So beautiful. It looks like silky fabric, it's so perfect. Just breathtaking.


Leni

I agree completely! Autumn's hair is absolutely beautiful! I can only hope to have hair like hers one day... :grin:

I agree. I think it looks like fluid silk slowly pouring over her shoulders. Autumn, your hair is totally beautiful.:flowers:

What great compliments from such lovely-haired ladies! :flower: You guys made my day!

Leni- Your waves are so pretty and I envy your length. I also like the overall shape of your hair, I think it fits your texture nicely.

Elle- Like many people at LHC, I am awed by your thick, beautiful hair.

ravenlox- I've been meaning to tell you that I love the shade of your eyes, looks great with those dark curls.

Autumn, thank you for your kind words. Do you usually wear your hair down? I can imagine that lots of strangers who would see your hair would want to touch it. Do you ever have that happen??

Leni

No, I don't often wear it down. The only person I ever had touch my hair (without asking, by the way) was an employee at Nordstroms. I was trying on the France Luxe claws (after asking her if it was okay) and she came up behind me and just grabbed my hair and started twisting it into an updo. I was startled and didn't say anything. She was trying to sell me a clip, it wasn't a compliment.

I always wear my hair up when I leave the house. I don't have a car, so I walk everywhere. If I left my hair loose, it would get tangled before I got to my destination. Very occasionally, I wear it up to school and take it down for classes. Not very often though, because it seems kind of pointless to take it out for a couple hours and then put it up again for the walk home. I also dislike fixing my hair in public restrooms because their are always people coming in and out.

I have to agree with this as wel, Autumn, your hair is just gorgeous!

Oh I agree-- Autumn, your hair is magnificent!!!:cloud9:

Ugh I know- talk about super shiney and silky! Lucky wtg

Autumn's hair is b-e-a-u-tiful!!!!!! :inlove:

I know what you mean about wearing your hair up when you walk, especially if it's a windy day...

:flower: Chiming in to say that I luv your hair too. It looks so silky, soft, and shimmery....:inlove:

You know I'm a fan of your hair too, Autumn. You were one of the people who inspired me to start COing (I know, I've said it before :silly: )

Count me in as another who is a CO convert largely on the strength of Autumn's lovely hair. I figured if CO could give me even half as beautiful a result, I would be doing well.

My hair and I thank you for that, Autumn! :-D

I couldn't agree more, it's just amazing as close to perfection you could get. It looks so soft and healthy looking:grin:
Great job girl:rockerdud

+1. Lovely hair. I'm sitting here with my first CO on my head. Boots Basics, smells nice, thanks Sian100 for the recommendation.

I doubt it'll make my hair look half as good as Autumns' though :(

+1. Lovely hair. I'm sitting here with my first CO on my head. Boots Basics, smells nice, thanks Sian100 for the recommendation.

I doubt it'll make my hair look half as good as Autumns' though :(

I've actually just started using the Boots Basics one as a shaving cream- I can't stand the smell anymore! I think it smells like men's deodorant! I like the smell of my Tesco ones the best, Hairbear. Boots Basics does work well for CO though IMO if you like the smell though.

Sorry for going O/T Autumn!

I've always loved Autum's hair. I just want to pet her. (with her permission of course) It just looks so irrisistably soft and smooth.

Yes, Autumn is definitely one of my hair inspirations!

Agreed--her hair is stunning.

It is beautiful...someone mentioned it looks like silk fabric and I have to agree.

Autumn, you truly have glorious and brilliant hair. I was awed by your signature pic as a lurker, and remain captivated now that I've outed myself.

Yours is the kind of hair that make people stop on the street and say wow, look at her hair...

I'm not surprised The saleslady At Nordstrom's took advantage of the opportunity to "play" with it; your hair is just that awesome.

Though my texture and type is completely different, I am still inspired!

I always have to pause and admire your sig when I read your posts. I love your shape, colour and of course the unbelievable sleekness :cloud9:

It is absolutely gorgeous! We have a very similar hair type, So I think I'll start trying your method of CO, Autumn.

Oh my gosh, you guys, I really wasn't expecting this kind of response. Thank you so much Rose Red, shella13, mestillaqt, Samara Morgan, singindierain, Sian100, Celeste, Alley Cat, Hairbear, kittcatt (I'd be happy to let you pet my hair), punkin78, moon_maiden006, FroandBeyond, kuwati, LittleFlower, and SuzanneEli.

FroandBeyond- I'd like to pet your hair (with permission). I don't think I've ever touched natural 4a/4b hair before. Its so cool.

I am glad I have encouraged people to try CO. Good luck Hairbear. The hard part for me was getting through the adjustment period.

SuzanneEli- I'd be interested to know how it works for you. Feel free to pm me if you have questions.

Taking you up on that PM.

Ha, just kidding, I don't have enough posts to do that yet.

(Is there a way to edit posts, as is, change what my previous post says?)

SuzanneEli: Eh, don't worry about the other post. That stuff happens to all of of us when we are new. :grin: Welcome to the board, btw. You'll have enough posts before ya know it!

Autumn is one of my inspiring "hair idols". Though our hair type is the same, I can only try to visualize my hair that glossy and healthy! Simply beautiful, Autumn! :flowers:

She looks like a Pantene model. Gorgeous hair!

She looks like a Pantene model. Gorgeous hair!



I was just going to say the same thing......
Glad I read the thread before I wrote. :oops:

Autumn, your hair is just beautiful. :flower:

I agree also, you have absolutley lovely hair Autum. The only time my hair came even remotely close to looking like yours was when I borrowed a friends long hair wig years ago...its was so shiney, silky and lovely, but nothing compared to your hair. Sad part was I had to give the wig back the day after Halloween...lol

Anyway, Im sure you get tons on compliements on your hair, be proud and enjoy them !!!

Autumn, i too have been eyeing your beautiful hair since i came to LHC, never got the oppurtunity to say though.
Your hair is what i'd call " Hair i would die for".
Extremely gorgeous tresses. Please take care and keep them that way allllways ...to keep us inspired here.
Naj.

SuzanneEli- Too bad you can't pm yet, I didn't notice that. Like avery said, you'll be able to before you know it.

Thank you for the kind words avery, LongBrunette, Shermie Girl, Love My Cop, and naj.

My DH and I were just saying how BEAUTIFUL your hair is and then I happened upon this thread so I had to tell you! As someone said, it is like silk! :smile:

I always stop dead when I'm reading a thread and see one of your posts, Autumn! I gaze at your hair for a bit, then reluctantly keep reading.

And I'm going through the awkward stage of CO right now: starting to get greasy after only a day, and am still working on finding the perfect routine for me. I want to try adding some vinegar to my condish like you do, and hopefully I'll get past this "hump". Whenever I feel discouraged and start reaching for the shampoo bottle, I stop and look at your sig, Autumn, to encourage me to stay on the wagon.:inlove:

Thank you lorig713 (+DH) and Lady Snowflake! Both of you have lovely hair.

Lady Snowflake- Good luck starting CO. The best advice I can think of is stick with it as long as you can, even if your hair becomes really greasy. Eventually, your scalp will probably adjust. Like I told SuzanneEli, if you have any questions, go ahead and pm me.

Not only does it look like silk and is so shiney but I absolutely love the color. Everytime I see your picture I think about wanting my hair that very same color, although I said no more coloring because I was going to go gray gracefully lol. I still would love to have that color, no idea how, but wow.

You are absolutely beautiful and so is your hair.

Thank you aries! I know you are trying to go gray gracefully and I totally respect that, but if you like my color you could try henna. I used it, my natural color is less red. Have you ever considered it? I think it would look nice on your hair color.

I'm currently taking a break from henna. In a couple more months, when there is enough new growth to see the difference, I'll take some pics. Henna only makes a slight difference on dark hair. I have a couple months henna free growth and you can't see a transition line, but if I look closely, my natural color is a bit darker and my highlights tend more towards blondish.

Yes, I have considered using henna. My big fear is that my grays will show up orange or red, I'm starting to get quite a few noticeable grays. LOL, I have more than my husband who is almost 51. I always wanted a mahogany (?) color. My hair also has red undertones so I have to be very careful with anything red that I put in my hair. I don't know if the henna would add to that red or not. My last fear is that if it comes out too red it may take forever to get out of my hair and I don't want to use chemical colors anymore. So I guess for the time being I am gray, soon to be salt and pepper at the rate I'm graying to lol.

If you are worried about getting orange grays instead of red, you could take a ball of hair from your brush (or if you don't use a brush, collect some loose hairs) and test the henna on that. If you order from Tap dancing lizard on Hennaforhair.com, you can get a sample of body art quality henna for a dollar. Just a thought.

Thank you Autumn that is a great suggestion. I thought about it with my regular hair color but didn't think about doing it with my grays. I will send pm's about some questions I have.

Your hair is really great - i think I'll never have such great hair not only because CO doesn't work on my hair... but your hair is really just like silk...

Just seen this thread *stamps foot - no I want Autumn's hair!* :silly:

I am just stunned by each new picture of it that I see - I've said before that Autumn is one of my hair idols, but I'll say it again and again until she gets bored of hearing it! :lol:

FroandBeyond- I'd like to pet your hair (with permission). I don't think I've ever touched natural 4a/4b hair before. Its so cool.


lol...yes, if we are ever in the same place I will let you touch my hair ( especially since you asked for permission).

=) Your hair is indeed beautiful Autumn - if I could get my hair to shine like that, I'd probably wear it down a lot more!

your hair is soooooo beautiful... do you use henna?

Hi everyone,
I am new here and I am already addicted!! First of all Autumn, you've heard it a million times I'm sure but here it is again. You have amazing hair!! Just lovely.

I wondered, what is CO? I'm curious. I have long hair and I'm very excited about all the great info that I'm learning here.

I've yet to post any pics of my hair, but as soon as I get a chance I'll do that.


Thanks,
Lola

CO is Conditioner Only washing:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=36421

Beautiful Hair Autumn:

For those of us who are new...can you please give us your current routine. What products do you use, how do you wash your hair, whats your diet and vitamin regimine.

This would help to give some of us newbies some guidance.

Yes, Autumn -- I've been drooling over your hair since I joined LHC! (And my cat named Autumn says "hi!"

Xgrammy-- You have stunningly beautiful hair!! You don't need to envy anyone -- I would LOVE to have your hair!

Y'all can't see my hair yet til I post 25 times, but I have baby fine hair that I've always hated. But LHC is helping me to like it more! And I just tried oiling last night for the first time -- wow, what a difference! The ENDS of my hair are shiny!!!!

I have yet to see anyone on LHC whose hair I didn't envy. Once one of you guys said that we all have beautiful hair because it's uniquely ours -- that helped me a lot.

Thank you!!

I'll have to give that a try.

Tres Sleek- thank you so much. You're right about all of us having beautiful hair. I didn't really believe that so much until I found this site. I've learned some great things about my hair (plus I've learned that alot of what I was already doing for my hair, or NOT doing TO it, was good!) I look forward to seeing your pics.

Leni

:uhh: :uhh: Duuuuhhhh, all the good adjectives have been used already.
At the risk of being redundant, Autumn, your hair is spectacular. It is truly an inspiration to all here. :rockerdud

Thank you chicken, Brit Girl, immortalstar, rayasunshine, Lola19, butterflygyal, tres sleek, and brdmom! :grouphug: You guys are great.

chicken- I am sorry CO doesn't work for you. I hope CWC works better.

Brit Girl- I'm not tired of hearing it. :grin:

immortalstar- What a pretty name! I don't wear mine down much either though, LOL. Usually just at home or in the yard. Lack of car etc.

rayasunshine- Yes, I hennaed for about a year, from Summer '04 to Dec '05 and only discontinued it recently. I decided I wanted to go back to my natural color for a while. My color with henna is not terribly different than natural. With henna, my hair looks more red and a bit lighter. There is no apperant transition line between my hennaed and natural colors. I see that you are a new member, but you will be able to look at private journals soon. You can see the difference in color between my first LHC pic in my private journal (taken only a day after henna) and my current length pic.

Lola19- Welcome to the community! Sian seems to have filled you in on CO washing (thanks Sian). Feel free to ask if you have any specific questions. Looking forward to seeing a picture of your hair.

butterflygal- For future reference, my routine is located on the first page of my private journal. Since you are a new member with under 100 posts, I will copy and paste my routine in my next post on this thread.

tres sleek- I agree, Xandergrammy's hair is beautiful. tell Autumn the cat hi back. I love kitties. Have you seen the Callie Says Meep thread? I'm glad to hear that you are learning to appreciate your hair for what it is. Good that oiling works for you, it never did work for me. :( Look forward to seeing some pics.

brdmom- I'm flattered that you find my hair inspiring. Looks like we have similar hair types. I'd be interested to see a picture.

*******Current Hair Care Routine (as of 04/02/06)*******

Hair Status:

color: dark brown with henna red highlights (henna discontinued until further notice)
texture: lots of fine, straight hair
cut: most recent was approx. 1.5 years ago, all one length, currently developing a natural u-shape
length: 33.5"
ponytail: 3"
approx growth rate: 1/2" per month

General Comments:

-treat hair as gently as possible consistently
-basically leave hair alone as much as possible
-wash and comb infrequently
-trim rarely (if at all)
-limit products
-avoid fixing hair multiple times in one day
-no heat styling (curling iron, blow dryer etc.)
-only natural hair colors (henna)
-keep nails clean and smooth-edged, so as not to snag/dirty hair
-maintain positive attitude towards hair

Daily Vitamins (or how my hair ate my wallet):

-1 Kirkland multi
-1 Kirkland B-50 formula (B-complex)
-2 Kirkland calcium
-3 Futurebiotics Advanced Woman's Formula, Hair, Skin & Nails
-3 Rich's Pure MSM (1000 mg per)
-1 Country Life Biotin (5 mg per)
-1 Kal Silica Plus (600 mg horsetail extract, 20 mg silica gel)
-3 Barlean's Highest Lignan Content Flax Oil (1000 mg each)

Detangling (2-3 times per day):

-sweep hair over over left shoulder
-beginning at ends, run comb through small sections at a time, moving slowly up the length
-when possible to run comb from scalp to ends without catching, flip hair over right shoulder
-detangle from ends again

Styling:

-start with detangled hair
-use only quality, seamless hair toys and Kent comb, only use soft ponytails
-favorite toys: large Ficcare Maximus clip, wooden hair sticks, combs (wooden, France Luxe Marie FT), view Autumn's Photo Story for hair toy pics
-no products / water
-always in an updo outside the house, mostly down at home
-common styles: bun variations (cinnamon, fig-8 for school, braid for gym

Massaging:

-2-5 minutes every evening
-gently press scalp with pads of fingers and scratch with finger nails
-avoid tangling

Sleeping:

-hair down
-place length on a towel in space behind pillow

Weekly Conditioner Only Procedure (evening):

-detangle dry hair with comb
-mix approx. 1/3 bottle Suave conditioner (scent alternated weekly) with about 2 tbsp ACV and 2 tbsp food-grade aloe
-apply mixture to dry hair with hands, starting from scalp, until scalp and first 1/3 of length is saturated
-apply VO5 moisturizing conditioner to last 2/3 of length (I do this by submerging the length in a small bowl of VO5)
-twist length gently into a loose bun at the nape, cover with shower cap and towel
-leave 2+ hours
-rinse well in shower, gently messaging scalp
-clean comb in shower
-place towel on head and carefully sqeeze towel down the length
-seperate the hair into small sections with fingers so the weight of the length does not pull the forelock, and the hair dries faster with more volume
-allow to dry loose, without combing til morning

Lifestyle Factors That May Influence Hair:

-(mostly) healthy diet
-try to eat at least 1 piece fresh fruit and 1 serving canned fruit per day
-eat lots of different fresh/grilled veggies
-only nonfat dairy (milk, cottage cheese, and yogurt)
-emphasis on poltry, fish; very little red meat
-only whole grains, mostly Bob's Red Mill grain cereals
-no alcohol
-try to get 6-8 hours sleep at night, not always successful
-try to exercise daily, or at least 4 times per week
- no smoking / drugs / meds (other than birth control)

O MY GOSH AUTUM! ARE THOSE YOUR NAILS?!!

Wow your nails are just beautiful...just as much as your hair.

I like grain cereal where can I get Bob's Mill? Also...what does canned fruit do for you? Do you notice a difference? I only eat canned fruit after I run out of fresh fruit.

Autumn, after reading your responses to your admirers, I'm beginning to think that you're just as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside. :heart:


Leni

Xandergrammy, I so agree with you on that. I have done pm's with Autumn and she is a true gem. Very, very sweet. Hair is still gorgeous and so is Autumn.

Xandergrammy and aries- Oh, you guys! I feel like I owe this community a lot, so I try to be helpful. Many other members have done the same for me.

FroandBeyond- Yeah they are. Thanks for the nice comment. I get mixed comments on them. I've heard comments from: "Oh my gosh are those real, you're so lucky" and "ew, long nails are gross." I presonally like them long so I leave them that way. I am careful to keep the ends smooth so they don't catch on my hair :). Um, canned fruit- BF is a biochemistry major and he told me that canning preserves some of the nutrients that get distroyed in cooking. I don't cook my fruit that often though. I try to stick to fresh also, but when I get sick of bananas and nothing else is in season (cheap) I do get canned fruit. I like pinapple on my cottage cheese and a fresh one is like $4 some a pound right now.

Bob's Red Mill stuff is great. The cereals are all good, and I would highly recommend the wheat and ten grain flours. There is a store in Portland OR so I go there when I'm in town. Some health food stores in my area carry it: Market of Choice, Whole Foods. Trader Joes and Safeway in my area carry a small selection, but I am not sure thats true nationwide. The website should help:

http://www.bobsredmill.com/

Autumn, I think I remember seeing a "before LHC" picture of yours. Your hair was still in pretty good shape by any standards, but LHC has certainly made your hair out of this world!

Thanks Sian. Yeah, some of my older photos are still in my regular journal. I should probably put them in my photo journal also. I wanted to get some pictures from my grandmother and fill in the gaps in the photo timeline I've been putting together, then post the whole thing at once.

Your hair is so perfect, seeing your pix makes me feel inspire. Thanks for letting us know your routine, and keep up the good work, your hair really demonstrates the care you put into it.

Hi Autumn,
Must say you really nice hair, thich, shiny, long- just like silk- a backview is really a treat- imagine when its gently flipped back - such shiny silk!

OMG, can we say the healthiest looking hair that doesn't look oily or waxy? Dang! I want your hair! :inlove: Pantene model hits my mind too!

Thank you for the kind words chitraa and Artista!:inlove:

Artista- The reason it doesn't look greasy is because its early in the week :). I always have BF take length pics on the day I CO or DD1-3. DD4-7 my hair is too greasy to wear down, but it looks okay in updos.

I have to go with everyone else on this thread... your hair and nails are amazing! 2-ish coarse hair will never behave like that, but I can dream, can't I? :D

I realise everyone has already said it so beautifully, but Autumn your hair is inccredible - such amazing colour and shine! Thanks also for posting your routine, I'll keep dreaming that one day my hair will be so incredibly healthy - and survive that long without a trim ;-)

Oh yeah, thanks for making straight hair look amazing Autumn! There's so many examples of lovely wavy and curly hair here so it's good I also have something I can aspire to!

Chiming in here as another secret admirer of Autumn's hair! It really is like liquid silk. Goddess hair!

I am actually browsing the boards this morning, so I'd like to add my voice the chorus of compliments!

I've always said that fine, straight hair is my favorite hairtype, and Autumn's hair is a marvelous example! It caught my eye the first time I saw it!:rockerdud :inlove:

Also, thanks for sharing your CO method. I've been giving CO another try, so I may try your version.

Autumn, I love your hair color!! I just went to the food co-op on my lunch break to get some dark brown henna, and your hair color is just what I'm trying to get on at least 1/2 my mane (it lightens easily, so I have several different shades going without even trying).

And it looks wicked healthy!

Thank you for the kind compliments getoffmyskittle, Aussiegirl, Sian (your hair looks amazing too:grin: ), Earth Mother, Hairstorm, and Parthenia.

skit- Your hair is beautiful in its own way. I am glad you started a photo journal.

Aussiegirl- I do have some split ends. Since I am more concerned about how my hair will look a couple years from now than about its current appearence, I am not planning to trim unless the ends start looking really bad. I don't believe that stuff about how a split will travel all the way up the length. Most of my splits are 1/4 inch or shorter, and I don't notice longer splits on longer hairs, so it seems to me that the split gets bigger for a while and then stops. Based on this idea, I plan to leave my hair alone as long as possible and then cut off all the splits at about classic. My tentative opinion is that by trimming every few months, people lose more length than they would if they left their hair alone until they reached a goal and then trimmed off all the splits. I may be wrong about this, it is based solely on my observations of my own hair. If people want to trim to maintain thickness on the ends, I understand that, but for now, my first priority is growth.

Earth Mother- Goddess hair is certainly a high honor. I have always admired the paintings of William Waterhouse. To me, those women have goddess hair. I have a copy of the Accolade (dif artist) in my bedroom. The woman has classic length, thick, wheat blond, wavy hair, I wish my hair was that long... There should be a smiley for daydreaming.

Hairstorm- I admire your hair as well. Your photo in the virtual meet thread is particularly striking- perhaps because your hair is so long and dark. Good luck retrying CO.

Parthenia- I'd be interested to see before and after pictures. I noticed your fishtail braid thread. I've never seen that braid done with dreads before, it looks really cool.

My BF teased the heck out of me when I first told him about LHC. It shut him up quick though, when I showed him Autumn's signature pic and Dianyla's braids pic. He was impressed. And trust me, he is rarely impressed, and evenly more rarely admits so.

Autumn, at the risk of echoing everyone else here, your hair is gorgeous. Thank you for posting your routine. Thank you for being so sweet too. And yup, I would be so happy if my hair looked liked yours.

I'm with everyone else on this Autumn, your hair is gorgeous!

Hi ninepears and sofia9283, welcome to the community and thank you for the compliments.

ninepears- I'm glad you convinced your boyfriend to stop teasing you. At least LHC is about self-improvement, which is more than can be said for many hobbies. Dianyla's braids are lovely; take a look at her photo journal when you meet the two weeks/100 posts mark.

sophia9283- Just wanted to let you know I can't see your avatar (maybe others can?). Looking forward to seeing a picture of your hair.

I had to say it, too:

Autumn, you have the most beautiful hair I've ever seen. I'd kill to have your hair!!

I completely agree! I saw references to 'liquid silk' and 'pantene model' ...I couldn't agree more. It is so smooth, shiney, and healthy looking!

"sophia9283- Just wanted to let you know I can't see your avatar (maybe others can?). Looking forward to seeing a picture of your hair."

Autumn, unfortunately I won't be able to post a pic anytime soon, I have neither a working scanner nor a digital camera. But I look forward to someday getting a pic up, maybe I'll get lucky!

Your hair has to be one of the most gorgeous on this site. Absoloutely stunning:inlove:

Thank you for the flattering comments Biku, Valorie, and Lady Frog. :flower: