Oh ok - on the longlocks site there was a page of natural recipes for the hair - I wasn't sure if the hair gel would work and I wanted to get someone else's opinion. I was thinking (from former experience with store-bought hair gel) that if I put some gel in while it's damp and braid it, and unbraid it when it's dry, it might last longer. I can't believe why all the curly heads I know want straight hair! I love curls!!

Haha that's very true; as for the curls, I found this thing at a beauty salon which seems to work. It's a little plastic stick with dents all along the side, and what they did was put it into dry hair, spray it and take it out. What I do is put it into damp hair and not use spray at all, and it gives wonderful spiral curls!

Haha I just realized - this is a post for straightening long hair and we're talking about curls!

Hehe never mind. Anyway my hair is naturally wavy so the curls last all day, or until I try to comb it or brush it. They are usually gone by the next morning because the single braid I do at night leaves me with just waves in the morning. The first time I tried it my hair was waist-length so I am sure it will work unless your hair is like Ginny's and never curls! I also found that the longer I left it in, the longer the curls stayed and the more pronounced they were   .

For the ponytail-pantyhose method, do you find that it works better with your hair in a high ponytail or a low one? And which do you guys recommend; a scrunchie or a ponytail holder?

Also, my bangs were cut too short, and they are kind of straight with a little wave at the end. I'd like to straighten them so they don't look so short, and I've tried rollers but that wave won't go away. Does anyone have any ideas on straightening my bangs?

Ouch - wouldn't the tape rip off your hair?

Heh heh - the grass is especially often greener on the other side if you don't know how to take care of what you've got - I wasn't as appreciative of my curls when I was younger either until I learned how to properly care for them!  Now I love them, and I hardly ever try to wear my hair in an other than naturally dried way (for special occasions I use old curlers from the 50s when my mom was a girl to make my curls smoother and more defined - and more ringlet-like instead of spirally - and I hardly ever try to straighten anymore as it takes an extremely long time to do and is awful to the ends of my hair - especially since I'm trying to grow it out!)

I've only just started taking care of my hair. When it was hip-length, I didn't even know what "long hair" was... I thought hair was just hair. It was only in good condition because of my mother. When I cut it and decided that I wanted to grow it back, I started taking extra special care of it and IT DOES NOT SEEM TO GROW PAST MID-BACK!!  I think it's time to make a sacrifice to the hair gods!

I hope it's not taking its break ... every day it *feels* longer. But you know what? When I bring it to the front it still doesn't go below my bra, it's so sad  ! Ok, I will be patient, I just wish I could tie my hair up every day for the next few years and one day open it and it will be lovely and long!