PDA

View Full Version : After years of experimenting, I finally figured out...



americanjan1
August 13th, 2011, 04:08 PM
What have you figured out about your hair? After seeing a thread about things your hair hates, I had to stop and really think about what my hair hates. It hates a lot of stuff, which is a total bummer.
chlorine
sun
smoke
wind
heat
cold
rain
snow
shampoo
SMTs
protein
honey
aloe vera gel
humectants
sulfates
cones
oil of ANY kind whatsoever
beer
egg
mayo
ACV
baking soda
gel
mousse
serums
sprays
creams
pastes
certain conditioners
leave-in treatments
it also hates cheap products and expensive products equally.

I have found that as much as I love to spoil my hair with rich treatments and fun concoctions...it really isn't fond of them, which is boring because I actually enjoy deep conditioning and treatments and I am a total product junkie.

Literally, the only thing it loves is Suave Mango Mandarin conditioner. Why? Yawn.

What have you learned from experimenting with your hair, and how long did it take you to figure it out?

Madora
August 13th, 2011, 04:58 PM
Guess I'm lucky because I never experimented with anything.

I know my hair loathes snarls and I do my utmost to see that those are kept to a minimum.

rachelily
August 13th, 2011, 05:39 PM
After years of experimenting, I have learned that I am better off without conditioner! After trying the oil shampoo method, my hair is no longer weighed down (it is thin) and it looks voluminous for the first time in my life. AND no more frizzy days! Haaaallelujah.

americanjan1
August 13th, 2011, 07:11 PM
That's cool. My hair would be very unhappy. It loves COwashing.

Melon Collie
August 13th, 2011, 07:27 PM
My thought is, the less I mess with it, the better. I've gotten into loads of hair trouble by doing more to my hair than is really necessary.

spidermom
August 13th, 2011, 07:35 PM
I figured out I don't want to have such an intense relationship with my hair.

rena
August 13th, 2011, 07:42 PM
I discovered that my hair really likes baby shampoo, and CO washing is great for it in the summer. I also figued out that not all of my hair is naturally curly, just certain patches that make the rest curl :|.

americanjan1
August 13th, 2011, 08:06 PM
I discovered that my hair really likes baby shampoo, and CO washing is great for it in the summer. I also figued out that not all of my hair is naturally curly, just certain patches that make the rest curl :|.

I have the same problem. It drives me crazy! I would love to wear my hair wavy but it just doesn't happen. Which unfortunately translates to having to blow dry my hair.:(

AbstractMage
August 13th, 2011, 08:11 PM
I've figured out that my hair loves conditioner only on the ends.
If I put it on my scalp I end up greasy, doesn't matter what kind of conditioner. No conditioner leaves me too dry to not tangle instantly.

rachelily
August 13th, 2011, 08:48 PM
I discovered that my hair really likes baby shampoo, and CO washing is great for it in the summer. I also figued out that not all of my hair is naturally curly, just certain patches that make the rest curl :|.

When I first "went curly" (aka stopped straightening" my hair did this. It took about a year for my texture to even itself out all over my head. Made me crazy!

Delila
August 13th, 2011, 09:09 PM
I figured out I don't want to have such an intense relationship with my hair.

Nice thought!

My life is a lot less complex since I quit experimenting with everything that crossed my path, and journaling about it.

I'm definitely in a keep it simple routine, since that's what my hair and scalp seem to prefer.

I've learned, after many experiments, that the basic shampoo, conditioner and creme rinse routine that I used before I found LHC is pretty much what my hair wants, so that's what it gets.

I did also learn that not using a blow dryer and not putting conditioners on my scalp help quite a lot. My hair is much less fragile now, and my scalp is very comfy.

rena
August 13th, 2011, 09:29 PM
I'm definitely in a keep it simple routine, since that's what my hair and scalp seem to prefer.

This. I really do opt for the "keeping it simple" approach and the idea of going through a lot of trouble for my hair gives me an icky feeling, like I have high maintenance hair thats hard to care for or something.

americanjan1
August 13th, 2011, 09:42 PM
Yep...keeping it simple. That's what my hair likes. It's ME that likes to mess with it. My hair is 100% happy with a quick rinse with conditioner and that's it.

Willow
August 14th, 2011, 12:40 AM
After years of experimenting, I have learned that I am better off without conditioner! After trying the oil shampoo method, my hair is no longer weighed down (it is thin) and it looks voluminous for the first time in my life. AND no more frizzy days! Haaaallelujah.

What is the oil shampoo method?

scotty810
August 14th, 2011, 12:43 AM
woah that's quite a list there

growingpains
August 14th, 2011, 01:13 AM
Right off the bat, before I joined LHC but was lurking back in 08, I learned to stretch my washes. I figured it was an easy thing to do to minimize damage. At the time I was a hard core dye, blow drier and straightening addict and I was not willing to give those up. Eventually I convinced myself to give up the dye. About a year ago I decided I would only blow dry my hair for thee last bit of drying to help straighten it. Within the last six months I finally managed to totally give up heat and also GASP learned to start wearing my hair up. I knew it was good for my hair but used to hate it so much. Now that I don't heat style though I find it is the quickest way to not be too fussed about my hair and still have it look good.

Oh, and S&D. I've been doing that for a few years. Def helps. Now that I know Feye's self trim method both my hair and pocket book are also happier.

Sookie
August 14th, 2011, 01:16 AM
Hahahahahahaahahaha your hair hates everything :p :p Lucky you because you found a product that it works :D :D Well i haven't been experimenting for a long time...because i just wanna grow it long so i keep it always in buns or braids...when i go out i leave my hair down and some antifrizz spray. But my hair doesn't like serums at all! I hate them too!

pepperminttea
August 14th, 2011, 02:01 AM
What is the oil shampoo method?

Article here (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=191). :) It's also known as shampoil.

TheCaityCat
August 14th, 2011, 02:22 AM
My hair likes to be weightless and carefree. By that I mean that it likes gentle but clarifying shampoo, light conditioning, and the occasional clarifying rinse. No gels, no thickening cremes, no sprays unless I use a light touch with a volumizing formula (and not very often!). The carefree part refers to ditching the flat iron in favor of letting my waves be themselves instead of trying to make everything straight and nicely-behaved. My hair has a mind of its own. If I let it do its own thing, then it looks way nicer.

I thought my hair was difficult to care for, but it's not. It just doesn't like me putting gobs of styling products and heat on it every day! Once I stopped doing that and used natural/less chemically shampoo and conditioner my hair and scalp both improved.

Rosetta
August 14th, 2011, 02:25 AM
...that my hair does best with a normal sulfate shampoo and a coney conditioner :) And not stretching washes too much.

rachelily
August 14th, 2011, 06:51 AM
What is the oil shampoo method?

The original thread got shut down (I have no idea why) but here is the saved, golden information:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=191
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=1369612&postcount=816
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=1396543&postcount=1844

It's a lot to read through, but I highly recommend doing it. That is how I came to find optimal results.

Avital88
August 14th, 2011, 06:59 AM
wow thats pretty much anything:) haha my length loves co washing my roots get greasy...i co washed in june for 2 wks in a row and i thought my hair was so nice and moisturized then i saw pictures and i looked like a greaseball...great

americanjan1
August 14th, 2011, 07:13 PM
wow thats pretty much anything:) haha my length loves co washing my roots get greasy...i co washed in june for 2 wks in a row and i thought my hair was so nice and moisturized then i saw pictures and i looked like a greaseball...great

My hair only likes cowashing with certain conditioners. Some of them make it look and feel disgusting.

Friesiangirl
August 14th, 2011, 07:30 PM
Emotional cutting is bad. Cutting to fit in is bad. Dying on the same two counts.

I have always been the kind of girl to impulsively cut and dye my hair to fit in, or to feel pretty. Ironically enough, I look best with either my natural or henna'd hair, along with it being long and healthy.

heh.

Hayley

sweet*things
August 14th, 2011, 07:56 PM
I'm an oil shampooer too. It has freed me! I don't worry about my hair at all any more. I'm rarely tempted to do any kind of treatment, because my hair simply doesn't need it. I'm not even needing to do S&D's much any more.

Overall, the things I've learned are to keep it simple. Invest in a few quality tools. A nice brush and comb, a sharp pair of trimming scissors, good quality coconut oil and buckets of Prell. :D

americanjan1
August 14th, 2011, 08:31 PM
I looked at all the links regarding the oil method and I am confused on what to even use or how to do it.

BeckyAH
August 14th, 2011, 08:35 PM
That my hair is not straight, and cuts above collarbone do not work on me, because it goes *poof* and flips out wildly. That I can satisfy my need to change my hair with a couple of bleached streaks and some temporary dye and save myself the frustration of grow-cut-grow-cut-grow cycles that way ;-)

mallorykay13
August 14th, 2011, 10:00 PM
honey is on their twice honey

QueenJoey
August 14th, 2011, 10:09 PM
chlorine
honey
EVOO
WO washing

That's all I can think about right now. My hair actually likes alot of things.

celebriangel
August 14th, 2011, 10:46 PM
I figured out my hair doesn't like to be overcleansed. It likes to have oil in it at all times, godsdarnit! And it prefers sebum, but will make do with EVOO on a whim. Actually, it likes almost every oil ever, and is massively unpicky about it. As long as there's oil.

It doesn't really care to be messed with much, either. I mean, the most awesome hair I have ever had occurred when I did a WO wash with an ACV rinse, and let it dry. It's okay with treatments, but not great, and its favourite treatment it - guess what? - the plain old "slather it in EVOO, leave" trick.

I mean, it indulges me when I like to experiment. But realistically, it would just prefer if I put it up and leave it alone. It doesn't like tangles. It doesn't even seem to want me to spend any money on it.

The only exception to the "oil and leave alone" rule is henna. Henna makes it *shine*.

kidari
August 15th, 2011, 05:15 AM
My hair is opposite from yours, it loves just about everything, but the only thing is I can't stretch washes. My scalp needs to be washed daily. Also, every time I wash I need to use something different than the day before.