PDA

View Full Version : So, am I going about this the right way?



ladycaladium
May 26th, 2010, 09:04 PM
Hi everyone. I am currently attempting to grow my hair out to TBL. Currently my hair is just past shoulder length. First, a quick bit of my hair history, then on to what I am doing now. Advice, comments, suggestions, everything is welcome.

When I was younger I had thicker hair than now. It seemed to start shedding at a heavier rate about ten years ago. Before that I almost never shampooed my hair (during the summer since I was always in the lake, it was never washed. And the rest of the year, just once a week). My hair also seemed to grow much faster until about ten years ago. I had my hair all different lengths, from very short (back of my head shaved) to just past mid-back.

I started dyeing my hair all sorts of colors about 14 years ago. My family also switched the brands of shampoos and conditioners we had been using since my mother also started coloring her hair. I also started washing my hair daily, sometimes twice a day as I was/am working at a garden center in the summer.

So what have I done since deciding to grow my hair out? Well, I started eating a more balanced diet. About three months ago I started taking a supplement for my joints which contains MSM, and about a month ago a supplement containing biotin and using coconut oil. I have been wearing my hair up for 44 days now in an effort to play with it less. I had a cut on April 20th to get rid of my horribly split ends. The last time I colored my hair was in October 09. For the past year I've been washing my hair, on average 1-2 times a week, sometimes less.

When my current supply of shampoo and conditioner runs out in the next month or so, I was thinking of switching back to Suave or VO5 which I heard were cone free. So, am I on the right track? Sorry this was so long!

jera
May 27th, 2010, 12:55 AM
It sounds to me like you're doing a lot of the right things. It's natural for hair to thin over time especially if you color it or brush it a lot. Also avoid the same kind of hairstyle, updos included, everyday. Switch your style to avoid traction alopecia from tugging on the same place all the time. Also, avoiding heat styling helps keep hair healthy hydrated and strong. :)

FrannyG
May 27th, 2010, 06:35 AM
I think you sound like you are definitely going about this the right way. Your hair may not have been truly thinning as much as it may have been breaking from damage. Also the same for it growing more slowly. It may have been breaking a bit at the ends. Only time will tell

I can tell you that for me personally, I have experienced a very good increased overall thickness since using proper haircare.

You may find that a year from now your nape circumference might be increased as your new healthier hair grows in.

I look forward to following your journey! :blossom:

Dvips
May 27th, 2010, 08:22 AM
:thumbsup: It definitely sounds like a very good start.

The thinning could have been breakage, as Frann mentioned or it could have been hormonal depending on your age.

Only some Suave/Vo5's are cone free. However, if you are using shampoo, there isn't necessarily a need to go cone free. Also, many people have hair that prefer and/or need cones.

Best of luck continuing your hair journey! :flowers:

spidermom
May 27th, 2010, 08:50 AM
Your routine sounds good. If you haven't already, try putting conditioner on the length before you shampoo your scalp. This has made a big difference in my hair.

GoddesJourney
May 27th, 2010, 10:42 AM
Sounds like a plan. Don't get discouraged if it takes awhile to see a difference. New growth isn't all that noticeable for the first few months and takes at least six month up to a year to have an effect on your ponytail circumference. It could be two years before there's a serious difference in your length. That said, growing hair is just a waiting game that requires patience. You have a good routine so just stick with it and take progress photos. Sometimes we don't think we're getting results until we toggle through our progress photos and then we're pleasantly surprised.

ladycaladium
May 30th, 2010, 03:52 PM
Thanks for the advice and support. I’ll try to vary my updos more (and I try not to do them tightly) as you suggested Jera. I also try to avoid heat styling. The one or two times a year I have to pull out the blow-dryer, I use the coolest setting and only go about half dry, hoping that helps a little bit with the damage I’m causing.

FrannyG and GoddesJourney, thanks for talking about circumference. I plan to measure on the first of June and again 6 months later to see any difference. And progress photos sound like a fantastic idea.

Spidermom, I think I’ll give that conditioning the length before shampooing a try.

And finally, Dvips; yeah, I was reading on some of the boards that some people’s hair really like cones. I figured since I was going to be running out of my current shampoo and conditioner I would give cone free a shot for a few months, see how my hair likes it. If it doesn’t like it, back to the cones for me. Thanks for the heads up on not all VO5 and Suave being cone free. I’ll read carefully before I buy.

Barniie
June 2nd, 2010, 12:50 AM
Scalp massages are a great idea, and also a biotin supplement is great! Well done :)

ladycaladium
June 2nd, 2010, 09:10 PM
A scalp massage sounds nice, I think I'll look into learning to do one Barniie.

I measured my ponytail circumference yesterday. 2 and an 8th inches. Also took my first progress photo. Hope my hair gets better as the months go on!

anniemae
June 2nd, 2010, 09:19 PM
Good luck to you, fellow New Jersey girl!! Yay!! :)

ladycaladium
June 5th, 2010, 09:58 PM
Thanks anniemae. Living in Jersey feels like living in the land of blowouts, bleaching, streaking and funky cuts. No one seemed to know what I was talking about when I mentioned I started using coconut oil. One of my friends was like "but you don't tan". Since you're instate, any ideas on where to pick up some hair toys? I'm getting tempted looking at them online.
__________________

anniemae
June 8th, 2010, 02:37 AM
Thanks anniemae. Living in Jersey feels like living in the land of blowouts, bleaching, streaking and funky cuts. No one seemed to know what I was talking about when I mentioned I started using coconut oil. One of my friends was like "but you don't tan". Since you're instate, any ideas on where to pick up some hair toys? I'm getting tempted looking at them online.
__________________

Hello!!

I know what you mean. I don't reallly talk about my hair to any of my friends. They all have really straight hair, and they'd probably think I was insane and hair-obsessed (which I am :)).

I think you are on the right track. I use just plain old Suave Tropical Coconut conditioner (it's cheap and it makes my hair smooth). I also really like Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Conditioner - really creamy. I low-poo and wash every day :( - I know it's a bad habit). Do you want to shampoo/low-poo/ or just condition-wash?) Some low-poos I like are DevaCurl Low-Poo or Nature's Gate Mandarin Orange. I like a lot of the DevaCurl products. I'm also in love with Garnier Fructis Wonder Waves Spray - this helps to give beachy-waves and enhance curls. :)

I have a list of the products I use in my profile ("about me" section).

Are you trying to stop using heat all together? Are you trying to go wavy/curly? How do you currently dry your hair - air-dry/diffuse/scrunch/blow-dry/flat-iron/other?

I'm not sure where you live. There is a Harmon's in Somerset County that has lots of hair products (in the Somerville Circle). Also, near the Rockaway Mall there is a Sally's Beauty Supply (also online at http://www.sallybeauty.com/ ). There is also an Ulta near the Rockaway Mall and in Watchung (I've never been there, but I've heard it's good).

A lot of health food stores carry the organic brands (Burt's Bees, Aubrey Organics). Oh, and King's supermarkets sell some good brands, too (in the natural food section). Trader Joe's is another good store (Millburn and Florham Park).

I've always blow-dried and flat-ironed my hair for years. But, currently, for the summer at least, I'm trying to let it go more curly by not using heat products. I am trying to experiment with different methods - air-drying, diffusing, scrunching. But, with the Jersey humidity, it's hard. Ugh....

Good luck. :cheese:

ladycaladium
June 10th, 2010, 11:33 AM
I'm in the process of using up the last of the Aveda shampoo that I have, washing once, sometimes twice a week, depending on what I've been doing. I started putting conditioner on the ends first, then shampooing, then conditioning. I do rinse my hair real well a few days a week (just water) as well since I don't like the sweaty feeling (no ac at my house) and since I swim around three days a week. I also put coconut oil in my hair two to three times a week, mainly on the ends.

I'm up over in Bergen. I know we have Harmon, so I'll check them out. I think there is a Sally nearby as well. Oh, and they just opened an Ulta a few towns over.

I've never been much of a heat user. I own a hairdryer and two different straighteners but they sit gathering dusk. The few times I've tried to straighten or my friends have done it for me, within an hour I'm all frizzy again. I also never really have time since I sleep in!

My hair goes wavy/curly all on it's own and I've decided it looks fuller and better this way. The pic in my signature doesn't show it well, since I had put my hair up in a cinnamon bun damp that morning. It kind of dried funny.

Good luck dealing with the humidity (I hate muggy-ness) and the lack of heat styling. I find that the more humidity/moisture is in the air, the curlier my hair gets.

anniemae
June 10th, 2010, 01:06 PM
I'm in the process of using up the last of the Aveda shampoo that I have, washing once, sometimes twice a week, depending on what I've been doing. I started putting conditioner on the ends first, then shampooing, then conditioning. I do rinse my hair real well a few days a week (just water) as well since I don't like the sweaty feeling (no ac at my house) and since I swim around three days a week. I also put coconut oil in my hair two to three times a week, mainly on the ends.

I'm up over in Bergen. I know we have Harmon, so I'll check them out. I think there is a Sally nearby as well. Oh, and they just opened an Ulta a few towns over.

I've never been much of a heat user. I own a hairdryer and two different straighteners but they sit gathering dusk. The few times I've tried to straighten or my friends have done it for me, within an hour I'm all frizzy again. I also never really have time since I sleep in!

My hair goes wavy/curly all on it's own and I've decided it looks fuller and better this way. The pic in my signature doesn't show it well, since I had put my hair up in a cinnamon bun damp that morning. It kind of dried funny.

Good luck dealing with the humidity (I hate muggy-ness) and the lack of heat styling. I find that the more humidity/moisture is in the air, the curlier my hair gets.

Hi ladycaladium,

Your hair is very pretty, and has a great wave pattern. It's great that you don't use heat on your hair. It's a really bad habit for me. It will be interesting to see how long my hair takes to dry in the winter months without heat. I usually use some form of heat in the winter (either blow-drying or diffusing). During the warm weather, mine air-dries pretty fast - about 1 hour - 1 1/4 hours. Does yours take long to dry?

I agree with you - my hair gets much curlier and frizzier with humidity. I find that the light-weight gels and de-frizz sprays seem to help me with that.

Btw, I live in Somerset County - Bedminster/Chester area.

ladycaladium
June 15th, 2010, 08:01 AM
Hey Anniemae,

I'm right by Paramus, land of the malls...actually I think it means wild turkey or something like that, but with the number of malls it has...

I've never really timed how long it takes for my hair to dry. I'll put that on my to-do list. I made it to Ulta up here but wasn't too impressed. They seemed to be out of a lot of stuff in their hair accessory department, except for clip in hair. Perhaps I caught them right before a shipment? I was at Nordstrom the other day and they had ficcares there so I picked one up.

When I lived in upstate NY it could get quite chilly in the winter. I either washed my hair at night so it would be dry by morning or I would bun it up and wear a nice wool hat.

When I was in Wales it was frizz city for me. I used to run my hands through my hair after putting on moisturizer to try and keep some of the frizz down. Whatever residue was left on my hands would coat my hair. I don't know how good that actually was for my hair. It did seem to work a bit though.

mizk5110
June 15th, 2010, 07:53 PM
I used to run my hands through my hair after putting on moisturizer to try and keep some of the frizz down. Whatever residue was left on my hands would coat my hair. I don't know how good that actually was for my hair. It did seem to work a bit though.

If you poke around a bit more, you will find that a lot of us do this!! Aslong as your hair likes it, go for it! I work in a hospital so my hands get really dried out from washing all the time (especially in the winter), so I make a balm with beeswax and a couple oils, If I'm having a bad frizz day, I'll run my hands through my hair after using it.

ladycaladium
June 16th, 2010, 10:52 PM
Excellent, I'm not the only one. My housemates all thought it was weird when I did this. Of course every couple of weeks I mashed up an avocado and put it in my hair since I felt the chlorine might be drying my hair out. This may have contributed to them thinking I was "weird" about my hair. Despite the dyeing, I think I cared for my hair better over there. When I returned to the US I fell back into my old hair and nutrition habits and also chopped my hair real short a few times since I started to become frustrated with the way it looked.

I'm working on poking around, there's just so much to go through! I don't think I could ever read it all. Reading some of the treads did turn me on to coconut oil though, which I absolutely love.

As I am wearing my hair up, I am trying to use "hair friendly" things to hold it up. I have metal-free elastics, bobby pins, plastic combs from the drugstore, a hair stick, assorted shiny kiosk buys and a ficcare I picked up the other day. I don't use the bobby pins much and am trying to avoid the kiosk items since they seem to be a bit rough and I don't want to snag my hair. I was considering buying a fork and found one that I like. The working length is 3.5". Looking at my sig picture is that too long, too short, or okay?