Classic? Am I crazy?

[missmagoo]

It's been eons since I've been on the board. I've gown to waist afew times, but always cut back to bsl, which is where I've been maintaining for the past two years, before that I was maintaining at waist. Anyway, I recently got a wild hair (ha!) to grow out to classic. I've got two kids, a 3year old, and an 8 month old, I'm 34, and I guess I just feel like I want to do what I want to do, and not worry what anyone thinks of me. I guess my hesitation is more the work it would take. I put zero effort into maintaining my length right now. I only wet it and wash it every 4-5 days (I use dermorganic), and I generally air dry, although I will blow dry it on low if I need to in a pinch. I also very occasionally use a curling iron (maybe every six weeks?). I like that I don't really have to worry about damage, since I'm just maintaining, I just get two inches or so cut off every six months. Beyond ditching the curling iron, how much more effort am I looking at here? I'm sure this has been asked a million times, so links to other threads are welcomed!

[lll_Alice_lll]

I'm almost classic. It's not too much work for me. Just keep the split ends off and you''l be fine.. probably! xD

[amino]

Honestly I think as long as you're washing it according to its preferences and have it in protective styles when needed you'll be fine. I had TBL hair that looked pretty nice at the age of 15, and I never did anything with it differently than I did at shoulder length or other lengths. If anything you'll have days dedicated to being in a windless area so your hair can dry on wash days.

[Horrorpops]

I think you should just keep growing and see how it goes! Keep it healthy with oiling and trimming splits but you'll probably find that you don't need to do much more than that. If you find it is stalling at a particular length or getting really troublesome, thats when you probably would need to look into more strict care routines. :)

[Robot Ninja]

That's pretty much all I do too. I oil it after washing but that takes, like, a minute. Classic-length hair gets in the way a lot more than waist-length hair, so you will probably need to wear it up much of the time, especially with young children. You might want to experiment with heatless curls, if you want to give up the curling iron without giving up curls.

The nice thing about growing longer is that if you decide it's too much effort you can just cut back to a length that is easy for you.

[missmagoo]

So what are you guys oiling with these days? I don't put anything on my hair after washing it now, and I'm pretty sure that's why I ca go so long between washings. I live is the desert mountains though, so I know I need to do *something* if I'm going to go longer than waist.

[Horrorpops]

I think you only really need to oil if your hair is dry/seems like it needs it.

I put a little coconut oil on my bleached ends after washing, and then also a little more in for the night before wash day. Sometimes I'll do a full oiling with coconut oil, castor oil and rosehip oil.

Mainly my hair needs a lot of oil because I used to bleach it and I've been taking a medication for a year that dried my hair out a ton. You might not need to though :)

But personally I always love coconut oil or the good ol SMT!

[Robot Ninja]

So what are you guys oiling with these days? I don't put anything on my hair after washing it now, and I'm pretty sure that's why I ca go so long between washings. I live is the desert mountains though, so I know I need to do *something* if I'm going to go longer than waist.

I use mineral oil. My hair isn't all that dry, and my climate isn't either, and I mostly CO-wash, so I just use a little bit to add some slip and shine and reduce frizziness. If you keep the oil away from your roots you shouldn't have to wash more often.

[Ambystoma]

Yeah, I'm 4" from Classic and i don't do much more than you now - wash every week-ish, put some silicone serum in while wet, bun, and forget essentially. The main differences is that I don't use heat and clarify/chelate every 2 weeks and wear it up 90% of the time.

Go for it! You get used to handling the extra length as it grows so it's not too overwhelming :)

[Nique1202]

You might want to add occasional S&D with very sharp scissors to snip out split ends (that way you don't have to trim anymore if you don't want to, and you can accumulate more length over time) and if you don't already use them silicones and oil from about apl down.

Silicones will help since you have accumulated heat damage, they'll keep things nice and slippery, which is not only nice to keep it neat and tidy but tangles and detangling lead to even more damage over time, so it'll be a preventive step. You could do this either with a second round of conditioning just from apl down or with a silicone-y serum on the bottom few inches. (I use two drops of a Garnier Fructis serum for all my ends, it doesn't take much!) If you use a milder shampoo you might not even need to use your silicone routine every wash, either. Why use more than you need and risk buildup, right?

As for oils, use whatever your hair agrees with (whether that's coconut, mineral, olive, or something else). From your hair type it seems unlikely that one or two drops of any oil will make your ends look greasy, so the world's your oyster.

Also, if you're only using your curling iron occasionally, especially if you add silicones, you might not need to give that up. There are lots of heatless curling methods if you do, but tbl/classic is just where regular heat damage really starts to add up, it's not a strict cutoff or anything. You shouldn't sacrifice feeling happy with your hair just for length, I'm sure you can find a balance where you get the best of what you want. :agree:

[Madora]

Hi, Missmagoo! I think classic is a realistic goal as long as you have the time to give your locks a little extra TLC, especially when detangling. Wearing your hair up is a great way to protect it and cut down on detangling chores. I don't use oil, except 5 drops of mineral oil for detangling purposes when I shampoo my hair.

I think the greatest hindrance to achieving classic pretty much boils down to how much time you can devote to your hair (doesn't need to be a lot but it does take a little longer than shorter hair) and staying away from "hair boredom"...i.e. "what CAN I do with my hair now?"

Here is Lilith Moon's video tut for the two strand lace crown braid...great for keeping your hair tidy and off your neck:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPHEzUr5bWQ
Happy growing!

[lapushka]

I'm half an inch off of classic. Besides hating the wash day (pretty much the length gets in the way), it's all good. The rest of the week it's just thrown up in a LWB, so I'm good. And it's weekly washed, so I don't have to worry too too much. :)

[missmagoo]

Thanks everyone! This is super-helpful. I hadn't thought about adding a silicone serum, but that is a really good idea, since I usually get trims when my hair starts to get tangly and grippy. I actually used togpto a hairdresser that would give me micro trims and do s&d, so maybe I will start going back to her when I need it.

[meteor]

I agree with everyone's advice.

And I wouldn't overcomplicate it, if what you do is working well for you and you see no signs of damage or dryness. If there is one thing I'd recommend that would be ditching the curling iron, since heat-styling is a damaging practice that might show up at greater lengths (with accumulated exposure to heat). There are so many easy damage-free heatless curling methods out there, based on damp-setting hair: check out beautyklove's tutorials on that: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4626FAE04F57ED14

I've passed classic length and the upkeep is extremely simple. It actually got simpler and simpler with every milestone. I remember when my hair was at BSL, it was quite a bit more involved: regular deep treatments, heavy oiling, herbal rinses, etc... Now it's much more streamlined and the focus is on keeping hair detangled and contained.

The only serious differences between BSL and Classic is that detangling can get a lot more challenging and drying hair takes forever. Other than that, it's actually a lot easier to style - way more updo options and the hair is less prone to show frizz/kinks/greasiness/other typical hair issues when it's long and heavy.

I highly recommend keeping hair up (especially since there are little kids around), sleeping on silky materials, detangling and handling hair gently... all the usual stuff. :)

Best of luck to you! :D And Happy Growing! :flower: