strange

[Um Enis]

So, I consider myself a LHC veteran :p

And after more than 5 years of taking exquisite care of my hair, I am happy to say I am the proud owner of very long hair with nary one split end :) I also have negligible breakage. I am very sensitive to the sound of snapping hair, lol, as well as judging from the hairs I find in my comb and on the floor, nearly all have the root end attached.

I am actually a life long long-hair... and what confuses me is this: despite having no split ends and very little breakage there are things about the overall state of my hair that bother me compared to my hair "back in the day".

For example, in the years before LHC I had numerous split ends, probably some breakage as well... I used to blow dry several times a week, minimum (not every day, but when I went out)... I used to wash every time I went out, probably averaging 5 days a week (not for work or school, going out socially)...

And my hair was just the silkiest softest shiniest thing ever... I'm glad to have no split ends, but I really miss that silky softness :(

Is this just a coincidence that has nothing to do with my care habits, I mean I had just had my first babies (back to back, nearly) when I joined LHC... is this just a change from "ingenue hair" to "mature woman" hair? I looked into my favorite shampoos and conditioners from years past and most were cone free... so its probably not silicone induced slipperiness. I will say that my hair has changed from an ultra 1a/f/ii-iii to a definite 1b/f-m/ii-iii with a very slight number of medium and coarse hairs interspersed, though not enough to really call my hair anything but fine. Was it just the absolute "1a/f-ness" of my hair that made it seem so silky and shiny?

My current care routine is this: henna the roots only, once a month (with hibiscus tea added for color and conditioning), CO out... 2 or 3 times a week wash, either CWC or preceded by homemade hot oil treatment, irregular Vatika protein treatment. I just went cone free about 2 months ago and see no difference, neither good nor bad... I blow dry pretty much only when I get my hair cut or trimmed and I get my hair cut or trimmed once every two years or less...

[Arden]

So, I consider myself a LHC veteran :p

And after more than 5 years of taking exquisite care of my hair, I am happy to say I am the proud owner of very long hair with nary one split end :) I also have negligible breakage. I am very sensitive to the sound of snapping hair, lol, as well as judging from the hairs I find in my comb and on the floor, nearly all have the root end attached.

I am actually a life long long-hair... and what confuses me is this: despite having no split ends and very little breakage there are things about the overall state of my hair that bother me compared to my hair "back in the day".

For example, in the years before LHC I had numerous split ends, probably some breakage as well... I used to blow dry several times a week, minimum (not every day, but when I went out)... I used to wash every time I went out, probably averaging 5 days a week (not for work or school, going out socially)...

And my hair was just the silkiest softest shiniest thing ever... I'm glad to have no split ends, but I really miss that silky softness :(

Is this just a coincidence that has nothing to do with my care habits, I mean I had just had my first babies (back to back, nearly) when I joined LHC... is this just a change from "ingenue hair" to "mature woman" hair? I looked into my favorite shampoos and conditioners from years past and most were cone free... so its probably not silicone induced slipperiness. I will say that my hair has changed from a 1a/f/ii-iii to a 3a/mostly f/ii-iii with a very slight number of medium and coarse hairs interspersed, though not enough to call my hair anything but fine. Was it just the absolute "1a/f-ness" of my hair that made it seem so silky and shiny?

My current care routine is this: henna the roots only, once a month (with hibiscus tea added for color and conditioning), CO out... 2 or 3 times a week wash, either CWC or preceded by homemade hot oil treatment, irregular Vatika protein treatment. I just went cone free about 2 months ago and see no difference, neither good nor bad... I blow dry pretty much only when I get my hair cut or trimmed and I get my hair cut or trimmed once every two years or less...

Babies will do it. I'm glad your hair survied... my children are 7 years apart... it took me 2 years after birth before the super shedding stopped... That's considered a statistical annomally.. most people say the fallout only happens for a few months... but I am super hair nuts and i pay very close attention to my hair and in both cases with both children they where almost 2 years old when the fallout stopped....

Having children definatly does stuff to your hair... hormones make your hair diffrent... peoples hair will change from childhood to puberty and so on...

From birth to about 6 years old I was a blond... from about 7 onwards a very dark brunette which didnt blond in the sun so much as is reddened in the sun... at 21 I got my first gray.. i'm salt and pepper now... mostly pepper.... I think it's just one of those things

[spidermom]

In general, straight hair will definitely feel more silky and soft than curly hair.
Plus hair changes over time; who knows why. I didn't have a trace of curl in mine until my late 30s, early 40s.

[Um Enis]

I edited to make some correction on my hair type. Its really probably a 1b in between a f-m, I can feel many of my hair strands between my fingers now. I looked at more 1c pics and no way... though i may be on the way there as spidermom mentioned, i am in my late thirties now...

Right, i know that straight hair is generally shinier and silkier, but my hair is still straight. i mean its only a 1b... no one calls my hair anything but straight, and the few times I've mentioned my new waves, people laugh at me...

Well, Arden, I don't have shedding after every pregnancy because I sometimes get pregnant before I hit the shedding point... But I have been through it three times now. For me it starts at around 6-7 months and is completely over at about 14 months postpartum...

I always thought the water was hard everywhere I lived, maybe its harder here than I realized?

[JaneinMarch]

In general, straight hair will definitely feel more silky and soft than curly hair.



It just depends on the individual's hair and its care. Curly doesn't mean coarse feeling automatically and straight hair doesn't guarantee soft/silkyness.

[HintOfMint]

My mother used henna to give her hair volume, so maybe the henna has something to do with it, making it coarser?

[Um Enis]

My mother used henna to give her hair volume, so maybe the henna has something to do with it, making it coarser?

Its not coarser, just not as soft feeling...

it did start before the henna though...

it actually started pre-LHC now that i think about it, but i had already started doing very healthy techniques: a horn comb, updos, CWC, oiling...

[rena]

It just depends on the individual's hair and its care. Curly doesn't mean coarse feeling automatically and straight hair doesn't guarantee soft/silkyness.

Agreed. Even the bends from curls do not stop hair from being soft, silky and slippery. You can even run your fingers through this type of curly hair. Ask me how I know :D. I had a friend with much straighter hair than mine, but it certainly wasn't the silkier or softer for it, and we both used the same stuff.

[mckellyn]

I've read that a woman's hair changes (texture, color, etc.) every 7 years. Maybe that could be it? I'm sorry about the soft-silkiness loss : ( We're all headed there!

Kudos to you for taking such excellent care of your hair! No split ends or breakage is certainly a feat in itself.... I'm sure your hair is beautiful : )

[FrannyG]

I could have written that post myself, Um Enis. My hair was always fine and silky, but in the past 4 years or so, it is much less so. One factor is that I have more silvers (almost all silvers), and some of them are coarser, drier, and slightly kinked. Also, hormones do change hair a lot. I didn't notice a difference after having children, but a lot of women do.

The big change in the texture of my hair came with pre-menopause and then menopause, which I went through in 2011.

Like you, I have no breakage, no split ends, but my hair just doesn't feel the way it used to, even with the improved care that I've been giving it for several years.

Your hair may become silky again as your new growth comes in, but it may well stay the same.

Life is constant change, and we just have to accept it, like it or not.

[Teazel]

It might just be a natural change in your hair texture. Goodness knows mine has changed over the years.

Just a thought, though: do you use vinegar rinses? I find they make a big difference to my hair's softness, especially white vinegar.

[Um Enis]

It might just be a natural change in your hair texture. Goodness knows mine has changed over the years.

Just a thought, though: do you use vinegar rinses? I find they make a big difference to my hair's softness, especially white vinegar.

I do them, well acidic rinses (citric or acsorbic), i don't like the vinegar smell ... but not consistently as sometimes i run out in the bathroom and it can take me daaaays to get myself in the kitchen in time to bring some up to wash my hair.

But i've had hard water my whole life and never did them before.

But I was pondering my old routine and I never remember this (or took note of it at least) but I used to brush (BBB) my hair a LOT as it got stringy quite easily (I mean, like every time I went to the bathroom when I was out and about, not at work or school or home when I use to bun it though). I stopped because I attributed the splits and fly-aways to it (probably rightly so, since they've long disappeared) I comb my hair several times a day now, in the AM and PM at least, and when I re-bun my hair as well, but I'm lucky if I do a quick brush through once a week. Wonder if that was something to do with it.