What do you do to treat your hair like 'fine old lace'?

[shikara]

Thanks to posts on LHC, I have started heavily diluting my shampoo in a large jug, simply pouring it over and around my scalp, and rinsing. I never knew you didn't have to 'scrub' your scalp:eyebrows: So far, I really like the results!

I wore a braid for years, but after wearing updos for awhile, I tried a braid again and was a little too conscious of how happier my hair would be cuddled up:D

I learned that there are times my brush works better than a comb, and it works even better if I am brushing gently while my hair is against something - my hand, down the front of my body.... (wish my hair was amenable to finger combing!) Learning to know when to stop brushing/combing and stop unnecessary pass throughs.

What are some habits you have to treat your hair like 'fine old lace'?

[rena]

I used to brutalize my hair in all the worse ways imaginable, wet BBBrushing, straight sulfate shampoo on the length, rough towel drying and even wet flatironing! Yikes. I used to lose hair by the handfuls every week.

Now I use very gentle shampoo only on my scalp, or CO washing. No more rough scrubing or towel drying. I very gently comb it when it's wet, and when its dry carefully comb it a maximum of two times a day. I hardly ever touch my BBB anymore, and have pratically forgotten about the old iron. Strictly no heat whatsoever.

[Melanie Marie]

I live in a city where many people smoke (unfortunately), and I would sometimes get home from downtown and let my hair loose, and the stench of cigarette smoke would be released along with it! My hair actually absorbed the smoke! GGAH!!shudder:

So now whenever I go downtown, I wear a hat or a scarf to keep my hair from reeking of cigarette smoke. I think it's a good idea if you're in a polluted, dirty, or even windy city. I tend to go for hats though, as I feel more comfortable in hats than scarves when I'm not at church.:p

[Chetanlaiho]

For me it's wearing my hair up or braided 99% of the time, and trying not to mess with it too much xD (well as in not mess with it in a way that causes damage, I do treatments a lot and I try to attempt new hairstyles so that might count as messing with it ^^;)

I try to avoid any heat whatsoever, same goes for harsh chemicals and detergents.

[racrane]

I used to treat my hair so bad. I'm just starting to be super nice to it and my hair seems to be enjoying the attention. Conditioning more than I used to seems to help and not shampooing as much. I also quit dragging a comb thru my wet hair (I heard breakage but for some reason I didn't stop) so that's good, too. I'm curious about other people's responses.

[Anje]

Honestly, I think I know more about how to handle my hair than how to handle lace. I don't think I'd CO wash lace or tie it up in a bun or braid it....

[gogirlanime]

I do these

-Cold water wash
-Pat/squeeze (not twisting) dry my hair, no dryer or twisting
-Wear it up 80% of the time
-Use organic, gentle conditioners and shampoos
-Oil treatments
-Supplements

[WaitingSoLong]

The main thing I do is to detangle very gently and only once or twice a day. Ripping through tangles was the #1 problem I had. No one (before LHC) ever told me it was bad. LOL.

I also stopped the heat (curling irons, dryers 2" from my head).

[Fairlight63]

I quit coloring it, using hot rollers, curling irons,

Now sleep on silk pillowcase, braid my hair at night, oil it, wash it 2 times a wk., wear it up all of the time, use hair friendly toys, careful when combing it, comb from the bottom up & work tangles out.

[ravenreed]

I don't really treat my hair like fine old lace. I go a little more gently with it, and have changed my routines a bit, but unlike old lace, my hair is replaceable as long as I am still breathing. So I use a tangle teezer instead of a regular brush and am more careful about how I detangle when my hair is wet, I try to keep from snagging my hair on things, but other than that, I don't fret too much.

[braidedbeauty]

I began covering my hair in olive oil prior to washing it and it did wonders for the moisture and softness of my hair :)

[|Xei]

I try to do at least one treatment per week to keep up the moisture levels and elasticity. I use a leave-in after towel drying, and oil it as soon as it is close to, or has dried. If possible, I'd let my hair airdry, but if I had to use the blow dryer, I'd keep it a foot from my hair and keep it moving so it doesn't heat up one part of my hair too much.

[TheBluffs]

Coconut oil! Get's my hair all soft. I also keep it up, so it doesn't break.

[Mesmerise]

Well, I don't really treat my hair like "fine old lace" either...

To use the fabric analogy though (:D) I treat my hair more like a nice piece of clothing that I want to keep for a long time, but still wear! Most clothes I toss in the washing machine on the heavy duty cycle with some laundry detergent, and then drag them into the dryer and dry them.

A piece of clothing I want to last (and which is delicate, I might add) I'll either hand wash, or use the delicate cycle, and I'll hang it out to dry without heat.

A piece of old lace I'd probably seal into one of those airtight bags and put somewhere safe where it would last forever lol. I wouldn't enjoy it at all I guess ;).

So yeah, instead of a regular sulphate shampoo slathered all over my locks and rinsed out followed by a nice coney condish, and later flatironed... I now use varying methods of hair washing (haven't decided the best yet lol) which either involve oil shampoo, CWC or CO, and I have decided that NO HEAT or CHEMICALS shall touch the hair again! So when my friend commented yesterday that my straightenend hair (which I wrapped) still had some frizzy bits, and offered me her straightener, I said "NO! No heat!" She looked at me strangely. My sister, later on that afternoon told he that her GHD straightener would cause less damage than others, I still declined her kind offer ;).

Anyway, for me it's about enjoying my hair as well as treating it well enough that it will last for a few years. In reality my hair has to last no more than about 6 years before it's completely regrown (and that's at the length I want it to be, not the length it is now), and for most hairs, it's probably more 5 years than 6. So I don't need to treat it like old lace that's 100+ years old as it's not gonna get THAT old!

I still give it treatments, wear it up most days etc. But I LIKE to wear it down, and for me there's no point in long hair if I have to wear it up 99.9% of the time to keep it protected!