Best & Worst LHC advice for your hair

[meteor]

Being a new member, there are lots of LHC things I want to try out and I'm very thankful for the article for newbies.
For the sake of risk-averse newbies like myself, I'd like to start a thread on LHC advice that was the most and the least beneficial for your hair and why.
It's just a way of seeing which routines are good for almost all people and which are so specialized that they work only for very few. Thank you very much! :flower:

I'll start:
LHC advice that works best for me:
1. honey as a humectant;
2. oil massages and oil treatments,
3. CWC (and more generally, using way more conditioner than shampoo),
4. no heat-styling,
5. benign neglect,
ETA: 6. sleeping on silky materials to prevent tangles overnight.

LHC advice that didn't work for me:
1. black tea rinses (dull coating effect),
2. brushing (my hair is too thick and fine for BBB),
3. overnight (or extremely long) deep conditioning treatments (itchy scalp from wetness and no additional benefit for hair after an hour or 2).
4. stretching washes too long and NW/SO & WO (not ideal for scalp health).

[caadam]

I think this is a great idea, meteor. This way, people who might have a hair type that is identical or similar to yours can look at your list and work off of that to see how it works for them! It can give them a starting point on new methods, or see if there's any methods they've already tried that they can agree/disagree with you on. :) Very informative.

I think I shall join you!

LHC advice that works best for me:
1. Wet/dry oiling and oil massages (great way to moisturize and keep away dandruff problems)
2. CO washing (cone or cone-free, but cone-free works best for me)
3. No heat styling
4. Mineral oil (mineral oil on freshly clarified hair with no conditioner or extra oils = amazing lol)
5. BBBing (with a preferred brush, of course)
6. Benign neglect
7. WO (though only for a short time; it did help to stretch washes, though)
8. Miracle Water (THREAD HERE (http://www.longhaircommunity.com/archive/showthread.php?t=51184))
9. Overnight oil treatments

LHC advice that didn't work for me:
1. Using silicone products for long period of time (I know some people can get away with it, but I noticed recently that my hair does not like this)
2. Protein (makes my hair VERY tangly)
3. Honey (just leaves my hair sticky and covered in residue no matter how much I try to rinse)
4. Long-term WO or SO/NW (my scalp deals with dandruff issues and responds very negatively to these methods long-term)
5. BS&ACV (though it's not a common LHC method, people do use this method, and personally... it killed my hair and scalp lol Left my hair very dry and my scalp in a bad condition)
6. Sulfate-free shampoo (my hair likes the extra clarifying powers of sulfate, kthxbye :D )

[duchesswannabe]

I ended up giving up scalp washes for the time being. I can detangle better after the shower with a full-length wash. This does not mean that scalp washes are not good; but I was such a dum-dum that I was doing scalp washes for an extended period of time without shampooing the rest of my hair once in a while.

[spidermom]

Baking soda. Adding some to my shampoo made my hair matt up like felt. I couldn't get a comb through my hair except when it was wet and full of conditioner for 2 weeks! Making a BS solution with warm water and pouring it through my hair was not as bad, but dried it out. So from now on, baking soda will stay in my kitchen.

CO was nice the first time or two that I tried it, but after that it made my hair look limp and dull.

[Vanille_]

LHC advice that works best for me:
1. Benign neglect (for my sanity)
2. A protective style instead of ponytails (I like Dutch braid or chinese bun)
3. Cones! (My hair loves them)
4. Coconut oil on dry hair brushed with BBB (for added softness)
5. Manic Panic dye (long lasting, awesome color, non damaging)

LHC advice that did not work for me
1. Combs of any kind (I hate combs. My hair doesn't tangle easily and I need something to smooth)
2. Castor oil (gross and hard to apply)
3. Sleep cap (annoying)

[Jing]

LHC advice that works best for me:
1. Coconut oil as a leave-in.
2. Vinegar rinses.
3. Stretching washes (though I've only stretched to every four days).
4. Distilled water in mister bottles. It's magic.
5. Wearing hair up.
6. Satin pillow cases.
7. Less blowdrying.
8. DTs, but only from ears down.
9. AVG.
10. Whey protein (supplement). Not the most prominent LHC advice out there, but there is a thread on it. No data on growth rate yet, but has reduced my shedding a bit.

LHC advice that didn't work for me:
1. I'm going to say CO-washing, even though I haven't actually tried it, because putting conditioner anywhere near my scalp doubles my shedding.
2. Scalp oiling. Increases shed almost as much as conditioner.
3. DTs with avocado or banana. No visible effect and a pain to rinse out.
4. Any kind of DT that gets on my scalp. Again: doubled shed. Seeing a theme yet?
5. Rooibos. Made my scalp itch.

LHC advice that I'm on the fence about:
1. Sulphate-free shampoo. Has made my hair so ridiculously slippery, it falls out of any updo in 1-15 minutes.
2. Cassia. It made my hair shiny and thick, but it also made me shed masses.

[afu]

LHC stuff that works for me:

- CO
- Sweet almond oil and/or coconut oil
- Protective updos
- Tangle teezer
- Hairsticks instead of elastics
- No heat
- Regular conditioner as a leave in
- Aloe vera gel

LHC stuff that doesn't work for me:

- EVOO
- Combs
- Long treatments (1hr+)
- Honey
- Ficcares
- Oil shampoo method
- Protein
- Cones
- BBB
- Mineral oil
- wet bunning/braiding

[johnnystiletto]

LHC stuff that works for me:
- damp oiling with coconut oil after washing
- jojoba oiling for DRY hair
- hair sticks
- SLS-free s&c
- ACV rinses (every time i wash)
- horn combs, BBB & Tangle Teezer
- giving up the heat styling
- dusting/S&D
- honey (mixed WITH my conditioner about 1x/week)
- aloe vera gel for styling
- SMT (only in the winter)
- scalp massage (daily)
- prewash deep oiling (I use a mix of amla/brahmi/triphala/bhringraj oils)

LHC stuff that didn't work:
- cassia (left me with THE grossest texture EVER, like cheap waxy doll hair)
- baking soda (see cassia)
- CO (never could get out of that 'transition' phase)
- shampoo bars (tried MANY types over a year. See cassia/baking soda texture. Course, that MAY have more to do with hard water here)
- extending washes (2 days b/w washes is the MAX i can do)
- protein (can we say CRUNCHY?)
- OCM (not hair, but MAN did my face hate this)

NOTE: I had the BEST luck with my hair when I quit trying to do too much, too soon. I had to get over being impatient and really sticking with new products/rituals for at least 4-6 weeks before giving up on them. Now, 6 years later, I KNOW what works for me!

[SerinaDaith]

Best advice I've gotten since I came here:
CWC, I love it my hair is so much softer
WO, I wash every day just about so WO saves me from shampoo every day
Light oiling as a leave in, Gives me a good shine and lets my curls curl while keeping them less frizzy.
Benign Neglect I'll be doing this more as my hair get's longer and easier to put up.
Scalp Massage, I find it relaxing and can feel the tingle.
Curly hair care, I had no idea how curly my hair really is, I can't tell you how many years I spent getting expensive curl enhancing products.

Worst Advice:
Abusing supplements to gain hair growth, be smart and do your homework, talk to your doctor before you start taking this stuff!
Everything else I take to be individual for people, what makes my hair happy may make someone else very unhappy, that's life, experiment, play and figure out what works best for you!

[pepperminttea]

I love this thread idea. :) I'm not going to number mine, just because I don't want to think about ranking them; the combination of them has been the best thing.

LHC advice that works best for me:
Gentle handling and detangling.
Using a wide-toothed comb.
Finger-combing.
Wearing hair up most of the time.
Oiling; particularly; heavy oiling pre-wash and light as a leave-in.
Benign neglect.
CWC washing.
CO washing. (Particularly dry CO soaks.)
More awareness of sulphate and 'cone use.
Sticking to amine-functionalised 'cones.
Avoiding sulphates for the most part (just for clarifying).
ACV rinses.
No heat (ie. air-drying instead)
Damp bunning
Microfibre towels.
Silk pillowcase and/or silk sleep cap.
Wearing hair in a braid at night.
Deep moisture treatments.
Hair sticks/forks.
S&D (but I have to be careful not to be obsessive, it can get maddening).
Feye's self-trim method.


LHC advice that didn't work for me:
BBBing.
WO (water-only).
Baking soda
Tea rinses. (I found them coating too.)
Oil shampoo.
Mineral oil.
Tangle Teezer.

[HintOfMint]

Best LHC advice: SMTs

Worst LHC advice: CO (hi, shed city!)

[battles]

Hair type: 2a/2b / F/M / ii

Advice that did work:
Tangle Teezer.
Shea butter as a leave in between washes. Super soft hair. :inlove:
Camellia oil.
Shampoo bars.
ACV rinses. (Brought out my waves!)
Conditioner with amodimethicone.
Deep treatments, but not too frequently.
Braiding at night.
SMT's

Advice that did not work:
Coconut oil.
Any type of protein treatment.
Cassia.
Combs, even widetooth. They are still too rough on my hair, unless totally saturated with conditioner.
BBB.
Going cone free.
Oil Shampoo.
Finger combing.
WO. Leaves my hair very dry and tangly.


Want to try:
Silk pillowcases
Hairforks
Damp bunning
Mister bottles!

[gracenotes]

LHC advice that works for me:
-CO washing
-SMT treatments
-Oiling (my hair particularly likes coconut oil)
-S&Ding
-Wearing hair up
-Clarifying
-Washing less frequently
-Henna
-Castor oil
-ACV/citric acid rinses (saved my hair in London!)
-Catnip rinses

LHC advice that didn't work:
-Avoiding 'cones and sulfates (my hair doesn't really seem to have an opinion on either one; I didn't find that I experienced any change in the condition of my hair from avoiding them)
-Sleep cap (inevitably falls off during the night, made hair get greasy faster)
-BBBing (this worked for me a few times, but it seemed to be too much for my slightly wavy hairtype. My waves look best with minimal combing/brushing)
-Baking soda/ACV washing (too drying!)
-Mineral oil (seemed to dry my hair out in the long term)

[jacqueline101]

So far no bad advice. My hair likes coconut oil my shampoo and care methods.

[Bunnysaur]

Worked:
Oils
BBB
Wide too comb
Shampoo bars

Didn't work:
Rooibos tea (increased growth rate, but I'm pretty sure it's the cause of my shedding)
Stretching washes
CO (nasty feeling hair)

On the fence:
Neelibhringadi (just started using, but it stinks, and it's a pain to wash out.)
I'd like to try a silk pillowcase, eventually.

I'm between 1b and 2a (my hair is still adjusting to shampoo bars, so it's been extra greasy and slightly weighed down lately), M, and ii/iii. I was a iii before my shed.

[luxepiggy]

Oh great thread idea (^(oo)^)v

LHC advice that works best for me:
CO-washing - best.hair.EVER.
fingercombing
silk pillow covers
stretching washes
blow drying on cool
ascorbic/citric acid rinses


LHC advice that didn't work for me:
'cone free anything . . . CONES FOREVERRRRR!!! \(^(oo)^)/
sleep braiding/bunning - breakage, eep!
oiling - messy, made my hair look stringy
leave-ins - also made my hair look stringy
CWC - didn't make any difference compared to regular S&C washes
air drying - meh. where did my shine go? ( ' (oo) ' )
combing - too much work :p
BBB - causes static

[Tota]

Best:
- Tangle Teezer (brushing only when hair is soaked in conditioner) and fingercombing
- ACV rinses for hair and skin (also ACV as facial toner)
- CO
- wearing hair up more often
- spin pins
- plopping
- Feye's self trimming methods
- argan oil for skin (not hair!)
- eating Kelp supplements (love of my life)

Worst
- Monistat and castor oil for growth (totally messed up my scalp)
- any kind of oil on hair (my hair is too fine for that)

A lot of great advice and only two bad. TLHC rules :D

[sugarpixie10988]

Works:
Cassia
Mineral Oil
Tangle Teezer! <3
CO washes
Coconut oil
My BBB
Rooibos to increase growth rate. I'm just lazy and don't apply it as often as I should.
Flexi-8s

Doesn't:
Protein, hello super dry, tangly hair!
Honey, also causes really dry tangly hair
Castor oil scalp treatments, makes me shed like crazy.
Oil shampoo, it caused major split ends, and overall annoying to get right.

[LadyTheta]

Baking soda.
Adding some to my shampoo made my hair matt up like felt. I couldn't get a comb through my hair except when it was wet and full of conditioner for 2 weeks! Making a BS solution with warm water and pouring it through my hair was not as bad, but dried it out. So from now on, baking soda will stay in my kitchen.

Ditto on that for my experience, spidermom. Baking soda I will use to clean my combs, etc. and not for my hair.

Coconut oil has been a blessed boon.

[bumblebums]

I love this--just two pages in, and not a single tip has appeared only in the "works" or "doesn't work" categories :)

For me, the best advice:

- Minimal handling
- Updos
- Stretching washes
- CO with occasional clarifying BS/lemon rinse wash
- I got some good Indian herb recipes from the eponymous article
- Feye's self-trim
- Don't chop it all off just because the ends look a little thin

Worst advice:
- Not much. I tend to avoid product trends and super-growth potions (MSM, monistat, mineral oil, etc.)

[Mesmerise]

Hmm let me see...

Good advice:

No more heat
sulphate free (although at the moment I'm using some hair growth shampoo with sulphates)
Flexi 8s (never would have heard of them otherwise)
Spin Pins (well not the version mentioned on LHC, but another one I found here in Aust... I never would have thought of buying them at all had I not seem spin pins mentioned here).
Benign Neglect (I need to just leave my hair the heck alone!!)
Feye's self trim - I doubt I would have tried self trimming without it! It's great to decide how much I want to cut off and when, and it doesn't cost me anything :D.

Bad Advice:

No cones - My hair seems nicer with them. I avoided them for quite awhile, and then realised they don't actually DO anything bad to your hair besides coat it... so who really cares? I can always clarify if I get build up.
Errm... there may be other bad stuff, but I just haven't tried it so I don't know!


In Between:

SMTs... they make my hair feel awesome, but boy does my hair look fluffy afterwards. That is NOT the look I want :D. This is not to say I will never do them, as I consider them a good deep treatment. I just know they're not going to make my hair LOOK awesome.
CO - tried it for awhile, but missed the foaminess of shampooing!! I LOVE shampooing my hair!!!
CWC - well I tried it for awhile... but generally it just seems more of a hassle to me than anything else.
Oil Shampooing - I think it may have improved my hair a bit, but at some stage I stopped doing it because it wasn't making my hair as awesome as I hoped. I may try it again at some stage (when I've finished the S&C I've got now probably).
ACV rinse - makes my hair nice and detangly even without conditioning, but I can't say my hair actually LOOKED better for it. I'm all for stuff that makes my hair LOOK better!!

There is other good stuff, but it's not necessarily stuff that I didn't do before LHC. For example... I have never felt the need to cut my hair every 6-8 weeks, so it was always usual for me to only get a trim every 6 months (or less) while growing. Also, I used coconut oil on my hair prior to LHC, so I didn't really learn that from here (sometimes I use it sometimes I don't). Henna I knew of before LHC and had used before LHC, BUT I think coming here made me commit myself to henna rather than just messing around with henna and then going back to chemical colours when I ran out of henna or whatever (now I know what brands to buy etc. so I don't run out!). I also S&D'd prior to LHC, so that was not something new to me either.

So all these are great learning things from LHC... it's just that I didn't learn them from here ;).

[starlamelissa]

best LHC advice for my hair (almost hip, dyed red with box dye for the past 2 years,very fine textured and iii thickness)

-baby oil. good god mineral oil/baby oil is so amazing in my hair. its one of the few ingredients I can use on my skin that always works so nice. No rashes, no itchies. And now to find out I can use it in my hair and have it turn into buttery softness? Wonderful!!!

-benign neglect

-seamless combs

-denman brush

-have a growth goal/learning to communicate that goal at a salon.

here are the things that I dont like/dont work for me.

-coconut/olive oils in my hair

-cone free routines

-co washing

-CWCing

-giving up my blowdryer. I am like luxepiggy about the blowdryer.

-giving up box or chemical color. NEVER I SAY!!! I will be red till I die!

-only using a comb

-fingercombing.

[ladylowtide]

Best:
-CWC
-Finger combing
-Rooibos (in my henna mix)
-Henna!
-Cone-free
-sulphate-free
-sleeping in braids
-stretching washes (I'm now a once a week washer :) )
-No trims!
-Hair forks
-colder shower water

Worst:
-Combs. My hair does not like combs, wide -tooth or otherwise.
-Oiling the scalp = massive shedding
-Oiling with olive oil is too heavy for my hair.
-Flexi-8 = no hold on slippery hair that doesn't compress
-to much experimentation/ too many attempts at fancy styles = damage.
-also henna: don't use to much acid! ( i made this mistake the first time). Also don't do on dry hair.

Meh:
-BBB, can only use it once a week when my hair is super oily.
-Biotin: helped initially, tapered off to nothing in the end.
-Hairsticks: if you have thick slippery straight hair, it takes a lot length to do stuff with them.

[MissManda]

Works for Me:
~ Sulphate-free shampoo
~ CWC
~ CO-washing
~ ACV rinses
~ Nightblooming Panacea
~ Tangle Teezer
~ Fingercombing
~ Minimal handling
~ Microtrimming + dusting
~ SMT/deep treatments
~ Spin pins
~ Hair forks, Flexi-8, Ficarre
~ Henna
~ Wearing hair up
~ Stretching washes
~ Scalp massage (I have no clue if it helps hair growth, but it FEELS good, so I'm putting it down)
~ No chemical treatments (artificial dye, perms, etc.)
~ Damp bunning/braiding

Does Not Work for Me:
~ Oil shampoo (Static, breakage, frizz, etc.)
~ Combs (Not good at getting to tangles and they break my hair even with proper/gentle use)
~ Lots of protein (My hair can take a little at a time, but not too much)
~ Going for very long periods of time without any kind of trimming or dusting
~ S&D (I still snip bad ends if I find them, but even short S&D sessions are simply too maddening for me to do them consistently plus having fine hair and bad eyesight doesn't help)
~ Aloe vera gel

[rossjen]

LHC advice that worked:
-Going sulfate free solved a bunch of scalp and hair issues for me. No more itchy scalp.
-Flexi 8's-I would have never known about these had it not been for these boards.
-Henna (and indigo). I can't imagine using any other coloring method now. I find it so much fun to do as well.
-CO washes. I did these for a while when I initially joined, but then got lazy. It still worked well for me at the time.
-Baking soda rinse followed by vinegar rinses. Stopped this out of sheer laziness as well. I need to revisit this when my two current bottles of shampoo run out.

Not so much:
-Oil in general, no matter what type, just doesn't give my hair any benefits. I wish it did. I just end up greasy using it as a conditioning treatment or leave-in. I've tried the oil-shampoo method on two separate occasions using varying ratios of oil to shampoo, and it was disaster both times.

[Tigermama]

Yay: deep conditioner

[Tigermama]

Oops there's more....
yay:olive oil, occasional clarifying, no cones, CWC, satin pillowcases, no heat and no bleach, Neeli oil, vinegar rinses, and self trimming by the moon.

nay: henna, CO, coconut oil, castor oil on the scalp (but love it on the ends!), WO, cones, shampoo bars, and avocado oil.

[ravenreed]

What worked:
-silk and satin pillow cases
-Tangle Teezer
-catnip
-CO method
-argan and camillia oil
-vinegar rinses

What didn't:
-BBB's
-SMT's
-anything with glycerin
-Ficcares
-WO rinses
-mineral oil
-oil shampoo
-AVG
-EVOO
-proteins of any sort
-honey
-stretching washes

[starry]

I'm still just getting started but I've found immediate things here that have helped (massive growth rate [3 inches in 2 months], happier,shinier hair.) I still have a long way to go as it grows, (GREAT thread idea btw!!)

yay-
wo (just.. amazing)
satin pillow cases (good for wrinkles too)
lemon juice rinses (huge amount of shine, less frizz)
bbb brushing (have to section hair but its so worth it)
horn comb (not that pleasant to use, but gently gets out the tangles)
massages- I'm not that dilligent- it feels better when someone else does it anyway
head flipping to brush in the morning- feels so good for my whole body
not scrunching up the hair in the shower

nay
honey- just doesn't feel right- it looks good but feels ick to me
conditioner and shampoo i guess
I play with my hair a lot so the benign neglect thing (this will change as it grows, im sure)
supplements and tinea cream- just not for me

like to try soon
mango butter
coconut oil
apricot kernel oil (this is something i just want to try)
hair sticks and forks made of wood and bone once its longer

[missmelaniem]

Oh gosh...

CO washing
Water only
No cones

Meh

Shampoo Bars (gave my hair soooo much body but too time consuming to use)


Grew into

Oil. I wasnt crazy about it as a replacement for cones, but love using it and cones together.

[MestizoGypsy]

First off- Can somebody tell me what BBB stands for???

Things that have been good for me so far:
-CWC
-Coconut Oil
-Braiding at night
-Satin pillowcases (which was actually something my Gramma taught me as a little girl)

Things that haven't been so good:
-Conditioner only
-Sulfate free- my hair just doesn't feel right
-No cones- the extra coating is good on my straight, dry hair.
-No heat- sorry y'all, I can't go without some sort of heat styling, although I'm really trying to cut it down.

[Theobroma]

Best
-Air drying (this would never have occurred to me on my own)
-Vinegar rinses (white vinegar for preference)
-EVOO on wet hair (most fantastic thing ever, even beats coconut oil; I don't need conditioner at all with this stuff) :crush:
-Shea butter (one of my holy grail products)
-GTS hairtoys

This list would also include oiling in general and protective updos, but I was doing those even before I joined LHC and I was already self-trimming by what goes by Feye's method in these parts more than a decade before I'd ever heard of Feye.

Worst
-CO washing (epic disaster; turns out to be a good way to quadruple my normal washday shed; it's going to take years to get my thickness back) :scared:
-Castor oil on scalp (tried it once, shed insanely, won't ever try it again) :shudder:
-Ficcare clips (I find them awkward to insert and they always seem to end up pulling painfully on a small section of hair)

[SongofLove]

LHC advice that works for me:
- CWC method
- Shampooing scalp only
- Stretching washes (once or twice a week; haven't tried longer)
- Coconut oil, both as a pre-wash (on scalp and length) and a leave-in (just on length)
- Cones
- Seamless wide-tooth combs
- Gentle combing (working from bottom up; fingercombing snarls)
- Tangle Teezer
- Hairsticks
- Amish hairpins
- Spin pins
- S&D
- Scalp massage (with fingers)
- Scritching with comb, especially before washing
- Sectioning hair for updos
- Varying hairstyles (comfy scalp!)
- Damp bunning and braiding
- Sleep braid(s)
- Satin sleep cap or pillow case
- Using scrunchies or poly bands rather than elastics for braids and ponytails
- No heat / air drying
- Sun protection with scarf and hat

LHC advice that doesn't work for me:
- EVOO
- Waiting until dry to comb/detangle
- BBB (perhaps I don't know how to do it correctly though)
- Topknot styles
- French twist (can't get it to work)


LHC advice I want to try but haven't yet
- Baking soda
- ACV rinses
- Shampoo bars
- Shower head filter
- Henna (with indigo; I probably won't look good with reddish hair)
- Mineral oil
- Tea rinses
- Catnip
- Dusting
- Self trimming
- Ficcares
- Flexi-8's

LHC advice I probably will not try
- Washing with honey
- Water only, sebum only
- Going cone or sulfate free
- Oil shampoo
- Monistat
- Biotin or other supplements

[SongofLove]

First off- Can somebody tell me what BBB stands for???

I think it's Boar Bristle Brush...


I ended up giving up scalp washes for the time being. I can detangle better after the shower with a full-length wash. This does not mean that scalp washes are not good; but I was such a dum-dum that I was doing scalp washes for an extended period of time without shampooing the rest of my hair once in a while.

Hmm, interesting! It seems for my hair, it's like hair-suicide to EVER shampoo the length...I once accidentally did (mistook a shampoo for a conditioner) and my hair was so awful and dry for days afterwards.

[Aredhel77]

LHC advice that works best for me:

Using a wide-toothed comb.
OILS! - not really found an oil that my hair has hated yet, although some have left it greasier than others.
Butters! - my hair likes shea and mango butters. Haven't tried any others yet.
Damp oiling - coconut, argan, avocado or mineral oil.
Always using some sort of leave-in (I hate my 'naked' hair - so it may consist of aloe vera gel + oil, a bit of my regular conditioner or Fox's Shea Butter Cream).
Egg washes (occasional)
Avocado/mayonnaise treatment or banana/caramel treatments. I don't do this much now because it's messy but in my early, heady, 'will try anything once' LHC days I enjoyed mixing these up :lol:
DAILY CO washing (occasionally every other day).
No cones, occasional sulphates.
No heat.
Silk pillowcase.
Deep moisture treatments - SMT's etc. My hair also likes protein. I have keratin, wheat and silk protein extracts which I add occasionally to conditioner (or to my final rinse water!)
CASSIA. I also loved henna, but I am currently growing it out.
WEARING HAIR DOWN! I'm stubborn about this. I own forks, etc but don't like the way I look with hair up. So only occasionally put it up. If I do, it's usually in a cinnabun.
S&D and Feye's self-trim method. I haven't been to a salon for over a year. I'm quite scissor-happy actually, so regular trims/microtrims.


LHC advice that didn't work for me:

Boar Bristle Brush.
Baking soda washes or Borax washes - I do however add baking soda to sulphate shampoo if I am clarifying my hair. I follow with ACV/distilled vinegar rinse if I do this.
Tea rinses.
Oil shampoo.
Clay washes.
Stretching washes - although I do occasionally wash every other day.

[hairhair]

Only been on for a couple of weeks, but I've already got some stuff! :)

Stuff that I always did/did before that works:
1. Cold water rinse -- if you can stand this, it works quite well. WARNING: Be careful not to lean too far back -- yes, you don't want freezing water running down you, but you doubly don't want to slip in the shower!
2. Deep conditioning by simply leaving copious amounts of normal conditioner on under shower cap for 30 minutes.
3. Schwarskopf Live colours -- I've used hazelnut and mahogany; they're excellent. :)
4. Metal free hair ties.

Stuff that's worked for me so far:
1. Reintroducing conditioner (used to only use shampoo because my hair was so oily) -- worked well.
2. Braiding hair at night -- I've always cut it at about APL/BSL due to uncontrollable tangling, which I've brought under control with either braiding or if I'm lazy, one of those ponytails with hair ties all the way down.
3. Combing only -- sooooo much less shedding!
4. Wash stretching -- alternating CWC and CO
5. Sock buns -- they're cool!

Stuff that hasn't worked:
1. Conditioner only, only -- I need to shampoo every second day or oil issues become major
2. Scalp only washes -- pretty much impossible since my hair is so thick! Can't get the shampoo to the scalp, and also causes tangles.

Stuff I'm still on the fence about:
1. BBB -- sad since it was so expensive, but it seems to be causing some shedding. I think maybe I'm overdoing it and/or pressing too hard.
2. S&D -- I can't do this yet as my hair isn't long enough to pull to where I can see it (well, some of it is, but not much)

[Zesty]

Yes:
1. protective updos (hair sticks and forks saved my hair from being chopped)
2. finger combing/gentle handling in general
3. SMTs (but only in the summer)
4. stretching washes (3-4 days now, down from every day last year; aiming for a week if I can)
5. silk pillowcases
6. containing hair at night
7. EVOO on damp ends
8. damp bunning
9. skritching/head massages
10. no heat
11. vinegar rinses

No:
1. CO (hate product on my scalp)
2. avoiding sulfates
3. Ficcares/flexi-8s for updos

[twopoints]

LHC advice that works best for me:
1. scalp washing (saves time, can wash hair in a few minutes, dries faster because I keep my length dry)
2. benign neglect
3. damp bunning
4. mineral oil after a full wash on damp hair
5. wide-tooth comb
6. protective updos (I wear a nautilus bun everyday) with hair sticks
7. gentle handling
8. silk pillow sheets

LHC advice that didn't work for me:
1. not using conventional hair products conventionally (WO, SO, CO)
2. deep-treatment with oil (no difference, just oilier)
3. deep-treatments/heavy conditioners (I find that just using runny conditioners with silicones works best for me because I get build-up easily and I only need conditioner for slippery-ness and detangling.)
4. acv rinses (no difference, just vinegar smell)
5. stretching washes to less than 2 times per week

[TheMechaGinger]

LHC advice that worked for me:
Coconut oil for pre-wash/deep treatment/leave in (Did this beforehand but it's an LHC thing)
Tangle Teezer :D
Aussie 3MM
Tons of hairstyling tips
No heat
Diatomaceous Earth!
Horn combs
Hair sticks and forks
Satin pillow case
Henna (I henna'd before hand too)

LHC Advice that didn't work for me:
CO washing
tea rinses
Cone-free (I'm a total cone-head!)
WO
Shampoo bars
Protein

[Loviatar]

LHC Advice that worked for me:

1. Shampoo bars
2. Henna
3. Coconut oil pre-colouring/pre-bleaching
4. Wide tooth combs
5. Panacea salve
6. Cone free conditioners
7. Oiling damp hair and deep oil treatments
8. Honey, but pre-microwaved to kill peroxide.
9. Damp bunning/braiding
10. avoiding mirrors

LHC Advice that didn't work:

1. Baking soda. Totally drying.
2. Molasses treatment - left my hair like straw
3. Oil and water in a mister
4. CWC - used too much conditioner.
5. Cones
6. Water Only!

[meteor]

Thank you so very much, everyone! This is extremely helpful!:flower:

Keep them coming! But I'd like to summarize what we've received so far.

Universally loved:


- patience and benign neglect.


- extremely gentle handling, like it's "antique lace" (especially when wet).


- high quality hair tools (some like seamless wood / horn wide-tooth combs, others: boar bristle brushes or tangle teasers).


- deep conditioning treatments (often in the form of SMT - conditioner with aloe vera gel and honey) and/or lots of conditioner (either in CWC, S&C or CO).


- not scrunching up hair in the shower and not shampooing the length unless you are clarifying.


- some form of oiling the length (you need to experiment with types of oils, amounts, frequency and methods of application), but there are a few whose hair doesn't tolerate any oiling.


- occasional cold water, distilled water or slightly acidic rinse (ACV, white vinegar, lemon) after washing hair.


- protective hairstyles (buns, braids), including at night.


- air drying / avoiding heat styling as much as possible.


- damp bunning and damp braiding.


- hair sticks, hair forks, spin pins, gentle and metal-free hair ties.


- self-trimming (Faye's self-trimming method, S&D... basically taking hairdressing in your own hands).


- scalp massages and scritching.


- silk / satin pillowcases to avoid mechanical damage at night (sleeping caps are less popular and may be uncomfortable).


- sun protection with hats and scarves.





Often recommended, but won't work for everyone:


- going silicone-free (may cause serious detangling problems, no slip, no shine, breakage).


- going SLS-free (may be hard to remove product build-up, may cause unclean feeling on hair and scalp).


- protein treatments (may cause tangling, dry hair).


- oiling the scalp (may cause increased shedding).


- honey (may cause unpleasant residue, dry and tangly hair).


- brushing (may cause more shedding, may break the curl pattern).


- CO washing (may cause more shedding and may require more frequent washing).


- Water Only / Sebum Only (unpredictable scalp and hair behavior, may cause shedding).


- baking soda washes (may be too drying for hair).


- oil shampoo method (unpredictable hair behavior after a few uses).


- tea rinses (rooibos, black, etc - may cause coating, tangling, unclean feeling).


- clay washes.


- Monistat for hair growth.


- supplements (e.g. biotin) for hair growth (may not work in the long run, no replacement for proper diet).


- stretching wash days (may cause scalp problems).


- cassia / henna (research and test a lot before trying a specific mix).

[Nightshade]

Worked for me:

Henna/Cassia
Wide-tooth wood comb
Hair style tutorials
CWC
Butters as leave-ins
Tea rinses
Oiling scalp with EO blends
Misting

Didn't work for me:

SMT
Honey lightening (my henna laughed in it's face :lol:)
CO
oiling length (hair prefers butters)
Cones
BBB

[meteor]

Didn't work for me:
oiling length (hair prefers butters)
I'm intrigued: oil mixes work great for your scalp, but butters are better for length. Is it because butters are just thick and creamy and a bit like conditioners in texture? I really want to experiment with various plant butters (and even with ghee!) but don't know enough about them...

[Diamond.Eyes]

LHC advice that works best for me:
1. SMT's
2. Deep/overnight oil treatments
3. Sulfate-free shampoo
4. CO washing
5. Wide-toothed combs
6. BBB
7. Stretching washes
8. COCONUT OIL! :)
9. Silk sleep cap/pillow case
10. No heat styling

LHC advice that didn't work for me:
1. Rooibos tea
2. Tangle Teezer (greatly increased shedding)
3. Aloe Vera gel as styling gel (not enough hold for my lengthy hair)
4. ACV rinses. Way too drying for my taste.
5. Avacado and honey mask. A real pain to wash out and did absolutely nothing.
6. Mineral oil
7. Sleeping in braids or any other protective style before bed. Caused a lot of breakage. Sleep caps are the way to go.
8. Biotin, MSM, and panothenic acid. I took these supplements for 6 months and had absolutely no results.

[Nightshade]

I'm intrigued: oil mixes work great for your scalp, but butters are better for length. Is it because butters are just thick and creamy and a bit like conditioners in texture? I really want to experiment with various plant butters (and even with ghee!) but don't know enough about them...

My scalp does really, really well with a light carrier oil with some EOs in it when it's itchy.

I've tried oils on my length and they either make it look lank, make it feel coated, or both.

Whipped shea on the other hand makes it play nice without weighing it down. I just need to use a tiny tiny tiny bit and melt it in my hands :)

[Carolyn]

LHC advice that worked for me:

CO washing
SMTs
Mason Pearson BBB
Ficcares
Mei Fa sticks
Coconut oil
Camellia oil
Tangle Teezer
Electric heat cap
Kiehls
LUSH
Wide tooth comb
Damp bunning
S & D/dusting
Occasional cone use
White vinegar
Blue/violet S & Cs

LHC advice that did not work for me:

Shampoil (trashed my hair)
Mineral oil
Aubrey Organics products
Not brushing
NW or SO
Cassia (gave me green hair) I would never touch henna
Stretching washes to more than every other day
Using baking soda to wash or adding it to shampoo
Shampoo bars
Going SLS free
Letting hair dry before detangling/combing
Braiding at night
Sleep tail
Banana deep conditioner
Pantene
Mane 'n Tail
Satin pillowcase (too hot and sweaty)
ACV (encouraged reddish tones)
No heat
Not highlighting or coloring

[kaydana]

LHC advice that's working for me so far:

CO washing (my hair is SO much easier to manage and is smoother and shinier than ever before. I really can't sing the praises of CO enough, thank you LHC!)
Virgin coconut oil (makes my hair even shinier and helps define the waves and tackle any frizz the CO washing didn't get rid of. Oh, and it smells divine!)
S&D (and, more specifically, buying new, sharp scissors to use on my hair. My others were getting blunt)
Hair safe elastics (no more ripping out chunks of hair caught in bits of metal!)
Braiding hair for sleeping
Ditching the ball tipped paddle brush (I swapped it for a Denman freeflow styling brush; no seams, no ball tips, wide spaced bristles. I'm noticing much less hair in my brush since making the switch)
Hair sticks (I had some long before finding LHC but I couldn't figure out how to get them to hold my hair up so they were just decorative. Now that my hair's a bit longer and I have lots of new styles to try I absolutely love my hair sticks)

LHC advice that works in some situations but not others:

BBB (before I started CO washing brushing with a BBB just left my hair looking and feeling flat and greasy. Since starting CO washing however, a BBB makes my hair shiny and smooth)
Heat free styling (most of my hair is manageable enough now without heat, but I still abuse my fringe. It looks awful without heat styling, and my face looks awful without a fringe, so it's a necessary evil. I don't put heat anywhere near the rest of my hair though.)
Cone-free (the ends have a tantrum if they don't get their favourite cones, but it's only the last few inches that need them, the rest is perfectly happy without.)

LHC advice that doesn't work for me:
(I'll be honest, most of this is just that I didn't like using it, rather than it actually doing anything bad to my hair)

Combs (I know, I know... but my scalp doesn't feel right when I don't brush, I can't smooth my hair into updos properly and well... I LIKE brushing my hair!)
Honey (my hair felt nice enough after using it, but the results just weren't good enough to justify the nasty sticky mess)
EVOO (I don't like the smell and it feels nasty on my hair.)
Bunning hair for sleeping (the bun is too heavy, it gives me a headache and I have to take it out and braid it after about ten minutes)

[MrsGuther]

LHC Advice that works for me:
Benign neglect
No heat styling
Protective updos
Gentle handling

LHC Advice that does NOT work well for me:
CO (shed city)
BBB (rips and damages my course, wavy hair)
Stretching washes (just made my hair greasy, no good came outta that!)

[anachronic]

Thanks for the advice!:yumm:

[ratgirldjh]

I'm intrigued: oil mixes work great for your scalp, but butters are better for length. Is it because butters are just thick and creamy and a bit like conditioners in texture? I really want to experiment with various plant butters (and even with ghee!) but don't know enough about them...

Just wanted to pop in here and warn you about ghee. I used it on my hair several times and even when washed out well with my smelliest poo bar my dbf and others still for days would ask me why I smelled like either 'vomit or a wet dog'. ICK

It did leave my hair nice and shiny though... I even tried adding quite a lot of lavender oil and got lavender oil and ... vomit smell :( I wonder if peppermint oil would work.

I think it is kind of like eggs or yogurt for my hair. It must leave a residue that stays on my hair even after washing. I think it took me about 3 washings to totally get rid of the smell!!! Same with yogurt and eggs.

I love scented ghee on my skin though. I have heard on other forums that some people have great luck using ghee in their hair - but most of them would wash it out CO with a pretty fragrant conditioner - now I know why :D

[vanity_acefake]

Great thread. :)
What has worked for me:

Benine neglect
Henna
Wide tooth combs
BBB
Coconut oil, Jojoba oil, Argan oil etc
Shea butter on wet ends
Wearing my hair up
Silk sleep hat
Satin pillow case
Sulphate shampoos
Coney conditioners
Learning amazing hair styles
No hairdryer (except to dry my Betty bangs)
Deep conditioning/ treatment when I can be bothered
Heat cap (microwave and vintage electric) for above treatments
MSM when I am shedding, slows it right down
Diatomaceous Earth with my Dr's approval as I have high cholesterol (hereditary and I refuse to take medicine as the side effects are horrendous), added bonus on hair and nails
CWC
Stretching washes - I have always done this as I'm lazy!
Lush's caca noir

What has not worked for me:

Sulphate free shampoo - every one I have tried, and I have tried many, I am so allergic to:(
Cone free conditioners - my hair loves cones
The obsession I now have of buying hair toys!

[Mesmerise]

-giving up box or chemical color. NEVER I SAY!!! I will be red till I die!

.

Have you considered henna?? I feel the same way about red hair, but I easily gave up box dye for henna :). For starters, the box dye faded so much more quickly I found! Henna seems to last much longer (especially once you've done it a few times). It's mucky to apply, but it's also nice to know I'm not slathering my head in chemicals each month. Oh, and henna is so much cheaper!

So yeah, for me henna was a saviour because I had no intention of NOT being red! It would be much more hassle if I was stuck on being a blonde :D.

[SongofLove]

The obsession I now have of buying hair toys!

Haha, didn't even think about that one! But yeah, it's pretty bad huh?

[Siiri]

What has worked for me:

- Oil shampoo
- CO-washing
- Mineral oil as a leave-in
- SMT
- Citric acid rinses
- Clarifying often when I CO-washed (once every three weeks)
- Wearing hair up, avoiding ponytails
- Wide tooth combs
- No heat styling or blow drying

What hasn't worked for me:

- Oiling with olive oil (doesn't wash out)
- Clarifying with baking soda (it doesn't do anything)
- Vinegar rinses (I hate the smell)
- Avocado masks (doesn't wash out)
- Sulfates don't seem to harm my hair, so the advice of avoiding them doesn't work for me

[Bianca]

What has worked:

- CO washing.
- Coconut oil.
- Sulfate free shampoos ( for the occasional deep cleanse)
- No heat.
- Wide tooth comb.
- Ficcares, sticks, forks.
- No cones, but only to be able to stretch washes as much as possible. When I use cones, my hair gets greasy the next day. No cones, I can wash every 3-4 days.
- No dye.
- S&D, but not very often, just when I feel like it.

What has not:

- Henna, not a fan of the color, thats all.
- Vinegar rinses.
- Mineral oil.
- Shea butter.

[Vampyria]

Some of those I found elsewhere before discovering LHC, but for some I have seen here for the first time, but still:

LHC advice that worked for me:

- Oiling as pre-wash (over night) and leave in: coconut, avocado
- cassia (with conditioner)
- no heat
- no chemical dye
- silk pillow case
- no cones
- no SLS and SLES
- natural shampoos and conditioners
- Feye's self-trim method: I love it!
- rinsing with cold water

LHC advice that did not work for me:
- no poo method (baking soda, vinegar): terrible straw like hair, no shine, greasy
scalp, shedding, breakage
- vinegar rinse: straw, no shine, breakage
- protein treatment: see above
- wearing hair up: I can't do buns at my length, I can only use claw clips that are pulling my hair out
- honey lightening: tangles, dry hair
- braiding at night: When I woke up my hair was parted in three and I couldn't get it back until I washed it

Still deciding:

- Clarifying: makes my hair really soft, but it becomes more sensitive to breakage
- MSM: I'm just using it for 3 days
- shea butter: I had to shampoo 3 times to get it out

Want to try:

- honey: haven't tried it on it's own, but my hair was really moisturized, when I did first lightening with it.
- hair sticks, different up-dos : when my hair is longer

I will probably never try CO washing, because my scalp gets greasy pretty quickly and my hair starts to fall out more.

[KwaveT]

What has worked for me:

-Giving up blowdrying
-Using sulfate free shampoo on just my scalp (if shampoo my entire head I lose the wave and curl in my length), my hair has never been exposed to cones if it has it had been years, made my first conditioner cone free
-Wide-tooth comb, tangle teezer, BBB
-Being more gentle with towel drying my hair and with my hair in general
-Cold water rinses
-Satin pillow case
-ACV rinses when I do them
-Using supplements like MSM

What has not worked:

-CO washes: For three reasons, it was making my scalp too oily and never calmed down after many months, also I have trouble with these big brown flakes that clump in my hair at hair line and I can't seem to get rid of them even after going back to shampoo, lastly makes my hair shed too much.
-Stretching washes-my hair can only make it to three days and on third day it is starting to get oily
-wearing hair up-I have not got enough hair yet still too short

[CurlyCurves]

What doesn't work for me is this;

'Don't brush your hair when wet'.

I know hair is at its weakest when wet, but I'm a curly. When I dry brush (even if I just use my fingers) my hair, without fail, I hear *snap* *snap* *snap* - although I try to be SO gentle.

I don't really notice much, if any, breakage when I detangle in the shower with CO-drenched hair. I need the slip.

[mckenzie]

What has worked for me so far:

Air-drying
Hand-made seamless wide-tooth comb
BBB
Tangle Teezer
No more ponytails
Conditioning my hair after every wash
Leave-in conditioner after every wash
Light oiling with Argan oil
Frequent micro-trimming
Satin pillowcase
Protein treatment followed by moisture treatment
SMT (without aloe)

What has not worked so far:

CO washing (increased shedding)
Coconut Oil (Crunchy frizzy hair (still hoping I can figure it out))
EVOO (Crunchy frizzy & greasy hair)
MO (Still crunchy, although less so)
Using comb only (I can only use comb while hair is wet with leave-in conditioner)

Still trying to implement:

Benign neglect (I'm constantly touching my hair)
Sleep Up-do (Can't seem to find one that is comfortable, or that I feel is non-
damaging)

[yukinohana]

What has worked for me:
WO
Stretching washes
Oils (olive oil or Triple Moon Hair Anointing Oil) in dry or damp hair
Protective styles
Not obsessing over my hair
Finger-combing (although it took a while to figure it out)
Lemon juice rinses
Hair sticks, hair forks, and scrunchies

On the fence:
Coconut oil (great for my skin, but the others seem better for my hair)
CO (my hair tends to get over-moisturized, but with protein, it's helpful once in a while)
Wide-toothed combs (detangle more easily, but more shedding)
CWC (have only tried with cones, which didn't work, and oiling prior to shampooing and stretching washes seems to work better)

Didn't work:
BBB (too rough on my hair, possibly because of the curls)
Braiding or bunning before bed (my hair just seems happier without!)
Braiding or bunning while wet(braiding caused breakage, while bunning caused weird crunchy, frizzy hair)
Detangling while dry (disrupts my curl pattern, and tends to cause breakage)

[melusine963]

Best advice:
- Coconut oil
- Careful handling and updos

Worst advice:
- None so far

On the fence:
- cone- and sulphate-free shampoo/conditioner. This hasn't harmed my hair in any way, but I don't know if it's improved it either. I suppose it shows my damage more, meaning I have to S&D more often.
- BBB. Good for hiding oily hair for an extra day, but cleaning it after each use is a pain. The brush takes at leats 2-3 days to dry properly in winter.

[blaketob]

Best Advice:

No heat styling
Stretching washes
Benign neglect
DT's or pre-wash treatments
Combing instead of brushing
EVOO

Worst Advice:

Coconut oil (makes my hair stringy and a grease ball)
Honey

Want to try:
Cone Free (starting September)
ACV rinses
AVG

[tambalina]

LHC Advice That Works For Me

- Alternating CWC and CO with Silicone-Free products (I had no idea how much silicones mask the natural body of my hair.)

- Protective hairdos

- Oiling (My hair is loving jojoba and sesame)

- S & D on a bright, sunny day


LHC Advice That Works Better for OTHERS

- Stretching out washes (made my scalp itchy and painful)

- Coconut Oil (too heavy for my hair)

- Baking Soda (worked TOO well)

- ACV Rinses (resulted in crunchy hair)

- Using humectants (my climate is too dry, so my hair dried out)

[ifjuly]

works for me:
-Avoiding the thickest 'cones and harshest sulfates (was doing this anyway). A pain to have to carefully check every time I buy shampoo or conditioner (I wish brands wouldn't constantly change up formulas and eventually add them back in hoping you won't notice, grr) and a lot of the natural stuff doesn't work well with my hair, but it's worth it to avoid the eventual dull lifelessness and increased greasiness and itchiness 'cones and sulfates cause for me.
-Avoiding heat (haven't owned a blow dryer since I was a teenager)
-Benign neglect and letting my hair do its thing, ie, pretty much no styling/color/etc. (was doing for years anyway, but the confirmation is nice!)
-CO washing--my hair looks and feels better right after a CO wash than it does any other time!--BUT I have to limit it to once a week max because it causes shedding
-Some of the favorite notorious cheapie conditioners for CWC and CO so I don't go broke--current faves include V05 Blackberry Sage Tea Therapy and Suave Naturals Coconut, the 365 stuff is good too
-Shea Moisture's line--hadn't heard of it until I read about it here and I love it! It's a good thing too because I'm worried my other easy-to-get walk-in-shop standby, L'Oreal's Ever line, has changed recently and contains stuff in it now I wish to avoid
-Finally finding combs/brushes to detangle my hair without pain/breakage! Tangle Teezer and Mason Pearson especially, but also love boxwood and horn. I used to dread detangling my hair; now I look forward to it.
-Camellia oil, a couple drops combed through damp ends. My #1 desert island HG product. Love love love it. I'd heard faint rumblings about it prior to LHC but more in terms of being a good facial toner/moisturizer (Which for me it is! It is miraculous in every way, yay!)
-toadstoolsoaps on etsy--so many delicious scents, Cheryl's ridiculously nice, and the leave-in is fantastic. I alternate it with the camellia oil to keep my ends looking nice; before I started using those two things they looked terrible and none of the pricier salon line serums etc. ever made a dent in that
-ACV rinses once a week

what doesn't work all that well for me:
-SMT. I wish it did...it's messy/uncomfortable (so far I've been leaving it in overnight, but I hate having a wet head in bed) and then for 2 days straight afterward my hair right by the scalp looks and feels like crispy straw. Aw. Still trying to figure out what would make a good deep treatment for me.
-Straight honey
-Stretching washes beyond a couple days. I was stretching them anyway to 3x/week before I stumbled on LHC, but attempting to stretch further always ends in disaster--super itchy gross scalp, hairline breakouts, etc.--no matter how gentle I am with my cleansing agents and mindful I am about avoiding build up and all that. Gonna chalk it up to weather (I live in a super humid/sticky hot climate) and an inherently oily disposition.
-Straight cconut oil. Friends IRL swore by it but it's too heavy or something for my straight hair.
-Avoiding haircuts or layering altogether--my hair needs them otherwise it gets shapeless and frames my face/head in an unflattering way
-S&D. I just don't have the patience for any sort of delicate/small-scale skill sort of thing, that's just me
-Worrying about protecting my hair from breakage to the point I rarely wear it down, only sleep in silk caps, etc.--I could be imagining it but it seemed like that level of worry actually made my hair grow slower. When I ignore it and let it do its thing freely it grows like a weed. Plus, I like to enjoy the look and feel of it down and free, that's just my preference.
-BBB for oil distribution. Causes too much breakage/flyaways to be worth it for me; I'd rather just give up trying to stretch my washes farther and apply oil to my ends.

[ErinLeigh]

This is an awesome thread. I really enjoy it and I loved the summary breakdown.
I am going to think about my list and add to the fun :)

[Weewah]

Works for me:
1. Satin pillowcase
2. No heat, embrace natural texture
3. Pre-wash oilings(but not too much oil!)
4. Co-washing!:D
5. Self trimming
6. Avoid products that build up

Doesn't work for me:
1. Cassia on bleached hair=golden green hair
2. Honey lightening, did it like 10 time and saw no effect, plus I need to clarify to get the honey out.
3. WO method was a major fail but I only tried it once


This is all I can think of the top of my head right now.

[Theobroma]

Good:

Air drying
Shampoo bars (well, actually, I just use bar soap)
EVOO (even better for my hair than coconut oil)
AVG as a frizzbuster
Protective updos

Bad:
Anything that takes too much time, like deep treatments and heavy oilings that take extra effort to wash out; I can't be bothered to fuss with my hair that much and it really isn't at all necessary

Epically, catastrophically disastrous
CO washing. Was lovely at first, then led to truly insane shedding, but built up so gradually that I didn't realise what was causing it. By the time I realised what was wrong I'd lost at least 40% of my thickness.
Scalp oiling. Also causes extra shedding.

[Rosetta]

LHC advice that works for me:
1. Coconut oil!! (especially for preventing peroxide damage)
2. Pre-wash deep oiling
3. Self-trimming (who needs hairdressers?)

(And otherwise I'd say no heat, but I didn't use it much before, either ;))

LHC advice that didn't work for me:
1. Oils as leave-in - just no... *shudder*
2. Avoiding cones and sulfates
3. Hairsticks - they just don't stay in my hair, beak clips are so much better
4. Stretching washes (for more than a few days)
5. Washing with herbs (very messy and hair still doesn't feel clean)
6. SMT (my hair becomes super-limp)
7. Satin pillowcase (just uncomfortable to sleep on)
8. Last but not least, this (ifjuly just said it so well): :)


Worrying about protecting my hair from breakage to the point I rarely wear it down, only sleep in silk caps, etc.--I could be imagining it but it seemed like that level of worry actually made my hair grow slower. When I ignore it and let it do its thing freely it grows like a weed. Plus, I like to enjoy the look and feel of it down and free, that's just my preference.

[Callque]

Great idea!

Worked for me:

- Only shampooing scalp (length is much more conditioned now)
- Only conditioning from ears down so I can stretch washes longer
- Suave Clarifying Shampoo
- Microtrims
- S&D
- Stretching washes to every other day
- Satin pillowcase
- Hairbrush similar to Denman (boar/nylon bristles & is very gentle with detangling)
- Stopping synthetic hair dye & getting rid of the flat iron (ends are way thicker)
- Turbie Twist (I can blow dry my WL hair in less than 10 mins now & if I don't blow dry after it leaves me with beautiful mermaid waves after wearing it while I get ready)


Didn't work for me:

- CO (I developed dandruff for the first time in my adult life and now still have to use a dandruff shampoo 2 years later to keep it away (I have no idea if this was the cause of it but it started around this time and I did use a clarifying shampoo)
- No silicones (I really need them to manage my tangles)
- Tangle Teezer (Ripped my hair out)
- Oils of any kind (I noticed no benefits)
- SheaMoisture Products (The protein dried out my hair)

[two_wheels]

Best:
- coconut oil
- acv rinse
- no wet brushing
- putting it up a lot
- having lots of hair toys (makes it fun to put up)
- silk pillowcase, no more morning tangles!

Not for me:
- CO (my poor scalp!)
- oil shampoo
- measuring monthly (for me, daily variation outweighs monthly growth)
- supplements

Undecided:
- henna (lovely condition, beautiful colour... wrong colour for my skin)
- cassia (still testing, but not sure I like the stain)
- shampoo bars (testing, good so far, not sure if will build up)

[julee]

What worked well:
-Going cone free
-Fingercombing
-Mostly CO washing
-Ficcare and 60th street
-Super gentle detangling
-Henna
-Giving up hair elastics, even metal free ones
-Satin pillowcase

What didn't work so well:
-Anything more than the tiniest amount of coconut oil, a little really goes a long way for me.
-BBB
-Olive oil

[Verdandi]

Works for me:
- Wear hair up
- Satin pillowcase
- Wide toothed comb
- BBB
- Argan oil on ends
- Sticks, ficcares
- Turbie towel
- Cone free
- Heat free
- Self-trimming

Not for me:
- Oils on scalp (itchies!)
- Deep treatments (hair prone to overconditioning)
- Tea rinses (yucky coating no matter how much I rinse afterwards)
- Completely sulfate free (no SLS or SLES however)
- Catnip rinses (dry fluffy hair)
- Coconut oil
- CO (again, overconditioning, and a very sad scalp)
- Measuring (My hair is somewhere between 26 and 31 inches.... :rolleyes: )

Not sure:
- flexi8 (sometimes great, sometimes just frustrating and falling out/going loopsided/not holding)
- Shampoo bars (sometimes wonderful, sometimes just "why do I even bother?")
- Citric acid rinses

[chen bao jun]

Best advice: benign neglect, patience (plus co-washing, SMTs and the amazing cold water vinegar rinse).
Worse advice: Buy lots of hair toys (because my wallet feels it)

[ashke50]

Worked for me:
Wearing hair up (especially spin pins and flexi8s)
Plaiting hair at night
Gentle handling of hair
Better shampooing technique (massaging gently into the scalp rather than piling all the hair on top of my head)
S&D and microtrims
Coconut oil for the ends
Avoiding SLS and cones

Didn't work for me:
SMT (just too much effort for not much difference, same with any kind of deep conditioning treatment)
"plopping" hair - didn't bring out waves, just made my hair stringy
Adding honey to conditioner - no noticeable difference
Deep oilings - again, not much change for a lot of hassle


Still undecided:
CO seems to be helping me stretch my washes while keeping my hair clean and moisturised. I'm still shampooing once a week as last time I tried CO my hair ended up limp and greasy after a while.
I have a silk pillowcase, not sure how much difference it has made

Haven't tried:
Anything involving vinegar, henna, baking soda, catnip, NW/WO/SO etc

[Nope]

What worked well:
Cone free
Deep conditioning
Satin pillow cases
Not detangling my hair when wet
Using a soft t shirt to dry my hair
Stretching washes
Using a few drops of argan oil on wet hair after washing
Cold water rinse at the end of my shower
Occasional CO washing
CWC

Didn't work for me:
BAKING SODA. Maybe I could have avoided the big chop if it weren't for this
Long term CO
Repeated ACV rinses. They work great occasionall, but make my hair dull after a while
BBB shreds my hair
Shampoo bars. So much residue on my hair and comb, ew
SMTs. I live in the desert so humectants aren't my thing
Coconut oil (when not mixed with other oils )

[Nadine <3]

What didn't work for me:
Cone free. Worst tangles I have ever had. Might try again in the summer.
CO washing. Works for a few washes, then I end up with loads of gunk on my scalp and dull hair.
WO. My hair was so gross, and horribly itchy.
Sulfate free. My scalp likes sulfates!

What did work:
Water soluble cones. I get smooth hair that doesn't tangle up, without a tone of build up.
Oils! My hair LOVES evoo, esp as a pre poo treatment. Preferable overnight.
Ditching my paddle brush. Much less friz from pulling my waves out.
ditching my blow dryer except for my bangs on cool.
CO washing every other wash helps me retain moisture.

[pixldust]

Advice that has worked for me:

. WCC
. EVOO on ends of damp hair
. Satin pillowcases
. Plaiting hair at night
. No wet detangling
. If I need to use an elastic, only use terry cloth ones
. Stretching washes
. Air-drying
. Shampooing only my scalp and letting the run off clean the length

Advice that didn't work

. Coconut oil
. Argan oil (my hair just seems picky about oil)
. Finger-combing
. Protein

[ExpectoPatronum]

What worked:
Shampoo bars! - Got rid of my scalp flakes and itchies AND they don't irritate my skin.
Oiling before washing with coconut or avocado oil.
Nightblooming's Panacea - Makes my ends nice and soft. I want to try the winter version.
Wearing hair up more often
Microtrimming/dusting - It's amazing what taking off less than a quarter inch can do for your ends sometimes.
Mineral oil as a leave in - I keep forgetting my hair likes this.
Benign neglect

What didn't work:
CO-washing - My hair liked it, but my scalp hated it. I had the most horrible shedding. I lost more hair in one washing than I did in two weeks worth of washings.
Henna - Thankfully I did a gloss but the color (though pretty) just didn't flatter me at all.
Going dye-free - I was dye free for years, but unfortunately my natural hair color isn't the most flattering either. I dye my hair a very dark brown.
Supplements
Protein treatments as my hair absolutely hates it.
Going completely natural - My hair care routine is mostly natural, but I need a conventional conditioner for my ends.

What worked, but no longer do:
Sleep cap - I just don't bother with it anymore.
Overnight oilings - again...Just don't bother anymore, though I will before I dye my hair.

Want to try:
Argan oil
Sweet almond oil

[Wosie]

Works:
1. Leaving hair in updos (although I seldom do, I notice how much smoother it gets when I leave it up).
2. Silk cap and pillowcase. These two are simply awesome for me, my hair gets silkier by sleeping on it, it's like the silk rubs off onto my hair. :cloud9:
3. Coconut- and jojoba oil, as long as I don't overdose on them.
4. CO method. If I hadn't atopic eczema, I would never do anything else (bar from a clarification every month or so). My hair loves CO.
5. ACV rinses. I don't do them after every wash, but most times my hair feels much more pliable and shinier afterwards.

Doesn't:
1. Unmodified SMT. I did a SMT yesterday but only kept it in my hair for 10-15 minutes and then it worked fine. But when I do a 'real' SMT (with aloe vera gel) and leave it into my hair for a longer time, my hair feels and looks rather weird. Just conditioner and honey works way better for me, but I don't apply it onto my scalp anymore (far too itchy).
2. WO. Doesn't work on an atopic's head.
3. BBB. I mostly use it for smoothing down updos at this point. It seems to me like it creates split ends plus that it makes my wavy hair frizzier and makes it itch like crazy (yup, starting to see a pattern here? sometimes it feels like everything makes me itch :´/).
4. Olive oil. I want it to work for me, but I haven't noticed any positive results and it's really hard to wash out.

[jeanniet]

Works:
CO--significantly less shedding than with shampoo
leave in
silk pillowcase/cap
Very light use of oil
Detangling only in the shower with a Denman brush
Protein

Doesn't work:
Cones--I have tried, but they just don't make my hair happy
Mineral oil--makes hair gunky even in tiny amounts
Catnip
Brushing or combing dry, although I still use a BBB occasionally before a wash as a nice scalp massage
Regular Amish pins--my hair just spits them out
Aloe vera, except in small amounts in conditioner
SMTs or conditioning treatments--these actually do work, but too much bother for not much effect

[jupiterinleo]

I love how everyone is totally different! This site is awesome. :p

LHC stuff that works for me:
stopped using BS or castile soap to clean my hair - yikes!
ACV rinses are still good, though
bunning! just, wearing it up. this is a huge deal.
silk pillowcase
oiling while wet/damp
oiling in general!
hair sticks/forks
BBB, once I figured out how to do it properly
SMTs
not yanking at my hair with crappy paddle brushes

LHC stuff that doesn't work out for me:
CO washing
S&Ding - hell no, not with my hair type
honey
WO (I might try that again some day, though, just to be sure)
braiding for sleep

[MadeiraD]

My Hair Loves:
Silk pillow cases
Stretching washes
Coconut Oil
BBBs
CO Washing (though I think I may need to clarify soon, eep, I don't even keep regular shampoo in the house)
Flexis/sticks
Bunning
No Heat styling
No detangling while wet
Finger combing
Braiding for sleep
Sulfate Free

WHat my hair does not love:
Water only
No Cones
BS/ACV
Sleep caps (can't sleep in em)

[queenovnight]

LHC advice that works best for me:
1. ACV Rinsing
2. Tea Rinses
3. CO (I had heard of it, but LHC taught me the proper way.)
4. Keeping hair up & protected
5. Wide tooth comb

LHC advice that didn't work for me:
1. Protein treatments
2. Any and all hair supplements
3. Castor Oil - Major skin irritation
4. Overnight oiling
5. Satin Pillowcase

[swearnsue]

Everything I've tried from LHC suggestions have worked from alright to great EXCEPT when I mashed a banana and used it as a hair mask! EPIC FAIL. To be fair I was told to use baby food bananas and in my great wisdom I just mashed my own banana and smooshed it through my hair. Took forever to wash it out!

The SMT treatments have stopped working for me because my scalp has started to shed when conditioner touches it. Like crazy shedding. Like "I need a Valium" shedding.

I've been given so many great suggestions and would just like to say "thank you" to everyone.

[jupiterinleo]

Everything I've tried from LHC suggestions have worked from alright to great EXCEPT when I mashed a banana and used it as a hair mask! EPIC FAIL. To be fair I was told to use baby food bananas and in my great wisdom I just mashed my own banana and smooshed it through my hair. Took forever to wash it out!

I had the same thing happen once, but with avocado. Too lazy to break out the blender, so I mashed it up with a fork. Big mistake. I was still finding avocado chunks in my hair weeks later.

[LanaBanana]

I love how widely accepted here it is that different things work for different hair. I've always felt like such a weirdo for not being able to use the same products as other people, but that's gone now.

What has worked (so far) for me:
-Henna
-Cassia (although I like henna better!)
-Co washing
-Olive Oil
-Damp Bunning
-Hair sticks and forks instead of elastics. This is huge for me.
-No plastic brushes= no frizz after brushing
-Satin pillowcases (I stayed at a friend's house recently and forgot to bring my pillow. I felt like I was sleeping on sandpaper and my hair was so messy and dried out in the morning. I LOVE my satin pillowcases!)
-Sleep braiding. Keeps it out from under me and out of DH's face
-S&D with hair shears

What doesn't work for me:
-Honey, aloe Vera, or basically SMT. Makes my hair feel dry and gross
-BBB
-Wide tooth comb (no tangles, no point)
-Protein (my hair used to love it until I started using henna)
-Coconut oil, I don't notice any effect at all
-Scalp oiling (dandruff!)
-Plopping (my curls are enthusiastic enough, don't encourage them!)

[melusine963]

Best advice:
- Coconut oil
- Careful handling and updos

Worst advice:
- None so far

On the fence:
- cone- and sulphate-free shampoo/conditioner. This hasn't harmed my hair in any way, but I don't know if it's improved it either. I suppose it shows my damage more, meaning I have to S&D more often.
- BBB. Good for hiding oily hair for an extra day, but cleaning it after each use is a pain. The brush takes at leats 2-3 days to dry properly in winter.

Well, it's been a year and a half since I posted the above, so I might as well give an update. :)

Best advice:
- Still coconut oil
- Still updos
- Sulphate free shampoo. It's not made much difference to my hair, but it's been wonderful for my scalp.
- Tangle Teezer

Worst advice:
- Combs. My hair just doesn't get on well with them, and they take ten times longer to use than my TT.
- BBB. I've completely stopped using it and noticed no difference, so I can only conclude that using one is a waste of time and effort for me.

[Monkshood]

The good:
• Gentle detangling with a wide tooth comb
• Turbie Twist-type towel
• Air drying
• Braiding at night
• Pre-wash oiling with either coconut oil or EVOO (does that count as CWC?)
• NightBlooming's Panacea
• Oil on damp hair
• Clarifying when needed, followed by a deep treatment (SMT minus the aloe vera, plus EVOO in its place)
• Wearing hair up
• Scalp-only washes
• S&D

The bad:
• Protein treatments (makes my hair look coated and causes a lot of shedding and tangles)
• ACV rinse (makes my hair frizzy)
• Conditioning the length only (results in dry, fluffy roots)

[G1ll]

Best:
CO wash after coconut oil treatment
Tangle teaser
Protective hairstyles
Less trims
Benign neglect
Finger detangling

Worst:
Protein (leaves my hair so straw like)

[dellad]

Works for me:
CWC
Sleep braiding - dramatically reduced tangles in the morning
Wearing a bun every day - fewer tangles and less frizz when I let my hair down
S&D
Detangling from the bottom up

Didn't work:
CO - lots of shedding, roots got greasy really fast
SMT
Trying new styles - lost lots of hair attempting braided styles. My hair gets horribly tangled with any style that involves dividing hair into sections.

Things I already did before LHC that work great:
- Horn combs
- Only shampooing the roots and conditioning the length
- Gentle handling
- No dyes
- No heat
- Not washing hair everyday

[ErinLeigh]

I had been reading curly Nikki before coming here so I had a lot of the supplies already. However, it wasn't u til I came here I really started using these things so I shall credit my time here.

Worked
SMT - tons of moisture ( never heard of until here )
Cowash- learned about on CN but never did it much until after joining. I'm a convert after reading cowash thread.
Coconut oil left overnight as prepoo- had it but didn't understand it helped porosity and prevented hydral fatigue more. Didn't use until here.
Updos- gives my hair a break
Using the right ingredients-never heard of 18-mea but it helps a lot for me.
Hydrolyzed proteins- didn't know that hydrolyzed was necessary for penetration
Satin pillowcases-never thought about it until reading here.
Conditioning twice-give me extra conditioning and uses stash up quicker.
No cones- I found I could make oils work as well as cones. Jojoba and argan were used a lot here so I tried them. I use hemp also but don't see that one here often. I find it wonderful.
Water soluble cone conditioners- someone told me about Paul Mitchell products. Great for the days you just need some cones in your life.
Nightblooming panacea - really enjoy it.
Citric acid- used vinegar prior. This is actually best for my face! I am glad I bought it. Didn't know about it until here. I find it more gentle on hair than vinegar also.
Inversion method-not sure if it works since I just started, but it relaxes me
Hairsticks. Never heard of them! Major favorite until haircut.
Etsy!!!! Where has this site been all my life :)


Didn't work
Stretching washes -hair looks horrible next day. It is impossible to style without washing due to my current short cut. Also hair gets drier and my skin breaks out more when skipping washes.
Air drying-hair looks bad without blow dryer.
BBB- I think hair is too short, I only get static and lank hair. Will retry when I grow. I do like how it feels on scalp however.
Total SLS free- I need a good sulfate clarifying wash every 2 weeks. The sulfate free ones are ok but sulfates really reset my hair.

That is about it. I didn't try to many things. My routine is simple.
Wash if going out or to work. Leave hair alone if staying home.
Pre wash coconut oil soak
Co-wash (shampoo once a week, will stretch to 2 weeks soon)
Condition after cowash.
leave in conditioner
Sealing oil
Blow dry.
One drop oil for frizz.
Deep condition weekly.

My pre LHC routine.
Shampoo
Condition
Leave in
Blow dry.
Coney serum.
Deep condition once in a blue moon

So far, aside from the new damage from the hot iron this week, my hair was getting on much better condition.
At least this this time around I know how to handle i the new damage.

[veryhairyfairy]

BEST:
Conditioner only washing
Understanding Silicones (and realizing my hair HATES them)
Pre-wash oiling
Understanding hair growth rates
The importance of sharp hair scissors
The importance of protective styling and gentle handling
Catnip tea as a leave in spray (this is recent, but it's been several weeks and I'm still loving it!)
Buns! (I wore a scrunchied bee-butt bun for most of my life until I came here)
And most importantly; KNOWLEDGE! Knowing about hair science (how and why certain things work for certain hairtypes) has given me a wealth of knowledge that I can (and do, sometimes) use to benefit those who don't want to spend months reading this site.

Didn't Work:
Boar Bristle Brush (shredded my hair, possibly because my ends were/are very damaged)
Vinegar rinses (this is a very YYMV practice, I always suggest someone try it because some people love it)
SMT's (just didn't seem to do much for me, made my hair feel like a regular conditioner would leave it)
Catnip as the only conditioner (not enough for me, but catnip works great for me as used above)

Didn't/Won't Try:
No water/sebum only (I just love the way my conditioner makes my hair feel)
Water Only (same reason as above)
Washing with herbs (same as above)
Any kind of tea rinses (just too much trouble)


I'm sure there's more, but that's what I have so far :)

[Wallabear]

This is an awesome thread; the wealth of experiential knowledge is overwhelming. Now if only I knew what half the acronyms meant (Perhaps a permanent glossary page would help)!

What works for me
No more chemical dyes and harsh shampoos
Shampoo only roots, conditioner only the length
Combs instead of brushes
Air-drying hair before combing
No metal clips and tight elastics
Varying hairdos to reduce breakage
Cassia + Henna (Thickness, shine and color)
Washing out Cassia + Henna in a bath instead of a shower
Trimming split ends
Light oil treatments on damp hair (olive, almond, coconut)
Keeping hair up during the day

What doesn't work for me
Lemon juice in my Cassia+Henna mix (too drying)
Tea rinses (too drying, exceptions are chamomile and rosemary herbal teas followed by light oiling)
Baking soda for wet or dry shampoo (drying, itchy, disaster)
Brushing and especially if on wet hair
Ghee or yoghurt (too fatty makes my scalp unhappy and it smells)
Braiding at night (I also found it to create a bit of tangle and breakage)

What I want to try
Hair forks and sticks
Flexi 8s
Silk Satin pillowcases
Hair bonnet at night
UV protective spray, hats, parasols
More protective hair styles
Katam to add to my cassia-henna mix

[Arashi]

Best:
No sulfates
Satin pillowcase
Sleep braiding
Pre coconut oiling before dyeing
Roots only dyeing
Use of camellia oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, olive oil, sweet almond oil, argan oil, and apricot kernel oil
Wearing up
Detangling with wooden comb
No heat styling
Henna for hair health

Worst:
Shea butter (unless in small amounts-- can't use the stuff in a conditioner)
Conditioner only
Henna and indigo for color (Indigo doesn't stick for me)
Stretching washes for longer than 2 days
Tea rinses
Vinegar rinses
Protein

[shutterpillar]

What seems to be working for me:

- sulfate and silicone free
- Henna
- sleep cap
- Nightblooming Panacea
- heat-free styling
- Tangle Teezer
- frequent micro trims
- ACV rinses
- hair sticks and forks
- air drying


What does not work for me:

- stretching washes
- SMTs (or really anything involving honey)
- CO washing
- coconut oil

[YamaMaya]

Best advice: damp oiling, tangle teezer, less frequent trims, and of course updos :)

Worst advice: CWC, it made my hair greasy and limp feeling. My hair doesn't like over conditioning at all.

[Dessi]

Worked for me:
Cone-free
Satin pillow cases
Braiding before bad
Hair sticks
Using shampoo only on the scalp (one of the most important things, can't believe I used to put my hair on the top of my head and wash it like that)
Air drying
Coconut oil
Wearing hair up
S&D
(I've done S&D, air drying and oiling my scalp before LHC)
Dosn't work for me:
combing... my hair hates combs. Maybe that's the only thing I've tried and it hasn't worked.

[proo]

Works for me:
NW/SO
combs
frequent microdusting
updos
inversion method

Doesn't work:
products
brushes

Never in a bazillion years would I have even considered NW, yet here I am,
at 55 with the best longest strongest hair of my life.
This place can change a person.

[NoRush]

What works:
Oils,
No cones,
less heat.
spin pins,
braids

Meh:
tangle teezer, jury's still out but I'm not sold on it...
no trims, it worked from APL to BSL but now it's been barely 2 months since last trim and already I need a thorough S&D

What doesn't:
Combs (wet, dry, no matter, my hair hates combs)
airdry only, I air dry out of lazyness but I'm not exclusive.
cowashing, scalp hates it.

Haven't tried/not interested:
NW/SO or WO, not happening, my scalp smells quite strongly after 3 days I couldn't possibly go out in public, besides the greasies don't let me sleep, so that's out.
henna, on my to do list.
Forks are on my "to try" list as well.

[lapushka]

What works:
- harsh sulfate shampoos (containing both SLS as well as SLES, such as Herbal Essences or Pantene)
- detangling pre-wash with a comb and then Tangle Teezer
- clarifying washing once per week
- washing once per week
- towel drying (terry or microfiber turbie towel) for 15 to 20 min.
- airdrying (1h to 1h30min.) followed by diffusing (for 5 min.)
- WCC method followed by LOC method for styling
- cotton or microfiber pillow cases
- sleeping with the hair loose

What doesn't work:
- CO-washing
- milder, sulfate-free, shampoos
- SO/WO
- satin pillow cases
- sleep updos

[Crumpet]

What Works:
- Stretching washes (I wash 1x per week now)
- CO washing (every other wash)
- Protective updos (forks, sticks, ficcare)
- Protein treatments (whenever I remember -- maybe once a month)
- Oils (especially coconut, but also olive)
- Heat cap (for deep conditioning)
- Sleep cap (my favorite innovation)
- Wide-tooth comb
- Sulfate and -cone free
- Microtrims

What didn't work
- Honey lightening
- Tangle teaser -- ripped through my hair/was painful

Not interested/Doesn't work for me
- NW/SO and WO -- I run too much to consider this one and seems NW/SO seems to involve manipulating the hair too much for my fine hair
- Braids -- fine hair slides out unless also bunned. They also look terrible on my fine, thin hair

[battles]

Best
Stretching washes
Sleeping caps
Shampoo bars
Vinegar rinses
Tangle Teezer
Damp bunning
Nightblooming Panacea
Updos majority of the time
Castor oil for growth
Hair forks and sticks
Spin pins
Trimming twice a year

Worst
CO washing
Protein treatments
Henna
Boar bristle brushes
Sleeping with hair loose or in a bun. Shreds nape hair. :(
Tea rinses
Oils

[Toffeemonster]

Hi all, I'll include some bits I found elsewhere on the web(youtube etc) but are often offered as advice here, and often led me back to LHC when researching. And there are other beneficial things I do, that I've always done, ie benign neglect etc So I won't include them, but they're just as important for someone else.

LHC advice that works best for me:
1. Coconut oil, applied in just about any way, left in, overnight, for ends after trimming etc
2. Co-wasking (cone free)
3. Use of hair friendly hair toys (sticks, forks, ficcares, flexi8)
4. Wearing protective hairstyles, every day.
5. Tangle teezer

LHC advice that didn't work for me:
1. Ayurvedia - too complicated, too time consuming. I spent 3 months on it and although it worked in ways, I just couldn't get the cocktail right.
2. Baking soda washes and vinegar rinses - just didn't clean my hair well or have any of the benefits I've seen others mention.

Note, although there are numbers, these are not in order of preference.

[sarahthegemini]

The best LHC concept I tried was co-washing. I love it! Stretching washes too - although it was hard at first because I refused to use dry shampoo (I wanted to see if my scalp would actually adjust. It didn't.) So now I use dry shampoo before bed on day 2 and 3 and I can wash every 5 days now. Switching to using wooden combs as opposed to plastic combs or brushes was also good, as well as learning to not over-comb (I have waves!) So for example, on day 1 and 2, all I will do is flip my head over and comb the under-scalp section with my detangler and then flip back upright and comb my ends with my finer tooth comb. On days 3 and 4, I can use the detangler and finer tooth comb from root to tip. No more combing unnecessarily multiple times a day!

Practices such as overnight oiling and using oils to seal after washing were okay, but I never got good enough results to motivate me to continue them. I don't bother doing 'deep' treatments either as I don't feel I need them. I tried the whole "not combing whatsoever unless hair is coated in conditioner" thing and I wasn't pleased with the results - although as stated above, I did learn that I don't need to comb as much as I thought I did! I tried using ACV rinses and all they ever did was make my hair fluffy and fly-away, as well as make me gag on the smell. I never got great results from conditioner+honey+aloe either - I never got that "oh wow!" type of result that so many others experienced. Spin pins are an absolute bust. I can't get them to stay in my hair at all.

Phew, that's all I can think of right now!

ETA: I totally forgot sleep caps! I tried them for a while. Yeah they sucked too. Quite frankly it was such a hassle trying to tie them in the correct (i.e. most comfortable) position and I really didn't see any benefit from it. Plus I have no desire to look like an old lady. I do however love my satin pillow case.

[Applegirl84]

What works:
- damp burning to make my waves more even and defined
- gentle detangling with a wide comb and then tangle teaser
- air drying or only using a blow dryer on cool/warm
- no hot rollers, flat irons or hot blowdrying
- deep treatments (not on the scalp) I like protein, SMPs and oils
- new ways of styling hair besides ponytails (alternating between loose, top knot, french braid and messy buns)
- favourite and cheap hair toys - mini claw clips, spin pins and scrunchies (I only wear those around the house though)
- citric acid rinses! Probably the most consistent part of my routine since I joined here

What didn't work (for me):
- CO washing (bad shedding)
- any deep treatment or oil on my scalp
- plopping (just makes my waves look stringy)
- stretching washes more than a day or two (and even then I have to wear it up the second day. Not greasy, but very flat roots)
- products that make my hair feel gunky like many leave-ins, gels, mousses and staying creams

What I'm unsure about:
- sleep cap (comfy and works well, but I feel so darn dorky looking around my husband)
- cone free/sulphate free (haven't really found one better than the other)
- highly recommended hair toys (Ficcare, sticks, forks ect)
- shampoo bars - I love the volume they give me, but after a while my scalp gets itchy. Plus I worry about cone build up

[restless]

What works for me: Hairtoys (sticks, forks & ficcare). Oils (coconut, avocado). Washing the length with conditioner. Doing my own microtrims with Feyes method. S&D. Tangle teezer. No cones. No heat. No dye. Letting my hair airdry after wash.

What doesnt work for me: CO-washes because it left my hair heavy and limp. Stretching washes (I gave it a half hearted attempt but felt miserable, as my second day hair is a flat, dull and stringy disaster. Lastly, braids as protective updos dont work for me. After an hour, lots of little hairs has slipped out of the braid anyway and it just looks messy. I cant for the life of me understand how some people can go days in the same braid (yes Ive read that here), but Im impressed.

I would like to try: A silk pillowcase or a silk sleepcap, as well as a microfiber towel. Seems neat :)

Not interested in: Henna because 1: the commitment scares me and 2: it would make a terrible clash with my complexion. I wouldnt try WO or NO/SO because... because...just no. I wont do monistat and I wont go ODing on vitamins as I doubt its healthy. I wont buy a BBB for several different reasons.

[PrincessPhoebe]

What Works:
- Protective updos (namely the disc bun)
- Hair toys (flexis, ficcare, sticks)
- Wide-tooth comb
- Self trims
- No heat
- Silk pillow case
- Loose braid at night
- Detangling with giant shower comb as I rinse out conditioner
- Benign neglect!

What didn't work:
- Cone/sulphate free (unhappy scalp, tangly hair)
- Tangle teaser (not dreadful, but rubbish compared to wide-tooth comb)
- CO (the shedding :shocked:)
- Not detangling until dry (hair was ok, scalp felt awful until next wash)
- Drying with t-shirt (prefer my old Aquis towel)
- Conditioning twice (oddly, makes hair feel drier)
- Pre-wash oiling (no discernible difference, too much hassle)

Not interested:
- Stretching washes (happy washing twice a week)
- Big doses of vitamins, rubbing anything on scalp

[CurlMonster]

What works for me:
Protective updos
No heat
No dye
Hair sticks
CO washing
Microtrimming (self-trims)

What doesn't work for me:
Cone-free

[meteor]

I love reading these answers because they give me ideas for future experimentation! Thank you, guys! :flowers:

I have some changes to my original list.
LHC advice that works best for me:
1. honey as a humectant;
2. oil massages (they speed up growth and improve elasticity of my hair, but I'm too lazy so I don't do them anymore),
3. CWC (and more generally, using way more conditioner than shampoo), now I mostly do OSCO (pre-poo oil, S&C, post-poo oil leave-in),
4. no more heat (blow-drying is such an unnecessary waste of time for me!),
5. benign neglect,
6. diluting shampoo (less stripping and easier application),
7. scalp washes (great for saving time, avoiding hygral fatigue and too much wet manipulation),
8. silk caps / pillows (I thought they were too gimmicky, but they really make a difference in smoothness, shine and tangle prevention),
9. stretching washes (in the very long run this did work, even they were on the "didn't work" list originally).

LHC advice that didn't work for me:
1. black tea rinses (dull coating effect),
2. brushing (my hair is too thick and fine for BBB),
3. overnight (or extremely long) deep conditioning treatments (itchy scalp from wetness and no additional benefit for hair after an hour or 2),
4. NW/SO & WO (not ideal for scalp health),
5. shed counting and S&D obsession (this approach interferes with benign neglect IMHO),
6. honey as a lightener,
7. gels (flaxseed, aloe or commercial products): they end up looking dirty and require that I wash hair ASAP,
8. looking for HG products and oils (what a waste of time and money! :lol:), I just use up, combine and rotate multiple products now instead of trying every new product on the market.

[feb26]

What worked:
Benign Neglect
Conditioner heavy washes (not co but more condish generally)
S&C 1x week ONLY
apple cider vinegar rinses
silk pillowcases

What didn't work:
Oils (made my hair greasy & flat)
CO only (same issues)
Curly girl method/tshirt wraps for drying/curls

[velorutionista]

What has worked:
stretching washes to every 3 days
WCC routine
S&D + benign neglect
buns! and better hairtoys to hold them up (sticks, spin pins, etc. instead of gobs of bobbypins)
containing my hair while sleeping (braids or buns) has cut down on a lot of tangles
BAQ henna (transitioned from henna bars)
tea rinses
oils and panacea creams
tee-shirts for hair drying instead of towels

What hasn't worked:
CO washing (induced major shedding)
stretching washes beyond 4-5 days apart (major shedding)
plopping (I tried, but don't think I have enough curl/wave to bother)

Stuff I still want to try:
shampoo bars
tea rinses
henna gloss (curious if this'll have the same strengthening/conditioning effect as full on henna)

[GetMeToWaist]

What works:

Washing x2 a week
Air drying
Coconut oil treatments
Deep conditioning
Wide tooth combs
Spin pins
Satin pillowcases
Protective hairstyles at night
Microtrimming
No sulfates

What didn't work:

Damp bunning
Damp braiding
Protein
No cones
EVOO
ACV rinses
S&D (gradually thins ends)
CO-washing
Hairsticks/forks
Wearing hair up all the time

[Sharysa]

Best advice:
-Benign Neglect. Half the time I just braid my hair and forget it.
-Almond Oil.
-Post-shower oiling.
-Monthly S&D, monthly pre-shower oiling.
-Braids. Also, damp braiding helps with my waves a lot.
-Shampooing the scalp and conditioning the length.
-Dr. Bronner's UNSCENTED soap as shampoo/body wash. Not only is it good for my hair, I love saving money! Trying the scented/normal strength soap was horrendous for some reason, though. The itchy scalp got worse with every wash over a couple weeks.
-Feye's self trimming method! Easiest thing ever for me, plus saving money again is a big bonus.
-Finger-combing (aside from before/after a shower).
-Fairytale ends. Although it's more that I put a name to it than actually trying it out.

Worst advice:
-Coconut oil. Makes my hair crunchy, which is why I tried almond oil.
-Stretching washes. I'm fine with my sweet spot of three days/twice-weekly washes, otherwise my ends get dry and my scalp gets itchy.
-CO. I tried it before going to LHC, but it's still not a good idea. Scalp itch and shedding ahoy!
-Blunt cuts. Trying to keep my blunt cut led to MAJOR triangle-head past my shoulders, so now I just let my hair go into fairytale ends.

[leilani]

I love this thread and I want more responses! :-)

[Johannah]

Things that worked:
-Buns!
-Humectants, especially hydrolyzed keratin! Amazing!
-Washing hair less often
-No heat styling
-Benign neglect (even though I'm only doing this for some months)
-Microtrimming with feyes method
-Wide tooth comb and BBB
-Damp bunning
-Using more conditioner than shampoo (like CWC)
-Heavy oiling

Things that didn't work:
-Deep moisture treatments. My hair gets over moisturized too fast
-no sulfates: too much build up
-braiding at night: too much tangles

[s-a-m-a-r-k-a-n]

GOOD FOR ME:

micro(SELF)trimming
using a seamless wide tooth comb
olive oil on wet length
cones in conditioner
no heat styling
buns with smooth wooden hairsticks
braiding for sleep
bening neglect

BAD FOR ME:

BB brushes
coconut oil
S&D
sulfate-free shampoo
Ficcares
wet bunning or braiding

TO TRY:

tangle teezer
tea/acid/etc rinses
silk/satin pillow cases
cassia
deep treatment

THINGS I WON'T EVEN TRY:

WO
CO
protein treatment
monistat, etc.
flexi-8
self made masks/conditioners

[ChrissieM]

Works
(or worked) for me
Henna glosses...got me away from box dye, but now I am growing out natural.
SMT
CO (occasionally)
CWC
WCC - prefer this to CWC
Protective styles
Hair forks
Ficcares
Tangle Teezer
Benign neglect

Did not work
Shampoo Bars
Vinegar Rinses

[meteor]

I need to update my list since my routine changed a little bit since then.
LHC advice that works best for me:
1. avoiding all damage (heat, chemical, mechanical) and keeping hair contained;
2. pre-poo oiling, leave-in oils on ends;
3. using way more (10x) conditioner than shampoo,
4. sleeping on silk (I used to think it was too fussy, but now I think it's worth it!)
5. benign neglect.

LHC advice that isn't for me:
1. most tea rinses (dull coating effect);
2. brushing (my hair is too thick and fine for BBB);
3. overnight (or extremely long) deep conditioning treatments (itchy scalp from wetness, hygral fatigue, and no additional benefit for hair after an hour or so);
4. CO & WO as primary cleansing methods (not ideal for scalp health);
5. frequent trimming/dusting and S&D (takes too much time and effort).

[bna_rapunzel]

Best advice:
-cwc
-Inversion method with oil... my scalp is so much happier
-benign neglect
-Bbb. Oh love.... :)
-micro trims
-my hairs love of cones... its dull and blah without
-spin pins
-hair sticks
-oils as leave ins and conditioners... coconut, jojoba, etc.
-tangle teezer
-protective updos. Awesome braiding...
-caffeine/coffee/tea rinses
-acv rinses

Things that didnt work...
-co. :(
-wo.
-combs.
-finger combing
-cone free

[hanne jensen]

Best advice:

Treating hair gently
Start at the hemline when de-tangling
Wear hair up all the time
Dusting
Clarifying every once in a while
Learning what my hair needs
Benign neglect
Spraying scalp with tea between washes

What hasn't worked:

CO it trashed my scalp
WO trashed my scalp
NW/SO was a disaster
Shampoil (blending coconut oil with poo.

What I'm trying right now:

Brushing with a BBB the George Michael way
Washing my hair the GM way
Stretching hairwashes even longer, but keeping my scalp clean with a BBB and spraying with tea.

What I'd like to try:

Tea washes
A trip to a GM salon
GM products when my stsh of products is used up
Floor length hair

[Dreams_in_Pink]

In my experience...
Most useful ones:
- Wear your hair in protective styles as much as possible.
- Use oils instead of drugstore hair serums.
- Hennaaaa! :D

Least useful ones:
- Not combing/brushing wavy hair. (Unfortunately i don't have a decent wave pattern, especially after all that henna. My hair bends in awkward directions if i don't comb)
- WO washing. Not only my hair didn't benefit much, my scalp doesn't produce enough sebum to make it work.
- ACV rinses. No difference in my hair whatsoever.
- SMTs and other deep treatments. Again, no difference?

[Carolyn]

Works for me:
- SMT
- swapping products each and every wash
- damp bunning
- Ficcares
- hair sticks and forks
- lightly oiling my ends
- S & D
- CO and CWC
- Kiehls products
- MP brush
- Wet to Dry brush
- wide tooth comb
- Biolage Conditioning Balm
- getting a trim and conditioning treatment at a GM salon
- LUSH products



Does not work for me:
- washing with BS or adding BS to shampoo
- shampoil, what a disaster
- shampoo bars, another disaster
- AO products
- Monistat
- African butterfly hair comb thing
- cassia
- spin pins

- and the number one worst thing I tried was stretching washes

Things I will never try:
- henna
- soap nuts or any of the herbal washing methods
- sleep cap
- PB sleep tail
- bangs
- WO or SO
- homemade shampoo such as egg shampoo

[Avis]

Works for me:
-LOTS of conditioner
-Benign neglect
-No heat
-Buns instead of ponytails
-Self trimming (Feye's method)
-Sticks and forks
-Combs not brushes
-Silk pillowcase
-Stretching washes
-Plopping in t-shirts instead of towels

Didn't work for me:
-Only fingercombing to detangle
-ACV rinses (did nothing for me)
-Monthly length shots/measuring (got me too obsessed with my progress, I like every other month instead)
-Sleeping with bunned hair (I'm a wild sleeper)

Want to try:
-Oils/salves (I've got my eye on NightBlooming's sample trinity pack)
-Tea rinses (I have chamomile tea for drinking and may try a rinse with it)
-No cones
-Sleeping caps
-Deep treatments
-Blow drying (on the cold setting of course)

Not interested in:
-Herbal or chemical dyes
-NW/SO (I just don't think it would work for me)

???:
-Protein
-Sulfates
-Bangs

I like this thread. I still have a lot to learn and try.

[Santi]

What works for me:
SMT- I learned about this before joining LHC from another hair site.
MO- I still can't believe how much I like it.
Less amount of products. Prior to LHC I LOC'd w/ a leave in, coconut oil & flaxseed gel. Now I LOC w/ water, MO & a small amount of conditioner or flaxseed gel.

I've been experimenting w/ WCC & a BBB. The jury is still out.

[janeytilllie]

LHC advice that works for me :happydance:

Shampoo bars. Shiny hair,Great for body and my sensitive skin.
Satin caps/pillowcase
Diet and healthy nutrition especially peanut butter
Wearing buns
Feyes self trimming method
Aloe Vera gel for scalp
Olive oil leave in and making homemade leave in
Tangle teezer brush and the wet brush. Great for my wavy hair.
Not obsessing over length.
Essential oils
Embracing my own hair.
Hair forks and hair sticks
LOC method
T shirt instead of towel drying
No heat/dye


LHC advice that didn't work for me :shudder:

Combs. Snapped my hair off.
Coconut oil dried my hair and made it brittle.
Baking soda.brittle mess
Malt. Sticky brittle mess.
Eggs. allergic reaction
WO. red bumps and hair loss
Co washing. hair loss
Taking straight up biotin. Gave me acne
Not trimming. My ends need trimming every 4 months.
Stretching washing. Doesn't work for me
Taking monthly length shots. My hair is wurly and doesn't give accurate picture shots.
Scalp washing only. My length needs washing too.
Oiling on scalp. My scalp prefers Aloe Vera gel instead
S&D too much hassle, hurt my eyes and thins my ends.
BBB frizzy breakage.

[lilin]

Good idea!

Borderline wurly/curly here, with abundant but very fine hair. I have an oily skin type, but hair that tends to be on the dry side.

Best LHC advice for my hair:
- Stretching washes
- Ditching SLS
- Silk pillowcase or sleep cap (I prefer pillowcase)
- Wide tooth comb or finger combing only, and usually only when I'm about to wash it
- No combing/brushing at all after washing, or between washes
- Plopping (until damp, not dry, and only with t-shirt material, not microfiber)
- Preening
- Pre-oiling
- Sorta-WO (usually WO with very mild washes as needed, which is rarely -- I usually use a weak soap nuts solution -- although I am full WO for the time being, with my hair so short right now)
- Honey
- Occasional vinegar rinse
- Flaxseed gel
- Totally avoiding elastics
- Spin pins (LOVE!)
- Hair sticks
- Hair combs
- Protective styling
- Water softener for the shower head

Worst LHC advice for my hair:
- BBB brushing
- ANY brushing, really
- Flexi's -- my hair gets caught!
- Henna -- roughened and dried my hair
- Straight co washing -- pulls out my wurls
- Tea rinses -- I'm another one who finds them coating
- Shampoo bars -- drying and breakage over time
- Baking soda -- like shampoo bars but 100 times worse
- Aloe vera (mad build-up)
- Glycerin (same problem)
- Coconut milk (INSANE greasiness and scalp itch)
- Damp bunning (hair stays wet basically forever and takes on weird shapes)
- Catnip rinses (sticky!)
- Shikakai

Stuff I'd like to try (but may have to wait a long time, since I did the big shave!):
- Diffusing on cool
- Scalp only washing
- Mineral oil for ends
- Pineappling
- Feye's trimming method

Stuff I'll never try:
- Monistat
- Long treatments (ain't nobody got time for that!)
- Braiding for sleeping (I have a strong suspicion it would destroy my ends, and I prefer my natural curl pattern)
- Beer
- Onions?!
- Ficcares (too much money for something I'm pretty sure will just pull out hairs, like Flexi's do for me)
- Sebum only (not willing to go through any more transitions, and plus I can't imagine never getting to feel warm water over my scalp again -- just feels too good!)

[Shepherdess]

LHC stuff that works for me:
-Bar Shampoo (love, love, love this!!! Works great for me).
-ACV rinses (makes my hair so shiny and soft)
-Olive oil, though in very small amounts (diluted a tad bit with aloe vera and water)
-Sesame seed, Apricot kernel seed, or jojoba oil (these are thinner oils)
-Wide tooth comb
-BBB (only use it when I haven't let my hair curl though)
-Protective buns and updos
-Going cone free and sulfate free
-Hair sticks and Amish pins
-Self trim
-No more unsafe elastic hair bands (now I only use soft scrunchies at times and Loop ‘N Loom stretchy loops, though not meant for hair, but so soft and they work well on my hair).
-Occasional mayonnaise treatments with honey and eggs (works great when my hair gets overly dry, or when ends get Velcroy, plus doesn't leave my hair all oily, though I never leave it in overnight).
-Essential oils
-Silky sleeping caps and headscarves

LHC stuff that doesn't work for me:
-Baking Soda (made my hair horribly crunchy, dry, and near impossible to comb through)
-Quite a few all natural shampoos I tried, especially after a deep oiling treatment (would cause gumming and stickiness that was horrible in my hair and made it very hard to comb through).
-Heavy oil treatments on scalp and length, especially heavy oils, like castor oil, or olive oil, and even coconut oil (they were very hard to wash and clean out and caused my scalp to feel damp and oily, while also causing hair to easily pull/fall out).
-Coconut oil (sometimes makes my hair a bit crunchy, there are times it seems alright, but using it too much doesn't seem to be good for my hair).
-Clarifying with sulfates (some recommended this...it may appear to help at first, but then it makes my hair brittle).
-Stretching washes over a week (it's easy for me to do, but makes my scalp itchy and seems to make my hair pull out easier, my scalp is better with at least washing 1 to 2 times a week)
-Tangle Teezer (I have a brush similar brand, probably not the same though, but it was too easy for me to use and be less careful with my hair, plus I couldn't feel when it tore through knots, so it resulted in much more breakage).
-Mineral oil (becomes sticky and causes hair to stick together and near impossible for me to wash out without sulfates, so never again)
-Benign Neglect (my scalp does best when it is regularly stimulated with brushing or massages and kept clean)
-Damp bunning (way too heavy for me, so it hurts my scalp and doesn't dry)
-Finger combing

[elsieivy]

Stuff that works for me
-CWC
-avoiding metal on hair ties (I only use ribbon ties now)
-avoiding wet brushing
-finger detangling
-leave-ins (I love Panacea)
-wearing hair up (it's almost always in a braid or bun now)
-sleeping braids
-henna!

Stuff that didn't work (for me)
-CO
-stretching washes longer than 3 or 4 days
-baking soda

[Frankenstein]

Works:

Silk pillowcase/sleep cap
Benign neglect
Avoiding heat
Olive oil
Wearing hair up as much as possible
Cold rinse

Doesn't Work:

Waiting until hair is completely dry to detangle
Wide-tooth comb
Clarifying my length
Pre-shampoo oiling
Leave-in conditioners

[endlessly]

Best advice:

1) Investing in a Tangle Teezer - I now have 3, but they truly have saved my hair and prevented loads of breakage and damage.
2) Stretching washes - I can't go too many days since I have a heavy exercise regimen and my scalp gets itchy, but skipping a day or two has helped.
3) Using oils - I've recently been using Argan oil and am in love
4) Cutting out silicones - my eczema-prone scalp is extremely thankful for this!
5) Stop heat-styling - my hair used to be dry and frizzy because of daily use of hot rollers.
6) Wearing hair up and sleeping in braids - no more tangles! I used to spend an hour detangling every morning, but not anymore! Plus, I get gorgeous waves!

Worst Advice:

1) Going sulfate-free - I can't do it. My hair and scalp need it too much otherwise, it just doesn't feel clean.
2) CO-washing - again, it drives my scalp crazy and makes me feel like I haven't washed in weeks.
3) Baking Soda - really dried out my scalp and hair, not worth it.
4) Coconut Oil - I know this is a holy grail to some people, but my sensitive scalp absolutely hates it. It makes me breakout and my eczema flare up.

I think overall, I've received excellent advice when I've been in a bind, but a lot of things were tricks I figured out through trial and error. I learned so many helpful tips and tricks when I first started on my journey to have longer, healthier hair that now, people actually stop me and ask for advice!

[Lauraes]

Advice that worked for me:
Heavy pre-poo oiling
Coconut and olive oil
Aloe vera
Satin pillow case and silk sleep cap- apart from the issue of my sleep cap falling off 95% of the time
Avoiding heat
Wearing hair up
Sulfate free shampoo
Stretching washes- I went from every day to twice a week
More use of comb, less use of brush

Advice that didn't work for me:
Detangling in the shower- I still would have to detangle again afterwards; it made no difference besides increasing the chance of breakage from detangling twice
Oiling on wet hair- made my hair look greasy and feel less silky
BBB- my thick and fine hair hates it
Apple Cider Vinegar rinse- made my hair feel drier besides the fact I just hate vinegar period
Syrup- way too sticky and gave me no benefits
Damp bunning/braiding- my hair rarely dried unless it was almost dry to begin with, and in that case I got frizz

[picklepie]

Worked:
CWC
Finger detangling
Sulfate-free
Conditioner on only from ears down (why hadn't I thought of this??)
Buns with sticks and forks
S&D
Wear-up-every-day philosophy
Sleeping with hair down, and over the pillow
Washing bent over the bathtub instead of in the shower
Stretching washes. I usually go about five or six days
Spin pins
The LWB, Queen of all the buns!
Vinegar rinses

What didn't work:
BBB-- this is for STRAIGHT HAIR, people!
Combing or brushing dry instead of wet-- more STRAIGHT HAIR ONLY advice!
Oil shampoo (too many steps and fussing)
Everybody else's holy grail products. You really do have to find your own!
Ficarre clips. Sigh.
SMT. Once I rinse thoroughly it's like I never did it.
Herbal concoctions. Too lazy.

[Kendrix]

I have fine, relatively straight hair and a lot of it. Also a bit of body wave.Things that worked well for me:

1.) Vinegar, vinegar, Vinegar. Acv rinses saved my hair. It stinks because my hair hates drying, but it detangles my fine hair like magic and keeps buildup OFF. I swear by it. Every shower. Always.
2. Protective hairstyles+hair toys. No more hairbands. Ever again. Sticks and forks really changed my life. Hair that is easy to style and take down persuaded me not to cut it. Parandas too. Tying it off with yarn is less damaging for me.
3. Sulfate free shampoo helps me deal with oilies without stripping my hair. (On the downside, they don't clean so well.)
4. CWC. My hair really needs it. Straight, fine and I have a lot of it. It's like velcro. Really needs the slickness that conditioner provides. CO helps me stretch washes too. But of course vinegar on top of that lol.
5. Stretching washes. I looked HORRIBLE at first, but after months, my hair really doesn't get as greasy as it used to. I used to have to wash every 2 days or so, now my hair can go 8-10 days. It's great.

Things that DID NOT WORK.

1. Honey lightening. (With cinnamon it's worse.). This did nothing. NOTHING. I expected it to work because my hair is a very light brown naturally, but nope. And the cinnamon caked to my scalp. Wouldn't come off. It was so nasty. Without cinnamon I suppose it was okay except for the waterfall of drips down my neck through towel and saran wrap. Ugh.

2. Ditching silicones entirely. It was trying to brush through a brillo pad. My (straight) hair refused to detangle and started to mat. I also ditched vinegar during this dark period because my family complained that I smelled like salad dressing all the time. I need just a little light silicone. Right now I use wen pomegranate as my end conditioner before my Acv rinse. A little slip goes a long way.

4. Oils. My hair hates being oiled. My hair is fine so when I oil it, it just looks wet. Coconut oil is actually so heavy on my hair. Baby oil was okay, but the smell makes my nose itch so I quit it. Olive oil was by far the worst. My hair was sticky and nasty for washes after. Oils don't wash out of my hair well.

5. Waiting till hair is dry to brush it. my hair takes hours and hours to dry and sticks to itself when damp. It needs to be brushed with my tangle tamer while it has ultimate slip and that is when it is wet. It's a real nightmare waiting for it and it dries in weird shapes. It just looks messy, not wavy. It's horrible.

Bonus: braid waves. They just don't. My hair looks like Ramen and tangles every time. Every. Time. It's better with a paranda, but the waves fall out no matter what method I use.

[kidari]

I'm sure I'll be forgetting some but just off the top of my head:

Best

self-trims

microtrimming

SMT

Kimberlily's defrizz spray

damp bunning

no heat

heat-free curling methods

not washing every single day

the general idea that beautiful hair stems mostly from gentle handling and avoiding damaging things daily and long-term more than anything else you do

oiling (I used coconut before LHC, but since joining I've discovered my hair loves avocado, camellia, shea butter, red palm oil, and so many more- hoarding oils and butters has also become a problem of mine)

Worst

obsessing in general (about length, damage, any new experiments/routines/methods/etc)

stretching washes too much (not good for my scalp and I get bad dry ends)

long stretches of no trimming (I end up having to cut more off when I trim, it's probably all the same but mentally I can deal with microtrims better)

avoiding shampoo

avoiding cones

castor oil used neat, especially on the scalp (shedding disaster)

extreme benign neglect (my hair needs oiling and treatments and care for the scalp)

I've never tried it but I would avoid baking soda used on the hair at all costs

[sea.chelle]

Things that have helped my hair:

-Microtrims/Self-trims
-S&D
-Stretching washes
-Benign neglect
-Giving up the bleach
-Deep Conditioning
-CWC
-Clarifying
-Very very light oiling, only with certain ones like argan though
-Eating well and taking vitamins

Things that haven't worked:

-Coconut oil kills my hair
-Olive oil, etc are too heavy
-Protein treatments
-Most homemade treatments like honey, ACV rinses, baking soda
-Giving up cones--still have too much bleach damage
-Trimming too much at a time
-Not trimming often enough
-CO washing
-Becoming too preoccupied with my hair

Things I'm testing out:

-Caffeine rinses
-Inversion method
-Protective hairstyles
-Natural lightening methods (lemon and chamomile)
-BBB brushing

That's all I've come up with off the top of my head. So interesting how much our results can vary from one hair type to the next!

[meteor]

So interesting how much our results can vary from one hair type to the next!

Oh yessss! :agree:
I love checking out this thread for ideas for future hair experiments.

Also, this thread made me realize how lots of things didn't work for me in the past but do wonders now, so I definitely love experimenting. :)

For example, back in the day, I would never have guessed that sleeping on silk makes such a huge difference, but it does, and just one night on thick cotton pillowcase makes my hair comparatively more dry, frizzy and tangle-prone. I don't do oil massages anymore because they interfere with my benign neglect. And I've managed to stretch washes quite a lot, especially thanks to scalp-only washes and wearing hair up daily.


Thank you so very much, everyone, for posting all the comments! :flowers: Please keep them coming! :)

[rosieolie]

I have mostly straight hair with some waves here and there. Some of it is slippy, the rest is coarse, which can be a real challenge.

Things I like:

- EVOO. This is the only oil that has worked for my hair. Don't know why.
- Tangle Teezer. I get far less breakage with the TT than with a regular brush.
- Scalp massage. Not inverted though, because I get too many tangles that way.
- Taking time to brush, not just ripping through it as fast as possible.
- Microtrims.
- Avoiding heat (except for blow dryer on the warm setting).
- Satin pillowcase.
- ACV rinse after conditioning.*
- Stretching washes.
- Small amount of baking soda dissolved in water for clarifying rinse.
- Drying with a shirt instead of a towel.

Things that aren't so great for me:

- Combs.
- Coconut oil.
- Anything with protein in it.
- S&D. Too much time and my eyes don't fare well.
- Oil scalp massage. I do apply castor oil to my scalp every now and then, but I don't do a full massage with it because it's too sticky.
- Going without cones.

*My boyfriend is repulsed by vinegar. Is there anyway to avoid the lingering smell of ACV? I can't smell it (maybe my nose gets used to it after the initial rinse), but he says he can. I'd rather not be unattractive to him just because I want shiny hair, ha ha.

[meteor]

*My boyfriend is repulsed by vinegar. Is there anyway to avoid the lingering smell of ACV? I can't smell it (maybe my nose gets used to it after the initial rinse), but he says he can. I'd rather not be unattractive to him just because I want shiny hair, ha ha.

Oh yes, you can try lemon juice or lime juice heavily diluted. They smell light and fresh.

Keep in mind that lemon juice pH is around 2 - 2.35 and lime juice pH is around 2 - 2.8, so you need to dilute them more heavily than you would ACV (ph ~ 3.1) : http://www.foodscience.caes.uga.edu/extension/documents/FDAapproximatepHoffoodslacf-phs.pdf

Another potential alternative is to use so-called "miracle water" during your washes, which is water with vitamin C and citric acid: http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=51184

[catasa]

LHC advice that have worked:

Mineral oil leave-in
Silk pillow cases
Clarifying and chelating
Information about over-moisturizing possibility (that frizzy hair may not be dry but instead over-moisturized or simply not happy with conditioner/normal leave-ins)
Diluting shampoo
Not brushing/combing
Drying without touching
Judicious use of protein treatments
T-shirt hair towels
Hair sticks
Cone free-ness
Cool blow drying

Currently experimenting with pre-poo oiling and ROO/rinse-out oil (shampoo, oil, rinse, conditioner, see lapushkas thread: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=129191) since my hair suddenly seems inclined to like a bit of moisturizing again, after a long stretch of best results with only shampoo and mineral oil leave-in.

Not worked:

CO washing (shedding, unhappy lengths)
Deep treatments (my hair almost never respond well to any kind of DT, oily or humectant-y)
Stretching washes (shedding)
Miracle water/citric acid rinse (dried out hair in the long run, even very well diluted)
Coconut oil (acne break outs, and not very successful for hair)
Oil shampoo (worked sometimes, but never could get it consistent)
Aloe vera (itchy skin)
Flax seed gel (gave nice soft waves most of the time, but built up like crazy)

[kidari]

*My boyfriend is repulsed by vinegar. Is there anyway to avoid the lingering smell of ACV? I can't smell it (maybe my nose gets used to it after the initial rinse), but he says he can. I'd rather not be unattractive to him just because I want shiny hair, ha ha.

look into citric acid rinses... I get all the benefits of vinegar rinses with none of the smell!

[flickm]

A lot of these I was already doing before joining this community in April, but the henna advice was mostly new and very welcome.
Pros:
No heat: I just air dry without combing when wet
shampoo bars (so far so brilliant, but have only just begun with this)
horn comb
oiling hair ends
vinegar rinse
peppermint essential oil
plastic bottle with tapered spout to henna roots (not tried it yet but I think it should help)
honey lightening for henna - did lift a shade in brightness, though it mostly oxidised back darker
mixing hibiscus powder with henna to tone down orange on hennaed white roots (for my friend, not me - I did her hair for her) - thank you to the ever helpful hennalonghair for this advice and instructions on applying.

Cons:
amla for conditioning (turns my henna brown)
conditioner (the vingar rinse does the job without lankness on my hair)
frequent washing - my hair is better with a once weekly wash, but I went poo free for two years so my hair is used to producing the right amount of scalp oils
baking soda - worked well as a wash routine from the point of view of my hair, but messy, tedious, and almost impossible to buy off the shelf in the UK
boar bristle brush - used one for three years and got a ton of shed hair wrapped around it every day: now I'm using a horn comb, I lose a few hairs a week
wearing hair up: yes, I'm sure it protects the hair, but i hate how it looks and feels on me, and i grow my hair so i can see it, not hide it.
getting paranoid about protecting and maintaining hair: while i agree with looking after it, and maintaining it is fun, it's just hair, don't let it take over your whole life.

There are others, can't think right now. I think i practice benign neglect by default, if that means never going to the hairdresser, or styling hair (other than hennaing).

[yahirwaO.o]

Pros. Oiling with macademia and joboba, wooden combs and brushes, being neglect, tying braids with ribbons and honey

Cons. Co wash, bunning hair, coconut oil, constant checkin lenght and streaching washes.

:rolleyes:

[flickm]

[QUOTE=

*My boyfriend is repulsed by vinegar. Is there anyway to avoid the lingering smell of ACV? I can't smell it (maybe my nose gets used to it after the initial rinse), but he says he can. I'd rather not be unattractive to him just because I want shiny hair, ha ha.[/QUOTE]

My bloke hates the smell too and complains like mad if he smells it when i'm applying it. I find mixing peppermint essential oil with it cuts the smell down. Last time i went to buy cider vinegar they were out of stock so i got white wine vinegar instead, and that just smells of wine, so no more complaints.

[Hairkay]

What works
Finger detangling damp hair (no comb or brush)
air drying (been doing this all my life)
WO washing (allergies to soap and other stuff plus eczema)
LOC using coconut oil, olive oil and almond oil
Low manipulation and protective styling like wearing hair up
Satin hair cap
Occasional mild vinegar rinses
S & D
Approximately 20 minutes deep conditioning
Banana dp (well works most times plus the natural vitamin c helps with clarification)
Banana and apple (baby food) dp
Yoghurt dp
Fenugreek and yoghurt dp
Honey (heated before hand) and yoghurt dp
Oat washes or rinses
Henna glosses

Doesn't work
Shampoos, manufactured conditioners, soap products and fragranced products (eczema/dermatis, allergic to these stuff even baby products, organic stuff and many strong essential oils some use as fragrances may cause some irritations)
NW/SO (I have abnormally dry skin and dry hair so this would be a disaster. Scalp gets itchy and cracks without frequent rinses. Hair also begins to look dull with lifeless stretched out curls if my rinses are stretched out too much)
BBB, super curly hair presents more difficulty with brushing and messes with my curl clumps
silicones (allergy problem plus there'd be the worry over which silicones wash out with just water)
Mineral oil (always sold with added fragrances)
Baking soda

Not interested

Collecting hair toys
using a lot of hard hair accessories
Keeping my curly hair extremely stretched out

May try
Amla in henna gloss
Indigo
Using a fresh aloe vera leaf
Finding new hair styles
peaches and banana baby food dc

[Lindenare]

LHC stuff that works for me:
- Buns and braids (I wore braids long before LHC, but learned some new techniques here. Also learned my first updos here.)
- Honey (Occasional honey+conditioner makes my hair silky after it does odd things)
- Benign neglect
- Hairsticks


LHC stuff that didn't work:
- Detangling while wet. (Soaked with conditioner, oils or not. It doesn't happen. Period.)
- CO (Hair was limp, ended up oily very fast, and I don't think all the conditioner rinsed out.)

There isn't much because I mostly knew what worked for my hair before joining, and I don't have the money to experiment. I'd love to play around with hairtoys, though.

[catasa]

...
Doesn't work
...
Mineral oil (always sold with added fragrances)
...

I also had trouble finding pure mineral oil without additives (fragrances or other stuff) in my country but I finally found that it is sold here at pharmacies for internal use for indigestion, under the name "Liquid paraffin"/paraffinum liquidum. This works great for my hair (and skin). If it is only the fragrances that keeps you from trying/using mineral oil, maybe there would be some similar product in the UK!

[bluebreezes]

Wow, this thread is such an eye opener, especially for those things that didn't work. It certainly busts many of my assumptions. Keep adding your lists please. It's a good education for us shorties!

[ilovemocacoffee]

the worst advice is forgetting about your hair on purpose, one has to take care of one's hair regardless of impatience, it's still your hair, just because it's not in the style that you want, or the length that you require does not justify not caring for it, and anyway hair shedds if not washed in some sort of cycle. and CO washing is terrible for your hair, it weighs the hair down, and coats the hair, making it appear dull and lifeless. but acv rinses are the best, i do an acv rinse after shampoo everytime, way much better than conditioner because it leaves hair lightweight, smooth, soft and silky with bounce and can hold styles very well.

[ilovemocacoffee]

we must have the same hair history, and i totally am with you on the acv rinse instead of the conditioner, less product the better i say, i'm much more about the quality than the quantity. i'd rather have thick medium hair than lank long hair.

[Arctic]

quality post :popcorn:

[leilani]

the worst advice is forgetting about your hair on purpose, one has to take care of one's hair regardless of impatience, it's still your hair, just because it's not in the style that you want, or the length that you require does not justify not caring for it, and anyway hair shedds if not washed in some sort of cycle. and CO washing is terrible for your hair, it weighs the hair down, and coats the hair, making it appear dull and lifeless. but acv rinses are the best, i do an acv rinse after shampoo everytime, way much better than conditioner because it leaves hair lightweight, smooth, soft and silky with bounce and can hold styles very well.

Hair sheds no matter what.
And everyone defines "washing" ones hair and "caring for" ones hair in a different way. Different methods work for different heads of hair and different scalps. If you read this thread you will quickly see how individual results really do vary wildly.
Sounds like shampoo and acv rinses are your method that works very well so stick to it and enjoy your hair harmony! Other people find the same level of satisfaction with their hair with CO or NW/SO or WO, and that's fine if they've figured out their scalps and hair does best with those methods. To each their own on this "best hair you can grow" journey!

[ilovemocacoffee]

Hair sheds no matter what.
And everyone defines "washing" ones hair and "caring for" ones hair in a different way. Different methods work for different heads of hair and different scalps. If you read this thread you will quickly see how individual results really do vary wildly.
Sounds like shampoo and acv rinses are your method that works very well so stick to it and enjoy your hair harmony! Other people find the same level of satisfaction with their hair with CO or NW/SO or WO, and that's fine if they've figured out their scalps and hair does best with those methods. To each their own on this "best hair you can grow" journey!

your absolutley right leilani, i was speaking from my own experience, because i have fine thin hair conditioner does not do me any favours. because i know a lot of people who vary with their hair care preferences, like one of my friends uses sulfates, cones, dyes her hair and heat styles it all the time, and her hair is in good condition. but if i do one thing different my hair rebels.

[leilani]

It's so great to actually figure out what your hair wants and give it to it!

[embee]

The worst thing I tried was (*only one time*) baking soda - oh my dear, talk about straw hair. Ugh. Not for me. Took a while to get back to normal, also.

Vinegar rinse is not necessary here, this water is ok. But when I was a teen we lived where the water was very very soft and shampoo and soap simply did not rinse off, no matter how long I stood in the shower. Skin doctor recommended diluted vinegar rinse to cut out the soapy feeling and it worked excellently.

(Also it worked well with cloth baby diapers, and got the bleach out so it could not irritate the baby bottom!)

NW/SO and WO were fine things I learned here. Also S&D. I will not discuss the hairtoys and updo styles... that would be a novel. ;)

[Aderyn]

This will be a list of things I've changed. Some things I was doing pre-LHC, such as being heat-free or sulfate-free.

Worked:
Patience
Benign neglect
Feye's self trimming
Updos
Stretching washes
Cone-free
WCC method
Daily oiling (very light)
Wide tooth seamless comb
Finger combing (in shower)
Pre-poo oil treatments
Microtrimming

Hasn't worked
BBB (still trying to get it to ... )
Tea/ACV/catnip/etc. rinses - way too much effort
Henna - I've only done a couple of glosses, but it's too messy and didn't do that much for me, too much effort
Using a comb in the shower, while my hair is soaked with conditioner. Nope. Nope. Nope. My hair is too fine and thick for that to work, I just stick to finger combing in the shower
Oiling with mineral oil
Castor oil - too thick, it's fine if it's mixed in with other stuff, but not by itself.

Works decently, but not something I want to/actually do regularly
Shampoo bars
Mud washes (i.e. Terresentials)
Cowashing
SMT
Tangle Teezer
Cones (especially if my hair is tangled terribly)

Works on hair and clearing out the bank account
Hairtoys

[cat11]

Best- Silk cap, wide tooth comb, oil, rinse out oil, SMT & variants (and adding stuff to conditioner in general, particularly aloe, agave nectar and sunflower oil, together or seperate) combing methods, bunning methods (protective hairstyles using friendly toys, wearing hair up method, not detangling until 100 percent dry, hair sticks, forks, flexis, natural dry shampoo (cocoa & cornstarch- works great!!!,) trimming methods, microtrimming, damp braiding for manageability & frizz control, learning that less brushing was more....scalp massages

worst- Co washing with regular conditioner (works great with actual cowash), tangle teezer, paranda (because I think it's ugly lol,) coconut oil close to the scalp, turbie twist (I THOUGHT it was great for awhile because of it helping dry time and getting hair out of my face but then I tried stopping it's use and my hair got ALOT easier to detangle post wash)

[elsieivy]

Works on hair and clearing out the bank account
Hairtoys

lol. Very true

[Larki]

I haven't tried much really, but everything I've tried has been great! Silk sleep cap (Adorabellababy), satin pillowcase, combs instead of brush (EternallyInAmber), co-washing (Suave/Wen), pre-wash deep conditioning and/or oiling (coconut/joboba/argan), not combing while wet, keeping hair up most of the time.

[battles]

Silicone and sulfate free did not work for me. I need to clarify frequently, and my hair knots and tangles horribly when I don't use silicones.

Wearing my hair up and using a sleeping cap at night has been one of the best things I've done.

[arr]

Best:
No heat except low blow drying
Wear hair up
Damp oiling
Silicone free
Humectants
BBB
Diluted vinegar rinses
Tangle Teezer
Hair sticks/forks

Worst:
Stretching washes more than 2-3 days
CO washing
Sulfate free

[gwenalyn]

Best advice: Your Mileage May Vary!

[Jane99]

This thread looked fun and I thought I would bump it up to add some pizzazz to the 2021 forum. Blast from the past, so you may say!

Best advice:
Hair oiling! Pre poo, ROO, after washing, all of it
Using conditioner to get the oil out
Silk/satin pillowcase
Protective styles
Henna/cassia
Stretching washes (to some extent)
Sleeping in a braid
Watch out for lint!
Microtrims and self trims
Sciency-Hair blog recommendation!!

Unhelpful advice:
Stretching washes too far (not for me! Causes itching for me)
BBB (caused more breakage for me)
Sleep cap (awful)

That’s it for now! I’m sure there will be more :)

[GoddesJourney]

Co washing was good, as well as a silk pillowcase, braiding regularly (not a fan of bunning), gentler shampoos, no silicones, not "needing a trim every so many weeks, self trims, ignoring my hair otherwise. Oh, and spin pins. And S&D was good for me when I was growing out damage. Adding oil to shampoo and conditioner. Reading labels.

Coconut oil didn't work for me, nor did stretching washes. Satin pillowcases were all static for me. Bunning makes headaches. Combing seems to make more knots and tangling for me (even the wide tooth comb) even though I loved my horn comb. Maybe now it would be better. Haven'ttried in a while. The Denman is my magic brush. BB brushing doesn't penetrate my hair at all and makes breakage and static.

[Shepherdess]

^it has been a while since I've seen this thread!! �� I know I've posted here before, but I feel some things have changed.

Best:
Gentle updos (nautilus my favorite and braided styles)
Silicone-free products
Wooden hair sticks
Amish pins
Oil damp hair
Leave-in conditioner
S&D
Wood combs
Tangle teezer (helpful especially when spreading conditioner or leave in creams)


Worst:
Coconut oil
Scalp oil treatments (my scalp doesn't like too much oils)
Trims (not really worst, but for me I am loving my hair the most with fairytale ends lately now :) )

[JasminxCat]

Best advice for me:
Patience
WCC, ROO, SMT
Tangle Teezer
Silk scrunchies
Spin pins, hair forks
Sleeping in protective styles
Silk pillowcases
Feye's trimming method
Leave ins, oils

Advice that didn't work for me:
Wide tooth combs / combs in general (breakage)
Scalp massaging (increased shedding)
Stretching washes too far (increased shedding)

[Kathie]

Best advice:
-Oiling, ends and pre-shampoo.
-How to do protective updos that distribute weight.
-Shampoo Bars

Worst advice:
-CO washing. I get a really sore scalp if I do this.
-Also stretching washes too far- increased shedding.

[Handel'sWig]

What worked for me:

- Stretching washes to once a week

- oils- my hair pretty much loves them all and lots of them.

- Acv- it leaves my hair super clean and conditioned

- braiding to sleep

- hair sticks

-ditching elastic hair ties- I’ll never wear one again

- protective styles in general

- (mostly) avoiding heat

What didn’t work for me:

- Avoiding sulfates or no-poo- I get dandruff if I do either

- avoiding silicones- my hair tangles a bunch and I have to use lots of silicones to manage breakage

- rinsing only with cold water- doesn’t seem to make a difference

- detangling wet while conditioner is on- for me that’s a great way to get tons of breakage

- claw clips- find them annoying

-Also this isn’t really LHC advice , but I discovered that the CGM is not for me.

What the jury’s still out on:

- no trims for long periods of time- I went a while without trimming recently and my ends got all gnarly and split. I gained quite a bit of length though so honestly idk what my trimming policy is I’m just winging it. I’d like to be part of the no trims club but I get soo many splits.

- S&D- it’s nice to catch split ends. but like, I can’t get all of them so it drives me crazy. Also it seems like I only notice splits when I don’t have my scissors… I can’t rely on it

- CWC- I see the point of protecting your lengths while shampooing and it’s a good way to get oil out but otherwise I haven’t noticed a difference. I use the method but I don’t swear by it like a lot of people here.

- scalp massage- sure it feels nice but as far as doing any good I don’t know.

- Hair up all the time- I know it’s better for breakage and it’s definitely helped to wear it up more . But also I kind of feel like my hair needs a “rest” from the tension of buns and braids sometimes. I wear it up or braided probably 80% of the time I’m awake but I feel like it’s better for it to let it free every so often.

-blow drying. I’ve heard conflicting info about this regarding hair health. I admit I’ve gone back to blow drying about once every 2-3 washes lately because I love the way it makes my hair look. I use very little heat and surely it can’t hurt much only that often? Besides it prevents me from sleeping on damp hair since I prefer to wash in the evening.

[Nox_Inber]

Best Advice
Microtrimming
ROO
Henndigo
Buns
Chelating
S&D
Coney serum
Humectants

Worst Advice
Shampoo bars
Boar Bristle Brush
Coconut Oil
Olive Oil
Stretching washes
Wet bunning
Baking Soda

[Siv]

Love this! I need to go back and read the whole thing when I have time

The good:
- testing all the things to see what works for me (even those that didn't work out). So much fun and definitely a learning experience!
- YMMV
- no heat
- WCC
- CWC
- pre poo
- sticks and forks
- self-trimming and micro-trimming
- tangle teezer

The bad:
- sulphate & silicone-free
- no poo (CO, baking soda, flour, eggs, shampoo bars etc)
- combs
- leave-ins (both oil and conditioner)
- leave-ins
- stretching washes
- satin pillowcases (no difference)
- satin sleeping cap (cannot for the life of me keep it on all night)

[foreveryours]

BEST advice:

CWC
dealing with hard water
avoid detangling wet hair
wear hair up more
use a satin pillowcase

WORST advice:

stretch washes

[GoddesJourney]

Seems like a lot of people don't do well with combs. I thought I was the only one.

[Eastbound&Down]

I'm seeing a lot of people saying BB brushes don't work for them because their hair is too thick but, my hair is pretty thick and I just section my hair and love my BBB. Is there something else about it that isn't working for you besides thickness of your hair?

[Ylva]

Love this! I need to go back and read the whole thing when I have time

Exactly!


The best advice for me:
- YMMV
- Leave-ins (at least while I still have bleached hair; can't speak for virgin ends/lengths)
- Not trimming for longer periods of time; S&D even though I barely do it but it's something that's good to have in your mental arsenal as an ideology if nothing else
- Patience, focusing on something other than hair
- Not brushing my hair (to preserve texture and clumps)
- I was already doing WCC for years pre-LHC, but I guess I can list it here anyway

The worst advice for me:
- Wearing hair up all the time. I prefer to wear my hair braided even though it results in more mechanical damage.
- Stretching washes. I actually went back into being a daily washer while hanging out in the LHC.
- Washing the scalp with a "moisturising" shampoo. Turns out, I am perfectly fine with sulfate-free and such, but react negatively to stearate (the stuff that makes a shampoo opaque rather than clear).
- Combs

[ArienEllariel]

Worst advice:
Olive oil in any way shape or form on my hair. It weighs it down horribly and is a pain to get out with shampoo.
Fine toothed combs- they just make my hair snap off
Air drying without detangling first. My hair does not like that one bit.

Best advice:
The Tangle Teazer
Using more gentle hairbands (especially those little plastic ones for the ends of braids)
Not washing my hair every day

[Nox_Inber]

I'm seeing a lot of people saying BB brushes don't work for them because their hair is too thick but, my hair is pretty thick and I just section my hair and love my BBB. Is there something else about it that isn't working for you besides thickness of your hair?

The BBB turns my hair into a fluff ball and does weird things to my texture D:

[lapis_lazuli]

Nice to see this thread again!

Best advice:
- Buns (of course)
- Benign neglect :heart:
- Finger combing
- Stretching washes
- Scalp-only washes
- Air drying (with claw clip!)
- Sleep cap

"Worst" advice:
- Combs/brushes (snap snap snap)
- CWC (saw no difference from SC and just wasted conditioner)
- Wet detangling in the shower
- Bottom-up detangling (not at this length)
- S&D (good in theory but makes me crazy)

[Lainey]

Nice to see this thread again!

Best advice:
- Buns (of course)
- Benign neglect :heart:
- Finger combing
- Stretching washes
- Scalp-only washes
- Air drying (with claw clip!)
- Sleep cap

"Worst" advice:
- Combs/brushes (snap snap snap)
- CWC (saw no difference from SC and just wasted conditioner)
- Wet detangling in the shower
- Bottom-up detangling (not at this length)
- S&D (good in theory but makes me crazy)

Hi lapis-lazuli ... as regards the claw clip...doesn’t it take forever to dry when you clip it this way? I only ask because it seems like a very handy way to do it, so I might give it a go. Would you mind describing your process? Thanks

[meepster]

Best advice: wearing it up. Also, oiling.

Worst: curly girl method or stretching washes. Both of these resulted in a very unhappy scalp for me.

[lapis_lazuli]

Hi lapis-lazuli ... as regards the claw clip...doesn’t it take forever to dry when you clip it this way? I only ask because it seems like a very handy way to do it, so I might give it a go. Would you mind describing your process? Thanks

It does take quite long to dry, but I accept that at my length :p I set aside a whole day that I'll be at home to wash and dry.

After I've dabbed out all the water I can, I just slightly twist somewhere down the length, fold it up against the back of my head, and clip the twisted section near my crown. I leave a foot or more of hair hanging down after the clip.

This (https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/543176405065774868/) is essentially how I do it, but much looser at the base. More twisting = more dry time. I also wear a thick sweater to keep the damp hair off my neck/shoulders. HTH! :)

[sipnsun]

Best advice:
Wearing protective styles even while sleeping
Satin pillowcase
Scalp massage
SMT recipe
Heavy oiling
Stretching washes
Don’t comb when wet
Deep condition regularly
Wooden hair sticks


Worst advice and why it doesn’t work for me:
Brushing with a BBB (my MP is pretty stiff and harsh, I don’t like it)
Sleep caps (I can’t keep them on unfortunately)
Detangling with conditioner in the shower (I lose too much hair this way)

[Lainey]

It does take quite long to dry, but I accept that at my length :p I set aside a whole day that I'll be at home to wash and dry.

After I've dabbed out all the water I can, I just slightly twist somewhere down the length, fold it up against the back of my head, and clip the twisted section near my crown. I leave a foot or more of hair hanging down after the clip.

This (https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/543176405065774868/) is essentially how I do it, but much looser at the base. More twisting = more dry time. I also wear a thick sweater to keep the damp hair off my neck/shoulders. HTH! :)
Thank you!

[EdG]

The best advice was using a wide-tooth wooden comb, diluting shampoo, and washing every 3-4 days.

I don't think I have ever gotten bad advice, only advice that would not work for my hair type.
Ed

[Pouncequick]

What works for my hair
No hair elastics (when possible, no metal with cloth cover if not)
Stretching washes (from daily to every three days)
Almond, grapeseed, avocado oil (pre-wash)
Jojoba oil (leave in)
Mineral oil (rinse out)
Washing with strong shampoos (sulfate free can work, limited)
Shampoo brushes
Scalp washes (dry length version, drying takes too long)
Vinegar/Miracle water rinse
WCC method
Using a tangle teezer
Limited heat styling (occasional blow dry for special occasions)
Wearing hair up
Brush gently once or twice a day (start at bottom with fingers)
Braiding hair to sleep
Air dry (half ups help!)
Braiding wet hair to detangle later

What didn't work
Damp bunning (pulls on scalp)
Detangling wet hair
Herbal rinses (leave a coating and cause tangles)
Leave ins other than light oil (cause tangling)
Shampoo bars
NW/SO/WO
Other alternative wash methods
Any moisturizing shampoo
Head banging to dry hair faster
Oil shampoo mix
SMT
Honey as humectant (more tangles)
Coconut and olive oil
Combs
BBB (made me oily)

I'm going to try a silk sleep cap soon. I've also recently noticed that turning down my shower temperature seems to help my itchy skin. I am trying cool rinses to make hair shiny and soothe my perpetually itchy scalp. It does provide immediate relief but it'll be awhile before real results.

[GoddesJourney]

I'm seeing a lot of people saying BB brushes don't work for them because their hair is too thick but, my hair is pretty thick and I just section my hair and love my BBB. Is there something else about it that isn't working for you besides thickness of your hair?

Yes. Besides thickness it seems to make static and breakage for me. It doesn't seem to be necessary anyway since I don't stretch washes or need to distribute oils.

[Jools69]

Good:

Reduce using too much high heat
S & D and microtrimming
Hair masks
Reduce frequent washing from every 2-3 days to once/twice a week
BBB
Silk sleeping bonnet/cap
Applying shampoo only to scalp and roots
Wearing protective styles to prevent mechanical damage
Hairsticks


Bad:

Not many I can think of, except wearing hair down whilst sleeping or putting it into a plait, as it creates frizz and tangles in my hair.

[Siv]

It does take quite long to dry, but I accept that at my length :p I set aside a whole day that I'll be at home to wash and dry.

After I've dabbed out all the water I can, I just slightly twist somewhere down the length, fold it up against the back of my head, and clip the twisted section near my crown. I leave a foot or more of hair hanging down after the clip.

This (https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/543176405065774868/) is essentially how I do it, but much looser at the base. More twisting = more dry time. I also wear a thick sweater to keep the damp hair off my neck/shoulders. HTH! :)

I need to try this!


Exactly!


The best advice for me:
- YMMV
- Leave-ins (at least while I still have bleached hair; can't speak for virgin ends/lengths)
- Not trimming for longer periods of time; S&D even though I barely do it but it's something that's good to have in your mental arsenal as an ideology if nothing else
- Patience, focusing on something other than hair
- Not brushing my hair (to preserve texture and clumps)
- I was already doing WCC for years pre-LHC, but I guess I can list it here anyway

The worst advice for me:
- Wearing hair up all the time. I prefer to wear my hair braided even though it results in more mechanical damage.
- Stretching washes. I actually went back into being a daily washer while hanging out in the LHC.
- Washing the scalp with a "moisturising" shampoo. Turns out, I am perfectly fine with sulfate-free and such, but react negatively to stearate (the stuff that makes a shampoo opaque rather than clear).
- Combs

Do you air dry every day? If so, how do you deal with with having your hair down and wet? When I had shorter hair my air drying time was significantly shorter because the hair could move around. But now when it is too heavy it takes like 4 hours. Definitely inconvenient during winter or really hot days when the wet hair just makes me "more humid" and I sweat buckets lol :disgust:

[GoddesJourney]

I need to try this!



Do you air dry every day? If so, how do you deal with with having your hair down and wet? When I had shorter hair my air drying time was significantly shorter because the hair could move around. But now when it is too heavy it takes like 4 hours. Definitely inconvenient during winter or really hot days when the wet hair just makes me "more humid" and I sweat buckets lol :disgust:

I wash daily and I just braid it wet and let it drip dry. I squeeze a towel around my braid to help and I squeeze out the tassel regularly or dry it against my shirt so I don't make the floor slippery. I'm at TBL now and I've been doing it for years. This is both for washing in the morning and washing at night. I live in a hot climate. I only lived briefly in a cold climate but I was required to bun it daily so I just did that.

[Ylva]

Do you air dry every day? If so, how do you deal with with having your hair down and wet? When I had shorter hair my air drying time was significantly shorter because the hair could move around. But now when it is too heavy it takes like 4 hours. Definitely inconvenient during winter or really hot days when the wet hair just makes me "more humid" and I sweat buckets lol :disgust:

I do. I usually wash in the evening and leave it loose to air-dry overnight, but it's still damp in the morning. Then, it will finish air-drying in a couple of hours time as I'm up, but it's dry enough that I can braid or bun it, too, if I want to. I honestly don't have any useful tips for air-drying earlier in the day. I've been living this way for so long and I think I'm just totally indifferent towards having wet hair. :D Four hours doesn't sound like a bad air-drying time, though!

[Jane99]

Someone mentioned combs... I had to figure out HOW to comb and now that I figured out what works for me, it is the best. Way less snaps than TT or finger combing right after washing. My technique is comb at the crown following my natural part until it gets snarly. Then I comb small pieces starting at the front and work my way around my head. If there’s a knot I’ll work it out. Barely any snaps for me.

Also regarding BBB, I do not have thick hair. The BBB seems to just make mechanical damage for me and more snaps. Maybe if I stretched washes to less often than twice a week but that’s not good for my scalp at the moment.
ETA: maybe I’m not as patient with brushing with a BBB as I could be. I just don’t want to spent more than 5 minutes brushing my hair if it can be helped

[Jools69]

Someone mentioned combs... I had to figure out HOW to comb and now that I figured out what works for me, it is the best. Way less snaps than TT or finger combing right after washing. My technique is comb at the crown following my natural part until it gets snarly. Then I comb small pieces starting at the front and work my way around my head. If there’s a knot I’ll work it out. Barely any snaps for me.

Also regarding BBB, I do not have thick hair. The BBB seems to just make mechanical damage for me and more snaps. Maybe if I stretched washes to less often than twice a week but that’s not good for my scalp at the moment.
ETA: maybe I’m not as patient with brushing with a BBB as I could be. I just don’t want to spent more than 5 minutes brushing my hair if it can be helped
Do you comb out any tangles before using a BBB? I have fine, thin hair and need to do this. Otherwise, it will snag and break my hair.

[Siv]

I wash daily and I just braid it wet and let it drip dry. I squeeze a towel around my braid to help and I squeeze out the tassel regularly or dry it against my shirt so I don't make the floor slippery. I'm at TBL now and I've been doing it for years. This is both for washing in the morning and washing at night. I live in a hot climate. I only lived briefly in a cold climate but I was required to bun it daily so I just did that.

Thanks!


I do. I usually wash in the evening and leave it loose to air-dry overnight, but it's still damp in the morning. Then, it will finish air-drying in a couple of hours time as I'm up, but it's dry enough that I can braid or bun it, too, if I want to. I honestly don't have any useful tips for air-drying earlier in the day. I've been living this way for so long and I think I'm just totally indifferent towards having wet hair. :D Four hours doesn't sound like a bad air-drying time, though!

Thank you! Yes four hours isn't long compared to others I suppose, but I don't like leaving the house with wet loose hair that keeps getting in the way and whatnot :shrug:

[JasminxCat]

The only time I can use my wide tooth comb is right after coming out of the shower, when my hair is conditioner detangled and slippery. I've tried starting from the bottom on dry hair, but I can never seem to get the comb to go through

[leayellena]

It's normal to not be able to comb from top to ends in one move. Long strands tend to interlace so combing in one move doesn't work. It works on short hair. Period. Idk how and why some people can actually do it, I hope those tutorials are not fake? Every super long hair video I've seen, where women combed hair little by little.
My worse advices from lhc:
1. Hair soap - it let my hair sticky and my scalp itchy.
2. Just oils and no conditioner - same as above.

[illicitlizard]

Things that worked:
-PATIENCE (something that I took a while to learn)
-trying different combinations of conditioners and oils to best suit my hair; WCC, CWC, ROO
-BBB; finally learnt that I should be using it to distribute oils not as a detangling brush
-tangle teezer
-SMT; great for when my ends feel dry
-stick buns
-amish pins

Things that didn't:
-water only washing
-combing literally ever, I'm not patient in this regard and I always snap hairs
-stretching washes
-putting up damp hair

[lunalocks]

Things that work well for me: catnip tea, baby oil, wide smooth toothed comb, hair forks, spin pins, protective styles, conditioner BEFORE washing, and none after the catnip rinse.

What has not worked for me: coconut oil - my hair turned to straw.

[floridaorchid]

Best (for me): Thick moisture masks

Worst (for me): Nature shampoos.

[Belgrade Beauty]

I need to try this!



Do you air dry every day? If so, how do you deal with with having your hair down and wet? When I had shorter hair my air drying time was significantly shorter because the hair could move around. But now when it is too heavy it takes like 4 hours. Definitely inconvenient during winter or really hot days when the wet hair just makes me "more humid" and I sweat buckets lol :disgust:

This is where I decided to dry my scalp with some heat, and go about my day with brush in my bag, for detangling.
Since my hair gets oily and dirty during summer daily, I wash it in the morning before work. But to avoid having a stroke or something from the AC on the bus to work, I just dry my scalp 5 mins with dryer, on medium heat, safe distance, and let the rest of my hair dry naturally. I found that works best, because if I leave home with wet hair and and it mixes with sweat, it just a mess all over. I do condition twice now,since I wash every day.

[mermaid lullaby]

Things that worked for me:
1. Glossing cream is fantastic for my hair. I like Aussie Gloss Over.
2. I like BBB brushes with bristles mixed in. I have the Goody Boar brush with bristles in it. It makes it easy to detangle and spread the glossing cream throughout my hair.
3. I have to do frequent washing so twice a week is something that works for me.
4. Goody extra thick hair bands. These things are what I have needed all my life! However, they are rare to find.
5. Big clips for updos

Things that don't work:
1. Coconut oil.
2. Conditioner washing.
3. Organic shampoo and conditioner, it makes me itch!
4. Combs, it takes 45 minutes to comb through everything.
5. Crea clip or cutting my own hair in just doesn't go well.
6. Air dry because it needs to dry for a couple days and I get cold.
7. Scrunchies they don't hold in well.

[Sunny]

Fun topic! I've absorbed a lot of info over the years.

Best for me:
1. avoid barrettes and most hair ties
2. avoid curling iron on ends
3. no shampooing ends
4. semi-regular trims
5. Denman brush (Actually I learned about this doing vintage pincurls, not on LHC)
6. tangle teezer
7. light oil (I use only argan)
8. stretching washes (I went from 2/3 per week to 4/5 years ago, then to 1/week. Hair/scalp are happy, and I'm happy that I only have to wash once a week)
9. hair forks and Ficcare clips
10. fairytale ends - I will never have a straight hemline

Worst for me:
1. avoiding silicones - my hair is already tangle-prone and this made it way worse, plus dry and straw-like; and caused a flareup of dandruff I didn't know I had
2. more than a little oil - makes it sticky and tangly
3. detangling in the shower - lots of work that just straightens out my natural waves
4. braiding to sleep - braid crimps give formless fluff with no waves until my next wash (7 days!) and is more in the way than when loose

[Bri-Chan]

I need to try this!



Do you air dry every day? If so, how do you deal with with having your hair down and wet? When I had shorter hair my air drying time was significantly shorter because the hair could move around. But now when it is too heavy it takes like 4 hours. Definitely inconvenient during winter or really hot days when the wet hair just makes me "more humid" and I sweat buckets lol :disgust:

My hair usually takes between 4 and 7 hours (it changes with the styling method. With a "wash and go" in summertime is more like 5-6 hours) to dry. I think I'm just used to it.

[The-Young-Maid]

Best? Coconut oil
Worst? Stretching washes!

[The-Young-Maid]

I need to try this!



Do you air dry every day? If so, how do you deal with with having your hair down and wet? When I had shorter hair my air drying time was significantly shorter because the hair could move around. But now when it is too heavy it takes like 4 hours. Definitely inconvenient during winter or really hot days when the wet hair just makes me "more humid" and I sweat buckets lol :disgust:

I wash everyday, I point a fan directly on my hair on full blast lol. Only takes at most an hour(I sit and busy myself). Make sure to agitate and part the hair so the air gets down to the roots. If I'm in a hurry I just flip upside down.

[floridaorchid]

Best? Coconut oil
Worst? Stretching washes!

I agree with that. My scalp cant handle stretching washes, most I can do is every other day.

[Siv]

Sorry for being slow answering lol


This is where I decided to dry my scalp with some heat, and go about my day with brush in my bag, for detangling.
Since my hair gets oily and dirty during summer daily, I wash it in the morning before work. But to avoid having a stroke or something from the AC on the bus to work, I just dry my scalp 5 mins with dryer, on medium heat, safe distance, and let the rest of my hair dry naturally. I found that works best, because if I leave home with wet hair and and it mixes with sweat, it just a mess all over. I do condition twice now,since I wash every day.

I need to get myself a good routine!


My hair usually takes between 4 and 7 hours (it changes with the styling method. With a "wash and go" in summertime is more like 5-6 hours) to dry. I think I'm just used to it.

Yeah I don't think my hair is particularly slow drying, I just find air drying for HOURS inconvenient I guess? Even if it's less hours than some others lol


I wash everyday, I point a fan directly on my hair on full blast lol. Only takes at most an hour(I sit and busy myself). Make sure to agitate and part the hair so the air gets down to the roots. If I'm in a hurry I just flip upside down.

Haha clever! :cool: