I have extremely thin breakable hair.  After many years of trying, my hair had finally grown out long, past my waist.  Then a tragic thing happened. 

I was coloring my mother's hair using a damaging hair dye purchased at a drug store.  I mixed up too much, and there it was... such a beautiful burgundy color... so much left over...tempting.  I went for it, and dyed my own hair with the leftovers.  The color was fine, but my hair suffered greatly and seemed dried out. 

The color faded and I decided to re-color using non damaging temporary color this time.  But the damage had already been done.  I didn't realize my hair was already destroyed from the previous dye. 

Somehow all my hair fused up in the back like a Victorian wig that had been pulled too tight and it stuck.  It ribboned up like a candy cane ribbon and froze.  There was no way to unravel or untangle my hair. 

It was unbelievable.  All my long beautiful hair that I waited so long for was tangled into a giant knot on the back of my head.  My boyfriend kindly began to refer to it as a "dread loaf"  I should have tried to get into the book of records.  It was unreal. 

I tried so many different detangling methods.  Professionals told me to shave my head.  That was just not an option.  I had hair down past my waist line, I couldn't go from that, to bald!!!

Fortunately I had a job where I wore a hat and could wear a tight scarf when teaching dance.  So I pulled and tore at my hair for several months.  I tried the most expensive detangling products.  I tried old wives tales.  ( don't ever rub peanut butter or mayonnaise in your hair.)  No matter what I tried, it wasn't giving much at all. 

Finally in a frantic fit of hysteria, I went into the shower with a sharp pair of scissors and began chopping at the heart of the ungiving knot.  Piles of hair lay in clumps in the tub, but still the knot was unforgiving. 

Desperate, I began to search for any advice other than the only one I was getting, "You're going to have to shave your head."  I had almost given up hope,

Then the first hair care secret emerged, quite randomly. 

I tried it, something was beginning to work.  I found out that to tackle a tangle of this magnitude, I needed to stop washing it and totally saturate it with olive oil.  A sign of hope, maybe I wasn't going to be bald.  My bro spent dozens of hours pulling what was left of my hair out of it's knotted mess.  What I ended up with was almost shoulder length hair cut into many different lengths. 

For some bizarre reason the universe left me with a classic 80s rocker doo.  Unbelievably tacky, but hair, so I gratefully accepted the style.  I'd never have picked it out for myself and it was severely outdated, for a reason. 

I had totally damaged shoulder length uneven hair.  At this point I thought it would be a decade before I'd have decently long, all one length, healthy looking hair.  That was just going to be too long!  I began searching to discovering any secrets that might speed up the process.  Over the next year I delved into the research of hair care ingredients, various vitamins, and the structure of hair itself.  There were many things I found about how to make hair grow faster, but the real secrets were how to keep hair from breaking off so it could actually grow long.

It worked, my results were amazing!  I was able to grow my hair to the desired length in half the time it had taken the first time.  It was still a long time, don't get me wrong, but in four years I achieved the lustrous length it had taken me eight years to grow during two previous attempts. 

I couldn't believe it!  Since then I've collected more and more valuable hair care tips.  Some of the most important ones came from logically examining the structure of the hair, doing research, testing methods on several types of hair and concluding which were best.  I had become a hair care master... and my hair looked great. 

Everywhere I went people began to comment on my hair.  Many would ask me questions relating to the care of their own hair.  I began to realize the "professionals" had given terrible advice and were using techniques that would make growing hair long impossible.  I was eager to share what I had learned with the scores of people that asked. 

After many years, this compilation finally felt complete enough I could pass it on with confidence that reading this guide and following even a few key tips in it, would produce exceptional results.  So with great pleasure I invite you to have the knowledge and tools you need to have the hair you deserve...