length progress with pics

[chen bao jun]

I really can only see that my hair grew when I get it straightened. Latest pic of natural hair; last September and last week, in the same shirt, loose and in a ponytail. I have actually hit the bottom of my brastrap now. At least the two or three longest hairs have lol.
http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a481/uloma1/hair%20flatironed%202016%20and%20growth/20160115_184134_zpsl1pgrqcg.jpg (http://s1280.photobucket.com/user/uloma1/media/hair%20flatironed%202016%20and%20growth/20160115_184134_zpsl1pgrqcg.jpg.html)
http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a481/uloma1/hair%20flatironed%202016%20and%20growth/september%202015_zpszsj5a7gu.jpg (http://s1280.photobucket.com/user/uloma1/media/hair%20flatironed%202016%20and%20growth/september%202015_zpszsj5a7gu.jpg.html)
http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a481/uloma1/hair%20flatironed%202016%20and%20growth/2016-02-19%2010.24.02_zpszvmssrqc.jpg (http://s1280.photobucket.com/user/uloma1/media/hair%20flatironed%202016%20and%20growth/2016-02-19%2010.24.02_zpszvmssrqc.jpg.html)

http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a481/uloma1/hair%20flatironed%202016%20and%20growth/20160218_223629_zpsns4wyysd.jpg (http://s1280.photobucket.com/user/uloma1/media/hair%20flatironed%202016%20and%20growth/20160218_223629_zpsns4wyysd.jpg.html)

[chen bao jun]

http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a481/uloma1/hair%20flatironed%202016%20and%20growth/october2012flatironed2_zps59285a98.jpg (http://s1280.photobucket.com/user/uloma1/media/hair%20flatironed%202016%20and%20growth/october2012flatironed2_zps59285a98.jpg.html)
http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a481/uloma1/hair%20flatironed%202016%20and%20growth/20160115_184134_zpsl1pgrqcg.jpg (http://s1280.photobucket.com/user/uloma1/media/hair%20flatironed%202016%20and%20growth/20160115_184134_zpsl1pgrqcg.jpg.html)

My unstraightened hair is now as long as my straightened hair was in 2012. My hair was in very poor condition then, too, although I didn't know it until just a little while before this. I didn't usually wear it flatironed. It was natural for 12 years before this and I usually wore it curly. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to moisturize or condition and it was falling out faster than it grew but it did look good--so good that I didn't realize how damaged it was until I flat ironed and saw just how short it had gotten (it was usually a bit more than APL straightened and you can't see its not) as well as how dry it was. Curls disguise a lot!
http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a481/uloma1/a1fc45c6-ae74-4b60-ac41-341843cddca6_zpsopgbwi8l.jpg (http://s1280.photobucket.com/user/uloma1/media/a1fc45c6-ae74-4b60-ac41-341843cddca6_zpsopgbwi8l.jpg.html)

So, its definitely grown. I think this is the longest it's ever been now. I'm pretty sure this is longer than it was before my mother started straightening it when I was 7, because of course I was shorter then--lol I remember something in this ball park, but nobody took my photo from the back then. The straightening--it was with a hot comb--immediately destroyed a lot of hair and it was never too much longer than APL straightened after that. Which is probably a warning to me not to flatiron if I want it to actually grow longer...Even if I cant' see the length.

[Daydreamer.]

Your hair looks nice! It has quite some growth. I have shoulder length 3c hair and seems like it takes forever to grow it out. It's always nice to see longer 3c hair (or just longer curly hair in general). It encourages me to keep growing mine out. Anyways, congratulations on your hair growth!

[lapushka]

Nice progress, chen! :D

[fiðrildi]

It is definitely much longer :)
That's good growth for 5 months! Your natural texture is amazing (my favourite is the last picture), you've got so much volume. And nice silvers complimenting that :thumbsup:

[antler_tines]

Your hair looks really healthy and thick, it definitely has grown!

[chen bao jun]

Your hair looks nice! It has quite some growth. I have shoulder length 3c hair and seems like it takes forever to grow it out. It's always nice to see longer 3c hair (or just longer curly hair in general). It encourages me to keep growing mine out. Anyways, congratulations on your hair growth!

Thanks, Daydreamer! Keep growing. Our hairtype can be discouraging because it grows and you can't see it, so it does seem like forever. But it is growing! And meanwhile curls are nice to have.
ETA: I don't know if this will be helpful to you, but I was realizing--whenever my hair has really not been growing (that is, breaking off faster than its growing), its an overmanipulation problem. In the very last pic, I was doing braidouts--a million tiny braids every night and taking them all out every morning and the overmanipulation was killing me but I didn't know that--thought it was the 'right' way to take care of 'natural' hair due to looking on youtube and internet. I'd still be way above the shoulder if I had kept that up. I do buns now most of the time. and I never put more than two or at most three big braids in my hair (at night, to avoid tangling). I know that's what's helped my growth, (besides learning how to moisturize and condition of course). So if you can find a way to hardly manipulate at all--I no longer even use a comb.

[school of fish]

Looking so beautiful - I really love your hair :D Grow on!

[chen bao jun]

Thanks, Lapushka, antler_tines, fidrildi, school of fish, for the encouragement!

[lapushka]

Yes, I agree. Love those silvers. I have about... almost as much, not yet quite, but... getting there! :D Mine are spread out like that as well, as if a salt 'n pepper shaker's gone through. :inlove:

[pailin]

Thanks for sharing your progress! Your hair is amazing and you've clearly learned a lot about it.

[irodaryne]

You have some very beautiful hair, Chen! Thank you for sharing your progress with all of us!

[FuzzyBlackWaves]

Wow, congratulations on your growth!

[Silverbrumby]

Love the curls as well as the straight. Great growth.

[Llama]

That is great growth, congrats! :)

[Beborani]

That is very nice progress! The curls are so pretty and straightened hair definitely shows the length.

[lapis_lazuli]

Yay! Congrats!!! :cheer: Great progress :D

[MsPharaohMoan]

Wow, your silvers really show your texture against the background of black hair. Beautiful! Must feel good to be at a point curly where you used to be straight.

[Groovy Granny]

That is awesome Chen....I love your silver too :thumbsup:

[spidermom]

I see quite a lot of growth. Isn't it fun to be able to do a variety of styles? That's what I like best about long hair.

[MsBubbles]

Great progress! I also liked the front view hair pic (with face blocked out). I love that look, even though I think you posted it to show worse condition. It looks pretty anyway.

[chen bao jun]

Thanks, you guys, you are encouraging me so much! About my hair growth, my silver, everything!!
It's really nice because I do get discouraged at the slow pace.
thanks for even encouraging me about my former hair. Yes, Ms. Bubbles, that was the bad condition--but it did look good didn't it? I think actually in some ways better than my current, healthier hair when curly. the tighter curls are more attractive--now good condition and more length has kind of pulled them looser. I posted it because I posted the picture of my flat ironed hair formerly and wanted to show you what it looked like when not flat-ironed, so that you could see why i didn't realize for so long that it was damaged hair. Because it was so cute!

I have to say though, it felt like hell. Even without the added length, I would keep using LHC methods rather than what I was doing before (you don't want to know), just to have hair that feels like hair--and actually feels soft, both naturally and when straightened. Sometimes the feel tells you more than the looks, something to consider when bedazzled by those tv hair commercials...

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Chen, your hair has made wonderful progress, and your silvers are so pretty - You have such lovely thick hair :)

[Daydreamer.]

Thanks, Daydreamer! Keep growing. Our hairtype can be discouraging because it grows and you can't see it, so it does seem like forever. But it is growing! And meanwhile curls are nice to have. ETA: I don't know if this will be helpful to you, but I was realizing--whenever my hair has really not been growing (that is, breaking off faster than its growing), its an overmanipulation problem. In the very last pic, I was doing braidouts--a million tiny braids every night and taking them all out every morning and the overmanipulation was killing me but I didn't know that--thought it was the 'right' way to take care of 'natural' hair due to looking on youtube and internet. I'd still be way above the shoulder if I had kept that up. I do buns now most of the time. and I never put more than two or at most three big braids in my hair (at night, to avoid tangling). I know that's what's helped my growth, (besides learning how to moisturize and condition of course). So if you can find a way to hardly manipulate at all--I no longer even use a comb. You're welcome and thanks for the encouragement! I keep my hair in a bun or single/double braids. I don't get any breakage, but I do have super dry, crispy ends. So, I guess the main issue I'm having is moisturizing my hair and keeping it moisturized.

[restless]

It looks beautiful Chen :) Great progress!

[chen bao jun]

You're welcome and thanks for the encouragement! I keep my hair in a bun or single/double braids. I don't get any breakage, but I do have super dry, crispy ends. So, I guess the main issue I'm having is moisturizing my hair and keeping it moisturized.

Thank you, Restless!

Daydreamer, how often do you wash? My dry crispy ends really improved when I began to wash every 4-7 days last December (advice I got from another 3c). I think type 3c may need to wash more than type 4's generally do (most of my hair care when I came on here was for a type 4 because the hairtypes appear to be so similar, but I have learned, the care needs do differ. But of course I don't know about every single case. Some type 4's may need a lot of washing too and not know it). I know that my hair is silky soft and with a very pronounced curl when its moisturized enough and when I lose the moisture, it gets limp, straightens out and has what they call 'webbing' (you can search that on the internet to see pics) but I can get away with that so far as the length, but not the ends which become a mass of single strand knots and start literally to crumble off. Whenever I wash, i make sure to seal just the ends with a heavier oil or butter and by day two, I need to spray them alone with something to remoisturize (I use Kimberlily's defrizz spray, the recipe is in the recipe section here) and reseal, and then I roll up just the ends on satin covered sponge rollers at night to keep them straightened out, thus avoiding or minimizing the SSKs).
I also do do oilrinsing.
This works for me, but may not work for you of course, because within the same hair type, people vary. there is a thread going on now about dry ends, you should look on there and try things until you find something that works because dried out ends will make you lose progress and maybe even lose length. Truthfully, if you can't fix this any other way, you will need to trim--not trim them all off, but perhaps start microtrimming. If its breaking off and you can't stop it, its better to trim than let the breakage keep up, because the way it breaks off weakens the ends even more and then you get a vicious cycle going.
Its normal for ends to feel a little rougher though, especially if you recently had bad hair care (which for us can mean just overmanipulation alone). Only you can make the call about if it feel too rough--personally I think breakage is the sign to look for, not just rough feeling. And sometimes oddly enough, roughness is helped by a little protein.
Sorry I know I'm OT on my own thread.
Here's the other thread
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=136579

[Daydreamer.]

Thank you, Restless! Daydreamer, how often do you wash? My dry crispy ends really improved when I began to wash every 4-7 days last December (advice I got from another 3c). I think type 3c may need to wash more than type 4's generally do (most of my hair care when I came on here was for a type 4 because the hairtypes appear to be so similar, but I have learned, the care needs do differ. But of course I don't know about every single case. Some type 4's may need a lot of washing too and not know it). I know that my hair is silky soft and with a very pronounced curl when its moisturized enough and when I lose the moisture, it gets limp, straightens out and has what they call 'webbing' (you can search that on the internet to see pics) but I can get away with that so far as the length, but not the ends which become a mass of single strand knots and start literally to crumble off. Whenever I wash, i make sure to seal just the ends with a heavier oil or butter and by day two, I need to spray them alone with something to remoisturize (I use Kimberlily's defrizz spray, the recipe is in the recipe section here) and reseal, and then I roll up just the ends on satin covered sponge rollers at night to keep them straightened out, thus avoiding or minimizing the SSKs). I also do do oilrinsing. This works for me, but may not work for you of course, because within the same hair type, people vary. there is a thread going on now about dry ends, you should look on there and try things until you find something that works because dried out ends will make you lose progress and maybe even lose length. Truthfully, if you can't fix this any other way, you will need to trim--not trim them all off, but perhaps start microtrimming. If its breaking off and you can't stop it, its better to trim than let the breakage keep up, because the way it breaks off weakens the ends even more and then you get a vicious cycle going. Its normal for ends to feel a little rougher though, especially if you recently had bad hair care (which for us can mean just overmanipulation alone). Only you can make the call about if it feel too rough--personally I think breakage is the sign to look for, not just rough feeling. And sometimes oddly enough, roughness is helped by a little protein. Sorry I know I'm OT on my own thread. Here's the other thread http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=136579 I wash my hair about every 4-5 days. My hair straightens out as the days go by, too. It gets a bit oily and some parts get frizzy. I get alot of single strand knots, too. I'd like to trim them, but it's hard to trim the back because it is still short. I don't have sponge rollers. Are there any other ways to minimize SSKs? I never thought of resealing my hair...Should I reseal my ends every night? I'm going to try a protein treatment soon to see if helps. Sorry for so many questions and thank you for your replies.

[CremeTron]

Great progress!

Your hair looks amazing and there has been so much progress.

Straightening really does show how much length you have gained. I think your natural curl is so beautiful though.

[chen bao jun]

thanks Cremetron!

Daydreamer, my hair does much the same. Only it doesn't get oily. It gets dry and frizzy and it gets so any oil I apply sits on top of my hair.

I do reseal ends every night. I use Kimberlily's defriz spray, just on ends, seal with a heavy oil or butter, put it up in braids until morning.

The satin covered sponge rollers are hard to find. but they are on ebay. I don't know of a substitute, Something to keep ends stretched out straight.

Do try a mild protein treatment on your ends..

[reilly0167]

http://s1078.photobucket.com/user/reilly0167/media/Mobile%20Uploads/fOueysy_zpszzghpnex.png.html?filters[user]=144633773&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=6
So far making some progress:)
First one is from January2016 and the second is this month:)