by
Black Girl With Long Hair
Want more cautionary tales from our natural hair pros? Read more hair mistakes from our writers here.
1. Product mix left on too long resulting in pH fried strands
One of my top three worst hair mistakes has to be leaving in the cherry Lola treatment in my hair for a few hours longer than I should’ve. I’ve done the treatment before but that one time, I made a terrible mistake. I wanted to do the Cherry Lola treatment right before class that day. I had mastered the art of having a treatment in my hair without anyone noticing by always adorning my plastic cap with a really nice head wrap. So after I quickly mixed (an incorrect proportion) of the ingredients and placed it on my hair, I left it in for the rest of the day until I got back from classes. BIG MISTAKE. When I went to wash my hair, instead of finding smooth coils, my hair felt super rough to the touch. It felt like I had been using a cheap flat iron on it every day for a month without any heat protectants. I didn’t even have enough conditioner to bring my hair back to life that afternoon. The quality of my hair decreased dramatically and only got better after keeping it oiled under a sew in weave for a few weeks. I promised myself since that time, that I would never leave in a treatment for longer than directed, especially a treatment that contains one or more higher than normal pH ingredients like baking soda.
2. Faulty henna treatment that led to tangling and massive breakage
The time when I did a henna mix with coconut cream and and my hair got so tangled it took me a summer to recover from it. Before I developed and started using my henna hack for super moisturized hair, I took a recipe for a henna treatment and tweaked it to the point that it was no longer beneficial to my hair. A treatment that should’ve resulted in smoother, stronger strands turned into a freak accident where my hair because one huge matter mess. If it wasn’t for my husband I would’ve cut all my hair off that night, but instead spent a whole week ripping through my hair with my fingers and suffering tons of hair loss because from the trauma of detangling. I learned quickly that henna is great, but you must have it finely sifted and it’s best to closely follow the directions given for its use by ladies that have been successful in using it.
3. Brassy orange puke-colored hair
The time when I started graduate school in Michigan state and started washing my hair without a filter was another one of my great natural hair mistakes. I was warned about the water in Michigan, but I was young and thought that I could still be successful in my hair regimen even with its use. Well, I was dead wrong. After a few short months, my hair turned a brassy orange color and got so hard to comb. I even remember my white friends commenting on the fact that my hair no longer glistened like it used to. The fact that they noticed my hair had a dull cast on it means that it was worse than I thought. When it got too bad to continue, I started buying distilled water and using that to wash my hair instead. That made a noticeable difference over time.
Ladies, have you made any of these mistakes? Do share!
9 Responses
I know I was completely crazy and stupid but…
I used a curlin iron to flat iron my hair and used “indian hair food” brand hair gel (it’s a green one in a short round container the size of a small cooking butter container) as a heat protection substitute since a friend of mine did the same thing for me with her actual flat iron (but I didn’t have a flat iron, a curlin iron was all I had at the time).. it didn’t burn my hair and barely gave off any steam, but my hair did feel like it was screaming for mercy when I was done… O.o I could actually feel my hair in pain like a burnt feeling, I could have swarn that it could have been nipped off just by tugging by the thinness especially the baby hair at the back of my head…
I washed my hair with a shampoo that doesn’t contain citric acid a few days after the experiment because my hair felt so fin, frail and in pain that I was afraid that it’d fall out if I do anything other than keep it in a simple style and so I decided to wait till it recovered enough strength which it did and I plan to use caster oil in it soon.. my boyfriend bought a special castor oil coconut oil mix in a small bottle for my birthday a year or two ago from the Dhealth store for natural hair and has introduced kale into my diet since my hair needs sulfur (deperately). I don’t know if the damange is permanent, my hair doesn’t feel the way it felt during that time, if anything, it feels a lot better but I’m taking better care of my babies.. T^TI have to buy the conditioner that comes with the shampoo, it’s a shampoo that is used for better management of natural hair (no citric acide, and good for natural hair recommended by a co worker who uses it and said it’s the best especially since its specially made for African hair, I forgot the name but I love it!) it makes my hair come out supper curly and soft.. and reduces frizz and tearing of hair during detangling ^w^ and I have to get the conditioner for it soon.. I’ve never used conditioner before, but I guess that’s why my hair has been the same length for years until recently… And that is the biggest mistake I have ever done to my hair. I was better off relaxing it as a mistake than putting it through curling iron with nothing but hair gel as heat protection lol.. how embarrassing. 😛
My big mistake was forgetting to take my time and to be gentle with the detangling process during and after a wash. When I try to rush through the process, the result is usually damaged hair. I had to go back to what helped my curls to grow long in the first place…PATIENCE.
I feel the need to speak up for Michigan water. Its not all Michigan water, but the further you are from Detroit (in my experience) you get well water or really REALLY yucky water.
But great article regardless! I never knew purified water or distilled water can make a difference in your hair’s quality of life 🙂
Agreed wholeheartedly Imani! I live I Detroit but have friends in the burbs and noticed not only is the water quality in Detroit exceptionally better (as Detroit has a unrivaled Water Treatment Processes and Plant), the sewers are also better maintained in Detroit as well. Many times I have visited friends in Warren & Sterling Heights and the sewer issues out there are unbelievable and U can smell it in their tap water.
However, washing the hair with distilled water is something I will definitely try! Especially to get away from the chlorine that is sometimes present in tap water. Thanks for those helpful tips!
Haha Brassy Orange? If you are like me, I have dirty brown red hair that is highly visible in the sun. Due to sun bleaching a certain layer of my hair has that color you are referring to. It’s just sun bleached hair, doesn’t mean you hair is unhealthy. My hair always looks dull without olive oil or something. It’s just because of my natural hair color, it looks dusty while dark hair colors appear clean…
Using a chelating shampoo if I’m living in an area with very hard water brings new life to & maintains the health of my hair – would recommend to anyone
please help!
Oh, can you recommend a brand to me? 🙂
your hair is exactly what it’s suppose to be. Don’t fight it it. Embrace it.