Best advice/ tips/ tricks from LHC?

[Kristamommyx3]

I thought it would be fun and useful to round up everyone's best hair "finds" since joining LHC. Please don't forget to mention your hair type if it's not in your signature, so we can tell if we want to run right out and try it too!

I have realized,through reading the boards, that I was far too rough on my hair. I used to roughly rip through my hair with my head upside-down using a large barreled brush, all while blow frying on high heat....every day! Looking back, I am blessed to have not totally ruined my delicate baby fine straight hair! All in the name of volume. I also used to never ever use conditioner. Maybe twice a year. On the other hand, I was bunning it all day, most days, and I believe I inadvertently saved myself a lot of damage that way. I was also already sls free, by trial and error from itchy scalp. I learned from this group how right I was in going sls free for my scalp's happiness. I have also learned to braid my hair at night, and I love coconut oil for hot oil treatments! Ok, your turn....:D

[Kristamommyx3]

Oh, and s&d. I'd never considered looking for individual splits and attacking them instead of my whole head of hair at once. Smart!

[kmoc123]

Stay away from scissors and salons
S&D
Monistat....funny, but it does work!
Coconut oil, Aargon oil
Castor oil will make your eyelashes grow
Dilute shampoo in half with water
My hair loves cones!...and that is ok....
Got rid of heat appliances
Locks of Love is a LIE!!!


I love LHC!!! And there are other hair freaks out there!!!

[Scarlet_Heart]

Can't choose. If the only thing I learned from LHC was CO or henna, it would have been worth it, but both of these things PLUS oiling, bunning, braids, Henna Sooq, HAIR FORKS :joy:, hair sticks, oh man and I know that's not everything. So glad I found LHC during my growing process. My only regret is that I didn't find LHC at the beginning of my growing process two years ago.

[All Natural Mom]

I don't know if I can only choose one!

Coconut oil is really helping my dry hair, LOVE it!

I would have to say the next best thing is hair styles, I have never really been big into primping myself, but with my hair as long as it is I have to put it up everyday and needed a little variety from the same old bun. I thank all of you who have posted EASY directions on hair styles THANK YOU!

[ladyfey]

Chagrin Valley, love their soap and their shampoo bars!

[Loreley]

- coconut oil, oiling hair
- using hair sticks, hair forks
- wearing hair up
- using sulfate free shampoo
- CO washing

Thank you LHC! :heartbeat

[ashke50]

Turns out you don't shampoo like people in adverts, with the hair on top of your head.
Even I, with my slippery hair, can hold it all up with a stick, for a whole day.
You can trim your hair yourself.
Other people want to grow long hair too!

[Jcv-Shelley]

That everything is not one-size-fit's-all.

All the methods and techniques that benefit many individuals.

Oh, that and staying far away from the nearby salon for quite while..! :)

[Intransigentia]

I would say, using oil and going cone-free would be tied at #2.

My #1 best thing has been learning to manage longer hair, which means I haven't cut it all off like I usually do when it gets past APL or so. Learning updos to do with longer hair, and finding sources of hairtoys that are large and sturdy enough to hold all my hair - not that there's that much of it, but most stuff you find at the drugstore or whatever, is too small and/or flimsy.

[caiti42]

Cwc washing :)

[Tuntenut]

That's actually a tough question. I can barely remember what I did before LHC and long hair forums in general. Things like combing gently, not piling everything on top of head when washing, and spending at least 20 minutes reading conditioner bottles at the grocer's is almost second nature to me now.

I guess that's the most important lesson: That good hair doesn't come from a miracle product, but from good long-term care.

[Copasetic]

1. coconut oil/shea butter
2. gel for curly hair. I never thought to use gel before I joined the LHC.
3. cutting up panty hose for use as scrunchies or headbands. Its a gentler way to put your hair up.

[Mesmerise]

For me it's probably CO washing and self trimming that I've learned at LHC! Also, I've learned SMT's, and that's something I wouldn't have tried before LHC. Other things I've learned include braiding hair before bed, using more updos, not using hair elastics as much, and styling methods that don't require heat! Had I not found LHC I'd definitely have heat straightened since the start of this year, and probably used box dye too... so THANKS LHC!

There is some LHC stuff that I sort of knew/used before finding the forum though.

I used to S&D prior to LHC (but didn't call it that lol), and I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who obsessively snips out splits and white dots!!

I also discovered henna prior to LHC, but I've learned more about it since joining and I've committed to using it 100% so I won't be tempted to use box dye if I run out of henna or whatever (well I'm due for a henna next week and the henna I bought off ebay hasn't arrived yet...so hmm...).

I used coconut oil a couple of years ago, but had stopped that practice, but coming to LHC has revived my use of it.

[Annibelle]

Number one... and this is definitely corny...

Loving my hair the way it is! I don't need to curl it to make it interesting and I don't have to straighten it to remove random waves. I can always temporarily alter it with bun waves and keep it straighter with jojoba oil, but I will never damage my hair in the name of aesthetics again!

[TheBluffs]

H.O.N.E.Y :inlove:

[christine1989]

There are WAY too many great ones to list them all but my top picks (in order) would have to be:
1. Henna (+indigo)
2. No SLS
3. Nightblooming's panaceas (my new favorite leave in)
4. Aubrey's organics products
5. Castor oil for increasing thickness

[racrane]

I have lots of things, not just one:

-My hair dislikes cones, it gets all dull and slimy
-CWC is amazing for my hair
-It likes VO5 or anything cheap!
-To put my hair up at night
-To leave it alone and it will produce curls on its own; I don't need heat to make them appear

The last one is the most important one for me. To let my hair be what it naturally is.

[gossamer]

Coconut oil! When my hair gets unhappy with me, now I know to deep treat it with a ton of oil.

New updos. I literally had 2 updo options before I joined LHC - double knotted bun I made up myself as I grew, and double french braids pinned up in back. Boring!

[silverjen]

I was already pretty gentle with my hair before coming here, so I didn't have much room for improvement on that front. What really helped me is learning how to handle longer hair on a day-to-day basis. Little things like bunning for sleep, and all the awesome updos that make daily life easier have allowed me to avoid the dreaded chop. I've tried to grow it out several times in the
past, and would invariably get impatient and cut it all off as soon as it started getting in my way.

[tinti]

Oh, there's so much! Co, CWC (I mix them, one wash I'll CO, the next I may CWC), clarifying, ACV hairsticks, hairforks, gentler care, Tangle Teezer, Ficcares, COCONUT OIL! But the best I think is finding out that my hair isn't just straight with weird bends, it's straivy! And when I'm wearing my hair in a half up removing my 1b/c canopy hair, it's wavy :D

[Kristamommyx3]

Ooh, I forgot the concept of treating our hair like delicate antique lace. That image has forever changed how I see my hair. :)

[Kristamommyx3]

You are my hair twin, so I'd love to hear what honey does for you, and how you use it please?




H.O.N.E.Y :inlove:

[rapunzhell13]

The most significant thing that I've learnt from LHC is that if you don't cut hair, it miraculously grows! :silly: It took me an embarrassingly long time for this to stick with me.

Also learning that my hair doesn't need to be washed every single day like I used to when I was a teen. No wonder I thought my hair was dry! It's actually a tad oily, if anything. Now I only wash twice a week and my hair has never been happier.

I've always known that "chemical" dye is not good for hair, but being a member of LHC has made me appreciate my natural colour and also introduced me to better alternatives, primarily henna. It's been a few years since I last used "chemical" dye and I'm glad to be rid of it. That's saying a lot from a former dye addict.

Coconut oil! Before LHC, I really only knew of olive oil being used in hair and only as a deep treatment. Olive oil is too heavy IMO, so coconut oil was a welcome alternative. It also smells great! Yum.

[Fairlight63]

The best thing that I have done since coming here is to give up the hair dye & being proud of my grey hair. Seeing all of the beautiful older ladies on the forum with beautiful long grey hair has given me the confidence to give up the dyes & to let my hair grow long. Where I live there isn't very many role models for having long grey hair.

I also CWC my hair on Sat. & Wed
.
Gave up the curling iron & let my hair air dry.

My hair also likes oil, it gets rid of the frizzies.

[Hotrox]

CWC and dropping the SLS out of my shampoos has probably made the biggest difference to my hair.

Learning to love my hair for what it is and believe that I can have long beautiful hair has made the biggest difference to me :D

[irisheyes]

1. use a wide toothed seamless comb to prevent hair loss and breakage
2. use a BBB three times a week for shine and frizz reduction - I would use it daily, but I hate to see any shed hair in the brush afterwards
3. sleep on a silky pillowcase
4. give up heat styling and hair dye

[Chetanlaiho]

I haven't found a 'wonder product' or anything on here yet (though I hope I will!) but I think my best lesson was CO, my hair feels sooo much better now <3

And I learned that my only washing once a week due to laziness, wasn't that freaky or gross as people liked to make me think xD

Other than that: I learned a |ton| of hairstyles (mostly buns and braids ^^), learned about oils, gentle detangling, and I guess just being nicer to my hair in general xD

[elbow chic]

The most significant thing that I've learnt from LHC is that if you don't cut hair, it miraculously grows! :silly: It took me an embarrassingly long time for this to stick with me.


Me too!! Gah, So many years wasted by not grasping the obvious. :eek:

I think learning that human hair grows just a half an inch a month, that it will NOT in fact "grow back in no time" if I chop off three inches, was really motivating for me.

I used to get a couple of inches cut off two or three times a year, and then be bummed that I "couldn't grow my hair."

The other thing I learned was that dry ends are not necessarily irreparably damaged ends. For years they'd get to about APL-- with precious little regular conditioner, NO leave-ins or deep conditioning, no protective styles... and then I couldn't understand why they looked so FUZZY.

[cowgirllong]

I was very fortunate to already know good hair care when I first came to LHC. I'd been looking around on the internet for years to learn good hair care. Of course, that makes this question a bit harder. A few weeks ago I read about Monistat making your hair grow here on LHC. That is probably the big thing I have learned here. The rest has just been reinforcement of what I learned before coming here.

[schweedie]

I think CWC was the biggest thing for me. And I think simply not shampooing the length on those days when I just can't be bothered with the first round of conditioner has made a world of difference.

I'm also very grateful for SMTs, as well as hairsticks/forks. Never in a million year would I have thought my hair could be held up with just a stick!

[theodora]

1. SMT (just about to do one before bed)
2. That there are other options than traditional S&C and no poo. A lot more.
3. Redbush not only tastes great but might help growth!
4. Etsy: good for hair toys

[Firefly]

1. To quit the heat styling
2. Hairstyles! I only wore it in about three different "styles" before LHC, and one of those was down. ;)
3. CO and CWC washing
4. That trying to find the right routine is like having a million keys and only one lock. :rolleyes: But the fun is in the experimenting one day I'll figure it out!

[Mina17]

1. CO washing
2. Oiling
3. The difference between protein and moisture treatments
4. Hair safe styling tools, combs, brushes, etc.
5. That you don't have to buy expensive salon products to have beautiful healthy hair!!

[Sagi1982]

The best thing I learned here? The use of hair sticks and forks! ^^

[gthlvrmx]

Healthy hair shows grows! Split and damaged breaks off and takes off that growth.

[growingpains]

Ok, I can't pick one thing either!!

I started lurking on LHC in 07 so it's been a good many lessons. In order of when I learned them, only including the really important ones:

-Lesson #1- minimize damage: First I learned that stretching washes may be good for my hair, especially since at that time I was doing other damage like chemically dying and straightening regularly. Minimize heat (initially I cut down on rather than cut out heat)
-Lesson #2- Washing: huge amounts of shampoo are unnecessary and shampooing should only occur on the scalp and not involve piling hair on the head
-Lesson #3- stop cutting it if you want it to grow!
-Lesson #4- AIR DRYING- perhaps the most important lesson of all, learning to tame my frizz and accept my natural hair via air drying! Before this I was a blow fry/straightener queen!
-Lesson #5- CO rocks
-Lesson #6- cone and SLS free are my friend

Also important have been updos at night, combing rather than brushing, oil and leave ins. And, ACV rinses and cold water rinses in the shower for shine.

I think it's important to note that I also learned what NOT to do. For example, I used to think "I'll treat my hair to a good protein mask" if it was dry, without having any idea of what that could do to my hair or if my hair needed that. Or I'd use mineral oil "hair food", gullibly believing it was good for my hair since it was in the hair aisle, without considering the buildup that could result.

Overall the two most important lessons I'd say have been airdrying (which I only like cone free, incidentally and stretching washes).

[LaceyNg]

'cones make my fine hair stringy and dry
my hair needed MOISTURE, NOT protein!
henna (and cassia) are awesome! they do NOT fade and actually IMPROVE hair!
monistat gets rid of dandruff and makes hair grow faster (:
coconut oil. enough said.


and i'm also looking forward to trying SMT's and exploring more hair-friendly hairstyles

thanks, LHC! and, more importantly, thank you LHC MEMBERS! :joy:

[alxardnax]

I have had healthy, long hair my whole life until March when a stylist chopped off all my hair, so I would have to say my #1 lesson is DONT GO TO A SALON UNLESS YOU COMPLETELY TRUST THE STYLIST! The good part about that otherwise awful experience is that it turned me from a LHC lurker to a member.
Other good lessons:
Seamless Comb
Coconut Oil
Silk Pillowcase
CO Wash (I had started this before LHC but you guys reinforced it).
Shower filter if you dont have soft water
Protective UpDos
Wood Brushes are awesome
Seal your ends
Catnip (just started experimenting with).
Henna (also just started).
Aloe Vera
Different Oils and Essential Oils
Etsy
...
a lot more.