Growing up, parents and hair care

[FullMoonTrim]

How well did your parents take care of your hair for you when you were just a little kid?

Post pictures if you can:):)

[Speckla]

My hair was very well taken care of when my mother did it. Only shampooed and conditioned once a week. Water washings if I got dirty or sweaty between wash days. My mother would dip a widetooth comb in water and then gently detangle each morning before school. She was so proud of my curls and loved to do my hair. My hair was always in braids or two pigtails. I've always had 3a/b hair and my mother had super, super straight hair. My mother was very ill and could no longer do my hair after I was about 8, so my sister had to do it each morning. This meant having a hair brush rip from root to tip and then braided too tightly. I learned to fear brushes and would run screaming in the mornings as soon as my sister came to do my hair. I started to do my own hair around 9 or 10 - image shampooing, blowdrying, and then brushing....scary huh? It was shortly after that that my grandmother took it upon herself to take me for my first haircut. I had only had microtrims before than. I left with hair about 2" long all over. That's why my real hair nightmares started. I had never been teased before until it started to bush...I mean grow out. No pictures to share right now. Just have a few blurry ones in an album.

[DragonLady]

No one took care of my hair at all.

I had huge knots and tangles, and would scream if anyone even mentioned a "comb". My hair was never washed, never combed, never touched. Once every year or so someone would say something about it, and then my stepmom would grab a pair of scissors and hack it all up.

Even when I went into foster care no one cared or really took care of it. I was approaching my teens before I finally leared the basic rudiments of brushing. But then I just used cheapo plastic brushes and ripped through my tangles in wet hair!

I think maybe that's why I'm so obsessed with it now. I wore a matted, stinky, nasty mop on my head for years. Now, just running my hand through clean, tangle-free hair is a luxurious tactile experience that I can't even really explain. It's right up there with a day in a spa or a trip to a 5-star hotel. I can't get enough of it -mine or other people's.

Same for me with high-heeled shoes. I was born club-footed and now I love stilletos as only an ex-cripple can. :)

[FullMoonTrim]

My hair was very well taken care of when my mother did it. Only shampooed and conditioned once a week. Water washings if I got dirty or sweaty between wash days. My mother would dip a widetooth comb in water and then gently detangle each morning before school. She was so proud of my curls and loved to do my hair. My hair was always in braids or two pigtails. I've always had 3a/b hair and my mother had super, super straight hair. My mother was very ill and could no longer do my hair after I was about 8, so my sister had to do it each morning. This meant having a hair brush rip from root to tip and then braided too tightly. I learned to fear brushes and would run screaming in the mornings as soon as my sister came to do my hair. I started to do my own hair around 9 or 10 - image shampooing, blowdrying, and then brushing....scary huh? It was shortly after that that my grandmother took it upon herself to take me for my first haircut. I had only had microtrims before than. I left with hair about 2" long all over. That's why my real hair nightmares started. I had never been teased before until it started to bush...I mean grow out. No pictures to share right now. Just have a few blurry ones in an album.
Thank you so much for your post. Your Mother, Grandmother and sister were all involved!

I don't remember anything about my hair as a kid. I just notice that in all of the pictures my hair is very messy. It looks like she parted it on the side, threw a barrette in and just left it on it's own.

[FullMoonTrim]

No one took care of my hair at all.

Wow!!! Thank you for sharing this....and of course, I would love to see photos of the matted hair and the stilettos!!! I have never really worn high heels--- I am already at least 5' 10''!

[Speckla]

Thank you so much for your post. Your Mother, Grandmother and sister were all involved!

I don't remember anything about my hair as a kid. I just notice that in all of the pictures my hair is very messy. It looks like she parted it on the side, threw a barrette in and just left it on it's own.


I was pretty much raised by everyone.

Dragonlady,
I'm sorry about your experience with fostercare. I was in and out of fosterhomes most of my childhood and had a foster mother took it upon herself to take me to the hairdresser. I received my first mullet - a curly mullet. How lovely. My hair had just gotten long enough to put in a ponytail and that's how I wore it. But no one was going to make me shampoo or comb it. It was pretty ratty and I suppose a trip to the hairdress was necessary...but a mullet? I was 11 or 12. Gotta love those mid 80s hairstyles.

[Elphie]

My mother was a hairdresser. She had her own waist TB length hair to care for as well as my own. I can remember using Herbal Essences as a kid along with different deep treatments (chamomile tea rinses, beer, mayo...)


That's me, I think I'm about seven.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b300/cutter_106/scan0016-1.jpg?t=1243213370

[MsBubbles]

My Mother tried to make my hair curl, but gave up and so from 6 years on I had a boy-bowl hybrid cut by my Dad, the motor mechanic.

[manderly]

I had really short, fine, wispy curly hair when I was little. I don't really recall my mom doing anything special, I just know it was always fairly short.

[Longlocks3]

I always wanted my hair braided, and my mom would do it occasionally to pacify me. When mom started working odd shifts, dad had to get me ready for school. He was not an expert hair person to say the least lol. I won't say they didn't do a great job but they shouldn't have ever let me start blow drying!

[MotherConfessor]

Poorly, really, really poorly. I knew nothing about curly hair and neither did my poor mother. I ripped a brush through it, mom had it layered, I brushed it several times a day... whoof, it was bad.:o

[DragonLady]

I have never really worn high heels--- I am already at least 5' 10''!

I don't get to wear them now at all. I live out in the desert, and even walking from house to car kills my shoes. But I love them, and would probably wear them would I could even if I was taller than you (but I'm short). I wouldn't let height stop me. Go ahead a buy a pair -you just might love 'em too. :)



Dragonlady,
I'm sorry about your experience with fostercare. I was in and out of fosterhomes most of my childhood and had a foster mother took it upon herself to take me to the hairdresser. I received my first mullet - a curly mullet. How lovely. My hair had just gotten long enough to put in a ponytail and that's how I wore it. But no one was going to make me shampoo or comb it. It was pretty ratty and I suppose a trip to the hairdress was necessary...but a mullet? I was 11 or 12. Gotta love those mid 80s hairstyles.

lol

Don't be sorry for me. :) My life was rough and different and all, but it was also educational and exciting. I learned a lot, and I have become a person I'm happy to be. :)

A mullet, huh? I love it! My son just had his mullet cut into a short, spiky style that he loves. But he wore one for years and it really did look nice on him.

[Kanntara]

Sometimes I felt like my mother hated my hair. It was always thick while hers was incredibly thin. But... she colored hers regularly and the floor was always covered with her breaks....

Because my hair was so thick and she has no idea what to do with it, either she spent too much time/money on pointless things (the perm that fell three days later) or ignored it.

I do remember once my mom had braided my hair and I didn't like how the end of the braid was uneven so I cut it straight across!

Wow did my hair look bad once it was taken outta that braid. She was soooooo mad. :steam:run:

[Grenwich]

I had hair I could sit on when I got my first haircut, at age 11. My mother (who was ill, it affected her reasoning and judgement, I found out later in life) took my sister, my grandmother and myself to an upscale salon, back in 1976, and I wound up with a Dorothy Hamill wedge cut (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=dorothy%20hamill%20wedge&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi). I cried. My grandmother cried. The stylist must have asked my mom 20 times - "Are you sure you want to cut all her hair off?" My grandmother kept my ponytail in the bottom of her jewelry box.
This is the only photograph I have of myself as a child - it's from the 3rd grade. My hair was waist length or better, and very light, from being outside all the time.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v469/grenwich/Meat83rdgradeSmall.jpg


ETA: I remember Prell shampoo, No more Tears detangler and later the Beer Shampoo ( it smelled soooooooo good). I know I got a blow dryer shortly after the wedge cut, because the bangs just fell in my eyes unless I blew them back and sprayed them.

[SimplyViki]

I don't think I have any pictures, but my mom always taught me a lot about hair. She taught me:

That you had to brush hair from the ends up, so as to be gentle on the tangles.
That lemon juice was a natural hairspray and could lighten hair a little (nowadays, that sounds a little harsh to me, but hey).
To shampoo the scalp, and condition the ends.
That one's natural haircolor was the most complimentary to their skin and eyes.
That bleach and blowdryers were damaging to the hair.
How to do rag curls and pin curls.
Reminded me that you could always cut more off, but you couldn't put it back on once it was cut.


I even remember some rudimentary teaching about hair anatomy, but I can't exactly remember what it was she emphasized - maybe it was that the roots didn't really know when the ends had been cut, but that a trim would help keep the ends healthy. Or maybe it was that the cuticle was shiny when it lay flat. Hmm... I'm not sure, I just definitely know that I learned something about the way hair was built from her, even if it was just in a trivial "isn't that neat" kind of way.

My mom used to have a barber's license, even though she didn't care to get it renewed. I think her knowledge from there helped her teach me, though. And by wearing her hair long ever since I can remember, she showed me that long hair is beautiful (and somehow got me stuck thinking that anything above mid-back is short!)

She also indulged me sometimes when I wanted to do something to my hair - she once permed my sister's and my hair (although the curl didn't take with either of us - we had very straight hair as kids). She gave me a layered, feathery haircut when I wanted one (didn't turn out to like it so much after all, though, LOL).

I love my mom!:heart: I've been trying to get her to start taking better care of her hair these days, she kind of seemed to lose interest in keeping it nice (although it still is long) after my family went through a nasty divorce. Who knows, maybe I'll get her to join this site sometime.

[Lamb]

My mother used to (and still does) believe in simplicity. I was a little tomboy, so my hair was kept short with a fringe - it was also a lot straighter than it is today. I used to hate some of the haircuts she gave me, but what child doesn't?

Now, my mother didn't really know much about haircare. And the range of products available in the stores was very small. And, from my early teens, she didn't really have a lot to do with what I did to my hair. It just wasn't a hugely important thing in her parenting priorities. So, I didn't really use anything besides shampoo and a hairbrush and a very fine toothed comb until college... Because I wanted straight hair so badly. :o

She is quite happy with my curls as they look now. :)

[viking_quest]

My mother washed it everyday. She's a firm believer in daily washing. I would have a little bob with fringe during the school year, and a bowl cut during summer. People often mistook me for a boy during those times.

[HairColoredHair]

Earliest hair memory I have is being taken into the hairdresser in the mall and having all my hair (long, to my bottom or so) cut to chin. Apparently after two bouts with headlice and combing out my hair and me being too little to help she got tired of it and hacked it off.

Looking back at the pictures, the cut was cute enough once it grew a bit, but it was horrifyingly traumatic for little-me and I swore I would not let them cut my hair again.

My mother obliged, providing I learned how to care for my hair. This involved ripping a brush through it and shampooing it when they made me. She did like to braid and put it up for Sundays and special events, but I didn't much like it as a child as she was taught to braid very tightly and I had a tender scalp.

After that, well, it was all up to me. She did help me dye it occasionally (Her philosophy was that it was just hair and could be cut or grown out, so it was better than piercings or tattoos). She did guilt me into cuts sometimes... 'little' ones that always ended up half-foot chops that made me cry...

[Medievalhair]

My mom didn't know much about hair or how to take care of my hair, or hair type. I often ripped through tangles with a brush, I only shampooed it, no conditioner. My hair length ranged from chin to apl. The only thing my mom really taught me how to do was use curlers properly. Other that I learned everything from either LHC or a hairstyle book.

[Medievalhair]

Sorry about the double post

[wheatfree]

This was interesting for me to think about. I remember having (or at least remember seeing the pictures of) my hair down to my waist when I was little. I had to wonder why I don't ever remember my mother putting my hair in a braid. I remember it being long and either completely loose or in pigtails until she finally cut it short when I was about 8 or 9. Of course the fact that I used to scream like a banshee every time she even thought about combing it out could explain the cut. All that hair on a tomboy who ran wild all summer long with nothing to contain it. *shudder*

Why on Earth wouldn't she just keep it braided? I was wondering if it had anything to do with how she grew up, but I know I've seen a picture of her in braids.

Both sides of my family were Penticostal Holiness Christians. I don't know if that means anything to anyone here, but basically, once you got married, you put your hair up, and it was never seen down in public again. My mother did the unthinkable (to her family) when she cut her hair and divorced my father when I was 2yo. And I have to wonder if she doesn't explain her love/hate relationship with both of our hair.

[Masara]

My mum has dry, thick, curly hair, the opposite of mine. She remembers only too well the pain of having a brush pulled through tangles on TB+ length hair from her own childhood. (if only conditioner had been available back then, things would have been very different)

This meant that while she encouraged my sister and I to have long hair as kids, she also made sure it was tied up as much as possible to avoid tangling and that it was brushed from the ends up. The only brush she had ever found to work in her own hair was a Mason Pearson nylon/bristle, so that's what she used on us and when I was about 8, she bought both of us our own MP brush as a christmas present.
My mum washes her own hair once a week, but understood that with my very fine hair more regular washes were necessary. Although she did try to discourage me when I moved on to daily washes in my teens.

[Themyst]

My mother cut my waist-length hair when I was little so she wouldn't have to deal with the knots anymore.:(

[teela1978]

I was just about bald until I was 3. From then on I had really fine platinum blonde hair that slowly thickened up and darkened, I don't think it got much past shoulderlength until after I started school though. My mom tended to try and keep it longish... past the shoulders anyway until I was 9 or so and then I took care of it myself.

I remember many fights over brushing before then though. I was a bit of a tenderhead and getting knots out was not a pretty scene. We went through bottles and bottles of 'no more tears detangler' from johnson and johnson.

ETA: I'm probably about 6-7 here, and I don't think I'd ever had a haircut. Its frightening how much I look like my mother now.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e117/lchamber78/Momandme1985.jpg

[Mabel Grey]

Very interesting stories, made me think a bit here. I had and still have very fine hair, I have more of it now, than then. My mom has dark thick wavy hair, as does my sister. I had blonde, stick straight, middle of the back, frog fuzz. It was long for awhile and then she took us to have it cut that horrid buzz with the tail. I swear my Dad almost killed her for that. My hair was always wild, I have 3 cowlicks in the front and a widows peak. I hated combing, she would rip through it. MY godmother, who is full-blooded native american, taught me to comb with a bone comb and to not wash too much. She and one of my grandfathers taught me to braid it and cover it, when out working. Mom used dial bar soap on our hair and thought that the more damage I had the better, she would perm my hair and then dye it, when I was under 11. I can hear her now "Vi, it will give her body" with my godmother cringing in the background and me crying. Crazy. She still has thick wavy hair, I have long hair that is combed and will never ever see a roller. Funny, this all sound bad but I am laughing, growing up in the mid-west my hair was always covered anyway. Either, by snowcaps or hats to protect from the tractor dust. Thanks for asking, it gave me a chuckle, with the memory.

[ZaBasDa]

I had very curly waist to tb length hair. And I would always run away and scream when anyone would come near my head with a brush; this person was usually my mother. So the only time my hair got brushed was when my father would wash my hair and cover it in conditioner then try detangling it. About 7 or 8ish my father took me to get my hair cut and I had a series of bad hair cuts through the rest of elementary school and part of middle school. My parents have always been of the opinion that my sisters and I shouldn't do unnatural things to our hair like dye it or perm/straighten it and we should just accept it as is.

[RancheroTheBee]

Oh, Mother. She told me that if I ever went without conditioner, my hair would fall out. She's right, in a way, considering we both have dry, frizzy curls. She was the one who cut my hair for me, and asked if I really and truly wanted to cut my TB-length hair to chin. I said I did. And the struggle to have long hair again began.

[Anlbe]

As a small child I had a short bob just under the ears and a deep fringe and I hated it. My mother basically believes in the same haircut and every-day dress for children up to about the age of nine; dungarees, boys sandles (or no shoes at all), plain t-shirts etc...
But she did love my blondness and I used to have chamomille rinses and lemon on the hair in the summer, she even pays me to get my hair dyed now!
She also taught me always to use natural bristle brush and do a hundred strokes a night (not that I did, she just taught me that). I used to hate having my hair combed as I have a really sensitive scalp so I'd just brush the top for school and every saturday morning my older sister would carefully get all the tangles out.
When I was elevn and could look after it myself I was allowed to grow it long (although it's never been past BSL) then my mother taught me how to rag it. Neither of my parents really like it when my hair is up, they'd much rather I was still the blonde hair teenager who ran around with her down and slightly uncombed, refusing to wear shoes and sitting in trees all day reading. :-)

[GlennaGirl]

My mother was super-controlling of my hair. She knew I wanted it long and she just kept insisting on cutting it...and not into little-girl cuts. She would either take me to get it cut into little boy hairdos, or hack away at it herself...I got accidentally called a boy SO many times (she also generally did not allow me skirts or girl colors of any kind). She would not allow me, for instance, a bob. It had to be a Luke Skywalker-type feathered mullet-ish thing. Or when she claimed she was going to "give" me a "Dorothy Hamil," she just kept snipping away to "shape it" until it was way, way above my ears.

She did everything she could to get me to "let" her cut my hair. She'd beg. She'd pretend to be my best buddy. She'd threaten. She'd "blacklist" me and get the rest of the family to laugh at me (a favorite trick of hers) and humiliate/laugh at me if I had any friends over until I submitted. Then she'd giggle happily, grab the scissors, mutilate my hair, turn me back into "a boy", claim that people thought I was a boy already and that's why she "had to" cut it--to "match that" (can we say "f * cked up," people?), and she'd be my friend again for a while.

I can't really just chalk this up to that--that would probably be pretty unfair--but I can say I've always felt that I had to go over the top in clothing, etc. to show people I'm actually female and not male. :( Horrible way to grow up.

[rogue_psyche]

My mother was always really rough with my hair. She'd rip a brush through my hair and when she washed my hair, she's scratch my scalp with her nails. She never was any use teaching me how to wear makeup either. I think everything I know about my hair and is trial and error. (And there was quite a lot of error.)

[Samitra]

My parents were always gentle with my hair. I don't remember that they ever ripped a brush or a comb through my hair and all the tangles I had.

She never wanted me and my sisters to alter the structure or colour of our hairs. And we never did. Mum did accept highlights though, if we payed them ourselves.

And when we, my sisters and I, had dandruff or just a dry scalp, my father mixed up some egg yolk and EVOO and the three of us ran around with plastic bags on our head for an hour or two. I never cared for the smell, and the mix was so cold since he took the eggs from the fridge.

My parents also thought that using conditioner would make you wash more often, since it would make your hair greasy. I didn't start using conditioner until I was 20.

My mother cut our hair and trimmed our bangs, and we had about mid back lenght hair, the three of us.

So everything was pretty basic. I never really noticed my hair until I was 14 and started to care for my looks.

When I started to think about childhood and hair, I also remembered something else:

My family often had dinner with another family since our parents were friends, and they had two boys and a little girl. I think she was the same age as my youngest sister, so 5 years younger than me. The girl had beautiful blonde, thick and long hair with waves and curls. Her mother had short, thin and straight. Every day the girl cried and tried to run away when her hair was to be brushed, because noone in her family knew how to detangle gently. So when they came over to our house, or we visited theirs, the mother just handed me a brush and told her crying daughter (she cried every time she SAW a brush!) to sit on a chair in front of me. Then she stopped crying, because apparently I was the only one who could detangle her hair without hurting her tender scalp! She later allowed my mother and my sisters to help her with her hair aswell until she learned how to do it properly herself at the age of nine.

[lizzyjo]

I love reading these posts!

My mom trimmed my hair most of the time, and afterwards I would get a marshmallow if I stayed still. My dad "trimmed" it once, and cut quite a bit off so that I cried. I remember a few times going to a kids' salon with my brother so that we could get professional hair cuts and styling before getting our pictures taken. I need to find those pictures. My bangs were really pouffy and the ends were curled under.

I'd get my hair washed once a week, on Saturday evenings. I remember my mom using No More Tangles when brushing my hair out.

I learned to braid before I was 5, so I did some really weird, messy braids in my hair when I was little. I would also put it up in three ponytails, or put feathers in my hair. My parents, amazingly, didn't mind, and allowed me to go to school like that. I was always experimenting with hairstyles. I always participated in "crazy hair day" at school during spirit week.

[suffer-cait]

I'm really enving how knowledgable some of your parents were about hair!
My hair was always kept about shoulder blade length when it was my mother in charge of it. Every morning she would put it into some ponytail/pigtail/braid conbo. She brushed my hair really violently though, my hair tangles easily, and I always screamed. That's why I learned how to brush my own hair. She also washed every day, I'm not sure how often I conditioned, possibly daily.

[Tap Dancer]

There are a couple of pics in my album.

My hair was kept short until I was about 8 or 9 and I told my mom that I wanted to grow my hair long. She did a great job. She'd help me wash it once a week and she refused to let me go to school or outside to play with friends with it down because she didn't want it to get tangled. Around the house I could wear it down. She'd put my hair up for me because I couldn't do it very well. (I still can't and neither can she. :lol:)

Right before I went into 6th grade, I wanted my hair cut to my shoulders. After that, I started taking care of my own hair. My mom was always the one to cut my hair until I was about to go into 10th grade and wanted to start going to salons.

[Tap Dancer]

ETA: I remember Prell shampoo, No more Tears detangler and later the Beer Shampoo ( it smelled soooooooo good).

There used to be a beer shampoo? Cool! :grin:

[Grenwich]

There used to be a beer shampoo? Cool! :grin:

I didn't google it last night - but yeppers, it was called Body on Tap, and it smelled fantastic. The Vermont Country Store carries it as a "brand from the past" but for $15 I'm just not that interested. I'll stick to my Suave ;)

[BlndeInDisguise]

My Mom washed my hair once a week. It's never been cut (besides trims), so it was fairly long back then. I remember hating to have my hair washed and my sister and I would try to "hide" hoping that Mom would forget. I'm not sure why we hated it. I remember laying on the counter with my head over the sink and really liking it when someone would turn on the hot water elsewhere in the house so that the water at the sink would turn cold, because I thought Mom always had the water too hot. :D

I don't remember what shampoo and conditioner she used--probably whatever was cheapest that she could buy by the gallon. She would shampoo our whole length.

After she would wash it, Dad would comb it out--unless you were the last person to get your hair washed, and then Mom would comb it....and woe to the last person, because Mom was not gentle with that comb. Dad was very gentle, but not Mom!

Really, I don't think my hair suffered too much, though. I had that "able to withstand anything" childs hair. ;) I'll have to see if I can find any pictures....

I found this picture and couldn't resist. :D My hair took a while to get very long, since I didn't start out with much. But it's making up for it. ;)
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa65/bornnraisedhawkeye/DSC00647.jpg

[helen2806]

My hair was always cut into a bob with a fringe, but my hair was never very well behaved so looked pretty scruffy a lot of the time! I think mine got washed whenever I would let it - I wasn't a very cooperative child lol. There was only one brush I would ever let my mum use on my hair because I thought all others were too painful, and insisted that we carried on using it even when the handle broke off

This is my hair when I was about 2 years old :lol::lol:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=2144&pictureid=39903

[Ella Menneau P.]

What great stories!

As a child of the 70's, my hair (and clothes, and hygiene) suffered from benign neglect. I do remember in first grade my 2 older sisters and I all got a "shag" cut, from what was probably 3 perfect examples of Marsha Brady hair. And a week later, we all got pixie cuts.

By 6th grade or so it had grown out a bit, but there was not so much as a hair elastic in our house, so it was always down and always a mess. I used to envy my cousin's long hair and elastics with the colorful plastic balls on them. 7th grade brought a poodle perm (I cried so bitterly).

I have not one memory of having my hair brushed or combed by anyone when I was a child, but I remember vividly brushing my mom's hair, or giving backrubs to my parents.

My own daughter, 14, has informed me that she intends to grow hers as long as mine (hers is shoulder length and naturally platinum blonde). She's always been interested in styling her hair. She would say that I ripped the brush through her hair, but it was only because she was running away from me at the time!:eek:

[kmoc123]

My Mother kept mine short. She thought that short meant easy...now my hair is to my butt...and that is easy...

[kmoc123]

Do you guys remember "Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific" shampoo and conditioner. THAT smelled good, too! I used the beer shampoo, too...

[Themyst]

Do you guys remember "Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific" shampoo and conditioner. THAT smelled good, too! I used the beer shampoo, too...

Oh, I DO remember it! And Gee, It Did Smell Terrific!

The beer shampoo was Body on Tap - Oh yea!

[Carolyn]

My mom knew very little about hair care and thought proper young girls had short hair. My hair was kept in a chin or just below chin length bob for years. I guess I was lucky I was never forced to get a pixie. I remember getting perms some of the time. They were Toni "Party Curl" perms. My mom did them at home. I'd get them right before Easter or before school started in the fall. I hated them. I remember the directions said to trim the hair first so she did. I recall once asking why it had to be trimmed. She said it was because the directions said so. She was one for following directions to the letter. She would wash my hair on Saturday afternoon and pin curl set it. The wash and set was supposed to last a week. She really got upset if I got all sweaty and dirty. Swimming wasn't allowed very often and if I did I had to wear a swim cap and got yelled at if my hair got wet. In 8th grade I begged to be allowed to style and care for my own hair. We had some real battles over that. In the end I won and she bought me pink foam rollers and then mesh/brush and magnetic rollers. She was not happy when I added a Wednesday night wash to the Saturday wash. Eventually she just gave up and was washing and setting it nightly. She talked me into letting her perm my hair again the week school started in 9th grade. She promised she wouldn't perm the bangs but she did. I had a blonde afro. It was hideous. I felt so ugly. I got bigger magnetic rollers to straighten it out. In 9th grade I started growing my hair out. It took a good 2 years to grow that god awful perm out. I don't have a way to scan childhood pics or I'd show you pics of my bob. I know there aren't any pics of the perm. Thank god.

[Eden Iris]

My mother's childhood trauma (having her coarse, curly hair yanked through and put into rag curls, not allowed to cut it until she moved out) manifested in her having my hair cut into a horrid pixie when I was a child. The last time she did it, I cried. The stylist cried (not the reaction she was looking for). My mother gave up, and I had long, mostly unkempt hair hiding my face until high school.

[Speckla]

My mother wanted to be a hairdresser and she was really good.
I had two sisters and one was curly and the other was a straightie. My curly sis used to take pity on me as a teen and sometimes do my hair. She was gentle because she knew how tangly curly hair gets. My other sister had pin straight hair and was good at fixing mine but impatient and was the one who would pull root to tip in one sweep.

It's a pity that I learned good hair care as a child but only started to follow it less than two years ago. I look at pictures of my youth and my curls were shiny, tangle free, and very springy. Mom knew a thing or two.

[bahannas]

My parents kept my hair at chin-length; easier to manage that way. We didn't condition often, though, so it was always on the dry side....

[Speckla]

'nother thing I thought of:

My mother had long, straight hair that my grandmother used to perm. My aunt (mother's sister) had curly that my grandmother used to keep super, super short and brushed out curls. Does that make any sense?:confused:

[Vermelha]

My mom didn't do my hair when I was little—my sister did.
And, to be honest, I never had really long hair either. My hair only reached, at the most, past SL straightened. My folks would press my hair every two weeks with a scorching-hot hot comb and hair grease. It was terrible.

Then, they relaxed it when I turned 11. Not a good move either. But that was 10 years ago. It took me until I turned 16 to grow my relaxer out, eventually cutting it off when I turned 18, and now, two years later, I'm at an all natural past APL.

[Madame J]

The only hair cut I had as a child that wasn't my idea was probably my first haircut, where my mom got bangs cut. They were really thick, blunt bangs, too, and I hated getting them trimmed (my grandmother cut my ear once while trimming them). But I did like going to the salon with my mom. Her stylist would trim my bangs for free and they would be even and not-too-short, unlike home trims. Sometimes she would trim the bottom, but I've always had very thick hair, so we mostly had the barber do that when my dad got his hair cut.

I hated having my mother or grandmother comb out my hair because they were always in a rush and pulled it. My dad was the gentlist, oddly, since he's not really a very empathetic person. I think he just really liked long hair, since he always told me to wear it down. Mom always told me to get it out of my face. I wore a lot of half-ups.

I started washing and brushing my own hair probably from the age of 6 or 7, so I could be as gentle as I wanted. I also learned to French braid before I was 10 because my mom and I both liked French braids and she couldn't do them. I loved my Klutz Braids Book. I had long hair until I was in third grade, then cut it into a bob, then grew it out again until I was in the 7th grade when I had it pixied. I would get a few inches cut off when I was bored in high school, but stopped cutting it junior year when I went to the Hair Cuttery for a wash and 2-3" taken off and came home to find out a good friend of mine had died in a car accident. I didn't cut my hair again for 4 years (I did trim, so it only got to about waist), at which time I got it cut into a sort of shag and donated the ponytail to Wigs for Kids. My mom kinda hated my waist-length hair because she said it looked too flat and limp, so we'll see what she says as I grow out now.

When I was in middle school my mom started letting me use semi-permanent color to dye my hair red (which didn't really work on my dark natural color, but lent it a reddish cast in sunlight). I tried henna once, but my mom hated the mud everywhere and forbade it after that. I had a problem with dandruff and oily hair in middle school, so my mom helped me figure out how to part my hair so I could shampoo down to the scalp all over, since my hair was so thick it prevented shampoo from getting all the way to my scalp in places. But she was never very into alternative hair care -- I found that a few years ago.

[GeoJ]

I was a major tom-boy, so my hair was always really short. My Mom washed it with Breck shampoo, we never used conditioner. She combed it with a fine-toothed plastic comb (I hated that part, it was always pulling on my thick hair, even though my hair was short). I started growing it and taking care of it myself when I was about 12, before that I didn't care about my appearance at all.

:)

[goodluckcharm]

My mom had tailbone length hair while I was young (before she had kids she wore it at classic). I swam in pools daily, so she used special shampoo and conditioner on me to keep my baby blonde hair from turning green. She brushed my hair twice a day and would style it for me however I liked until I was old enough to do it myself (around 8 or so). Summers when I went to sleep away camp she didn't trust me to brush it myself so she would have it corn-rowed for the summer.
I also had hair down to my butt until I hit high school. I think I remember my mom using breck or white rain on her own hair.

[EtherealOde]

I don't remember the shampoo brands much that we used but I do remember the fanci-ful toner stuff always being in the bathroom. My mom had short hair, that was always bleached, colored, then frosted. She used rollers on her hair every day, and I never remember it being much longer than her ears. I used to think she looked so old, because her hair looked like it was grey with all the stuff she did to it. I saw a photo of her recently, and she was about 25 or 26. It really wasn't my imagination, all the stuff she did to her hair to try and look good just aged her and it was a fright.

With me and my sisters, my mom cut our hair. And she was really bad at it. By the time she had finished evening up the bangs (she couldn't cut them straight ever, gah)we were lucky to have an inch long fringe in front and THEN she started in on the back. :( I was always ashamed of my hair, and for weeks after a cut I would do everything I could to disguise the damage she did. I wore a lot of headbands, lol. When I hit my teens I told her enough, no more of her styling.

My mother did what she did to my sisters and me because she had mental problems, and suffered several nervous breakdowns during my early years. These days she would have been diagnosed properly and treated, but back then she just got valium and librium and had crazy episodes. When I was 14 I was kicked out of the house, and my grandparents took me in. The same thing happened to both of my younger sisters, as they hit the age of 14. My mother saw us as competition, so maybe that was part of the reason for her butchering our hair on a routine basis.

Needless to say I didn't learn anything about taking care of hair from her, aside from how to abuse it.

[Maddy25]

When I was young I rolled a roundbrush all the way up my wasit long hair up to my scalp. It was stuck and since my mom was gone my dad had to deal with it. Being not one for love of hair he sat and ripped at my hair with a ble pen until the brush came out lol. I bawled the whole time cause it hurt so much. So yeah, my mom was good with it, doing fun styles and what not, but not my dad lol.

[Bellalalala]

I had long hair as a child that I refused to let anyone cut.
However, I also refused to let any wash or brush it either.

My mom was so good about my hair, she was so understanding and so gentle. She only made me wash it if I had mud or sand in it, and she would always put on my favourite movie if she was going to brush it out so that it wouldn't be torture for me.

She used to be a model and was taught that less is more when it comes to hair care and that hair always looked best about 3 days after washing, so she never insisted on daily washing.

We are the only two people who care about one another's hair as much as we do our own.

My dad has never used anything but a BBB and has always had long hair.

I think I was born to be an LHC member

[AJoifulNoise]

My mom used to wash my hair in the sink and she always used conditioner (or "cream rinse" as she called it). So, she took better care of my hair than I did for the longest time! >.< When I switched back to using conditioner I had to just smack myself. That's why my mom used it... It made my hair so much more managable. There are lots of pictures of my hair from back then at the beginning of my blog.

[krn2891]

My mom would perm my hair and keep my hair short so I always had this Sherly Temple thing going on with my hair in school pictures. She could never understand why I wanted my hair long. When I was around 10 she gave me control over my hair and that is when I started growing it long.

[inertia]

Both my little sister and I had waist-length hair through our childhoods. My mother used the benign neglect approach. We got shampooed about once a week and, maybe once or twice a year, she'd haul us to the hair salon to get the hemline trimmed blunt. Sometimes she'd put our hair in braids or a bun. My hair was always at least mid-back until I was 11 and decided I wanted to try short hair.

[klcqtee]

I remember my parents expected a lot of our own care to be provide ourselves, even being 4 years old or so (accept bath time for safety reasons!). That being such, my hair would get very very knotted at the base of my neck. It would become huge! I only used a BBB (which of course on thick hair, only brushed the top layer) on my hair at the time. Everything else hurt too much!

So this knot would eventually have to be worked out. This meant I would sit between my dad's legs, while he combed through my hair for hours and hours. We literally would sit there for 3 hours (usually while we watched football) while he combed my hair patiently.

Another thing I remember was my dad trying to put my hair in a simple ponytail. He tried for 10 or 15 minutes, unable to fit his fingers through the loop to pull my hair through again. I nick named him Mr. Fat Fingers.

Haha, good times.

[Fiferstone]

I had longish (shoulderblade-length) hair until I was about 6 years old because my dad liked pigtails and braids on his little girl. After that, my mom got sick of trying to comb/brush it (I didn't do it of course :), and it was cut off into a pixie cut much like the haircuts my brothers had (by the same barber!). The end result is that I now have had long hair for more years of my life than I've had short hair.

[masterofmidgets]

When I was younger I was really super tender-headed (okay, I still am, but at least now I just make faces instead of hollering) and cried when anyone tried to brush or even touch my hair. My mom didn't want to deal with it, and since she thought I was too young to take care of my hair myself, I ended up with a super-short pixie cut that was easy to manage, even if it made me look totally ridiculous, like I had a bowling ball on top of my body. As far as products, I think we just always used whatever was cheapest. Lots of Suave and VO5 in our house.

[Laylah]

Up until I was 6 (whenever I started grade school) I refused to wash my hair so my mom would only force-wash my hair twice a month. (!!!) She was very gentle with it, only combing it with a wide tooth comb and never brushing, heat styling...etc. She'd also braid it every day when I went to school, either one or two braids. So my hair grew very nice and long until I cut it to APL in junior high, and added layers. Since then I've been growing it out.

[ReddishRocks]

My mother used to have conversations with my hair in the morning... she'd be trying to comb out a tangle and she'd start doing a ridiculous Cagney impression; "You dirty rat!" I never called them tangles - always "rats" or a "rat's nest." :D

My father insisted that my hair stay "long" (it was usually around APL, which was long enough to suit Dad), so Mom just dealt with it. Mostly pigtails, ponytails, and two braids a la Pippi Longstockings for school, but often times it was just left down. I've always had a pretty prominent cowlick up front there... My hair didn't go curly until puberty, so I suppose I should be thankful for that small blessing - my straight-haired mother had no idea what to do about that. ;)

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v311/71/76/506443896/n506443896_896277_212.jpg

[RancheroTheBee]

My mother used to have conversations with my hair in the morning... she'd be trying to comb out a tangle and she'd start doing a ridiculous Cagney impression; "You dirty rat!" I never called them tangles - always "rats" or a "rat's nest." :D

My father insisted that my hair stay "long" (it was usually around APL, which was long enough to suit Dad), so Mom just dealt with it. Mostly pigtails, ponytails, and two braids a la Pippi Longstockings for school, but often times it was just left down. I've always had a pretty prominent cowlick up front there... My hair didn't go curly until puberty, so I suppose I should be thankful for that small blessing - my straight-haired mother had no idea what to do about that. ;)

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v311/71/76/506443896/n506443896_896277_212.jpg

My lip wobbled a little when I saw that picture. SO. CUTE.

My hair was actually well-taken care of. My mother washed, conditioned and patted down my golden little curls into perfection.

And I paid her back by hacking off chunks of it with kitchen scissors. What a great child I was. I also started dyeing it at 11 (11, mark you!) much to chagrin of my curly-haired, brunette mother. She loves my hair now, but only because it looks like hers did back in her heyday. When it's waist-length, I'll be her carbon copy!

[Wicked Princess]

I love reading this thread :)

My mother looooved me with long hair. When she was younger and up until she was in her early twenties, she had long hair that was past her butt. So when I was growing up, she would maintain my hair at that very length. She also seemed to really like sticking flowers in it.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=3594&pictureid=46203

Hahaha...I can't believe I wore that when I was little. My mother was very sad when I reached middle school and was dead set on cutting it to waist length. By that time, it was down to my knees!

This photo re-posted from my album. I apologize for the quality. I do not have a scanner, so I essentially took a picture of two photos from my photo album.

As far as hair care goes, my mother stayed simplistic. A gentle shampoo and basic conditioner roughly every three days. Brush gently. While I'm still figuring out a good routine with my hair, I still follow these basic rules. Except instead of brush, I just comb.

[hennaphile]

I started growing out my hair in the fifth grade.

When I was a little kid, it looked awful, people commented that "it's brushed today." Once I got a tangle the size of a baseball that had to be cut out.

Ya, they took real good care :rolleyes:

[Jessie]

My mom has had a "Farrah Fawcett" style or similar style since she was oh... 14? I remember her playing with my hair in the tub-using shampoo to put it up into a mohawk, etc... :-P She didn't cut my hair other than a bit of bangs until I was about 7-then it was cut to about shoulder blade and permed for my 7th birthday. I LOVED the perm, because it would bounce when I ran! :bounce: Then it grew out with occasional little trims until I was 16, when I decided that I wanted to cut it like it was when I was 7. Don't know what I was thinking, it was waist length, and quite pretty. My mom tried to talk me out of it, and cried as she cut off about a foot of hair for me. The home perm didn't take, and I was so lost on how to deal with such "short" hair!! *grin* The only thing I liked about it short, was it was SO THICK, I didn't know I had that much hair!! So since then it's been growing, with only occasional trims. Now it's just past my butt, and I am really enjoying it!! :cheese: Now the goal is to get it as think long, as it was short. ;-)

Oh yeah, I grew out my bangs when I was 12, then cut a smaller bit of bangs when I was 16. Kept that until last year when I got married, and my hubby requested I grow them out. They're now a good bit past my chin, almost long enough to stay in a pony tail or bun! Hubby loves my hair long, occasionally I mention trimming it because my ends are so shredded, just to see the look on his face. Mean, I know-but his puppy dog eyes are so cute, and reinforce my in self-esteem that my hair is indeed beautiful! :D

[Poetic]

My mother was a hairdresser. When I was a child she would use Aveda products on my sisters' and my hair.:love::cloud9: I still look for some of those products today. We were not allowed to put heat on our hair and wore protective styles everyday. As I got older I would sit and let my sisters style my hair in different braided styles. They were both very gentle and would make a morning of it, turning the day (usually a Saturday) into a day of beauty treatments.:) I smile as I write this, because those days were so much fun.:cheese:

[Stephichan]

I don't really remember too much of my childhood - too many head bumps (only partially joking here). I remember using that Loreal "Just for Kids" shampoo for a while. I also remember using Pantene, because it's what my sister's used. Oh, and you always wanted to have well combed/brushed hair around my dad. You did not (I repeat: did not) want him to comb it for you. He didn't care if he hurt your head, and I think that was the point. He wanted us to learn clean and neat habits, and he often used pain to teach us lessons (spankings, ripping through our hair, light pops on the head if we were being disrespectufl, etc). I was/am a tomboy, so I didn't care too much about my hair until I was in high school.

[ladylibra]

Wow!!! Thank you for sharing this....and of course, I would love to see photos of the matted hair and the stilettos!!! I have never really worn high heels--- I am already at least 5' 10''!

Oh please don't let that stop you! I'm 5' 9" and love high heels. I have "pretty feet" and heels just make them even prettier. So what if I'm taller than everyone else... not my fault they are vertically-challenged! :D

[ladylibra]

My mother wasn't too bad at caring for my hair. She has very fine, poofy, wavy-curly hair, that she only relaxes because it gets poofy. But compare that to my thick, dense, tightly coiled hair...

She had hair that was easier to brush and comb, and for whatever reason believed that hair should be brushed and combed every day. So... she pulled a fine-tooth comb and brush through my hair every day, just to re-braid it. Supposedly because I was a tomboy and always "messed up" my hair. Probably true. :o She would dip a pink Goody bristle brush in water, and brush my hair a little, then dip her other hand in a little bowl of oil and put it on my hair, then brush some more. The comb was used more for parting and de-tangling. She wasn't particularly rough, but she wasn't particularly gentle either. She would always put decorative bows, ribbons, yarn, and/or barrettes in my hair... which I didn't care for at the time as a tomboy :rolleyes: but looking back, I can somewhat appreciate. At least she cared, right? ;)

I never wore my hair "out" as a kid, except for church. Every Saturday night I'd get my hair washed, conditioned, go through the brushing-with-oil-detangling-with-a-comb-then-braid routine... but the nape of my hair was put on big rollers. In the morning, after getting dressed and eating breakfast and all that, she'd take the curlers out right as we'd walk out the door, and finger-comb them a little. So I'd have these big poofy curls in the back, it was actually kind of cute. :D The older I got, the more hair I was allowed to wear "out," and also I started wearing my hair this way for school pictures.

I don't really remember my first relaxer at age 6 when I started first grade. But by then my sis would've just turned 2, and she also has the same coily hair as me... but hers is fine, and not so dense. And she was a very sickly baby, so at one point after she had the flu her hair fell out and left her with bald patches. I'm sure between dealing with my long, thick hair and fretting over my sister's health and her hair not growing, she figured relaxing my hair was the best course of action. But... my hair did not get straight. Not even close. It looked like my hair did when it was wet - the coils were elongated, but not by much.

In any case, my mother continued to relax it. She did her own touch-ups once every few months, and she also colored her hair to cover the grays. By the time I was 9, I was helping her do her relaxer touch-ups and color touch-ups... usually I would do her head, and she would do mine. For some reason, she wanted my hair styled a certain way when I started junior high... it was after picture day so I'm really not sure. :confused: But she took me to this so-called beautician down the street. This lady assumed that since my hair wasn't straight, that it was natural virgin hair... and decided to press it with a hot comb. Used some thick grease, and said the smoke I saw was from the grease even though I could smell burnt hair. It looked okay that night, but the next morning I woke up with hair all over my pillow. :eek: My mom cried her eyes out. Luckily for both of us, my aunt (dad's younger sister) was in cosmetology school - this was my first haircut. I got a chin-length bob with blunt bangs, and I loved it. :cheese: And after this point, my sis started getting her hair relaxed too, so I was in charge of her hair and mine.

Wow that was much longer than I meant it to be... :o Somewhere in there, was her rule about only trimming hair during a full moon. I know I got that from her, as any other time my mother is very anti-scissors. After my first haircut, she fully expected me to grow my hair out as long as possible again. As any good girl just entering puberty would do, I rebelled and continued cutting it. :laugh:

Here is a pic of me at 3. Can't really see much of my hair, other than the front which is sticking up in a patch of frizzy coils.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c256/LadyLibra1982/trp-dec1985-Copy.jpg

[FullMoonTrim]

I had hair I could sit on when I got my first haircut, at age 11. My mother (who was ill, it affected her reasoning and judgement, I found out later in life) took my sister, my grandmother and myself to an upscale salon, back in 1976, and I wound up with a Dorothy Hamill wedge cut (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=dorothy&#37;20hamill%20wedge&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi). I cried. My grandmother cried. The stylist must have asked my mom 20 times - "Are you sure you want to cut all her hair off?" My grandmother kept my ponytail in the bottom of her jewelry box.
This is the only photograph I have of myself as a child - it's from the 3rd grade. My hair was waist length or better, and very light, from being outside all the time.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v469/grenwich/Meat83rdgradeSmall.jpg


ETA: I remember Prell shampoo, No more Tears detangler and later the Beer Shampoo ( it smelled soooooooo good). I know I got a blow dryer shortly after the wedge cut, because the bangs just fell in my eyes unless I blew them back and sprayed them.
Thanks for posting the only picture you have of yourself as a child.
I'm just finally reading some of these posts now. :)

[FullMoonTrim]

I love my mom!:heart: I've been trying to get her to start taking better care of her hair these days, she kind of seemed to lose interest in keeping it nice (although it still is long) after my family went through a nasty divorce. Who knows, maybe I'll get her to join this site sometime.[/quote]


Did your Mom ever join this site?

[FullMoonTrim]

My mother used to have conversations with my hair in the morning... she'd be trying to comb out a tangle and she'd start doing a ridiculous Cagney impression; "You dirty rat!" I never called them tangles - always "rats" or a "rat's nest." :D

My father insisted that my hair stay "long" (it was usually around APL, which was long enough to suit Dad), so Mom just dealt with it. Mostly pigtails, ponytails, and two braids a la Pippi Longstockings for school, but often times it was just left down. I've always had a pretty prominent cowlick up front there... My hair didn't go curly until puberty, so I suppose I should be thankful for that small blessing - my straight-haired mother had no idea what to do about that. ;)

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v311/71/76/506443896/n506443896_896277_212.jpg
Love love love that picture. There is something so sweet about it. Thanks for posting.

[Intransigentia]

My mom was fine when it came to teaching/helping with hair hygeine, but she'd never had long hair and until I was old enough to have an opinion she got my hair cut into what I can best describe as a Spock haircut. And then when I tried to grow my hair long, whenever it gave me problems she'd encourage me to go back to the Spock. When I did have long hair, she tried to learn to French braid it, but I vetoed that after a couple sessions. It wasn't something that came naturally easy for her, and because she was generally frustrated and confused, she either pulled it really hard, or dug her knuckles into my scalp, and sometimes both. I'm glad I figured out how to do it myself!

[spitfire511]

What fun thread! Mom took pretty good care of my hair, although it was styled for sure and I definitely sported the Dorothy Hamil for a while.

But I've always loved this pic. It was for the high school band banquet. All three of my siblings (12, 14 and 15 years older) were marching when I was 2, so they made me the mascot :)

Mom made the dress then put my hair up in a bun with ribbon and baby's breath.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=5927&pictureid=77556

[firefly42]

I had short hair till i was seven or so when i decided to grow it out...mom's only rule was that it had to be pulled back out of my face at all times (unless i was sleeping). i definitely remember going through a phase where i wore double pigtails for probably a year and another phase where i braided two small braids back (think Ever After) to contain my growing out bangs. It wasn't until i was a teenager that i discovered what a wonderful thing conditioner was, though...

[enfys]

I had long hair forever. At least waist all through school. My mum would wash and condition it, carefully comb it, blowdry it from afar on warm and always put it up for school in plaits or pigtails.

Mum's a former long hair, and was made to have short hair as a child in the 50s. She was determined that we (sis and I) would get to have long hair if we wanted.

Thanks mum!

[kitmarlow]

I was born with super thin blonde baby hair. Then I got hit with alopecia around 2. When I was 6 or 7 my hair started growing back in super thick and super dark. I have one thin patch to this day that I regularly apply castor oil to. My grandma used to rip a brush through my hair every day after school. My aunt would set my hair before school, but my grandma felt that little girls didn't need fantastically styled hair so she'd brush out all the curls and flips. After she got married and moved out my parents would detangle every so often, but not do much. My dad would sometimes braid my hair and my mom would put it in pigtails when I begged for them. I was never very happy with my hair until high school when I started doing more with it. In college I cut it all off and NOW I'm growing it out again.

[Tia2010]

From the time I was a baby until about three or so in every picture I seem to have a "Pebbles Flintstone" little pony tail on top my head. :D My mom loved to comb and syle my hair into little pony tails , but I was a tomboy so I really didn't like it. So that eventually lead to the Dorothy Hamill cut so we wouldn't fight about combing my hair into pony tails. That lasted till around 12 when I started growing it out and caring for it myself.

[OrangeStripe]

My mother is a former hairdresser, so she did my hair for me every school morning. She isn't the gentlest of people with a hairbrush, but I never looked after my hair at all so it was always tuggy. I never really wanted to do anything with my hair, and at first I only had it long because my sister's hair was short- I still prefered it long though :)
I actually couldn't do ANYTHING with my hair until I was 14, not even a high pony or a braid, because my mother doing my hair was so much a part of my routine.
My Mother does the most fantastic french braids, but that was as fancy as it got. Except one time for 'Children in Need' she put my hair in 9 mini french braids- and I was still in time for the bus!

[terrylillyd]

My hair was thin and tangled easily. My mother would cut it herself (and she was no hairdresser!) and give me bobs. I disliked my hair when I was a kid I wanted long hair so bad but my mother always kept it short. That might be part of the reason why I like to keep it long now, because I did not have that choice when I was a kid.

[pepperminttea]

My mother despaired of my hair; a thick, tangly bird's nest which I hated having brushed. I would occasionally let her, but it was so painful I learned to hide when the hairbrush came out. I can never remember having my hair braided by my mother, I wish she had, but my godsister sometimes would when she babysat me (she went on to become a hairdresser). Despite my utter neglect of my hair, whenever someone detangled it all, they would always compliment me on its softness and thickness.

At about age 10 or 11 I started brushing my hair everyday and putting it into a ponytail. I did that, mindlessly, for the next seven years.

ETA: Length-wise, my hair went between chin and BSL length for most of my childhood. My grandmother cut it once, to chin length; I didn't let her again. I can't remember much about it besides crying a lot afterwards. As for products; I just used whatever was in the shower which smelled nice, but I do remember trying the 'no more tears' range when I still young enough for my mother to wash my hair - suffice to say, the slogan lied.

My mother had classic length hair in her youth, cut short somewhere between her getting married and having my eldest brother, due to headaches. I asked her what styles she used to wear it in; mostly ponytails. My maternal grandmother had a short white perm for as long as I knew her. My paternal grandmother wears hers in a ear/chin-area bob; it's still just as thick as mine, if not more, and she's in her eighties. I'm told she wore it in a bun when her children were young, but I've no idea how long it was.

[mrs carol]

Most of the time my mom had my hair cut short. It would grow out some then get all cut off again.

[lhangel9]

I was pretty much raised by everyone.

You and me both.........:( My mom didn't really know how to take care of my hair and she would style it only on special occasions. My hair never grew past neck length as a kid. After searching the web and viewing this cool site, I've learned so much about hair care and it's really made a difference! Now I just need to learn more about getting my hair thicker and to grow MUCH longer if nothing more than to make up for what mommy didn't know or do.

[brunetka]

Not that well. My mom has a different hair type than I do - much thicker and more wavy. She can get away with washing once or twice a week and I need daily or at the very least ever-other-day washes, so when I was younger, my hair was always limp and stringy. She cut it at home with regular scissors, so I had lots of splits. I always wore it in ponytails because she didn't like the look of it down (see the part about limp hair). I had damage from the elastics and from rough brushing (she still tears through her own hair with a cheap plastic comb).

[bluesnowflake]

Terribly- my mom encouraged blowdrying and curling and refused to let my hair grow out past BSL ( or the child equivalent). I was also discouraged from overconditioning and now have found that more conditioner is what my hair likes. When I got to around 11 I stopped putting up with it and took charge of my own hair, and I must say my hair is better for it.

[MAO]

My stepmother went to beauty school. Irony is, she is no beauty and she had NO talent at cutting my hair. My hair was pretty much always short and feathered and I didn't get to grow it past shoulder length until my dad divorced her when I was in 7th grade.

I vaguely remember my dad blow drying my hair a couple of times and brushing it so it parted straight down the middle, a la early eighties style. That's about it. I can't recall anybody other than myself ever washing my hair.

[QMacrocarpa]

This thread has brought back memories! Breck shampoo! Prell! Pert! We didn't know about conditioner until one of my older brothers married a sweet woman who clued us in when I was in middle school. That helped a lot! She's also the one who first braided my hair-- I doubt anyone in my immediate family knew how, nor did we have any hair elastics, so the first braids were held with regular rubber bands, ouch. Still, I was so excited to have a "bomb-proof" hairstyle that wouldn't end up in tangles! My mother has always had kind of "flapper" length hair, averaging about chin-length, sturdy, just a bit wavy and not very tangle-prone. She's definitely a ripper, which didn't go well with my floaty, curly hair and tender head. Watching her comb her own hair now (at top speed!) still makes me cringe a bit. Same planet, different hair worlds!

[Oz]

mum used to rip at mine with combs and tell me how ugry it was. we always had the cheepest available shampoo and conditioner.

my dad had nothing to do with it.

[Oz]

age 10 i finaly had the strength to put my foot down. since then the nightmares have almost stoped.

shes locked up now.

[Loreley]

My mum washed my hair with kids shampoo, combed it, blow dried it, sometimes trimmed it. I've had very thick hair in my whole life, combing it out wasn't fun when I was a child. I always wanted to wear my hair loose but my mum braided it every morning. I hated it. I was allowed to wear is loose only on special occasions. Usually I had waist to tailbone length hair in my childhood. I wanted to cut it when I was 14 but my mum didn't let me do it because of folk dance. Later I planned to grow it longer. I started washing and combing it on my own when I was 7. My little sister also had long hair. It was thigh length when it was cut to APL, she was 8 then.

Here is a photo of me on my 2nd birthday. My mum told me that when I had hair like this at the age of 2, her friend's daugther (who was the same age) was still bald. :) I wish I had this texture and colour now... :sad

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=4250&pictureid=68892

[FullMoonTrim]

age 10 i finaly had the strength to put my foot down. since then the nightmares have almost stoped.

shes locked up now.
Hey, welcome to the site! It sounds like you had some major trauma around your hair as a kid :(
Do you know how this site works? Once you make 25 posts you can see peoples photos and things. Welcome! :

[kabelaced]

My mom was the one who did everything with my hair...she'd put bows and ribbons in it every day, do pretty braids, and curl it for the holidays. She used to call me "Dolly" (because she'd do my hair so fancy and she also made all of my clothes, i.e. frilly dresses, up until the age of ten)...

My hair was a shock of platinum blonde until maybe 10, when it started to redden and darken up; it never usually got longer than SL. Don't know why she always wanted it that short! :p

[Snow White]

My mom took pretty good care of my hair. It was always about shoulder length except for about 3rd grade when she cut it really short and we tried to feather the sides. :rolleyes: She'd comb or brush it from the ends up. My hair was also straight until I got a perm in 7th grade. I permed it through junior high and then just realized that my hair had become naturally curly (thank you puberty :D ). I remember her braiding it or putting it in ponytails. She tried to learn to french braid it, but I don't think she ever did quite figure it out.

I posted this before but it's been a few years:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c37/Wishing2005/hair/6_11_26_25600652.jpg

[baaaad_kitty]

My mom used to cut my hair! LOL I always had semi long-ish hair as a kid. I also remember looking at this hair braiding book and telling my maid that I wanted this particular hairstyle for school. My classmates used to call me Pocahontas because when I was about 6 or 7 my hair was to my waist, very straight, straighter than my 1c hair now.

Oh and I didn't always shampoo. When I and my mom would bathe I would skip the shampoo and go for the conditioner. Haha even then I was CO-ing!

[Kamama]

My mother and my older half-sister both cared for my hair and the hair of my younger sister. We are both tender-headed, but cream rinse and No More Tangles were part of our childhood.

My sister and I are both very hair changeable. Our mother has medium to coarse hair that is very thick. It is 2b now, but was 1c when we were growing up. My younger sister is fine 1b and i/ii and my hair was thicker ii/iii but fine and 1c/2a. Our types are so different from our mothers, she did not always know what to do with our hair. She also went to work very early in the morning, so she could be home with us after school. Our father was not the hair-styling kind of guy, so we became responsible for our own hair in early elementary school.

I had long hair with and without bangs until kindergarten when I got a bob cut. It was ok, but I wished I had not cut it later. Then, Dorothy Hamill wedges became so popular and my mother decided this would be flattering to me. I did not like it though, but I did not argue either, I was only 2nd grade/3rd grade. I would grow it and then cut it, and start over. I never seemed to get much longer than shoulder before I would get aggravated with my hair and decide to get it cut. My sister followed a similar pattern. As adults we are both wearing our hair longer than when we were kids, we both realized our hair types act and look better longer.

[rena]

Ever since I was born, I literally never touched my hair with grooming/cleaning/styling intentions until about 9 maybe. Althrough this time she kept it in good condition as far as I remember.

She washed it, brushed it as carefully as she could, and usually put it in these braided pigtails, took the ends of the braides and secured them into the hairband holding the pigtails, always making sure the bands and barrets were all matched up with my clothes (my mom is a matching freak)! It was my favorite style and I called it "the doggie ears" because thats what they looked like to me. This look was pretty much my early childhood identity.

This is probably why my hair practically went to heck when it was left in my very uncapable hands, as mom never really shared any of her secrets with me since I never asked. I had a friend who's hair was thick and very straight. Since my mom put both her own hair and mine up about 99&#37; of the time, it was just a way of life, especially since I went to a school full of African American kids who always had their hair in some kind of style.

So when I saw my friend's long loose hair just...out and hanging there...and not frizzing up at all...I was like, wow! Thats what I want too! Since I didn't really know about hair types and all. I always envied her ability to just go around with it hanging free without even seeing a brush while I had to sit in a chair and get mine done to look presentable, at least in my mind, though my parents tried to tell me my hair was beautiful anyway and I just didn't listen.

Thus began the ironing (with a real clothes iron), and the dreaded perms. Now mom sends me on one-way guilt trips for being told by young "independent" me to stop doing my hair :rolleyes:

[patienceneeded]

I had long hair as a child, my Mom was very good to me and my hair. My hair as a kid was STICK STRAIGHT (nothing like what I've got now...I blame hormones). My mom would spend hours braiding my hair in little braids while damp so that I could have curls like I so desperately wanted. I would sleep in braids, or with my hair wrapped up in rags just so I could have a little bit of wave/curl/body. I loved it. I remember sitting in the sun with mayonaise (sp?) in my hair to condition it, also eggs. I had great hair until my teens when I decided my mother knew nothing and that I knew better...hence the 80's mall perm in 8th grade. :rolleyes: Ugh. After that it was a battle between me and my hair that lasted through most of high school. I college I practiced benign neglect after having chopped off all my hair after a black dye job that left me looking like Morticia Adams. I wish I had left my Mom in charge of my hair...she knew better than me. Oh well. I figured it out eventually, and now I have all of you!

[GRU]

My mom has some pretty severe control and narcissism issues, and my hair suffered her wrath.

Growing up, I was told that I had to have short hair because of all the tangles in my curly hair, but as an adult looking back, I see that my mom's abhorrence of my hair was most likely jealousy. Her hair was brown, thin, and stick-straight. She wanted curls/body, so she permed the living daylights out of her hair (her hair didn't take perms well, so she always had to use the harshest chemicals.

She can't stand the thought of "getting older" so she dyed her hair black to cover her gray back in her 30s (I think she finally got tired of how quickly her white roots showed in black hair, because now, even in her mid-70s, she dyes her hair a light blondish brown color). Between the constant perms and the constant dyes, her hair is thin and dry and brittle and just all-around icky looking.

They adopted me when she was 32yo (and already dying her grays), and I think it really bothered her that so many people would comment on my strawberry-blonde curls -- I was "stealing her spotlight". I had a boy-cut by the time I entered kindergarten, and it stayed that way (despite my constant pleas to let me have longer girl-hair) until I was in the fifth grade. (by that time, I'd figured out that I weighed to much for her to carry/drag me into the salon, and she'd die of embarrassment if I put up a fight and threw a fit in public in front of her stylist and friends)

I honestly can't remember the last time my mother even touched my hair -- I'm guessing maybe around age 6-7yo?


So, how many other curlies can relate to this cartoon? :lol:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b23/ImaHockeyMom/boards/hair/HairBlues.gif

[ScarlettAdelle]

My grandmother has pin straight hair, so she had no idea how to deal with my curls, and my mother was a beauty school dropout with entirely too much confidence regarding her abilities in dealing with my hair. She loved how big my hair would get untamed (she was nothing if not an 80's child) so I grew up completely dispising my hair, and when I got old enough to try straightening, oh, the damage... one time my mother bought a do it yourself straightening solution from the drugstore and forgot to get the neutralizer and tried to neutralize with vinegar. What does a scalp covered in chemical burns feel like, you ask? For over a month I slept like a geisha with my pillow wedged under my neck and chin so that my head wouldn't rest on anything because pressure felt like I was resting my heaad on hot coals. I had so much breakage and damage it was a wonder I had any hair left at all. A few years later, she paid a hairdresser to cut off all the length i'd tried for so many years to get. Then, after I swore i'd never set foot in a salon, she waited 4 years & said she was going to give me a trim. She promised 1 inch would come off. When I sat down, my hair was to my tailbone. She took off an inch at a time so I wouldn't freak out, and when I got up, my hair didn't even rest on my shoulders when wet... I cried for over three months every time I looked in the mirror. And she wonders why I have trust issues regarding her *tsk tsk*

[cataphract]

When I was approximately 3 I gave myself a hair cut. Right in front. 1" long. My hair was longish and platinum/white blond and straight except for the very very ends. My mom was pretty sad that she had to cut my hair. In order to keep some length, the stuff at the nape longer, so in pictures it looks like a mullet, but I had only the very last bits long. Since my brother (similar hair though a bowl cut) had longer hair at that point she cut his hair off because she couldn't bear to have her littler girl's hair shorter than her little boy's lol. All was well, though as I grew my hair out to be about hip length after that until middle school. Then, after being told my hair looked like a rat, I cut it myself to a little under shoulder length. I played around with different lengths ranging from chin to shoulder for a while until it stuck around shoulder.

When I was younger it was just shampoo, just once in a while. Then when I was old enough to care it changed to shampoo/conditioner daily. I was never particularly rough with my hair - but knew that if I didn't brush my own hair that Dad would and that was scary. His pony tails could have been used as face lifts.

In high school I played around with dying and lost track of my natural color for a while. I've been varying shades of brunette and red for a long time. Fortunately I have really sturdy hair and have mostly fixed any damage that I did. Plus it grows pretty fast.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=6826&pictureid=91355

Right around when I turned 20 my hair went from straight to curly and I've had a strained relationship with it for a while. I tried different conditioners, shampoos, treatments, leave-ins etc trying to get it under control until I finally just started leaving it alone or taking matters into my own hands and curling it myself.

Only recently have I decided to start growing it very long again and have come across this lovely site with all the great advice!

[Oz]

Hey, welcome to the site! It sounds like you had some major trauma around your hair as a kid :(
Do you know how this site works? Once you make 25 posts you can see peoples photos and things. Welcome! :

yeah,, lots of truma.. thats why I joined to be honest. to see if anyone else was the same.
I kind of want to talk about it.

i better start making posts then, if i want to see pictures... 25 is a lot. i don't like to waste peoples time reading things that don't say much.

[Becky Safari]

My hair was usually shoulder length with bangs, and I was always in the dirt digging for bugs and reptiles and "exploring" creeks and such. My mother was always trying to keep it clean but I was an active kid! I recall my mom letting me vocalize what I wanted with my hair

[Inchworm]

I don't think I have any pictures, but my mom always taught me a lot about hair. She taught me:
That you had to brush hair from the ends up, so as to be gentle on the tangles.
That lemon juice was a natural hairspray and could lighten hair a little (nowadays, that sounds a little harsh to me, but hey).
To shampoo the scalp, and condition the ends.
That one's natural haircolor was the most complimentary to their skin and eyes.
That bleach and blowdryers were damaging to the hair.
How to do rag curls and pin curls.
Reminded me that you could always cut more off, but you couldn't put it back on once it was cut.That's exactly what my Mutti thought me.

[caadam]

My mother would wash my hair with shampoo and conditioner every day, then blow
dry my hair every day before school, or when we would go out. I had golden hair
with waves as a child, then when I was around seven my hair started to turn dark
brown.

I didn't pay very much attention to my hair when I was in grade school, honestly.
I did what was easy, which was to put it up in a pony tail, though I did wear my hair
down a lot in junior high.

It wasn't until recently that I've started to care about my hair, and I'm glad I did
because I'm starting to feel the ill effects of my damaging it with bad washing habits.

[thirstylocks]

My hair was thick and straight as can be. My mom used to just put it in a pony tail. I remember i loved it when my dad brushed my hair because he was extra careful not to pull at it and hurt me.

All the other girls had bouncy curls and fancy hair but I couldn't do anything to my hair because it was so heavy and stubborn.

[aimison]

My mom haaaaated (and still strongly dislikes) my hair long. I begged for long hair, and at once point had it down to my waist but in my house growing up we only used cheap plastic bristle brushes and no conditioner (plus mom was a "ripper" as well, not so fun for tender-headed me). Being that I have pretty fine, wavy hair (and a lot of it) it would get knotted and brushing it was painful--my mom got so mad at me crying over having the tangles ripped out one night that she just grabbed a pair of scissors and chopped it all off to above my ears..

I think after that day it became my personal mission to grow my hair back.

I didn't really learn about "good" long hair care until LHC...i.e. I was *still* using those plastic bristle brushes until my mid-teens because that's all I thought there was.

My mom still tries to convince my that "your hair would look so much better if it didn't just HANG there--you should cut it short and have some "style" to it".

I'm plenty happy with my "style" of long braids or buns and henna wavy goodness, thankyouverymuch :)

[GRU]

My mom still tries to convince my that "your hair would look so much better if it didn't just HANG there--you should cut it short and have some "style" to it".

Every time I see someone post about comments like this that people have made, it makes me wonder.... if we cut our hair short, will it start doing a tap-dance routine while it sings and plays the accordion? I mean really... doesn't short hair "just hang there" too? It's not like it has muscles and a skeletal system! :rolleyes:

[joiekimochi]

My parents were always too busy climbing the corporate ladder so our live-in maid was the one who took care of me. My hair has always been notoriously fine and straight and feathery. Until I was 5-6 my hair was about shoulder length. I still recall the vivid memory of my mom taping some newspapers around me and flipping the ends up so it was like a moat to catch the hair as she cut my hair up to my ears into a china-doll bob. I think it turned out quite cute. Our maid would regularly trim my bangs for me. I have this other memory of my dad trying to blow-fry my hair when I was 8 and he would rub my hair between his palms, thinking it would speed up the drying. Thankfully my virgin hair is made of steel and can withstand a ton of abuse.

When I was 9 or 10 I got fascinated by the whole beauty business and I would pore over magazines and books written about hair care and skin care and makeup (I daresay, I mastered mascara and eyeliner when I was 11!), so since then my parents let me taken control of my looks as long as I don't put myself in jeopardy. My mom did once say, "You can bleach your hair neon yellow or shave your head bald; but only if it doesn't get you into trouble in school."

So ever since I was 10 I became some sort of hair expert and became the one that would style and arrange my mom's hair! I was also the one who tied, bunned, braided and curled my classmates' hair between classes. When I was 15-16 I had a flat iron, crimping iron and curling iron stashed in my locker, as well as hair scissors and several combs and brushes, and would style anyone's hair for afterschool mall visits for a small fee (I once gave my best friend temporary twisted dreads using shaving cream, and her hair was incredibly soft afterwards!). I also recall once walking around school with bright red velcro rollers on my head and going for classes with them on (I think I was 17 or 18 ) and then taking them out at the end of the school day so I could go downtown with voluminous waves.

Right now I'm focused on regaining my virgin hair after more than a decade of experimentation and outright abuse, so I keep my hair up in a bun or braid, stopped going to hairdressers and stopped coloring, and my mom's like, "Why've you stopped playing around with your hair?!"

[mellie89]

My mom did a great job of instilling the basics of LHC-approved hair care in my tiny brain. She taught me to only wash every other day, to only shampoo the scalp and condition the ends, to let it air dry whenever I could, and to treat it gently. I only had to get it cut once a year, since it was in good shape, and I was never given any crap for wanting it to be long. As I got older and begged her to let me dye it, she always talked me out of it. Thank you, mommy! :D <3

[Venefica]

My grandfather used to brush my hair every day before school when I was a little girl. I had long hair at times, it was taken very good taken care of by my mother and my grandparents, but they did nag me to cut it short. Now as an adult my mother help me dye my hair, but she still think I should cut it. :P

[estherbeth]

Not much, really. When I was little, my hair was very feathery (but stubborn). I inherited a couple of cowlicks from my father, and my mom thought bangs would be adorable on me... then one side turned out to stick up about an inch higher at the roots than the other side. In gradeschool, my mom attempted to give me curls by having a perm put in my very stubbornly straight hair. The first attempt lasted about a month before straightening completely out. The second attempt was gone in a week. The hairdresser was very confused. :laugh:

My mom is a ripper, too. From the roots down, tearing through any tangle that dare get in her way. And I've always been extremely tender-headed, so there was much crying when it came time for her to brush my hair. I learned to detangle myself early, before she could get to it. My grandma gave awesome hair-washings, though. She always had long nails, and I can remember lying on the kitchen counter with my head tilted into the side of the sink, with her nails scritching all over my scalp.

[Meridon]

I had long, thick hair until I was about 10 that my Mum would usually braid or put up in ponytails, I can remember sitting while my Aunt french braided it for parties (Mum didn't know how to do them). Mum didn't understand how much it hurt when she tore the brush through it every morning - I hated having my hair brushed! The amount of times my whining got on her nerves and I ended up with the brush being hit over the back of my head was often!
SHe started letting me wash it and would get frustrated at my inability to wash the shampoo out properly which was mainly why she let me have it all cut off in the end. The amount of times my whining got on her nerves and I ended up with the brush being hit over the back of my head was often!

I always had it between BSL and waist until my very short cut. Then I tended to change my mind often about the length (because I hate having it cut) and would vary between a very short bob that was shaved at the back, shoulder length layered, and BSL layered for years.

[mrs_coffee]

My mom had short hair that she permed. She had no idea how to take care of long hair. My hair is also quite thick, and the one time I did have longish (shoulder length was long to her) hair she would rip the brush through it and then get mad at me for crying or saying she was hurting me. At that point she took me to her salon and had it chopped. She refused to let me grow it out after that.

[Venefica]

In gradeschool, my mom attempted to give me curls by having a perm put in my very stubbornly straight hair. The first attempt lasted about a month before straightening completely out. The second attempt was gone in a week. The hairdresser was very confused. :laugh:

At 15 almost every kid in Norway have their confirmation, Christian or not, it is just one of those things one do, some opt for a non Christian ceremony. I am not Christian so I would not stand in Church and lie and I did not like the none Christian version so I did not have a confirmation. I did however have a coming of age party. For this party my mother took me to the hairdresser for a perm. The first one fell out in a day, so I got another and then I had Annie curls for a while but after two weeks my very straight, stubborn hair was straight again. It just would not take the perm at all.

[MandyBeth]

My hair was ultra thick, would have had a 7in diameter at guess. I hated to get my hair washed or brushed, so my mom clipped the under part off and no one knew. I took over around 8 or so, dying at 10.

[rose.grace]

I'm so awed by the stories of both parents taking good care, being gentle, joining forces to moisturize and treat their kids' hair... It must have been wonderful.

My mother was the proverbial Beauty School Dropout of the 50's. She knew one hair cut: the pixie, with a razor. She never sharpened or replaced that razor in 10 years. She probably hasn't to this day! After she left my father (the guardian of my long hair) my hair was cut off and every three months though I begged, pleaded, cried and promised to do anything.... she got out that razor and cut my hair in the pixie. It felt like my every hair on my head was being ripped out. And afterward all she could say was, "Oh, it's so cute now!"

When I was 8, she announced that now I would be responsible for taking care of my own hair. I was very excited about that, thinking I could let it grow. What a joke. She meant I would shampoo it myself. The "creme rinse" was for Mother only, so once a week I had the electric crazies. We girls would get under the covers at night with a brush and brush through our hair, then touch the brush and make sparks. The 3 month cuts continued all through the sixties. While all the other girls had long hair, I walked around like Mia Farrow after she got her "cute pixie". :patrol::pins::wail::demon:

Strangely enough, my little sister, the baby of the family, not only was allowed to have her hair long (my mother said it was because hers was blonder), she was forbidden to cut hers. Mom was one of those "rip through it" hair brushers and the blood curdling screams from my baby sis every time mom brushed her hair were enough to make you want to mercy-cut hers.

Before my first cut at age 4, my mom kept my hair in two braids. On special occasions she would finger curl it and it would stay all day. People would remark on how cool it was. But I never was allowed to wear a ponytail. I always wanted a ponytail. I only got to wear a ponytail once in my entire childhood. My aunt was babysitting me and she gave me a ponytail (I didn't dare tell her they were not allowed :whistle:), remarking how thick it was, and she'd got it crooked she said, but I didn't care... I nearly gave myself whiplash, happily tossing that ponytail around all day!

[Tookii]

My mum was pretty good at taking care of my hair. As we are indian she would oil it regularly and do herbal rinses. I even remember her doing henna for me when I was around 10, because I wanted to dye it red...

[Anywhere]

I have no idea really. I think they just baby shampoo'd it and combed it when it was wet. When it was dry it would tangle and would often be brushed, only with a synthetic BBB which made tangles a nightmare for me. My hair wasn't in all that bad shape despite that so. She always cut it about SL.

Later on as I grew up (maybe around age 6 or 7?) I was allowed to wash my hair, with suave kids. I think she gave me "cream rinse" as well at this time. It still got brushed by me with the BBB because that was all I had.

When I was maybe 11 years old my mother took me to get it bleached (because my blonde was darkening and I had two-toned hair at the time). I was then introduced to straightening. To this day my mother still nags me about how I should straighten it more often because it's only pretty when it's straight. I told my mom I was growing it long and she hasn't snipped a hair on my head since. My hair was in horrible condition until maybe 2009 when I stopped bleaching and straightening as often.


Picture of younger years:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=4113&pictureid=53043

12 year old me:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=4113&pictureid=53039

14 year old me:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=4113&pictureid=53040

[craftybunn]

I don't have any pictures but my mom kept my hair short and permed. Totally early eighties, dude!! I hated it.

[jtl45]

My mom grew my hair very long as a young boy. I remember she had a shampoo tray for the sink and she would usually wash my hair after dinner. I vividly remember she would comb it out and either put it in a braid wet or roll my hair up. She cried when i got my first crew cut which I kept for many years before growing my hair long again about 6 years ago.
Jim

[Second Growth]

Oh please don't let that stop you! I'm 5' 9" and love high heels. I have "pretty feet" and heels just make them even prettier. So what if I'm taller than everyone else... not my fault they are vertically-challenged! :D

Only 5' 9" or 5'10" and you worry about being too tall with heels? When I was younger I wore heels at every opportunity, and I'm 6' 1 1/2". I loved them! Too bad now I've got arthritis and can't wear them, or I would still be looming over the vertically challenged. LOL

Second Growth

[Anywhere]

butting in on the side conversation.. I wish I had pretty feet. My feet turn purple from just standing in flats.. heels just accentuate it and people think my feet are in pain when in reality they're just cold. :o
I'm 5'3 and I feel like I'm so tall with heels. :D

[Darkhorse1]

Funny, my parents didn't really do much with my hair--kept it shoulder length until I cried when my mom pulled out knots, then it went into a pixie until I was about 8 years old and kept it on my own. From there, my dad just trimmed my bangs and I let it grow out--I think I started in grade 3/4 and it was long by grade 8, mega long by grade 9. I'd had my mom's hair dresser slow down my length process by 'trimming' off two inches and I was devistated. From then on, my dad trimmed my ends and I was sooooo specific as to state just 'even it up'.

I think I was in grade 8 when I started getting my bangs feathered at mom's hair dresser, but other than that, the length stayed.

I was the one who learned to braid--mom wasn't really into playing with my hair in regards to styles--she had helped me curl it when I was young and going out for halloween, but that's about it :)

[lynnspin]

I don't think my parents spent a lot of time worrying about my hair!! My parents divorced when I was 5, and my dad got custody of my twin brother and I. As you can image, my dad didn't fix my hair! I have school pictures where it looks like I slept with wet hair the night before because it is a hot mess!!

I remember that it was always clean though... The shampoo I remember being in the tub was Vidal Sasoon? I'm pretty sure I used conditioner as well.

My hair was fairly long, and I had bangs. I remember my dad would cut my bangs and they always ended up being super short. (And crooked!) I must've cut my hair short (chin length) around 9 or 10. But then grew it out to almost my waist by the time I was in middle school.

As a child, my dad, brother, and I lived with my grandparents for a few years and I remember my grandmother fixing my hair in a ponytail for school. She would pull my hair super hard with the brush and fasten the ponytail until my eyes felts as if I were chineese! My dad would always tell me to get my hair out of my face, so I would pull it back into a ponytail a lot of the time.

My dad remarried when I was 11 and my stepmother put sponge curls in my hair and it came out nice. I always wanted to have curly hair!!

[rose.grace]

My mom grew my hair very long as a young boy. I remember she had a shampoo tray for the sink and she would usually wash my hair after dinner. I vividly remember she would comb it out and either put it in a braid wet or roll my hair up. She cried when i got my first crew cut which I kept for many years before growing my hair long again about 6 years ago.
JimAw, your Mum sounds so sweet! I like this story :)

[azhie]

I had longish when I was very young. My mom always had it tied up in pigtails. Even got it permed once. I remember how fun it all was! Then I got lice (age 5 or 6?), and she had it chopped off. I cried because I thought short hair made me a boy.

Eventually she kept me and my 3 sisters in bowl cuts. Literally looks like a bowl was placed on our heads before haircuts. I suppose it was easier and the pictures are hilarious!

My dad took us girls to the salon every 2 months for haircut. It was our father-daugther ritual for years, and was special because he was so busy we only saw him every other weekend. Funny thing is, he's been mostly bald for as long as I remember.