One year on LHC!

[Angellen]

As of today, it's been one year since I joined LHC. I have changed my routine completely, gained .25" in thickness, and jumped from BSL to past hip in the 12 months I've been here.

Thanks for making me feel welcome and giving me so much information, both hair related and not. I've really enjoyed all my time here!

So, without further ado, much anticipated pics:

My first length shot, around BSL, August 2007 [untouched]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/Angellen/1187765300.jpg

Thickening up, October 2007 [untouched]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/Angellen/1191295361.jpg

Waist or just past, as it looks now. January 2008 [slight braidwaves]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/Angellen/1200624409-1.jpg

About hip length, May 2008 [untouched]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/Angellen/DSC01022.jpg

After Serpentine 'poo bars, July 2008 [untouched]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/Angellen/untouched27-29.jpg

Braidwaves, taken today, Aug 2008 [braidwaves]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/Angellen/1yearLHC.jpg

For those of you wondering, my natural color is just slightly lighter than the last pic. It's a very dark plum-y red/brown/black. :flower: Thanks LHC!

[Guenever]

Oh wow! :D Gorgeous! Congratulations! I remember your waist shot from January but I don't believe I had the pleasure of seeing your further progress until now.. it really, really looks fantastic!

And from BSL to past hip in 1 year :bigeyes: great growth rate!

[TammySue]

Congrats! Your hair is beautiful! :blossom:

[Saranne772]

Lovely hair, lovely progress :D

Wonderful colour :D:D:D

[xrosiex]

Oh what pretty hair. Beautiful color and shine. You have gotten really good growth. Congrdulations on 1-year.:)

[DavidN]

Congratulations on one year at the LHC, Angellan, and here's to many more years in this wonderful community.:toast:

Your hair is so shiny and healthy, and it has grown so much in the past year. You are a genuine inspiration to everyone!

[dorothea-brooke]

Holy moly! What incredible progress, both in length and thickness.

Just beautiful -- congratulations! :flower:

[Arctic]

Congratulations! Wow, your hair looks amazing! :puppykisses:

[SchnauzerMom]

Wow your hair has grown a lot and looks beautiful!

[EvaSimone]

Oh wow! Your hair is really beautiful. Longer lengths suit your hair so well. Your hair was very pretty at BSL but it's absolutely stunning at hip!

[girlcat36]

Are you kidding me? That growth rate is phenomenal! And you hair is so shiny and pretty!

[totie]

truly gorgeous hair! You've surely encouraged me to continue growing.

[HeatherMae]

Your hair is GORGEOUS! Happy anniversary! :)

[Kyannah]

That is amazing growth. Does your hair always grow that quickly? Your hair looks so shiny and beautiful.

[D-eath]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/Angellen/untouched27-29.jpg
I love that pic. Congratulations also to your nice hair and your year, too.

[Teazel]

Unbelievable growth! And beautiful, too - congratulations!

[Top_Cat]

Beautiful hair and beautiful colour! Do you henna?

[Haith]

Congratulations on your 1-year, and on your astounding growth! Your hair gets more beautiful with every passing month.

[suicides_eve]

look fantastic, and so much fuller

[sexyjacksparrow]

Wow - what fantastic growth!!

[Xandergrammy]

Your hair is beautiful!! Congratulations!

[FrannyG]

Your hair is really beautiful, and you've made wonderful progress in length! Congratulations on a great first year at LHC. :blossom:

[GlassEyes]

Your hair is really pretty!

But uh, are you sure it's 1c? xD

[almudena]

That's an amazing progress!
Your hair is looking gorgeous. Congrats!! :flower:

[spidermom]

You've had amazing results in one year. Congratulations!

[paper]

Happy Anniversary :flowers:

Your hair is very pretty! Congrats, thats alot of growth in 1 yr.!

[Chamomile betty]

Great progress and very pretty hair.
Congrats on the one year anniversary at LHC.

[jojo]

Now thats what I call impressive, wow!

[Angellen]

Thanks everyone for your wonderful comments. :) I'm pretty pleased with how quickly my hair's grown, as well.

Now, for the questions.

My growth rate has been a pretty steady .75", so it is a bit faster than normal. I don't henna, and the last time I dyed my hair was a few months prior to joining, so most all of the dye has washed out by now. The best picture for my color is the last one, even if it's dark/a bit unclear.

I'm a wannabe wavy, my hair is far from pin straight (unless I comb/brush it damp it won't be so) but the waves it has are not consistent, as you can see from the pictures. It does hold bun or braid waves for ages, though, so that's something.

[Shadow Walker]

That's some really great progress Angellen, it looks fantastic!!!

[darkwaves]

I love that length and shine!

[Indigo Girl]

Oh wow!! Your growth rate is amazing! Your hair is beautiful; congratulations on your wonderful progress! :flower:

[harley mama]

Great growth and shine.
Congratulations!

[morningstar]

oooh your hair is so gorgeous! I can't believe your growth, amazing! I love everything about your hair.

[Aqua Gal]

soooo pretty. Congratulations on great growth!!

[DarkChocolate]

You have beautiful hair:) I love your color:) We are actually color twins:):) Your hair looks thicker too:)

My hair has improved since joining this community two years ago:)
I am hoping for hip so you are an inspiration:)

What is your current routine?

[Marchpane]

Congrats on one year!! WOW your hair is gorgeous! It really improved in shine and thickness. Nice! :toast:

[NurseMama]

What incredible growth! Your hair is gorgeous! Did you trim at all this past year?

[Gumball]

What wonderful growth and such beautiful hair, Angellen! A very happy anniversary to you! I hope you keep having a wonderful time here and never stop learning new and useful things!

[manderly]

How did I miss this??

Seriously, only a year? I thought you've been here for much longer!!!!!

I've always loved your pretty long, dark hair and your itty bitty waist!!!! Your hair looks stunning!

[Angellen]

Thanks for all your wonderful compliments!!!

NurseMama: I've not trimmed, but I was getting quite a few splits for awhile, so my roommate helped and we did a couple intensive S&Ds...it's probably equivalent to a light dusting, now that I think about it. No real length cuts, though.

DarkChocolate: Yay! It's so awesome we're color twins. I don't see many with this color. :)

As for my routine: (copied from a PM)

I'm not certain how fast I was growing prior to LHC, to be honest, so I'm not sure how much my routine change affected my growth. But just in case, here it is~! I apologize in advance for it being so long.

The biggest change I made was that I stopped using liquid shampoos and conditioners altogether. I still have a shampoo I use for clarifying, but I no longer own any conditioners. I wash every 4-7 days. I used to wash every Sunday, but my scalp was just getting gross, so now I wash whenever my scalp is itchy or otherwise uncomfortable.

I've been using Chagrin Valley Shampoo bars (Cafe Moreno, Extra Honey Beer and Egg, and Chamomile Citrus in particular) and as a conditioner, I occasionally swipe a CV soap bar over the last 3-6 inches of my length as well (usually Shea Rose Clay, as I love roses). In the last month of so I've tried out both Serpentine hair shampoo bars and Soap Lady of Oregon soap bars, and I find the serpentine ones to be more moisturizing and bring out some of the wave in my hair. On serpentine and oregon 'poo bars, I do not follow with a soap "conditioner" as I think it was leading to buildup on my hair.

Oh! I also don't wash my length. In the Shampoo Bar thread Calista said that very few can get away with this, but I find that it works the best for me. When I wash my length even once, it tends to get dry and/or crunchy at the ends. I wash my scalp twice, and rinse, so the length gets very slightly soaped, but only just. Also, I consistently find that my length looks great when it's time to a wash (of course, right?), so just washing the scalp keeps my length from being unnecessarily stripped of all oils.

I always follow with a white vinegar rinse, approx. 1:10, but sometimes 1:12 after shampooing.

Because shampoo bars have a tendency to make my length very tangly and fluffy without conditioner, I use a decent amount of coconut oil on the length (6-8 drops) once fully dry (usually the day after washing). This tends to make my hair very glossy and lush, though I don't think I have any pictures as examples.

For bed I do either one loose braid at the nape of my neck, or two pigtail type braids. Sometimes I have trouble with hairs getting pulled with one braid, but I don't have this problem with two. I also have a sleep cap, but I find it always comes off during the night.

I wear it up almost every day in a cinnabun (because I am updo challenged) or occasionally a chinese braided bun if I'm feeling fancy. It's at a length where it gets caught in things when it's allowed out on its own. I also comb it twice a day (sometimes more) with a wide toothed comb. It's often down when I am at home, but gets put up when I leave the house.

I hope that sort of explains it! Sorry that was so long-winded. Let me know if you guys have any more questions! :flowers:

[skay]

Looks great: it looks long, shiny, healthy and color is such a nice, warm color. I feel it's indeed a unique color. After looking at the color, I also had started to wonder (a little) if you used henna, but I thought your hair still had that natural glow/shine and looks so healthy-shiny. What a wonderful natural color! Great growing!

[Raquel]

You are lucky to have grown such lovely hair !

Well Done

[Patrycja]

Wonderful hair and congrats on your anniversary :cheer:

[Marchpane]

Thanks for posting your routine! Shampoo bars and coconut oil are two things I want to try... I better use up the stuff I bought first though. XD

[DarkChocolate]

Thats a great routine:)

I use coconut oil too and find that it makes my hair so glossy:)
I have always wanted to try CV shampoo bars so maybe now I will:)

I use the liquid Burt's Bees shampoo and conditioner because it doesn't have and sulfates in it:) I find it works well but my ends get crunchy. I will try not to specifically wash my length.

Thanks for sharing your routine:)

[DarkChocolate]

Yeah, our hair color is like a dark chocolate brown almost black:)
That is why I call myself dark chocolate:)

[Hurray4Henna]

AMAZING progress. Your hair is gorgeous.

[whatevergirl]

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc263/whatevergirlspix/Congrats%20etc/congrats3.gif
On your 1 Year Anniversary!

Your hair is beautiful Angellen!

[Lamb]

You have beautiful hair. :flowers: Happy anniversary!

[MeMyselfandI]

WOW,

Congratulations on the excellent hair growth and improvements. Very encouraging for me.

[n3m3sis42]

Your hair looks great! Congratulations. :)

That is a crazy amount of growth for a year... especially given how healthy it looks. Did you trim at all during that time? If you didn't and it still looks that healthy, you must have really found the right routine. And if you *did* trim and still gained that much length... just wow.

Edited to add: I somehow missed the page of replies where you explained you didn't trim. Sorry for repeating a question you already answered. :)

[SilverLocks]

Congratulations on your 1 year Anniversary.

Beautiful hair with amazing growth! Whatever you're doing you're doing right. :magic:

[danacc]

Congratulations! I love your most recent shots--beautiful length!

[ole gray mare]

Wow! Amazing growth and amazing hair! You grew more in one year than I have in two. :flowers: