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View Full Version : What would you have done as a child or teen?



Lipbalmbabe
February 23rd, 2012, 04:58 PM
Looking back on my childhood and early teen years I never did anything to my hair. Considering that what would you have done differently? I would of used condishioner when I shampooed. If there is a forum like this just delete this one! But it would be great to hear what everyone thinks! :D

Nedertane
February 23rd, 2012, 05:05 PM
Kept that hair dryer glued to the cold setting, that's what. :D

Kitsu
February 23rd, 2012, 05:06 PM
not shaved my head in protest :(

Amber_Maiden
February 23rd, 2012, 05:18 PM
Not have dyed it. Not have cut it. Not have straightened it.

jacqueline101
February 23rd, 2012, 05:34 PM
I'd taken care of it better. No perms straightening kits and no dyes. No blow dryer and curling irons straightening irons.

Lipbalmbabe
February 23rd, 2012, 05:35 PM
How old where you guys when you did your 1st chemical treatment?

saera
February 23rd, 2012, 06:09 PM
I'm still a teen! When I was 15/16 I would blow dry and flat iron my hair (mostly bangs) 5X a week. I never used conditioner or anything at all to protect my hair. Surprisingly I never had split ends. Or maybe never found any =/

IndigoOptimist
February 23rd, 2012, 06:10 PM
Not have dyed it! And cut it when I got bored. Then dyed it some more. When I was younger I seriously didn't think dye was doing anything bad to my hair! :doh:

Lipbalmbabe
February 23rd, 2012, 06:15 PM
So many kids at my junior hs and hs straightened their hair everyday i just st back a pnd cringed :)

lostchyld
February 23rd, 2012, 06:15 PM
I never used conditioner as a teen. For a long time my hair was happier without it. I didn't know about 'cones, but that may be why it was that way. I only washed once a week when Mom threatened to chop my hair off if I didn't wash it, so it stayed in ok condition between the lack of washing and the fact that I couldn't be bothered with the blowdryer. It was way happier then than it is now, or I cared less about it's happiness then. No conditioner was the only way I could stop the frizz. Which is entirely backwards, based on what I know now, but I was ignorant then. If I could take what I know now about my hair and apply it back then, I might never have chopped it off.

ravenreed
February 23rd, 2012, 06:19 PM
I would do exactly what I did- experiment and have fun with my hair. It was amazingly thick, grew like a weed, and was near indestructible. I wouldn't change one thing, including the few "oops" moments. I learned a lot from them and got some great stories.

Lipbalmbabe
February 23rd, 2012, 06:24 PM
I would do exactly what I did- experiment and have fun with my hair. It was amazingly thick, grew like a weed, and was near indestructible. I wouldn't change one thing, including the few "oops" moments. I learned a lot from them and got some great stories.

What are some good hair stories? I would love to hear some

Bethmc
February 23rd, 2012, 06:35 PM
Haha, I would have washed more often and with natural shampoo. My hair has always been oily and when I look back at pictures, it always looked gross! I also would have skipped the perms (very popular in the 80's) and kept my hair long (I cut my hair in the 6th grade to about shoulder length and it was even shorter from 7th to 9th grade).
Oh, and don't forget all the heat damage from curling irons- burning hair, anyone?

Kelikea
February 23rd, 2012, 06:56 PM
Maybe not do so much of the late 80's/early 90's curling iron bangs thing. I wasted so much time and hairspray! I also used a lot of metal clasp hairbands. But, I don't think non-metal elastics were around back then. Someone should have convinced my mom to stop perming my and my sister's hair so much and embrace our natural textures! And to give us regular trims, or at least once a year to cut off some damage.

Zhennni(:
February 23rd, 2012, 07:03 PM
not have dyed it and treated it poorly:P

annamoonfairy
February 23rd, 2012, 07:07 PM
I would have stayed away from the 80's hair styles!

Quixii
February 23rd, 2012, 07:08 PM
Well, I've been a member hear since I was.. 16? 15?
And thus far, I have no hair-related regrets. :) I like to think I take pretty good care of it.
When I was younger, I used to brush my hair every day because I was taught that that is the only way to deal with hair. While I wish I had learned otherwise, I also know that before I started brushing it I let it be a tangled rat's nest, and of the two, I choose brushed. Now I now other ways to care for my hair and I'm glad.

Tia2010
February 23rd, 2012, 07:29 PM
Well I was a teen in the 80's...so needless to say I had crazy Lita Ford meets Poison rocker hair :rockerdud It was lightened, curled, teased and aqua-neted into submission.. It was fun (not to mention BIG :) )...but I wish I would have just let it grow long and natural.

blondie9912
February 23rd, 2012, 07:51 PM
I wouldn't have changed a single thing. Yes, some of my hair habits were unhealthy, but that was the best way to learn the lesson. Running my hands through hair that felt like straw because of my own doing was a far more effective teacher than my mother going "Don't dye you hair! You'll regret it!"

ravenreed
February 23rd, 2012, 07:55 PM
One time I dyed my hair red after having bleached the heck out of it to be blond. The red bled out overnight and I woke up with pumpkin orange hair. It was just in time for Halloween and I loved it! :cheese:

What are some good hair stories? I would love to hear some

Lipbalmbabe
February 23rd, 2012, 08:04 PM
Well, I've been a member hear since I was.. 16? 15?
And thus far, I have no hair-related regrets. :) I like to think I take pretty good care of it.
When I was younger, I used to brush my hair every day because I was taught that that is the only way to deal with hair. While I wish I had learned otherwise, I also know that before I started brushing it I let it be a tangled rat's nest, and of the two, I choose brushed. Now I now other ways to care for my hair and I'm glad.

I wish I had joined earlier, this website has really helped my hair

roxee
February 23rd, 2012, 08:43 PM
I would have told my teenage self that bleaching you hair twice in one go is probably not the best idea :/

Floryda
February 23rd, 2012, 08:57 PM
I wish I had experimented with my hair *more*! Maybe then I would have had more appreciation for my hair/had a flattering cut. I either had long and brushed out, or a crazy mushroom cut. And then there was the time period where I looked like a cocker spaniel straight from the groomers...

sfgirl
February 23rd, 2012, 09:11 PM
No straightening, toners, teasing, hairspray, thinning scissors, bleach, curling, or clip ins that pulled on my own hair.

gracenotes
February 23rd, 2012, 10:35 PM
I would have actually done deep treatments! I kept trying to grow my hair out, but the ends always got so, so dry so I got tired of it and would chop it off. It was always in pretty decent condition (until I got a short cut that required daily straightening because of my waves and cowlicks...) I don't really regret the short hair, though. I learned that short hair isn't flattering for me :D

WaimeaWahine
February 23rd, 2012, 10:44 PM
I would not take back the dye but would probably have grown my hair out before
it began to thin and I would have used a dark dark brown dye.

AspenSong
February 23rd, 2012, 10:49 PM
Simply - No Dye, Less Cuts.
From 15 to 21 I was a dye nut. Blue, pink, black, lots and lots of very light blonde....it just killed my hair. I wish I'd never done it. My Dad was right - the perfect color hair for me is the one I was born with!!
And cuts. I know a lot of those were dye-damage-induced. But I wish I'd left it alone at times and just let it grow.

Dars
February 23rd, 2012, 10:57 PM
I'd say no extreme cuts (I often went into the salon after growing my hair out for a year then getting it cut into a pixie type hair cuts) but...I enjoyed those moments and I still have a soft spot for my old short hair. It's easy to sit here and say I would have being more LHC hair friendly as a teen but I doubt it in reality. The only thing I 100% regret about my hair is buying a GHD.

TeaGarden
February 23rd, 2012, 11:44 PM
I would have showered!
When I got to middle school, when puberty hit, I got really oily and greasy, but I just didn't get that taking a shower once a week wasn't good enough.
I look at pictures from that time and cringe.

khrystyne572
February 24th, 2012, 12:15 AM
I wish I would have done something more "fun" like using manic panic. Now I'm all old and I'm doing it now. Other adults look at me strangely most of the time.

Ryanne
February 24th, 2012, 02:32 AM
I also joined here at 15 or 16. Even before that, I didn't do much worse than neglect my hair.
So, I might have coloured it. Nothing more wild though.

GaJunebug
February 24th, 2012, 02:33 AM
Ah, the 80's. I was a prep instead of a punk so my hair was all one length, probably BSL straight. But, in the 80's, straight wasn't preferred so I slept on pink sponge rollers EVERY night from about '81-'95.
The 80's was also the Sun-in era. One of my friends had a Lady Di haircut and she used Sun-in daily on her hair. My use was just every so often to put in some highlights.
Then there was Momma's peroxide and lemon juice concoction.

I probably wouldn't change anything I did back then to my hair....and that includes pink and green headbands, banana clips and Dippity-do.


( for those of you too young to understand what I'm talking about just ask and I'll put on my reading glasses and tell you whippersnappers what it was like in the olden days-)

roundforest
February 24th, 2012, 02:51 AM
I don't think I'd change bleaching my hair for the first time, at 15. It was very damaging - my hair can't cope with bleach - but I really enjoyed being a blonde.

I do wish I'd not bleached the very last time, at 38. I had APL natural hair and destroyed it all. I could have all those extra inches now!

MegaMystery
February 24th, 2012, 02:57 AM
I probably wouldn't have washed it every day, because even though i used conditioner+leave-in, it made my hair a giant frizzball :( Also i would wear my hair up in a braid or bun more often, that would've really helped with the frizz and such..
And of course not dying it black and then blonde and back again!

Avital88
February 24th, 2012, 03:17 AM
i had blue streaks when i was 9 already,,i bleached for a long time to the point i dont actually knew what my own color was..
I had a different color every month for a few years,,my hair even grew to waist length,while bleaching, dying darker, dying black, bleaching again 6 times in a week, on and on like this,it actually survived pretty good,only always dry and frizzy ,but i used oils for that.
It turned bad when i took a perm(whyyy?) then i cut to a bob and looked like a poofball for a year..
since then i wanted long hair again, but i started bleaching again, and making it darkbrown and bleaching it again.. aarrrggg it took a long time before i learned my lesson!
The last time i bleached was summer 2010 and then last time i dyed was september 2011..
I really try to stay away from it this time!
Hair can be so nice if its treated nice

Tota
February 24th, 2012, 03:19 AM
When I was 15 I bleached my hair. Then I bleached bleached bleached again. Then met a stylist who put 12 different colors in my hair at once (I used to go to her and just said: go crazy) and cut my hair with a razor or thinning shears all the time (and my hair is already thin). I continued to go to her until I was 25. All this time I wondered why my hair can't grow past APL without looking disguting. At 25 I met another stylist who told me how to get long hair: stop dyeing, stop blowdrying and ironing, stop using hairspray and mousee, and stop going to the salon so often. I love her :)

If I were a teen again, I would let my hair the way it is now (natural) and wouldn't spent all of my allowance in salons. I was a stupid shallow teen (not just when it comes to hair).

Lipbalmbabe
February 24th, 2012, 07:11 AM
Woah some are crazy!

LadyCelestina
February 24th, 2012, 07:22 AM
Dyed the heck out of it,then buzz it,just for the experience! :D

kjirstiben
February 24th, 2012, 07:30 AM
I would NOT have gotten the old-lady short hair style at 13... they sold me on it because I was swimming at the time -- it was supposed to stay out of my eyes better.

A picture of my 13-year-old self in '89 with said unfortunate haircut:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=5916&pictureid=77446

Sigh. Though since I spent the rest of my teens growing it back out, I treated it pretty well after that. It wasn't until my 20's that the highlighting started...

rock007junkie
February 24th, 2012, 07:34 AM
Ohh so many things!
1. I would have never asked for that relaxer...too many years went by without seeing my curls.
2. Would never given myself "layers" everytime I happened to be bored in my room.
3. Would never have gone through that period of like two years where I exclusively used my flat iron to style my hair.

rock007junkie
February 24th, 2012, 07:37 AM
i had blue streaks when i was 9 already,,i bleached for a long time to the point i dont actually knew what my own color was..
I had a different color every month for a few years,,my hair even grew to waist length,while bleaching, dying darker, dying black, bleaching again 6 times in a week, on and on like this,it actually survived pretty good,only always dry and frizzy ,but i used oils for that.
It turned bad when i took a perm(whyyy?) then i cut to a bob and looked like a poofball for a year..
since then i wanted long hair again, but i started bleaching again, and making it darkbrown and bleaching it again.. aarrrggg it took a long time before i learned my lesson!
The last time i bleached was summer 2010 and then last time i dyed was september 2011..
I really try to stay away from it this time!
Hair can be so nice if its treated nice

Bleaching your hair six times in a week? Sweetie, you are lucky you still have hair to speak of. I'm glad you came to your senses because your hair is absolutely beautiful.

whitedove
February 24th, 2012, 07:44 AM
I would have listerned to my hairdresser that a perm was bad, although at the time I was thinking that a totally shaved bald hairdresser had no right to say that, at least I had hair!

Snippety
February 24th, 2012, 08:10 AM
I would NOT have gotten the old-lady short hair style at 13... they sold me on it because I was swimming at the time -- it was supposed to stay out of my eyes better.

A picture of my 13-year-old self in '89 with said unfortunate haircut:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=5916&pictureid=77446

Sigh. Though since I spent the rest of my teens growing it back out, I treated it pretty well after that. It wasn't until my 20's that the highlighting started...

:grouphug: It's beautiful now !!

I didn't do any dying or drying or perming because I wasn't allowed to, but it was in this horrible square bob for years. I'll never have a fringe again ! :p

Fairlight63
February 24th, 2012, 08:20 AM
What I would have done different is:
Not get a perm - made my hair really frizzy!
Not cut my hair short. I had really long BSL hair & went to the salon & they cut it really short in a "Bubble Do" that was around in the early 60's (UCK)
I should not have dyed my hair a black, it looked blue, uck
I would not have colored my hair later on in life - I don't even know what my natural hair color was now. Now it is natural & it is gray.
I would not have set my hair on electric rollers, used a blow dryer, used a curling iron, etc.

I wish that I had done what my youngest daughter did:
let her hair grow long (waist length) natural, no coloring at all. Just wash hair & put in a braid & leave it be.

B-L
February 24th, 2012, 08:34 AM
Not dyed and dyed and dyed it over and over again as I did for many years!
Not used heat so much.. and never ever tried a home-perm!!! :bigeyes:

QMacrocarpa
February 24th, 2012, 09:08 AM
Not cut it super-short just before high school (leading to strangers on the city buses asking if I was a boy or girl). Once it grew out, I should have trimmed the ends a bit more, so my breaking-off splits wouldn't keep it stuck at a static length. At the same time, I wish I hadn't spent a single second snipping off individual splits in those days (and not about to start that again!). I wish I had stepped away from the BBB, which didn't agree with my hair.

I shouldn't have bought a curling iron. My hair was naturally curly, but I think I had some idea that I could control my curls better if I used a curling iron (not that that worked out). I wish I'd always kept it braided for sleep, which would have calmed it down a lot. If straightening tools had been readily available in those far off '80s days I'm sure I would have gotten on that bandwagon (with disastrous results).

I actually bought a tube of some temporary, gradually-washing-out haircolor in red, but never had the nerve to use it, which I guess I kind of regret. One of my close friends did her hair in lots of wild temporary colors.

Lipbalmbabe
February 24th, 2012, 01:22 PM
I would NOT have gotten the old-lady short hair style at 13... they sold me on it because I was swimming at the time -- it was supposed to stay out of my eyes better.

A picture of my 13-year-old self in '89 with said unfortunate haircut:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=5916&pictureid=77446

Sigh. Though since I spent the rest of my teens growing it back out, I treated it pretty well after that. It wasn't until my 20's that the highlighting started...

Woah! I really love those glasses! ;)

Iolanthe13
February 24th, 2012, 03:27 PM
Washing less frequently would have helped. So would regular trims using something other than fingernail scissors! I wish I'd been to a proper hairdresser for layers, instead of haphazardly going at it with another pair of dull scissors. I would say I wish I hadn't dyed it, but I love my coppery hair. Maybe I should have tried henna instead.

icallitbliss
February 24th, 2012, 03:30 PM
I would NOT have gotten the old-lady short hair style at 13... they sold me on it because I was swimming at the time -- it was supposed to stay out of my eyes better.

A picture of my 13-year-old self in '89 with said unfortunate haircut:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=5916&pictureid=77446

Sigh. Though since I spent the rest of my teens growing it back out, I treated it pretty well after that. It wasn't until my 20's that the highlighting started...

Rad picture! So funny, the 80s styles...(mainly I'm talking about clothes, but the hair too!) :P

icallitbliss
February 24th, 2012, 03:33 PM
I would have never started dyeing it to begin with. I always had a darker blonde shade of hair, and was envious of the girls who bleached it. At first I tried to achieve that shade with dye, but soon found bleach was more effective.

After that phase, I was into dyeing my hair black. I cut it to a short chin-length Amelie-style bob. I wish I could have told myself that my long hair was pretty, and to NOT give in to the "edgy" trends.

Then again, I can see why I did it. I had long hair all my life, and wanted something different. Only after having short hair since 2004 am I finally ready to get back to long hair again-- and hopefully keep it that way!

Lipbalmbabe
February 24th, 2012, 03:36 PM
Not cut it super-short just before high school (leading to strangers on the city buses asking if I was a boy or girl). Once it grew out, I should have trimmed the ends a bit more, so my breaking-off splits wouldn't keep it stuck at a static length. At the same time, I wish I hadn't spent a single second snipping off individual splits in those days (and not about to start that again!). I wish I had stepped away from the BBB, which didn't agree with my hair.

I shouldn't have bought a curling iron. My hair was naturally curly, but I think I had some idea that I could control my curls better if I used a curling iron (not that that worked out). I wish I'd always kept it braided for sleep, which would have calmed it down a lot. If straightening tools had been readily available in those far off '80s days I'm sure I would have gotten on that bandwagon (with disastrous results).

I actually bought a tube of some temporary, gradually-washing-out haircolor in red, but never had the nerve to use it, which I guess I kind of regret. One of my close friends did her hair in lots of wild temporary colors.
I may look bad but what is BBB

Animae
February 24th, 2012, 03:55 PM
I would have NEVER used Feria hair dye. It burned my scalp so bad that I would have scabs after. I also would have used conditioner and started combing through my hair in the shower.

And I also would have accepted that my hair is curly way early and not fought with it for 23 years of my life.

FrozenBritannia
February 24th, 2012, 04:05 PM
Looking back on my childhood and early teen years I never did anything to my hair. Considering that what would you have done differently? I would of used condishioner when I shampooed. If there is a forum like this just delete this one! But it would be great to hear what everyone thinks! :D

I would have refused to get it cut and grown it really long. I used shampoo and conditioner, and almost never used heat, but I did colour every month or so.
I have always had a BBB. :)
In reality though, I wish I had bleached it really blonde, it would have been an improvement over the two toned hair colour I always ended up with lol!


How old where you guys when you did your 1st chemical treatment?
I was in grade seven when My mom bought me sun-in for my birthday, because I wanted to dye my hair. I wish I hadn't done it, it turned my hair orange, and it started the cycle of dying my hair every month or so for the next 14 years.

I may look bad but what is BBB
A boar bristle brush. :)

Lipbalmbabe
February 24th, 2012, 04:09 PM
I would have NEVER used Feria hair dye. It burned my scalp so bad that I would have scabs after. I also would have used conditioner and started combing through my hair in the shower.

And I also would have accepted that my hair is curly way early and not fought with it for 23 years of my life.

I tried it too! Way, way to harsh! :(

Lady Neeva
February 24th, 2012, 04:17 PM
Surprisingly, nothing.

amandacv86
February 24th, 2012, 04:18 PM
I never really payed attention to my hair much, I washed it every day and put it in a ponytail. I did get it highlighted once and permed it in high school, but didn't experience any repercussions from it. I do wish I would have never dyed it, though,because I don't like to have to maintain it. I'm thinking of trying henndigo to get a shade closer to my natural color so my roots won't show so much.

In my early twenties I wish I wouldn't have cut it so much, but I just keep reminding myself it's just hair, and it'll grow back.

yoite
February 24th, 2012, 04:22 PM
i bleached my hair at 14, then dyed it very often at 15 and cut, ohh i regret it so much, trying to gain hair lenght , hope will succeed :)

HylianGirl
February 24th, 2012, 08:29 PM
When I was a kid I had 1a straight hair, so I was used to take care of straight hair. When I hit puberty, my hair curled, and I kept treating it as if it was staright, wich caused me to think my hair was "rebelious", cause I kept brushing it all the time, because I also heard the "brush your hair 100 times a day" thing and I used to think combs were for men, or people with really short hair =P.

My mom and the other women on my close family ahve short hair (my mom wears a pixie cut ever since she was young, the longerst hair she's ever had was a bob, when she was in her late 20's) so I wasn't taught to take care of long hair either, I thought conditioner was unecessary and caused the hair to become greasy... I wish I had known better and accepted my hair texture earlier.

However I don't regret bleaching or straight perming my hair, although those things have pretty much destroyed it, I saw the effect on my own hair and learned to stay away, if I hadn't done that, I probably would do that later in life for a change.

katsrevenge
February 24th, 2012, 08:32 PM
Meh.. I was a water only hippie for most of my teen years. Some of the cuts were interesting.. I would have forbid my mother from giving me bangs all the time for sure!

GeoJ
February 24th, 2012, 08:38 PM
I would not have gotten a perm! I would have avoided the curling iron, backcombing, and hairspray. I don't think stores in the town I lived in had coconut oil, and we didn't have Internet (or even home computers), so I still would have missed out on coconut oil. I could have done CWC, though.

Lipbalmbabe
February 24th, 2012, 09:13 PM
I would not have gotten a perm! I would have avoided the curling iron, backcombing, and hairspray. I don't think stores in the town I lived in had coconut oil, and we didn't have Internet (or even home computers), so I still would have missed out on coconut oil. I could have done CWC, though.

Perms sound horrid! So many people are upset over them :( I love the horse in your avatar pic!