Discovering My Roots..

[Dianadarlene]

Since joining LHC, I have really been interested in my family's hair history. I started questioning every member of my family.. parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles.. and the results are pretty interesting. I learned things I never knew about everyone. And I think that it helps me understand my hair issues a bit better. (I mostly asked about the longest their hair has ever been, and why they chose not to grow it further)

My mom has never grown hair past mid-back, because (in her words) "she can't."
My half-sister has tried for a long time to grow, but has never passed mid-back.
My brother's hair grows like a weed (jealous) but he cuts it all off anyways.
My dad and his brother both grew long, fine blonde hair to tailbone (when they were teenagers).
Neither grandmothers on either side of the family ever had hair past their apl (or maybe just brushing on bsl)
Myself.. my hair is at it's all time long.. and it's barely apl.

All this hair history leads me to believe that the good growing-genes were given to the men in the family. I only have one cousin (on my mom's side) who is female and can grow to tbl. She is the only one in the extended family with long hair. How sad, right?
Anyways, I was interested in hearing about everyone else's roots. Who gave you your long hair? Is there anyone out there who has overcome genetics and grown their hair long even if the rest of your family is short?

[HintOfMint]

The gender divide may very well be the case for you, but I would take it with a grain of salt. My mother said her hair never grew past waist when she was younger, but she used heat (at one point actually using a clothes iron on her hair), brushed vigorously, and didn't use conditioner. My hair is now at tailbone, thick (as it can be with layers that is), and still growing.

I can't really tell if I got my mother's hair or my father's. I keep wishing for my father's hair because I can tell it's pretty magnificent, even short. Thick as hell. The 70s thick mop top type hair was a great look for him, he could really pull it off.
My mother's hair was also thick around my age, but it was wavier than my father's and thinned out a bit as she got older and became very silky and straight. My hair is pretty wavy, but I can't tell whose hairline I inherited.

But, tangent aside, how you take care of your hair can give you a very different outcome. Heat aside, breakage from brushing and tangles can result in shorter hair. The generation above us (mom, dad, aunts, uncles) wasn't immune to modern haircare with hairspray, heat, teasing...etc.

[wrh452]

My mom used to have tailbone length hair when she was younger, but I think her terminal is now at bsl. She has been trying to grow past that for years now and it just won't. My sister cuts her hair to chin every year and it always grows to bsl before she chops it. Her hair is so amazing and thick, but she got my dads hair and I got my moms.

I don't know who is luckier. My sister has my dads dark hair with twice as much hair as me and it is really healthy and coarser than mine, but is already graying in her twenties. I seem to have a mix of my parents. I have my moms blonde, but I have a whole bunch of it. My mom is in her 50s though and still does not have a single gray.

[askan]

I asked my grandmother yesterday. I have only ever seen her in a pixi-ish cut, and she said she had not had it much longer than that. It was the trend, she supposed, though she remembered some girls at her school had two braids like a headband around their head.

Honestly I don't have anyone in my family who's ever had very long hair. Quite boring! I think me and my brothers have thicker hair than our cousins though.
My mother has had a shortish cut, a little shorter than SL since her twenties, she was blonde when she was younger. Now she's a pretty dark blonde but highlights, her sisters are the same and I don't think any of them has ever had longer hair than a bit past CBL. I wonder if I will get as dark as they are! I probably will, I think I inherited mums hair and bad eyesight :P Their mother had very dark brown hair and is now beautifully silvery.

My dad and his siblings are all brownhaired. I think his mother was golden brownish blonde, but I haven't seen any colour photos of her from before her hair became gray! None of his family has ever had long hair. One of my cousins has fine, light blonde curly hair. She's the only curly one which is a bit odd!

[Thinthondiel]

I just have to pop in to say that I thought you meant the colour of your hair roots! As in, that you had been dyeing your hair for a long time and were finally letting your natural colour grow out. :p