The time has come to be honest

[whiteisle]

After much genuine effort since joining LHC I have finally come to accept what truly makes my hair happy and therefore what makes me happy. I have really come full circle. Before finding LHC I used Tresemme products everyday/every other day and dried my hair about 3-4 times per week. And my hair was happy (short and not so appealing in the style department but happy and healthy). Since trying other care methods my hair has been not-so-appealing in the health department - frizzy, dry, prone to tangles and breakage and not happy. So today I used my Tresemme and some leave-in and let my hair mostly dry before gently using the blowdryer and I have very, very, very happy hair. It's soft, smooth & tangle-free.

I love the idea of natural products, cone-free, air-drying, oils, alternative care, etc. but the truth is my hair doesn't. And I want to be able to enjoy my hair being long. That's the point, right? So I am thankful to all of you and LHC for showing me all the choices out there and helping me find what's right for me.

:happydance::flower:

Adding pic (shows off new trim too :D)

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii290/wcanderson/Hair%20Journal/IMG_1008-1.jpg

[Melisande]

I think that's great. And I'm of the opinion that there is nothing better than a choice after knowing the alternatives. So your experiments were not in vain but helped you to narrow down to your best choice - even though it is not very different from what you did before ;-)

What I like about the boards is the non-judgmental attitude towards hair choices. Do what is best for your hair! And enjoy!

[LaurelSpring]

Im so happy that you found a routine that works for you! I am still working on that. You have to do whats right for you. I have gone back and forth with all sorts of things. Whatever makes my hair happy is what makes me happy. :eek:

[RavennaNight]

Congratulations on discovering what works for YOU. Whatever works and keeps hair happy, that is what you do. :)

[moonbeam]

Good for you!
After three years here at LHC I am still experimenting :o

[colibri]

hi!congrats on founding what worcks best for you.you should stick with this routine if this makes you and your hair happy

[Xandergrammy]

Your hair is lovely and you're very lucky to know what works best for you. Not everyone on LHC practices no-cone, all natural hair care. If you're happy, that's awesome!!! What Tresemme shampoo and conditioner do you like best? I'm a product junkie and have always figured I'd try Tresemme one of these days! :gabigrin:

[whiteisle]

Your hair is lovely and you're very lucky to know what works best for you. Not everyone on LHC practices no-cone, all natural hair care. If you're happy, that's awesome!!! What Tresemme shampoo and conditioner do you like best? I'm a product junkie and have always figured I'd try Tresemme one of these days! :gabigrin:


I've used the Moisture Rich, Smooth & Silky, and the Volumn - all do well! :D

[Luzee]

That's good to hear, whiteisle. I'm a newbie here, and am having fun reading about what everyone else does to their hair. I plan to do a lot of experimenting to see what's right for mine. I like the idea of natural products, and some of them have been great for my hair so far (emu oil!), but I don't plan on ruling out not-so-natural products if they could benefit my hair.

[KarpatiiSiv]

Whatever makes your hair happy is whats important so congrats on working it out. http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/images/bouncyicon.gif

[Speckla]

Use what you know works. Heat, sulfates, and silicones aren't evil substances and they work great for some people. I think it's overuse and misuse that causes a lot of problems.

[enfys]

I still fall back on conventional things regularly. Even today I bought a (cone free) serum because I miss silicone shine sometimes. I use hairspray without even caring if there's alcohol in it when I need it. I just re-discovered the hair aisle in Boots. It's been about five, six years, and it felt good just to buy bottles of things that make my hair nice in fifteen minutes, rather than waitingg two hours, stirring occasinally, a pot of mud.

We all know the options, and just like food natural is great but sometimes you really really want a cream cake, or a burger, or something you feel you shouldn't have.

Enjoying it (hair/cake/burger) is really the most important thing.

[whiteisle]

Use what you know works. Heat, sulfates, and silicones aren't evil substances and they work great for some people. I think it's overuse and misuse that causes a lot of problems.

Exactly! It's what I've finally come to realize.

[whiteisle]

Enjoying it (hair/cake/burger) is really the most important thing.

mmmmmm....burger...I haven't had one in ages! Oooo, it's lunch time! :D

[Fractalsofhair]

Good! The only thing I would be worried about is using a blowdrier on high, since that DOES damage hair. If you were using it gently, and it didn't break or tangle, and your hair can handle it, congrats! Same deal with the cones. It seems the biggest issue with cones is how harsh SLS can be but even that is fairly minor. Flat irons, heavy bleaching, and perms/relaxers are the most damaging things to hair. Cones and stuff like that, they're either good for your hair, or ok, but not ideal, or very rarely, damaging.

[ericthegreat]

After much genuine effort since joining LHC I have finally come to accept what truly makes my hair happy and therefore what makes me happy. I have really come full circle. Before finding LHC I used Tresemme products everyday/every other day and dried my hair about 3-4 times per week. And my hair was happy (short and not so appealing in the style department but happy and healthy). Since trying other care methods my hair has been not-so-appealing in the health department - frizzy, dry, prone to tangles and breakage and not happy. So today I used my Tresemme and some leave-in and let my hair mostly dry before gently using the blowdryer and I have very, very, very happy hair. It's soft, smooth & tangle-free.

I love the idea of natural products, cone-free, air-drying, oils, alternative care, etc. but the truth is my hair doesn't. And I want to be able to enjoy my hair being long. That's the point, right? So I am thankful to all of you and LHC for showing me all the choices out there and helping me find what's right for me.

:happydance::flower:

Adding pic (shows off new trim too :D)

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii290/wcanderson/Hair%20Journal/IMG_1008-1.jpg

Hey, the pictures speak for themselves! Tresemme works for you, so keep on using it! There's nothing wrong with trying out other products and finding out that they don't work as well for you. The most important thing is that you find a routine and products that make YOU comfortable. And I know even the members here who use all natural products would back you up %100 on returning to Tresemme or any other conventional hair product , its all about what makes all of us happy.

[GlassEyes]

I like tresemme too. Along with some pantene conditioners, it's one of the few coney lines that work well for my hair.

Use whatever works. :D

[WelshLocks]

I believe that's one of the major points of LHC:finding what works best for YOU.I found that my hair looks and feels fabulous if I blow dry it on cold.(you may want to try that)I also know it likes cones.I don't use excessive amounts, but I really enjoy my leave in conditioner.It's what works for you.hey,come a few years from now when you are at a much longer length you may find your hair does like the natural ways.Try it again.When my hair was at shoulder length it hated trying new things but for some reason when I hit APL I tried like a million things and found which one worked best for me.


Good luck and happy growing!

[RancheroTheBee]

I think LHCs info about conventional products helped me understand how to use them properly, not discard them completely. I've discovered that blow-drying really lays my hair down nicely, and my scalp seems to like a bit of air, and that 'cones make me less tangly.

[Speckla]

I like tresemme too. Along with some pantene conditioners, it's one of the few coney lines that work well for my hair.

Use whatever works. :D

I'm jealous. I want Tressemme to work because it's cheap and smells really good. :(

It's all about finding what works and then using it.

[LoversLullaby]

I'm glad you found a haircare routine that works well for you!
I'm still experimenting myself. =)

[may1em]

You're still at shoulder, so definitely keep doing what your hair likes. What's the point in growing it if you don't enjoy it?

If when it gets longer, you find that your routine isn't working as well anymore, then you can reevaluate and experiment some more. I blow-dried a LOT at shoulder and used all sorts of coney gunk (without knowing it was coney gunk). At APL, that stopped working.

Your hair looks shiny. :)

[katydid317]

Congrats! That's great you have a routine that works. I tried no 'poo for awhile a few months back and it was awful. I went back to shampoo and am so happy. I was surprised at how dry my ends got with no poo even though I was brushing it with a boar bristle brush to spread the oils. I used to have nice long waist length hair as a kid/young teenager and I didn't have to do anything special to get it that way. I hope I am still that lucky. We shall see.

[Delila]

My experimental phase took years. I tried all kinds of things, and while some of it worked quite well for me (herbs) and some of it didn't (CO), ultimately, I went back to basically the same stuff that's always worked, plus a little extra moisturizing since my hair's so long now.

I think the whole point of the experiments is to learn what works well for your hair and your life, and to stick with that. If I hadn't taken the time to make notes about what seems to work and how my hair behaves across the day, I may well not have figured it out.

I'm grateful to LHC too. :cheese::cheese:

[Linda K]

Congrats! What "they" said! :cheese:

Think I'd like to try your 'stuff'! Thanks for posting! :D

[lora410]

It's good to try new things before making final decision. My hair is finicky and demands different things at different time so I experiment a lot. I am glad you found what your hair loves :)

[Dreamernz]

Congrats on finding the routine that works for you! For now I think I'm happy just experimenting :D

[Paliele]

I'm glad you found what works for you! I tend to find what works for me, then move back to school/back home where the water's different and my routine no longer works and I have to start over. :D

[Lamb]

Some of us came to TLHC, thinking we had to overhaul our entire haircare routine and mindset, only to find out later that all we really need to do is some tweaking and a few changes here and there.
Congrats on finding what works for you! :)

[spidermom]

By all means, do what is comfortable and makes your hair look its best. However, one thing I'm finding out is that what seems to work at shorter lengths can trash your hair at longer lengths. For instance, I've been blow-drying occasionally (less than once a week) throughout the years of growing out my hair - very gently, warm to the scalp, cool to the length - also washing my hair whenever I feel it needs to be washed. Now I'm dealing with shredding/splitting ends and must figure out what has to change. Is it the blow-drying? Washing too frequently? Unavoidable?

[physicschick]

Your hair looks healthy, and it's great you've found a routine that works for you. I'm a big fan of Tresemme shampoo (specifically the antibreakage kind). It's gentler than some sulfate shampoos, though not as gentle as others. As your hair gets longer, you may wish to use CWC (condition-wash-condition) to protect the length from shampoo, if you're not already doing that.

[twilight_faerie]

What matters is that you know what your hair likes! Not so much *what* it likes. So congrats on finding out what keeps your hair happy!

[Amoretti]

I'm also a conehead. ;)

[friskybiznus]

Yay You!! I'm still new and exeriementing too. Admittedly, though, my hair digs the cones and the blow-dryer.

[juliaxena]

When my hair was damaged (before I cut it really short two years ago) it liked protein and natural stuff. But not anymore. Protein makes it dry and so do oils. No natural stuff for me thank you. I did do some experimenting when I got here but I stopped when I realised nothing new worked. So I'm a proud cone head today.

[Aries_jb]

I discovered similar things about myself and my hair since coming here. I had stopped using cones long before I came here, and I stil don't, but there have been many things I have tried that made my hair look worse. For me, there's no point in doing things that are healthy for my hair if my hair doesn't look good. Especially considering that my hair is curly, so what works for many people here at LHC most likely will not work for me.

Still, I've learned a lot during my short time here. I think that knowing what I know now makes it easier for me to decide what's best for my hair since I'm now armed with so much information.

And I still love my chemical-laden hair gel and will not be giving it up any time soon! :)

[MissFrenchTwist]

I'm with you, whiteisle.... It's interesting to see what does, and doesn't, work for everybody else, but I know what *I* like, and I know what my hair likes, and when all is said and done, I will color it, shape it, condition it and do the best way for me. I appreciate other's journeys, but I will stay with what works for me. (Example: when I see so many going for the henna-craze, and then two threads away I read that someone is cutting their hair off really short to get rid of the "henna damage"....? I don't think I'll be trying henna in this lifetime!) :)

You go, girl. Whatever works for YOU!

[Stubborn]

Whatever works for you and your hair. There's no right way to care for hair or enjoy it.

Btw, your hair looks really nice.

[clairenewcastle]

Your hair looks very thick and healthy so whatever you're doing to it is obviously working. So many people here - myself included - would love to get to the point where they feel satisfied with their hair so congratulations on doing so! Your hair looks lovely.

[GlassEyes]

I'm jealous. I want Tressemme to work because it's cheap and smells really good. :(

It's all about finding what works and then using it.
I use their anti-frizz or moisture formulas whenever I'm at my dad's (he uses that and garnier). They're actually kind of awesome. :p But I have to clarify every few washes, so I still don't use them in my regular routine. :(

[Naamah]

That's awesome, and your hair looks great!

I've also found what works for me, and luckily its easy. CO with no cones and air drying. I don't use any oils or other products. Just one conditioner. I use some as a leave in sometimes too. My hair is so much shinier without cones too, cones tend to make the shine more dull and blech in my hair for some reason.