Hair Progress: Growing out damage, thin ends and fairytails (pics)

[BroomHilda]

To begin: My passion was always long hair. Long like past waist to Tailbone. I could never reach that length: as a kid my parents wanted me bob-haired, as a teen I got curly frizzy hair I didnt know how to manage.
So since I was 15 I ve never made it past BSL without crippy thin ends.

Last 5 years: I did get to know how to take care of my curls. BUT I got the bad habbit of dying my hair every 3-4 months. Result: BSL hair.
In the meantime I discovered Keratin treatments that became my holy grail. BKTs every 2-4 months.
My hair refused to grow( althought I never had split ends) and I m still not sure if Its my genetics, dye or heat damage (due to BKTs).

December 2013 I took the decision to give up completely hair dyes, manipulation, heat and everything. Cause I want badly TBL.
So. I am 10 months dye free and took a 9-month break from keratin treatments. 80% of my hair reverted back to its big frizzy-curly nature.

Here I am 10 months ago
http://s27.postimg.org/wywnw23jn/DSC_0184.jpg

and after a generous oiling
http://s30.postimg.org/ijo0zqp5d/DSC_0183.jpg



9 months later with almost natural texture and a few inches gone with microtrimming:

http://s29.postimg.org/umsaxp4br/image.jpg

And yesterday's pic, right after a keratin treatment with product still on my hair:

http://s18.postimg.org/olc8nvnd5/DSC_0214.jpg


I feel like I have very slow progress although I do understand that my ends should be overprocessed due to multiple dye applications.
I concider my hair midback length.
Should I keep going with no trims till I reach my goal, or start microtrimming again?

[Horrorpops]

Your hair looks waist length in those pics to me! And for what it's worth I love your natural texture :)
The decision to micro trim vs just grow is a tough one - I am sorry I can be of more help there... I suppose it really is a choice between which you value more: length or removing damaged ends?

[diddiedaisy]

I'd say waist length too. Your hair looks really nice. I've just started on my journey of trying to grow long with see through ends. I'm nearly apl but the damage left behind from a major shed is going to take a few years to sort out. So it's really encouraging to see a thread like yours.

[ravenheather]

Nice gains in thickness. Just my humble opinion, but I love your natural texture.

[jacqueline101]

Your hair is waist length and the thickness has improved greatly. I do like your natural curls.

[Caraid♫]

beautiful hair, and you really did make thickness gains- it must be satisfying to be able to so visibly see that progress in pictures! Personally I usually would say microtrim as you grow, that way you might continue to see thickness gains as you grow :) If I don't trim, I just see my ends looking thinner and thinner, but everyone is different in what works for them I suppose

[BroomHilda]

Thank you guys!
I m going on vacation next week and I dont want to have my hair in my mind all the time. I did the treatment to avoid carrying a bag of products and to protect it somewhat from sea water.

For me, the eye sees only where the thickness ends. I believe I have TOO thin ends to qualify my hair as WL. My goal is hip length with a somewhat full hemline and fairytales that reach tailbone:heartbeat.
I believe my goal is at least 2 years away, If I m able to grow that long. Cause I shed naturally lots of hairs...:(

When I go out I put clip ins and they blend very naturally with my thin ends. But I m getting addicted to full-thick hair and I feel mine will never be long enough.....:rolleyes:

[Kherome]

Oh the natural texture is SO much better!

What do you mean by BKT? Are you saying brazillian keratin?

ETA: You might want to stop with the clip ins, as they are fairly damaging and will hamper your efforts to get to TBL.

[BroomHilda]

Ya but the nat texture is so much dry and requires so many products and care... :\
Yeah Brazilian keratin treatment.
Well I use clip ins less than 10 hours per WEEK. All the other time I have it up so it can;t be that bad

[MINAKO]

Hah, found it! ;)
Looks like you already made good progress.
I say Yeah Keratin treatment, but NOOO formaldehyde and no heat higher than 210°C, and no more than two passes with the best quality iron you can find.
Don't think a bit of wave and body is too terrible, but as for the completely natural texture, i get what you mean and completely agree, we don't have to deal with it, but if you manipulate the texture, do it right and be as gentle as possible. Wich means also yes to henndigo.

What concers me a bit is that you say you go on vacation and theres saltwater, salt reverses the treatment in lightning speed and i suppose leave the hair in an unprotected state, causing higher porosity and all. Avoid saltwater like the plague. Thats a must with keratin. You could coconut oil heavily and then wear a swimcap (which isnt sexy, but well, we want great hair, don't we)

You wanted to see my natural texture, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=122313&page=6&p=2771869&viewfull=1#post2771869 i have lots of it, just wavy instead of curly, but the work is obvious i guess.

[BroomHilda]

He.. Right now I have almost a liter of f/hyde keratin left.
Its not the curl I mind, rather the opposite.. I really like my texture. Its the condition it usually has and the effort I put on in order to look nice that I mind. Keratin makes my life easy and thats exactly what I want on my vacation.

Minako my texture is exactly like yours...my camera cannot picture it , photos are not clear enough. You have my dream length. THATS exactly the hair I want!

[MINAKO]

You might want to buy a sample size of another one thats formaldehyde free and then compare. YOu can always sell that other bottle on ebay or somewhere.
Thank you, i think my natural hair on that shot does look nice, but with more frequent use of keratin again, it will gradually become more loose again.
However, the improved condition stays, even if i don't properly apply the keratin in along time. I'm not gonna say i have no breakage at all, sometimes i might snag a few hairs, but that's normal i think and not due to the treatment. I cannot imagine to back to that time when combing was such a pain in the a$$. The keratin really makes a difference. YOu should try the safe version as a leave in as well, i'm not willing to buy conditioner for maintenance by the same company if i have a humongous bottle of that stuff highly concentrated and all i need to do is dillute it.

Here's a link to the other safe product i was mentioning, the test kit is really inexpensive compared to the full size. http://www.beautycoiffure.com/lang-en/4849-curless-keratine-eugene-perma

[Johannah]

I say waist length as well! Such an amazing progress! Congrats!

[Majormiles]

Wow! The improvement! Congrats :D

[urs]

Hi guys

Please advice what I can do to thicken my hemline. I did do a microtrim in july. Please help

[bunzfan]

I'd sad you've made great progress but embrace your natural hair it's far nicer and would look beautiful at tailbone.

[leilani]

I agree with everyone, gorgeous natural texture! Have you tried the curly girl method?

[BroomHilda]

thank you all for the kind words! I thought my progress was like one bit above zero, to be honest....
I m planning on growing out virgin hair for one more year. Then the difference in length and thickness should be much more obvious.


I ve been following CG Since 2010. A bit modified to match my personal hair type. But either way, hair care for me is a pain in the arse when keratin-free. Lots of products and not-always-good results. Most of my hair is processed so I ll wait till I have enough virgin hair before I give up keratin.

[leilani]

But isn't BKT also a process? How can you grow out virgin hair at all if you keep using formaldehyde and heat? Honestly wondering, I know very little about it.

[BroomHilda]

from my understanding and what i ve read, bkt crosslinks keratin molecules (and other conditioning molecules) to the outer hair layer creating a film.
Those f/dehyde (or other key ingredient) bonds break litle by little with every wash/water penetration leaving eventually the hair in its natural state. Thus the non-permanent effect. Unless you overdo it with heat, your hair remains well-preseved and conditioned while coated.
Keeping hair conditioned is the key for length retention. And those treatments greatly help me do that.
Of course like I said: IF you do everything right and dont irreparably damage the hair during the process

If I could reach hip some day, I would keep my natural texture as is

[BroomHilda]

My hair has been shedding for 4 months with no obvious reason.

I started from here (oiled hair)
http://s13.postimg.org/fzi17x7iv/DSC_0185_2.jpg

Made some progress till the summer
http://s29.postimg.org/c0dbyk1w7/image.jpg


My hair today. Hair loss continues
http://s22.postimg.org/e7fs4hdkh/DSC_0269.jpg

[BroomHilda]

I straightened my hair to see If I ve made any progress... I had a few trims in 2015 but there is still a lot of damage left.
My virgin hair must be around APL and there is quite a bit of difference in the hair quality..

http://s8.postimg.org/928w8htmd/DSC_0343.jpg
http://s18.postimg.org/mc82yfmih/DSC_0341.jpg

[Silverbrumby]

Do you flat iron the treatments in? I'm reading a lot online about them and it appears hair loss, shedding and breakage can be a serious side effect of the treatments. I do love your natural curl but I can't help but think that these treatments are damaging and causing breakage and shedding.



I straightened my hair to see If I ve made any progress... I had a few trims in 2015 but there is still a lot of damage left.
My virgin hair must be around APL and there is quite a bit of difference in the hair quality..

http://s8.postimg.org/928w8htmd/DSC_0343.jpg
http://s18.postimg.org/mc82yfmih/DSC_0341.jpg

[BroomHilda]

I gave up keratin treatments, partly because of lazyness and partly because I wanted to completely stop any kind of hair manipulation.
The latest straightening is from just flat ironing. I do flat iron 4-5 times a year.


I ve never noticed hair loss when I was doing keratin treatments though. I really liked them.
As for breakage I can never be sure because I was doing multiple damaging things back then. All the thinning could propably be caused by multiple permament dying, not keratin treatments.

[copperlites]

Thanks for sharing your journey with us Broomhilda, it really gives me hope.
I had my last keratin treatment just over 12 months ago and gave them up due to immense damage and fall out in the months following the treatment. I have struggled for the last 6 months to embrace my natural texture, which is similar to yours. Even going so far as paying for a treatment at a salon but then not going to the appointment.
Your progress looks great and the thickness is definitely traveling down. It's summer here in Australia and after losing very little hair all winter I now feel like I've been having a major shed for the past couple of months, and my ends look very much like yours. I've been tempted to chop 3 to 6 inches to even it out and get s thicker hem, but I'm reluctant to sacrifice length in a quest to hit waist. My plan is to keep micro trimming and hopefully reach where you're at at some point this year, whilst gradually waiting for the thickness to catch up. I am not brave enough to give up colour and go totally Virginia. I applaud you on doing that. I'm just not ready to embrace silver, so I have my roots touched up regularly, blending them into my natural colour, but not colouring the length. I go to an organic salon and they add cure plex to my colour to help protect my hair. I can't say I've noticed a difference since they began using it ... Except in the price of my visit!

[BroomHilda]

Thank you copperlites!

I have to tell you... it took me 2 years to actually feel the difference in my hair. I was doing keratin treatments and dying my hair every 3 months (roots and length) for 3 years in a row before I decided to stop everything at once.
In the meantime I had a MAJOR shed due to medications and lots of trims.
I also shed naturally quite an amount of uncut,tappered hair every day which is why I believe I m not genetically blessed to grow to great lengths.


As for the color: I trully believe that if you go modest (meaning coloring once the new growth , never refreshing the length and never use a developer higher than 20v) you can grow to great lengths with no problem.

My hair is naturally black and I was dying it with 20v to get to blue-black! Insane. I was damaging my hair for nothing.
I ve switced to semi-permanent dyes once in a blue moon and I m pretty happy with the color. No one really notices the difference.

[copperlites]

I'm not sure what volume developer they use but I will check next time I'm in next week.
Here's how my hair is at present natural (excuse oily roots it was wash day) and blow dried. There is a fair bit of taper in the last 6 inches which has had about three keratin treatments over the last few years. I have lost about 1/2 inch in ponytail circumference (currently about 2.75 inches) plus a lot more down the length from breakage after botched keratin treatments (2 of them a week apart) in December 2014
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=20748&d=1452042618

[BroomHilda]

Let me do another quick update.
I tried to flat iron my hair straight.
I realised how DIFFICULT it is to do so. Not only it required a great amount of heat (that I was unwilling to apply) but also it wouldnt stay frizz-free for more than 2-4 hours.
So this is how my hair looks after a day of straightening.

https://s32.postimg.org/f781h0gkl/DSC_0347.jpg https://s32.postimg.org/vji36quw5/DSC_0350.jpg



I had 2 minor trims the past 6 months. MY virgin hair which is 3 years old should be around bra-straap-mid back length.
It's really frustrating to have susch a slow progress.
Especially considering how much I baby my hair


I really want to go back to keratin treatments (with less heat applied) just to make it more managable.
Right now my hair is so difficult to deal with, I end up keeping it in a bun the whole time.
Coarse hair is a pain in the a$$

[BroomHilda]

OK, this is discouraging.
After 1 year not only there is no progress at all, my hair has gotten noticeably thinner. There is no point in this hair journey.
There is no way around bad hair genes. No matter how much I take care of it, it just won't grow. It's a thin mess
And it's shedding like a mofo



https://s23.postimg.org/6tnx5et97/DSC_0381.jpg