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ItalianFlower
April 19th, 2008, 09:59 PM
Alrighty, this is mostly a plea for me, but I assume if I have these questions, a lot of other new people have them too. I've had short, unhealthy hair my whole life. The long locks hair stick hair boutique was the first real place that gave me any kind of instruction on how to care for my hair, but it left a LOT to be desired.

How do I make it shiny? How do I stop the split ends? How often should I trim it? What hair things should I use, and not use? What conditioners/shampoos do I use? What other tips are out there for first timers?

groque
April 19th, 2008, 10:25 PM
Alrighty, this is mostly a plea for me, but I assume if I have these questions, a lot of other new people have them too. I've had short, unhealthy hair my whole life. The long locks hair stick hair boutique was the first real place that gave me any kind of instruction on how to care for my hair, but it left a LOT to be desired.

How do I make it shiny? How do I stop the split ends? How often should I trim it? What hair things should I use, and not use? What conditioners/shampoos do I use? What other tips are out there for first timers?

for shine I found less serum on my ends works better.

my split ends stopped when I quit using heat. you may have to see what your hair doesn't like for a lot it is chemical colors others it is -cones

for trims do S&Ds every so often to get rid of the dots and splits. but I trim now about every 2 months but that is because I went for like 1 1/2 year without cutting and my ends got to thin, didn't like it on my hair but I will be cutting back to every six months now because I don't have that many splits anymore.

I like conditioners with a lot of slip so the Suave professional line of conditioner is my favorite because of the slip but just look around and see what are others favorites. I know a lot love VO5.

I have heard others talk about boar bristle brushes, BBB, for distributing oil thru hair and coconut oil. doing conditioner only washing, CO, or CWC conditioner wash condition or WO, water only washing. you just have to experiment with what works best with your hair.

good luck and welcome!!

Jeni
April 19th, 2008, 11:58 PM
Welcome!

Hair tips- I think it depends on your hair. A lot of people here don't like or use cones, I love them. Everything I use has cones. I don't have a lot of problems with splits, I think protecting your ends (up dos) and keeping them moisturized is suppose to help. It would probably be useful to know what you currently do/use. Cones, no cones, CO, CWC, SC? How often do you wash your hair? Do you use chemical dyes (I do). I recently did my first ever cassia treatment and let me tell you the shine is insane. If you want to go red a lot of people here use henna which is suppose to make your hair really nice too.

I'm still pretty new so I'm just wading around the forum gathering info and then trying different things to see what works for me. Nothing works for everyone. Good luck! People here are really helpful, I'm sure they will be willing to give you advice.

Nat242
April 20th, 2008, 12:03 AM
Check out Ursula's article (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=39), it's packed full of information.

-- Natalie

Emme76
April 20th, 2008, 03:40 AM
Hey and welcome:D!
I am also quite new here...been lurking for a while before I joined and have gotten a TON of good advice here.
When I read your post " I have had short and unhealthy hair all my life" I felt like it could have been me writing this :)!
I also have had short hair all my life, more or less and very unhealthy. I have thin fine hair so I have always been told to keep it short. To get change I colored, highlighted and bleached ALOT!

Well, I will give you my advice - what has worked for me since I started as a member. Remember I am still new to this.

First I stopped using the blowdryer ( I still use it about once a week, but before I used it every day), I switched my brush and got a wide comb. I stopped brushing when the hair was wet, and I changed my routine,. I now only use shcampoo on my scalp and just a very tiny amount. Then I condition - rise - condition my ends. I now use a cone free conditioner to see if my hair likes it. It has only been about 2 weeks!!!
Then I started deep oiling. I use coconut oil and jojoba oil.
About once a week I deep oil - I heat the oil just a bit and put it in my hair...I leave it for a few hours or overnight.
During the day, I can put some on my ends to keep them happy.
When my hair wants protein - I use egg and oliveoil. My hair really LOVES this when it needs protein. And I also make a mix of honey, aloe vera gel, and conditioner - I put it on my hair and leave it for an hour or so. It is good for moisture.

This is what I been doing so far. I also started misting to see if my hair likes it. I put water in a mister, a bit of CO, a bit of Aloe and a few drops of Jojoba....I spray it on my hair a few times a day! But mostly I use this the days I donīt shower...to wet my hair a bit in the morning....

Well, I think the only way to do this is to read, read read...search in the forum and get advice...!!! An also...donīt do like me :D..when I was all new I did everything at once cause I really wanted to find something that my hair liked. I did to much and wasnīt sure what my hair really liked....
So one step at a time.

I do think the biggest change for me is that I stopped using heat and I put my hair up more. And also that I stopped coloring. Maybe I will try henna...I use cassia and my hair likes it. Maked it a bit more full and shiny!!! Maybe I will do one today :D!

Good luck and let me know how it goes :cheese:!!!
/Emme

Steve<3
April 20th, 2008, 03:44 AM
Regarding split ends, here's an article by Teacherbear I found very helpful when I first joined: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=8

Gothic Lolita
April 20th, 2008, 04:26 AM
Welcome ItalianFlower!
When I joined here I felt like there was too much information for me, but after a few weeks it was okay. It's kind of temtping to try all the new things at once, but you should do it slowly to really see what your hair likes or dislikes.

The S&D (Search and Destroy) is really a good thing. You just cut out the split ends without loosing any lenght. I can't answer your question about how often one should get their hair cut. Some of us trim monthly whereas others never trim at all. You need to figure out what works best for you. If you really feel you need to get it cut, think about it for two weeks (to prevent unwanted cutting) and if you still want it, go for it.
When I descided to grow out my hair I went to a stylist I really trust to get my ends trimmed for a clean start. I think this really helped and my hair is still relativly undamaged.

Stop using heat on your hair - it really makes a big difference and also prevents more damage.

Many people like an Apple Cider Vinegar rinse (ACV rinse) on their hair to add shine. You mix one litre water with a tablespoon of apple cider and pour it over your hair after washing (you need to figure out if you rinse it out again or not). It's conditioning and my hair get really shiny afterwards. Also a final cold rinse seems to add shine.

I hope I haven't confused you. Each head is individual so it is a bit difficult to tell what someone should do, because some things work really well for some, but for others they don't.

Just stay around and pick something you might like to try out, maybe CO washing and give it time. If it didn't work just try something else! It's real fun to try out all these new things....

suicides_eve
April 20th, 2008, 07:21 AM
if you have hard water- get a shower head filter, they don't cost much and they really improve the condition of your hair and skin

no heat- i stop using heat, i stop using heat about 8 months ago and found that my semi wavy hair really is full of spiral curls!

no bleach- i ended up melting my hair off at the roots not a good sign

vitimans- prenatal only work for pregger ladies, any One-a-Day vitiman will do the trick, you body will take what it needs and get rid of the rest

as good routine- in trial and error you will eventually find what works for your hair, don't be afirad to experiment it's the only way you will learn what your hair likes- give it a try for 2 weeks before making a decision

aisling
April 20th, 2008, 07:59 AM
The most basic tip I can give you is to try only one thing at a time. Yes, there are so many interesting things to try, new products to test etc, but to actually know what works, don't change more than one thing at a time!

paper
April 20th, 2008, 09:30 AM
Hi ItalianFlower, welcome :flower:

I'm new here too. I've picked up alot of tips here. Just read through some of the old post and try different things to your hair to see what your hair likes and doesn't like. I found out my hair does NOT like cones. lol never knew that.

Good Luck!

Melisande
April 20th, 2008, 09:45 AM
One good piece of advice: start a hair journal and write everything down. New stuff and techniques you try or wish to try, how it turned out, how to tweak them.

Then, after a while, you will have a reliable resource for the things your hair liked and disliked. Believe me, otherwise we forget.

In your hair journal, you can also write down recipes you made up yourself and so others can benefit from your trials and errors.

Writing my routine down was the single most effective thing I did for my hair because it allowed me to make optimal use of everything I learned here - by reading other people's experiences.

salamander
April 20th, 2008, 11:26 AM
Read through the articles section. There are articles on a lot of the questions you posted, in far more depth than we can manage in a comment.

asantegold
April 20th, 2008, 12:01 PM
Another newbie checking in. My hair has always break off when it grew a little past my shoulders. I've only been able to retain my growth within the last 1-2 years so I'm loving the advice in this thread.

Mixing a little bit of oil with my deep conditioners has helped me with growth and shine.

lilalong
April 20th, 2008, 01:05 PM
Deleted to ask question in separate thread.

levelek
April 20th, 2008, 02:17 PM
After you have waded through the articles, you can try using the search function on these boards and especially in the archives of the old forum (see this thread, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=5). If you are new you may not be aware of The Great Crash and everything BGC (Before the Great Crash).
You'll also find that some stuff works great for some people and doesn't at all for others, which is another good reason to read around. If you find people with similar hairtype to yours (check the summary below the avatar picture in the threads), they might keep a journal where they record their routine, this could be particularly useful.

HTH :)

Curlsgirl
April 20th, 2008, 02:23 PM
Treat your hair like fine antique lace!

Not sure who but I THINK it was Nightshade I learned this from :love:

Jan in ID
April 20th, 2008, 05:07 PM
Another newbie here! I agree that there is a ton of info here and I want to try everything now!

I like the advice to try one thing at a time and to keep a journal!