Ever feel stupid for not doing something sooner...?

[GoddesJourney]

Like trying hairtoys and washing methods you thought would never work for you? First, I've been pretty lazy about washing my hair lately. This gives me dandruff but what can I do. Since I've gotten rid of cones and sulphates, my hair has been slightly less greasy, especially because I've been missing washes now and then and my head may finally be doing that adjusting thing that it did the opposite of last time I tried this. Anyway, I've been thinking about cutting down on shampoo use, so I tried CO the other day... amazing! Now that my hair has had some inbetween stage adjustments, this isn't such a big jump. As for all of you who have been preaching CO all this time and saying how it gets the oil out of your hair and all that, I really didn't believe you. How stupid of me. I could've done this a long time ago! As long as I rub my scalp with my fingers it gets all the oil and dandruff out of there. It really does take the coconut oil out of my hair more easily than shampoo. Also, this makes me think I may one day be able to WO now and then. Awesome!

I would like to add that the big issue is that when I'm in the shower, my hair still feels really greasy. That's why I get scared. Strangely enough though, when I get out and it eventually dries off, it doesn't feel greasy at all, just lightly oiled. Who knew? Oh, right, all of you who told me so.

The other thing is that yes, U pins work better than anything else, ever. I remember torrinpaige had a YouTube video where she showed how to make them from knitting needles and put beads on them to make them pretty. Well, I skipped the pretty part, but they really do actually make my hair stay in a bun. I've cut my length to where it is somewhat difficult to make a bun stay, especially because now it is way thicker without the layers. Bobby pins just laugh at me and fall out. I hate hair sticks because they're uncomfortable and they don't work for me. I put four of these little U pins in my hair and worked out, hard. They stayed in. You all know stuff that I don't know or don't believe ( like that buns can actually stay in one's hair) and I'm finally coming around.

[JamieLeigh]

I love CO!!! That would definitely be my should-have-done-it-sooner thing as well. I've been doing it over a year now, and I hate that I was so skittish about it right at first. I feel like I wasted several months of having awesome hair by balking at the idea of not having a "clean" scalp via shampoo. But now I know better, and my hair has felt and looked awesome ever since. No more frizzy fly-away hair that has been too dried out by sulphates. Glad to see you're loving it too!!! :D

[Tutti_Frutti]

Definitely! I really don't know why I didn't stop using cones earlier. I'm a couple of months cone-free right now and I love it! My hair feels so much softer. It tangles a bit easier though but who cares. :)

I've tried to wash my hair with CO, but how carefully I rinse, my hair is always a bit greasy when it dries. :( Guess shampoo only works best for me.

[Liss]

At the moment, no. But... I welcome you to ask me again in 6 months time when I run out of shampoo and try the CO, or try to go more than a day without washing, or try to go more than a day or two without cones, or try to set styles with aloe gel. Basically everything I'm learning about and plan to try I will probably end up kicking myself for not trying them right now!

[saskia_madding]

Completely. I feel so stupid for not teaching myself to French braid before I did. Instead I got completely frustrated with my hair and always putting it up in a cinnabun, so I chopped it from waist to shoulder.

Now I wish I hadn't done that and instead had just learned new updos. GAH!

[Beaglebuddy]

I have a feeling I am going to feel stupid for not cutting back on shampooing sooner.:)

[Dreams_in_Pink]

yes. Almost everything i've done to my hair i wish i'd done earlier. Then i'd have waist length again at this age.

[cmnt831]

Um, yes. I feel highly stupid for not finding this site sooner. All the criticism and hair hate I could have avoided years earlier....:( But I'm happy now! :cheese:

[spidermom]

I wish I had grown my hair out much earlier. That's the only thing I feel kind of stupid about. I had so many different hair cuts and perms and even a few different colors - all in an attempt to be "pretty". Nothing was as pretty as my hair is now, and I waited more than half my life to do it.

Better late than never, they say.

[Sarahmoon]

Well yes, but then I always remember what I read in a book: "I wish I started this 10 years ago, but I'm glad I didn't wait 20 years." ;)

As for U-pins, they hold buns ok for me when I'm just walking and sitting around, but with dancing for example there's no way they'll hold up my bun :(

[Kaijah]

Um, yes. I feel highly stupid for not finding this site sooner. All the criticism and hair hate I could have avoided years earlier....:( But I'm happy now! :cheese:

This!

Trying to emulate what my mom did (as 1a finey) on my hair for so long... oh my frizz.

[FrannyG]

I usually feel stupid for doing something stupid to my hair, not the other way around. :oops:

[centurytoolate]

I'm willing to try anything once and jumped into this site with both feet. Most things have worked, some haven't, but at least I can say I tried. What I wish is that I had learned all of these things sooner.

[BlueMuse]

I have this thing about doing things the way I know and like. If something doesn't immediately work out in a deviation, I go right back to what I was doing.

You should be proud of me though, I bought a boar bristle brush today and something called a "wet comb". As far as I can tell, the comb is nothing but smooth edges and I got it at walmart for 2$. We'll see if it's actually as nice as it looks, if not, I'm eying a real horn comb as a possible replacement.

[DragonLady]

Yes!!! I was trying to grow my hair unsuccessfully for over a decade before I found this place. If I had known then what I know now, I would've been at ankle years ago.

[catysue]

I wish I had started wearing my hair up in protective styles sooner. I used to wear my hair down almost every day, I didn't think that it would really be THAT damaging, just wearing my hair loose.... well now I know :o Now I wear my hair up most days, and only down on wash day (usually twice a week) or special occasions.

[Emerson]

Franny, I hear you there :) It took me 2 weeks to realize a certain shampoo & conditioner (Flex brand) was making my hair fall out like CRAZY! My husband was the one who actually said to me after I complained about the hair loss for the 10th time "didnt you start a new shampoo around the time this started?"

[ambism]

I should have shaved my hair off at sixteen (when I initially planned on doing it). I wasted two years bleaching dead hair and now I'm VERY impatient waiting for my VIRGIN hair to grow long! Ugh... instead of 9 inches, I could have been up to 27 inches by now. Crud!
:justy:

[LadyLongLocks]

I wish I would have tried self trimming sooner. I went through too many oops hair trims, ending up with much more cut than I wanted.

[peronella]

I'm wondering how stupid I might feel when I finally cut down on shampooing (my scalp is oily I feel like i need to shampoo everyday) I figure its worth a try, I just cant stand when my hair feels dirty. I guess I need at least a week to see if my hair "detoxes" off shampoo.

I'm thinking of trying CO. Hopefully I do feel stupid, because that would mean it has improved my hair!

[GoddesJourney]

I'm wondering how stupid I might feel when I finally cut down on shampooing (my scalp is oily I feel like i need to shampoo everyday) I figure its worth a try, I just cant stand when my hair feels dirty. I guess I need at least a week to see if my hair "detoxes" off shampoo.

I'm thinking of trying CO. Hopefully I do feel stupid, because that would mean it has improved my hair!

You know, trying to wash every other day for me was a horrible experience the first time. I was using coney sulphate shampoo and coney conditioner. The worst. After having switched to cone/sulphate free stuff and adjusting to that, I was less oily anyway. That is making this new transition a lot easier.

[peronella]

You know, trying to wash every other day for me was a horrible experience the first time. I was using coney sulphate shampoo and coney conditioner. The worst. After having switched to cone/sulphate free stuff and adjusting to that, I was less oily anyway. That is making this new transition a lot easier.
Thank you, I'll keep that in mind, it gives me some hope. *sigh* I'll have to use up my coney stuff first though. I have almost a whole bottle of Herbal essences "long term relationship" to finish. I bought it before I found this place...

[Kris Dove]

I wish I would have tried self trimming sooner. I went through too many oops hair trims, ending up with much more cut than I wanted.
Same here- my hair would probably be about waist length, possibly even tailbone, if it weren't for all the scissor-happy hairdressers!

[prittykitty]

Yes, I am going through all that now. I use to say that I would never wear a bun and that they make me look old. Guess what? I am wearing my hair in a bun because my hair is growing out in big volume and it is the only way to control it. I have also started condition washing only and it has been wonderful. It took me some time to get use to but I am glad I am doing it. My hair feels much softer. Also when I wear a bun I put a lace covering over it and it looks really nice. These are things I said I would never do and have come to find out that they work. I really should post recent pictures. Also I am interested in making the U shaped hair toy out of knitting needles. Can anyone tell me how? Thanks!

[Roseate]

I wish I had learned how to care for my natural waves sooner. Today is washday, and they look so good! Why the heck did I brush and blowdry them into oblivion for years on end? :brickwall

[Pixna]

Yep! If I had only tried some new buns styles and techniques, I wouldn't have pixied my hair two years ago to get it off my neck. :doh: Although my hair isn't quite long enough yet to do too many of them, I am discovering that good bunning (yep, buns that actually stay in your hair) is not a total mystery and can actually be done by uncoordinated people (like moi). I have found that hairsticks work in my buns better than forks, even -- why oh why didn't I try all of this sooner?!! :doh:

[wintersun99]

.............

[GoddesJourney]

Yes, I am going through all that now. I use to say that I would never wear a bun and that they make me look old. Guess what? I am wearing my hair in a bun because my hair is growing out in big volume and it is the only way to control it. I have also started condition washing only and it has been wonderful. It took me some time to get use to but I am glad I am doing it. My hair feels much softer. Also when I wear a bun I put a lace covering over it and it looks really nice. These are things I said I would never do and have come to find out that they work. I really should post recent pictures. Also I am interested in making the U shaped hair toy out of knitting needles. Can anyone tell me how? Thanks!

Just get some of the skinny and short, double-sided knitting needles and bend them around something. You should be able to bend them pretty easily with your hands. The ones I got were something like 2.5mm and I just bend them around an orange highlighter I had laying around (like the color matters, right?) and it worked perfectly. That's it.

[Tutti_Frutti]

I bought some rose water and jojoba oil last Saturday. Usually my hair is frizzy after a wash, but with the oil and the rose water I eliminated a lot of frizz! It feels so soft now.. :inlove:

[RavennaNight]

I wish I had grown my hair out much earlier. That's the only thing I feel kind of stupid about. I had so many different hair cuts and perms and even a few different colors - all in an attempt to be "pretty". Nothing was as pretty as my hair is now, and I waited more than half my life to do it.

Better late than never, they say.

Exactly. I just wish I would have started the whole LHC process earlier. I see so many 18-year olds on here and think "I wish I would have thought of this when I was 18."

[lhangel9]

Yes, all the time. DC, S&D, WO, stop using cones and sulfates, scalp massages, diet, supplements, etc. You name it! I feel quite stupid for not knowing and for not doing those things much sooner.

[Katurday]

Exactly. I just wish I would have started the whole LHC process earlier. I see so many 18-year olds on here and think "I wish I would have thought of this when I was 18."
I'm 17 and I'm feeling great about starting so soon!
I wish I never cut my hair to pixie. I wish I never colored/bleached my hair. I wish I tried henna.

[SpeakingEZ]

Bobby pins just laugh at me and fall out.
This made me laugh. Sorry, I haven't read through the thread yet.

[Felix_D]

Exactly. I just wish I would have started the whole LHC process earlier. I see so many 18-year olds on here and think "I wish I would have thought of this when I was 18."
Yeah, ditto. I'm starting at 25, so not that old, and I liked having a pixie, but starting from nothing is a bummer!

[Anje]

Totally.

Why did it never occur to me that I didn't need to wash my hair every time I showered? I could have spent so much less time with wet hair!

[Bellona]

I wish I'd have found this site about 2 weeks earlier -- I might not have chopped all my waist length hair off because I thought it was "too long" and making me look "like a witch." I could have probably done a 3 inch trim and babied it for awhile to get rid of all the bleach and dye and heat styling damage rather than cut it in a hideous shaggy short haircut.

I also fought going no-cone, because I thought my hair was really frizzy and would never do without cones to make it lay down. Turns out cones were making my roots feel greasy and my ends really dry. Now my hair is soft and way less frizzy.

[SpeakingEZ]

(Ok, read the thread this time!)

Well, sooner is the key regret word with everything to do with my hair. I had hair all the way down my back in my mid-teens but I destroyed it when I went to college. Straightening it. Dying it bright red (wonder if the dye contained bleach or another lightening agent). Ripping my brush through wet hair Every Day. No wonder it didn't survive.

I started trying to grow my hair when I was about 12 (really, 7, but my mom cut it when I was 12). If I had done everything right, my hair would be at terminal already. I already feel old at ~22. I don't want to wait any longer!

[Liss]

I'm wondering how stupid I might feel when I finally cut down on shampooing (my scalp is oily I feel like i need to shampoo everyday) I figure its worth a try, I just cant stand when my hair feels dirty. I guess I need at least a week to see if my hair "detoxes" off shampoo.

I'm thinking of trying CO. Hopefully I do feel stupid, because that would mean it has improved my hair!

Ok, so encouraged by this thread, I decided to try CO-ing over the past week to cut down on shampooing. I'm a daily washer and have been using CO every second day.

Amazing results! My hair is perfectly squeaky clean and feels extra moisturised. I recommend giving it a go, Peronella!

[SpeakingEZ]

^^^ Have you tried diluting your shampoo? I think that was the first piece of advice I took away from LHC and my hair felt better almost instantly. I wasn't ready to not shampoo altogether (I do maybe twice a week now) and it was a good stepping stone. Really helps the poo cut through your hair, too, so it's not just sitting ontop!

I'd always wondered why my top layer of hair was so dry and frizzy and my bottom layer was so silky and soft. Haha.

[curlylocks85]

I do not feel stupid, but rather, disappointed that I was not educated in the fine art of curly hair care. It was so simple and yet, just out of reach.


It is like that saying - "If I knew then what I know now..." *Sigh*