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View Full Version : "I certainly wasn't expecting this..."



PurpleAshes
December 18th, 2010, 08:22 AM
Is there something you found about about your hair, after deciding on this journey, that you weren't expecting?
Good or bad?
How did you manage it - did you decide to make the best of it, or did you decide it was best for you not to continue on the long hair journey-?

Avital88
December 18th, 2010, 08:28 AM
That i can grow longer than expected actually:) my hairdresser always told me bsl was my terminal..
I trimmed it every 6 to 2 months!! and i found it strange that it didnt grow haha

Angeletti
December 18th, 2010, 08:31 AM
Before I started growing my hair out I didn't realize that my ends would get so thin from not trimming enough, etc. I'm making the best of it though even though I don't like them, a few more inches and I'll be well at goal so then I can start trimming and hopefully remedy the situation.

jasper
December 18th, 2010, 11:01 AM
I didn't expect any waves. I used to always use a hair drier and a brush, and thought my hair was naturally straight.

This isn't the kind of unexpected that took management or interrupted my long hair journey. I just found out my hair won't be straight when it dried untouched, and I can stop wondering what those little curls that escape at the back of my neck are doing there.

long&blonde
December 18th, 2010, 11:08 AM
I did not expect to discover why wearing a sleep cap to bed is a great idea. Or wake up my hair tangled under me, if I don't. Or have to pause to carefully get it out under my bag's strap,which now is a project,not the easy slip when it was shorter. Rather than any of it being a bother;it all makes me happy realizing my hair's longer than ever. :)

luxepiggy
December 18th, 2010, 11:29 AM
My hair is not black! Some of it is burgundy, and it's not because of wear & tear! Some of it grows out of my head that way! ( ' (oo) ' )

I discovered this when I started CO-washing (^(oo)^)v

PurpleAshes
December 18th, 2010, 11:43 AM
I wasn't expecting so much shrinkage! All my life I've straightened my hair and left it curly just for a few days a month, so I'm guessing since it was damaged it didn't shrink as much.
But now, the shrinkage is crazy!

jujube
December 18th, 2010, 12:23 PM
PurpleAshes your hair must be SO long when pulled straight. I wasn't expecting that my hair would ever look okay at my current length without heat styling it.

erika_d
December 18th, 2010, 12:27 PM
I never expected that my hair would do SO well with all this moisturizing! I always thought my fine almost-damage-proof hair would be too weighed-down with really moisturizing conditioners.

I also didn't expect deep treatments to do anything for my hair. WRONG! :D

Amraann
December 18th, 2010, 12:41 PM
I never expected my hair to turn curly/wavy.

My hair was pin straight my entire life. I guess it had some body but nothing I would call waves or curls.
As a child it was all one length to almost my knees so that must have weighed it down and I kept it short and brutalized it with heat appliances when I was a teen. It was not until my late 20's that I realized I have some curl in there!

Arctic_Mama
December 18th, 2010, 12:47 PM
After years of wearing it down to sleep, I didn't think I'd begin preferring to wearit braided to bed, or that it would make my hair smoother and easier to manage.

Hypnotica
December 18th, 2010, 12:59 PM
I never thought my hair would be this thick. Or that I could invoke hair envy in others.

Alix
December 18th, 2010, 01:07 PM
I never expected my hair to get long enough to put it in a ponytail without pins. THAT was a big deal.

pennylane
December 18th, 2010, 01:27 PM
I always wear my hair down.

Now, for a change I have been going to bed with my hair in a bun.

I never, never expected to have such lovely waves in the morning after I put it down again.


I am so pleased! :D

rosek
December 19th, 2010, 02:50 AM
I was suprised to find my hair was not 1a type. And that actually, it can survive more than six months without a trim.

Theobroma
December 19th, 2010, 03:33 AM
I never expected to be a curly. I blowdried or combed dry for most of my life and always thought my hair was almost straight. Now I find that if I let it do what it wants, it forms long, loose spirals all over.

I also never expected that letting it airdry however it wants and then brushing it out actually makes it look better than trying to impose some sort of set on it (i.e. braiding or wet bunning) while it's drying. Who knew hair could be this low-maintenance? :)

Delila
December 19th, 2010, 08:17 AM
... Who knew hair could be this low-maintenance? :)

This! I always wore my hair pretty short (never longer than shoulder, usually above my chin), with bangs.

I washed it and blew it dry every single day because I thought that there was no way my hair would look even remotely civilized if I didn't.

What I've learned is that my hair is wavy, but doesn't have any natural body, so blowdrying just makes my hair swoop in peculiar ways.

I had no idea that long hair maintenance would be so simple and low key. Suits me down to the bone.

Rennire
December 19th, 2010, 09:07 AM
That the longer I get, the more curl I lose! I don't mind much because I always wanted straighter hair =)

Becky Safari
December 19th, 2010, 09:09 AM
I never thought that my oil prone scalp would benefit from no shampoo

natt i nord
December 19th, 2010, 09:18 AM
I didn't expect the waves, too. Silicones made my hair straight, so I thought it was that way naturally. Big surprise when I left away the cones and grew it a bit longer :D

freckles
December 19th, 2010, 09:19 AM
I never knew I would be able to create updos ... I have bad co-ordination to say the least, pre-LHC I used to struggle with bobby pins even :p

Annushka
December 19th, 2010, 09:55 AM
I am totally shocked at how wavy my hair is. I always thought it was 1b and just frizzy. Now whenever I take a length photo, I just can't believe that it's my hair I'm looking at.

hayesa
December 19th, 2010, 10:19 AM
I never thought my hair would look anything close to okay without frying it every morning! Very glad I was wrong. :)

Purdy Bear
December 19th, 2010, 10:36 AM
That the dermatologists Id seen were wrong when they said nothing could be done for my Alopecia :horse: and that alternative therapies had been shown to have a really good effect on the illness. :cheese::cheese::cheese:

myrrhmaiden
December 19th, 2010, 10:43 AM
When I finally left hair dye alone, and was truly ready to grow out my natural color, I found bright white hairs right at my center part. *sigh*

Cailie
December 19th, 2010, 10:43 AM
My hair had been so curly (3a-b) and dry-crunchy-tangly for years and years ... I was amazed to see it could be so soft, not tangle much... and most of all : that drying my hair, once healthy, in buns or braids would make it wavy and soft without using any silicone / heat. My healthy hair is more like my childhood hair : around a 2c-3a type.

that my hair is mangeable and soft and doesn't tangle much, wow THIS was a revelation, to me !

Olyve
December 19th, 2010, 11:44 AM
I never thought I could get away without blowfrying my hair. I have done it since I was about 9. I experimented with this and with blowfrying I get flyaways and my hair looks like straw; without blowfrying my hair is silky, shiny and more manageable.

I never thought I could put OIL (olive oil, sweet almond oil, castor oil, tea tree oil) on my already overly oil hair and be in love with it. It is so shiny and healthier now. I am totally in love with my hair! :o

triumphator!
December 19th, 2010, 11:48 AM
I'm going to be a little crass, real quick. I have found that every time I grow my hair out, I end up putting it up more. When I put it up more, the shed hairs don't fall out as much. Thus, in the shower, I usually pull a huge hairball of shed hairs out of my buttcrack. shudder:

THERE I SAID IT. whew. :o

LadyG
December 19th, 2010, 11:56 AM
I found out that going sulfate and cone free, I have wavy hair! I always thought it was poker straight, guess using too heavy conditioners will do that. My hair is so much healthier and shiny now that I am learning proper hair care.

ScarlettAdelle
December 19th, 2010, 12:16 PM
I never expected to be having dreams about reaching my goal length, or that I'd actually take the hour and a half it takes to untangle my curls without inflicting damage of biblical proportions...

Speckla
December 19th, 2010, 12:49 PM
I wasn't expecting to last this long. I always got the urge to chop chop chop! Now I dont want to chop!

proo
December 19th, 2010, 03:38 PM
I wasn't expecting to not need conditioner after using oil shampoo, or how it would change the texture and behavior of my hair.

Artsy
December 19th, 2010, 03:48 PM
I have never expected my hair to be this straight after I stopped bleaching:cheese:
I never expected to find out that my hair is coarse, I have always thought that it was damaged:confused:
I did not expected anything to make my hair feel soft the way oil shampoo makes it feel.
I was also surprised to find out that cone-free gives me much more shine
All thanks to LHC:cheese:

Tiina
December 19th, 2010, 04:32 PM
The big mystery is still up - Has the damage made my hair straighter or wavier?

But I certainly didn't expect to see that dying had put my hair in a bad state, nor that I actually liked my natural hair colour.

BeccaAngel
December 19th, 2010, 06:03 PM
the longer my hair gets, the harder it is to gel or style.

Lianna
December 19th, 2010, 06:04 PM
I always thought I just had waves, but the bottom is quite curly after grows a bit.

ETA: I never thought I would like pantene shampoos because I read so many bad reviews. :D But once I used my BF's pantene and my hair likes it very much!

LisaMonster
December 19th, 2010, 06:36 PM
I'm going to be a little crass, real quick. I have found that every time I grow my hair out, I end up putting it up more. When I put it up more, the shed hairs don't fall out as much. Thus, in the shower, I usually pull a huge hairball of shed hairs out of my buttcrack. shudder:

THERE I SAID IT. whew. :o

ME TOO!!

We can't be the only ones :P

Speckla
December 19th, 2010, 06:47 PM
I can't wait until my hair is long enough to get caught in my crack....lol! There. I said it. What a goal for NYE 2012??

GRU
December 19th, 2010, 09:15 PM
Add me to the crew that picks sheds out of their butt in the shower.

Also, I never ever imagined that my hair could feel silky-soft. CO-washing my hair and detangling in the shower with conditioner (instead of ripping a paddle brush through my dry hair in the morning) have made my hair feel great! My hair is on the coarse side to begin with, and adding in the curls and the years of damage, it just always felt like "ick". Now I actually "pet" my hair and run my fingers through my roots, just because I can't believe that it's MY hair that feels so soft!

Finally, I never thought I'd be so in love with a dancing hunk of cheese! :cheese:

tinywife
December 19th, 2010, 09:35 PM
I don't have to use shampoo!

My hair can shine!

One drop of honey does what my expensive leave-ins never could!

All met with great excitement.

Vapunzel91
December 19th, 2010, 09:46 PM
Has anyone besides me ever put a strand of hair under the microscope? I have really weird hair. A few years ago--and I'm not sure if it was because the sun outside was naturally lightning it or if I have always had this--but underneath the scope, the edges of my hair are blond and the core is dark brown.

tiny_teesha
December 20th, 2010, 02:22 AM
I was not expecting a higher level of care to co-incide with a dramatic thinning of my hair.
I assumed the "taper" would grow out. Instead, my hair was unhealthy and "fluffy" because of that. It was thin from "damage"
When i grew it out nice and healthy. My hair was still thin, but now smooth, so it appeared as if there was less hair, but i'm quite sure that there actually is less hair.

I thought taking my hair of it would make it better not worse.

rena
December 20th, 2010, 12:46 PM
I'm anxiously waiting to see what my hair will do when it gets longer :cheese:

My hair hasn't been long since I was a child and I can't wait to see how it turns out long, since I know hair can change when you get older. I'm hoping for the best when the damage is gone :D

sarahbrownie
December 20th, 2010, 01:58 PM
I always saw my hair is curly, and it is, but it is much frizzy in my damaged hair and much softer wave in my virgin hair. I never knew that because I've been coloring and heat styling it for years!

akurah
December 20th, 2010, 03:23 PM
I never expected hair to get caught in my bras. Other places, yes, but bras? No. Even though it's so obvious now.

Kristin
December 20th, 2010, 03:40 PM
I didn't realize my hair would be so incredibly straight once it hit waist-length!

fairy_ends_girl
December 20th, 2010, 03:45 PM
omgosh, i thought i was the only one pulling my hairs out of b crack after shower! lol! so glad i am not the only one! i have also learned to embrace my curls and actually love them now that i've grown out my hair.

2peasinapod
December 20th, 2010, 04:02 PM
Like many others, I certainly wasn't expecting waves! I always remembered my hair as being straight but very dry an uncooperative. Now I know that it was waves trying to emerge!

I also didn't know my hair was so thick. After keeping my hair short for so many years, it felt so thin and nonexistent when I started to grow it out. Within a few months, I had to replace all my hair elastics! The elastic that I once used to hold my hair in my very first ponytail is now used to secure the end of a braid (and only if I do two braids at that)!

Don't worry, Vapunzel91, my hair does that too even though I always cover my hair when I go outside. My mother's hair was the same way, dark brown at the top and middle and blonder at the ends! :shrug:

InTheCity
December 20th, 2010, 06:42 PM
Before I started growing my hair out I didn't realize that my ends would get so thin from not trimming enough, etc. I'm making the best of it though even though I don't like them, a few more inches and I'll be well at goal so then I can start trimming and hopefully remedy the situation.

Me too! :(

I've never hair "long" hair, never ever. Now I consider it to be as long as I'd want it but it's so scraggly thing that it doesn't look anything like I'd imagined. Perhaps if I stick with this length and commit to trims, it'll look better. I sure hope so.

Juneii
December 20th, 2010, 06:51 PM
I discovered that my hair is picky and likes going between 1a stick straight to 1b with small volumizing waves. I didn't expect my hair to tolerate stretching washes but it looks much better now that I am washing every 2nd day :)

IvySchex
December 20th, 2010, 06:57 PM
I never knew that wearing my hair loose to bed (with cotton pillow case) was so bad for my hair. Since I started keeping it braided, I have noticed my hair getting longer! Yay!

And I always thought that split ends were normal. Come to find out, split ends are because of dry, unhealthy hair. Need... to... condition!

Ivy

Jenn of Pence
December 20th, 2010, 10:05 PM
That i can grow longer than expected actually:) my hairdresser always told me bsl was my terminal..
I trimmed it every 6 to 2 months!! and i found it strange that it didnt grow haha

Lol, I just figured that out, too, after coming here. All those years of trimming and mysteriously getting nowhere. And I also had a hairdresser tell me that a year ago (right before she also told me that straightening on high heat was much easier on the hair than multiple passes on a cooler setting...yeah right ;)). Now that I finally recovered all the length I lost to that particular experiment, I'm out to prove what my real terminal length is!

Shanazel
December 20th, 2010, 10:17 PM
I've had long hair since I was eight or nine except for serious cuts at 13 (at my mother's insistence), 21 (I cut it to shoulder length because I wanted something different), 23 (I went really short- ugh), and 41 (back to shoulder blade length because I was tired of shutting my hair in the car door), so not much about having long hair is a surprise at this point. I am 55, my hair is tailbone length, and barring unforeseen urgent circumstances don't foresee cutting it again until I am too infirm to braid it myself. My aunt Gladys had hair to her ankles until she got into her mid-seventies. She cut it when her husband died and couldn't help her wash it anymore.

GoddesJourney
December 21st, 2010, 12:48 AM
I never thought I would not have a greasy scalp, but I stopped with the daily SLS shampooing, then slowly came to weekly shampooing and mostly CO, more or less. The great thing is that shampoo was one of the main things that was making me shed like crazy.

I also never thought I would be able to trim my own hair, but now I can trim it, layer it, and even cut bangs. I feel so liberated.

I never though it would get caught in my armpits either. It's been a long time since it was long enough to, so that was a surprise.

I never thought I would no this much about hair and hair products, but look at me now!

Thanks LHC!

turquoisebud
December 21st, 2010, 10:33 AM
I wasn't expecting my hair to do so well right after I stopped straightening it! :roll: I have just CO for the first time, I am hoping that the result will be unexpected - in a good way! Bye-bye dryness :poot:

Igor
December 21st, 2010, 10:55 AM
Has anyone besides me ever put a strand of hair under the microscope? I have really weird hair. A few years ago--and I'm not sure if it was because the sun outside was naturally lightning it or if I have always had this--but underneath the scope, the edges of my hair are blond and the core is dark brown.

That’s not weird. That’s how hair looks under a microscope.
The dark core is the cortex (or possibly the medulla, depending on the size of what you saw) and the light surroundings are the cuticle cells with Huxleys layer, Hyaline layer and the outer coat. Eumelanin and phaeomelanin deposits in the inner parts of the hair and gives it its colour.

lacefrost
January 10th, 2011, 01:03 PM
Yep I'm another one of those hair-in-unmentionable-places kind of girls. But I never expected it to end up in OTHER people's unmentionables! Somehow my hair has wound up in people's bras and boxer briefs. I have no clue how.

I wasn't expecting watching my curly hair grow would be so aaaaagonizing. It feels like it hasn't grown at all!

Starr
January 10th, 2011, 01:28 PM
I never expected to ever get away with little to no product in my hair. I had been using tons of mousse and gel for years, layered over a leave in and then covered in hairspray to keep it from frizzing. . .little did I know it was the shampoos, gels, and hairspray that was drying it out.

milagro
January 10th, 2011, 01:44 PM
I'm going to be a little crass, real quick. I have found that every time I grow my hair out, I end up putting it up more. When I put it up more, the shed hairs don't fall out as much. Thus, in the shower, I usually pull a huge hairball of shed hairs out of my buttcrack. shudder:

THERE I SAID IT. whew. :o
me too! :D It's great you wrote it, I could never dare ask anyone IRL if they have the same experience.


I never thought I'd be so in love with a dancing hunk of cheese! Cute! my crush is the banana :disco:

Red Leo
January 10th, 2011, 01:45 PM
I never thought that sleeping with it loose could be such a hazard!

lajsa
January 10th, 2011, 02:34 PM
I wasn't expecting myself to ever actually LIKE wearing updos :D I've worn my hair down my entire life, and now suddenly I realize that I like updos... which is great, since it gives further protection to my hair, reducing my breakage and letting me grow LONGER hair, which makes for even more interesting updos! :D

Malibu Barbie
January 10th, 2011, 02:45 PM
I had no idea I could grow my hair so long. I had always had short hair or shoulder length. Growing up all the girls had long hair. I looked like a boy and was called one often LOL. I was a gymnast and was not allowed to have long hair. Im glad to have my long hair. I never get mistaken for being a boy anymore lol.