GSM suggestion #1: Everything is not for everyone.
We are all different and so are our preferences. For instance, I hear coconut oil works wonders on hair like mine. That’s cool. I prefer olive oil*, jojoba oil*, avocado oil* or shea butter.
So does my hair. So the only wonders that coconut oil* worked for me was that I wondered why it didn’t work on my hair and why my hair hated it so much. Ah, well.
I also notice that my twist outs are better when I flat twist the roots. A friend of mine, although she flat twists to perfection, hates to flat twist anything, so she just does them loose.
GSM suggestion #2: No matter what is said in the article/post/site, the advice was not made specifically for you.
Yes, I know that it stated that it was given for your exact hair type or problem. But unless the author has had an intense one on one session with your scalp and hair, there is no way that the advice is exactly for you. Know who has had intense one on one sessions with your scalp and hair? You! So take the advice with a grain of salt. See where I’m going with this?
I sometimes get an itchy scalp, and I read somewhere that I should exfoliate my scalp with red pepper. You know, the kind that burns. Hmm, let me see….trade tolerable itching that indicates I need to shampoo with intolerable burning? No, thanks.
GSM suggestion #3: Because you use the GSM method, you will not be inclined to leave snippy or disparaging comments in the comments section.
With the GSM method, you have already decided that not all info is created equal, and you reflect on your own personal experiences and circumstances before you try any method.
You also don’t see it as a personal insult if the method suggested by someone else proves to be fruitless for you. Therefore, you don’t get catty in the comments section. I’ve seen it happen, and It. Ain’t. Cute.
The basic philosophy of the Grain of Salt method is that there are lots of methods out there, but only one you. What do you like? What don’t you like?
I like a lot of stuff that I read on blogs, but I know myself well enough to know that some things just do not work for me. And some info out there does not work at all (ever tried “reversing” a relaxer with cornstarch?).
There is nothing wrong with you or your hair if someone else’s so-called “tried and true” technique does not work for you. You just have to find your own tried and true technique, and take everything else with a grain of salt. As for me, I need to clean up my favorites folder.
What hair advice have you taken with a grain of salt?
Originally posted 2012-07-15 19:00:39.
Fierce!
GHE overnight is just PLAIN crazy and unhealthy. Why would anyone opt to give themselves head colds, conjunctivitis (pink eye), pneumonia, headache,acne,etc…just to have soft hair??
How do you get those symptoms from GHE?
It’s actually very simple. Drawing heat upwards to your head overwhelms the nerves,etc,thus headache. Have/would you go to bed with your head damp if you got wet in the rain? The oils /conditioners used in GHE get runny after a while add to that sweat, this accumulates on the face,neck = clogged pores/rash,acne. Also around the eye-sockets/lids = pink eye/ infection .Not to mention hair fungus, especially living in different climates…and the list goes on….
I have done the GHE for years (off/on) and have never had any of these disease or symptoms. The only way I’m getting some of these disease is through a virus, bacteria, or fungus and having a damp head does not necessarily cause that. The microbe has to be there as well as a portal of entry…lol.
I have not heard of any of those symptoms either. The only thing my sister, a licensed beautician, told me was that the salt from the sweat can somehow (don’t quite recall the exact words), damage my hair. I stopped doing it for a long time and started back again. Now that I have learned how to steam my hair without a steamer, I do that and get the same results of softer, yet healthy hair.
All of them .
I love the look !! 🙂
Establishing a “regimen”…meh. I don’t have energy for that. My hair tells me what it needs.
Lol using monistat for hair growth.
HA!!!! I tried that (smh) and got such a headache!!!!! Did my hair grow? Yes, because I got rid of a fungus growing at that time. Just go to a dermatologist… LOL
Spray your hair with water to moisturize it and something about Shea butter and also the acv rinse wth?
Don’t comb, dye, or straighten or it’s not natural…Chile please. I mostly ignore the natural nazi comments/advice. Yeah Jaime Nicole that monistat one too and alot of the fly by night use everything leftover from dinner last night ones.
ctfu
ROTFL
bahahaha loL. I know what you mean tho.
That u have to cut your ends every six weeks….. u dont have to do that *****
Alx Edg i beg to differ i dont know what all you apply to your hair but you dont need all that product for ghe just a small amount of oil no liquids are needed,your scalp will generate the steam..I’ve been doing ghe for over a year and never had any of that..lol
Well that’s good for you, may not be for others. Instinctively ppl think the more product they put in their hair and the longer (over nighting) it is left in the better. Thus someone with crazy thick/long/ dry hair will not ‘adhere’ to using the amount/s you say you use.Funny enough,what ppl are calling GHE, Caribbean women have been doing for AGES. So the renaming of ol’ time remedies in itself is HILARIOUS to me ;as I risk venturing to say, most Island women.
That relaxed hair can’t be healthy
That’s what two of my sisters said when I told them I was going back to relaxers. As of today, they are wrong, my hair is longer now than it was when I was natural for three years. So, WHATEVER! 8-p
I do the GHE with JBCO oil on the v first day and no oil the rest of the week (because JBCO ls heavy) and I have no acne etc matter of fact I just castor oil as a night moisturizer and coconut oil in the morning and my skin has never looked better
I’ve been doin the GHE system for two weeks and havent haf any problems.
90% of all this advice isn’t necessary. It doesn’t have to be so complicated. I’ve been natural since 2000 and alot of this new stuff is baffling to me.
Natural is the way to go! Been there done that…not for me. And no its not.
Using baking soda and vinegar.
I m sad my hair medium break n I want my hair long I like need my hair long n. How grow up hair long what kind need hair grow long list name ?
That I shouldn’t wash my hair daily…even men have told me this…
Valerie Johnson I never bought into that one either. My hair responds well to frequent washing. The key here is do what works for you but it doesn’t have to be so complicated.
That I shouldn’t use a lot of products. A little goes a long way.
Trimming your hair every two weeks to make it grow faster
Sealing my moisturizer with oil.
Dabney Ross Jones… the Baking soda in your shampoo is the bomb for clarifying! & the ACV (vinegar) rinse. I love both…
Weaves are damaging.
That if you color your hair you’re not natural smh I still have my curl pattern and kinks no damage. Also using sulfate shampoos are bad. My hair loves sulfate for some odd reason and it bugs me when people say “You must use ALL natural products” that’s bogus. I say USE what works for YOUR OWN hair. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. I honestly still use some of the same products I was using during my relaxed days and it works perfectly. The LOC method screwed my hair so I’m going back to my normal moisturizing treatment
Finger detangle
To never comb your hair just use your fingers and to not use shampoo, just wet hair and let it air dry and that water is my friend. Please, if I only wet this hair and not comb it I will end up with one big mat of hair. This stuff is extra kinky and I need my shampoo and water is not my friend. It takes me what seems like forever to comb through my hair.
True everyone is different, everything is not for everybody!!!!
any growth advice…. meh.. it’s gonna do what it wants
anti-shrinkage advice as well… my goal isn’t length.. it’s health… I don’t care if it shrinks
I take Co-washing with a grain of salt. I ALWAYS shampoo my hair, in one setting, three times. First I use a clarifying shampoo, then I use my Design Essentials Organic Cleanse, then my last shampoo is a moisturizing shampoo with either Design Essentials Moisture Retention Shampoo or Beautiful Textures Tangle Taming shampoo. Because of the process I use, it is imperative that I cleanse my hair thoroughly before my conditioning routine which involves a mixture of Affirm Fiberguard Reconstructor and olive oil.
having a regiemn. i put what i think works and see how it goes.
You have to use all these different types of natural hair products for natural hair. Back in the day we use regular shampoo/conditioner & grease. Our hair was just fine.
What is GHE?
love u..byyyy…
With allllll these new finagle ways to care for hair, I am learning to use and do what works best for me as the writer said. As many of you have already stated, do what’s best for you because only you know what will and won’t work for your hair. If you want to try it then do, if not, then don’t. If you seek advice, be prepared for numerous responses and choose which ever one fits the pocket book best is my response.
Tea rinses, cayenne pepper for hair growth, onion for hair growth, the inversion method, etc. If my hair is doing fine with the products and techniques im already using I see no need to try every new trend. I try not to be too obsessed with my hair
Hmmm. Great info, but I’m overwhelmed already.