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I just started growing my hair again two days ago. I have lost hope in finding a solution for the dryness of my hair.
Anyways, I decided to grow it. Dry or not. I have been a skin-head for about 3-4 years.
I wanted to ask if any of you guys, had dry hair before it grew then found a solution for it ?
Peace
Leito
Welcome, Leito to a great community. It's great to hear that another guy who has had really short hair has decided to grow it long. If you have dry hair, I suggest a few things. You may want to choose a shampoo for dry hair, and poosibly only shampoo only 2nd or even 3rd day. You will want to condition every shampoo, and even on the off days, do "conditioner only" washes. Hope this helps.
David
Masa al-kheir, Leito,
as I tried to say, welcome to our community! So, you are starting from point zero, so to speak, and most kind of hair experience will be almost new to you now. I suggest, just let it grow, and when the dryness kicks in, there are many ways to deal with it. If cosmetic hair products are difficult to obtain or a problem otherwise, there are many of us who know about products like olive oil which should be available even in rural Egypt.
All the best, and, hope everything goes well for you. Just by knowing decent English, you should have a decent advantage over many already - or are you just staying temporarily as an expat?
Kull nagihh lak!
Hans-Uwe
P.S. I do not presume to know Arabic - and I certainly don't have an Arabic keyboard. Hope these words mean something good ;-)
Hans-Uwe, this reply put a BIG smile on my face. At the beginning I thought you were some half Arab like myself. Now I'm wondering, do you know the meaning of those Arabic words ?
Cosmetic hair products are pretty rare over here where I live, but when I do find them they are pretty expensive for my budget.
I will try using olive oil, or castor oil. I remember using this aloe eva oil but all it did was make my hair look and feel greasy. I was told to mix castor oil with honey and moyonnaise, which sounds disgusting. Should I try that ?
I am half Egyptian, half American (not sure which half is which). It seems I'll be stuck in Egypt for some time though.
David, thanks for the advice. I still have some hair regenerating conditioner (dove), but no shampoo. Oops :D.
Thanks for the welcome, and the advice. It seems like a really nice place here.
Peace
Leito
Hi Leito,
actually, I'm German. I have had very good experiences both in the US (where I have been numerous times) and in Egypt (where I traveled around the Sinai and saw a bit of Al-Qahira and the pyramids over 10 years ago).
Interestingly, a lot of Egyptian men seemed to be fascinated by my pony tail and wanted to touch it. In my daily interactions, I did not pick up any negative reaction or reservations towards my long hair (well, I obviously was a tourist).
The Arabic phrases are what I remembered from that trip - I didn't want to come across as a totally oblivious idiot, so I tried to remember some...
I thought I'd transcribe "ح" as "hh" in order to differentiate it from "ه", and I'd transcribe "ج" as "g" (rather than "j") because it's Egypt and not Saudi Arabia. I hoped that "Kull nagihh lak" would mean "all success to you". I still do not presume to know Arabic.
By the way, it does make sense to try mixing honey and oil in order to mix a hair lotion. However, for the next three or four months, you won't need anything except some water (hope your water supply is good).
I wish you good luck, and I do hope that everything will work out really well for you. I think that being a member of two cultures is quite an asset. Just hold on to your dual citizenship (or go to the US embassy and apply for a passport exactly on your 18th birthday) and start saving for a plain ticket so that you can buy one when you are 18.
Hans-Uwe
Yeah, as long as you are a foreigner you probably won't be bothered a lot. I think I might pass for one with longer hair. My family members have a secret plan to cut my hair in my sleep. I really hope they aren't serious about it.
Actually, in internet Arabic we use the number 7 instead of ح, because of the resemblance between them. Yeah, here in Egypt g's are more common than j's, but the proper Arabic is J.
Also the translation of Kull nahigg lak is every successful person for you =]. And that isn't the way you compliment someone in Egypt anyway. Rabenna yewafa2ak(the 2 is instead of the ء) is a more common term for wishing success, it means I hope god makes you successful(in Arabic most of it gets cut out).
Just water ?, that will be easy to stick with. About our water supply, I'm not really sure. Newspapers don't say too much, but almost everything is out of shape here.
I am already applying for the passport, they needed my mom to go there for that, but why did you say exactly 18 ?
Nice talking to you.
Peace
Leito
Hi Leito,
They are probably not, but if they ever bring that up again, I'd make it REALLY clear that this would be UNACCEPTABLY SERIOUS. This is YOUR head, not theirs. Normally, such actions are called ASSAULT. If you think they might seriously consider such a move, make sure you lean something against the door of your sleeping room that will fall and create really loud noise if someone comes in, or, wear a hooded sweat shirt at night, if it isn't too hot. - In any case, in about 8-10 months, you'll enter the awkward stage and that shouldn't be much of a problem.
If your mother supports your application for a US passport, by all means get it done AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, BEFORE you are 18 years old. I was saying 18the birthday because at 18, you probably have to decide whether or not you want to keep your US citizenship, and that day would be the first day when you are at age and could act even without your parents. - Well, you should take your mother on that trip to Cairo as soon as you can!
Again, all the best!
Hans-Uwe
I wish I could go to the US whenever I want to... now Im stuck with 2 cultures and unable to go to the US...
politics really sucks.
I'm stuck here too buddy, not that I hate the country or would like to go to the US. But life is just too hard here.
peace
Leito
Leito, it's a bit of a myth that US dual nationals have to choose their citizenship at 18. I say this as the British father of two American/British dual citizens. The US merely does not recognise dual citizenship for adults, but even that is only half true, as in practice they recognise it exists, they just pretend not to recognise that you are also a foreign citizen if you hold a US passport.
The US can revoke US citizenship of a dual citizen in court only if they are naturalised and only if they also either serve in the armed forces or in the civil service of the other country. They can't even do that if you were drafted or if you are a US citizen by birth. Trust me, this is well established case law (although I am not a lawyer). Laws do change of course, but the birthright is part of the constitution, and amendments to the constitution require a very big majority vote.
The US does require a revocation of other citizenships to become naturalised, but generally speaking this is merely symbolic and has no effect in itself in the other country, and if you are American by birth it doesn't apply to you anyway. There are a few countries where taking US citizenship might cause an actual revocation, but such countries are very much in the minority. I have a vague notion that India might be one country that does this, but I think they are planning to change that.
It would be a good idea for you to check up on Egyptian citizenship laws. Most countries in fact have no problem recognising dual citizenship, but that's the only way you can know.
Wow, that is one long post :). There is nothing in the Egyptian citizenship that forbids having dual citizenships, my sister has had hers all her life.
I meant stuck here because I need my fathers written approval for leaving the country. And he ain't approvin any time soon. Lol.
Peace
Leito
my father had an afro.
his mother threatened to cut his hair in his sleep..
she did...
this was while he lived in iran.
ahlan w sahlan beek.
bargo enak beyanmo kwayis. 7az sa3eed
OMG, Does everybody here know a little Arabic. BTW, ezayak and ahlan wa sahlan beek and 7az sa3eed were fine. But bargo enak beyanmo kwayis = I hope you it grows fine.
Anyway, I really appreciate the try to be familiar :D.
Peace
Leito
ana asf.
3anit an a2ool:
insha'allah sh3arak 7eyanmo kwayis awi.
fy saa3a ana a56a2 (ÃäÇ ÇÎØÆ)
3ala fekra, ana no9 arabi. mama min a9l el-yemeni :)
But Yemeni Arabic is way different than Egyptian Arabic.
If I tried talking to a Yemeni person I'd never understand a thing.
Peace
Leito
Leito
Good Luck with your journey but saying it and actually doing it can be hard on person that has had short hair for so long as yourself but if you want it badenough you will suceed all the best
Axel
Great We are here to help and Support you in anyway to loss your buzzcut btw I think long hair would really suit you to you just have to be strong stay away from Barbershops and say when people tell you to get it cut NO I am growing it long from now on !
Axel