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I have lurked here a few times since I started my long hair journey and I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who gives such great advice. I decided I wanted to grow long hair and inevitably ran into the awkward stage. I started scouring the internet for help (I was ready to chop it) and found this place to be a bastion of truth in an internet full of bad information (I was surprised how much wrong information so called "experts" in women's magazines were putting out there!) Anyone who has ended up here in the same situation, I encourage you to listen to the people on this board before anyone else! My situation was that since I had short hair all my life I never really had to take care of it. I shampooed heavily every day and never really had to deal with the consequences. So as my hair started growing out, it would turn to straw, sometimes dry yet greasy at the same time. I desperately turned to who I thought would solve my problems: Women's style websites. What I found out is that they are basically scamming everyone into buying product. One thing I ran into stood out: www.noshampoo.org . It stood out as being so different than the normal tactics I thought what the hell, I will give it a try. What I found out is that products, for the most part, will only lead to you needing more products. It is quite simple really: Our bodies evolved to dole out what our hair needs naturally, and if you mess with it, it will actually fight back with a vengeance trying to correct what you have done. This begins the cyclic battle of stripping (shampoo) and greasing (conditioner) The answer is actually very Tyler Durden in nature: You have to give up. Now I rarely use anything on my hair except water. I will use conditioner perhaps once a week since my hair leans toward the dry at times. I do service calls in offices here in my town and women are actually jealous of the condition of my mop and will sometimes ask what I do to it to make it so healthy. They are invariably intrigued, somewhat disbelieving, and sometimes actually appalled with my answer. One other thing I can tell you that I picked up that can help when you are trying to correct the condition of your hair in the beginning was this: Once a week I would take two egg yolks, beat them, add two tablespoons of olive oil and two tablespoons of honey, beat again. Apply that to your hair and put a bag over it for an hour. Rinse with water and use a tiny bit of baking soda to take out excess oil. Only use the baking soda around the top of your scalp as this is where the oil will collect the worst. Then rinse with a mix of 1/4 apple cider vinegar to 3/4 water to balance the ph then rinse once more with water. Dont blow dry, just towel dry. Your hair will snap back to healthy in no time.
I don't currently have any pics of my hair but will try and take some soon so I can start keeping track of progress. I am already a little over two years in now and I am nothing but pleased with how it has all turned out. So don't give up! And at the risk of being redundant, DON'T EVER GET A TRIM! It will only slow you down!
Regards,
Mike
Couldn't be more happier to help you out! Take care.
-Jøe
Hi Mike,
That was a great read, and very interesting to hear what seems to be working well for you and your hair, --- and so glad to hear how much you like it here!
There are a fair # of guys here who rely on W/O (water-only washing) or C/O (conditioner-only washes). I'm not one of them; but, I totally respect & believe that this is what works best for them, their hair, and their scalp.
As a guy who does a fair amount of gardening work, --- getting undesireable items on/in my hair like: bone meal, chicken manure, various types of fertilizers, leaves, weeds, stray spiders, etc. --- shampooing is invaluable to me. I try to go as organic as possible, and to keep the hair care products use to a minimum; but, there's no way in hell I could live without a good quality shampoo & conditioner. But, hey, we're all different, --- and our lives and personal needs are all different!
If it's one thing that I've learned at MLHH, it's that what works for one person, may not work for another. This isn't to say that the majority of hair advise found here isn't excellent (it *IS*), --- just that when it comes to using hair care products, you'll find great variance, because people's hair and scalps vary greatly. In the Links section, for example, you'll find different things to read, one of which is EdG's story of how he never uses conditioner on his knee-length hair, --- even though he washes his hair every day!! Hey, it works for him (proof being, "in the pudding" - lol); but, having tried a similar method myself, I found that shampooing every day didn't work for me, --- and DEFINITELY i couldn't live without conditioner! And as far as trimming goes... once your hair gets long enough to get split ends, you'll find scissors can actually become your friend again (although not everybody gets split ends, since this seems to be genetic more than anything else).
Anyway, the above is just my long-winded way of saying: I loved reading your story; but, don't plan on changing my hair care routine anytime soon (lol).... And I'm greatly looking forward to you sharing your pics, when you get around to it...
Welcome to MLHH, and thanks for sharing!
- Ken in San Francisco