At what age did you learn to do your own hair?

[topnotch1010]

I learned at 8 or 9 after the kids at school started laughing at me for having big wads of grease in my hair. I did a basic ponytail for years.

 

[Mahogony7]

27, before that I to get it done.

 

[LexiDior]

I had always learned things along the way between my mom and my grandma doing my hair (I watched and learned) but it wasnt turned over to me until about middle school. I was a tomboy so I only wore pony tails but I knew how to wash, condish, and moisturize my hair.

 

[angelhairtype4]

I was forced to do my hair at 9 years old. My mom one morning before school said she wasn't doing my hair anymore. I skipped school that day because i didnt know what to do with my hair. I was literally crying. I had a lot of bad hair days as a child. Relaxer burns, hair falling out because relaxers not being rinsed out, wind blowing my hair style, my hair being shaved off...All that while in public school. I was teased a lot about my hair.
So I wasn't about to go to a new school with messed up hair again. (Military family)

Anyway next day I mastered the ponytail. My edges already suffered because of tight braiding, so I could never get the front of my hair in my pony. That's when I started doing bangs. I'd brush my thin bangs flat against my forehead lol. Later I started using a curling iron on my bangs. I had a lot of forehead burns...sigh, and that's how it went most of my life. Occasionally mom would braid my hair if I asked or was good. She would then get mad at me for taking them down so soon because my hair was so tight i couldnt sleep and had headaches, or instead of the style I asked for she'd do something completely different... She took me to a few bad salons, but all 3 times my hair fell out.

So...I struggled with my hair for years.... I honestly had no help at all with my hair. I truly learned how to do my hair at the age of 23. That's around the time I went natural and started researching how to care for my hair.

 

[weaveadiva]

Still learning

 

[topnotch1010]

I was forced to do my hair at 9 years old. My mom one morning before school said she wasn't doing my hair anymore. I skipped school that day because i didnt know what to do with my hair. I was literally crying. I had a lot of bad hair days as a child. Relaxer burns, hair falling out because relaxers not being rinsed out, wind blowing my hair style, my hair being shaved off...All that while in public school. I was teased a lot about my hair.
So I wasn't about to go to a new school with messed up hair again. (Military family)

Anyway next day I mastered the ponytail. My edges already suffered because of tight braiding, so I could never get the front of my hair in my pony. That's when I started doing bangs. I'd brush my thin bangs flat against my forehead lol. Later I started using a curling iron on my bangs. I had a lot of forehead burns...sigh, and that's how it went most of my life. Occasionally mom would braid my hair if I asked or was good. She would then get mad at me for taking them down so soon because my hair was so tight i couldnt sleep and had headaches, or instead of the style I asked for she'd do something completely different... She took me to a few bad salons, but all 3 times my hair fell out.

So...I struggled with my hair for years.... I honestly had no help at all with my hair. I truly learned how to do my hair at the age of 23. That's around the time I went natural and started researching how to care for my hair.

All of this sounds so familiar to me. My mother refused to do my hair a quite few times too. The times she did it, it had a lot of lumps, bumps, and grease wads in it. It was humiliating. My hair stayed short because she would occasionally take me to the salon for relaxer re-touches and they would attempt to even out all of my hair with the damaged sections. I had all kinds of chemical burns too.

I learned how to do the ponytail and wore that for years. My older half sister came to visit us from FL and she gave me a lot of tips and supplies to help me do other styles. Her hair was sooo beautiful! She really helped me out in so many ways, including my self-esteem.

To this day, my mother denies it all and says that she used to enjoy doing my hair and got sad when she stopped doing it. Her hair is still a mess so maybe she did all she could. I joined lhcf for my dd so that I wouldn't repeat the same pattern.

 

[greenandchic]

I was 12 when I started fixing my own hair but I never learned to flat iron, ever. I did wash, blow dry, and wore twist outs (in 1991 before I knew it was called a twist out). My hair was long and thick and it took a while before my mother could trust me with my hair. She never allowed me to relax which is why I stayed natural when it was socially unacceptable to walk around like that. I did get my hair done often (pressed) so I only wore my hair natural during the summer when I swam. Being natural in the 80s and 90s when no one else was wasn't easy. I had no idea how to style my hair but I made it work somehow with buns, puffs and braid/twist outs.

By 14 I was curling and using a crimping iron, but I never learned to straighten myself - I always went to the shop for that.

 

[angelhairtype4]

All of this sounds so familiar to me. My mother refused to do my hair a quite few times too. The times she did it, it had a lot of lumps, bumps, and grease wads in it. It was humiliating. My hair stayed short because she would occasionally take me to the salon for relaxer re-touches and they would attempt to even out all of my hair with the damaged sections. I had all kinds of chemical burns too.

I learned how to do the ponytail and wore that for years. My older half sister came to visit us from FL and she gave me a lot of tips and supplies to help me do other styles. Her hair was sooo beautiful! She really helped me out in so many ways, including my self-esteem.

To this day, my mother denies it all and says that she used to enjoy doing my hair and got sad when she stopped doing it. Her hair is still a mess so maybe she did all she could. I joined lhcf for my dd so that I wouldn't repeat the same pattern.

I joined for the same reasons. Didn't want my daughter going through the same issues. Everything I learn I teach/show her.

 

[KinkyRN]

When I was bald headed and broke around 20. I got tips from a friend that did her own hair.

 

[temfash]

I had to learn by necessity I was in boarding school at 10 so I had to sink or swim, in my nigerian school the ponytail was considered unkempt so I learnt to cornrow / braid and african thread didnt know what twists were till I hit my 30s LOL. I swapped favours ( you do mine I'll do yours) for haircare when I wasn't feeling up to doing my hair myself.

 

[GettingKinky]

I started doing my hair in 6th grade. I would roll it on sponge rollers.

Then in 7th grade I had to take swimming and I washed and blow dried my hair every day with a comb attachment. There was hair all over the bathroom floor. My hair was a disaster.

By high school I had the hang of it and my hair looked decent. Once I got a ceramic curling iron my hair started doing better, but I still used it EVERY day.

I didn't really treat my hair well until I started my HHJ in 2012.

 

[Royalq]

i started doing my own at 15. Thats when i started my relaxed hair journey. I would just cowash and air dry then put it in a bun.

 

[ManeStreet]

I started in 4th/5th grade. Washing & blow drying it myself & styling it in ponytails & buns etc.

 

[Prettymetty]

I started really doing my own hair at around 16. I have been doing hair for others since age 12, but thanks to mom I went to the salon on a regular basis. There was never a need to do my own hair. Once I went off to college I really got to experiment with my hair. I tried color (lots of it), twist outs, rollersets, etc.

 

[flirtytrixx88]

I was 16 when I first started relaxing and roller setting my own hair. My mom worked nights and was just too tired to be bothered. I would relax my hair then go to the salon for a trim the next day.

 

[Petite One]

My daughter is 12 and in the 7th grade . She has BSL ,maybe slightly longer hair that is very thick . Im having a dilemma deciding when would be a good time for her to start doing her own hair. I'm also considering relaxing her hair because she prefers to wear her hair straight . And also because I feel that relaxed hair would be more manageable for her. I would like some advice on this please !

I was 11. My ma says it was shortly after aunt flo started for me. Apparently I protested the kiddie hairstyles that were just fine a few months ago. Lol, kids and their hormones.

 

[mscheergrl]

22. Except for the 5 years I had locs, I relied on salons

 

[MyAngelEyez~C~U]

Started pressing and roller-setting my own hair at age 11.

 

[whiteoleander91]

I started flat ironing it in 7th grade (my hair was a dry, crunchy mess), washing it myself in...9th? or 10th grade, and shortly after that I learned how to blow dry. I never did my own relaxer, and didn't really start taking good care of my hair until right before I started transitioning to natural hair. My mom had my hair thick, medium length/long and beautiful, then I decided to take over lol. By the time I had "mastered" doing my hair from start to finish, it was very soft and on the road to recovery lol