Not sure if I should grow my hair long..

[BowTie]

Hi,

I'm a newbie. Your forum is amazing and I've learnt so many new and great things. I absolutely adore long hair and I'm very much interested in haircare. However, I have this fear that makes me wonder if there is even a point growing my hair long.

Currently my hair is below my chin. Bleached. I know it's bad but I really dislike my own colour. However, from now on I will only use highlights. My hairtype is Scandinavian. The single hair is thin but I have lots if it. It also grows oretty quickly. My hairdresser thinks it's a bit wavy.

When I was around 14 my hair was MUCH thicker, lovely and long. I'd only have a few highlights, that's all. Then I cut it shorter and started dying it.. from red to black and again blonde.Not good. When I was 20 I started growing my hair again and stopped dying it. At first it was good but then I lost probably half of my hair.. cut it short.

Now it feels much better. I've totally changed my routine. I wash twice a week with shampoo and conditioner. Don't use heat. I only use hairspray if I'm going out for a party and not always then. I've learnt some updos such as dutch brauds. I comb and massage my hair daily. Going to start oiling. I try to eat as healthy as possible and drink lots of water.

Will these things help or am I person who just has to live with short hair? Thank you.

[Panth]

Those all sound like very sensible things. In particular, stopping use of heat and minimising use of bleach and dye will be very beneficial.

I don't think anyone just has to live with short hair - they just have to learn to accept the amount of damage that will occur from the treatments they do and then reconcile that with their hairtype and length goals.

Some other things that might help are: coconut oil pre-treatments before bleaching (if you want to do that still) and always washing out hairspray when you use it.

[Leeloo]

Welcome! It sounds like you have a great routine in place and I think it’ll be great for your hair. If you can wait long enough and not cut it will grow very long! Happy growing! :flowers:

[BowTie]

I'm originally from Finland but currently live in the UK. I've heard so many horror stories from other Finnish/Scandinavian people who live here about their hair cuts here. Scandinavian hair is supposed to be very difficult to cut. I'm visiting Finland in December and going to have a trim then =)

This forum seems so great and you people seem so friendly and helpful =)

[jacqueline101]

Welcome and you're doing good getting rid of heat and using less bleach on your hair. Its worth doing these things because in the end you will have pretty hair.

[Kwantslonghair]

If you want it long then grow it. My hair is naturally dirty blond but I am getting grey hair coming in. I use a semi permanent color near my own color just to cover my roots. I don't put it on my ends. It also adds texture to my otherwise slippery hair. I do it about every 3 mts or so. I take care of my hair, no heat, air dry, deep condition once a week, oil ends daily. I don't see it hurting mine any. Every ones hair is different though.

[juliaxena]

You can try to grow it with your routine and then adjust it if neccessary or decide to stop. I had to give up bleach to be able to grow it.

[rainfortheend]

You can always use henna or a deposit-only color (such as Manic Panic or Elumen) for a healthier way to color your hair. If you have porous, damaged hair, henna will help to repair the damage and thicken the hair, but you have to like the color red!

If you start growing it out, you can always cut it off again later. It won't hurt to try!

[Anje]

Welcome to a forum full of biased people who think that everyone who thinks they want long hair should absolutely grow it! :lol:

Sounds like you've made some changes that will help your hair's health out considerably. That's good. The other major step for growing long hair is to not cut all the growth off.

Because stylists often end up taking off more length than is requested or necessary and encourage people to come back frequently, a lot of us find that we prefer cutting our own hair. On average, people get about 6 inches/15 cm of growth per year, though you might vary a bit from that. Trimming one inch every 8 weeks (which sounds like a pretty standard stylist schedule and is fine for maintenance) would make it seem like your hair is never growing. Therefore you'll want to cut a lot less than that, and continue to be careful and gentle with your hair so that your ends don't get so damaged between the extended cuts that you need to remove more length. Some folks find they don't need to trim at all to get results they like, others of us find that our ends get too thinned out without small trims at least a few times per year. Figure out what works best based on how you want your hair to look, consider getting a pair of haircutting scissors to trim your own ends, and be nice to your hair.

[ghost]

It sounds like you've made some healthy changes. Give it a little bit of time, and you should start seeing some improvement in the look and feel of the length of your hair as well as the health of your new growth.

I agree wholeheartedly with Anje about extending time in between trims. My hair tends to need to be trimmed more often, but rather than trim every 8 weeks I try and stretch it to every three or four months, and only take off half an inch each time. Happy growing :)

[Mainesongbird]

If you think you would like long, grow it out! You already seem to be on track to have pretty healthy hair! =) Do what would make you happiest!

[BowTie]

Thank you for your all answers! I really appreciate it. I think I'm going to try to grow it.

I found this old picture me and put it in the avatar when my hair was still good. I stopped dying it and I curled it with a bun. My hair curls easily :D

[chen bao jun]

Yes, you can always cut it off if you don't like it.
And you can adjust your routine along the way if you change your mind as to how you want to wear it.
If you had it long before and you loved it, you probably just need patience to grow it again.
Scandinavian hair grows just like every kind grows. The problem is that it breaks off on the bottom easily because it is fine. Look around for tips from people who also have fine hair as to how they minimize breakage. don't limit yourself to only people with your exact hairtype--other people with fragile, fine hair may have hints that will help you out. many hypercurlies actually have fine hair (type 4's african-american) you might wander over to that part of the forum and ask questions if you feel so inclined.

[battles]

You'll never know if you don't try it. :flower: There's the chance you may love it long.