No teasing challenge!

[linnepinne]

O, fellow teasing addicts and compulsive backcombers! Join me in this challenge to save our treasured strands!

I've been addicted to backcombing my hair for about 5 years now. Since my hair is on the thinner side of ii (6 cm/2.5 inches), and straight and fine, I've always coveted thick, curly/wavy and full-bodied hair.
So when I was about 20, I was so fed up with my hair, and I felt like nothing I ever did to it was ever going to give me the type of hair I wanted - the type of hair I felt was ME (sort of crazy curly, super thick, natural red). So I just gave up and bleached/coloured/teased/sprayed the hell out of it! I had the most crazy big hair styles, and some lovely bright colours, and it was all good fun at the time.

Then I discovered and became interested in more natural haircare (no poo, CO and so on), and I realized I wanted to give my hair a new chance to be itself, and hopefully, I could grow (pun intended!) to like it. I found the LHC and incorporated many of the tips and tricks I learned here to my haircare routine. I've given up many things; blowdrying, hairspray, cones, wax, evil brushes and more. I started oiling, CO-ing, SMT-ing and learning lots of lovely, protective updos. BUT the one thing I still do is, yep, you guessed it: the horrible act of BACKCOMBING!

I just can't seem to stop! I don't do it hard, or with a fine toothed comb. But I do it lightly with my (un-evil) brush, almost every day. Just to get some substance and body to my otherwhise very compact updos and braids, or to keep my scalp-hair from looking to greasy and flat.

But I've come to the conclusion that this has got to stop! :justy:
My poor canopy hair is getting way too dry and brittle from my horrific treatment, and I'm scared that I won't be able to reach my long hair goal and have stick to a shorter style (and i DON'T like my hair in it's natural state when it's short!).
And what better way than the LHC-way; A challenge! :eyebrows: My goal is not to backcomb/tease my hair until my next trim (which will be at new year, I also joined the "No trims in 2011"-challenge).

This can be a thread for all of my fellow teasers (I know you're out there!) to fess up, and give one another tips and tricks on updos and treatments, share our frustration, and of course, support to quit this nasty habit.

Who's with me!? :cheer:

[celebriangel]

Whenever I tip my hair upside down, finger comb a bit, then flip it back up again, it doesn't get volume, it gets VOLUME.

It's worth a try. Good luck! I assume you've seen the horrific pictures of what backcombing does to hair strands...

[kidari]

I have shorter layers on the top crown section to help with volume. Some things I picked up that give volume without resorting to teasing:

sock bun curls, if you wear your hair in a really high ponytail before you insert the sock it gives crazy volume

dry shampoo or something like Aveda pure abundance rubbed into the roots in sections

sleeping in 4-6 wet pin curls at night

simply puffing it up and bobby pinning it into place whether you're wearing your hair up or down

if you want volume in your updos you can do it in 2 sections, like a half up to creat volume and then pin up the rest

[vanillabones]

I was addicted to backcombing until I bleached my hair. The damage puffed up the hair cuticles and gave me more volume. I haven't backcombed since seeing the pictures of what it does to the hair strands -shudders-

I highly suggest dry shampoo, even just baby powder rubbed into the top will give you volume, anything but the dreaded backcomb! I hope you can find a way to give it up instead and sacrificing backcombing for longer lengths. I know how you feel about your scalp hairs appearing flat and volume-less. I used to be addicted to blowfrying and backcombing for this reason. However, since I've stopped and my hairs are all growing back in healthy for the first time, it really was just an obsession of an illusion! It's just as thick (if not thicker) and healthier looking by stopping the damaging methods and having all those broken hairs grown back in. I never thought I wouldn't need thickening mousses, blowfrying, and backcombing! After 6 months or more of giving it up I think it will pay off for you!

[kidari]

Vanillabones: I totally understand about what you said with the bleaching! Actually I felt like my hair was too healthy/slippery and the boxed dyes I was using on it actually relaxes any wave I have to my hair. So... I went and got some highlights put in! Lol it's so ironic that I love the damage the highlights did to my hair. It makes me look like I have more hair now expecially the contrast of the darker and lighter colors. The cuticles swelled up: before it never really needed to be detangled and now detangling is a pain BUT it holds volume and curl so much better than before. I figured I'm only getting highlights this once and letting it grow out naturally and anyways I've given up heat styling and backcombing so it's not going to kill me. I really needed the change as well, I've been growing my hair out for 2 years and it's been all one color and dark for 5-6 years. The highlights were only done to the tips of my top layers and from halfway up the length for that growing out effect already.

[aliceinmadness]

ya'll are going to laugh at me...

...I am totally incapable of back-combing. I've just never been able to pull it off! I've tried all kinds of hairspray, combs, strand thickness...nope. As soon as I touch it to smooth out the top it'll flatten, and an hour later it'll just be tangled without any volume at all. Bah. Humbug.

The failed attempts are probably not doing my hairs any favors though. Sigh. I really need to quit that.

[Arya]

Best advice that worked for me?

I got myself some extensions and backcombed the crap out of them.

They go inside a pompadour like a bumpit, ones that are teased at the roots but smooth for the rest of the length go in for added volume, and two are wrapped around a cinnabun for a bird's nest bun that's popular right now.

You'll wonder why you ever teased your own hair again!


EDIT: Oh, and dry shampoo/cornstarch/flour pump up my roots like crazy.

[linnepinne]

That's some really great advice from all of you! Thanks alot!
I'm quite proud of myself now acctually, I haven't teased/backcombed since I started this thread!
Maybe there aren't that many fellow teasing addicts out there, but just starting the thread made me a bit more determined to stop. And I must admit, I've only missed it once or twice, when my hair was a bit greasy and limp from streching washes.
Now I have to get a hold of a really good dry shampoo! Corn starch and the like does not work for me unfortunately.