Hair boffins advise needed

**DragonAngel** · November 29th, 2014, 03:37 AM

Trying to figure out what is right for my hair is like trying to understand the universe in its entirety because there are so many options to choose from in the shops and I could do with a little help/advise in general narrowing down my choices, sometimes I feel like the world has been speeded up around me while I stand in the shampoo aisle looking at bottles of hair products.
Here's my hair treatment in general :
I can only afford relatively cheap products so dont really buy much over £3 if I can help it
I have very thick,slightly wavy, normal type, dyed hair to BCL/TBL
I dye my roots every 3 weeks and use their included brand intensive conditioner+ my own conditioner after treatment

I wash about a small palm/desert spoon of shampoo into my roots mostly and let the running water carry the rest of the soap to the ends (dimethlamine etc etc) 'Schwarzkopf supersoft repair and care' about £1 for a 400ml bottle
I condition with almost as much as my hand can hold which is about 1/3rd to 1/2 of a 250ml bottle (dimethicone) 'Schwarzkopf supersoft repair and care' about £1 for a 250ml bottle
I usually stick to the matching shampoo and conditioner because I assume this is good practice but is it ?
My hair can go for year without any split ends
I wash once my hair begins to feel 'claggy' or 'soiled' which is usually after about 10 days
I always wash using moderate temp water not too hot or too cold
I separate my hair into two bunches and carefully detangle starting at tips then brush working back to scalp, once at scalp I focus on pulling the oils from the nape into my lengths using a BBB.
I brush once a day
I only use loose scrunchies and rarely tie my hair tightly up
I try my best to protect from the elements i.e wind rain etc
I sleep with it down
I wear it down most of the time, though now it is at BCL/TBL I am starting to wear loose bunches more often
I never blow dry, straighten or use hairspray.

So what do you lovely boffins think ? where can I improve ?
Love to hear your advice
Thankyou

**Madora** · November 29th, 2014, 04:01 AM

Sounds like you are on the right path to beautiful hair, DragonAngel. A few suggestions:

Wear it up to protect the delicate ends, decrease changes of tangles, which means LESS mechanical damage for your hair. The less mechanical damage, the better your chances of growing long.

Hair splits...that's a proven fact. Perhaps your hair splits less than some people, but you cannot go a year with no splits...somewhere! So, to be on the safe side, trim (cut) your half every 5 months...just about half an inch should do it.

I have no idea about what hair products (shampoo and conditioner) to suggest as I've used the same brand since 1982. You want to make sure that what you are using is the most gentle shampoo and conditioner for your hair. And never use those 2-in-one shampoo/conditioner products. They are neither fish nor fowl. A shampoo is meant to cleanse. A conditioner protects the strands. Keep them separate..and I'm sure you do.

Be careful of the dyeing process. Try and use a product that is gentle as possible on your hair. Dyeing can really do a number on your hair and it can take a long time to get the hair back to normal.

As for the conditioners you use...limit it to only one. Too much conditioning is just as bar as not enough. It can dry out your hair just as easily. Plus, you don't know if those two conditioners are "simpatico" with each other. Using various products with the same (more or less) qualities doesn't always mean it is better. Some of the ingredients in one conditioner might not mesh well with the ingredients in the other conditioner...and you've got trouble in River City! The hair rebels...worst case, it becomes "cranky", hard to comb. The only cure then is to clarify your hair to get rid of cranky tendencies! And you don't want to clarify more than once a month, as it is a very harsh process!

I hope you are detangling with a wide tooth comb before that brush touches your hair! Very important!

As for sleeping it down...some LHCers do that, but many of us confine it somehow (inside a sleeping cap) or wear it up (braids or buns or a combo of both). The reason for confining your hair is to protect the delicate ends. It also pretty much eliminates tangles and thus, in the morning, you don't have to spend a lot of time detangling your hair, which means less mechanical damage, which means more beautiful, healthy hair.

I can't stress enough the important of daily, slow and gentle, detangling. It is half the battle when it comes to growing long hair. Ditto, even more so, when you are in the shower!

Be sure you are eating properly..enough protein, veggies, water. Take it from one who didn't do that, and paid the price by massive hair loss. Good luck on your hair growing journey!

**Madora** · November 29th, 2014, 04:02 AM

Sorry, double post.

**DragonAngel** · November 29th, 2014, 04:25 AM

oh thats great info thankyou Madora thankyou....
I have a combo brush which has rubber bobbled ends which are about an inch long with a BBB base which are 1/2" long. I did buy a wide toothed comb but it feels so hard and unrelenting when detangling, like it is doing much more damage than the gentle coersion I use with the outer rim of the longer prongs on my oval combo brush.
I think I will definately try to limit more mechanical damage though by soft braiding before bed.
I take silica complex for hair and nails (boron,horsetail,calcium,magnesium), multivitamins and minerals, lipoic acid to aid anti-oxidants.
I was exaggerating slightly with the "year with no split ends" it has been about 9 months since my last trim and yes I do have the odd two or three that I can find in a large bunch of hair.

**Madora** · November 29th, 2014, 04:58 AM

Originally Posted by DragonAngel

oh thats great info thankyou Madora thankyou....
I have a combo brush which has rubber bobbled ends which are about an inch long with a BBB base which are 1/2" long. I did buy a wide toothed comb but it feels so hard and unrelenting when detangling, like it is doing much more damage than the gentle coersion I use with the outer rim of the longer prongs on my oval combo brush.
I think I will definately try to limit more mechanical damage though by soft braiding before bed.
I take silica complex for hair and nails (boron,horsetail,calcium,magnesium), multivitamins and minerals, lipoic acid to aid anti-oxidants.
I was exaggerating slightly with the "year with no split ends" it has been about 9 months since my last trim and yes I do have the odd two or three that I can find in a large bunch of hair.

What is a combo brush, DragonAngel? I'd stay far away from anything rubber or plastic because they both create friction. Granted, you get friction when you brush with a bbb, but a bbb comes from the hair of the wild boar and it interacts more naturally with human hair than anything else. The friction from the brushing is easily gotten rid of by following each swipe of your brush with the palm of your other hand. The brush is the plus (+) and the palm of your hand is the minus (-).

You say your comb is "hard and unrelenting when detangling". I don't understand what this means. How do you detangle? There is a certain method to detangling with a wide tooth comb. It is not hard to do...but it IS time consuming because you need to do it SLOWLY and GENTLY. You detangle your hair in pencil thin strips, working from the ends, a little at a time, until you reach the scalp. Then you take the next pencil thin strip and repeat...and repeat until all the hair has been detangled. After the detangling is finished, then you can style your hair as you like. I have a written tutorial about detangling. If you'd like to see it, please pm me. Thank you.

**DragonAngel** · November 29th, 2014, 06:11 AM

ahhhhhhh i think i am too impatient with my detangling.

I would love to read your tutorial , please send it to me xx

**Madora** · November 29th, 2014, 08:38 AM

Originally Posted by DragonAngel

ahhhhhhh i think i am too impatient with my detangling.

I would love to read your tutorial , please send it to me xx

My pleasure, Dragan Angel. Here you go:

it is best to use a wide tooth comb for detangling. As for the type (wood or horn) that depends. You cannot get wood wet w/o hurting the comb. If you drop a horn comb, there is a chance of it getting hurt (chipped or broken entirely).

The detangling process is one of gentle steps:

1) finger comb your hair first. Do it slowly
2) Take SMALL, THIN section of hair. About pinkie size. Start at the ends and slowly comb up the strands, little by little, until you reach the roots.
3) Use a small one piece clip (or a scrunchie) to keep the detangled hair separate from the undetangled hair.
4) Take another SMALL, THIN section of hair and do as before
5) Work you way around your head in this fashion. (Actually, it is easier to do if you first make a center part and divide your hair in two sections. Detangle all the hair on the right and confine it. Repeat for hair on the left.

Now you may think this is way too much effort and time consuming. If you want to have beautiful, healthy hair, you must TAKE THE TIME. Small, fine sections let you do a more thorough "search" of the strands.

6) Don't have the grip of death on your comb! you are not fighting your hair! Hold your comb gently and lightly, as if you were holding a living bird in your hand and you were afraid to crush it.

7) When you are detangling, go SLOWLY! If you feel a tangle, STOP IMMEDIATELY! Isolate the tangle and take it apart with your fingers (hold the tangle horizontally and take it apart with your fingers). If you hold the tangle vertically, it just tightens the tangle and makes it about impossible to save.

Any questions, please send me a visitor message..or a pm. Thank you.