Mistakes made as a natural(for everyone)

[Second2None]

I've been natural long enough to know better, so it pains me to admit I made these mistakes just a few months ago:

Colored my hair (some type of red by Feria). It's been drier than usual ever since.

Approximately 1.5 weeks after said coloring I asked my mama to hard press my hair (Something she's been able to accomplish w/o incident my entire life).

When she got done, my hair was at least two inches shorter and seemed diminished in volume so I trimmed off my craptastic ends. How do you not notice you are burning someone's hair off?!
My longest layers had just hit MBL too.

Suffice to say, she joined to banned and I have to spend half of 2010 getting my hair back.

I also used Feria by accident last year - major shedding and breakage, took alot to restore balance, still requires more moisture than normal

 

[Mdmommy99]

Not using any type of moisture on a regular basis
Wearing wash-n-gos all the time with no moisture
Getting frustrated with my hair and locking it (I loved my locs but it just delayed me getting to know my hair)
Coloring my own hair all the time with various types of box color
Pressing my own hair using grease
Getting Dominican Blow Outs on a regular basis
Not understanding that my strands are very fine and doing really reckless things to try to make my hair look like Lauryn Hill's
Slathering my head with Shea Butter (my hair does not like it at all) and using beeswax
Not detangling
Double strand twisting all the time ( causes breaks and knots for me)
There are probably so many more. I've been so bad to my hair. Now I'm trying to make up for it.

 

[lovinglength]

For me, since having kids, I let myself get lazy with my hair care. My hair got dry and broke off from doing ponytails too tight for my buns. I have since trimmed off the broken hair and have put back in the effort I did b4 having kids and then some. I also got a hooded dryer, 25 bucks from walmart and it is fabulous. Also just ordered that OCT, to see how that works for me, and plan to stay braided up for a while. Grow hair! Grow thick, long and strong! Happy growing ladies.

 

[justicefighter1913]

Biggest mistake of all: sew-ins! It's so hard to take care of my hair under a sew-in, because the more I try to baby my hair with leave-ins and DCs, the greater the likelihood of getting mildewed hair! This has happened to me more than once. It took a long time to correct it (ACV and tea tree oil can help with this) and I was afraid I was going to need to either live with it smelling funky when wet or BC all over again They are definitely not for everyone.

Wooowza! I was thinking that weaves were the way to go!!! After looking at several threads today, I"m really going to get up on my braiding skills cause I'm through w/ the setbacks.

 

[funkycoils]

My BIG mistake was thinking that just because I had natural hair, it was healthier. I neglected the fact that it needed to be taken care of even more so than in it's relaxed state. Now i'm on the road to caring for my hair and treating it with the utmost respect .

Coming to LHCF has not only helped me realize where I need to be, it has also provided resources in the form of wonderfully and fearfully made beautiful women. I appreciate all of you.

!!!

 

[davisbr88]

GREAT thread OP!
Definitely subbing for these great tips for the rest of my transition.

 

[SweetSpirit86]

1. Getting overly excited about a bit of length and wearing wash 'n go's like I'd lost my mind.
2. Not taking the shed hairs out of my comb as I'm detangling and ending up with a huge knot I was only so lucky enough to be able to pick loose.
3. Using a clarifying/chelating shampoo everytime I had a product in my hair that I didn't like.
4. Sleeping without my scarf.
5. Sleeping without my scarf without my hair loose.

 

[thehairmaverick]

relaxing my hair after two years of wearing sew-ins....my APL hair was then cut more and more by scissor happy stylists. I didn't want to get one. And my mom (fully natural) made me get one b/c I didn't know how to style my own hair. I wanted more sew-ins, but she wasn't having it. I wish I knew what I know now; I could have been at WL by now


I hate to even think about it....

 

[ppp422]

Flat ironing once a week @410 degrees + getting lazy on treating my ends.
Using cotton Scruchies!!! They sucked the moisture out of the ends of my hair when I made a bun.........I lost over an inch.

 

[constance]

^likewise, using a donut (sock bun) and scrunchie to make a neat bun finished what little hair I had left after a bad relaxer. I thought that was a protective style. Ha. I knew nothing about moisturizing or oils either. Miracle I had any hair at all.

 

[SweetSpirit86]

Flat ironing once a week @410 degrees + getting lazy on treating my ends.
Using cotton Scruchies!!! They sucked the moisture out of the ends of my hair when I made a bun.........I lost over an inch.

Wow...ever read something and think, "I used to do that...not so smart..." I had no idea THAT was causing my ends to break off so badly. I was PS'ing without realizing it, but that sock was destroying what could have been major progress, and I was clueless.

 

[DDTexlaxed]

Mine was BCing to a TWA. I never gave natural hair a chance. I kept BCing, then relaxing. I believe I have a mental block. I never made it past 6 months post BC as a natural. I hope one day to change that. My natural hair grew faster than relaxed but due to super shrinkage you could never see it! I also never took the time to truly practice how to style my natural hair. That also has to change, too.

 

[Minty]

**rolling my ends tight on my two strand twists and wondering why I had short strand breakage. ugh! (my natural hair is so soft --WET--it wouldn't hold and I didn't know what to do about it)

**not DC

**sleeping without a silk scarf

(been natural a few times in life - personal preference)

 

[lijm83]

the mistake I have done is to relaxed my hair after braiding my hair for two years straight w/o knowing my own natural texture. I thought having natural hair was hard and ugly. I really wish I could have stopped myself back then. It took me two years to grow my hair past shoulder length but one year to destroy it Now I know better.

Have to agree with this one.

 

[Minty]

DRY COMBING!

 

[Netta1]

I don't think I ever got the PH thing right?

 

[manter26]

I got so used to not giving a darn about my ends as a transitioner. If I saw a scissors, I cut chunks of hair off. Now that I'm all natural, I'm realizing that I picked up many bad habits during the transition and I have focused so much on growth and neglected my ends. I have not retained as much as I wanted and I know I need a good trim.

 

[notlookingback06]

Ummmm....!

Although I have been enjoying this new natural hair journey of mine, I have made two big mistakes along the way; the first mistake was the many, many hair-cuts that I decided to get during the first two years of being natural. I did this out of uncertainty and a bit of discomfort being natural so, I thought that the safest thing to do was to keep cutting my hair down to about 4-5" all over! Then in early 2009, I decided I wanted my long hair back! And the quest began for tips on how to take care of ‘long natural hair’; my second mistake was some of the breakage and split ends I experienced due to not keeping my hair’s ends properly moisturized and sealed. Well you live and you learn….

 

[tHENATuRALhAiRpRoJEcT]

Weaves, micro & tree braids... Constant hair loss
Weaves always always always equaled matted or locked hair
Micros = thinning b/c of little white lint/oil knots at the base

Not washing in sections despite twa status= knots knots

 

[RegaLady]

Not keeping natural long enough. I would give up after half a year and would relax. Then regret it again. And the cycle would countinue.

 

[Curlykale]

- Thinking I didn't have to use protein ever because my hair is coarse: I co-wash with a light protein now or I leave it for 5 minutes once a week, big difference

- Thinking that finger detangling for months would have been beneficial: it gave me many single strand knots, I use a shower comb and a denman comb before and after washing now

- Thinking that moisturising twice a week was enough: since doing it everyday and sealing with grapseed oil I've noticed a big difference

- Detangling and styling with a Denman brush: the only breakage I have got in one year was caused by that brush

- Deep conditioning overnight: big no no

- Sculpting my hair with scissors when I big chopped, thinking I was the next Edward Scissorhand or Picasso: I had to keep cutting it for a month in order to achieve a decent cut that didn't look like a crazy cubist mushroom...

 

[choctaw]

Its easier to apply shealoe to hair than shea butter
Tuck double strand twists or celie braids into bantu knots before washing with jug of diluted aloe vera juice -- cleans, moisturizes, conditions ... no frizz
Fastest detangle is oil rinse under very warm water

 

[frida1980]

1. Letting the wrong people twist my hair and convince me of bad practices.
In '08 I had a couple of ladies twisting my hair. The first saturated with gel and comb twisted it. It was impossible to keep looking good. The other blow dried it and twisted it. They both encouraged me to wear the style for a month and use spritz to make it stay. Each time, a lot of hair came out. I've stuck to twisting it myself again.

2. Wearing wash and go ponies with the wrong products and the wrong technique. So much breakage!

3. Being too focused on frizzy or nappy edges. Whether natural or pressed.

4. Using too much product when pressing.

5. Not using enough product when pressing.

6. Being too lazy to DC after a long day.

 

[Krymsonkween]

Mine was not knowing how to deal with my hair and wanting the BAA and trying to get that from 5 inches of hair. I would be in the shower crying cause my hair would not be big. My hubby was like girl just relax and stop crying.

Co-washing daily
combing daily
blow drying daily
Bandwagons
Not embracing my texture for what it was
Looking at pics and trying to make my hair do something someone else did

 

[SNyeema]

Not keeping natural long enough. I would give up after half a year and would relax. Then regret it again. And the cycle would countinue.

Been there, done that. This is my 3rd go around at being natural because of it.

 

[explosiva9]

Hmm. I wet, apply con, apply a leave in, and then apply an oil to seal. Everyday. Shampoo and detangle once a week. I haven't been dc'ing lately. Is this wrong?

 

[BEAUTYU2U]

Comb thru on dry hair .... bad, bad idea. Sometimes I worry about over-moisturizing but I have to wet my hair before combing thru or styling. Box braids ... always makes my ends brittle and dry, break off. Twists don't do this to my hair. Letting my mother do several "shape-ups" during the awkward phase ... after the TWA isn't so teenie but not quite long enough for a puff or headband. Lost a lot of growth that way.

 

[BEAUTYU2U]

- Deep conditioning overnight: big no no

...

 

[curlydrea]

Too much raw shea butter... Not enough water.

Being scissor happy!!

Not enough Protective Styling

 

[Quita]

Question: why is DC'ing overnight a no no?