There is a difference ya know...

That's the length my hair was February 2006 when I first starting growing out my hair. When I was home in Louisiana I got a couple of emails regarding hair that irk the hell outta me. One was from a chick who'd received a bad home perm (I get like 4 of these a week by the way). I told her what to do for it from the perspective of what I would do if it were me. The same as I do for everyone who asks me which is to wash the hair GENTLY, rinse and condition. Let air dry with a natural oil like jojoba ON THE HAIR ONLY and then put Neosporin on the chemical burns twice a day until they were healed. Then I tell them to pray they didn't do any major damage to the scalp because if they did...hair might not grow back where the burns were. The last thing I say is to go to a professional for any chemical treatment from that point on cuz obviously...home perms ain't for you. Simple huh? Yeah...unh huh. Well, apparently this person had only found my hair site after google-ing her hair problem. Once I answered her or maybe before, who knows, she read the rest of what I had to say on the site about hair. And then I got this question:

What are some cheaper brands of stuff I can use on my hair because the stuff you say to use is expensive? Oh...and she also said: My cousin's hair is really nice and she DON'T BE DOING ALL OF THAT YOU DO.

*sigh* So I told her that I wouldn't know of any other lines that worked as well as the products I use because it's all I use. I ignored the part about the cousin. She writes back that I should put cheaper stuff on my site that people can afford if I wanted to offer some real help. I officially hated that heffa. Now...YOU jacked up YOUR hair. I offer you what I consider sound advice and you mess around and ATTACK ME????????? LIL GIRL...YOU DON'T KNOW ME LIKE THAT AND YOU NEVER WILL! I didn't say anything more to her as I was having too much fun with my family. But now...I want to revisit it and note that she does have a point. About her cousin that is. Her cousin's hair always looks nice...and she doesn't do all of the stuff I do. There are two basic different phases in your hair maintenance in my opinion: 1. Maintaining a fly cut that looks good on you. 2. A growth regimen. To maintain your cut it's perfectly fine getting your ends trimmed after every relaxer. Matter of fact...it's necessary if your hair is growing at the normal rate of 1/2 inch per month. For a growth regimen however...you're going to have to make some changes because you can't treat your hair the same as you would when you're not worrying about retaining your length. And it's the honest truth. For years I went to the salon once a week. My hair was always fly as hell but it never seemed to grow. Why? Because the heat and trims were making it that way. But hey...my hair was always fly right above the shoulders. Now I know better and I've taken the liberty of chronicling my journey and what I've learned. It's free. I don't sell any products. My site is currently ad free and nobody pays me a dime. That said...DO NOT ROLL UP ON ME ACTING A DONKEY'S BUTT BOUT YOUR JACKED UP HAIR. Why? Mainly cuz I don't give a dang cuz my hair is perfectly fine thank you very much. I said I was going to stop answering new people's emails but decided that I'm not going to do that because I enjoy being a resource to help people get to the bottom their hair issues and questions. I am, however, going to let folks know right off the bat that my advice is my opinion and not up for discussion. When I learn something new...I share it. It's liberating learning the TRUTH about your hair. Questions for you. Do you use any products that are cheaper that you have used and loved and therefore would recommend? Do you have any secrets you'd like to share? Got any questions? Oh and please know that I know someone who is like an expert on natural hair (HEY QUEENY!) so if you have questions about natural hair I know Ms. Q would be happy to help you. Oh yeah...the second chick? Not even worth my time. Humph.

Comments

[A blue moon reader of this blog]

*LMAO* I am over here crying at your response to the "poor" lady who asked for your advice. Granted I understand that some folks don't want to spend a certain amount on hair products but come on, trying to convince you to change the current products that YOU know works for you to something "cheaper". Was she serious?

Truth be told, I am not a product snob, I have used a bit of everything from Kenra to Suave and for me I mainly pay attention to what ingredients works for my hair type. I would love to use Kerastase line from L'Oreal but it is cost prohibitive for me at the moment. But I am not discouraging anyone from using that line if it works for them. Or any salon products. Same goes for those who found something that works for them on the lower price scale. What the lady should have done is did a comparison of what you recommended to something more of her price range. That's what I do sometimes.