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LittleOrca
December 14th, 2010, 05:27 PM
I know I have not posted in a while. End-of-the-term stuff kept my busy and I just got back into town. I have wanted to post about my hair for a little while, but never had the drive. Now that I do have the drive, it is a pick-me-up needed one.

My hair has been a little bit of a brat for a little while now. Well, I guess it was my products more than my hair to begin with. I have used Garnier for years (save for some random experiments when I used other products) and I have always had great results. One time when I switched products my hair rebelled until I got Garnier back in it. Recently, my hair rebelled against the Garnier as well. After spending most of my shower rinsing my hair I would still find pockets of conditioner at the ends and have to dip my hair in water to wash it out. After this happened for a while, I switched to Herbal Essence just to get a break. UG! HE leaves my hair feeling waxy and nasty when it's wet, though it does feel "normal" when dry. However, I have noticed that after only 2 days of no washing with HE my hair is almost straight and I have to braid it to keep my natural waves in my hair (kinda ironic, no?) When I used my Garnier my waves would stay in. So now I'm both sighing at the HE and loving that it does not leave con in it as easily as Garnier was doing for a little while. I am confused by that, though, since I never had the extra con left in my hair unless I had forgotten to rinse around my temples. Can there be a happy compromise? Can I go back to my Garnier without having to spend 20 extra minutes in the shower rinse my ends only to find more conditioner when I get out anyways?

For a while, as I am sure some of you remember, I fought with myself to trim my hair or not. Eventually I did and even though I lost length (click here (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=2521&pictureid=83786)to see), I was happy with the results over all. Now my hair has almost grown back the length that I cut and stayed relatively the same thickness. That does give me hope that my hair is growing, but that the damaged ends are stalling it out where it is at. Some of you may think "Then cut off all the damage!" but I wont go from 41.5 inches to 12 inches. I'm growing out the "good hair" slowly and taking off the "bad hair" as it comes. Therefore, I will hang out at about 40 - 43 inches and know my goal length (floor) will appear farther away than it really is, but I have accepted that (even if I don't like it! lol).

Why the small reminder about my hair trim and goal and what not? Well, those of you on my FB friends list have seen at least one time when I mention "I wish my hair was <insert dream here.>" You send me messages of "Me too!" and share similar frustrations and we all share a moment. :) . I know I make posts like that probably once a week, sometimes more, but I never though of it as getting annoying since the main FB wall scrolls by pretty fast (at least for me).

Well, on Sunday I made the post, "Sitting in my aunt('s) living room on an old lap top pining for the day my hair reaches my ankles." A friend of mine from school posted in return, "Have you ever wondered, what will happen if that doesn't happen M? I mean your hair is lovely already. Some people's hair only grows so long and then it just thins."

UG! I know she added the "Your hair is lovely already" moment to be a compliment amongst this comment, but the comment as a whole bugged me. One part of me is saying, "She didn't mean anything by it. She was just being informative. Relax." The other part of my went "Omg, maybe I'm at terminal! -freak out-"

I kept my cool and replied with this (partially to calm myself down from the mini freak out): "I try not to think about that. I wont know my terminal length until all the damaged dyed bits are grown out and trimmed off. I used to have a very thick hemline, then I treated my hair like crap and put multiple layers of dye and left it down all the time where it snagged on stuff, especially the cheap chairs at OSU. Over the past 2 years though, I have gained 12 inches of "good hair" and while my ends have not shown that, due to breakage and trims, I will know if my dream will come true in another 11 years. :)" 11 years should have all my natural hair grown out and to my ankles if I can grow it that long... no wait, make that 10 years. Ooh! Just got a little excited.

But the FB comment and the washing issue have left me feeling low again. My hair right now feels dry and I am wondering if I should soak it in oil over night, tomorrow night since I have to be somewhere tomorrow morning and wont have time to wash and let it dry. I think my frustrations are clouding my thoughts and I just am not sure what to do now.

spidermom
December 14th, 2010, 06:01 PM
I don't see conditioner in the ends of my hair as a problem. In fact, I add it on purpose right at the end when all the rinsing is done, squeeze out excess water and conditioner, then I'm good to go.

Some people like to prepare for the worst, and others don't want to think about it until it happens. Your friend has a point; some people simply don't have the genetics to grow hair to their ankles, and I think she wants you to be prepared for that. It sounds like you would rather cross that bridge when you come to it. Neither way is right or wrong, just different.

virgo75
December 14th, 2010, 06:58 PM
First, I agree with your friend that your hair is lovely. :flower:
Also, she may have just been trying to keep you from getting too down if growing to ankles doesn't happen since it doesn't happen for everyone.

As for the Garnier vs. HE - have you tried clarifying? Maybe it's just buildup. And which Garnier are you using? Have you checked the ingredients to see if maybe they changed them or did some sort of switcheroo? Garnier seems to like changing and rearranging their ingredient listings without any kind of warning or notice -like a new bottle or label that says "New & Improved!" :rolleyes:

I've used Garnier off and on for a few years now and still get frustrated when I find that they changed something but didn't warn anyone. For ex. I originally used the "Long & Strong" which my hair loved. They changed the name to "Length & Strength" and changed the ingredients. It works ok, but it doesn't make my hair as happy as the original one. They also changed the Sleek & Shine one so that it doesn't have any cones, but the cone free version isn't as moisturizing for my hair. :shrug: I have about 3 more examples of Garnier changing or discontinuing products of theirs that I liked but I'll stop now.

I hope you're able to find some solutions and that you and your hair feel better soon. :)

prosperina
December 14th, 2010, 07:05 PM
I don't have much to say, but I'm sorry you feel down. :grouphug:

I have always really liked your hair. :inlove:

I leave conditionner in my ends sometimes, but I understand this doesn't work with everyone's hair type. Could you try washing in the sink instead of in the shower?

thatjengirl1
December 14th, 2010, 07:54 PM
I'm sorry your feeling down about your hair :(

Which of the Herbal essences collection did you try?

Ive been using Long Term Relationship. and i really like it. I don't use the shampoo one though, i use an organic coconut shampoo, but for conditioner (i like cones) i use Long Term Relationship and my hair has never been so soft.

I would do an oil treatment on it tonight and maybe wear your hair up and out of the way tomorrow . what oil do you usually use? i'm guessing olive oil? good stuff.

your hair is very pretty, and it is still growing, I hope you can achieve ankle. happy growing :cheese:

LittleOrca
December 14th, 2010, 08:46 PM
As for the Garnier vs. HE - have you tried clarifying?

Yes. That is what I did first then used Garnier again. When that was not helping, I got some HE. The Garnier I use is generally L&S, but I also have S&S, and some of the TN 3 minute conditioner,



Which of the Herbal essences collection did you try? .... what oil do you usually use? i'm guessing olive oil? good stuff.

I am using the Longterm Relationship poo & con. I also have the leave-in con, but I don't always use it since I tend to accidentally put too much in. :o

I use coconut oil mixed with a little bit of olive oil heated in the microwave slightly to make application of it easier.



Could you try washing in the sink instead of in the shower?

Not possible at my house really. The bathroom sinks are tiny and the kitchen one has a spray nozzle, but that does not work and the neck is bent too sharply to get my head under it.

skaempfer
December 14th, 2010, 10:17 PM
It's way to early to worry about terminal. I don't know how long it will be, of course, but surely where you are now, with all that damage, can't be terminal?

I did a deep condition with the new rain forest stuff from body shop. It's nice, and worth the money, if a bit pricey.

Hang in there! Your hair looks fantastic, in any case.

2peasinapod
December 14th, 2010, 10:52 PM
I've always thought your hair was lovely! I don't have any advice, since my hair never behaves in the winter, but I just wanted to offer my support. :flower:

Night_Kitten
December 15th, 2010, 03:18 PM
:grouphug:
I think your hair is beautiful! And if you managed to grow it this long and gorgeous with all the damage, your'e no where near to terminal that's for sure :D

Could your problems with the conditioner be caused by the changing weather that causes your hair to behave differently? Or maybe the ingredients were changed without notification?

vanity_acefake
December 15th, 2010, 03:42 PM
Oh LittleOrca I'm sorry your feeling down.
Don't have any advice to add but sending you lots of hugs.
Your mermaid hair will always be beautiful.

redwoman
December 15th, 2010, 03:50 PM
I like your hair. Hope it begins behaving for you soon.

Islandgrrl
December 15th, 2010, 04:37 PM
Your hair is gorgeous. I've been secretly envious of it's beauty for quite some time!

I think you have the right approach as far as keeping the length as stable as possible while trimming the damage. It's my plan, too, actually.

As far as the shampoo and conditioner goes...I dunno. I'm currently doing the oil shampoo thing and not using condish at all. So far so good.

Enjoy the process and try not to obsess much over your hair. It's growing and it's lovely. That's stuff to be happy about!

ravenreed
December 15th, 2010, 08:41 PM
I think what your friend might have meant was that sometimes we get so focused on a goal that we forget to stop and appreciate where we are right now. Your hair IS lovely, whether you hit your goal length or not. Enjoy your hair now, and enjoy it even more when/if you hit ankle. It would suck to be so focused on ankle that you miss out on enjoying how great your hair looks right now.

Something I have noticed about my hair is it c r e e p s toward the next landmark and then once I reach it, every time I trim back, it zips right back to where it was before. For instance, it took forever to hit tail bone and now when I trim, whether it is a micro trim or three inches, it seems to get back to tail bone over night. It is one reason I don't fret quite so much about trimming. As for trims, you hair looked even nicer after the trim and it really wasn't noticeable that you lost any length.

Regarding your routine, I am kind of in the same boat. My normal CO isn't leaving my hair quite as clean as it was before and I am not sure what to do. I tried a few different things that only resulted in my scalp freaking out and flaking. Oh well. I hope you figure out something that works the way you want it to.

Speedbump
December 15th, 2010, 10:16 PM
LittleOrca, I'm so sorry you're down. :grouphug:

First, your hair is gorgeous. I have always loved your color, and your length shot post-trim is terrific!

Secondly, I think your friend really didn't mean anything by what they said. They probably just cannot imagine that growing ankle-length hair is even possible.

And third, it sounds like all you really need is to do a good clarifying wash or two. The products you listed all have cones and other fillers/polymers/shine thingies in them, and after a while, they just build up in there.

I've been participating in the "Hair care of movie stars from the past" experiment (huge thread on Mane board). As part of that, I had to clarify my hair. I used Neutrogena Anti-Residue shampoo (http://www.google.com/search?q=neutrogena+anti-residue&tbs=shop%3A1&aq=f). After using it twice, my hair is NOT gunky at all anymore, and it was just riddled with buildup.

That of course is not the only clarifying shampoo out there, but I know this one works well.

So to sum up, I think clarifying and then going back to your favorite Garnier and seeing how it goes is a real option for you. It couldn't hurt, right? ;)

Good luck! :flower:

Speedy

halo_tightens
December 16th, 2010, 06:58 AM
*picks LittleOrca up*
*runs madly around the room*

There you go, dear. :grouphug:

Your hair is as lovely as ever. I know it can be hard to see that sometimes when it's attached to your own head and you see it every single day... But both you and your hair are admired and loved by many. :flowers: