CatsAndCoffee
December 15th, 2015, 06:42 PM
Hi, all! Just a little warning that this is going to be rather picture heavy. I've tried to scale them down so they aren't too large, so hopefully this post is okay.
I joined and posted here originally quite some time ago (6-7 months, maybe? I'm not sure). I received so much great support and advice that I really wanted to keep posting and be an active member of the community. But, my hair was pretty toasted after a run in with a 40-volume bleach-happy stylist, and I decided to go back to my "comfort zone" of short hair. I cut it off to about chin length, and wasn't sure if I was even going to try growing it out again. But, after a few months, it really became clear how much I missed my length, and that I really did want to grow it out more. So, I'm back!
I wanted to share some photos of my progress (or what I think is progress, anyway) to get some opinions, advice, encouragement, etc., and to sort of help motivate me to keep growing. :)
Here's my hair at the longest it's ever been, pre-chop:
http://i.imgur.com/1ErlGcWm.jpg?1
Don't let this particular picture fool you, it's super fried. This is just after a stylist blow out that had it looking nice ... I still couldn't get my fingers through it. You can also see the random "layers" caused by breakage.
So, I decided to get it chopped off which came to this:
http://i.imgur.com/He9cKxim.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/2xMdr7Tm.jpg?1
I had already shared this picture in the post right after the chop, but it's the only one I had that really showed the length of the cut. On the right is how this length looked braided (with the help of pins on pieces that fell out). So stumpy I wanted to cry sometimes ... But it's healthy. This was in mid to late July.
By early October my braid looked like this and needed fewer pins:
http://i.imgur.com/TSULvgrm.jpg?2
I didn't feel like I got a lot of growth from August and September. But, I was heat styling daily and not focusing on trying to grow, so that was likely it.
Then, in November, my new stylist (who gave me this haircut) noticed my roots and asked if I wanted to do something for them. Since I still wasn't sure if I really wanted to grow it out, I decided to do the unthinkable and bleach my hair. This time though, I had a stylist who actually took a good bit of care to keep my hair intact. Using colour remover, then a bleach bath, then an all over highlight (all with a product called Olaplex, I might post more on that later), she got it to a really lovely blonde. I'm sure the bleach must've damaged my hair, and I can feel a few extra tangles when it's wet, but all in all, my hair still feels lightyears better than pre-chop. It's also been growing quite a bit this past month, so I can't complain!
Here is my hair in a (very messy, slept-on) braid, and down now:
http://i.imgur.com/HqpLJwIm.jpg?1 http://i.imgur.com/2Pm9mCRm.jpg?2
Maybe I'm imagining it, but I see growth. :cheer:
If you made it through all that, thanks for reading! Sorry for all the terrible lighting, I seem to only think to take pictures of my hair when it's dark out and I have to rely on my bathroom lights. :shrug: Any advice is welcome.
I joined and posted here originally quite some time ago (6-7 months, maybe? I'm not sure). I received so much great support and advice that I really wanted to keep posting and be an active member of the community. But, my hair was pretty toasted after a run in with a 40-volume bleach-happy stylist, and I decided to go back to my "comfort zone" of short hair. I cut it off to about chin length, and wasn't sure if I was even going to try growing it out again. But, after a few months, it really became clear how much I missed my length, and that I really did want to grow it out more. So, I'm back!
I wanted to share some photos of my progress (or what I think is progress, anyway) to get some opinions, advice, encouragement, etc., and to sort of help motivate me to keep growing. :)
Here's my hair at the longest it's ever been, pre-chop:
http://i.imgur.com/1ErlGcWm.jpg?1
Don't let this particular picture fool you, it's super fried. This is just after a stylist blow out that had it looking nice ... I still couldn't get my fingers through it. You can also see the random "layers" caused by breakage.
So, I decided to get it chopped off which came to this:
http://i.imgur.com/He9cKxim.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/2xMdr7Tm.jpg?1
I had already shared this picture in the post right after the chop, but it's the only one I had that really showed the length of the cut. On the right is how this length looked braided (with the help of pins on pieces that fell out). So stumpy I wanted to cry sometimes ... But it's healthy. This was in mid to late July.
By early October my braid looked like this and needed fewer pins:
http://i.imgur.com/TSULvgrm.jpg?2
I didn't feel like I got a lot of growth from August and September. But, I was heat styling daily and not focusing on trying to grow, so that was likely it.
Then, in November, my new stylist (who gave me this haircut) noticed my roots and asked if I wanted to do something for them. Since I still wasn't sure if I really wanted to grow it out, I decided to do the unthinkable and bleach my hair. This time though, I had a stylist who actually took a good bit of care to keep my hair intact. Using colour remover, then a bleach bath, then an all over highlight (all with a product called Olaplex, I might post more on that later), she got it to a really lovely blonde. I'm sure the bleach must've damaged my hair, and I can feel a few extra tangles when it's wet, but all in all, my hair still feels lightyears better than pre-chop. It's also been growing quite a bit this past month, so I can't complain!
Here is my hair in a (very messy, slept-on) braid, and down now:
http://i.imgur.com/HqpLJwIm.jpg?1 http://i.imgur.com/2Pm9mCRm.jpg?2
Maybe I'm imagining it, but I see growth. :cheer:
If you made it through all that, thanks for reading! Sorry for all the terrible lighting, I seem to only think to take pictures of my hair when it's dark out and I have to rely on my bathroom lights. :shrug: Any advice is welcome.