What "standard advice" DOESN'T work for your hair?

[pepperedmoth]

There's a standard set of haircare advice we all get from LHC. It's all good advice: most of it works on most people most of the time. You know- never heat treat, cut back on shampooing, wear hair up, etc.

And then there are the exceptions, and I'm curious to hear what those are for all of you!

Me, I comb my hair wet. It's the only way to keep my 'wurls' in order. Forget the dangers of tearing- if I comb my hair dry, I turn into a frizzy tangled mess.

What about everyone else? What about your hair flouts all common sense?

[JenniferNoel]

Must. Comb. Wet. End of story.
I use a wide toothed comb and carefully comb it when wet, fresh out of the shower, or else (most likely due to my length :rolleyes:) it turns in to a strange puffy mess.

[kmoc123]

I love 'cones!!! I also blowdry...on low....

[camara]

I can´t use a comb at all. Combing only gives me more and more tangles.

[Eniratak]

I brush my hair.
I also wear it down 90% of the time.

[Qamar]

I also have to comb wet or else I'll never get the tangles out. It doesn't matter how gently I wash my hair, it tangles wet. I use a boxwood comb though, and go slowly and gently and my hair doesn't complain a bit.

[09robiha]

I must comb when my hair is wet and never brush it. Ever. Seriously my hair is never ever brushed dry. If I need to put it up I just pull it up and smooth it with my hands.
I occasionally blow dry as well and straighten.

[spidermom]

I haven't seen advice to never comb wet hair. Never brush wet hair, yes, but I think combing is all right.

I defy the rules "no cones" and "no sulfates". I use both. I'll let my results speak for themselves from my pictures.

[VenusHalley]

I brush my hair... combing just doesn't work for me.

I use regular shampoo (oriflame)... I tried the conditioner-shampoo-conditioner thing and it works, but CO or WO... just not work for me. Maybe because I like to use hairspray ocassionally (I have a glittery one and I know it's so teeny-bopper, but I just love the sparkle!).

[AJoifulNoise]

I comb wet hair. I brush wet hair. I twist my hair up into updos when it is wet (sometimes still dripping!).

I still use sulphates (though, much more sparingly than I did before). And silicones are my best friend. None-cone conditioners make my hair a tangled, frizzy mess.

Oh, and I use wooden hair toys and my horn comb in wet hair.

[Loviatar]

I use sulphates sometimes too. And cones. And I comb when wet, although that's not really frowned on. As Spidermom says, it's brushing when wet that you have to look out for.

Oh and I pretty much always wear the same bun, every day.

[florenonite]

I don't change up my updos much, and I haven't experienced breakage from that.

I don't use conditioner, because I either use so little it doesn't make a difference, or go overboard and make my hair oily.

[Masara]

I never comb, my hair prefers a brush (albeit a wide "toothed" brush)
I have hard water but ACV makes my hair even worse (luckily citric acid works for me)

[Hiriel]

I brush. I even use a brush for detangling. My hair likes it :)

[Sammich]

I wear my hair down all the time, except when it's greasy looking, which is 1 day really.
CO and WO definately does not work on me! :p
I use sulphates sometimes, and sometimes cones. (But not until my no coney runs out! ;) )

[natt i nord]

I have hard water and don't do acid rinses - my hair hates it. It gets greasy and sticky.

[florenonite]

I never comb, my hair prefers a brush (albeit a wide "toothed" brush)
I have hard water but ACV makes my hair even worse (luckily citric acid works for me)

Oh, that reminds me - ACV makes my hair greasy, so I could never use it to stretch out washes.

I also have hard water at my parents' house and use shampoo bars without an acid rinse.

[ArienEllariel]

I comb my hair after I get out of the shower. If I don't comb it and leave it to dry before detangling, I couldn't imagine how matted and messy it would be. <-- I've also never tried waiting til it has dried because I know what a disaster that would be. I can detangle my hair without breaking hairs with my hair damp/wet and barely shed at all so I keep doing what works for me.

I wash my hair nearly everyday although I really just use the CO method. Many people say it's horrible to wash hair everyday but I find that if I don't wash everyday or every other day, my scalp complains and gets itchy with little red bumps (pretty much head pimples).

I don't do heavy oilings. They turn my head into a greaseball and the oil just won't soak in. Light oilings work alright for me provided my hair is damp. Otherwise the oil just sits on top and makes my hair look coated in grease.

[teela1978]

Sulfate shampoos (although they are diluted) just about every other day if not daily. Coney conditioner, combing while wet... Its worn down a lot too, although it usually just starts out like that. Once I start working it tends to get in my way and has to be shoved up somehow (2mL plastic serological pipettes are quite good for this if you snap off a few inches from the blunt end).

[Anje]

When my hair is full of lint and doesn't detangle well with a wide-tooth comb, the best detangling tool I have is a BBB. It de-lints my hair so that it doesn't tangle further. (Of course, it's particularly important to start at the ends and go slow when doing this.)

ETA: I'm trying to break myself of the combing wet habit. I'm still finger-combing a bit to break up the wet strands, though. Surprisingly, I haven't had disastrous tangles when I leave it uncombed til it's dry. Personally, I think the "don't comb wet" advice only applies to straighties. Once hair gets significantly wavy or curly, I think the advice shifts to "comb with conditioner, then don't touch it or you'll get poof".

[Honey39]

I CO-wash my hair every day and have absolutely zero interest in stretching out washes.

I am old enough now to do exactly what I want to do with my hair. I also don't know how to phrase this right, but although I love long hair and always have done, I'm pretty relaxed about my hair, and have never really subscribed to the 'treat it like antique lace' idea.

[Liave Ekeli]

I'm pretty relaxed about my hair, and have never really subscribed to the 'treat it like antique lace' idea.

This describes pretty much exactly how I feel about my hair. It has to go where I go and do what I do... I have become more aware of what's potentially damaging by joining LHC, but I still experiment and break "rules" like crazy. I brush my hair wet (unless I'm not going anywhere - then I have time to let it dry before doing anything with it), wash it pretty much every day, switch between cones and sulfates and no-cone/no-sulfate, wear it down, and probably a lot of other things that aren't super healthy for it.
But I do S&D occasionally to try and keep the ends from splitting, and I've heat styled my hair maybe a handful of times in my lifetime - none of them in recent history. Oh, and I don't blow dry either...

[zen_oven]

I hardly ever wear my hair up. Just don't like it that way.

I comb wet. . . have to. It just looks bizarre if I don't. I comb carefully and use a wide toothed wooden comb.

I wet and condition my length almost every day. It just feels and looks healthier when I do. My dry curls demand water and conditioner.

I do CWC with no cones or sulfates, but there's not much else "standard" advice that works for me. I may mostly give up oiling as I can't stand how crunchy my ends get.

[chopandchange]

I cone. I comb wet. I don't oil.

[ladyleelu]

CG method only worked for me to undo all the damage I was putting my hair through... I NEEEEEED cones. I load them up on my ends to help protect them (along with oils) and it makes my hair so silky and soft.

I also must comb hair while wet. I use a fairly wide one to help separate my curls.

[hennared]

I used to, after arriving on LHC, go pretty much 'by the book', but ever since my hair thinned dramatically, I:

1) wash every day (or it looks too thin on top to be bearable),

2) wear it down a lot. It looks fuller that way due to my waves, and, I find it feels more gentle.. everything seems to tug at my thin hair now in updos, and the tugging makes it impossible to put my hair issues out of my mind.

[ravenreed]

My hair is extremely contrary and a lot of "standard" advice did not work for me. It hates the SMT, for example...

I am another one who does not worry overly much about treating my hair like antique lace. I just do what it wants, when it wants and don't fret too much. I want to enjoy it, no matter what length.

[Pixna]

I use shampoo.
I don't baby my hair.
I don't use oils (my hair doesn't like them at all).
I comb my hair when it is wet.

Other than that, I'm fairly well behaved. :smirk:

[Sarahmoon]

I use a shampoo with sulphates because when I tried sulphate-free, my hair was still greasy after washing (yes even after two months of using it).

[sophistiCat *]

I sort my parting and detangle when wet *holds up hands*

[Beansidhe]

Coconut oil seems to be standard advice...it doesn't work for me because I'm dangerously allergic to it (which I found in a medical emergency kind of way shortly after joining this community)!

I was also always under the impression that combing while wet was bad so I never did it, but I just started doing that recently and the comb goes through my conditioner loaded hair in the shower so easily. I think it's causing a lot less stress on my hair than trying to get through all those knots when it's dry. Since I stopped using cones, it was taking me so long to comb it before washing!

[mira-chan]

I don't comb, or brush. I finger comb when I feel like it, my hair doesn't tangle much especially when it's up.

No SMT, my hair hates honey, aloe and conditioner on the scalp. I oil my scalp which is contrary to some advice. I do not mist as my hair becomes lanky and coated.

[jenga]

Oiling my hair just makes a mess! Granted, I may be doing it wrong (I am new at this!) but the times I've tried it I've ended up with lank, gross strands.

[nellreno]

I comb and part my hair when it's wet, and brush it when it's dry.
I chemically dye my hair.
I can't put honey on my hair, it makes my hair fuzzy.
I will oil my scalp if it's needed. I also condition my scalp.

[MsBubbles]

Oh! What standard advice does work for me?!

- Going cone-free slowly kills my hair
- Coconut oil instantly kills my hair and makes me shed (no, I don't put it on my scalp...I think it's too heavy & sticky for my lightweight hair, and pulls more hair out than if I had left it alone)
- I can't stretch my washes more than 48 hours unless I want itchy, dandruffy, sheddy hair. I think this 'standard advice' aggravates me the most because it will never work for me.
- Wet combing is the only way to go
- My ficcare is too heavy to wear and my hair gets tangled up in the hinge
- I adore claw clips and they never get caught up in my hair
- Hair sticks fall right out (probably because I'm a no-good cone-user)

[Leena7]

My hair isn't that long yet, so right now I can get away with some things that I probably couldn't get away with if I had longer hair.

Anyways, my hair likes cones and sulfates. I also need to cone when wet to get the tangles out. I brush when dry. My hair likes being brushed a little, it makes it more smooth. A little blow-drying gives me some volume.

[serious]

- I use SLS shampoo. ( deluted and not for every wash, but still..).

- I don't use conditioner after washing. ( yes, I do use conditioner a lot for CO wash, deep pre wash treatments and henna glossing)

- My hair hates coconut oil.

ETA: and I use blow dryer in winter

[Pixna]

Hair sticks fall right out (probably because I'm a no-good cone-user)

Hahaha!!! That cracked me up (you no-good cone user, you!). :laugh:

[catysue]

I comb my hair when it's loaded with conditioner, it's the only way I can get it untangled.

I oil my scalp (scalp oil & massage is sooooooooo relaxing)

I love cones, and they love me! :)

[jera]

Almost all the advice I've received here has been excellent and I never would have made it to tailbone without all that advice. :D
The only things that do not work for me is going days without washing. I wash daily usually just CO but, still, I wash ! And I use a comb with on my wet leavein detangled hair because my fingers cannot comb my morning mess. :o

[Armelle]

Well, a piece of advice I hear often (but not here) is that I should layer my thick hair to relieve some of the weight.
>.>
<.<

um, yeah...no...no that's a terrible idea. It just gets bushy.

[cocolover]

I don't oil really. I tried at least 20 different oils and they all made my ends crunchy, even when combined with shea butter.

[Fractalsofhair]

Currently, heavy conditioners. They just seem to make my now oily hair angry. My hair loves excessive amounts of protein(seriously, after a henna gloss that deposited quite a bit of color and protein, my hair still liked more), which is a little bit odd by LHC standards. Shampoo bars are what my hair loves, rather as a lot of people here can find them damaging because of the rough motions. My hair honestly doesn't mind mechanical damage, and laughs at it. It's the chemical damage that makes my hair angry. Also, not trimming at all is something my hair hates. It doesn't need trims often, but it does occasionally need one. Ignoring damage just makes my hair break off really short, no matter how much I baby it. Other than that, LHC has great advice!

[oceanwoman111]

I can't do CO only. Tried it for the first time a few days ago and I'm going to have to shampoo every other day. If I don't, my hair gets so flat and dull. Even though I comb it, it starts to separate into pieces. :disgust: I like the idea of CO so I think I'm going to alternate it with shampooing.

[Kristin]

I comb wet. I use cones and sulfates (though much less than my pre-LHC days). I occasionally blow dry with cold air. I hate henna- it doesn't cover my grays- and will probably never give up my demi-permanent color. Haven't decided yet, but I may keep some layers when I reach my goal, as flat hair will irritate me more than layers poking out of up-dos. :p

[rags]

- Hair sticks fall right out (probably because I'm a no-good cone-user)

This made me literally LOL! :rollin:

[Isilme]

I use herbal essences, full of sulfates. And I use it maybe two times! And I sleep with my hair down quite often:)

[Copasetic]

Wearing hair up as much as possible. I just don't like buns.

And the whole sulphate and cone free thing. I have done it before, and its ok for me, but I like cones better.

[forgetmenotak]

I wash my hair with a shampoo that has sulfates, my conditioner has cones, and I don't oil my hair. The only thing that I do differently from when I joined here is I don't heat style that much anymore. I think that is enough for my hair to grow long.

[Rhiannon7]

I comb wet too, If i don't detangle when wet my hair will tear when i try to detangle dry. I use a wood comb to detangle wet and go very slowly and carefully.

I also use cones, tried WO, SO, CO, CWC, and cone free but only using poo with sulfates and condish with cones leaves my hair behaving good, silky and soft with less tangles.

[Syaoransbear]

My hair HATES SMT's.

[LadyLongLocks]

:p Comb when wet ( it's better for me)
:rolleyes: SLS Shampoo ( better than evil ammonium)
:D Use cones ( my hair likes them)
:cool: Blow dry ( I've cut down)
:) sleep with my knee length hair DOWN ( I love it)
:D Use claw clips ( sticks just wont work)
:rolleyes: Never use boar bristle brushes ( only paddle type)
:cheese:
I do what my hair likes...it's the boss:D

[Quixii]

I comb wet and occasionally brush wet or dry.

[Arrow Juniper]

I sleep with my hair loose and wear it down nearly every single day :)

[Curlsgirl]

ACV rinses, honey, CO

[mimi1153]

Oiling the ends - - my hair falls out a lot worse when I do.

[Wicked Princess]

I comb when wet!

I just use shampoo and conditioner. No oil pre-treatments, no deep conditioning, and no SMTs. I tried all of these and while they are nice, they don't seem to do anything special for my hair.

[GlassEyes]

Aloe Gel and Jojoba are AWESOME.

Not.

"Don't use regular gel! It's drying!"

Not.

"DON'T BRUSH YOUR WET CURLY HAIR!"

Okay, semi-not. A denman is sort of a brush--but not really. xD

[hanne jensen]

I wash my hair more often. If I don't, my scalp gets flaky and itchy. I also get red pimples on my scalp that have a burning itchy feel. When my hair is dirty it feels like straw.

I never brush my hair. I use my BBB on the dog. I can hear my hair snapping and breaking if I use a brush-any brush.

I use claw clips every day. It's the only thing that keeps my hair up. I even slept with my hair up in a bear claw last night. Too tired to take it out!

[Stevy]

I use conditioners with silicones in and I don't S&D. I don't go through life poking at my body for imperfections, I just eat healthily and exercise and try to love what I've got, and I don't think it's much fun poking through my hair for imperfections either. Also, S&Ding really bores me.

I don't put my hair up to sleep, either. I put it on the pillow, it stays on the pillow, I don't have a problem.

[Marjolein]

Aloe vera seems to do nothing for my hair, except for making it strawlike and dull.

My hair also doesn't seem to enjoy oiling at all. So far I've tried coconut, castor, olive and sweet almond oil and they either did nothing for my hair or made it limp and greasy.

I wash my hair almost daily (with sls free shampoo and conefree conditioner). No CO for me, because that once again gives me limp and greasy hair.

My hair hates a BBB!! Whenever I use it my hair becomes -you guessed it- limp and greasy, and very very static?!

[Stormsong]

Threw out the brush and got a seamless comb - good move, but I will comb my hair in the shower whilst I've got conditioner on.

Stopped with the 'cones, but mostly because they just don't seem to work well now that I henna my hair (which is FAR better than using chemical dyes as it's also helping control my scalp psoriasis as well as being a far more permanent red for me :)), plus this helped me regain some volume in my hair as well.

Still wash my hair every other day, anything less and it's looking greasy, oily, and worse, feels dirty and very itchy.

I do use a smidge of coconut oil on my ends, but only once my hair is dry, just makes my hair greasy if I put it on wet/damp hair.

I blow dry my hair, especially during the autumn/winter/spring periods, it takes too long to dry otherwise, but I have cut down on the heat level and I don't completely dry my hair, just get the worst of the wet out after it comes out of the towel.

I don't do SMTs, I don't do S&Ds (when I do look very rarely, I don't see many, if indeed any, split ends to remove anyhow), and for 20 months, I didn't do any trimming, then I had an inch or so taken off (tidied the hemline and brought the layers much closer together) along with a fringe cut in. I wear it down quite a bit, and loose in bed.

That said, my hair is only around APL now, so it's still quite robust when being handled, and doesn't get in the way too much, apart from work when I'm bent over a page of figures getting confused :), so some of these 'abuses' might have to change over time as I start to reach my goal length.

[enfys]

I can't comb my hair.
I can't do CO.
I can't finger-comb either.
I can't throw out my hairdrier in winter or when I'm in a hurry.

I use hair bands with metal on them.
I use a brush exclusively.
I use sulphates.
I use cones too.
I've dyed my hair with chemical dye
I've back-combed and used hairspray without fear.

Anyone wanna come over and look for the damage, coz I can't find it!

This is a good reminder that what's good for the goose isn't always good for the gander.

[Katrina]

SMT doesn't work for me at all, because my hair hates honey.

BBB doesn't work for me either. It just gives me terrible frizz.

I love my Tangle Teezer and it works better (and feels less damaging) than my wideteeth wooden comb, when it's time to detangle :p.

I use sulphates. I tried going sulphate-free for a while, but my hair looked unclean.
I had the same problem with CO and ACV rinses.

I use cones. I couldn't do it succesfully when using sulphate-free poos or COing. Now I don't have any major problems with cones. They give my hair slip and shine.

I blowdry occasionally.

My hair likes olive oil better than coconut oil.

[PiroskaCicu]

I always try to increase the time between wash days.....but it seems to always go back to the good old every 3(sometimes 2) days I must wash! If it is the weekend I can stretch it....
but otherwise me not washing = dandruff, itchy, scalp problems. :(

[Bonkers57]

Ditto! Like most of y'all, I detangle and part my hair wet. If I let it dry, it'd be matted - then it really would get damaged as I try to comb it out! Doesn't seem to hurt anything because I hardly lose any hair at all.


I sort my parting and detangle when wet *holds up hands*

Also MsBubbles said:

- I can't stretch my washes more than 48 hours unless I want itchy, dandruffy, sheddy hair. I think this 'standard advice' aggravates me the most because it will never work for me.

You and me both - wish I could go longer, but then I couldn't stand myself!

[ChrissieM]

Well, I brush my hair with a ball-tipped paddle brush. Someday I'll get a better one, but I love the scalp stimulation of brushing. Otherwise, LHC "rules" have worked well for me. My hair has been this long before, but it is in much better condition now.

[pepperedmoth]

Oh, I've loved reading these! I feel a lot less crazy about some things now. I'm another one for whom the BBB is a disaster. CRAZY FRIZZ BALL, that is me after a brush with one of those!

And yeah, claw clips are great and don't catch my hair any more than my Ficcare does.

Yay! I'm not alone!

[chloeishere]

I hate SMT. It makes my hair feel like stiff, tangled crap, and I keep trying it every year or so, thinking that everyone loves it... well, I don't! It stinks!

Most of the advice here has worked for me, though.

ETA (I didn't have time to finish my list last night):

Shampoo bars make me shed obnoxiously, and did for the entire 8 months that I tried them. Not for me.

CO pisses my scalp off. I need something more cleansing than conditioner on my scalp. I can get away with it for one day, though.

BBB brush is no better than a normal brush for me, and both shred my hair. I'll stick with combs!

Jojoba = no no good. It's not terrible, just doesn't do anything except make my hair look greasy. It was the first oil I tried, too.

I part wet, but that is definitely not-anti-LHC advice, despite what a lot of people seem to think in this thread. Part whenever you want! :D

[MoonMaiden90]

I brush my hair when wet, not even comb, but brush. It frizzes and looks lifeless if I just brush it dry, but if I do it when wet, it looks (depending on how I leave it to dry) managable wavy or nicely curly. Also, if I brush wet, I can brush dry with no problems. Combs have never worked for me, just brushes and finger-combing.

[italianamama]

I cannot, CAN NOT (and believe me, I have tried) wash with baking soda and apple cider vinegar. It makes my dandruff horrific and my hair look like it belongs to a scarecrow. Oh, and I love my cones :D

[TXbarbie]

I go to a salon and get my hair cut and colored every 8 weeks. And I blowdry on high heat - for some reason if I simply let my hair air dry, it's an ugly mess.

[Teacherbear]

My hair hates:
oils
protein
using a BBB very often

[Rivanariko]

I love my cones. My hair was VERY upset when I tried cone-free. I will never make that mistake again!
BBB is okay for smoothing the top of my head when trying to do a particularly nice-looking updo on occasion, but regular use makes my hair frizzy and there's an awful lot of hair stuck in the brush when I'm done.

[JamieLeigh]

I don't use my BBB anymore, which is funny because the only reason I bought one in the first place was from reading about them on here when I was "lurking". :eyebrows: Also I twist my hair into updos when it's still wet sometimes.

I don't think that "not using shampoo" or "not using cones" should qualify as standard advice, since that's really more of a personal preference and wouldn't fall into the category of common sense, like raking a plastic brush with balls on the bristles from top to bottom through your wet hair and listening to it snap, crackle and pop like cereal. :eek:

Other than that, most of the standard advice works pretty well for me actually. :p

[Kris Dove]

I comb wet and I blowdry.

[missjessiecakes]

Ooooohhhh I love this one.

I wash my hair daily with sulfates(sulphates, my chem teacher spelled it that way but Mozilla says its wrong?)
I use whatever shampoo and conditioner I have in my shower. Which may or may not contain all ingredients that are "bad" I brush or comb when wet. I wear the same pigtails every single day I straighten about once a week. Sometimes more. I dye my hair although I am switching to henna.

Anyways yeah. :)

[Arctic]

I wash my hair daily with sulfates(sulphates, my chem teacher spelled it that way but Mozilla says its wrong?)

It's not wrong way, it's how it's spelled in Britain.

[Isabelle1984]

This spliss-cut advice does not work for me: "Twist single strands of your hair and cut those that are standing out..."

Whenever I do the twist I don't see that much broken hair... My splitted ends prefer to "hide among the crowd" if that makes sense :cheese:

[Topaz]

I wear my hair down and lose probably 99% of the time. I can't help it, I like the feel of it brushing around my shoulders and down my back. :)

[Niftytiffs]

I still use the same paddle brush I have used forever to brush my hair when its wet. Because I condition my hair well, I dont have any issues with snaps or crackles or pops!

I dont sleep with my hair up most of the time as I discovered it was the cause of some damage. It gets flopped over the top of the pillow instead and thats where it stays!

Occasionally I dry with some heated air! I wont say hairdryer as its actually a heater fan in my bathroom! Its the best, non-directional heat way of drying my hair!

I have changed to an sls and 'cone free shampoo and conditioner and I do oil and butter my hair from time to time but no way and I addicted to doing it!

[Kiraela]

I use sulfate shampoo, undiluted; cone-free conditioner - on my scalp! I sometimes use 'cones, and I most often sleep with my hair loose. Like Spidermom said, I let my results speak for themselves, haha.

[daydreamer]

I have to wash my scalp every single day or it's disgusting and itchy and oily. Never have been able to train it to do otherwise.
I use cones sometimes, and I also lightly blow-dry the hair around my face/scalp when it is cold.

[clichepithet]

I use sulphates (albeit diluted...) and the most I can "stretch" a wash is to every other day. And I don't think one is because of the other, either. :p hehe ;)

[PearlyCurly]

I do everything to my hair when it is wet, dripping wet is best:p
I find when i do anything to my hair while dry, i loose more hair! And i use more product.

I sleep with my hair loose, and not with satin or silk anything.
I have a hard time not using any shampoo, i need to shampoo at least once a week!
I also dye with a chemical, i cannot find any non chemical that will give me the results i want i.e. Henna will most likely loosen my curls, & will take a few trys to get the perfect color.

[paintedmuse]

I wear it down most of the time.
I always sleep with it loose.
My hair hates BBBs and I never use one.
I rarely use oils.

[curlylocks85]

I always comb and part my hair wet and slathered with conditioner and oil.


I use conditioner with cones.


I do not S&D.


I use clips with metal in them.


I go to a salon for my trims.


*That is all I can think of at the moment.*

[Madame J]

I also don't S&D; I simply never find splits when I'm sitting around examining my hair. I rarely use conditioner, and when I do, my hair likes light conditioners. I almost never remember to use any kind of leave in. I haven't done an SMT in months, and my hair hasn't suffered for it.

My scalp hates conditioner, too.

I have to comb my hair after towel-drying it since it takes forever to dry otherwise.

Oh, and I no longer have any desire for a Ficcare and I'm so over Dymondwood.

[Keildra]

I use sulfates on occasion, and cones are and always will be my hairs best friend (mainly because the cones I find are cheaper)
I don't always sleep in braids, though I've gotten better at it.
I use a cheap plastic comb (technically half of one because it broke in my hair)
I comb when wet because when it's dry I'm playing Tug-o-war.
I get a shampoo and trim at my local salon once a year, it's therapeutic for me

[Melisande]

Clarifying doesn't work for me. There is never anything to clarify, I guess... ??? I do use once every six weeks a stronger shampoo but I do so only in order to enjoy its smell and avoid wasting it - it's Lush BIG and was expensive... But to be very honest, there is no need for it at all. My hair is happy without clarifying and when I came here and tried it, it only dried my hair out (baking soda - very good stuff but not for my hair).

I use less, not more conditioner than before - I dilute it just as I learnt to dilute my shampoo.

Aloe vera doesn't do anything for me. Cocaloe is nice but nothing special.

I hardly trim.

I gave up on my PrettyWrap - it's too small for me and squeezes my poor ears mercilessly. I haven't found the ideal solution at night.

But otherwise I follow the Golden Book of LHC rules quite faithfully :lol:

[Solange]

I use 'cones. As for combing hair wet, I never actually considered waiting until it was dry as a rule for good hair care, and it seems illogical to me, but if that's what works best for some, then obviously they're going to stick to what's tried, tested and true in their case. I try to comb my hair before it starts to dry too much. Hair "shrinks" a little as it dries, so the knots get tighter, which causes it to be very hard to untangle and thus causes me damage.

[ArienEllariel]

This spliss-cut advice does not work for me: "Twist single strands of your hair and cut those that are standing out..."

Whenever I do the twist I don't see that much broken hair... My splitted ends prefer to "hide among the crowd" if that makes sense :cheese:

Mine too. I have to use a different approach. There's a lovely lady on youtube who uses this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dqvh0wVgIw) method, which is pretty similar to how I s & d.

[MandyBeth]

Comb wet hair - either comb it out or I will have knots that I have to cut out, no matter how gentle I treat my hair while it's drying.

Cones - My hair may not love them, but it doesn't much love anything else and it at least agrees to behave with -cones.

Daily shampoo - It's CWC, but it's still daily. Long term damage from PPD reaction, my sebum is nasty and doesn't do it's job, so I get rid of it instead.

Putting my hair up wet - Well, I'd let it dry but it takes too freaking long (6 hours at not-yet shoulder length) and really, it doesn't exactly do anything if I let it dry loose other than frizz if I try to pull it back.

Wood hair toys - ladeedahdeedah..... I almost always wind up putting my hair up wet - and I use wooden sticks. I don't use my "good" toys in wet hair, but my home-made sticks that were once dowels and are now covered in nail enamel - pop one right in. My good toys, a few sticks and my fork - my hair is at least 80% dry first. Which has been ok so far.

As for recommendations that DON'T work vs what I just don't follow...

Shampoo bars - they suck and don't clean my scalp which defeats the point of washing my hair since my hair is mostly clean, it's my scalp that's not.

Soap nuts - Too fussy, too much work, and more drying than shampoo.

Boar Bristle Brush - I think my rubber backed plastic knobby brush did less damage. I could literally see the BBB split hairs with a gentle pass (thankfully I tested it on a shed group first).

Protein treatments - My hair goes to the crispy over-proteined texture way too easily.

[StephanieB]

My hair LOVES 'cones... silicone makes my hair H-A-P-P-Y!!
I've been known to raid hubby's tool bench drawer for his spray silicone, in an emergency when I've run out of cheap stuff for the very end tips of my hair. (shh don't tell him)

I must comb my hair when it's wet. Otherwise it will never detangle (dry).
First I use a large wide non-seamed plastic 'pick'; then I use one of my wide-toothed combs - one is non-seamed plastic, one is bone. And I'm very, very careful not to tear my hair when I do this...

I must wash my hair - with shampoo - every third day... or it becomes one great big slimy greaseball. I've tried WO for months and CO for months (separate trials) - neither works for my hair.

I twist my thin hair pretty darn tightly into French twists - or it will slip out within an hour, because it's so soft and slippery. But this doesn't seem to lead to breakage. I'm careful when I twist... dunno if that's why I don't experience damage??

But my hair is longer than it's ever been since I was 10 years old, and it's in the best condition it's ever been in my whole life!
So I must be doing something right! :-)


ETA: And I wear it loose often, and often sleep with it loose... on a cotton pillowcase (albeit a very very soft 600 threadcount cotton).

[MandyBeth]

I don't put my hair up to sleep, either. I put it on the pillow, it stays on the pillow, I don't have a problem.

Yeah, my hair stays on the pillow also - it's just the pillow moves.....

Oh yeah, and I hate S&D. Hate it. Waste of my time. I can't see the stupid baby splits or most of the splits because my hair is too freaking fine, the bottom 6" (or more) are damaged anyways so I trim the split and it just comes back, and it takes too long and I go cross eyed. Rather just have the bottom 1/4" trimmed off every 6 weeks or so and not worry about it.

However, if I find one of the split 5 million ways or a spiralling split, ladeedahdeedah.... I pluck 'em out entirely. I've carefully trimmed a generous 1/2" above a spiralling one and watched it just resplit right away. Yeah, fine. It's a damaged hair and it's got to be pretty badly damaged to do those stunts, so I'm not going to bother saving it.

[David's Bride]

Yeah, my hair stays on the pillow also - it's just the pillow moves.....

Oh yeah, and I hate S&D. Hate it. Waste of my time. I can't see the stupid baby splits or most of the splits because my hair is too freaking fine, the bottom 6" (or more) are damaged anyways so I trim the split and it just comes back, and it takes too long and I go cross eyed. Rather just have the bottom 1/4" trimmed off every 6 weeks or so and not worry about it.

However, if I find one of the split 5 million ways or a spiralling split, ladeedahdeedah.... I pluck 'em out entirely. I've carefully trimmed a generous 1/2" above a spiralling one and watched it just resplit right away. Yeah, fine. It's a damaged hair and it's got to be pretty badly damaged to do those stunts, so I'm not going to bother saving it.

You are so funny and I totally agree with you! What is a spiraling split? I've never heard of that.

Tina

[MandyBeth]

You are so funny and I totally agree with you! What is a spiraling split? I've never heard of that.


Not sure on the offical term for them. They look like what happens when you take the two fibers from a piece of yarn and pull them apart. It doesn't split straight up the middle, it unravels more.

[christine1989]

I comb it wet too (in the shower to distribute the conditioner evenly). I also ignore the advice to only use conditioner on the lower part of your hair. I pile it on from scalp to ends! :)

[Vianka]

The advice that never works for me is wearing clips during my awkward growing out phase when my hair is still too short to pull into a pony. My hair sticks straight out if I try to use a clip. My hair is wild, which is why I had it short for so many years, but now I'm determined to get through the bad hair phase, which I know will last a whole year.