Now when did THAT happen?! I seem to be at waist (pics) :)

[Rini]

This is what happens when you don't take length pics for 8 months (my sig pic was the last length shot before today). All of a sudden, your hair grows long and you reach a milestone! At least that's what seems to have happened here :o

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s144/missrini8/feb2013b.jpg

.....and if I ever needed further proof that my virgin hair grows thicker now then I only have to look at this pic. You can see where the old dye is and from that line of demarcation and below is MUCH thinner hair. My silver hair is thick and shiny and the old dyed parts just look sad now :(

So it's great to reach waist after so long hanging out here, but it's also frustrating to see how much further I have to go to get rid of the thin dyed parts. I'm still planning on keeping up the regular trims rather than doing a big chop and maybe in another couple of years I can have this length with all silver hair. In the meantime it's back to the daily upstyles and benign neglect until I work up the courage for another length shot :D

Pic was taken today (Feb 2nd 2013), freshly washed and partially straightened hair (to show length) in the midday summer sun.

[SleepyTangles]

Congratulations for hitting waist!
Your silvers :thud:... And I love how they pop against that brightly coloured shirt, they seem so ethereal.

[EtherealDoll]

Congratulations!:blossom:
Your hair colour is beautiful!

[Charybdis]

Love, love, love your natural hair! I only have a sprinkling of silvers, but they were the big reason I phased out dying my hair (well, that and dealing with root maintenance). Sparkly silver hair is beautiful!

The difference in thickness between your virgin hair and the dyed portion is AMAZING, even taking into account normal tapering due to some hairs having shorter terminal lengths. Good job! :)

[Joliebaby]

Your virgin sparkly silver hair is SUPER GORGEOUS! It will be even more amazing when it's all natural.
I fully agree that when you don't take pics and measure all the time, growth just creeps up on you :D

[PetuniaBlossom]

is it just the angle? No, it's not - you have a TINY waist. Wow.
And your hair is gorgeous. Happy growing.

[MasCat]

Stunning silvesr. And congrats on reaching waist :D

[jacqueline101]

Lovely hair.

[lapushka]

I love it! I like the way your silvers are coming in, and by no time -with a little benign neglect- they'll be at waist too. You'll see. This happened without you pretty much noticing, that will too. Nice! :D :thumbsup:

[jojo]

Yay! You are waist congratz Rini, i am so happy for you. It must have been all those drawings that helped pass the time ;) and your a much better artist than me!!!

[Seeshami]

Yay! and I'm not alone in the club of not knowing how long your hair really is! We should make t shirts

[rock007junkie]

Congrats! I truly love that lovely silver on you

[lunalocks]

That is some beautiful, natural hair you are growing. Can't wait to see it in another 8 months!

[spidermom]

Oh yes; super pretty silvery hair!

[wishywashy]

Look wonderful! I love your grey hair, if you maintain at waist with mini trims, it looks like the grey will catch up in no time! It looks like maybe a year and half of micro trimming? Good luck!

[BrightEyes]

Wow, your hair is so pretty! Congrats :)

[SugarPlumDreams]

Congratulations! Looks beautiful! :)

[teela1978]

The contrast between dyed and natural always shocks me! Such pretty silver!!!! And so long. Is it growing faster since you stopped dying?

[dulce]

Rini,it's beautiful!!! congrats on waist!,the dye has faded well and it all looks good!It still looks good enough to wear loose.Even though your ends are thinner,they are still pretty,your silver and thickness will move down as you said,this is a great pic to show people the long term effects of dye,it would also be a great pic on Gray and Proud for the newbies to see what dye does to hair thickness.

[rach]

looks lovely and growing wonderfully thick. well done :)

[panffle]

Your silver hair is SO beautiful oh my god! Congrats on the growth!

[Lize]

Congratulations! Your silvers are beautiful. :)

[Rini]

Thank you so much Sleepy Tangles, EtherealDoll, Charybdis, Joliebaby, PetuniaBlossom, MasCat, jacqueline101, lapushka, jojo, Seeshami, rock007junkie, lunalocks, spidermom, wishywashy, BrightEyes, SugarPlumDreams, teela1978, dulce, rach, panffle and Lize :flowers: Such lovely compliments!

PetuniaBlossom: I am a bit underweight right now (due to a long illness) so my waist is indeed a bit tiny :D
jojo: We are BOTH excellent artists!! LOL I just suck at guessing sometimes :o
teela1978: Yes, it is definitely getting longer quicker since I stopped dyeing but I can't really say whether that is because it is actually growing faster or if I am just losing less hair and keeping the long ones now.
dulce: Thanks. I do not feel confident enough with it to wear it loose in public though :( The dyed parts really bug me and I don't really want to show them (except to you guys!!). Somebody once wrote to me (in a PM - I WISH I could remember who that was so I could give them credit) that hair dye is like weed killer. I've always thought that was good analogy. Dumping that stuff on your head will kill off some hair, not all of it and most will grow back....but in the long term it is not good.

I have definitely experienced thicker, stronger, more healthy hair since quitting the dye in 2010. My texture is the same, but I have more hairs than before. I just turned 40 and am the happiest I've ever been with my hair. It requires no maintenance (except trims) and I feel it is more "me" if that makes any sense at all. It hasn't been an easy transition though, and many well meaning people have told me I should dye it "because you could look so much younger!". Why should I have to look younger than I am? I'm so glad I didn't listen ;)

[Lostsoule77]

Your hair is so beautiful! I can't believe the thickness difference between your natural hair and dyed hair! I don't think you should be embarressed to wear it. It's just shocking how much the dye affected your hair. No wonder my mom told me to never dye my hair!

Keep up with the micro trims and keeping it up (if you feel you have to) and you'll be at waist with your virgin hair in no time! :D

[Phalaenopsis]

So pretty! And such a difference indeed. Great inspiration pic!

[Mesmerise]

Your hair is looking great! It's amazing how much thicker your hair is coming through. Gives me hope ;).

I realised today my hair is also super close to waist (when stretched out it's probably no more than 1cm away) but my ends are probably thinner than yours, so I don't wear it out generally (unless it's all scrunched up to make it look curlier and thus less stringy and therefore nowhere near waist). I haven't measured my hair for ages, as I cut it back to about APL at the start of last year. I also wear it up 95% of the time. It's amazing what happens when we sort of just forget about it!

[Babyfine]

Rini your hair looks beautiful!! I certainly wouldn't be embarressed to wear it loose in public!

I have two questions:
Was it permanent dye you were using(I use a demi perm)
And did the henna affect your thickness at all?(I'm thinking of switching to henna rather than chemical dyes)

[ravenheather]

Rini your silver hair is beautiful. I'd also love to see a pic of your current length with it's natural texture. Anyway, congratulations on making that milestone. While not my final goal, I want to be at waist before I turn 40.

[maborosi]

That difference is incredible!

Congrats at reaching waist-you have got beautiful hair! I love your silvers :)

~maborosi~

[Rini]

Thank you Lostsoule77, Phalaenopsis, Mesmerise, Babyfine, ravenheather, and maborosi :flowers:

Babyfine, in answer to your questions: I was using permanent dye. I was always very conscious of not double processing and using coconut oil on the lengths to protect, but the damage still happened. Be aware that demi is also damaging to hair (developer is still used). I used to be a henna head (for a number of years) and found that to be quite thickening for my hair and not damaging at all. As my hair grew more and more silver, I found the colour results of the henna to be quite bright orange though, and also the upkeep of the roots was very time intensive. My hair grows fast and the white roots against copper hair was not a good look for me. I did really love henna though and still miss it!

ravenheather, I will try to get a pic of my hair with all it's wurliness soon :D

[Micayla47]

oohh your hair is gorgeous! and your story is so inspiring. good for you for not chopping and resisting the dye. keep growing!

[Rini]

Thanks Micayla47 :D I just clicked on your collection of hair pics and....WOW!!! I loved the silver long hairs you have collected :inlove: Really really impressive lot there!

[MsBubbles]

Great progress pic, Rini! Your hair is really getting long. It's interesting to see the difference.

[missketi]

Your hair is amazing. I love the colour too. Virgin part of your hair looks so thick and shiny. Although, I don't have any silvers,you are one of my inspirations to grow out my dye.

[Rini]

Thanks MissBubbles and missketi :flowers:

[ghost]

Your hair is beautiful :) I kind of like the silver/gold, too!

[spookyghost]

Beautiful hair! And so are you!:D

[Rini]

Thank you ghost and spookyghost :flowers: (are you two related??!)

[catamonica]

Your hair is beautiful!

[Rini]

Thanks catamonica!

[Babyfine]

Thank you Lostsoule77, Phalaenopsis, Mesmerise, Babyfine, ravenheather, and maborosi :flowers:

Babyfine, in answer to your questions: I was using permanent dye. I was always very conscious of not double processing and using coconut oil on the lengths to protect, but the damage still happened. Be aware that demi is also damaging to hair (developer is still used). I used to be a henna head (for a number of years) and found that to be quite thickening for my hair and not damaging at all. As my hair grew more and more silver, I found the colour results of the henna to be quite bright orange though, and also the upkeep of the roots was very time intensive. My hair grows fast and the white roots against copper hair was not a good look for me. I did really love henna though and still miss it!


thanks, Rini! I have been seriously considering henna, but like you I'm afraid of too much red on my silver parts(and the upkeep, as the demi fades away much better, although it does damage). I'm also a bit afraid of possible wave and curl loss, too. But The strength and thickness I may gain are very tempting too me.
anyway, your hair looks great congrats on such a long length!