My hair was never cut until I was 12 and it was knee length. Mother would wash it once a week and it took about a half hour to comb out, while I stood and whimpered.

Wow. My hair never got below waist-length, and at that length, it would generally take an hour to comb out. (The length of one China Beach episode. Or Northern Exposure. For some reason, those are the shows that I always remember being on TV while my mom was combing out my hair. Once in a while, it was thirtysomething.)

Plus I don't think I really used conditioner then.

In college I lived with 3 other girls, and I was *stunned* to find that none of them used conditioner. None! And their hair was shiny and healthy.

If I didn't use conditioner (in the shower, rinse out, and then once I'm out of the shower, a spray-on leave-in conditioner), my hair would be unbrushable straw.

I use the Curl Friends leave-in conditioner. It works wonders.

I was *stunned* to find that none of them used conditioner.

As a teen, though, I never used conditioner or moisturizer. For one, my hair was much oilier then, and I guess my face was, too.

Although, oddly, I break out more *now* than I ever did then, which strikes me as wrong and evil and annoying.

I know that I can get my hair to behave nicely like my sister's does. She's taught me how to do it. I just don't have the patience, since it takes a good hour worth of work after each shampoo.

I was *stunned* to find that none of them used conditioner.

As a teen, though, I never used conditioner or moisturizer. For one, my hair was much oilier then, and I guess my face was, too.

I guess conditioner was always about making my hair less tangly, rather than a question of dry vs. oily, because I'm pretty sure my teen hair was oily, too.

I have fine, thick hair that was stick straight until pregnancy. Now it has a very slight bend to it, right below my chin so I either have to have it shoulder-length or longer or experiment with the angled bob from last summer. Right now I'm growing it out because I'm lazy and I'd like to have it longer again.

Abby's hair is an absolute marvel-- super, super thick (if I make one single braid, it's as thick around as my wrist) and very wavy, bordering on curly in places. I think if she ever wanted to have her hair cut short and in layers, it might do some lovely things.

Nate, on the other hand, has super, super thick hair, but straight and with about a million cowlicks. He looks like a dandelion fluff if his hair gets too long-- and because he's such a total boy, he has absolutely no interest in having it cut in an actual style with layers (I'm dying for the day he does, because it'll look SO good) so mostly, he has it buzzed short, which is good for Florida, especially for three seasons out of the year.

My hair still gets crazy tangles in seconds. I find it isn't quite as bad if I put it in a ponytail at night. Sometimes I will take a comb into the shower and comb through it before I rinse out the conditioner.

My hair is straight and fine—most barrettes just slide out. Mom used some sort of amazing conditioner when I was wee, so combing wasn't too much of a drama. But it's so straight and fine that when it gets too long it just looks limp, unless I want to spend time with a blow-drier and product, so I don't let it get much below chin length anymore.