To keep growing or to maintain?

[AZDesertRose]

I'm debating with myself whether to keep growing past waist length (which is honestly probably at least a year and a half to two years away as of now) to just maintain at waist.

I used to have classic length hair that was showing no signs of being anywhere near terminal, and I am still a little curious about where exactly terminal would be for me.

The problem is, my hair is fairly thick, and it got very heavy at classic, to the point of being quite literally a pain in the neck.

So I'm just wondering in my own mind whether I should keep growing after I reach my current goal of waist or whether I should just maintain there.

Part of me says, "Keep growing; you can always cut it back if you decide you don't want it that long," and part of me is saying, "You remember the neck aches and headaches from the weight of your hair."

None of this is urgent, as I'm just now back to APL, should make BSL by this Christmas as it's only about 3 more inches, and my hair grows a good 1/2" per month.

I just noodle around here and see the people with super long hair that is so very pretty. I guess it's a case of the spirit is willing but the flesh is saying "Forget you!" (Because of the neck pain problem with the weight of longer hair.)

I do have the general tendency to wear my hair up most of the time, especially as it gets longer, because it gets in my way loose and I like playing with updos.

Is anyone else having this sort of internal debate? :)

[ChloeDharma]

I don't have the same problem as you, in fact quite the opposite as my hair is too thin. It does pose an issue when deciding what length to go for though. It used to grow longer nicely without the taper looking bad but in more recent years it thins a lot and looks rubbish as it gets longer so I cut it back to about APL and focus on the condition. My hair is also prone to breakage which adds to the issue so now I'm just looking after it and playing it by ear. Once it starts to look bad I'll cut it back and just kep trimming little amounts in the mean time.
My suggestion to you would be to take a similar approach, just keep growing it and see how you get on. Once it starts becoming a problem then cut it a bit shorter and stay there for a while. Maybe look through the threads for people with iii hair type and see how they deal with the weight. Maybe there are styles that distribute the weight better and make it easier to deal with.
Good luck :)

[spidermom]

I have inner debates like that all the time. I've been growing my hair for around 15 years now, and every once in awhile I'll see a short style I love and think "maybe it's time for a change." Then I'll see hair longer than classic (the longest my hair has ever been) and think "I wonder if my hair will get that long." I cut back to waist/layered last year and have grown back out to nearly tailbone. I have discovered that my hair is so much easier to manage layered. It's less heavy, and I don't mind ends popping out of buns and braid.

[Nique1202]

Layers will reduce the weight significantly, as would a V-cut hemline. Also, there are styles that distribute the weight better, like heidi braids and crown/coronet braids, that can be worn for several days in a row without taking them down. A lot of folks swear by sectioned buns, as well, because each part of the hair can have its own tension.

The thing is, unless and sometimes even if you have deep layers, waist is a pretty troublesome length for iii hair because so little can be done with it. I have 29" long hair from the front hairline, and a 4" circumference ponytail, and I have 11 inch deep layering from a compact cut, and I still can't so much as do a comfortable lazy wrap or nautilus bun. I can twist my hair into a cinnabun but I need 3 spin pins to hold it together or it just explodes. It would be even worse if I had a blunt cut right now.

From my own experience, if you want long hair with a blunt hemline then it will be easier to style the longer it gets, and there are ways to make it comfortable. If you don't want the weight of all that length, I'd keep it short enough that heat/dye styling and ponytail elastics won't cause visible damage before the ends are trimmed out and I'd have fun with it. That's just my personal choice, though, obviously.

[mermaid lullaby]

I think you should grow to BCL and just go on from there, it's halfway from classic and waist. That way you can maintain, or make changes :)

[Panth]

What's the rush? Why do you have to decide now, rather than just take each new length as it comes and cut back if and when you start to find things unmanageable or otherwise no longer fun?

Also, I don't see any reason why you should automatically find classic-length hair painful just because you did before. You've got the chance to learn and master a whole boat-load of updos and techniques between now and then. Headaches and neck-aches are often not a function of the hair length/thickness per se, but of the combination of thick hair and a style that isn't optimal. So - practice! Try stuff out! Experiment! Perhaps also, as Nique1202 said, you could consider layers or a deep-V hemline to reduce weight if you feel you need to.

[Betazed]

I was just going to start a similar thread. My problem isn't thickness or weight, it's the awful split ends that I've accumulated from heat styling and general mismanagement. I'm somewhere between BSL and waist and it's literally taken me years to get this length. I had thought I was just cursed with slow growing genes but now that I've spent some time on LHC, I think my real problem was just breakage. Unfortunately, the damage has already been done. I wouldn't even attempt to S&D because it would probably take hours.

Anyway, Im debating on going for a big chop and regrow from there. I also have layers and it seems like whenever I've got a trim before, the splits on the bottom layer get taken care of but there's still a ton throughout the rest of the layers. (Am I making sense here?) I'm also thinking of following the lunar cycles for trimming (something my grandmother swears by) because it can't hurt and might help. But I have no idea how that whole shindig works (aside from cutting on full moon is suppose to speed up growth).

Sorry for such a long post. My question for those LHC'ers out there is this: Should I go for a big chop (and by "big" Im thinking approx. 3 inches) -or- would a few smaller trims every few weeks be enough? Also, for anyone who knows anything about lunar cycles, can the solstices influence hair growth the way a full moon is suppose to? I.e., would getting a trim on the day of the summer soltice be beneficial at all?

Again, sorry for the long post. I feel like I've been typing for hours! Haha

[eshta]

Just decided when you get there. You can cut it if you don't like it, like you said.

I'm in the same boat as you, but with shorter lengths. I'm SL right now and enjoyed that for a while, but just decided to grow out again. The longest my hair has been was hip and it was a drag (literally), heavy and it pulled all the time. I didn't practice many styles, just braided and had 2-3 favorite buns that also hit the same spot on my scalp, not smart.
When I hit a heavy PP shed, I just chopped. I didn't have the patience or time to air dry for hours anymore and was sick of finding shed hair everywhere. I also lost a lot of hair near my temples, wearing my hair down looked way better than up. Thank god that grew back for the most part!

I used to have a U hemline and I want to try a fairy tail this time, maybe a deep U hemline. I'm hoping it will help with the weight and will make bunning easier. It will be a long journey to hip again (maybe longer), so I'm just going to take it one milestone at the time. I also love looking at the all the longer lengths pics, it's so inspiring.

[lapushka]

The problem is, my hair is fairly thick, and it got very heavy at classic, to the point of being quite literally a pain in the neck.

So I'm just wondering in my own mind whether I should keep growing after I reach my current goal of waist or whether I should just maintain there.

Part of me says, "Keep growing; you can always cut it back if you decide you don't want it that long," and part of me is saying, "You remember the neck aches and headaches from the weight of your hair."

It got heavy at waist for me, so I had it layered (compact cut - shortest layers). My shortest layer is BSL+ and longest is TBL+ now. I'm 2/3 inches away from classic and my hair is manageable with the layers. Very much so!

[AZDesertRose]

I got so aggravated with the layers I had until February of this year (the remains of a shag-type shoulder-length cut I'd been wearing for several years until I decided to grow long again) that I was shying away from layers in general, but once it gets good and long, the right long layered cut might be a good call, and it was something I hadn't really considered.

Thanks, y'all. I knew somebody or several somebodies would have good input. :D

Best wishes to you all and happy growing! :)

[AZDesertRose]

What's the rush? Why do you have to decide now, rather than just take each new length as it comes and cut back if and when you start to find things unmanageable or otherwise no longer fun?

Also, I don't see any reason why you should automatically find classic-length hair painful just because you did before. You've got the chance to learn and master a whole boat-load of updos and techniques between now and then. Headaches and neck-aches are often not a function of the hair length/thickness per se, but of the combination of thick hair and a style that isn't optimal. So - practice! Try stuff out! Experiment! Perhaps also, as Nique1202 said, you could consider layers or a deep-V hemline to reduce weight if you feel you need to.

Oh, there's no rush at all. I was just musing and wondering if other people had similar thoughts or any wisdom to offer, and lo and behold there have been a lot of good ideas tossed about. :)

And you're absolutely right about styling options. When I had it classic length before, I didn't know as many styles as I know now, and of course there are always more to learn.

[AZDesertRose]

I was just going to start a similar thread. My problem isn't thickness or weight, it's the awful split ends that I've accumulated from heat styling and general mismanagement. I'm somewhere between BSL and waist and it's literally taken me years to get this length. I had thought I was just cursed with slow growing genes but now that I've spent some time on LHC, I think my real problem was just breakage. Unfortunately, the damage has already been done. I wouldn't even attempt to S&D because it would probably take hours.

Anyway, Im debating on going for a big chop and regrow from there. I also have layers and it seems like whenever I've got a trim before, the splits on the bottom layer get taken care of but there's still a ton throughout the rest of the layers. (Am I making sense here?) I'm also thinking of following the lunar cycles for trimming (something my grandmother swears by) because it can't hurt and might help. But I have no idea how that whole shindig works (aside from cutting on full moon is suppose to speed up growth).

Sorry for such a long post. My question for those LHC'ers out there is this: Should I go for a big chop (and by "big" Im thinking approx. 3 inches) -or- would a few smaller trims every few weeks be enough? Also, for anyone who knows anything about lunar cycles, can the solstices influence hair growth the way a full moon is suppose to? I.e., would getting a trim on the day of the summer soltice be beneficial at all?

Again, sorry for the long post. I feel like I've been typing for hours! Haha

Since you've got so much damage, I might go ahead and do the 3" chop so that you have healthy hair to play with and just baby your hair after the chop so that your new growth will be nice and healthy. I also had about an inch and a half cut off a few months ago to get rid of layers that were getting on my nerves, but my hair is only in the general region of APL, so it's not like I've spent ages and ages trying to grow. But that might also be my own prejudice showing. I'd rather have shorter hair that I can do something with than longer hair that's so damaged it won't behave worth a darn. It's really your call; would you rather lose the length all at once and just keep going, treating your hair with more kindness, or would you rather keep your length and maintain where you are until the really damaged bits are gone?

I don't know about the lunar cycle thing. I've heard of the concept but never experimented with it myself, so I have no good input there.

[spidermom]

NicCarpenter, unless you want the change of a big cut, I'd advise you get regular small trims, maybe once a month or every other month. The thing about those big cuts is that about the time you're getting excited because you're getting the length back, you'll start noticing more splits. Good care can minimize them, but there's nothing in the world that can prevent them completely, at least not in my world.

[Betazed]

I'm leaning more towards getting a tiny trim/dusting for the next couple of months. I just wish I could find someone I trust to do it. The main reason I go so long with splits is because I'm afraid of going to salons. Too many bad experiences have made me really anxious around those weilding scissors. :scissors: :run: