What's Up With My Hair??
I just finished all of my treatment...chemo...rt mastectomy...rads....My hair has started to grow back at first it started coming back a real nice grade...baby fine and I was rocking the waves...but now I can't get it to lay down its more like a short puffy fro...I'm afraid to get a relaxer because its only been 6 months since chemo. Any hair dressers out there know of any products that will give me a good sheen. I wonder what Robin Roberts uses hers looks great!!! Mine is about that length but not near as shiny.
Comments
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Hi mrsdoty, my hair won't lay down either. My hair is long enough now to put the front in twists and I wear a half wig for the back. I use Profective growth lotion on mine. I haven't found a good leave in conditoner yet. I wish I knew what Robin Roberts uses also. Let me know if you find anything.
Thanks
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Hello ladies. I am loving the my waves and small curls. I heard robin say that she was using the hair fertilizer. I am a big fan of carol's daughter. It is all natural hair care started by a black women. You can find the line in Dillards(urban area's), sephora.com, and hsn carry the product. Will and Jada along with Mary J use these products. I had the pleasure of talking with one of the rep's for carol's daughter a few weeks ago. She said don't brush or comb use your finger in a rake like way. I use the shampoo, leave in cond., hair milk and etc.
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My hair has just filled in enough to rock my short fro and I, too, was stressing over conditioning. Thanks Rogam, I'm going to sephora right now.
Yogi
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Ro and Yogi - love your new avatars! You both look mahhhvalous!
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Thanks Rogam for the info. How do you like the products? I read some of the reviews....still a little skeptical.
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Rogam you are beautiful.....so are all you ladies. Thanks for the info I am definately going to give carols daughter a try!!!!!
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Hello Ladies! Thanks for all the love and support. I really like the products. I use the hair milk, the hair butter, Tui shampoo, smoothie and the hair elixiar. I am a cosmetic junkie and love helping others feel and look beautiful. Ladies keep your head up!!!
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Thanks for the info regarding Carols Daughter. I will try to find some online. Meanwhile I see a bit more hair every morning, At first I could only feel it. I rubbed my scalp so much I'm surprised I still have hair on it. I can now start to see new growth!!!!!! I am sooooo excited!!!!!!!
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Hi Rogam,
I looked up carols daughter and it looks wonderful. I'm a little overwhelmed at the selection. My dry hair got much worse after chemo. Do you have a recommendation on which products would be best to start with. You can pm me if you wish. Probably should have sent this as a PM.
thanks.
Cherryl
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Bumping this up.
Too much great information here (above) on natural hair products for it to be lost in time!!!
There is a wig shop called Wigs for You on Los Alamitos Blvd. in Los Alamitos, CA
11135 Los Alamitos Blvd., Los Alamitos, CA 90720 (562) 594-6277
It is closed on Mondays.
The shop owner, Esther, is a lady who bills herself as the Wig Doctor. She was caring, gentle, and attentive.
I am African-American. She is Asian. I thought, uh oh... now I'm going to get a person who isn't used to Black Hair. NOT SO. Esther specializes in alopecia and chemo patients.
She looks at you. Retrieves a wig that looks like your current style, and then you go from there by looking at that wig and additional ones.
They have special wigs for hair loss patients that let your natural scalp show through, and thus the part in your hair. By the by, my less than shoulder length pageboy in synthetic was $350.00 in 03/09. I am only telling you that so that you are prepared when your store tells you a price.
The internet price for wigs appeared to be much less, I looked at Beverly Johnson's line. I thought mine would be $80 http://www.wilshirewigs.com/H-203-by-Beverly-Johnson-pr-3286.html However, I did not price an Internet line for chemo/alopecia patients with hair loss.
Blue Shield/Cross of California pays for those "Cranial Prosthesis prescriptions" from your doctor, most HMOs don't, ladies.
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I don't know how to take care of a wig. I have one that's a lace front and one that's not.
The one that's not looks too shiny and is not as thick as my normal hair. But I plan to wear it until all my hair is gone before using the lace front wig. How can I keep it from looking so 'wiggy'?
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Hi Luv2sing,
I think so many ladies are wearing wigs for fashion today, and also all the weaves that are in, till it may not make a difference(only to us) as I feel I went through a "wealth of mental changes" during the time of the" wig wearing "and some times still do, being overly conscious about what and how I looked. Not that you are saying that----
A wig shop should be able to tell you what you can do with it for sure.
Take care.
Linda C.
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Need some help ladies on how to handle this afro
I tried carol's daughter and other oils the curls are nice, but only in the front, the back seems dry and not as curly. Someone said I should put a kiddie perm or one of the male texturizer but I am not sure can anyone out there help. I am finally starting to feel like my old self but i feel overly conscious about what I look like.
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Dear Luv2Sing,
Putting on your wig and taking care of it takes as much investment as a pair of shoes costing $250 or more that you keep in a box to protect. Okay, then. A purse. You never just place a wig on your head, you adjust, stretch, and position it. You brush it before, you brush it after. You may choose to put hair rollers in it over night. You use a mirror, just like with your own beautiful tresses (hey, you paid for the wig, those are your tresses). Wigs need R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
You really need a professional to get you started so that you feel/see how it should fit and wear on your head. Also, you need shampoo and conditioner for your every two weeks wig washing.
Dear Mothertoall... What stage are you in - in treatment, please? In chemo, done with chemo? Hair growing back in? Trying to understand the point you are at.
Love in Christ,
Sessna1
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Hi Sessna1
My last treatment was 5 months ago, that is chemo , surgery and radiation. My hair is growing back in but all curly. I believe my problem is probably how I see it everyone else says it is cute, but I miss my old hair. Then I look at Robin Roberts on Good Morning America and wonder how do I get that look I could handle that look. :} Actually when I see myself in the mirror I look just like my mothers sister, I am to young to look that old.. I am starting to feel like me again slowly I just want look in the mirror and see me again boobless but me.
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Hi Mothertoall,
Seems like it takes a little while for the hair situation to come back to where it was---and it seems to go through many changes on the way. I took my wig off last March, a long story behind this(Navelbine causes thinning of the hair and did not take it out--combination of Tykerb and an antibiotic that dropped my WBC to1.0 October 07-- it had just started to grow in after Taxotere--(June 07)and because of the Chemo I was on, (Navelbine) it really changes the grade of the hair(silky and laid) well, the Dr took me off of it(Navelbine) in October 08 (off the Tykerb in December 08) I am on Chemo Break and by now "this hair is mine"---it is getting nappy at the roots and part of the top still is what I call (Med hair) so keeping it looking right has been a job--I do keep it tinted and trimmed, want it to grow in, so I can get a Curl---that is also what seems to be healthy and keeps hair on my head. I am 62 years old, I still just don't like the gray--I know I am Blessed to be here to even see the gray----But??!!!
Hang in there--feels like it is a slow process, but you will get back to "You"!!!!
Linda C
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Hi ladies....blessings to you all. I finally ordered my Carol's daughter. I used the hair elixer and hair milk for about 6 weeks. Then i broke down and got a relaxer. I was amazed at how well it took. It didn't burn and my hair was so beautiful people thought it was a wig. Not really sure how to take that (smile). Anyway I still use it even though I have a relaxer...I think it does wonders for my sheen and it looks really conditioned....Love to you all....Keep fighting the good fight!!!!
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Dear Mothertoall..., Sis.s patoo, ILinda, rogam, Roya, Luv2sing, and greetings mrsdoty,
All Sis. are welcome here.
My hair is beginning to thin, so I'm treating it like an older puppy-dog, with respect and love. I just had Cycle 1 about two weeks ago.
I can relate because there are times I look back into my 20's and wish I had my old hair back.
Question, are you keeping your tresses out of the sun as much as possible? We didn't go to back east class and etiquette school to learn how to rock a hat, so we in So. California won't do anything about sun shade until we have no choice.
I know that our hair is our crown. It, like the rest of our body, had been denied needed nourishment, and I think it will take longer than our treatment time to heal. Luv2sing broke my heart a little in that a professional didn't give her a wig run down and ease her into a new look.
I wish we had more sisters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5+ months out to give us feedback and perspective.
We are all wearing our silk scarves to bed and not letting the cotton pillow (or sleep cap) sap out the oils we need, correct? We have comfy pillows, even if we have to invest in a D-Core from Apple Products to align our spine, yes? We are being gentle with massaging our scalp with the balls of our fingers, never the nails? We know how hard tap water is in our city and we have considered washing our hair (gently... gently... slowly... ) with bottled water during treatment?
Ladies - perspective please? A year out, what have you learned, how did you learn to be kinder to your hair and your spirit? No one knows like the Sis.s and King Solomon how wonderfully we love our hair, a talent from God that you may make into your own unique gift.
Remember - it's really your face that makes the hair look good. It's your spirit that is the core of your glow.
Love in Christ,
Sessna1
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P.S. I meant no offense or insult to anyone in the above post. I don't "talk down" to people. If you thought that was in there, I am sorry. I am sorry. It is not in my words.
I put in the regular hair information because MANY times in life I have had to look at a person and think, "WHY did you assume I knew that or that I was doing it? If you had just mentioned it, I could have ignored it or tried it - season to taste."
If the shoe doesn't fit, my Sis.s, even if it's on sale - don't buy it.
Love in Christ,
Sessna1
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One thing I've learned, through the years raising a son with CP and now during this battle, is to not sweat the small stuff. Even if there was an "implied" insult (which I don't feel there was), you were giving valuable information. I personally don't see how anyone could have taken offense. My prayer is that one good thing we can all get out of this walk is to be a lot more tolerant since we never know exactly what someone else has or is facing in their life.
Be blessed.
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Hello Ladies,
I hope that we can post freely what we want to say and never have to feel guarded. What each of us feel at certain times, is what we may feel and write--if we can't share it here--where we going with it(I know folks do have folks they can talk to) but some of us may not, and things come out, and it is" What did I say"---"what did you hear"---It all needs to be Ok--read it and we move on---that is the one thing I love about this thread--I felt there has always been "a loving bunch of sisters on here and some praying warriors" The Cancer is our challenge----no words-----Lets just feel free to post "what ever we are feeling" get it out---with love.
Stay Blessed!!!
Linda C
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Hello all, I know it's been a while. I've been so busy with school that I don't have a chance to visit the website more. I finished Taxol last May and my hair is about a good three inches now. It is really thick. I've been pressing it with an electric iron, but the ends are too curly for me to use a curling iron. I usually get it cornrowed or I will put twists in the front and wear a half wig. I am really thinking of putting a relaxer in it now. I'm getting tired of wearing the twists and the cornrows/braids are getting expensive especially since I'm not working. My hair is longer at the front and top than the back. I'm hoping that a relaxer will help with the curly ends and I'll be able to curl and style my hair like I did before treatments.
Mrsdoty- what relaxer did you use? My girls and hubby wants me to wait a little while longer before relaxing but I don't think I'll last that long. Braids/cornrows don't last long for me because my curls grows over the braids too fast and it looks a mess.
If anyone wants pics, let me know and I can open up my facebook pics for you to see the stages of my hair growth.
Take care everyone.
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My Sis. in Christ,
Not only do I refuse to go on a snipe hunt, I don't snipe. Thank you for your replies.
I have endeavored to "finish" the post I started RE: Losing Hair in Los Angeles, CA, What have you learned? I've gotten a LOT of excellent feedback, and last night was day 14 for me. Sigh. I can see my scalp since the first time my mom set me in front of a mirror after my birth. Wow. I hope there's no message waiting for me under there... Wouldn't THAT be a blip? There's a movie for you! A guy is entering the military, and while the barber is giving him a full head moon job, a picture appears on his scalp that says the guy's destiny is to help save the world in 2012. The barber is not hallucinating, and soon all the guys are standing over the young man's head marvelling.
Hey, my imagination is from my family genetically. I take no uncontrolled, unprescribed, or under the counter drugs. I thank God that I can make myself laugh - it makes life so much more enjoyable.
Love in Christ,
Sessna1
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I would not suggest relaxing your hair yet. While I didn't lose all of my hair, my sister did. She believe she had wait long enough for chemicals and they took her hair back out.
Hav eyou tried getting a professional treatment and flat ironing? That's what I have started doing with mine after getting the recommendation from my daughter. She has very long thick and curly hair, the moisturizing treatment offered at some salons followed by a good flat ironing has produced silky smooth hair.
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Dear PInkyLee,
Question, are we talking about the ceramic flat iron? A beautician once used that on me and it started to thin out and break off my hair. It was awful. I have been a press and curl most of my life.
Love in Christ,
Sessna1
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Hello Everyone,
Praying all is going well for everyone and that you're getting all the love and support you deserve.
Been busy with school, work and falling out on the couch once I'm done! My new pic is up .. my hubby had to cut the rest of my hair, because I decided to wash my hair while in the shower ... the rest is an Alfred Hitchcock movie
. I cried the entire time he was cutting, but he said I'm still beautiful, so that made me smile
. Now I have to rush out and load up on hoop earrings!!!!
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I'm not sure if the flat iron was ceramic, but I have not had any breakage with it's use and neither has my daugher. Maybe the person used too much heat when with your experience.
I wore my hair close cropped for two years after my first diagnosis and I can say that earrings make a difference.
This occurrence and the bilateral, I left it natural for a few months. Last week I decided to get a weave and so far I like it. The stylist didn't put any chemicals in my natural hair and it is blended nicely. She used a falt iron to smooth and style all the hair after putting in the weave. Some places on my head after very thin and a couple of places could be called bald. I think it is more from nerves than the cancer, but in the end bald is bald. Now, the weave is cut in a chin length boob and I feel great about it. People that I go to church with couldn't tell whether or not it was a weave. Even my sister asked how i got my hair to grow.
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I am two years out from finishing chemo. My hair (when it is flat ironed) is about the same length it was before it fell out. Losing my hair is the only positive thing that came out of this. A hairdresser thought I put in highlights, but never did. I guess the sun lighten it. It is really curly now.
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I'm not sure what's going on, hair wise. I learn a lot from the boards, as one poster said, that pubic hair goes first. My mentor lost her eyebrows and eyelashes. My major hair out day was day 17. Enough to make a cat hacking up a hairball impressd by my mess.
Now, I have the hair of Homer Simpson, but it's not "falling out" anymore. It just sits there, and I large tooth comb it after spritzing it with leave-in hair conditioner two times a day. My eyebrows would give up hairs if I plucked, however, even when I put makeup on and remove it with cold cream, the hairs of my eyelashes and brows do not come out.
Nail beds aren't dark.
Maybe it takes Cycle 5 or something for those side effects? I know that every body is different - and some women don't lose their hair - amazing!!!
Years ago, my hairdresser said that when your hair comes out easily at the follicle/with the follicle, there is something wrong in the body. I saw a lot of follicles in the hair that my head let go of. My eyelashes and eyebrows are hanging tough.
Sessna1
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hi,
first time posting. i've been told that i should do chemotherapy. i'm trying to get a sense of what to expect from my hair afterwards. i keep seeing people say "curly". What exactly does that mean? can you make an analogy to a well known personality's hair type so that i can get a better picture of what you guys mean? i know that everyone is different....just need clarity
thanks
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