u/Known-Disaster-4493

Hey all, so a bit of a backstory. When I was a kid, I let my hair grow out a bit. My mom would use a conditioner and water mix on it daily, and when I had braids she’d put mousse in it. Around age 7, I got tired of having longer hair and kept it short for years.

Once I got older, my hair routine became pretty simple: Pantene curl perfection shampoo and conditioner every day. I’d completely soak my hair, shampoo it with a circular scrubbing motion, rinse, then do the same with conditioner. I never towel dried my hair because it would get frizzy, so I always let it air dry. At the time, my hair seemed perfectly healthy, so I never questioned the routine.

Now that I’m older and I’ve started growing my hair out again, I noticed my temples were looking a little different than the rest of my hair. I’d been brushing for waves consistently and wearing durags for a couple years, so I’m wondering if that affected things over time. As I’ve been learning more about hair care, I’m also starting to wonder if washing with shampoo every day for years may have been too much and stripped away a lot of my natural oils.

Since growing it out, I’ve realized I don’t really know the best way to care for longer hair. I think my hair is somewhere around 3C–4A, but I’m still learning what works best for my texture. Should I use a detangler? Just finger-comb it? How often should I wash? What products are actually worth using?

One thing I struggle with is drying. If I don’t shake some of the water out in the shower, my hair can stay dripping wet for hours. I don’t like aggressively towel drying because it makes my hair frizzy.

I’ve also experimented with leave in conditioner. The problem wasn’t that the leave in itself caused frizz, the issue was that I applied it the same way I apply regular conditioner in the shower, working it all through my hair with my hands. Once my hair got longer, that method seemed to leave my hair looking frizzier and harder to manage. Because of that, I started wondering if a lightweight leave in conditioner spray that I could mist onto wet hair would work better.

Another issue is sleeping. I’ve tried wearing a bonnet, but I usually wake up with my hair flattened or bent in weird directions. The only way I know how to fix it is by re wetting my hair, which is one reason I still end up washing my hair every day. I like how my hair looks after it’s been refreshed with water, but I’m not sure if my current routine is the healthiest approach.

I’m mainly looking for advice from people with longer hair, especially people with 3C–4A hair or similar curl patterns. What products do you use? How often do you wash? How do you handle moisture, tangles, sleeping, and styling without having to completely re-wet or wash your hair every day?

Also just out of curiosity for anyone who’s had to help their hair back to a healthier state after years of a not so great routine, how long did it take before you started seeing real improvement? Asking for, uh, personal reasons 😅

Thanks in advance!

(First 4 pictures are from when I noticed my hair starting to go)
(Pic 5 is just after rinsing with just water)
(Pics 6-9 are after I shampooed and rinsed water out)
(Pics 10-12 are after i’ve applied conditioner)
(Pics 13 and 14 are after shower and shook water off)
(Pics 15-17 is my hair all dry)
(Pic 18 is my hair the following morning)

2 pics at the end is my hair as a child and my hair before I cut my long hair the first time.

Hey all, so a bit of a backstory. When I was a kid, I let my hair grow out a bit. My mom would use a conditioner and water mix on it daily, and when I had braids she’d put mousse in it. Around age 7, I got tired of having longer hair and kept it short for years.

Once I got older, my hair routine became pretty simple: Pantene curl perfection shampoo and conditioner every day. I’d completely soak my hair, shampoo it with a circular scrubbing motion, rinse, then do the same with conditioner. I never towel dried my hair because it would get frizzy, so I always let it air dry. At the time, my hair seemed perfectly healthy, so I never questioned the routine.

Now that I’m older and I’ve started growing my hair out again, I noticed my temples were looking a little different than the rest of my hair. I’d been brushing for waves consistently and wearing durags for a couple years, so I’m wondering if that affected things over time. As I’ve been learning more about hair care, I’m also starting to wonder if washing with shampoo every day for years may have been too much and stripped away a lot of my natural oils.

Since growing it out, I’ve realized I don’t really know the best way to care for longer hair. I think my hair is somewhere around 3C–4A, but I’m still learning what works best for my texture. Should I use a detangler? Just finger-comb it? How often should I wash? What products are actually worth using?

One thing I struggle with is drying. If I don’t shake some of the water out in the shower, my hair can stay dripping wet for hours. I don’t like aggressively towel drying because it makes my hair frizzy.

I’ve also experimented with leave in conditioner. The problem wasn’t that the leave in itself caused frizz, the issue was that I applied it the same way I apply regular conditioner in the shower, working it all through my hair with my hands. Once my hair got longer, that method seemed to leave my hair looking frizzier and harder to manage. Because of that, I started wondering if a lightweight leave in conditioner spray that I could mist onto wet hair would work better.

Another issue is sleeping. I’ve tried wearing a bonnet, but I usually wake up with my hair flattened or bent in weird directions. The only way I know how to fix it is by re wetting my hair, which is one reason I still end up washing my hair every day. I like how my hair looks after it’s been refreshed with water, but I’m not sure if my current routine is the healthiest approach.

I’m mainly looking for advice from people with longer hair, especially people with 3C–4A hair or similar curl patterns. What products do you use? How often do you wash? How do you handle moisture, tangles, sleeping, and styling without having to completely re-wet or wash your hair every day?

Also just out of curiosity for anyone who’s had to help their hair back to a healthier state after years of a not so great routine, how long did it take before you started seeing real improvement? Asking for, uh, personal reasons 😅

Thanks in advance!

(First 4 pictures are from when I noticed my hair losing touch)
(Pic 5 is just after rinsing with just water)
(Pics 6-9 are after I shampooed and rinsed water out)
(Pics 10-12 are after i’ve applied conditioner)
(Pics 13 and 14 are after shower and shook water off)
(Pics 15-17 is my hair all dry)
(Pic 18 is my hair the following morning)

2 pics at the end is my hair as a child and my hair before I cut my long hair the first time.

Hey all! A bit of a backstory but so when I was a kid, I let my hair grow out a bit. My mom would use a conditioner and water mix on it daily, and when I had braids she’d put mousse in it. Around age 7, I got tired of having longer hair and kept it short for years.

Once I got older, my hair routine became pretty simple: Pantene curl perfection shampoo and conditioner every day. I’d completely soak my hair, shampoo it with a circular scrubbing motion, rinse, then do the same with conditioner. I never towel dried my hair because it’ll got frizzy so I always let it air dry. At the time, my hair seemed perfectly healthy, so I never questioned the routine.

Now that I’m older, I’ve started growing my hair out again because I thought my temples might be thinning from brushing for waves? I had them for a couple years with consistent brushing and wearing of durags. As I’ve been learning more about hair care, I’m starting to wonder if washing with shampoo every day for years may have been too much and stripped away a lot of my natural oils.

Since growing it out, I’ve realized I don’t really know the best way to care for longer hair. I think my hair is somewhere around 3C–4A, but I’m still learning what works best for my texture. Should I use a detangler? Just finger-comb it? How often should I wash it? What products are actually worth using?

One thing I struggle with is drying. If I don’t shake some of the water out in the shower, my hair can stay dripping wet for hours. I don’t like aggressively towel drying because it’ll make my hair frizzy.

I’ve also experimented with leave in conditioner. The problem wasn’t that the leave in itself caused frizz. The issue was that I applied it the same way I apply regular conditioner in the shower, working it all through my hair with my hands. Once my hair got longer, that method seemed to leave my hair looking frizzier and harder to manage. Because of that, I started wondering if a lightweight leave-in conditioner spray that I could mist onto wet hair would work better.

Another issue is sleeping. I’ve tried wearing a bonnet, but I usually wake up with my hair flattened or bent in weird directions. The only way I know how to fix it is by re-wetting my hair, which is one reason I still end up showering every day. I like how my hair looks after it’s been refreshed with water, but I’m not sure if my current routine is the healthiest approach.

I’m mainly looking for advice from people with longer hair, especially people with 3C–4A hair or similar curl patterns. What products do you use? How often do you wash? How do you handle moisture, tangles, sleeping, and styling without having to completely re-wet or wash your hair every day? Thanks in advanced!!

Am I cooked, will my hair ever grow back?

(First 4 pictures are from when I noticed my hair thinning)
(Pic 5 is just after rinsing with just water)
(Pics 6-9 are after I shampooed and rinsed water out)
(Pics 10-12 are after i’ve applied conditioner)
(Pics 13 and 14 are after shower and shook water off)
(Pics 15-17 is my hair all dry)
(Pic 18 is my hair the following morning)

2 pics at the end is my hair as a child and my hair before I cut my long hair the first time.