Greetings from the Mitten State!

[cole]

Hello! My name is Cole. I'm a twenty-something gal from Michigan. I joined because I want tips and support for growing my hair long. Over the past several years, often my google searches have lead me to threads here which usually had the answers I was looking for. I finally decided to join, just so I could jump in on the fun and find things a little easier. And, I've finally decided to commit to growing my hair long again! In late 2009, I grew sick of all the damage I had done to my hair from bleaching and box dyes. I decided I wanted to grow out my hair, neither cutting nor dying for as long as I could commit (a one year minimum). It turned out to be almost 3 years. My hair seemed to grow a lot faster then (perhaps I had a better base cut for it, I don't know). It grew down to about armpit length, at its longest (while still curled--I have curly hair somewhere between cherub and boticelli). I loved it, but didn't have a clue how to style nor care for it. I decided that the color was the first thing I would change. I bleached and toned my hair up to a pretty platinum blonde. I kept that going for a while, but used box dyes (I think garnier's white chocolate). It started to get more damaged. I switched up and decided to start using semi-permanent dyes in all sorts of colors. I loved having all the teals and purples, and eventually went back to a lavender. But man, the bleach. My curls were much limper, fairly lifeless. I decided to start using henna, and am making another vow to not cut my hair. At least with using a dye this time, I can see how much my hair has grown every so often.

I am tempted to go get a short chop just to liven up my curls and get rid of all the bleached bits, but I don't want to lose the length! So, I guess I will grow it out, and trim it off as I feel I can afford to.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope to make friends with a few of you here as well! I am unseeliegrimoire on tumblr, if you follow me just let me know you found me from here and I'd love to follow you back!

-Cole.

[eva888]

Hello! Your story sounds really similar to mine! I just joined LHC as well. I also used to have long hair and then started bleaching it white from box dyes, and today I hennaed for the first time and I am trying to grow it out again. I also have wavy hair that has sadly lost it's lovely shape from all the bleaching.

Post a picture when you have hennaed your hair - I'd love to see it! I did a red box dye first because the henna on my platinum blonde hair kept turning out pumpkin orange. I hennaed over the box dye today and my hair is more orangey but definitely natural looking. I really love it. I plan on doing a few henna applications to deepen it to a red.

Anyway, welcome! Good luck with your hair goals.