Hip Length 2011!! Let's do this!!

[Lucia]

Got a mini chop yesterday so now I'm officially on cheerleader status for you HL Challengers

BUT...I'm not leaving without a question!

Now that I've got freshly cut ends, what's the best way to retain them? And I'm prone to ssk & split ends, so I obviously need to change my moisturizing & sealing. O asked on the main board but I want to some "professional" opinions on what/what else I should do & how I should do it!

So NikkiGirl BostonMaria misslala FoxxyLocs Lucia Whimsy (cuz I know you still peep in here) NJoy & everyone else who has some knowledge to impart (those were just the easiest names to type from mobile) please give me some details!

Since you calling people out and stuff
IA w BostonMaria the satin cap is a must also up yoir moisture game. Theres a heavy sealing thread although I cant support the use of petroleum based products you can use castor oil coconut oil wheat germ oil a evoo butter mix or Shea butter on those ends after you moisturize my personal Fav is east African Shea it's so soft next would be avocado butter.
Also you may want to look into some natural products that might help. Also baggying on occasion helps alot or do more DC s and be gentle with those ends
If you want to wear your hair down and enjoy it do so but have your dc moisturizing sealing routine down for nighttime.

 

[NJoy]

I...have had....ENOUGH!!!!! Enough I tell you! My hair is tangling like nobody's business. I do everything that I've been doing to detangle in the shower but my hair wants to dred. My relaxed strands look pitiful and it's only compounded by my length being hijacked by the fricken dredding.

My hair was growing while relaxed and I didnt have to worry about ripping it out while detangling. If somebody doesn't tell me right now what I can spray on my hair to make the clumps just fall loose I'm going to do something drastic.! Drastic I say!! :jaws:

I mean, either I do a corrective, ending this drama and try to reach my goal length before even THINKING about trying to transition... OR, I cut off this blasted cape of tangles and start from scratch. SCRATCH I tell ya!!!

I'm sure I'll be able to detangle it--eventually-- but, for how long?!!! My hair is not in the cute and curly 3's (yeah, I said it!). And cluckin around with texlaxing is not helping. My hair doesn't know what it wants to do. It's frightened I tell ya. And clinging to its neighbors for dear life. Something, SOMEthing, SOMETHING's gotta give.

I didn't post this for gen pop because if anybody side eyes me for complaining because of my length, oooooooooo, so help me....! Now...think hard. Someone has SOMETHING! Give it up. I'm all ears.

*Disclaimer: I may come back to my senses once it's detangled. In that case, please excuse the dramafest. But in the meantime, *sigh* I'm waiting...

 

[constance]

I used a blow dryer on cool and a curling iron to straighten my hair…ok, to get it straighter than it was. Before the humidity got to it it was full WL with the longest parts slightly past WL. (My hair has always been poof bouffant even with anti humidity serums and high heat.) The last two times I straightened was Feb and Dec. I used the same equipment in Feb but a CHI in Dec. I was somewhat startled to find end breakage in Jan after using the CHI in Dec so I had to retire that pricey tool. I think my reasoning (in using the CHI at all) was that I only straightened 3x a year, ps 95% of the time, and used heat protectant the few times I straightened. The only damage sustained by my hair was my hair dye used to cover my grey. Well, since the hair dye is staying the heat must be minimal. My last trim was 10/09. I'm predicting I'll hit HL 6/12 or a yr from now, which is ok.

 

[Lucia]

I...have had....ENOUGH!!!!! Enough I tell you! My hair is tangling like nobody's business. I do everything that I've been doing to detangle in the shower but my hair wants to dred. My relaxed strands look pitiful and it's only compounded by my length being hijacked by the fricken dredding.

My hair was growing while relaxed and I didnt have to worry about ripping it out while detangling. If somebody doesn't tell me right now what I can spray on my hair to make the clumps just fall loose I'm going to do something drastic.! Drastic I say!! :jaws:

I mean, either I do a corrective, ending this drama and try to reach my goal length before even THINKING about trying to transition... OR, I cut off this blasted cape of tangles and start from scratch. SCRATCH I tell ya!!!

I'm sure I'll be able to detangle it--eventually-- but, for how long?!!! My hair is not in the cute and curly 3's (yeah, I said it!). And cluckin around with texlaxing is not helping. My hair doesn't know what it wants to do. It's frightened I tell ya. And clinging to its neighbors for dear life. Something, SOMEthing, SOMETHING's gotta give.

I didn't post this for gen pop because if anybody side eyes me for complaining because of my length, oooooooooo, so help me....! Now...think hard. Someone has SOMETHING! Give it up. I'm all ears.

*Disclaimer: I may come back to my senses once it's detangled. In that case, please excuse the dramafest. But in the meantime, *sigh* I'm waiting...

NJoy
Breathe mammi dang!!! And don't do anything drastic yet try these first a I guarantee one of these tips will work.
I know transitioning is hard but this is the test. This is where where you woman up and tackle those tangles or fall back to relaxing.
Ok heres my tips to help w detangling at this difficult stage.

1. Get a detangling spray or make one with avj water and oil or
Water glycerin type product like scurl or just evoo and water that's for slip don't worry about oily hair that's what you want now mega slip to detangle.

2. Try to make and keep your hair in 4-8 sections as you work through and detangle. And when is drying keep it sectioned in 6-8 large braids Once you have a part done section it off with a clip or something you are no longer dealing with relaxed hair it's more natural than relaxed and you are also dealing with dreaded pun inteded scab hair which is a mother blanker. It's worse then any 5z hair type could ever be cause it's your hair going through relaxer withdrawals.

3. Make sure your try to finger comb from ends to root before using a WIDE tooth comb to detangle again from ends to root. If you have a denman use that last in the same way ends to roots slow and easy take your time and spray often don't work on dry hair. it will be a JOB but the first time is hardest you will and can work through this.

4. Put on some of your fab music and put that ipod on continuous or a fav DVD movie like I said it's a J O B so try to keep your moral up.
Above all be patient keep that hair oiled and wet keep the sections separate and work on them 1 at a time.
And don't do anything boneheaded before talking to us or calling on Jesus for strength. Jk
HTH

 

[NikkiGirl]

Got a mini chop yesterday so now I'm officially on cheerleader status for you HL Challengers

BUT...I'm not leaving without a question!

Now that I've got freshly cut ends, what's the best way to retain them? And I'm prone to ssk & split ends, so I obviously need to change my moisturizing & sealing. O asked on the main board but I want to some "professional" opinions on what/what else I should do & how I should do it!

So NikkiGirl BostonMaria misslala FoxxyLocs Lucia Whimsy (cuz I know you still peep in here) NJoy & everyone else who has some knowledge to impart (those were just the easiest names to type from mobile) please give me some details!

I agree with BostonMaria, buy a satin bonnet and sleep with that and also, keep your ends up. I try to find things to do with my hair to keep my ends up, because if your hair is prone to splits, even rubbing against clothing can cause splits and ssk's. Also use oil on the ends, I would rather have greasy hair, it's not down much anyone, than a loss in retention.

 

[Lucia]

constance
Gorgeous thick hair I'm lovin it pouff and all
I'm sure if you pull thends down well see it's full WL and it looks like full WL anyways.
Congratz.

 

[FoxxyLocs]

Thanks ladies. I appreciate it more than you know & I'll definitely be doing that. @BostonMaria & @FoxxyLocs - how often do you wear your hair down & how often do you use heat to style?

I used heat this month for the first time since my BC. You don't have to be that drastic though. I think once a month is ok, but the longer you can go without it, the better.

I rarely wear my hair down when I'm outside the house. Its usually buns or updos. I would say I wear it down maybe once or twice a month. Part of that is because I'm not good at styling though. If I could make it look nice, I'd probably wear it down more often.

ETA: NJoy - I've been detangling with aloe vera juice and coconut oil. It really worked wonders for my hair. I cut my detangling time from 2-3 hours down to 30 minutes. I've tried it 3 times so far and got the same results each time. The key for me is to saturate my dry hair with aloe, instead of just spraying some on wet hair. Then I put the coconut oil on top and let it sit for an hour before combing.

 

[NikkiGirl]

constance, I agree with Lucia, your hair is beautiful and thick. And thanks for the tips on detangling Lucia. I have been transitioning, this December will be two years since my last relaxer and my hair is tangling more than ever. I hope it will get better as I get rid of the relaxed ends.

 

[Lucia]

NJoy
You prob know this already but when washing or CW rinsing out the oil don't let your entire hair loose wash in 4-6 sections 1 section at a time
later you can progress to less sections. keep he clips handy
I still CW in 2 sections 1 at a time I never let it all hang loose

 

[NJoy]

wyldcurlz, moisturizing and baggying my end kept them split-free.

constance, girl, that's some thick hair. Love it!

Lucia, pray for me, girl. I'm a wreck ova here. For the record, I tried aloe/water mix, since aloe juice usually helps. Covered that in DC and let it sit for a couple hours. My hair dug in. Did and oil rinse, added more conditioner. Clumped even more and scoffed at me. Tried finger detangling as much as possible before bringing in the wide tooth comb. Got frustrated and put it up in 2 sections (couldn't make more than that). Decided to reapproach when I'm not so frustrated. Otherwise, I'm sure to make boneheaded move, girl.

FoxxyLocs, I'll try your technique for sure. I'm not doing anything else with this hair tonight. It's airdrying. I'll try in the morning.

 

[Lucia]

NJoy
I'm praying for you. I know you can get through this Whatever is in your hair now just let it rest for awhile then like you said try again. Do you have evoo or some other med heavy good slip oil Spray with that and leave it in don't try and rinse yet. if you rush this it will go badly really fast.

 

[BostonMaria]

NJoy I know you like stretching, but maybe your hair needs to be relaxed every 12 weeks. When was the last time you texlaxed?

 

[MariposaSexyGirl]

I am doing pretty good right now. I usually get my growth spurt in the fall months. It's weird, but I never noticed until I was actively watching my hair grow and measuring. Anyway, I have been wearing my hair straight the last couple of weeks, sometimes in a bun, sometimes out. I go on vacation to San Juan on Monday, so I will definitely be back to my curls then. And you are lucky, I have to shave almost everyday. I don't know why, it has always been that way. One day I will invest in laser hair removal. That would be great!

Well I spoke to soon because now I have to shave under my arms everyday erplexed oh well. One of my friends does laser hair removal. She swears by it.

 

[MariposaSexyGirl]

I'm on vacay and have been for the past week and my hair has been acting right the whole time. I did wash and go's while we were staying on the beach. My husband really likes the wash and go look. He also likes the messy bun I put it in when I'm tired of wearing the wash and go hair down. Today we are in another state so I'm sitting here under my dryer with rollers. It's not as humid here so I will be wearing it down this weekend.

 

[LaFemmeNaturelle]

Coming out of lurk mode for you NJoy because I definitely understand what you're going through.

After 6 months post, no amount of detangler or aloe vera juice or oil would detangle my hair. All those things sound like jokes to me.

Saturating your hair in conditioner overnight is the best bet but it has to be the RIGHT conditioner. ALL conditioners are not going to create slip for you. Usually Lekair Cholesterol does it for me which is great because it's cheap. The popular slippy ones never worked for me.

You also need MORE sections. The times when my hair was truly matted while transitioning, I needed at LEAST 12 sections ( I currently wash my hair in 12 sections as well and its still easy peasy). So the first detangling will take time. You need to apply the conditioner in those sections (however many you determine is enough but I recommend 12) and braid or twist each after you've applied the conditioner like the relaxer method. Leave it on for some hours or overnight. THEN you can detangle, braid it back in as many sections, shampoo, condition AGAIN, rinse, and apply your leave in in those 12 sections while finger combing (you can comb through again if you want but I don't because I don't like spending ALL day on my hair).

Finger detangling at this point (in those sections) should be easy and you can proceed to style as usual (i.e. leave each section loose after you complete it...or braid it back for a braidout. Whatever)

After you just spent literally 2 days detangling, you don't EVER want to go through that again.

1. Why are you letting your hair get like that? How often are you detangling or finger combing? What styles are you doing when your hair gets like that and how are you tying your hair up at night?

I guess the answers to those questions will determine how to prevent the stuff from happening. But I haven't had an issue since my last crises. Don't know how many months post I was at the time. I'm only APL now but I still use the same washing technique (NOT the one I posted but the preventative method) and I don't have to deal with my hair tangling much and I only detangle once a month now.

HTH! If not, I'm getting back to my books lol

ETA: The last time you soaked your hair in condish, was your hair wet or dry before you applied the conditioner? Did you mix oil in it? (BIG No no for me) And don't forget to use water while your sectioning your hair off (sectioning IMO takes the biggest amount of time because you have to pull at the roots)

 

[NJoy]

@NJoy I know you like stretching, but maybe your hair needs to be relaxed every 12 weeks. When was the last time you texlaxed?

@BostonMaria
My last texlax (and it was a light one at that) was 4/19. So I'm 16 wks and 4 days post. I don't particularly "like" stretching but, I didn't really have problems until after 4-5 mos post the last time so, I was gonna hang in there til 5 mos post. erplexed I'm thinking the problem has something to do with the light texlaxed hair. If I'm relaxing, maybe I should just relax and then try to build up the hair with henna and silk in my DC.

Coming out of lurk mode for you @NJoy because I definitely understand what you're going through.

After 6 months post, no amount of detangler or aloe vera juice or oil would detangle my hair. All those things sound like jokes to me.

Saturating your hair in conditioner overnight is the best bet but it has to be the RIGHT conditioner. ALL conditioners are not going to create slip for you. Usually Lekair Cholesterol does it for me which is great because it's cheap. The popular slippy ones never worked for me.

You also need MORE sections. The times when my hair was truly matted while transitioning, I needed at LEAST 12 sections ( I currently wash my hair in 12 sections as well and its still easy peasy). So the first detangling will take time. You need to apply the conditioner in those sections (however many you determine is enough but I recommend 12) and braid or twist each after you've applied the conditioner like the relaxer method. Leave it on for some hours or overnight. THEN you can detangle, braid it back in as many sections, shampoo, condition AGAIN, rinse, and apply your leave in in those 12 sections while finger combing (you can comb through again if you want but I don't because I don't like spending ALL day on my hair).

Finger detangling at this point (in those sections) should be easy and you can proceed to style as usual (i.e. leave each section loose after you complete it...or braid it back for a braidout. Whatever)

After you just spent literally 2 days detangling, you don't EVER want to go through that again.

1. Why are you letting your hair get like that? How often are you detangling or finger combing? What styles are you doing when your hair gets like that and how are you tying your hair up at night?

I guess the answers to those questions will determine how to prevent the stuff from happening. But I haven't had an issue since my last crises. Don't know how many months post I was at the time. I'm only APL now but I still use the same washing technique (NOT the one I posted but the preventative method) and I don't have to deal with my hair tangling much and I only detangle once a month now.

HTH! If not, I'm getting back to my books lol

ETA: The last time you soaked your hair in condish, was your hair wet or dry before you applied the conditioner? Did you mix oil in it? (BIG No no for me) And don't forget to use water while your sectioning your hair off (sectioning IMO takes the biggest amount of time because you have to pull at the roots)

@LaFemmeNaturelle
Girl, I remember some of the issues you posted about. I'm feeling exactly like that. I haven't even looked at my hair this morning. I'm not even interested to tell you the truth. I have it in two sections, because that's all that I could do last night. The ng seems ok but it's the texlaxed areas that are tangled and feel matted today. Last time that happened, I just let it dry overnight and slowly detangled the next day. Because I had oil rinsed, detangling wasn't too terrible. So, I'm hoping that's the case today. But, yeah, adding oil seemed to make it clump together. Works well for my ng, which I seem to have a nice bit of, and my relaxed ends dry stuck together but comb free easily. It's the texlaxed hair that's giving me drama.

Posting that really makes me think that I should do a corrective to reach my goal and then decide whether I want to transition from there. If so, do a straight transition without any texlaxing. My ng seems unaffected right now. I'll have a better idea when I get around to taking a look at my hair. I

I must repeat, I have never lost this much hair in the shower while relaxed. And I know that my hair won't look so bad when it's dry because it dries looking way thicker than when it's wet. But even looking at my last length check pic, I can see that my hemline is getting thinner. I blamed that on the wreckless way that I ripped thru my hair when my mom was sick but, maybe it's not just that. But then again, my hair's layered so... whatever.

Back to your questions. Since I'm not wearing my hair out, I'm not detangling or cowashing as often as usual. My hair may has been neglected for about 4 days before DC last night. I had it in two braids in the back that I pinned up and would put a decorative accessory so that my braids were like a hammock for the accessory (flower or flower-type bow). And, I'd use a satin scarf at night. No baggying during the summer. Can't hack it.

I planned to blow out or flat iron my roots so that I can get someone to cornrow my hair. Seems like a good plan. But, I'm not that patient and the more my hair clumped, the more frustrated I got. Oil rinsing helped the hair slip apart the last time this happened. But it took patience. I just didn't feel like it this time. The slip was not as easy. *sigh* Ah well.

ETA: Last time I soaked in condish, I sprayed my hair with and aloe/water mix, let that sit, so it wasn't wet. More dampish. Then I applied condish and let it sit for a few hours under a cap. The oil came after I rinsed the condish and did an oil rinse. That's really when the clumping started. So I started massaging the clumps to get the hair fully coated so that it would slide more easily. Worked before. Not this time. I'm about to check this craziness now. We'll see.

 

[~*~ShopAholic~*~]

NJoy when my hair tangled really bad a few years ago I used Roux Porosity Control to slowly detangle over like 3days. My hair was damp/dry whatever worked for that area. Oh and a small tooth comb to slowly comb out some areas, others I detangled with my fingers sliding strands out one at a time. It was along process but I didn't loose more than what was normal shedding. It can be done.

Sent from my Zio using Zio

 

[NJoy]

Thanks for all the feedback. When I took the scarf off, all looked well. But, lurking beneath was some matting. I left it alone and was tempted to continue doing so til I felt like dealing with it. But, I suppose it needs to be done. I'm trying FoxxyLocs technique now. Saturated it with aloe juice and then coconut oil. I'm about to hop into a relaxing bath. I'll try detangling after that. If that doesn't work, I did run into a concoction that worked on a detangling nightmare that I faced earlier this year. The main ingredient is patience. I've looked thru my stash and just can't find any. There's a little left in me so, let's hope it's enough.

Anywho, I got the concoction from PJaye's post. It really did work but it took awhile. Ah well, off to my bath and then to undo this mess.

Side note: Besides the relaxed ends, my dried hair (well, the hair that's not caught up in the matting) really did look spirally and beautiful. Hmmm...

 

[NJoy]

7:10 am. 70% detangled. Going to bed. On a good note, my hair has grown. 'course, so have these bags under my eyes. G'nite. er....g'morning.

Sheesh. I guess I won't be making it to church today. Ah well.

 

[SerenavanderWoodsen]

^^ Did it really take all night to detangle?

Oooh, just read above, i didn't realize you had serious matting. I hope you were able to get most of it out with the least damage. Good luck on the rest that's left.

 

[Cocoeuro]

Bumping....I'm no where near HL..but I'm really enjoying reading these posts. Yes I've read from the first post. I've read all day yesterday, like I was reading a novel lol...I'll be lurking and cheering you ladies on.


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[NJoy]

Me again. Just woke up around 3:30 and don't really feel like detangling right now. LOL @ my drama posts. This is not my first detangling nightmare and somehow I have the feeling it won't be the last.

It has made me realize that I really need to get back on my hair game. I just haven't been motivated to the level of care of last year. Maybe because it's so much hair, I don't know. But, I had time to think about some things I should've done. Main thing, I can't remember the last time I clarified. Not that it hasn't been done in 100 years. Just that with all the busyness of getting my kids ready to go back to school and trying to get my fitness on, I just can't remember. PLUS, I used milk to relax my ng. Worked fine but now I read that milk causes build up. So, I have to clarify this stuff. Especially after using 50-11 things to detangle.

I haven't lost a crazy amount of hair detangling so, that's good. But I know that I did hear some snap, crackles and pop. Part of my punishment, I suppose.

I wore a plastic cap last night to protect my pillows from all the oil and stuff in my hair so, the remaining matting feels softer. I'll try detangling and see how that works. Otherwise, I'll let it dry and dry detangle with Silken Child spray. That was working pretty well last night. I lost less hair with that than I did with all the concoctions on the other side of my head.

All that to say, hello ladies. I'm baaaack! Stay tuned as the drama continues. (cue the music).

Oh, and boy do I feel well rested.

 

[mEmYSELFaNDj]

Just stopping in to drop off some pics Today I rinsed my dc out that I had in overnight (Aubrey GPB) did a cowash(giovanni 50:50) and then detangled added leave in (giovanni direct) and put my hair in four plaits after it dried I took the braids down and put my hair in a banana clip I pinned up some of my ends because some of them were looking a lil scraggly. And smoothed my edges with my home made gel (aloe vera gel, jojoba oil, glycerin, and gust gum).

So this is kinda like a braid out banana clip ponytail but with some ends tucked in. Tonight I'm going to re-braid some of it and take them down in the morning so I can get this same wavy kinda look tomorrow.

 

[Lucia]

NJoy
I knew you'd get through it glad eveythings alright

mEmYSELFaNDj
Gorgeous hair Im on step 1 of operation flat iron my hair @ work today DC yesterday will CW tommorow then decide on air drying or blow out before flat ironing. Decisions decisions. I still have short hairs popping up I think I need o switch up my buns and lay off the Eco styler a while but it might be from past weave install removal. Anyways I'm going to get those hairs on the teamlonghair soon enough.
I haven't used Eco styler all week I've been experimenting with stuff I already have like avg Shea butter and oil tie down w scarf Well see how it holds up on humid days.

 

[NJoy]

@NJoy
I knew you'd get through it glad eveythings alright

Lucia

Girl, hol' up. How 'bout I'm STILL detangling. I didn't bother with it last night. When I went to detangle today, it went VERY well...at first. My hair was moist because I baggied because of all the oils. It was detangling pretty well until it started feeling like it was drying and feeling a little gunky. I could see product build up so I sprayed it to moisten the hair again. Um..

I started the section on the other side and detangled dry (well, dried with the oils from last night). That went VERY well so, I just went with that. I have one small section from the section I began with today. I'll finish that up later tonight.

Dry detangling, I barely lost any hair. My hair is stronger dry. I was able to mostly finger detangle with very few problems. After I finish detangling this hair, I'm going to wash and dc. I hope the damage isn't too bad.

I'm not too worried about it tho. Eventually I'll chop the relaxed ends off anyway so, I'm not going to have a cow if I thinned it out. I didn't really lose too much so, I'll live with it.

 

[Lucia]

NJoy
I know that detangling weekend was A J O B
So you're really transitioning now? I know I'm late

 

[NJoy]

@NJoy
I know that detangling weekend was A J O B
So you're really transitioning now? I know I'm late

Uh, no. Not officially transitioning til I reach my goal length. But eventually....maybe.

 

[NikkiGirl]

Just stopping in to drop off some pics Today I rinsed my dc out that I had in overnight (Aubrey GPB) did a cowash(giovanni 50:50) and then detangled added leave in (giovanni direct) and put my hair in four plaits after it dried I took the braids down and put my hair in a banana clip I pinned up some of my ends because some of them were looking a lil scraggly. And smoothed my edges with my home made gel (aloe vera gel, jojoba oil, glycerin, and gust gum).

So this is kinda like a braid out banana clip ponytail but with some ends tucked in. Tonight I'm going to re-braid some of it and take them down in the morning so I can get this same wavy kinda look tomorrow.

I am loving your puff. So thick and pretty.

 

[FoxxyLocs]

Im itching to try flat ironing again. Its been two weeks. I said I was going to wait a month, but I really want to get it straight so that I can get a good trim. I feel like once I get it straightened I'm going to see that my ends are in terrible shape. Not sure if I'm being paranoid or what. I'm going to try to hold out for two more weeks though.

Sent from my HTC Evo

 

[Cocoeuro]

Njoy....Question...have you ever tried detangling your hair with a slippery conditioner while soaking wet? Just wondering

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