Hi everyone,

My hairlength is just above my shoulders. Its very straight and medium density. I just found this website while searching about growing my hair out.  I decided to grow it for the next couple of years at least.  I've had my hair about every length even very short pixie cuts.  My hair has gotten to BSL but then I abused it mercilessy with bleaching and a spiral perm (it was the early 90s give me a break) I'm so glad I found this site. I already bought a boar bristle brush ; I mentioned to my mom I was going to grow my hair out and of course she told me I wouldn't look good with long hair because I'm so short.

I do have a couple of questions to start.. are "cones" a good thing for your hair or not? They make my hair feel so soft. Wouldn't clarifying my hair with a ACV rinse make it too dry?

Thanks

Welcome to LongLocks, PammyJK.

Congratulations on deciding to grow your hair long!  What color is your hair?

I'm not very good at describing "-cones" so I'll leave that to someone else...their being good or not depends on your hair.  They are not good for my hair, so I don't use them.  They can build up on your hair, depending on whether or not they are water soluble.  If you do ACV rinses too often or use too much vinegar it can be drying, otherwise it shouldn't be.

How long do you want to grow your hair?

Welcome to LongLocks!

Cones are silicone-derived chemicals.  They coat the hair to "repair" (it actually glues the splits together) damaged hair and to give hair more shine (dull hair can be due to product build up or the roughing up of the hair cuticle which happens with chemicals, heat and teasing the hair).  If the coating is not removed, the hair is starved of moisture which will cause the hair to become brittle, stiff and ultimately break off.  A clarifying shampoo will remove the coating if the -cone is not water soluable.  ACV rinses can prevent buildup as well.  If your hair tends to be dry, you should always condition with a moisturizing conditioner after clarifying with either a shampoo or ACV.

As Sakina mentioned, some hair tolerates the -cones better than others.   Some people will only use products with -cones, others avoid them like the plague.  My hair will take -cones in small doses but not repeatedly.  I will use a conditioner with -cones when I want to control the frizzies for a special occasion, but I won't use one for my regular conditioner.

Good luck in reaching your hair goals!

Hello again,
My hair is naturally a medium brown. I color my hair and had bleach blond last year; colored it a darker blond; went to a hairdresser for a medium auburn; then at home I tried a yucky red that made it purplish-red and finally last night I colored it back very close to my natual med. brown-whew!  My  hair really feels healthy and no split ends if you can believe it.
My goal is to grow it to my lower back at least and not past my butt. I don't want to sit on my hair.

Nice to meet you, PammyJK. Welcome aboard. :)

So you were a victim of the early '90's perm craze too, eh? ::) At least yours was a spiral. I had the funky Z-shaped electroshock/bride of Frankenstein kind to which gel and water was a constant necessity. Memory lane...

Anyway, like you I'm a natural straightie and my hair loves and needs cones. I've actually been using Pantene products (which contain a balance of pro-vitamins, panthenol and cones) for over 10 years and they have never failed me. ;)

ACV rinses are fabulous because they remove that extra layer of gunk (from dirt, oils, styling products, etc.) from your hair and scalp and give you a fresher start. They can also combat dandruff, and no, they aren't drying. I use them once a week as part of my clarifying routine, and more often if needed. You do clarify regularly, don't you?


Quote:

I mentioned to my mom I was going to grow my hair out and of course she told me I wouldn't look good with long hair because I'm so short.

Rubbish. Many of the women in these forums are short and have long hair - myself included. People have a lot of crazy reasons for why they think certain things look good/bad on people. But they're only opinions. If you think that long hair becomes you, then grow it as long as you want. ;)

Nice to meet you! :)

Thanks Midnight Angel for kind words. I admit I don't use any clarifying routine on my hair. Now that I've colored it after it was bleached I'm afraid it will take some color off the ends. I thought I might do it right before I color again. I try to wash it every 2-3 days so the color lasts.
I use a shampoo for colored hair with a UV block and I just bought some conditioner that had minimal cones. Dimethicone was about the 5th ingred. from the last... everything! has cones.  But I agree that I've never had a problem with them and I love the way the make my hair feel.

Nice to meet all of you