow faster. Also, I was told you **can't** just look for the individual splits and just cut them off, cause not only would it be bad for my hair, but it would also make the ends look extremely ratty and uneven.

That **everyone** has hair that can be treated exactly the same and will look great, but only if everyone does X, Y, and Z.

Allowing people to put layers in my hair.

I never put something in my hair to protect it from chlorine/the sun/other elements.

Believing that "too much" oil could be a bad thing.

I did serious blowdrying for a while to tame my hair a bit (no it did not work)

When I began debate, I let someone straighten my hair with a flatiron, and of course the coach decided I needed one so I could do that to my hair often. :rolleyes: Yes, I did buy one, two in fact. Yes, they **did** destroy my hair.

Using seriously BAD evil elastics in my hair to keep it up.

We should wash, rise it, wash it again, rinse it, and then keep going until you think it's actually "squeaky clean."

That leaving hair damp to let it dry naturally would hurt my hair and make me incredibly sick (in a place where it is normally 90 degrees and 90% humidity.

Was told I had to brush several times a day, and roughly.

My grandmother **constantly** tells my mother that she's too old to have long hair, but her hair looks very, very good long.


To be honest, I never got stuck in the "washing your hair every day" thing, which I personally think saved it to some extent. I never washed often, even when I played soccer, and people still complimented me on my good smell and pretty hair. I learned very early that my hair hates being washed, and it makes it ridiculously dry, so I went at the very least three days without washing.

I also have always had virgin hair, just the idea of coloring was always so scary for me, somehow, despite what people said, I just knew that it had to be bad for hair.

[Nastacia]

People have told me a lot of things, but like many I'm just a lazy monkey and can't be bothered to do much. All over that I get to see people who " take care " of their hair i.e wash every day (!) brings me in horror because the hair looks truly terrific (in a bad way) and gets greasy very fast, so I dropped the *thought* of washing it often. Then the bad brushes, I must talk&pursuade one of my very good buddies, she has amazing hair and I really don't want her to ruin it.
my mistakes were brushing my hair roughly, and chlorine/sea salt incidents :3
Thats all :silly: For some reasons I think I'm very lucky to be this lazy, my hair appreciates it !

[LiraelQ]

I've definitely fallen prey to the "squeaky-clean hair is healthy hair" idea, and I'm gradually working my way out of that.

I've also drastically revised my ideas on oil since joining LHC. I used to think oil=dirt. I've learned that, especially for my skin, oil is nourishing and cleansing, as long as it's rinsed out properly.

I also used to think hair damage was truly inevitable. Or that I just had bad hair.

Oh, and I had a bunch of stylists try to thin out my hair because it was too thick and long.

As a teenager, I really internalized this one: I've had stylists constantly tell me I can't look really great if I don't "do stuff" to my hair in the morning...blow dry, mousse, style, whatever. Even my current favorite insinuates it every time she takes shears to my head. It gets really exhausting. I've had some stylists actually get irritated when I tell them, realistically, I'll never do styling in the morning. They act like I'm putting them out by asking for a simple trim! It's crazy!

(I think a lot of stylists need to realize their hair aesthetic is different from some people's...they see it as a canvas for really cool shapes and colors, but I personally just want my hair to be my hair.)

I didn't ever do the daily S&C thing, though. In undergrad I knew a few people who were self-proclaimed beauty experts...they did tons of makeup and hair and stuff all the time. They'd get SO MAD when I'd say I only washed every other day! I washed with shampoo, rarely used conditioner...which I've heavily revised recently. But it was like anathema to them that I didn't S&C every day, that I didn't use matching hair gel or hairspray or do anything to my hair.

It's weird how mad people get if you deviate from a beauty regimen they believe to be the only way, isn't it? I think they felt that, by not following their rules, I was challenging their beauty authority or something. But it's nuts to think there's one method of hair care for everyone!

[tevta]

well, I was convinced that longer hair means more pressure to the scalp and less hair. That meant that I cut my boyfriends' hair when it reached a certain lenght. Now, with coconut oil treatment, I just let it grow and grow - and they are still thick and strong.

[HotRag]

I thought: "Never ever let oil near your hair".

Hair dressers told me stuff that I found stupid and did not believe in.
Such as "you must trim 3/4 of the growth to get long hair" (I had never trimmed and had TB then, was still growing [I was 11 yo]).

Hair dresser said "henna is great for hair, conditioning!" - next hair dresser said "henna will damage your hair and make it dry".
So I thought "don't listen to hair dresser when it comes to henna".

I think I have been rather critical. I have not used much styling products, and when I have heard stuff like "you must open cuticle with schampoo, and close it with conditioner, to get it clean, otherwise it will be dirty and get damaged" I thought "and how did they manage so keep hair at all in the stone age...".

[ButterCup02]

I fell for it all too!! Only using expensive salon products, shampoo and condition every day (though over the past few years I started letting it go longer and longer because I noticed my hair nicer on days I didn't shampoo!), trim it every 4-6 weeks, the only way to have nice hair is to blow dry and flat iron it every day....back combing wasn't that bad for you hair....etc....etc....Now I'm paying for it, trying to get it healthy again!!

[Kiraela]

One of the myths that has always irritated me is that 'Pantene Is The Devil!!" Pantene and it's generic are the only things my hair LIKES.

I guess I was also too much of a lazy slug to care about, or follow any of the myths that I heard. Trimming every 6 weeks? I went more than two years, in high school. I dyed my hair every four to six weeks for about 7 years, and it still wasn't in that bad of condition (I stayed in darker tones, for the most part), until I bleached it. That was another myth: "Oh, don't worry about it. Bleaching your hair twice in two days isn't going to hurt it!"... Oh, and the ever classic " and also "you need to brush your hair while it's wet. Everyone does it. It hurts? Oh, stop being a baby." I looked straight at her on that one and said, "And that's why my hair has less split ends than yours, and looks less like straw."

[princess]

I was led to believe that shampoos give your hair volume.

Also to blowdry to make it fall straight.

Also I was led to believe that external application of anything(like massaging oil and coconut milk) will never make the hair any better. Only nuitritional diet will make it healthy.Nuitritional diet makes your hair healthy but conditioners natural and cone free brand name products are good for the hair. I have gone back to using coconut milk and use suave conditioner regularly.
I also used to think that it does not make a difference whether you use a shampoo or shikakai/aritha/chickpea flour. But now I know better and stick to shikakai/aritha only.
I also listened to someone and used shikakai soap and found that it was harsh on my hair. So stopped using it.

Now I know better.

[UncommonTart]

"Silicone serum is the ONLY way to deal with frizz. Nothing else is ever going to work for you; you need silicone serum, and the heavier the better."

And this was my sister talking (also a hair stylist, or at least, she was at the time). Wow, thanks for the years of dealing with waxy, coated, sticky, tangly hair. I wish someone then had told me that all hair is not necessarily the same, and silicone doesn't work for everyone. I'd have been so much happier with my hair, and so much sooner too.

[Madame J]

I believed the "expensive shampoo is better" myth for a little bit. I was also told that henna ruins your hair.

Luckily I ran into the no 'poo method a couple years back and have been experimenting with washing less often and with fewer harsh chemicals for a while now, so my short hair had a leg up when growing longer. I'm going to run into the "your hair looks flat and boring when it's long" thing from my mom in a few months, once it creeps toward APL and BSL (my hair grows FAST in the summer). But I had plenty of guys in college tell me otherwise when my hair was almost to my waist.

But my husband still lathers his near-APL hair everyday that he showers (which is 5-6 days a week) and uses expensive products. He uses a dandruff shampoo 2-3 times a week, and a shampoo for oily hair the other days. I've ordered some soapnuts and I'm also going to experiment with soapwort (local, easier to get), so I've been dropping subtle hints about how it's supposed to be a natural anti-dandruff treatment and maybe he could try it. Then again, maybe my hair will finally be longer than his, for the first time in a year and a half if he doesn't change his ways!

[euphrasyne]

I used to believe in product referal. I have since come to understand that what works for one person doesn't always work for someone else. It took me many years to understand that IRL or on this site, everyone's hair is different and that I had to find my own routine. ;)

[Merewen]

The biggest thing for me regards brushing/combing. Up until very recently I would brush and rip through my snarls both wet and dry. Maybe this is why I've got frizzies, hmm? I'm relearning a lot of curly hair care here.

[fishwich]

I used to believe that having any split ends meant that my hair was doomed to look like hell and break faster than it grew. Splits=bad=I should feel bad. And get a trim. My hairdressers loved this one, even the ones who thought it was cool I was trying to grow super-long.

I have since come to a comfortable understanding with the damage I have, and stopped #$%@#$% fretting so much. Hair's still growing, still looks fine.

[Jessica Trapp]

***beep, beep, beep.... warning.... thread hijack.... beep, beep, beep***

euphrasyne: I LOVE the updo in your avatar.

**end thread hijack**

Jes

[zombi]

I fell for...

your hair grows faster if you trim it
salon products work better
you should wash every day
you must trim every 6 weeks
blowdrying for volume
shampoo for volume
that thin, fine hair HAS to be short to look okay

[euphrasyne]

***beep, beep, beep.... warning.... thread hijack.... beep, beep, beep***

euphrasyne: I LOVE the updo in your avatar.

**end thread hijack**

Jes

lol. Thanks! Its a double french twist. I invented it a few years back. There is probably a post in the archives about it. Basically you do 2 seperate, but side by side tucked in twists and pull a bit out of the one on the right before pushing the hairstick through it. I had waist length hair at the time (*30",) so it is friendly for longer hair.

cheryl

[Seraphina]

Blowdrying is the best way to make your hair look neat and tidy.
Hair needs to be washed daily.
Hair shouldn't be past shoulder length at the most.

[Katahdin]

When I was reallllly little I can remember that my mom would wash my hair three or four times over, scrubbing hard with her hands until the skin was red. Until I was about thirteen or fourteen I thought it was hard to get grease out of hair, so I'd use a clarifying shampoo as my regular shampoo and I'd wash it several times over in one shower with a good two handfuls of shampoo per washing.

I'm amazed my hair behaved as well as it did, considering how harsh I was with it. :rolleyes:

[Chamy]

-Brush your hair with at least 100 strokes a day.
-Your hair will grow faster and longer if you cut it more often.
-Silicone drops will improve the condition of your hair, and repair split ends
-Blowdrying is a must every day to get your hair into a presentable state

:P, bullsh*t

[KaasKnot]

You must wash your hair every day.

For me, that's about it, but as I read this I keep thinking of my mother, who is over 50 with short, thin hair that is layered, dyed, heavily washed with salon products and exposed to any number of leave-in products to deal with dryness and frizz. I'm just thinking that maybe I should let her know about this site.

[Redheaded Raven]

My least favorite is cut your hair for it to grow. :shocked: No it just gets shorter. :shrug:

[JennQ]

This has got to be the most common (and dumbest): "You have to cut your hair to make it grow." How did anyone ever convince someone that was true? Even when my hair was past my knees, when I told people this was nonsense, they would assure me i was true, that their stylist told them so. I'd say "Who are you going to believe, the girl with five feet of hair, or the girl you pay to cut yours?" That got a lot of "Oh. Huh!" responses. :rolleyes:

That and as soon as my mom turned 40, my grandmother letting her know she was a little "mature" to be wearing her gorgeous blonde hair past her waist, and it was about time to get it cut short. :confused: What?!? This seems to be a common belief, and it's ridiculous! Long hair never goes out of style, no matter what age you are! Those ladies with the long white hair are awesome, and I totally plan on being one of them someday. ;)

[HeatherJenae]

I always saw my mom making the mistake of drying her hair by flipping her head upside down and rubbing a towel all over her head really vigorously. I'm STILL trying to get her to understand how damaging that is. Plus, one other just stupid mistake I made in general, was always washing my hair in super hot water. I'd take super hot baths and then just continue that in the shower and then always wonder why my skin was super dry and my hair looked like straw. Duh!!!

[Wicked Princess]

....I have to admit...I can't really relate to many of the posts here in the thread! I think I had sensible hair "rules" when I was growing up. My mother liked it when I had long hair.

I heard from hairdressers that I should trim my hair every two months if I wanted my hair to stay around the same length, but if I wanted to grow my hair, all I had to do was use a high quality conditioner to keep from getting split ends.

I was told by my aunt, who was a hairdresser, that high quality conditioners were usually more expensive, but my mother would also buy us some of the home-made conditioners and hair products that they would sell at farmers' markets, and they were just as nice as other salon products we used, and my aunt agreed with us.

I was told that if I didn't comb my hair if I wore it down so often, it would tangle to the point of it being unmanageable and break. So I would use a french braid when I did sports.

Oh! I was told that washing your hair with shampoo everyday was bad and damaging to your hair, and that if you had to get your hair wet, be sure to use conditioner.


So...in conclusion...I guess I was lucky :)

[Nyghtingale]

Um, ok...this is gonna sound weird. But, my mom used to tell me "Never wash your hair if you're on your period". She couldn't tell me why, she said that was what her mom told her.

[RancheroTheBee]

Um, ok...this is gonna sound weird. But, my mom used to tell me "Never wash your hair if you're on your period". She couldn't tell me why, she said that was what her mom told her.

:confused: But... but... your hair has no idea what your uterus is doing. How odd.

I totally bought into serum myth. This one time, I bleached my hair from black to blonde, and I thought serum would fix the horrible damage. Nope. I shaved it soon afterwards.

[Aunteater]

I was told that layering would give my thin hair more "body". No, layering makes my thin hair actually thinner. Duh.

With the right hair product, split ends could be repaired. Ack.

Cheap conditioner would make my hair fall out.

Trimming would make it grow faster.

Hairs are living things that can be "nourished". This still drives me nuts every time I hear it.

I don't think I believed any of those things more than the five seconds it took me to think about it.

On the other hand, I used to:

Always sleep with my hair down.
Always rip fake-boar-bristle brushes through it (I broke the handles off the brushes regularly doing this)
Always put my hair up while still wet, in the same high, tight ponytail every single day.
Always wear my hair down whenever I wasn't at work.

And then I'd wonder why I could never get it to look smooth-- must be some hair product I didn't know about, lol.

[peachrose]

- Heat protecting coney serums means ironing is non-damaging.
- It's more fun to have short hair.
- That thick hair should be thinned out.

[florenonite]

Um, ok...this is gonna sound weird. But, my mom used to tell me "Never wash your hair if you're on your period". She couldn't tell me why, she said that was what her mom told her.

That's right up there with the "don't shower when you're on your period; you'll bleed to death." If I had someone tell me that (or the one about not washing your hair), my response would be, "ok, you can sit beside me on day 8 of my period and see what you think of your advice!"

[krn2891]

My mom would always tell me that cutting your hair makes it thicker. Still have not figured that one out.

Mistakes: over brushing my hair (Although I'm still bad about this, I've limited my burshing to the morning, and then I put it up and leave it alone. But when I'm in a bad mood there is nothing more soothing to me then brushing my hair.)

[vampodrama]

I've heard a lot of stupid things regarding hair, and most of them very recently (since I've had short hair my entire life, I haven't really ventured into the 'hair-world' before now):

- hair must be blow-dried immediately after washing, because leaving it dry naturally will a) make you sick and cold and b) destroy your hair
- hair must be scrubbed with shampoo from the scalp to the very ends, because it's dirty and will not get clean otherwise.
- you must only use very expensive salon products, everything else is crap and will make your hair fall out eventually.
- henna is very bad for hair because it 'coats' the hair shaft and your hair won't be 'able to breathe' (this is truly beyond me. dead things do not breathe. )
- hair shaft is apparently indeed a living organism, because it needs constant 'nutrition' and 'nourishing', in the form of very expensive salon products.

and my personal favourite - the silicone theory. mainstream products contain silicone. all of them, absolutely every single one. cones are bad bad bad. expensive salon products contain cones too, but those are good (read: expensive) cones and they will nourish your hair and make it awesome.

from there stems another awesome belief - everything cheap is absolutely terrible for our hair. the more expensive product, the better it is. methinks it would be best if we used actual money (dollar, euro, whatever local currency) bills to wash our hair. :brickwall:

and there is one I have believed my entire life - thin, fine hair will NEVER look good long. I am trying to hard to kick that belief.

[Jinx2234]

What were you led to believe, and by who?
That only a dime sized amount of conditioner was needed for bsl hair- from a magazine article about the 'most commonly overused products'
That conditioner is not necessary at all- from my mom.
Coloring your hair makes it thicker- I'm not sure exactly where I heard this from.

What did you fall for?
See above. I know that not everyone needs conditioner, but without it my hair is impossible to comb.

What mistakes were you making on a regular basis without even knowing?
Brushing my wet hair without detangling first and ripping the brush through the tangles.
Putting my hair up every day in the exact same way.

[Heidi_234]

That's right up there with the "don't shower when you're on your period; you'll bleed to death." If I had someone tell me that (or the one about not washing your hair), my response would be, "ok, you can sit beside me on day 8 of my period and see what you think of your advice!"
Oh boy :scared: I wonder who even thought of that one :rolleyes:

[Medievalmaniac]

Carolyn - they told me the same thing (that layers make your hair look thicker). But all layers ever did was give me a headache trying to maintain them so they didn't look obvious. SIGH. I'm still growing them out!!

[GlassEyes]

- henna is very bad for hair because it 'coats' the hair shaft and your hair won't be 'able to breathe' (this is truly beyond me. dead things do not breathe. )
Ahhhh, this one. That's because of the resin that henna leaves behind, and because of the lawsone. For some reason, people think it won't allow moisture in. :shrug: Like it's an uber-silicone, or something.

[VintagePrincess]

The sales assistant at my local hair supply shop telling me that "cones in salon products like loreal and redken are okay, because they are better quality than cheap products containing silicone"

[Charentais]

Up until last month, I believed that dimethicone was the only thing that helped my hair. I doggedly sought out products that contained it.

I thought that sebum was evil.

[florenonite]

from there stems another awesome belief - everything cheap is absolutely terrible for our hair. the more expensive product, the better it is. methinks it would be best if we used actual money (dollar, euro, whatever local currency) bills to wash our hair. :brickwall:


I tend to go for the cheapest conditioner I can find (value own brands are a good place to look) because they're the ones with no cones at all!

[WritingPrincess]

Arrgh. When I was in school a girl (who was one of the leaders, a very popular girl) told us that if we cut our *eyelashes* they'd grow longer... and we all, like sheep, chopped off our *EYELASHES*! And looked diseased for a long time until they grew back. (rolls eyes) Indeed, they did look longer when they grew back in - longer than no eyelashes. Duh...

And that was my introduction to hair myths.


<snicker> Sorry for laughing, but it strikes me as such a crazy idea. :lol:

[Konstifik]

I used to believe that you had to trim the ends alot, or else the hair would stop growing. Yep, that's what the salons always told...

Oh, and that all conditioners damaged and put a strain on your hair.

[klcqtee]

hm...
My wavy hair needed to have layers.
I needed to straighten my hair if I wanted to be pretty
I should never have my hair short, because it will only make it more curly (My hair is actually straighter when it's short. I don't know why)
I have to wash my hair daily
It's important to blow dry because it will make my hair lay down (and get rid of the halo of short hairs)
Your hair should lay down.
Curly hair is bad
your hair is too long/short and it's no longer fashionable
Coarse hair is bad because it's like horse hair.

I'm not guilty to all of these, but these are ones I heard all the time. I am guilty of the layers thing, but I actually really enjoyed them. Now, I am guilty of washing every day, for a while. Then I got super lazy. (yay!) Now I just wash 3 times a week (at the most). Oh, some of those things really annoyed me.

[florenonite]

I should never have my hair short, because it will only make it more curly (My hair is actually straighter when it's short. I don't know why)

I've got a similar hairtype to yours and my hair's straighter when it's shorter, too. I think it's because the waves are so loose that when it's short there's not enough hair to complete an S-wave, and so it just looks straight. Does that make sense?

[vampodrama]

I tend to go for the cheapest conditioner I can find (value own brands are a good place to look) because they're the ones with no cones at all!

Unfortunately it is not the case in my country. It's quite hard to find cone-free stuff here and it's usually quite expensive. All the cheap stuff has loads of cones and parabens. Salon products are way out of my price range, cone free or not.

[florenonite]

Unfortunately it is not the case in my country. It's quite hard to find cone-free stuff here and it's usually quite expensive. All the cheap stuff has loads of cones and parabens. Salon products are way out of my price range, cone free or not.

Aww, that sucks. Both here in Canada and in Britain, the cheapest of a given shop's own brand stuff is generally 'cone-free. For instance, Sobey's, a Canadian supermarket chain, has its own brand, and the conditioner for its value line is 'cone-free and cost a little over $1 for a litre. In Britain, Superdrug's cheaper stuff (which I haven't seen recently :() is 'cone-free, but their more expensive lines, IIRC have 'cones. Maybe 'cones are seen as desirable in a world of heat-styling because they hide damage and make hair easier to detangle (along with a whole host of other things that make them virtually imperative for damaged hair but pretty much hit-and-miss with healthy hair), so they're in all the expensive conditioners, whereas cheaper ones don't bother.

[Cherry_Sprinkle]

hm...
My wavy hair needed to have layers.
I needed to straighten my hair if I wanted to be pretty
I have to wash my hair daily
It's important to blow dry because it will make my hair lay down (and get rid of the halo of short hairs)
Curly hair is bad
your hair is too long/short and it's no longer fashionable


add all of those for me and add the "you need to trim your hair every 4-8 weeks"...

[Jemoiselle]

Oh the "salon products are better" is the biggest joke I fell for, for certain! I remember another good one "If your hair squeaks after washing, it is truly clean". LOL How about it is truly going to be dried out later? Or how about "Dying your hair makes it healthier and smoother!" or "buy this protein treatment and your split ends will be completely healed!". I paid $20 per OUNCE :mad: for this garbage one year, and even got my poor Momma buying it too. That was years ago though, thank goodness.

And now for the biggest lie of all:
Lather, rinse and REPEAT! :confused:

[Jemoiselle]

I'm sorry for the repeat post, I just thought about another one of my favs:

"Pantene Pro-V wants YOU to take the 14 day challenge! Healthy hair guaranteed or your money back" :horse:

[ClareDee]

I've heard a few of the ones already mentioned, but heard a new one lately that I'm unsure about.

Someone told me that leaving conditioner in your hair for too long will make your hair "rot". Apparently it will start to break down/weaken your hair, if left on for a lot longer than the bottle says (i.e. left on for several hours rather than a few minutes).
I doubt there's any truth to that. I think the worst that can happen is lank over-moisturised hair, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong! I'm right now sitting with Boots honey and jojoba conditioner in my hair for about 20 minutes longer than the tub said :eek: :)

[Speckla]

Curly hair doesn't look good long.
Curly hair is too tangly to grow long.
Curly hair isn't neat looking....good to know! I like my bird's nest! lol!

[swanns]

I've heard a few of the ones already mentioned, but heard a new one lately that I'm unsure about.

Someone told me that leaving conditioner in your hair for too long will make your hair "rot". Apparently it will start to break down/weaken your hair, if left on for a lot longer than the bottle says (i.e. left on for several hours rather than a few minutes).
I doubt there's any truth to that. I think the worst that can happen is lank over-moisturised hair, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong! I'm right now sitting with Boots honey and jojoba conditioner in my hair for about 20 minutes longer than the tub said :eek: :)

I leave conditioner in my hair for at least half an hour about once a week, and as far as I can tell my hair's not rotting but rather liking it :D

[florenonite]

I've heard a few of the ones already mentioned, but heard a new one lately that I'm unsure about.

Someone told me that leaving conditioner in your hair for too long will make your hair "rot". Apparently it will start to break down/weaken your hair, if left on for a lot longer than the bottle says (i.e. left on for several hours rather than a few minutes).
I doubt there's any truth to that. I think the worst that can happen is lank over-moisturised hair, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong! I'm right now sitting with Boots honey and jojoba conditioner in my hair for about 20 minutes longer than the tub said :eek: :)

I had Boots rosemary and mint conditioner on my head for three hours in a row a couple months ago. I was doing a henna gloss and my hair felt absolutely amazing afterwards. I need to do another gloss soon for the conditioning alone (the colour could do with it, too, of course ;))

[theshadowpuppet]

I've seen an article in health magazine about 'how to get fuller hair' suggest that you highlight your hair regularly... since the dye fluffs the hair cuticle temporarily.

[Gingevere]

I was really into the idea that you could make your hair grow faster by eating certain foods. I also bought a lot of useless products that claimed to mend damaged and split ends.

As for the whole "cutting your hair will make it grow faster" thing... that so-called myth is kind of true in a indirect way. If you don't mind having split ends, then you obviously don't need to trim ever. But if you don't want a damaged hemline, then trimming every so often is essential to keep split ends from getting worse. So while trimming doesn't actually make your hair grow faster, it does help keep the splits at bay, therefore getting you to your goal faster.

[CurlyGirlCa]

[One thing that didn't work for me--Sun In. FYI, if you are dark haired, sun-in leaves your hair orangy/coppery. YUCK!

When I was younger (and less smart), it wasn't a beach day without Baby Oil to fry with and Sun In to lighten my hair.

[florenonite]

As for the whole "cutting your hair will make it grow faster" thing... that so-called myth is kind of true in a indirect way. If you don't mind having split ends, then you obviously don't need to trim ever. But if you don't want a damaged hemline, then trimming every so often is essential to keep split ends from getting worse. So while trimming doesn't actually make your hair grow faster, it does help keep the splits at bay, therefore getting you to your goal faster.

That's not quite true. Split ends can occur throughout the lengths, so trimming doesn't eliminate them. Now, if you're like me and are too lazy to snip off individual splits, then you might end up with a really tangled hemline every six months or so that requires a tiny trim (1/4"), but if you go through your hair regularly and cut off the individual splits you never need to trim.

Additionally, if you take good care of your hair you can reduce the number of splits you even produce so that they can be virtually absent, depending on your hair type.

[ClareDee]

Swanns and florenonite -- yep, I have yet to see any decomposing hair as a result of my conditioning either. Myth busted then :agree:

[hydrangea]

Remember the line of styling products that claimed to make your hair healthier if you applied them before blow drying/using heat? I can't remember the brand...what a lie! Until I joined LHC I had no idea that when you blow dried you were boiling the moisture inside the cuticle of the hair! No wonder it causes so much damage. And to think I did that every day for years and years (along with dyeing and using hair spray, harshly snagging a brush through it, etc...) :sad

[Allegra]

I think that line of styling products was called 'thermasilk' or something. I think it still exists actually! I actually used this product line a lot stupidly believing the advertising claims.

On that note, my biggest mistake was innocently and naively believing everything on shampoo/conditioner bottles and adverts. Like there's this one V05 product, it's a hot oil treatment called 'moisture soak' well now that i know about ingredients i can see that this contains a ridiculous amount of proteins and not one single moisturizing ingredient, so why do they call it 'moisture soak'??? This sort of thing really makes me angry actually! I was using this particular product obsessively as I knew my hair needed moisture and just couldn't understand why it was getting worse, until I found LHC and you guys. It really makes me angry though, aren't there laws against false advertising??

So I think the biggest hair myth is pretty much every word of conventional products and their advertising campaigns!

[Medievalmaniac]

Yes, Allegra, I have to agree with you about believing the shampoo/product adverts...I think it is amazing, nine times out of ten I don't believe advertisers for anything, but the tenth time - it's always an ad about how to improve the quality of my hair. I think it is my one true vanity point!!

[BlueWaterRed]

What a fun thread to read!

I fell for these myths, thankfully finding LHC aren't true! I have worn my thick gently wavy hair above shoulder length for the last 20 years, and have decided now at age 54, with the help of LHC, realized there is a way to grow it out. Both of my sisters have long hair, so why not me?

Here's the myths I've stumbled on over the years:

- because of my waves, I was told my hairdressers I could never grow my hair long (even though it
was waist length and healthy in high school) and I should wear it no more than 3" long

- Not washing your hair everyday is bad for your scalp (so buy this $25 shampoo ...)

- Suave products use cheap ingredients that will dry out your hair (turns out it was blow drying and
daily shampoo-rinse-repeat that were the culprits)

- Long hair isn't good for your face shape (many short hair websites are all about face shapes)

- You'll look older with long hair; it'll drag your face down and make you look more tired (not if I
wear it up and am smiling because of the satisfaction of accomplishing this good thing)

- ... older, more tired with long hair - what you really need is to go blond! (I look terrible with blond
hair - seems like an easy income-generator for salons)

- The thickness of your hair requires that you get regular thinning which will be effective with short
hair and you'll always need to wear it in layers

- People will never view you as professional at work with long hair (or even shoulder length hair)

- From an upscale hair salon: The only way to deal with any waves is to use a flat iron. We're not
going to be able to help you if you won't follow our recommendations (never went back)

- If you use a good conditioner, blow drying will "lock in" the moisture (oh brother!)

- Grow your hair long after age 50? Are you crazy? You're not a teenager! Act your age!

Now I just smile and imagine all the LHC-ers standing together in a field of beautiful hair. Thanks to Pixna's super shorties thread. So helpful and inspiring.

[going gray]

BlueWaterRed you couldn't be more right, enjoyed reading your post.

Happy growing!

[LittleOrca]

This is the biggest mainstream mistake I can think of right now:

http://www.getinstyler.com/howitworks.html

"And the best part is, because of the InStyler&#174; rotating hot iron's patented design, your hair won't get smashed and baked by the super-intense heat of a flat iron or other "hot" tools."

No, it just gets cooked rotisserie style instead.

Edit: I never used this, I saw threw it's polished look, but consider it a big mainstream mistake for people who get it and really believe it's not doing any damage at all.

[redcelticcurls]

The biggest one I fell for is that whole "brush your hair 100 times" bit.

I kept thinking that brushing would help control my hair, when all it did was destroy the pattern and give me the big poofball.

[rhubarbarin]

Just a thought, now that I'm thinking about it, my hairdressers have always said the only safe way to wear your hair is down, because updos lead to damage (twisting, braiding, etc). Now, I almost never wear my hair down, for both practical and personal reasons, and my hair is in fine condition, so I'm going to keep doing it.

Here at LHC, we do updos to protect fragile strands, but is there a minimum for wearing it down that is healthier? I used to sleep with it loose, but I've grown paranoid, so now it's in a loose sleep braid at night. Anyone know this? I know there's a thread for sleep styles, but what about in general?

For me, at this length (not long), I do feel that wearing it down is easier on my hair. But I have bizarrely tangle-free hair, and it just lays down my back (of if I'm leaning against something, over my shoulders), the only time I run fingers through it is in the shower with it covered in conditioner.

Every time I put it up (with braids, I have to pull curls apart without combing - snap! Buns, I cannot insert a stick or fork without some breakage. Ponytails, there is always an area of pull on the scalp and even with no-damage elastics, a few hairs are sacrificed.) I break a couple of hairs. The separating, smoothing or twisting that most styles require is hard on my damaged length, which breaks off in tiny pieces with the least friction. I go weeks at a time without breaking a hair when it's down.

[Aer]

I fell for the myth that it was best to buy salon or mainstream products if you wanted good hair. I was told that natural shampoos left build up and broke out your scalp. I didn't fall for the myth that dying your hair darker with chemical dyes improves your hair. I almost fell for the going blond myth, that it would look better on me. Oh, and that long hair messes up your face shape, I've done short hair, I look really masculine when my hairs short. I am so glad that I found TLHC.

[adiapalic]

Another one that gets me is how some heating products like blow dryers and flat irons can claim that there is 'something' about their product that makes it less damaging somehow. You are BOILING your hair...going to get damage!

This reminds me of the Thermasilk hair products--their commercials always claimed that the hair loves the heat, and Thermasilk was great to use with a blow dryer.

[Amara]

Just the idea that anyone (me!) could have long hair - I mean it just never occured to me that I could! :)

[heatherdazy]

I had never heard most of these myths until I started doing hair and heard them from clients.

I was really lucky and started as an assistant for a stylist who really knew a lot about hair care. She always recommended minimizing shampoos and heat styling, offered henna (you had to go at the end of the day, though!), gave clients lessons on braiding, upstyling, etc. She retailed things like sulfate free shampoos, acid rinses, wide tooth combs.

I definitely don't have all the answers, though, and there have been times when I've been faced with questions/situations I couldn't answer, so I try to point my client in the right direction or I try to learn more myself.

Being on this board and seeing so many people say stylists have told them all these weird lies about hair health has made me feel confused and defensive, to be perfectly honest. I'm constantly lecturing my clients to shampoo less, do heat free styling at least half the week, etc. I want their hair to be as beautiful as possible not only because I know that's how I get more business, but because I am trying to give them my best service and information possible.

In my opinion, most women who maintain their hair above the shoulders do need a trim every 6-8 weeks in order to keep the shape of the style. I generally recommend about every 3 months for my clients who are BSL to waist, and 4 months to my clients who have hair past the waist but like a clean looking hemline.

Sometimes things aren't necessarily myths, they're just not true for every single person. The ceramic iron thing is a good one. For someone who really feels she must iron her hair daily, switching from a metal to a ceramic iron can make a big difference in the health of her hair over the long term. Obviously, refraining from ironing at all is the least damaging option, but a etter quality iron is certainly the lesser of two evils.

Apologies for all the rambling... this is such a long thread, I could have rambled more!

[toodramatik]

This is the biggest mainstream mistake I can think of right now:

http://www.getinstyler.com/howitworks.html

"And the best part is, because of the InStyler® rotating hot iron's patented design, your hair won't get smashed and baked by the super-intense heat of a flat iron or other "hot" tools."

No, it just gets cooked rotisserie style instead.

Edit: I never used this, I saw threw it's polished look, but consider it a big mainstream mistake for people who get it and really believe it's not doing any damage at all.


OMG! "Let's see what is hotter. A spit roast, or a grilll..."

I never really heard "hair myths" when growing up. I was raised as a tomboy so no one really talked to me about hair lol

[Vermelha]

1. Getting highlights would grow my hair. I wanted to ask the hairdresser—who had TB curly hair—why she didn't have highlights then?

2. Washing my hair—with regular shampoo—every single day would make it grow. So not true. My hair stayed frizzy.

3. You can use hardcore protein treatments every week. My hair felt like straw.

4. You need a relaxer. If your hair is too curly, it will break off. She said it as if the hair would break off on it's own just because it curls.

5. Keep getting trims every six weeks. My old hairdresser would cut up to 1" of my hair every time I visited her. No wonder it never got past SL.

[fritillary]

I've fallen for all of these and more, gosh. It's a travesty that we get duped into believing all this. More than anything, I wish I had never let anyone color, layer, or THIN my hair. Ugh. It's going to take years and years to grow all this out.

[swanns]

- Long hair isn't good for your face shape (many short hair websites are all about face shapes)


This reminds me of this 'haircare special' I read in a girls' magazine a few years ago. They'd listed different face shapes (round, triangular, heart-shaped, etc) and what kind of hair looks good with each. 'Just past your shoulders' was the longest they offered to any shape... :rolleyes:

[swanns]

This is the biggest mainstream mistake I can think of right now:

http://www.getinstyler.com/howitworks.html

"And the best part is, because of the InStyler&#174; rotating hot iron's patented design, your hair won't get smashed and baked by the super-intense heat of a flat iron or other "hot" tools."

No, it just gets cooked rotisserie style instead.

Edit: I never used this, I saw threw it's polished look, but consider it a big mainstream mistake for people who get it and really believe it's not doing any damage at all.

My gosh, this reminds me of the rolling hairbrush thingy (without the hot iron part) my mum ordered for me from TV. It gave the women in the infomercials the sleekest, straightest shiniest hair, but when I used it on my hair it just got stuck :rolleyes:

Oh and does anyone remember the Split-Ender? I actually still have one (haven't used it for years though). What bs it was.

[autumnsakura]

This is the biggest mainstream mistake I can think of right now:

http://www.getinstyler.com/howitworks.html

"And the best part is, because of the InStyler® rotating hot iron's patented design, your hair won't get smashed and baked by the super-intense heat of a flat iron or other "hot" tools."

No, it just gets cooked rotisserie style instead.

Edit: I never used this, I saw threw it's polished look, but consider it a big mainstream mistake for people who get it and really believe it's not doing any damage at all.

I saw the "transformation" videos, and was laughing out loud! Those poor women all look like they just found their salvation through a hot iron, even though the hosts essentially told them they were ugly at the beginning!

[going gray]

It's so sad how we get duped into thinking we need product after product to make are hair healthy. Don't even want to think about how much money I've spent on hair products!

[autumnsakura]

I've heard a lot of the myths others have posted, but the most egregious example from my own life was when a hair stylist was trying to convince me to put bleach blond highlights in my naturally-beautiful-red-that-others-always-envy hair. :confused:

[Allegra]

Oh and does anyone remember the Split-Ender? I actually still have one (haven't used it for years though). What bs it was.
Ugh, i also fell for that one (thinking it would be the answer to my prayers), it is shoved in the back of my cupboard somewhere, I will never use it again.

[bigdreamer]

About 10 years ago I was getting a haircut and the stylist had beautiful long hair. I told her I loved her hair and I wanted to grow my hair really long like that.

She actually said to me that I'll never have hair as long as hers... I swear that still stings to this day.

[RancheroTheBee]

About 10 years ago I was getting a haircut and the stylist had beautiful long hair. I told her I loved her hair and I wanted to grow my hair really long like that.

She actually said to me that I'll never have hair as long as hers... I swear that still stings to this day.

How obnoxious of her. How does she possibly know how long your hair can get?

[nowxisxforever]

How obnoxious of her. How does she possibly know how long your hair can get?

Yeah, really... what a <beeeeeep>!

[lovebug]

I used to believe in blowfrying, back-combing and tons of hairspray for extra volume. My hair sure was big, but not that good-looking and it was fragile like dry hay.

"If you cut it it´ll grow faster"
"Split ends need to be cut off immediately to you have to trim every 6-8 weeks!"
"Chemical haircolor is actually good for your hair"

[Vermelha]

About 10 years ago I was getting a haircut and the stylist had beautiful long hair. I told her I loved her hair and I wanted to grow my hair really long like that.

She actually said to me that I'll never have hair as long as hers... I swear that still stings to this day.


WHAT!?!?!?? Where is she? I so like want to hunt her down, lol...(readjusts self), but really, that does sting...a lot! I'm sorry she said that to you. I hope one day you'd get to reunite with her and ask her to blow out your beautiful, long hair, as it really is beautiful from what I see in your avatar. Give her the ol' classic salon swang in her face :cheese:!

[bigdreamer]

Thanks all for wanting to fight back with me! I have no idea where it came from and I've never forgotten it because, well, it's true and I have always wondered what she meant by it -
but now...

I found LHC!!!...Back at her with an evil laff I swear! :)

[eternallyverdan]

Does anyone else hear that horrible sizzling noise in the background of the videos for the InStyler? Every time that thing touches someone's hair it makes a noise like hot water being poured into a frying pan.

[shaybabe8604]

I was led to believe all sorts of mythical things like my hair wouldn't grow long because of my ethnicity, that I had coarse knotty hair ( it's actually medium to very fine in certain areas, and I have very small curls). My hair is "bad hair" because I couldn't comb it without hurting my scalp. "Relaxing your hair will make it longer and more manageable". Oh and the memorable response to my desire to cut off all the damaged "bad' hair (when I stopped relaxing): 'You might as well just keep your head shaved because it's all bad". Ha!

[Heavenly Locks]

. Oh and the memorable response to my desire to cut off all the damaged "bad' hair (when I stopped relaxing): 'You might as well just keep your head shaved because it's all bad". Ha!

Oh how horrid!! What a thing to say to someone...

You've got beautiful hair, aren't you glad you didn't take THAT person's "advice"?

[DragonLady]

She actually said to me that I'll never have hair as long as hers... I swear that still stings to this day.

A hairdresser told me that once, too. At the time I kept hair cropped really short, and I was admiring a picture of his daughter. I asked him how I could grow my hair as long as hers (about BSL, I think), and still have it look that good.

He said it wasn't possible. That the picture was carefully staged with her hair all brushed to the front and sprayed with all kinds of products and after that enhanced even more by the photographer.

I believed him, because before that the only time I had long-ish hair it was always a disaster of split ends and knots. Of course, no one had taught me how to take care of it or even comb it right.

A few years later I let me hair grow out the first time, but I damaged it with blowdrying and rough brushing and teasing...but I didn't care much. I think I just had it in my head that it could either be long or it could be nice, but not both.

It wasn't 'till almost a decade later that I got the notion that I wanted ankle-length, beautiful hair and of course...many years after that before I found this place.


Now; I think my hair looks better than hers did. And no staging or enhancing is required. :) I've thought of that moment a few times, and thought "Yeah...eat your heart out."

[nowxisxforever]

Does anyone else hear that horrible sizzling noise in the background of the videos for the InStyler? Every time that thing touches someone's hair it makes a noise like hot water being poured into a frying pan.

I didn't hear a sizzle, although I think I did hear the hair being raked against the bristles, and the mechanical sound of the spinny thing.

Ergh. They ruined that poor girl's curls! If they had just shown her how to properly treat them...

[redcelticcurls]

I didn't hear a sizzle, although I think I did hear the hair being raked against the bristles, and the mechanical sound of the spinny thing.

Ergh. They ruined that poor girl's curls! If they had just shown her how to properly treat them...

The infomercials for that thing drive me nuts. Curly hair is treated like some sort of disease that needs fixed. Bah. :mad: They rarely show nice before curls either; they tend to look dry brushed.

[toodramatik]

I'll bite guys. What's a split ender?

[Heavenly Locks]

I'll bite guys. What's a split ender?

Try this link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNriAj8Rb4E&feature=PlayList&p=97082472D337BB54&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=58

ETA: I never tried it, but it seems to get negative reviews here, I wonder what it is about it that just doesn't seem to 'cut' it? ( :henny: )

[toodramatik]

Try this link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNriAj8Rb4E&feature=PlayList&p=97082472D337BB54&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=58

ETA: I never tried it, but it seems to get negative reviews here, I wonder what it is about it that just doesn't seem to 'cut' it? ( :henny: )


How does it work on curly hair? :|

I don't know if this has ever been mentioned... My little sister's best friend does this "trick" to remove split ends. She grabs my sister's hair, twists it, does something weird to the ends, and the split ends all just fall off :S She does it really quickly though and won't teach us how.

[nienna42]

I think the myths I ran into the most when I bothered listening to mainstream hair advice were that:
--Hair grows faster when trimmed regularly.
--You have to trim regularly if you want healthy hair, even if you're not trying to make it grow faster.
--Salon products are better.
--Cone-heavy products are better. (Not that anyone said it like that, but most of the products that I saw getting good reviews were the cone-heavy ones like Pantene.)
--Certain products can actually repair damage. (Not just glue it together temporarily.)

I believed all of them to an extent before I found LHC, except for the idea that trims make hair grow faster. That one has never made any logical sense to me. At all. I still think these "myths" can hold some truth for some people, depending on their hair type and how they care for their hair. I mean, if you have very fine, thin, permed, bleached hair that you heat style every day, then you probably will want to trim fairly regularly, and cone-heavy products will probably make your hair look best, because they'll cover some of the damage and help protect your hair from more. Being entirely cone-free doesn't work for me. My hair looks best and is most manageable when it gets an occasional small dose of something coney. Salon products probably do work better for some people, just like one drugstore brand may work better than another for some people. Etcetera.

[Eolan]

I too got the "wash, rinse, wash"-advice. And of course there has always been the "need" of products, products, products. And I colored it and bleached it, and got it layered (because I HAD to, since my hair was so thick, there was no other way, really) with both scissors and razors...

My old hair dresser told me this really weird thing. You should hold your hand behind your back, in a relaxed way if that makes sence, and point your thumb upwards. Where the thumb pointed, that's how long you could grow your hair. If you grew longer than that it would look unproportional. I also heard a variation on that, that you should not grow your hair longer than BSL. Errr, okaaaay... :justy:
And overall I got the whole "your hair will look boring if you grow it long and natural", or rather that it would be dorky, I guess. I don't mind being dorky.
My current hair dresser, who is also one of my best friends, actually changed her opinion about that. She thought I would look horrible with natural, one lenght, long hair, now she loves my hair. I win! :cheese:

And something else: she told me that the hardest cut to do is one that is very sharp, with straight, blunt ends. Yes, it is easier to cut layers. Not that I'm being paranoid or anything...

[toodramatik]

I too got the "wash, rinse, wash"-advice. And of course there has always been the "need" of products, products, products. And I colored it and bleached it, and got it layered (because I HAD to, since my hair was so thick, there was no other way, really) with both scissors and razors...

My old hair dresser told me this really weird thing. You should hold your hand behind your back, in a relaxed way if that makes sence, and point your thumb upwards. Where the thumb pointed, that's how long you could grow your hair. If you grew longer than that it would look unproportional. I also heard a variation on that, that you should not grow your hair longer than BSL. Errr, okaaaay... :justy:
And overall I got the whole "your hair will look boring if you grow it long and natural", or rather that it would be dorky, I guess. I don't mind being dorky.
My current hair dresser, who is also one of my best friends, actually changed her opinion about that. She thought I would look horrible with natural, one lenght, long hair, now she loves my hair. I win! :cheese:

And something else: she told me that the hardest cut to do is one that is very sharp, with straight, blunt ends. Yes, it is easier to cut layers. Not that I'm being paranoid or anything...


Cursed long arms. Using the "rule of thumb", my hair should be at classic :P

[Margeaux]

In addition to all that's been said so far, I got this one:

"Your curly hair will only grow into a massive ball of frizz once it gets longer. So to achieve the best results either you keep it short or you straighten it daily" (yes, this coming from a hairdresser...)

[Eolan]

Cursed long arms. Using the "rule of thumb", my hair should be at classic :P

Mwahaha! Well, well! :twisted: Then there's always the long thumbed and the extra stretchy folks...

[pixiedoo]

'Your hair will look thicker if you have layers cut in'

Why oh why did I believe that..........doh!!

18 months later...............I'm still growing the stupid things out and NO it did not make my hair look thicker. In fact it had the opposite effect and my fine, damaged hair looked limp, lifeless, and the layers made all my waves stick out in odd directions.

Also for a long time I (stupidly) believed that my hair would grow faster if I had it cut regulary and that expensive salon products where the best thing for it. Mmmmmm......I have given up my £15 cone-filled bottles of poo, conditioner and serum etc etc and swapped them for £2 cone-free products and a bit of jojoba oil and my hair has never been happier :)

[marzipanthecat]

Um, ok...this is gonna sound weird. But, my mom used to tell me "Never wash your hair if you're on your period". She couldn't tell me why, she said that was what her mom told her.

OK, related to this post but off-topic:

Back when we were doing the "facts of life" stuff in science classes at school (this would be 24 years ago, yikes) we were told that we must NEVER use tampons until we were 18 years old. I remember some literature from Tampax themselves saying this.

Now, some of us had hit puberty fairly early and were already using tampons at the age of 11 or 12, but we (including me) kept very quiet. (I used to be a keen swimmer, so that would stop otherwise!)

Also, we were told it was OK to have a bath when we had a period. We all kind of sat there saying "Yeah, we do anyway".

It's odd to think that all these ancient beliefs are still so active.

(Shall we all walk through fields of crops to kill all the pests on them????!)

[marzipanthecat]

About 10 years ago I was getting a haircut and the stylist had beautiful long hair. I told her I loved her hair and I wanted to grow my hair really long like that.

She actually said to me that I'll never have hair as long as hers... I swear that still stings to this day.

Seriously - if she told you the truth (which is that you don't need lots of haircuts and styling products) then she'd lose a customer. I suspect it wasn't actually meant to upset you, just something to keep you coming back regularly.

It was a hurtful thing to say, though. And remarkably tactless. (And she doesn't have amazing psychic skills to know what you hair would do...)

[toodramatik]

Hrm, while we're on the subject of hairdressers...

When I went to get my haircut back in June, my length was a bob (Self-cut, so a lot of mistakes). I don't flat-iron or dye my hair half as much as most girls my age do, and I have naturally thick hair. It was flat ironed that day, though, and whilst she was shampooing my hair:

Hairdresser- I love your hair! It's so thick. It's really shiny too.
Me- Thank you.
Hairdresser- Seriously.. I'm loving touching it. It's perfect.
Me- Thank you.
Hairdresser- What shampoo do you use?
Me- Tresemme usually.
Hairdresser- WHAT?
Me- Tresseme. Uh. Its a brand. Comes in black bottles.
Hairdresser- Tresseme? Like.. from the supermarket?!
Me- Yes.
Hairdresser- You should really take care of your hair better. Don't you find that it's kind of dry sometimes? You need to use salon products.

---

I giggled. My hair went from being perfect to being dry :(

[Flynn]

OK, related to this post but off-topic:

Back when we were doing the "facts of life" stuff in science classes at school (this would be 24 years ago, yikes) we were told that we must NEVER use tampons until we were 18 years old. I remember some literature from Tampax themselves saying this.

Now, some of us had hit puberty fairly early and were already using tampons at the age of 11 or 12, but we (including me) kept very quiet. (I used to be a keen swimmer, so that would stop otherwise!)

Also, we were told it was OK to have a bath when we had a period. We all kind of sat there saying "Yeah, we do anyway".

It's odd to think that all these ancient beliefs are still so active.

(Shall we all walk through fields of crops to kill all the pests on them????!)

Only about ten years ago I was told tampons were only for "older girls" (guess what that really meant), and in case we missed the meaning, that you shouldn't use them if your hymen was intact. O.o

Never heard the "no hair washing" one. I imagine, though, with very long hair you might run the risk of, uuuhm, getting a protein treatment you hadn't planned for if you weren't careful, so maybe that is the source of it...????

[heatherdazy]

OK, related to this post but off-topic:

Back when we were doing the "facts of life" stuff in science classes at school (this would be 24 years ago, yikes) we were told that we must NEVER use tampons until we were 18 years old. I remember some literature from Tampax themselves saying this.
Wow, if some science teacher tried to demand my kid deal with her vagina in a certain way, I'd be down there in a heartbeat screaming at somebody!

[ladylibra]

Hmmm... the main thing I was led to believe, was that I couldn't wear my natural hair in its natural state. There were people with looser textures that could, of course. That was a given. The first time I saw a black woman with dreadlocks, I apparently begged my mom to style my hair that way. She straight up told me, "You don't have that type of hair, and besides dreadlocks are gross. They don't ever wash their hair, and you don't wanna be like that."

When I grew up I learned of course - not all dreadlockers refrain from washing their hair, they are not gross, and you can pretty much lock any type and texture of hair if you really want to. At the time though, I just figured I didn't have the looser hair that was "easier" to take care of naturally, nor the tighter texture of hair that would allow me to have locks or an afro. So, I was resigned to "doing something" to my hair all the time, to make it look straight.

Another great myth I grew up with - if you cut your long hair, it would not grow back to that length ever again! :rolleyes: Now, I knew that it might be difficult and take some time to grow it out long again... but I'll admit, when I did my big chop down to 2 inches of natural hair, I was a little scared that it wouldn't grow long again, and that everyone would be shouting, "I told you so!" :o

Well, at least I'm the one who was right! I've already surpassed my previous length by a foot, and I'm sure I can grow it longer as the years progress. ;)

[florenonite]

The infomercials for that thing drive me nuts. Curly hair is treated like some sort of disease that needs fixed. Bah. :mad: They rarely show nice before curls either; they tend to look dry brushed.

This really bothers me, too. I think well-moisturised and cared-for curly hair (like yours) is beautiful, and I wish there wasn't such a stigma against it.


How does it work on curly hair? :|

You're supposed to straighten it first :p

[FallynLeaf]

Strangely, I was kept naive to many of these myths.

I blowfryed my hair only on the rarest of occasions (five times in my life, if that).
I have never dyed my hair before.
I only washed it every other day.
I had never heard of conditioner making hair greasy and applied it faithfully every wash.
I only had my hair layered once and that was not my choice.
My hair has never been straightened, nor have I heard any myths about that helping my hair.
When growing out my hair before, I did not get it trimmed.

I think it's because I almost never watch TV, thus I don't hear hair product adds.

[Nyghtingale]

(trying not to look at the splitender)

[toodramatik]

This really bothers me, too. I think well-moisturised and cared-for curly hair (like yours) is beautiful, and I wish there wasn't such a stigma against it.



You're supposed to straighten it first :p

*dies of laughter*

[Maddy25]

I used to dye my hair a lot and I was told everytime I went to go buy hairdye and would ask the woman for help that my hair would fall out if I coloured it one more time. When going from black to light blonde I actually called the brand of hairdyes helpline and asked and she said the same thing, do not do it, your hair will all fall out. Never ever happened and my hair always looked nice afterwards. My hairdresser even mentioned what good condition it was in and couldnt believe all the stuff I put it through.

[Loviatar]

Hairdresser- What shampoo do you use?
Me- Tresemme usually.
Hairdresser- WHAT?
Me- Tresseme. Uh. Its a brand. Comes in black bottles.
Hairdresser- Tresseme? Like.. from the supermarket?!
Me- Yes.
Hairdresser- You should really take care of your hair better. Don't you find that it's kind of dry sometimes? You need to use salon products.

Stupid hairdresser. You may be able to buy Tresemme from the supermarket, but it was marketed originally as being salon quality (Whatever that means). To be honest when I was using Tresemme and dyeing regularly, my hair was pretty happy with it too - AND my salon used Tresemme products. :)

[Cheros]

I can't verify if this is going to be true.
But I always hear comments about my "long hair", which is only shoulder length. People say it looks awful, flat, feminine and that I should cut it and be normal/ a real man.
Sounds *&&&#37;%$ to me, and it's my hair i'll do as i please. I don't try to control your life.

I don't know why guys are so against long hair and hair care, why does it make me gay :p ?
I'm actually asking your opinions, what do you think if you see a guy with long hair, or what do you think is going through their heads ?

[Maddy25]

I can't verify if this is going to be true.
But I always hear comments about my "long hair", which is only shoulder length. People say it looks awful, flat, feminine and that I should cut it and be normal/ a real man.
Sounds *&&%%$ to me, and it's my hair i'll do as i please. I don't try to control your life.

I don't know why guys are so against long hair and hair care, why does it make me gay :p ?
I'm actually asking your opinions, what do you think if you see a guy with long hair, or what do you think is going through their heads ?

When I see long hair on guys I think sexy rocker haha. I love it! Makes them different <3

[Cheros]

Well it won't be the only reason I grow it, but it's nice to hear a positive external factor as well :)
It's just annoying, short hair everywhere you look. And if you don't conform, "you look gay dude".

I'd like to think this changes with age, we'll see.

[Charentais]

I can't verify if this is going to be true.
But I always hear comments about my "long hair", which is only shoulder length. People say it looks awful, flat, feminine and that I should cut it and be normal/ a real man.
Sounds *&&%%$ to me, and it's my hair i'll do as i please. I don't try to control your life.

I don't know why guys are so against long hair and hair care, why does it make me gay :p ?
I'm actually asking your opinions, what do you think if you see a guy with long hair, or what do you think is going through their heads ?

I just see a guy with long hair.

[Madame J]

I can't verify if this is going to be true.
But I always hear comments about my "long hair", which is only shoulder length. People say it looks awful, flat, feminine and that I should cut it and be normal/ a real man.
Sounds *&&%%$ to me, and it's my hair i'll do as i please. I don't try to control your life.

I don't know why guys are so against long hair and hair care, why does it make me gay :p ?
I'm actually asking your opinions, what do you think if you see a guy with long hair, or what do you think is going through their heads ?

There's a thread around here somewhere, on this forum, titled "I have to say it... Long-haired guys are HOT!" You should check that one out.

I don't know why people seem to think long-haired guys are gay. None of the long-haired guys I know IRL are gay :confused: I'm married to a long-hair.

...and none of the gay guys I know IRL are long-haired.

[ladylibra]

I can't verify if this is going to be true.
But I always hear comments about my "long hair", which is only shoulder length. People say it looks awful, flat, feminine and that I should cut it and be normal/ a real man.
Sounds *&&%%$ to me, and it's my hair i'll do as i please. I don't try to control your life.

I don't know why guys are so against long hair and hair care, why does it make me gay :p ?
I'm actually asking your opinions, what do you think if you see a guy with long hair, or what do you think is going through their heads ?

I think they are just trying to imply that long hair is effeminate on a man... and of course, effeminate = gay. :rolleyes:

Now, I don't know every gay man on the face of the planet. But the large majority of gay men I know and that I am friends with have short, "manly" hair cuts. ;)

[Cheros]

It goes over my head. I understand the effeminate part, but if everything else is not then they will ignore that. Ostracizing is fun when you have a gang perhaps.

I don't get why taking care of yourself is seen as an effeminate process, taking care of your muscles is just the same as taking care of your hair. Kind of. It's the same mentality roughly.
I
will try find that thread :)

[LaFlor]

*Everyone should get highlights*

[florenonite]

*dies of laughter*

The sad thing is, that was totally true. They recommend it on the website :rolleyes:


I can't verify if this is going to be true.
But I always hear comments about my "long hair", which is only shoulder length. People say it looks awful, flat, feminine and that I should cut it and be normal/ a real man.
Sounds *&&%%$ to me, and it's my hair i'll do as i please. I don't try to control your life.

I don't know why guys are so against long hair and hair care, why does it make me gay :p ?
I'm actually asking your opinions, what do you think if you see a guy with long hair, or what do you think is going through their heads ?

I like long hair on guys, because I like long hair in general.

[GlassEyes]

I can't verify if this is going to be true.
But I always hear comments about my "long hair", which is only shoulder length. People say it looks awful, flat, feminine and that I should cut it and be normal/ a real man.
Sounds *&&%%$ to me, and it's my hair i'll do as i please. I don't try to control your life.

I don't know why guys are so against long hair and hair care, why does it make me gay :p ?
I'm actually asking your opinions, what do you think if you see a guy with long hair, or what do you think is going through their heads ?
Because long hair = girl, and because you are not a girl, it is wrong, and you must like men. :rolleyes: Because, obviously, long hair affects your sexuality.

And I'll back up the gay longhair thing. I'm gay, and I am growing out my hair, but most of the other gay guys I've met have short hair. :shrug:

[Cheros]

Well it's nice to find some people who like long hair on guys. Many seem dismissive and forcibly demand you conform to stereotypes.

Maybe it's because i'm a teenager at a community college. Who knows.

[Kiraela]

You know, I know quite a few longhaired men, IRL and Online. Only two are gay. (most are either bikers, or goth guys whose girlfriends have to fight off the other women with sticks). Longhaired straight men are the norm, and anyone trying to tell you 'you look gay' with long hair is clearly an idiot. That said, I am willing to bet that most of the harassment, if not all, comes from other teenage and early-to-mid 20s males, right? They haven't learned that being a conformist sheep isn't cool, yet. Give them time and ignore them while they grow up.

(speaking of which, DBF is growing out his hair :cheese:, and I would simply laugh if someone called my blackclad, bearded, blacksmith boyfriend 'effeminate'. Well, that and hope they have health insurance, haha.

Oh, another myth that kinda gets to me: only people who don't take care of their hair have damage and splits. I take darn good care of my hair, but I still have damage and splitting on the bottom 1/3 or so where there is old dye. Some of us are still in the process of growing out the damage, and don't want to/aren't ready to make the big chop just yet.

[florenonite]

Well it's nice to find some people who like long hair on guys. Many seem dismissive and forcibly demand you conform to stereotypes.

Maybe it's because i'm a teenager at a community college. Who knows.

That's funny, because it's the teenagers/young adults at my uni who seem most accepting of long hair on guys, and where I see most long-haired guys. But then, given what my dad's told me (he teaches at a community college), uni students are a bit more eccentric that those at community colleges, in general, so long hair is really quite normal compared to some of the things people do at my uni (shaving foam fights, silly superstitions, racing wheely chairs down corridors, the list goes on). Maybe it's because academics are crazy, if the ones in my family are anything to go by :p

[Reptilia]

Salon products are better, drugstore stuff will ruin your hair. Coloring won't damage as long as you deep condition with heavy silicones afterwards. Flat irons are not damaging if they're ceramic. Conditioning your scalp will make it greasy. You must shampoo everyday. The only way to get pretty shiny hair is with a mountain of products. You should apply a protien treatment every day for strong healthy hair.

[Ice~Cold~Wind]

I've always been taught to harshly brush the heck out of my hair. That and I made the mistake of washing my hair everyday with SLS shampoo. I ocassionally use conditioner with cones in it(I need to brake the habit 'cause my hair isn't liking it; it gets really greasy). I was also taught that I should wash my hair everday and if I grew my hair out, it would get damaged and look ratty. I had mid-back length hair when I was a little girl, but my mom got tired of yanking the brush through it everyday, so she chopped it off and kept it that way. :( Thankfully I had an epiphany and switched to all natural hair care for about two years now! :D

[wackyredtangles]

My mom was the big culprit with my hair. Most of it is that we have completely different hairtypes. Hers is perfectly straight, and much finer than mine. My sister has very curly hair, so I'm not sure why no one figured it out.

Anyways, she was into brushing it. Which is bad. My hair is too thick for a brush. It ends up getting stuck somewhere. Its much better to take small sections and comb. She was also an advocate of 'doing' hair everyday. Meaning washing and heat styling. She also advocated trimming, but she was extremely communicative with hairdressers about how much a trim is.

For the longest time my hair was a big frizzy mess. Eventually my best friends mom, both curly hairs, taught me how to take care of it. No brushing, wash only once or twice a week, and just general benign neglect. =)

[florenonite]

My mom was the big culprit with my hair. Most of it is that we have completely different hairtypes. Hers is perfectly straight, and much finer than mine. My sister has very curly hair, so I'm not sure why no one figured it out.

Anyways, she was into brushing it. Which is bad. My hair is too thick for a brush. It ends up getting stuck somewhere. Its much better to take small sections and comb. She was also an advocate of 'doing' hair everyday. Meaning washing and heat styling. She also advocated trimming, but she was extremely communicative with hairdressers about how much a trim is.

For the longest time my hair was a big frizzy mess. Eventually my best friends mom, both curly hairs, taught me how to take care of it. No brushing, wash only once or twice a week, and just general benign neglect. =)

This reminds me of The Princess Diaries (film, not book) in which the brush gets stuck in Mia's hair. Her hair's really thick and curly, and someone (a hair stylist no less!) tries dry-brushing it :rolleyes:

[paintedmuse]

Cutting your hair makes it grow faster. You have to trim your hair, otherwise it will thin out terribly and get so damaged you'll have to chop it all off.
That's about all I think... I have colored and heat styled my hair before, but I knew it was damaging. And I wasn't so gentle when combing...

[Lemur_Catta]

One day when I was younger my mother bought these "linseed oil liquid crystals" from her hairdresser and kept saying how these thing was wonderful, and how her hair looked shiny and smooth. She actually thought it was because of the linseed oil, not because of the silicones :D

Anyway, many people are aware of the damage flatirons and dyes will do to their hair, but they don't care because if they have short hair they always have to cut it in order to keep it short, so their hair stays in a decent shape. When they try to grow their hair, they finally realize all the damage they have done.
On the other hand, sometimes people, even if they haven't long hair and are not planning to grow it, know how to take care of it. A friend of mine's mother had very little hair, I don't know the reason but she thought it was because she had had very little care of it, so she didn't allow her teenage daughter to use brushes (only combs) or to wash her hair more than once a week. Her daughter, who was my friend, wasn't very happy with this and I thought she was a bit crazy too.

Now I know better :D

[WritingPrincess]

Strangely, I was kept naive to many of these myths.

I blowfryed my hair only on the rarest of occasions (five times in my life, if that).
I have never dyed my hair before.
I only washed it every other day.
I had never heard of conditioner making hair greasy and applied it faithfully every wash.
I only had my hair layered once and that was not my choice.
My hair has never been straightened, nor have I heard any myths about that helping my hair.
When growing out my hair before, I did not get it trimmed.

I think it's because I almost never watch TV, thus I don't hear hair product adds.
Save for the layering one, all the rest is true for me too. I only heard these myths after coming to LHC. :)

[Marions]

Every time I do anything with my hair (henna, henna gloss, oiling, SMT...) my dad says all my hair will fall out eventually. :D
A friend started to bleach her hair after a hairdresser told her she should. The way and tone she told me - like my hairdresser advised it -> it's a scientific fact and don't you dare doubt it - made me a little angry, so I don't discuss hair with her.

[RancheroTheBee]

Every time I do anything with my hair (henna, henna gloss, oiling, SMT...) my dad says all my hair will fall out eventually. :D
A friend started to bleach her hair after a hairdresser told her she should. The way and tone she told me - like my hairdresser advised it -> it's a scientific fact and don't you dare doubt it - made me a little angry, so I don't discuss hair with her.

:rolleyes: Oh, goodness. What was her scientific reasoning behind bleach being good, exactly? How silly.

[Heidi_234]

what? Bleach is wonderful... for the hairdresser's income.

[marikamt]

Regular trims.... :justy: when I think about all the length I cut off "trimming" since I decided to grow long I could cry...........

[Bonkers57]

I bought into:


Hair is supposed to "do" something. :eek:
You have to wash your hair everyday or you're dirty.
Dying hair will improve its condition or more precisely, dying will give baby-fine hair some "body" and hold styles better.
You must cut your hair every six weeks otherwise the damage goes up the hairshaft.
Your hair is too fine/thin/boring to grow long. You'll look old without face-framing layers.
Use a brush when blow-drying it.
The mistakes I made:


Perms
Using any kind of brush whatsoever on wet or even damp hair.
Getting my hair cut cause I wanted something new.
Sun-In

[Hiriel]

Actually, I was never told any of these myths. I don't go to hairdressers though, my mother always trimmed my hair, that might be why. She did insist on trimming it semi-regularly, but that was to keep the hemline looking neat, not to make it grow... I've never heard anyone claim that blowdrying is good for hair, and I figured out quite quickly on my own that it wasn't, my hair just felt horrible. And being, like many others, a lazy slug, I never saw the point of washing my hair daily. (And I've never ever heard 'lather, rinse, repeat'. No one ever told me to repeat.) Lazy slugs also can't be bothered with styling products, fancy haircuts, or dye jobs. Because we're lazy :D

[Fractalsofhair]

I thought it was damaging to leave your hair up... XD

Ok, so right before joining LHC, I knew my hair was very damaged due to blowdrying and bleaching. I've always known those things are damaging. However, I didn't know a fine toothed comb was damaging, nor did I know that leaving your hair up was less damaging. I also didn't know you could skip washing much. My hair is very easily damaged, so I learned a lot of the lies quickly. But I always thought my hair was freakishly easily damaged. Now I know it's somewhat normal, and I probably just notice damage more.

[Vianka]

A girl at work (who has really short unhealthy hair) advised me to put cayenne pepper on my scalp at night and to use henna because she said that is what Indian women do to get their gorgeous hair. Of course, I thought she was nuts about the pepper. Henna probably isn't damaging, but I like my own color.

Oh, and the girl at the beauty supply store said that a ceramic flat iron is actually good for your hair because it closes the cuticle and seals in moisture. NOT!

[Horsetuna]

Kids at school seemed to think I was the most gullible people at work, as they would tell me I should put BACON GREASE on my hair to make it nicer.

Other myths I've heard: The 'frequent trimming makes it grow faster'.
Dyeing hair even ONCE will damage it so badly it will literally snap off 2 inches from your scalp every day for the rest of your life.
Condition ONLY the ends of the hairs. The top doesnt need it
Hair is not truly clean until it literally SQUEAKS when you rub it wet.


Ones I've done:
Increasing shampoo/conditioner will make my hair softer/stop the tangles (see my threads about my hair condition. it did the opposite!)
Squeaky Clean

Question though:the blow drying one I think though is true/not true depending on the heat used? IE, if you use cool its just like waving a fan at it, just doesnt work as fast?

That's all I've had. I never even heard of ironing hair till I saw it on the simpsons in my 20s.

[GlassEyes]

A girl at work (who has really short unhealthy hair) advised me to put cayenne pepper on my scalp at night and to use henna because she said that is what Indian women do to get their gorgeous hair. Of course, I thought she was nuts about the pepper. Henna probably isn't damaging, but I like my own color.

Oh, and the girl at the beauty supply store said that a ceramic flat iron is actually good for your hair because it closes the cuticle and seals in moisture. NOT!
Uhhh, actually, BOTH of these are true, in some form. Cayenne pepper mixtures applied to the scalp have been a treatment that's existed for a fairly long time, and there's been threads on it here. The theory is that it increases bloodflow, which somehow helps hair growth--though it hasn't been proven to work scientifically, some say it helps.

And ceramic flatirons TECHNICALLY DO closethe cuticle. They basically force it down smooth, and then seal it down. Once the hair gets wet, the damage is mroe evident, however, and sometimes, it's evident on the ends of already-damaged hair.

[longforhim]

I used to think that the products you buy at the salon were better than walmart shampoos. But then I realized you can find cheaper products that work just as well as the salon products.

[RancheroTheBee]

A girl at work (who has really short unhealthy hair) advised me to put cayenne pepper on my scalp at night and to use henna because she said that is what Indian women do to get their gorgeous hair. Of course, I thought she was nuts about the pepper. Henna probably isn't damaging, but I like my own color.

Oh, and the girl at the beauty supply store said that a ceramic flat iron is actually good for your hair because it closes the cuticle and seals in moisture. NOT!

Actually, cayenne is used to stimulate the scalp. I've used it, although I'm completely clumsy and ended up getting a little into my eye. I stopped that practice right then and there. And henna can be pretty good, for a lot of people. It's not at all damaging, but some people do report dryness.

Ah, irons: That's one of those things that's technically true, but it's like saying that worms are good for you because they help you lose weight. Of course, advertising is pretty persuasive. I mean, I used to believe serums would actually "fix" my split ends, and that they were moisturizing.

[RancheroTheBee]

Kids at school seemed to think I was the most gullible people at work, as they would tell me I should put BACON GREASE on my hair to make it nicer.

*snip*

Question though:the blow drying one I think though is true/not true depending on the heat used? IE, if you use cool its just like waving a fan at it, just doesnt work as fast?


:rolleyes: Bacon... GREASE? Cool. I mean, I can see how that would be moisturizing, but... there are alternatives, is all I'm saying.

A lot of people can blow-dry on low heat (it's just warm air) and report little to no damage. If you can find a dryer that has a low-heat setting, and different speeds, you can definitely get away with it. It's just not a good idea to have it on really high speed and high heat.

[Eniratak]

I was often told that if I didn't trim my hair, it wouldn't grow.
XD. I still get looks of surprise when I tell people that I don't trim.

[longhairdream]

I always grew up with the saying that boys/men should always have short hair - and i reallly scratched my head while thinking about longhaired legends from the history book ..hehe... so tryin to grow my hair out now !...thrs no stoppin !:cheese:

[Moldilocks]

This last spring I fell for the line the guy at the mall gave me regarding hair and the flat iron. I believed (really wanted to) that the flat iron seals in moisture..lol...I could even see the moisture evaporating from my hair, but my hair seemed so smooth and shiny that I was a sucker. I used that iron about 7 times in two weeks. I have the split ends to show for it, too. What a waste of $150 :rolleyes:

I will never believe that any heat (aside from my heating cap) is good for my hair.

[florenonite]

Condition ONLY the ends of the hairs. The top doesnt need it.

Actually, this is kind of true. Unless you've got a dry scalp, conditioning the roots of your hair often does just make it greasy. When I was using conventional S&C (I'm now using shampoo bars), I would condition from the shoulders down. I've got fine hair, so it gets weighed down easily, and conditioning the roots was a recipe for disaster.

[Johanna]

I almost made a terrible terrible mistake when I was younger. I wanted to get a perm spiral cirls to be exact. I went to my old family hair dresser who thankfully suggested it wouldn't suit me. Disaster averted!

[MissManda]

The Myths I Believed:

~ You MUST wash your hair every single day in order for it to be clean, otherwise it will get oily.
I actually rebelled against this one for a while, but one of my high school teachers nagged me about it, and I gave in. I now wash my hair twice a week.

~ When you have long hair, it gets greasier faster because it is weighed down.
I have found that my hair looks LESS greasy when I have my hair long, it looks less greasy than when it was at a pixie cut!

~ Hair gets oily after one or two days.
I have trained my hair with this one. :D As long as I don't tell anyone, I wash twice a week, I'm good.

~ Oil makes your hair look awful.
I actually scalp massage and bring the sebum down my length before washing. :)

~ All hair products have the nasty, chemically smell that cannot be avoided.
I have been proven wrong. I love Nature's Gate!

~ Fine hair is ALWAYS straight.
My grandmother would be quite shocked to see that my hair has actually gained waviness and to see all of the beautiful, fine wavies out there!

~ People with fine, straight hair must use curling irons or get their hair permed in order for it to look acceptable.
So not true. I can't believe I got brainwashed into this one because I had classic length hair until I was 12 years old and received NOTHING but compliments!

~ If you have fine hair, you shouldn't grow it long, because it will be straight and stringy and look awful. Shorter hair ALWAYS looks better.
Actually my hair looks far from stringy, thank you. I think I look way better with long hair. When I look back at my short hair, I find it to be very unflattering!

~ Layers make your hair look thicker and fuller.
For some people, this may be true. My sister and I have hair at similar lengths (almost waist-length). Hers may be more of a medium texture and wavy, but my grown-out layers on my straight hair looks so much fuller than hers. She even said she wanted my hair, lol.

~ Women over 40 should not have long hair. It will always look thin and stringy.
Nope!

[OleanderTime]

Oh, what a great post--this could be a book all in itself. Perhaps a great follow up question to this would be: WHY do you think there is so misinformation out there? It almost seems intentional...

I used to think:

--Chemicals were better because they were the product of science
--Blowdrying was good for my hair because it made it feel sleeker
--Because salon and drugstore products vary so widely in price, they must have a very different chemical make up and overall effect on your hair
--Taking care of long hair meant you were overly concerned with your looks, but somehow also meant that you didn't care enough to look trendy and styled
--Washing more often meant healthier hair

Who knows why I thought these things.

The one thing that stands out to me the most about what I once thought about hair is something I actually think I'll start a new thread about: when I was 14 I came out as gay and the first thing I did was cut my (already short) hair shorter. My other gay friends had short hair too, but they had a really different gender identity/presentation than I did and have. I'm really interested in how different people have thought their hair reflected their inner sense and projected their outer sense of gender and sexuality over time. Here comes a new thread...

[Vanya]

For the longest time I believed that...

...if I go out with hair damp even in the slightest I'll catch a huge cold, regardless if it's the dead of summer and there are 100+ degrees Fahrenheit outside.
...blowfrying on the highest heat is absolutely normal and recommended. I burnt my scalp a few times that way. Ouch!
...brushes (with the rounded tip) don't rip the hair. And I was wondering why I had so much hair falling on the bathroom floor.:rolleyes:
...not combing my hair is a very, VERY bad idea and makes one look ungainly. This didn't last too long though, and now I sometimes comb my hair only just before washing (once a week) and it's all right. Seems to have decreased shedding considerably as well! I wear my hair in a bun 99.9% of the time, so YMMV.

I have absolutely no idea why when I was younger I didn't analyse and criticise the information that I was given. I've come to my senses since.

[julliams]

Actually I think I never had believed any of that hype. I knew that the salon stuff wasn't good because it just wasn't. As for cutting my hair so it grew faster, even as a child I secretly thought that was rubbish.

The best one was when one of the heating iron companies brought out a flat iron that you use on wet hair. The slogan said something like this "Hear that sizzle? It's the moisture being sealed in" Nope - that would be a the fry - lol Too funny.

I was glad to find LHC because it just seems to make sense to me and all those things I never believed in have proven to me to be untrue.

What I have learnt most about here is oiling and I ALWAYS let the hairdressers cut way too much off - not anymore.

I've also noticed that most of my friends (30-somethings) have shorter hair and visit the hairdressers about every 2 months with the exception of one friend who has very long hair. I had never given this much thought. I wonder if people go for a haircut because they think they should rather than they actually need to.

[Madame J]

:rolleyes: Bacon... GREASE? Cool. I mean, I can see how that would be moisturizing, but... there are alternatives, is all I'm saying.

But boys would like you -- you smell like BACON!

[Longlocks3]

My step grandmother taught me to blow dry my hair, because if I didn't I would get 'moldy' hair. Yea, definitely not true.

[Bonkers57]

Did this one for years! I got used to a curling iron because #1 - heat rollers would not stay in my hair and #2 - I never mastered a blow dryer; a curling iron was much more effective in shaping my ends.

Several years ago I was styling my hair and I dropped the iron on the back of my neck. I knew it gave me a 3rd degree burn because when I instinctively reached back there, grey skin sloughed off in my hand! I kept it clean, put aloe vera gel on it, and my boyfriend at the time changed the dressing - he taped big pieces of gauze over it. You can barely see a scar now.

Since my hair's short, I still turn the ends under when I go to church or out to eat or whatever. I use a 1" barrel and just pull it through the hair from top to bottom, I don't keep the hair wound around it long enough to do damage. Nothing sizzles because I don't use any hair products. I look forward to the day when this won't be necessary.


The Myths I Believed:

~ People with fine, straight hair must use curling irons or get their hair permed in order for it to look acceptable.

So not true. I can't believe I got brainwashed into this one because I had classic length hair until I was 12 years old and received NOTHING but compliments!

[RancheroTheBee]

--Blowdrying was good for my hair because it made it feel sleeker


Hahaha. Even if I'm really careful and use oils and leave-ins and what have you, blowdrying always makes my hair a little bit poofier than normal.

[Mutinous]

Up until very recently, I thought that you had to change shampoo/conditioner every 3 months or so because your hair got used to it, and would stop working! It sounds so stupid now, I can't even remember who told me!

On a slightly more sociological note, I used to think that I could never have long hair because I am a guy, and it wasn't until I was 15 I realised that I should just do it because I wanted to.

[Desideira]

I never belived that I have to wash everday my hair. When I ws teen i could was it 2 times a week and I was alwyas awoiding blowfryer. Now i do wash my hair evryda becuse if i dont it looks like I would heavy oiled it so i stik to this rule

but I belived that
salon products are always better, the more expensive product the better quality products....so untrue:mad:

wearing you hair up is bad and can lead to hair to fall out

you should alwyas wear your hair down

cutting your hair oftern will make it grow faster.

styling products ativated by heat are very ggod confitioners for hair

you have to swich your hair porducts otherwise your hair will get use to it

100 brush strokes daily will bentfit your hair

[MissManda]

Did this one for years! I got used to a curling iron because #1 - heat rollers would not stay in my hair and #2 - I never mastered a blow dryer; a curling iron was much more effective in shaping my ends.

Several years ago I was styling my hair and I dropped the iron on the back of my neck. I knew it gave me a 3rd degree burn because when I instinctively reached back there, grey skin sloughed off in my hand! I kept it clean, put aloe vera gel on it, and my boyfriend at the time changed the dressing - he taped big pieces of gauze over it. You can barely see a scar now.

Since my hair's short, I still turn the ends under when I go to church or out to eat or whatever. I use a 1" barrel and just pull it through the hair from top to bottom, I don't keep the hair wound around it long enough to do damage. Nothing sizzles because I don't use any hair products. I look forward to the day when this won't be necessary.

Yeah, my curling iron is rotting away in storage right now. I much prefer braid waves. :)

[Pear Martini]

Hair needs to be trimmed every 4-6 weeks or it won't grow.
You get what you pay for I payed $100 for small jars of kerastase... what a waste.
Hair with a lot of volum needs to be "thinned out"... I don't want to look like everyone else!
As long as you put a heat protection spray in your hair you can flat iron a curl to your hearts desire.

[JaneinMarch]

I used to believe that my hair only needed washing twice a month, that my pink oil was a good moisturizer, and a neat part was necessary for a good hairstyle.

[Horsetuna]

I just rememberd another one:

Mom used to tell me "Anne, dont tuck your long hair behind your ears or it will make them STICK OUT!"

... It may be true. my ears do tend to stick out a bit, I can't wear headphones at all. But you'd think sleeping on my side would make them flatten again!

[shortgoinglong]

"Once you cut it short you can never have long hair again"
"You must wash hair once a day"
"You must trim every 4 to 6 weeks to avoid damage"

The first one kept me discouraged for years. :mad:

[Wind]

I totally believed in switching products after emptying a bottle, because using the same one would make it stop "working". :rolleyes: Going out with wet hair/head uncovered would make one sick. My mother still says that, despite trying to reason with her that only germs will do that. I remember my aunt forcing me to blowdry at age 16, because going out with wet hair is "nasty" and somehow damaging.

Oh, and not head hair related, but if you shave, the hair will grow back thicker! So the moral is, never shave your arms. :p At the time, there was even a lady we knew with very hairy arms, and this was her explanation. :lol:

[squee]

you need to thin/layer and blowfry your hair, and keep it short.
Thankfully I am far to lazy to use a blowdryer or other heat tools, always been the brush and go gal.

still growing out the thinning and layers :mad:

[Ally<3]

A few years ago, sulfate shampoo. That's a big one.

And until only recently... bleach. It. Is. Not. Worth. It.

[Asocialisten]

I bleached my hair. It was fried, and I'm still stuck with damaged parts years later.
I trimmed it every four weeks even though I didn't need to. At the same time, my hair just stopped growing. I ended up with hair that was once BSL to shoulderlength.
I washed it every day, sometimes twice. But I think it was because I simply wasn't allowed to take a shower more than once a week until my father left. I just had to try what it was like being sqeeaky clean every morning.
Commercial dyes - every three weeks.
Layers, and lots of them.
Blowfrying and flat ironing.
I backcombed my hair and then used hairspray so it wouldn't move. My friend once told me it looked like a (bad) synthetic wig.
Expensive products was always better. Let me tell you; Kerastase sucks.

I think that was all. Phew.

[Bonkers57]

If this is true, I'm shaving my head today! :D



Oh, and not head hair related, but if you shave, the hair will grow back thicker! So the moral is, never shave your arms. :p At the time, there was even a lady we knew with very hairy arms, and this was her explanation. :lol:

[Tressie]

I haven't read the entire thread, but the cutting to make it grow myth was a biggie as has been said.

I also thought salon products were probably better for my hair, LOL!

I hate that so many told me I would "look better with short hair"! Ha, ha, ha!

[Horsetuna]

Oh, and not head hair related, but if you shave, the hair will grow back thicker! So the moral is, never shave your arms. :p At the time, there was even a lady we knew with very hairy arms, and this was her explanation. :lol:


I was just told arm hair would grow back BLACk if you shaved it

... that one is true from what I can tell though.

[halo_tightens]

I get really frustrated with all the shaving-related ones-- if you shave a spot then the hairs will grow back blacker/thicker/coarser/etc. Even as a kid, that one never made sense to me. Hair grows from the roots, and shaving cuts off the ends-- so how do the roots know what the ends are up to? How would the roots know whether the hairs were one-sixteenth of an inch long or ten feet long? How would the roots know that they're now supposed to produce a black hair, even if they could "decide" to change?

I can see where part of it came from... When you shave a spot and then the hairs start to grow back, they feel all prickly and coarse because they're all one very short length and blunt-tipped. I can understand people thinking that meant the hair was now coarser. But how has this become (and stayed) such a widely-believed idea? I would guess that nearly everyone I've ever known has believed it to be true. I still do not.

[florenonite]

I can vouch for the shaving does not make your hair either coarser or darker. When I started shaving at 13 or so, I shaved my whole leg. By the time I was about 17 I gave up because the thigh hair was fine, thin and blonde. Now it's been two years since I've shaved that, and that hair is just like the hair on my arms, which have never been shaved. Fine, tapered, blonde, etc.

The hair on my calves is darker than it was when I started shaving, but I think that's normal hair darkening, as my head hair was blonde when I started shaving, too ;) Indeed, there's a rather obvious demarcation line on the middle of my calf where the hair goes from brown to blonde, and the hair on my upper calves and knees, which I shave if anyone's going to see it, is still blonde and, right now, tapered.

[Bellona]

OMG I hear you on that! :brickwall Thick wavy hair needs to stay very far away from shears thank you!

Amen! I'm dealing with that too. :o Never again!

[RancheroTheBee]

I was just told arm hair would grow back BLACk if you shaved it

... that one is true from what I can tell though.

Really? I've been shaving my arms since I was 14, and it still comes in white-blonde, tapered and fine.

[Keildra]

shampoo and conditioner every day and curly hair doesn't look good short

I condition only every day now and well I had one bad short hair cut so I don't know about anyone else but my curly hair does not look good short

[vindo]

What were you led to believe, and by who?

-That my hair is fine but a lot of it
-That because it was 'fine' it was 'delicate'
-That I don't have the hair that can be worn long because it would be too fine..
-That straight long hair is bad and it needs to be wavy/ curly and shorter...more styled
(Hairdressers, friends, family, enemies)

-That my dye was temporary color (it was semi. perm.)
-That temp. dye protects hair and coats the hair shaft.
-That salon shampoo is good to your hair (I used goldwell)
-That a wooden brush (http://www.sz-wholesale.com/uploadFiles/upimg7/Wooden-Hair-Brush-Key-Chain-1477.jpg) is good for the scalp.
-That I need to blowdry my hair and use a diffusor to create some volume (I started as early as 11 yrs. old, my mother helped me with my awfully straight hair)
-That I need to curve my ends with a round brush so they will not be so straight.
-That trims keep damage away.
-But that all long hair is damaged at the ends.
(mostly hairdressers and mother or family)

What mistakes were you making on a regular basis without even knowing?
-Dyeing my hair with semi perm. color for 9 yrs. every month at the salon
-Brushing my hair ALL the time
-Wearing it down daily

However I was not a regular blow dryer though..especially when I got older I would only curve my ends for special occasions. BUT I still created waves..waterwaves by drying my hair in a bun, that and layers really gave my hair that 1c/2a type I liked so much.

My mother now likes my straight hair and blowdries her 1c/2a hair straighter...because fashion changed. And yes, she had a perm in the 90ies ;)

[Horsetuna]

Really? I've been shaving my arms since I was 14, and it still comes in white-blonde, tapered and fine.


Maybe I just had dark hairs before and never noticed? :)

[Flynn]

I can vouch for the shaving does not make your hair either coarser or darker. When I started shaving at 13 or so, I shaved my whole leg. By the time I was about 17 I gave up because the thigh hair was fine, thin and blonde. Now it's been two years since I've shaved that, and that hair is just like the hair on my arms, which have never been shaved. Fine, tapered, blonde, etc.

The hair on my calves is darker than it was when I started shaving, but I think that's normal hair darkening, as my head hair was blonde when I started shaving, too ;) Indeed, there's a rather obvious demarcation line on the middle of my calf where the hair goes from brown to blonde, and the hair on my upper calves and knees, which I shave if anyone's going to see it, is still blonde and, right now, tapered.

Seconded. I recently stopped shaving my arms. If anything, the hair is ligher and finer than it was before.

[Kiraela]

Seconded. I recently stopped shaving my arms. If anything, the hair is ligher and finer than it was before.

Mine is the same way! I still do on occasion, because when I shave my arms I actually look paler (I don't know why this works, haha), but the hair is definately finer and lighter than when I was younger.

[Brownie]

Every time I do anything with my hair (henna, henna gloss, oiling, SMT...) my dad says all my hair will fall out eventually. :D


My family does this all the time :lol:
"Why don't you just use normal things on your hair like everyone else?" - "Um... because I'm not normal?" :D

[kimannabella]

mine was that my natural texture was undesirable, that it would be nice either straightened, or "properly" curled.

I actually am beginning to enjoy my soft waves.

[boomygrrl]

I believed that salon products were somehow better. My mother didn't believe it. I used to silently resent that she wouldn't buy me salon products.

I believed it was a good idea to brush out my curly hair. I didn't put two and two together until 5 or so years ago. Brushed out curly hair equals frizz fest!!

I believed cones were good for you; I believed cones were the devil. Now, I believe they are good for some people and not for others. Mine likes it in moderation.

I thought it was important to wash my hair everyday. Now, I understand that can be very drying to my hair.

[RancheroTheBee]

Mine is the same way! I still do on occasion, because when I shave my arms I actually look paler (I don't know why this works, haha), but the hair is definately finer and lighter than when I was younger.

I think it's because shaving is really exfoliating. I shave to make my skin look paler, and it works pretty well.

[Kiraela]

That explains it, yeah. Also that my hair is dark, but fine, so it's barely visible but still casts a shadow over my skin. Either way, it's nice to be able to do something to get that extra touch of paleness when I need the Anemic Little Gothgirl look. :D

[Rhiannon7]

let me see if i can remember some;

1. Long hair after age 30 makes you look old. (it depends on how much you take care of yourself and your hair.)

2. after age 30 hair will never grow as long as you want it to. (classic and beyond.)

3. cut out tangles, much less damaging than trying to undo tangles with fingers and comb/brush. (yeah and while the hair stylist is cutting out tangles she's giving me a nice ear short bob with layers that will take years to grow back.)

4. usng henna to color hair damages the cuticle.


5. hair is healthier when colored chemically. (i wonder why then my cousin's bleached blonde hair will not grow past APL?)


6. using conditioner only on your hair will make it fall out and stop growing. (have not seen that here at TLHC. seems CO makes hair less damaged and grow better.)


7. why grow hair when extensions are less damaging and you can have instant long hair. (for maybe 6 months, then i would have to cut hair to remove extensions. very counter productive.)

8. extensions are better for your hair than growing it out, less damaging. (yeah and less hair i will have when the extensions need to be taken out. plus less damaging? how?)

9. braiding or bunning your hair damages it alot.

10. drying hair on cold with a blowdryer is not damaging. (just might give you a nice pneumonia during cold weather.)

11. braiding your hair very tightly will make it grow fast. (plus give you a huge headache.)

12. butt long hair is not in fashion. (and when did i want to be in fashion?)

13. never use a comb to detangle hair.


14. never use natural oils on thin, straight hair, oils damage and burn hair shaft.


15. always brush hair with synthetic bristle brush, even when wet. it gives volume. (actually it gives major damage. at least to my hair.)


16. people with thin, straight hair should never grow past shoulders, the longer hair is the more damaged and thin it looks.



I've learned to ignore comments like those above. i have not cut my hair at a salon in more than 10 years and i now trim three times a year if my hair needs it. i use CO two or three times a month, braid or bun daily, never use a blowdryer unless it is an emergency (so far no emergencies for 3 years.) deep condition three times a month, comb wet to detangle only and will be growing hair as long as i live.



Hair sins; stopped 3 years ago.


Cut hair every 8-12 weeks. blowdried during winter, colored chemically every 5-6 weeks, used twice as much poo as condish to clean thoroughly, never used leave ins for extra moisture and protection, never used oils, brushed hair when wet, left hair loose all the time and braided very tightly. results? very damaged hair that no matter what i did or used never behaved.

[Jezerellica]

When my stylist told me she knew I used Pantene before I told her, I was ready to believe whatever she said. Duh. So:

High end products are the only way to healthy hair

Long hair looks inappropriate on older women

Cutting will make it grow faster

These are the biggies, but I fell for many more than these few listed!!