Re: Calling all who are growing shoulder to APL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
turtlelover
I would say yes. :-) Congrats!
Thank you!
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Originally Posted by
lapushka
That is definitely not 2a hair! The waves starting so quickly up top, and being braidwave-like, that is definite 2b all the way! At least!
I'm thinking the same thing, 2b is more similar to my hair than 2a, thanks for the help!
Re: Calling all who are growing shoulder to APL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
LaísB
Today I felt like streched I really am at APL, so I did a towel test (actually it's a cardigan wrapped like a towel, but it's the same principle, right?) and I think I'll call it, what do you think? Can I call this APL???
https://68.media.tumblr.com/950ff0e9...wkd6o1_540.png
ps.
jfg1987 your hair would be lovely curly.
That is definitely an inch past APL! Congratulations!!
Re: Calling all who are growing shoulder to APL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
pili
That is definitely an inch past APL! Congratulations!!
Thank you! :)
Re: Calling all who are growing shoulder to APL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
pili
It may be you need to try some different oils. I am not very familiar with argan oil, but I know my hair loves olive oil and coconut oil makes it crunchy and dry. Also, looking at your avatar are you sure you aren't currier than you are thinking? Curly hair can be easily damaged by brushing. My hair didn't really start to grow until I threw out my brush. I wear my hair up, but I only finger comb and use a quick spritz of water and a drop of Olive or jojoba oil to smoothie the hairline and ends. No brushing.
That is a GREAT product. Just a tiny bit goes a long way. Play around with it to see if you need a bit of water to smooth it in. I did, but I'm not sure how others use it.
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Originally Posted by
Nymphe
jfg1987, I think pili is on to something. Maybe it is time to stop treating your hair if it were straight and see if you can coax in some curls. Most frizz/poofiness is the hair trying to figure out where to go mot just dryness and/or damage. Does the Curly Girl method still work on heat-damaged hair?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DawnTR
jfg1987 I think these ladies are correct. Your hair looks like it would have fantastic curls if you don't brush it and give it tons of moisture. I had no idea my hair would get curly if I did this and it has worked for me. Not sure if my curls will last as they grow longer, but who knows. Yours looks like it would be pretty curly. I have done the LOC only a couple of times and I used argon oil because it is what I have on hand, and then the shea moisture afterwards. It works well!! When I only try to touch up my day 2 or 3 day hair with only oil it doesn't work as well as a little bit of water and then the shea moisture. I used to think I needed to either blow dry straight or curl my hair. Now it takes a long time to dry naturally, but with no heat, my hair looks so much better and with natural curls and waves. I will brush usually on washing day but really probably shouldn't.
I just watched sunkissed alba on youtube and she is great.
I'll try the water + Shea Moisture in between washes, thanks for the tip pili and DawnTR!
My hair looks like this when I don't brush it, the pictures are way huge so I put links instead:
Picture 1, Picture 2
I've used a Tangle Teezer only since September. This is going to sound like a stupid question but how do I just...not brush my hair? It gets very tangled and matted if I don't brush it :confused:
Re: Calling all who are growing shoulder to APL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jfg1987
I've used a Tangle Teezer only since September. This is going to sound like a stupid question but how do I just...not brush my hair? It gets very tangled and matted if I don't brush it :confused:
The only time a hair tool ever touches my head is when my hair is soaking wet with a substance in it (conditioner or oil); that is when I style my hair as well. Most of the time I finger-detangle, wet or dry. If you detangle while wet or damp, then coax in the curls and keep doing it, over time the hair will understand where it needs to go.
Re: Calling all who are growing shoulder to APL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jfg1987
I'll try the water + Shea Moisture in between washes, thanks for the tip pili and DawnTR!
My hair looks like this when I don't brush it, the pictures are way huge so I put links instead:
Picture 1,
Picture 2
I've used a Tangle Teezer only since September. This is going to sound like a stupid question but how do I just...not brush my hair? It gets very tangled and matted if I don't brush it :confused:
My gosh! That's your hair with heat damage?! Trust me, go with the Curly Girl method, you are most likely a 3. Heat damage can permanently loosen the curl. Watch Sunkissedalba's hair journey from heat damage and her whole channel is full of great tutorials. Another really good channel is Waterlily716.
When I did LOC and Curly Girl methods I only detangled with a wide tooth comb in the shower or finger combed. I never brushed it, especially not dry. On non-wash days I spritzed with water and then used something like the Shea Moisture to lightly finger comb and smooth the edges before putting it up in a protective style.
Re: Calling all who are growing shoulder to APL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Nymphe
The only time a hair tool ever touches my head is when my hair is soaking wet with a substance in it (conditioner or oil); that is when I style my hair as well. Most of the time I finger-detangle, wet or dry. If you detangle while wet or damp, then coax in the curls and keep doing it, over time the hair will understand where it needs to go.
I might be able to pull that off when I have more virgin growth; the hair that I have now like to go in 50 million directions and finger detangling just doesn't cut it.
Things that I've tried:
1. Brush hair before washing - wash hair - squeeze out excess water gently - detangle with brush - LOC = lots of hair loss, this was my usual method
2. Brush hair before washing - wash hair - squeeze out excess water gently - wrap hair in microfiber towel, sit for some time - LOC - detangle with TT = less hair loss than #1 but still a good amount, less breakage and snagging
3. Brush hair before washing - wash hair - detangle gently with TT while in the shower - squeeze out excess water gently - wrap hair in microfiber towel, sit for some time - LOC = somehow greater loss of hair than usual
4. NO brushing before washing = no matter what I do this causes REALLY bad tangling and there will be breakage despite being extra gentle, also lots of hair loss
5. Finger combing before washing - finger combing to detangle while washing = same amount of hair loss as #3 with some breakage due to some bad tangles
My usual method is #2.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
pili
My gosh! That's your hair with heat damage?! Trust me, go with the
Curly Girl method, you are most likely a 3. Heat damage can permanently loosen the curl. Watch
Sunkissedalba's hair journey from heat damage and her whole channel is full of great tutorials. Another really good channel is
Waterlily716.
When I did LOC and Curly Girl methods I only detangled with a wide tooth comb in the shower or finger combed. I never brushed it, especially not dry. On non-wash days I spritzed with water and then used something like the Shea Moisture to lightly finger comb and smooth the edges before putting it up in a protective style.
I learned LOC from SunKissAlba! She's the Dominican version of me (a Puerto Rican). My mother is just like her mother; she just had no time for my crazy curly head and always relaxed it/straightened it so she could better deal with it. Judging by the way my mother describes my hair you're right I probably am a 3. There was a point in time where she'd have to separate my hair in a bunch of sections to detangle it and it hurt my poor tender head like hell. The relaxing made it a lot easier to deal with though it still hurt my head. She is not feelin' my current hair situation, she is very set in her ways. Her natural hair is probably a 4 but you'd never be able to tell because of the relaxers/keratin treatments and she'd probably die before ever going natural.
That being said - please see my reply to Nymphe, I'm not sure I can finger detangle at this stage, maybe when I have more virgin growth that might behave better? Last year I read some of that book at a bookstore and took some notes; most recently I ditched the heat tools and air dry my hair or dry my hair under a bonnet dryer under the cool setting. Last year I got rid of all the stuff that had sulfate and cones, I stopped putting conditioner and hair products on my scalp and only used them on the length, and I only use shampoo on my scalp and not the length. The result was buildup galore, the kind of buildup where you scratch your head and get yellowy oily gunk under your nails (gross), and that's with no product on my scalp! I clarified every other wash day (still do) and that helps until my non-clarifying wash days. I have to scrape the living hell out of my scalp during a wash to get rid of all that gunk, especially when not clarifying.
I do wear my hair up 100% of the time now in protective styles with hair sticks. Doing LOC and switching to the TT were life changers. I can't even imagine not brushing at this stage with all this damage :(
Re: Calling all who are growing shoulder to APL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Nymphe
Hold on, don't do anything rash! You will recover. What is the trigger for the eczema? Pure aloe and a steroid cream may help with that.
My eczema triggers are stress, fluctuations in weather, and hormonal shifts. It's been under control for the past few years when I finally found out what causes my flare-ups. Steroid creams don't do much for me, neither does aloe. Recently, for really bad flareups, I actually use a diaper rash/thrush cream (by Motherlove), and it does wonders.
The other build-up and itchiness? It's so random and unexpected! I think it may be from using a sulfate free shampoo?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DawnTR
Cassandraj sorry to hear you are not thrilled with things at the moment! Some other experts here can probably offer you better advice, but just wondering if you have tried ditching the coconut for a bit and using something else? I am having pretty good luck with the CV shampoo bars and finding almost NO (seriously) almost no hair in my shower. Of course there is some but it is nothing compared to what I used to have. I am liking the lavender bar right now and it seems to do a really good clean, like I don't have to wash again for ages.
I actually switched to shampoo bars about a month ago (a brand that I've used on and off for years), and my scalp and hair would NOT adjust. I went through so much trial and error trying to figure out how to get transitioned over (it was never that difficult all the other times I switched), and I was so frustrated that I stopped.
I recently switched back to a shampoo with sulfates, and a conditioner with cones, and I'm not quite as itchy, but still have some chunky build up. I also just came back to Alabama from Wisconsin, where it was snowing and was like, 0 degrees.
Re: Calling all who are growing shoulder to APL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jfg1987
I might be able to pull that off when I have more virgin growth; the hair that I have now like to go in 50 million directions and finger detangling just doesn't cut it.
Things that I've tried:
1. Brush hair before washing - wash hair - squeeze out excess water gently - detangle with brush - LOC = lots of hair loss, this was my usual method
2. Brush hair before washing - wash hair - squeeze out excess water gently - wrap hair in microfiber towel, sit for some time - LOC - detangle with TT = less hair loss than #1 but still a good amount, less breakage and snagging
3. Brush hair before washing - wash hair - detangle gently with TT while in the shower - squeeze out excess water gently - wrap hair in microfiber towel, sit for some time - LOC = somehow greater loss of hair than usual
4. NO brushing before washing = no matter what I do this causes REALLY bad tangling and there will be breakage despite being extra gentle, also lots of hair loss
5. Finger combing before washing - finger combing to detangle while washing = same amount of hair loss as #3 with some breakage due to some bad tangles
My usual method is #2.
I learned LOC from SunKissAlba! She's the Dominican version of me (a Puerto Rican). My mother is just like her mother; she just had no time for my crazy curly head and always relaxed it/straightened it so she could better deal with it. Judging by the way my mother describes my hair you're right I probably am a 3. There was a point in time where she'd have to separate my hair in a bunch of sections to detangle it and it hurt my poor tender head like hell. The relaxing made it a lot easier to deal with though it still hurt my head. She is not feelin' my current hair situation, she is very set in her ways. Her natural hair is probably a 4 but you'd never be able to tell because of the relaxers/keratin treatments and she'd probably die before ever going natural.
That being said - please see my reply to Nymphe, I'm not sure I can finger detangle at this stage, maybe when I have more virgin growth that might behave better? Last year I read some of that book at a bookstore and took some notes; most recently I ditched the heat tools and air dry my hair or dry my hair under a bonnet dryer under the cool setting. Last year I got rid of all the stuff that had sulfate and cones, I stopped putting conditioner and hair products on my scalp and only used them on the length, and I only use shampoo on my scalp and not the length. The result was buildup galore, the kind of buildup where you scratch your head and get yellowy oily gunk under your nails (gross), and that's with no product on my scalp! I clarified every other wash day (still do) and that helps until my non-clarifying wash days. I have to scrape the living hell out of my scalp during a wash to get rid of all that gunk, especially when not clarifying.
I do wear my hair up 100% of the time now in protective styles with hair sticks. Doing LOC and switching to the TT were life changers. I can't even imagine not brushing at this stage with all this damage :(
In that case all I have to say is have patience. It will happen. I swear! :smile:
Re: Calling all who are growing shoulder to APL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
pili
My gosh! That's your hair with heat damage?!
Just wondering what you meant by that exactly?
So here's one side of my hair still wet but I brushed the tangles out, probably should've gotten a photo of it untouched when the curls were tighter. I washed my hair without pulling any damaged hair out!
