My sister's hair is really unhealthy, but she won't do anything about it. How do I convince her to?

If she is 9 years old it is your parents responsibility to ensure she is using proper hygiene and that her hair is cut. I appreciate that you are concerned about how your sister looks and her self-esteem but really it is up to your parents. I would discuss this with them. Perhaps then your Mom will use her parental influence and have it cut.

But as a sister perhaps you could get her some nice conditioners and shampoos. If you approached it as a special sister thing perhaps she will be more accepting than if she thinks you are criticizing her.

Everybody but your sister. It’s her hair.

@Dog I think my mom is having a hard time accepting that their little girl is growing up, so my mom doesn’t think she needs to take a shower more than once a week. And she already uses the same shampoos and conditioners as me. I don’t know why my hair is a nice and hers isn’t. Maybe because mine’s short. I’ve heard that people have a length that they shouldn’t or can’t go past to keep it nice. Back to square one…

I know a girl whose first haircut was at age 16. Your sister is 9 years old, let her do what she wants with her hair. At least she’s not getting heavy with the bleach and the straightener, and she’s not doing any permanent damage. I’m sure there’ll come a time in a few years when she realises that she’s not treating her hair very nicely and gets over the whole Rapunzel thing.

Though, the shower thing is pretty important, not just for her hair. She can probably get away with only washing her hair twice a week, but everything else… Not to mention, her hair probably stinks. Next time you bring up the issue, play up the stench factor.

She’s 9, let her have her hair. Unless it’s getting filthy and unmanageable between weekly washings then let it go.

When I was a kid I wanted to part my hair down the middle and leave it loose (knee length) while my mom wanted to cut bangs into it and braid it in what I considered horrible and ugly pigtails. My grandmother said to leave it be and eventually I took to braiding it myself and compromising on a pony tail. It seems silly now but it was a huge deal at the time.

Let your mom take care of your nine year old sister.

It is up to your parents (and your sister) what is done with her hair.
If it worries you so very much, speak to your mum about it.

As a lifetime owner of “luxurious, waist-long hair”, she’s actually doing everything right. Washing your hair too often is bad. Shampoo strips the natural oils and adds a lot of harmful chemicals to your hair. Read the back of your shampoo bottle, and Google every word you can’t pronounce. I dare you. If you’re really feeling brave, do the same thing with your hairspray.

Washing once a week, unless she’s rolling in mud, is just about perfect (it is possible to take a bath without washing your hair, by the way.). Loose is the best way to wear it, though a single braid, clasped with a metal-free fabric-covered elastic is also good. If she wants to, it’s not a bad idea to have the dead ends trimmed every six weeks or so, but it’s not necessary. Instead, doing a hot oil treatment (just a little warm olive oil combed lightly through wet hair, leave it on 15 minutes, then wash out) once a month can do wonders for flyaways.

You can’t get someone else to do something. At 9, I would wait a couple of years when peer pressure will kick in.

@Seek_Kolinahr I’d like to talk about this subject with you in PM’s if you don’t mind…I’ve been growing my hair out for about 7 years, but I’m still totally clueless on how to properly maintain it.

@FutureMemory Absolutely! Any time!

There was a time my ex husband, his 5 sisters and I all had waist length or longer hair and our daily routine was a spray bottle (like for houseplants) of a 50/50 mix of infusium detangler/condition mixed with water. An orange tin of Murray’s hair wax is great for rubbing between the fingers and then stroking along the part or top of the head flyaways. Washing once a week is fine or else just rinsing and letting it air dry during the week. Rinse with cool or cold water if you can take a bit of shivers. Braiding while wet and then combing out near dry will leave the hair wavy but shiny looking and soft feeling.

Tell her by age 50 her hair will fall out because its true

@tylerandcason

Because clearly every 50 year old women living before 1930 was completely bald~.
That’s when shampoo started becoming popular. Hell, before Queen Victoria, most people living in a Christian society thought bathing regularly was a sign of vanity and evil. They were all bald by 50 I’m sure~.