Your hair mentor

[C.H.]

Was there someone in your life, perhaps even before LHC, who helped put you on the path to long healthy hair?

For me, this person was my friend Michelle. She was a family friend, and she and I both lived with my aunt for a year when I was 13-14 and she was about 19. She was kind of a temporary live-in nanny/housekeeper for my aunt at the time.

My hair was about APL and terribly damaged then--who knows how it got that way, probably not-so-benign neglect. But she was all about haircare and she was the first person to teach me the importance of healthy hair. Among other things she started giving me regular monthly trims, only taking off very little, kind of like dusting--that's when I first started to really care what my hemline looked like and carefully watching the progress of my growth (to this day I absolutely cannot tolerate a wispy or scraggly hemline on myself). She also introduced me to this wonderful oil that is still one of my favorites, but generally she taught me to be discriminating about what I put in my hair.

It wasn't just the specifics, so much as the overall concept that maintaining healthy nourished hair while trimming away the damage (if only gradually) would allow it to really grow long and thick. Until then, it had simply not occurred to me that my hair was damaged, let alone what to do about it.

I also used to play with her hair for hours. I would brush it, oil it, and practice braiding it in different ways over and over again, while she was reading, watching TV, or whatever else. So in addition to hair care, I also became a quite competent braider thanks to her patience.

This is my little tribute to Michelle. Is there anyone you'd like to pay tribute to?

[GoatLady]

You all are my hair mentors. But, because of you, I am now a mentor in my own right. My friend Kristine (who just so happens to be my bee mentor) has been following my lead as far as hair care. She hennas, spritzes with rooibos, and uses nice hairsticks for updos. On a recent visit I commented on her hair. "Nice half up." She said she had noticed mine a week before so had to try it. I love being a good influence on her. :D

[MonaLisa]

I wish!

Sounds so lovely :)

[pepperminttea]

Sadly there's no-one like that in my life, but I have hair forums instead. :D I wish I had known someone like that, it sounds like a wonderful thing to bond over. I do have to thank a friend's mother though, who while examining my permed, dyed, and generally shredded length in my late teens was honest with me and told me it was too far gone, and needed to be chopped. (Shortly afterwards, I had it cut from MBL to chin length where my unprocessed hair started.)

[MonaLisa]

On the other hand, there is so many people in my life i'd love to mentor a bit :o
But I'm afraid they'll find it weird.

[C.H.]

On the other hand, there is so many people in my life i'd love to mentor a bit :o
But I'm afraid they'll find it weird.

It helps to get 'em young!

[monichella]

my mentor is "capellidifata.it", the italian long hair forum, of wich I've the honour of being a moderator :)

[TheMechaGinger]

Loepsie and Torrin =] I sure do love the internet

[Copasetic]

I definitely had long hair idols, but not mentors. Everyone I knew who had long hair did virtually nothing to take care of it, so that it ended up in terrible condition. I didn't know much of anything about hair care until I joined the LHC.

[slz]

Thankfully, my mother - I was brought up this way, learning to care for long hair and appreciate its beauty.

[Madora]

Dr. George Michael, the "Czar of Long Hair"!

Maybe "mentor" is stretching it - in a way -- but once I read about his principles of long hair care in a magazine article in 1960, I was SOLD!

I had the pleasure of finally meeting him in 1982 when I visited his NYC salon for the first time. He really knew his apples!

[Lostsoule77]

I would have to say my mom. She didn't know half of what I've learned on here, but she started me on the right track. She taught me to brush starting from the bottom and working my way up. She told me to never use a brush, only a comb, on wet hair. She told me to never use rubberbands to secure my hair. She taught me to braid and we learned how to french braid together.