There really are no quick fixes for having long, healthy hair.
Before you click away, in disbelief and denial (
), wait! - this could be good news.
When I first joined LHC, it was because I wanted long hair, but couldn't seem to do anything about the pile of frizz and split ends affixed to my scalp. I had virgin hair that I ripped through with a brush a few times a day (and I do mean RIPPED, I actually BROKE multiple brushes in my coarse hair); shampooed and conditioned with Garnier Fructis, using shampoo from scalp to ends; and wore in a ponytail or down daily. Perhaps my only saving grace was that my mom had taught me not to wash my hair every day because washing it too often would strip it of its natural oils.
So, I joined. I started to CO. I started brushing from ends to scalp, then eventually threw away my brush entirely and started to fingercomb. I became obsessed with snipping splits off one by one. I learned to trim my own hair. I rediscovered coconut oil, which my grandma had put in my hair when I was little to make it "soft and black."
And yet, and yet... my hair was STILL a pile of frizz and split ends. It was a somewhat improved pile, but certainly still a pile.
How frustrating!
So I started the experimenting. I did every deep treatment known to mankind. I found things that made my hair shiny, I found things that made my hair break off easily, I found things that made my hair break off less easily, I found things that made my hair smelly, I cooked an egg in my hair, I spent weeks picking out bits of banana. But nothing, and I do mean NOTHING, put a dent in the frizz.
I started to give up. I oiled and washed twice a week, braided my hair every day, and forgot about it, except to S&D. I made it to hiplength that way. And once I was there, I noticed something strange...
My hair was less frizzy on the top than on the bottom. And my ends were crispy, much lighter than my roots, split, and generally awful.
Thus started the haircutting. I have literally gained no length in a year and a half. I keep cutting it all off.
And you know what? My hair is pretty darn good now.
Finally, FINALLY, the frizz has subsided. I'll always have some pouf because of my hairtype, but it's nothing like the pile it used to be. My number of split ends is significantly reduced. My hair is soft and shiny and pretty close to all one color from root to ends.
Why? Because nothing can repair damage - not cones, not protein, not moisture, not anything. The only thing you can do is cut it off and wait for healthy hair to grow. (See what Loviatar has to say about henna in
this post. Your mileage may vary on this one; I had a completely different experience with it than she did, but there are a lot of henna fans on the boards.)
Check out
this page from The World of Hair. Once the hair's cuticle is damaged or missing, nothing can put it back. And if you can't seem to get your hair to stop being frizzy and damaged-looking, this is probably why. Trust me, there IS hope.
Damage to the hair's cuticle can manifest itself in many ways. For me, the most obvious and visible way it manifested was frizziness and split ends. My hair was also rough, dull, and tangly. Some hairtypes may not have frizz; others may not have splits, others may not have roughness. Some people get very staticky, "flyaway" hair. The way damage shows up depends on your hairtype.
You'll see a lot of raves on the recipes board about how such-and-such deep treatment completely got rid of someone's frizz/static/roughness/dullness and gave someone else's hair blinding shine/iron strength/the ability to cook breakfast in bed for them (okay, kidding on the last one). They probably aren't lying. Some deep treatments can be really good for some people's hair! But they are not the miracle answer and they will not fix your hair after it has been damaged. I'm not bashing deep treatments at all. I'm saying that you can't expect miracles from them. Figure out what works for your hair, then do it
consistently and
patiently. The cumulative effects of hair treatments are going to be better than the one-time effects; the cumulative effects of good hair care on hair that has not been subjected to damaging practices are going to be better than the effects of good hair care on hair that HAS been subjected to damaging practices.
I'm also not saying you should cut it all off and start fresh. You CAN see improvements on what I like to call "pre-LHC" hair, often significant improvements. But if you aren't seeing all the improvement you'd like,
don't give up! A lot of us here on the boards like to "microtrim" - that is, trim off a very small amount of growth (1/2-1cm) once a month, or once every three weeks, or however often you like. As long as you trim off less hair than your growth rate per month, you will still see an increase in length while slowly getting rid of damage. If you like tapered or uncut hair, know that, on average, all the hairs on your head are replaced every six years. (No, that doesn't mean all your hair will fall out and grow back. It means that your hair is shedding and regrowing constantly.) Eventually, you WILL get rid of all your "pre-LHC" hair. I promise.
So, please - join. Experiment. Talk to us. Vent about how awful you think your hair looks. But above all, know that with TIME and good care practices, it will get better.
I started
this thread to see if others had the same experience as I did, and so far, the consensus seems to be YES. (freznow also made a good point: it's difficult to compare "root hair" to "end hair." Hair WILL accumulate damage. That really can't be eliminated, but the amount of damage your hair accumulates can be significantly reduced.)
We have a lot of good articles here about finding what routine works best for you and handling your hair gently, so I'm not going to go into that. I would specifically recommend reading Ursula's
Standard Newbie Advice, Teacherbear's
Keeping Splits at Bay, and Fia's
Advice in finding a working routine for your hair.
My hair is not perfect. It never will be. Yours never will be either - sorry! But, with time, you can learn to appreciate your hair and make it the best it can be.
Happy growing!
Re: Miracle Growth and Fixes 
Aspiring Author 
Errr... so can I shorten your screen-name? To avoid future piratical conversions?
Thanks, guys! Heh, I was pretty nervous about this... I'm glad you think it looks good. 
Linear Mode
