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Phanaferous
November 28th, 2015, 04:49 PM
Anyone have childhood memories of a family member having long hair? Did this influence you to grow yours long?

My grandma had hair to her waist but you rarely saw it. She'd always have it braided in two strands, which she'd then bun low on either side of her center part. It was never dyed, just silver and white. A few times when we had a sleepover there I saw her undo the braids before she got ready for bed. I thought it was so pretty.

On the flip side, I think my child will have memories of my hair someday. From the time he was a toddler he would come into my bathroom as I was brushing. I hold my head to the side, which creates a curtain. He ran through it, circled around me and ran through it again, over and over while giggling. I've had to teach him not to pull on my braid, but he'll come up to me and swing it across my back, pretending it's a horse's tail.

turtlelover
November 28th, 2015, 05:05 PM
It wasn't my family members, but 2 other mother figures in my case. They both had thick, shiny, straight, dark brown hair that was tailbone length. Their hair was so beautiful, and I loved to play with it.....it was so relaxing to me. Great memories!

Neptune
November 28th, 2015, 05:27 PM
I had a kindergarten teacher at a school called Paxton who had amazing hair -- it touched the floor!! :thud:

mwallingford
November 28th, 2015, 07:40 PM
I do not personally know any family member that grew their hair extraordinarily long, but my mom tells me stories of her grandmother who looked a bit native american a) because she was part native american and b) because of her extremely long, black and silver braid. She said that she would watch her undo her braid before bed, brush it out, and sometimes smooth some oil on her hair before she went to bed. Then in the morning, she would untangle her hair, braid it, and bun it for the day. On the other hand, some inspiration that I had when I was younger was when I would go up to Michigan for a week in the summer; my aunt would LOVE to brush my hair out and put it into cute styles, and she taught me how to french braid. Great memories!

RavenMane
November 28th, 2015, 10:58 PM
I remember my own hair from childhood, that it was so tangly! I always wanted it long and down, and at school we were always playing outside in the wind. My hair got very dry and hard to untangle. My mom and I didn't know about conditioner till I was about 10. Looking back now helps me to remember to contain my hair when it is windy, and I keep it moisturized. Live and learn!

Dessi
November 29th, 2015, 01:49 AM
I don't really have memories but I know my grandmother used to have long hair (about TBL). I think I got my texture and hair thickness from her.
http://s8.postimg.org/922d7r25x/image.png

poli
November 29th, 2015, 02:26 AM
LOL - awkward hairstyles my mother would give me - short helmet like cut or a buzz cut.
I remember my best friends hair when we were little - long and wavy (brushed out curls even) - princess hair, she hated it of course and cut short bob when we were teenagers.

lapushka
November 29th, 2015, 03:54 AM
My mom's great-grandma (was a midwife) had between classic & knee, I think. She had long flowing white hair, seen in pictures as she was just about to bun it. And she apparently could whip it up in a bun "like that". My mom also had red flaming BSL length hair in her 40s (i thickness) and so she could do intricate buns at her length. She always wore it in a bee-butt bun on the top of her head with thicker bangs. Gorgeous!

Amapola
November 29th, 2015, 07:28 AM
My mother had long hair growing up, and her mother (my grandmother) would try and brush my mother's hair out. Since she was just a little child she would often wiggle around, and my grandmother would give her a whack on the head with the hair brush to get her to hold still! Because of this, my mother always cut my hair very short when I was growing up, so that I wouldn't have to go through that.

We had some new people move in across the street and the little girl in that family was, I thought, the most perfect and gorgeous person ever. She had sleek, perfectly straight jet-black hair that was classic length, eyes so dark brown they were practically black, her skin was dark and her name was Rachel. I wanted to be her so badly... I even tried to get my mother to change my name to Rachel. :) There was no way, of course... my hair was not going to turn black, my eyes would never be that color and I would always not be named Rachel. I wanted to at least grow my hair that long, but I was not allowed to do that until I reached high school age.

I still love the name Rachel and I still think that child was stunningly gorgeous. But I have come to appreciate that you look the way you look, and you have to treasure that, and not pine after looking like someone else.

Hairkay
November 29th, 2015, 08:29 AM
My mother had short thick hair, sometimes she had it in a big round afro. Twice I think, she had it permed straight then she let if grow out and break off to start anew. My grandmother was the same but I was told that she had longer hair before she went to the UK and it fell out and never quite recovered. I didn't pay too much attention at looking at hair when very young. I just got the chance to practice plaiting on dolls' hair and my own. When I first moved to the Caribbean I had a best friend with MBL type 1c hair and my other best friend had 4c fine short fluffy hair.

When I moved schools most girls in the class formed a clique. They all had waist length hair from type 1-3. The had a thing for wearing pretty hair accessories to finish off the ends of their plaits. There were three other girls whose hair would match the clique but one was a tomboy (hair hip length), anther very reserved with hair kept in two buns, princess Lea style from Star Wars and the last one very outgoing. I was one of the two with BSL 3c/4a hair. The tomboy took to pulling everyone's hair until the teacher talked to her. She complained that since she had the longest hair in her old school, everyone would pull it. She was trying to get a bit of revenge with us. She listened and stopped doing it. A girl in my lil sis's class came to school with a fish tail braid and we all noticed. I told my mother about the strange braid and she showed me how to do it. Only we called it a cascadura braid since it's a specific fish that has scales in that pattern.

I moved schools again and this time I was one of the short haired instead of average. Over 90% had type 1c hair. Many had waist to thigh length hair. There was 3 blondes in a school catering for 1000 students, two of the blondes were siblings with Welsh roots. The trendy hairstyle was to have a sloppy pony tail where half the back slouched. Only straight hair could pull that hair style off. One girl with type 3 curls in our class had a try and it didn't work. During class one of my shed hair started to poke out so I pulled it all out. My friend took a look at it and said to stretch it out. She was surprised that my supposedly shoulder length hair was longer.

Another school move and I was back to being average. More than 60% had type 3 and 4 hair. That was when I spotted an older girl with hip length type 3c hair all done in cornrows and I wonder just how long that took to be plaited. A new teacher came to school and made the classmate next to me get up and twirl around. She was amazed at the thickness and length of the girl's hair. The girl had her 3c hair regularly relaxed and her plait was as thick as my wrist for the whole hip length plait. She moaned that her father would never let her cut her hair. There was two girls with longer hair but theirs tapered towards the hip. I think it amazed the teacher because the other two were Asian origin but she was a black/mixed race girl. Another class mate keep hers regularly trimmed in a TWA.

DaisyCake
November 29th, 2015, 10:48 AM
Two memories popped head as soon as I read the title. First, I loved looking at pictures of my mom before I was born. Until I was about one she had gorgeous, light brown, classic length hair. During my childhood she always kept short and I wished she'd grow it again but she said it was too much work. The second memory was of my great-grandmother. When I first met her she was already 103 years old. We had flown down to Puerto Rico to visit family and made the drive to visit her out on her farm. She had never in her life cut her hair. I remember her taking it down to redo her bun and the white tips curling on the floor. I was fascinated. It was thinned from age and very white and I thought it was very beautiful!

Phanaferous
November 29th, 2015, 11:05 AM
My other grandma was a hairdresser-- she had her salon in the front part of her house, so it was super fun to visit her. But that also meant that my mom grew up with hair never longer than shoulder length. My mom kinda resented that, so grew it to maybe BSL in her 20s and early 30s, but once my sisters and I were born, she kept it above her shoulders again. Her natural color was deep brown, almost black, with at least type 2 if not 3a wavy curls. When I was a kid she'd lament how flat my hair was, and between 4th and 8th grade I had perms courtesy of grandma. (Free, but not spiral perms and I didn't know to not brush them! 80's triangle perm hair sufferer here.)

lapushka
November 29th, 2015, 11:22 AM
80's triangle perm hair sufferer here.)

Oh how I remember those days. I did somehow manage not to brush it, though (but that probably was more due to laziness ;)).

Sarahlabyrinth
November 29th, 2015, 12:06 PM
I remember being at school and one of my classmates had really thick glossy waist length dark brown hair which she would always wear either loose or in a braid down her back. I was so envious of it, it was gorgeous! I had waist length hair too but never saw it as beautiful and had no idea how to look after it. I used to always wear it in a ponytail or a log roll and that was it.

I loved her hair so much and one day in class she was sitting in front of the biology teacher's son who was always up to mischeif and on this day he super glued her braid to the back of her chair and her hair had to be cut to get it off, and he got in a pile of trouble. That poor girl....

Mavi
November 29th, 2015, 02:30 PM
I have childhood memories of one girl in particular with pin straight knee length hair with absolutely no taper. Of course we were all probably 3ft tall so maybe it was actually shorter than my hip length hair is now :P
Also, my two best male friends as kids had longer than waist length hair. This felt so normal for me, and I have a sneaking suspicion that it may have influenced my preference for men with long hair as an adult.

TheMechaGinger
November 29th, 2015, 06:43 PM
When I was really young I had a much older cousin (I was 6 or 7, she was in her early 20's) that had classic length red hair. She would let me brush it and braid it sometimes, in my mind she was a ginger rapunzel! She used to have to sweep it over her shoulder to avoid sitting on it and I thought that was the coolest thing ever. I remember she used the old rose hips Herbal Essence shampoo and conditioner so I asked my mom if she would buy that kind for our house so I could have hair like that.

DaisyCake
November 29th, 2015, 07:09 PM
My other grandma was a hairdresser-- she had her salon in the front part of her house, so it was super fun to visit her. But that also meant that my mom grew up with hair never longer than shoulder length. My mom kinda resented that, so grew it to maybe BSL in her 20s and early 30s, but once my sisters and I were born, she kept it above her shoulders again. Her natural color was deep brown, almost black, with at least type 2 if not 3a wavy curls. When I was a kid she'd lament how flat my hair was, and between 4th and 8th grade I had perms courtesy of grandma. (Free, but not spiral perms and I didn't know to not brush them! 80's triangle perm hair sufferer here.)

Ugh. Yes, I know this kind of suffering. The family hairdresser was my aunt and we got whatever haircut she felt like giving that day. Our wishes were not a factor at all. 1980's permed hair on a poor, clueless child... I had this too. I really ought to burn those photos before they end up in the wrong hands.

Brattina88
November 29th, 2015, 09:28 PM
I distinctly remember being at our huge family reunion (weekend trip out of state) and a relative French braiding ALL of my cousins hair. Simple, pretty French braids, straight down the back. Nothing fancy, but I was enamored. She wouldn't even try to do my hair. She said it was too short. Then they all took pictures sitting side-by-side, from the back to show off the different colored braids. I felt so left out :o

That has stuck with me ever since, all these years. My mom liked keeping my hair short, it was easier for her to make sure I'd take good care of it. So now that I'm well into adulthood that's why I want to grow grow grow :D

xbanannax
November 29th, 2015, 09:36 PM
My other grandma was a hairdresser-- she had her salon in the front part of her house, so it was super fun to visit her. But that also meant that my mom grew up with hair never longer than shoulder length. My mom kinda resented that, so grew it to maybe BSL in her 20s and early 30s, but once my sisters and I were born, she kept it above her shoulders again. Her natural color was deep brown, almost black, with at least type 2 if not 3a wavy curls. When I was a kid she'd lament how flat my hair was, and between 4th and 8th grade I had perms courtesy of grandma. (Free, but not spiral perms and I didn't know to not brush them! 80's triangle perm hair sufferer here.)


Ugh. Yes, I know this kind of suffering. The family hairdresser was my aunt and we got whatever haircut she felt like giving that day. Our wishes were not a factor at all. 1980's permed hair on a poor, clueless child... I had this too. I really ought to burn those photos before they end up in the wrong hands.

Too funny! Unlike you guys I wanted curly hair so bad and begged for the perm when I was young. I LOVED IT. Lucky for me puberty brought me natural curls which I grew out to TBL eventually.

turtlelover
November 29th, 2015, 10:33 PM
LOL! I had a home perm on tiny rods in the 80s when I had short hair that left my hair looking like a cross between Bozo The Clown and a Treasure Troll. (Remember them? HAHA) At only 10 years old, I remember calling the Clairol helpline number on the back of the perm box for advice! It really WAS that bad! I should probably burn the photos if I can still find them!

Mavi
November 30th, 2015, 09:07 AM
I distinctly remember being at our huge family reunion (weekend trip out of state) and a relative French braiding ALL of my cousins hair. Simple, pretty French braids, straight down the back. Nothing fancy, but I was enamored. She wouldn't even try to do my hair. She said it was too short. Then they all took pictures sitting side-by-side, from the back to show off the different colored braids. I felt so left out :o

That has stuck with me ever since, all these years. My mom liked keeping my hair short, it was easier for her to make sure I'd take good care of it. So now that I'm well into adulthood that's why I want to grow grow grow :D

I remember having a very similar experience, at a cottage and all of my friends getting french braided pigtails by one of the moms, boys included, since the two there were past WL. I was the only one with stubby little hair. Since then I think I almost developed a bit of competitiveness to have the longest hair out of all of my friends. They would all cut their hair at various points in their lives and I would have none of that. My hair is now by far the longest but I still want it to be longer... Hmmmm....

chen bao jun
November 30th, 2015, 10:10 AM
Sunday morning when I was little, which was the only time when my hair was not in two plaits, my mother carefully using a little water and a little hair dressing to twirl my curls around her fingers so my natural ringlets looked perfect for church.

My dad's once a year hair trims, always on St. John the Baptist Day, don't ask me why, his gentle combing out and fluffling hair and then cutting off a precise 1/4 inch or so.

When my brother was born and she had a baby and not a lot of time, my mother decided my hair was 'unmanageable', started ripping through the curls from the top in a rush and yelling when I cried because it hurt and decided I 'needed' to have my hair straightened with a hot comb so that she could do it quickly each morning for school. I swear, I sort of think of my childhood as divided between the P.S. and A.S. epochs: pre-straightening and after straightening. AFter the hot comb, I had this dead feeling, limp hair (not that naturally straight hair is like that at all, but my straightened hair was, and always greasy too, they used to use a tone of hair grease as they straightened) plus a scalp with burns on it and burnt ears, and that straightened hair smell was horrible. You could smell that it was burnt. I wanted my own hair back so badly. the 'convenience' was better for my mother but it was a real trauma for me, and I felt so uncared for and unloved (not true but that's what I felt) that she no longer had the half hour to forty five minutes fixing my hair but had to rush through it in 5 minutes AND yell at me, too. Nowadays when I spend lots and lots of time on my hair, I love to do it, and love to feel how ALIVE it feels when its curly, I know all hair is actually dead, but curly sproingy hair feels the opposite of dead, it feels alive and like it reacts to you instead of just flopping around.

xbanannax
November 30th, 2015, 08:34 PM
LOL! I had a home perm on tiny rods in the 80s when I had short hair that left my hair looking like a cross between Bozo The Clown and a Treasure Troll. (Remember them? HAHA) At only 10 years old, I remember calling the Clairol helpline number on the back of the perm box for advice! It really WAS that bad! I should probably burn the photos if I can still find them!

oh to be a fly on the wall during that phone conversation! :D Do you remember what they suggested?

turtlelover
November 30th, 2015, 10:10 PM
oh to be a fly on the wall during that phone conversation! :D Do you remember what they suggested?

They told me to put some kind of deep conditioning treatment on my hair that you left on for like a half hour. I don't remember what it was called, but I remember that it didn't do much to resolve the issue! Sadly, I also didn't know that brushing tight curls when dry is a BAD idea! HAHA I distinctly remember my mother dragging me out of the house by force because I was determined never to be seen again in public till that horrid perm was gone, even if it meant flunking the 4th grade!

DweamGoiL
December 1st, 2015, 09:43 AM
My grammy had long hair until her death at 92. After 80 or so, it was about WL, but very thin. She wore an adorable puny bun or a braid, but she kept her long locks until the day she died :)

hufflepug
December 1st, 2015, 12:10 PM
When I was little my cousins had really long straightish/wavy hair. Their mother had a nice boar bristle brush (I think it was Mason Pearson, when I look at those that's what I remember it looking like) and would brush their hair out and it would look so pretty and shiny. Then I would try it and my curly hair would just tangle and poof. I didn't figure out that bristles in general were not friendly to my hair until high school.