scrfynerfherder
January 30th, 2011, 10:35 PM
Hello! I'm new to posting here, though I've been lurking and reading avidly for the past two weeks. Though I am by no means a newbie to long hair, I AM a newbie to long healthy hair. When I was younger, I had hair to my waist. When a cousin unknowingly passed on lice, my mother cut it chin-length to make it easier to get the eggs out. Since then (I was 9, I'm now 21), I haven't had hair longer than my shoulders. I usually get too impatient to let it grow.
Because I'm impatient and always looking for a change, I've done horrendous things to my hair since then. I haven't seen my natural color since I was 12. And if I told you all how many times I've gone from black to platinum blond, you'd probably cry. About 3 years ago, I chopped it all off (pixie length) to grow healthy hair. I fell victim to the bottle(s) yet again just recently in October of 2010, I chopped it all off again.
I've grown out the pixie to about nape length without cutting. Yes, I have the dreaded "pixie mullet" but I keep it in a teeny-tiny ponytail with little pins to hide the shorter layers. I don't want to lose any length at this point by trimming just to even out the mullet. For the past two weeks, after reading a lot on these forums, I've gone CO (washing once a week with a SLS-free 'poo), deleted -cones from my life, and given away my flat irons. The difference in my usually frizzy poof is amazing. I haven't had any oil issues, as my hair has always been dry, frizzy, and wavy.
My hair does usually grow a bit faster than average, about .66-.75 a month. I'm going to begin experimenting with Monistat this week to see if I can speed that up, at least until I reach SL or APL. My goal is WL and I feel like I finally have the motivation and dedication to let it grow! Now here are my questions:
As far as color goes, I'm really dreading a line of color difference in growing my hair out, and I really would love to go back to a deep brunette shade. Will using an ammonia free 28-rinse color hurt or damage new growth terribly? If it will, is henna mixing an option for a brunette color?
My other question is: for a leave in conditioner after showering, I've been using my Suave Naturals coconut lightly. Is this too heavy? Should I be looking for a specifically-leave-in-conditioner that is -cone free?
Because I'm impatient and always looking for a change, I've done horrendous things to my hair since then. I haven't seen my natural color since I was 12. And if I told you all how many times I've gone from black to platinum blond, you'd probably cry. About 3 years ago, I chopped it all off (pixie length) to grow healthy hair. I fell victim to the bottle(s) yet again just recently in October of 2010, I chopped it all off again.
I've grown out the pixie to about nape length without cutting. Yes, I have the dreaded "pixie mullet" but I keep it in a teeny-tiny ponytail with little pins to hide the shorter layers. I don't want to lose any length at this point by trimming just to even out the mullet. For the past two weeks, after reading a lot on these forums, I've gone CO (washing once a week with a SLS-free 'poo), deleted -cones from my life, and given away my flat irons. The difference in my usually frizzy poof is amazing. I haven't had any oil issues, as my hair has always been dry, frizzy, and wavy.
My hair does usually grow a bit faster than average, about .66-.75 a month. I'm going to begin experimenting with Monistat this week to see if I can speed that up, at least until I reach SL or APL. My goal is WL and I feel like I finally have the motivation and dedication to let it grow! Now here are my questions:
As far as color goes, I'm really dreading a line of color difference in growing my hair out, and I really would love to go back to a deep brunette shade. Will using an ammonia free 28-rinse color hurt or damage new growth terribly? If it will, is henna mixing an option for a brunette color?
My other question is: for a leave in conditioner after showering, I've been using my Suave Naturals coconut lightly. Is this too heavy? Should I be looking for a specifically-leave-in-conditioner that is -cone free?