Can Hair Like This Grow To Hip Length?

[MakeupMornings]

Hello friends! :joy:
As of my first post here after reading a gazillion threads.. (How can there be soooo much to talk about with hair..? Haha) I finally got the courage to share my first hair picture!

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah3/makeupmornings/PicMonkey%20Collage-3-2_zpsdboeceoa.jpg

Now this is where I need your opinion. Is there even the slightest bit of possibility to get my BSL length of hair to grow all the way down to my hips?
And more importantly, could it look good at that length?

The last bit of my ends are fried. I made a stupid decision to start straighten my hair again after a good 1 year break. I figured if I only straightened the ends, the rest of my hair would not look as damaged. I learnt my lesson and with my really thin hair I had to cut of a good length after that.
I did keep some of the length though and thanks to this site I've read all about micro trims and I'm planning to keep up with tiny-tiny micro trims once a month!

I also got a lot of damage from sleeping on my hair, which made me to do yet another mistake. I just took some damaged pieces and cut them right off. Didn't even need a mirror for that, i just cut off whatever. Now I have the most unflattering layers as you can see from especially the right picture.

What do you think? Is it a slight possibility to get long hair despite it being so fine & thin?

If you have any encouraging before after pictures from similar experiences please do share!! :inlove:

[mira-chan]

I don't see why not. You will probably have to trim off the damage on your ends over time but that can be done with small trims over a longer period of time.

Wearing it up would help protect it, especially with fine hair. It will reduce tangles too.

You won't know until you try.

Unfortunately I have very different texture hair than you, mine is wire but look up Harpgal for an example of very long fine hair.

[Prism]

I don't see why not. But the hair you have right now may not make it that far since you were using heat tools regularly. Do you see any white spots up the length of hair? They feel like a tiny knot in the strand. If so, under a microscope those are splits and will not make it long-term. Pamper it and definitely don't use any heat on it. I second the recommendation to wear it up or in a braid so it doesn't have friction on your shirt. I'd also recommend a silk pillowcase if you don't have one. Dharma Trading Post has one I love and recommend, and it's the lowest price one I've found.

[MakeupMornings]

I'll definitely look up Harpgal, thanks!
That's kind of the encouragement I needed.. You rarely see really thin/fine hair people on here that have hip long hair.. Or maybe I'm just horrible at doing some digging. :)

[MakeupMornings]

Thanks Prism! great information. What would be the better option with the white spots? Just cut them off and get them over with? Or, do micro trims as I've been doing for the past 2 months? I'm talking tiny tiny microtrims. Practically nothing!

[mira-chan]

Thanks Prism! great information. What would be the better option with the white spots? Just cut them off and get them over with? Or, do micro trims as I've been doing for the past 2 months? I'm talking tiny tiny microtrims. Practically nothing!

It's really up to you. The damage will produce more tangling and dry feeling while it's there but would you be ok just cutting the damage off? What's more important to your right now?

If it's keeping length then do microtrims and do have some tolerance for hair tangling frustrations and babying the ends.

If the damage is too frustrating to deal with then a chop might be easier for the sanity. Starting with fresh ends would make handling easier overall.

It is your hair so whatever you choose, it's ok. :)

As for Harpgal, I think her hair was to her knees last I checked. There were a couple of others with fine hair, thinner than Harpgal's that got to classic or longer. :)

[MakeupMornings]

Right now I'm more about the length! I've ordered some hair sticks a couple of days ago and I'm hoping they'll save me some tangly bad-hair-days! Haha!
While I'm waiting for them to arrive I've used small eyeliner pencils! Works like a charm! :agree:

Thanks so much for your messeges Mira-Chan. I just need some people from the outside to tell me that it is indeed possible!
Never having longer hair than BSL you start to doubt your hairs growing capability. (Or my own patience for that matter) Haha! :)

[mira-chan]

Then length it is! Rock those pencils!

I think patience is the limiting factor to many makeupMornings. :lol: This is why the "No cutting for x time" threads exist so we can encourage each other.

[LongCurlyTress]

MakeupMornings! Welcome to LHC! You definitely can grow your hair longer, but... you need to wear it up off of your shirt in a bun or french twist to protect your ends. I would also do a dusting to get started and then use a tiny bit of evoo or coconut oil -- a nailful amount rubbed inbetween the palms of your hands --of c oil) and spread on the very tips to give them some oils. If your hair has splits, just trim off each split, or just do a quarter inch microtrim should be plenty to get you started on your healthy long hair journey. Wearing it up and forgetingabout it is the real secret!! Good luck!! Oh.... eta... no more hair straightening!! That intense heat is frying your ends. Hugs!! :) And... microtrim only every 3-4 months or you won't see alot of growth progress. :)

[MakeupMornings]

I've seen people mention evoo soo many times.. dare I say I still haven't figured out what it stands for? Haha!
You got plenty of excellent advice LongCurlyTress! And seeing my absolute dream length in your picture got me even more excited to follow your techniques. :bounce:

[pailin]

evoo= extra virgin olive oil
No reason you can't grow to hip length, although you may need to learn some new habits. Fine hair might be a bit more fragile, and need a bit more babying; damaged hair definitely is.
In the meantime, there's a lot you can experiment with!

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

I've seen people mention evoo soo many times.. dare I say I still haven't figured out what it stands for? Haha!
You got plenty of excellent advice LongCurlyTress! And seeing my absolute dream length in your picture got me even more excited to follow your techniques. :bounce:

Extra virgin olive oil

[MakeupMornings]

Haha now i feel silly! Could have figured that out myself! :doh:

Well thank you!! Definitely need to try out some olive oil!!

[MidnightMoon]

The only thing stopping you from getting to hip length with that hair would be a shorter terminal which is unlikely. Yes, thin and fine hair can grow long, and even very damaged hair can make it. I've been to tailbone three times now, two of them using a straightener for years on my fine hair. Now I'm growing bleach damage, from when I cut and attempted to dye it red and had a colour disaster which later involved bleaching some parts up to 4-5 times. Even that over processed hair is now hanging from waist to tailbone, and while it tangles more, is dry, and thinner because of the damage, it's not even the worse I've seen. Just make sure you properly care for it, and for that you have the gazillion threads you mention haha.

[lapushka]

First of all, the ends might not be "fried" at all. One bout of straightening doesn't do that to you. The ends are a little dry-looking, but that's *all*! Really! :)

Do you use a leave-in and/or a serum/oil after shampoo/conditioner? If not, I would start doing that. You don't need much of these products, just a pea size is enough.

And yes, you definitely can grow to hip. Just moisturize your hair well enough, moisture is key. So get yourself a good conditioner (for dry damaged hair, not because your hair is dry or damaged but because those are the most moisturizing on the market).

[Ondine11]

Hi there & welcome! Your hair is quite pretty. You will need to keep it well conditioned, & trim off the damaged ends, but, if you are generally healthy & eat well, & manage stress well, I cannot think of a reason why you would not achieve your goal.

[Dark40]

Yes, I think you can grow that kind of hair to your hips. My hair type or texture is between wavy and curly. I didn't think that I could grow hip length either but I've come to find out through my mother that I can grow class length or thigh length hair!!! So, yes it can be done.

[Dark40]

I honestly don't think your ends are fried. But as time goes on you would want to keep your hair well-conditioned, and trim off once every blue moon.

[LongCurlyTress]

I've seen people mention evoo soo many times.. dare I say I still haven't figured out what it stands for? Haha!
You got plenty of excellent advice LongCurlyTress! And seeing my absolute dream length in your picture got me even more excited to follow your techniques. :bounce:

Thank you!!... I recently did a big chop from TBL due to breakage damage from detangling so now I am just reaching APL... but this siggy pic was my length last November, 2016.

LOL! The LHC nomenclature can get confusing!! You are not alone!:) evoo stands for Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and it really does help to coat the very tips of your ends before bunning or even if your hair feels a bit dry on the ends, although as I found out, using a clarifying shampoo would probably have worked alot better for me first then a dime sized drop of evoo spread between my palms and then smoothed onto the length....rather than the big chop. You live and learn!! :(

Oh, and I hope you don't think I was saying your hair looks fried, it doesn't... but many learned the hard way that straightening your hair with a straightener can fry your hair. If you want straighter hair, you can let it dry in a bun during the summer or wrap your hair around your head using big bobby pins when it is damp. There are videos on youtube that show how to do this. ;) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1X_cViDiWA

[mermaid lullaby]

I think you can grow to hip length :)

[esfand]

Vast majority of people can grow hip length, IMO. It's just a matter of maintenance and health. I think you have good hair and nice color, it's a bit dry looking at the bottom but that's very common. Maybe finding another method and products will take care of it. What helped me was using grease (the type that are marketed towards curlies and black women) on my hair to maintain moisture and slip.

[Prism]

Thanks Prism! great information. What would be the better option with the white spots? Just cut them off and get them over with? Or, do micro trims as I've been doing for the past 2 months? I'm talking tiny tiny microtrims. Practically nothing!

If you see them (and you might not--but I do have them occasionally in my hair, and I basically just blow-dried and did occasional flat ironing) during your S&D (search and destroy) missions, I personally would trim them so that they don't split up the hair shaft. I'd be doing microtrims of the ends as well, just slowly getting rid of damaged hair. I'd do this with a really good pair of hair cutting scissors from a store like Sally's, and only use those for hair. I keep mine in a special place in a drawer just so they're not getting banged around and damaged. I think I paid about $25 for them, which might sound like a lot, but Sally's has scissors that are easily several times more expensive. You just want really sharp scissors.

[Lizzie.torp]

I really would start off with using a clarifying shampoo all the way down to your ends in case buildup is preventing you from moisturizing your ends (I use Suave daily clarifying but only once a month) then follow up with a deep conditioning treatment such as the LHC classic Snowymoon treatment. Your hair really does look good considering you were straightening it.

[nekosan]

I think it's highly likely you can grow to hip. My hair is thin and fine and is just shy of classic. If you have enough posts, the album linked in my sig has a bunch of pics. (Most are huge, so I don't want to embed one here.)

ETA: here are a couple of pics, hopefully not too huge.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7491/26338716884_d84590d59c_m.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/G8sNUm)
https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2342/2190746150_93092c54fe_m.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/4kA9vm)

[MakeupMornings]

I've been to tailbone three times now, two of them using a straightener for years on my fine hair. Now I'm growing bleach damage, from when I cut and attempted to dye it red and had a colour disaster which later involved bleaching some parts up to 4-5 times.

Whoa! The bleaching part did not sound like fun! Thanks so much for your input. Me myself used to straighten my hair every single day years ago (!!)
You made me realize my hair DID grow during my straightening years. Yes, it was thinner. The texture was all messed up, and obviously it wasn't in good condition at all.
But it continued to grow despite all of that!

You just made me really happy! If you could make it to tailbone while straightening your hair. I guess I could make it to hip without the straighteners!! :heartbeat

[MakeupMornings]

First of all, the ends might not be "fried" at all. One bout of straightening doesn't do that to you. The ends are a little dry-looking, but that's *all*! Really! :)


This is such a relief! I had to google some pictures on fried hair and thankfully I think my hair is just dry, as you mentioned!
I've been using Joico K-Pak Reconstructer, and occasionally Macadamia Oil Natural Deep Repair Masque for my ends.
My concern is that even though they make the ends of my hair feel amazing.. could they be totally damaging in the end?
Should I invest in something else? :poor:

I also have to say that I've been seeing your username lapushka throughout this site and the fact that you took the time to answer made me suuuuuuper excited!! :flower:

[MakeupMornings]

I think it's highly likely you can grow to hip. My hair is thin and fine and is just shy of classic. If you have enough posts, the album linked in my sig has a bunch of pics. (Most are huge, so I don't want to embed one here.)

ETA: here are a couple of pics, hopefully not too huge.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7491/26338716884_d84590d59c_m.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/G8sNUm)
https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2342/2190746150_93092c54fe_m.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/4kA9vm)


Your hair is looking gorgeous! This is exactly the pictures I needed to see!! Thank you thank you!! How long did it take for you to grow from around bsl to waist? And then further down to hip? :)

[MakeupMornings]

Thank you all so much for your helpful advice! I did not expect to get so many replies!!
Even though I really want to respond to you all, I do NOT want to spam up this thread! Haha!
But it's all so very encouraging and helpful! You're too sweet! More advice on routines or products would be greatly appreciated! :heartbeat

[MidnightMoon]

Whoa! The bleaching part did not sound like fun! Thanks so much for your input. Me myself used to straighten my hair every single day years ago (!!)
You made me realize my hair DID grow during my straightening years. Yes, it was thinner. The texture was all messed up, and obviously it wasn't in good condition at all.
But it continued to grow despite all of that!

You just made me really happy! If you could make it to tailbone while straightening your hair. I guess I could make it to hip without the straighteners!! :heartbeat

Aww you're welcome, that's really sweet of you. Of course you can make it! It wasn't fun, trust me :p. I started with tailbone length hair, on which I had used a deposit dye (Pravana Vivids in blue). I hadn't done so for over a year, so I had a year of virgin hair. I then wanted to have it shorter and dye it red. I went to the salon - turns out she cut it but can't bleach it because she did a strand test and it just turns out a lighter shade of teal. I leave very upset, because I would have kept it long if I weren't dyeing it.
Fast forward two months: I had been using harsh conditioners on it to remove the colour, washing with salty water, putting in oils, everything you can imagine. I assume it's ready, and buy a platinum blonde and a red box from the supermarket.
Mind you, my hair was about BSL, since they cut it at the salon. I used half of the platinum on non-virgin ends once, rinsed it. Used again, rinsed, and finally put the red all over. So I end up with red hair up to my ears and almost black hair from the ears down.
My mom freaks out, takes me to the salon. There they keep bleaching it to strip part of the black, and then dye it different colours to sort of make it blend.
It's a really long story, but just so you know how much hair can actually resist and still stay there.
That disaster was a bit over two years ago. I never made it too public because I have hated the colour difference ever since, and I'm slowly growing it out. I was embarrassed and regretted cutting it and the stupid dye from the first day.

Here's my hair on the disaster day, before they tried to fix it at the salon: http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah72/black_wizard/8303edc6-885d-42e1-920b-116f251fb3ad_zpsp0tk76jw.jpg

And here it is now: http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah72/black_wizard/66764fff-ee3e-4006-8ece-aa577de1f348_zpsbgun6t1s.jpg
As you can see, the blue has finally faded, so I'm just left with very bleached hair that's a golden greenish yellow. It is drier, I hate the colour difference, and all I want is for it to finally be gone, but on good hair days, it's even soft and shiny, so I must say hair is more resistant than what we think.

[MakeupMornings]

Here's my hair on the disaster day, before they tried to fix it at the salon: http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah72/black_wizard/8303edc6-885d-42e1-920b-116f251fb3ad_zpsp0tk76jw.jpg

And here it is now: http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah72/black_wizard/66764fff-ee3e-4006-8ece-aa577de1f348_zpsbgun6t1s.jpg
As you can see, the blue has finally faded, so I'm just left with very bleached hair that's a golden greenish yellow. It is drier, I hate the colour difference, and all I want is for it to finally be gone, but on good hair days, it's even soft and shiny, so I must say hair is more resistant than what we think.

WOW! Even though I feel so bad for you and this horrific story I can't get over how great your hair actually looks! I can imagine it's dry and not at all how you like it at this point. Despite that, it still looks so so good! I'd imagine there would be a lot more visible breakage and not that great of a length. Definitely did not expect such good looking ends and hemline! :heartbeat
About the color, I know you don't like it but I actually really like it!! It looks super cool! Like purposely colored that way!! I don't think you should feel bad about it AT ALL! :poot:

[Dendra]

but, if you are generally healthy & eat well, & manage stress well, I cannot think of a reason why you would not achieve your goal.

This is really interesting, I've been thinking about how stress can affect you hair's health and growing capabilities. I definitely think a calmer and more balanced state of mind would help, wouldn't it?

Maybe cortisol does bad things to hair.

[MidnightMoon]

WOW! Even though I feel so bad for you and this horrific story I can't get over how great your hair actually looks! I can imagine it's dry and not at all how you like it at this point. Despite that, it still looks so so good! I'd imagine there would be a lot more visible breakage and not that great of a length. Definitely did not expect such good looking ends and hemline! :heartbeat
About the color, I know you don't like it but I actually really like it!! It looks super cool! Like purposely colored that way!! I don't think you should feel bad about it AT ALL! :poot:

Haha, again, you're too nice. Thank you!! I liked it better when I put the blue on top of the mess so it kinda looked like a teal ombre, but I'm going 100% natural now, not even deposit dyes (afraid of staining/want to feel like what I have is my *real* hair).
So yeah, no worries on hair growing, let it do it's thing. Make sure you are treating it gently, though, avoid too much washing, drying shampoos, shampooing the whole length, try to wear it up and so on.
Once it gets longer it becomes even easier to care for, because it stays put in updos, not rubbing against clothes, chairs, your neck or shoulders, etc.

Anyway, if you need help or have more questions just let me know :3

[nekosan]

Your hair is looking gorgeous! This is exactly the pictures I needed to see!! Thank you thank you!! How long did it take for you to grow from around bsl to waist? And then further down to hip? :)

Thank you!

I grew out my hair when i was still a kid, so saying how log it took is hard. (Especially since i was still growing at the time, and it took me a while to learn to take good care of it.) From growing out my bangs, my hair does grow at a rate of around 6 inches per year (which seems to be just at average for most people!). If you're growing out damage, i would count all the damaged hair as needing to grow out, too. (So, if you have 12 inches of damaged hair, and have 12 inches more you want to grow, count that as 24 inches of hair, which for me would be 4 years.)

[Alassea]

Yup!
I have a similar hair texture to yours and with all the heavy bleaching did over these past months, it's still growing out pretty fast and now my hair is closer to hips.
I got it to the middle of my thighs a few years back. No doubt you can too.

[MakeupMornings]

Yup!
I have a similar hair texture to yours and with all the heavy bleaching did over these past months, it's still growing out pretty fast and now my hair is closer to hips.
I got it to the middle of my thighs a few years back. No doubt you can too.

That is great news! Thanks for the encouragement!! :)

[lapushka]

This is such a relief! I had to google some pictures on fried hair and thankfully I think my hair is just dry, as you mentioned!
I've been using Joico K-Pak Reconstructer, and occasionally Macadamia Oil Natural Deep Repair Masque for my ends.
My concern is that even though they make the ends of my hair feel amazing.. could they be totally damaging in the end?
Should I invest in something else? :poor:

I also have to say that I've been seeing your username lapushka throughout this site and the fact that you took the time to answer made me suuuuuuper excited!! :flower:

I try to answer as best I can, doesn't mean I'm the only one with possible good advice.

I would use protein in very minimal amounts (like once every 2 weeks, or once a month even, if you have no dye/bleach damage). Protein every time needs to be followed up with a good moisturizing treatment.

Also, the more expensive, isn't the better. Regular products will do just fine. :flower: But of course that's up to you.

[hanne jensen]

My hair is almost beyond hip now. I have very fine fragile hair that breaks very easily. If I can do it, anyone can. My advice:

Wear your hair up all the time.
Dust your ends every 2 months. 1/2 centimeter will do miracles.
A light oiling of the length helps a lot.
Be very gentle with your hair while de-tangling and washing. Not everyone can use a brush. I stick to finger combing and a wide tooth comb.
Don't use elastics in your hair. They give pressure damage. Your hair is long enough to make a cinnabun and secure with hairpins, screws, Ficcare or a Flexi. You should also be able to use hairsticks now.
Protect those ends against abrasion, tangling and drying out.

Good luck, with gentle care it is possible.

[Henrietta]

Here's my hair at more or less BSL in 2010. May (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_vjak7YIv8Q/UaNcpMWJ1BI/AAAAAAAADI0/wwi3hc2cZI8/s1600/1.%2B21%2Bmaj%2B2010%253B%2B71%2Bcm%2Bsigned.jpg), June (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NGn_Fe25P0I/Ucl_-9Ha0nI/AAAAAAAADNM/qNpH9aDNtzw/s1600/2a.%2B1%2Blipiec%2B2010%2Bsigned.jpg), July (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TI2Rdk-QGy0/U9TdbgNqRrI/AAAAAAAAGSE/wEnDYFVPRyg/s1600/3.%2B30%2Blipiec%2B2010%253B%2B72%252C5%2Bcm%2Bsig ned.jpg) pics.

I think our hair is similar, yours seems to be thicker and smoother/silkier. If mine grew to hip, yours can, too! :)
I micro trimmed for years, because when I started growing in 2010 I has a lot of heat damage. It turned out, microtrims didn't work at all, the damage kept crawling up and I lost a few years this way. One picture with flash exposed the lingering damage that, according to calculations, should have been gone by then. Here (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J_sLe_Yiyuk/UULhUnFWX-I/AAAAAAAAAf4/MQXBztw6mZg/s1600/17.%2B26%2Blistopad%2B2011-%2Bsigned.jpg). Eventually I noticed it and trimmed the whole old damage at once, going from TBL to barely waist. I'm not saying you will have the same problem. But keep an eye on the effects of the microtrims that you plan :)

Here's my hair at hip, the first time I reached it in April 2014 (https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gIVv5NTLSIE/VTp4mxlEZTI/AAAAAAAAF7M/NxURrEoyb-s/s1600/34.%2B26%2Bkwiecień%2B2013%3B%2B90.5%2Bcm%2Bsigned .jpg). That's still before the big trim. After the big trim, so the second time I reached hip, the ends were healthy. And they were much thicker. Picture 1 (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8v2oaOsOIg4/VqTZbr75LqI/AAAAAAAAJAQ/BqzDLmd_7WM/s640/DSC00657%2Bsigned.jpg), picture 2 (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5aVuPtL1DtY/Vo2FDXJ3NyI/AAAAAAAAI_U/EqWN40f-P3U/s640/DSC00611%2Bsigned.jpg), both from January 2016.

I have monthly pictures, with a note about the length, in here (http://henri-and-her-hair.blogspot.com/search/label/aktualizacja%20długości). The button in the bottom right corner that says "starsze posty" will take you to older posts. I started the blog in 2012, but I also include older pictures in the monthly updates (last year, every month I posted pics of all months from 2010 to 2016, I mean in March I included all the March pictures from 2010 to 2015 plus the 2016 new one etc.) You can follow the progress and the trims too, the condition of the length and the thickness of the ends. It helped me a lot to follow someone's progress like that, gave me all the hope I had when I started. A proof that hair like mine can grow to hip. Or longer :)

P.S. Hip is 90 cm on me, so you will be able to see how my hair looked like at 90 cm every time I was at this length.

[Cherriezzzzz]

I love your hair. Colour, texture, wavy, and if it's thin I can't tell! Grow it out! Hang out here on LHC and in about 5 years I bet you'll be well into your goal!

[MakeupMornings]

My hair is almost beyond hip now. I have very fine fragile hair that breaks very easily. If I can do it, anyone can. My advice:

Wear your hair up all the time.
Dust your ends every 2 months. 1/2 centimeter will do miracles.
A light oiling of the length helps a lot.
Be very gentle with your hair while de-tangling and washing. Not everyone can use a brush. I stick to finger combing and a wide tooth comb.
Don't use elastics in your hair. They give pressure damage. Your hair is long enough to make a cinnabun and secure with hairpins, screws, Ficcare or a Flexi. You should also be able to use hairsticks now.
Protect those ends against abrasion, tangling and drying out.

Good luck, with gentle care it is possible.

Thank you!! After being on this site I've been re-considering my "love" for brushes. My hair do not tangle as much since I started to gently comb or finger comb it!!
It's amazing really how such a small thing can make such a big difference! :agree:

[MakeupMornings]

I think our hair is similar, yours seems to be thicker and smoother/silkier. If mine grew to hip, yours can, too! :)
I micro trimmed for years, because when I started growing in 2010 I has a lot of heat damage. It turned out, microtrims didn't work at all, the damage kept crawling up and I lost a few years this way. One picture with flash exposed the lingering damage that, according to calculations, should have been gone by then. Here (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J_sLe_Yiyuk/UULhUnFWX-I/AAAAAAAAAf4/MQXBztw6mZg/s1600/17.%2B26%2Blistopad%2B2011-%2Bsigned.jpg). Eventually I noticed it and trimmed the whole old damage at once, going from TBL to barely waist. I'm not saying you will have the same problem. But keep an eye on the effects of the microtrims that you plan :)



Thank you Thank you Thank you Henriette! You have no idea how much your post meant to me! :heartbeat
I was so stunned with your before and after photos. It's like watching complete different hair. It looks soooo much thicker now!
I can't believe how similar our hair appears to be! Especially the before photos. It's like watching my own hair!
Before and after photos are my favorites to watch as well! Seeing your hair that looks almost identical to my everyday hair and then the after picture got me so hyped!!
Thin hair CAN look good at hip length! :D

I can't thank you enough! I'm going to keep going back to these pictures for encouragement! Haha!

[MakeupMornings]

I love your hair. Colour, texture, wavy, and if it's thin I can't tell! Grow it out! Hang out here on LHC and in about 5 years I bet you'll be well into your goal!


You're the sweetest! Thank you so much for your kind words! I'll definitely stick around!! Haha! :D

[Henrietta]

Thank you Thank you Thank you Henriette! You have no idea how much your post meant to me! :heartbeat
I was so stunned with your before and after photos. It's like watching complete different hair. It looks soooo much thicker now!
I can't believe how similar our hair appears to be! Especially the before photos. It's like watching my own hair!
Before and after photos are my favorites to watch as well! Seeing your hair that looks almost identical to my everyday hair and then the after picture got me so hyped!!
Thin hair CAN look good at hip length! :D

I can't thank you enough! I'm going to keep going back to these pictures for encouragement! Haha!

I'm really glad I could help! :) I was worried that all my crazy long writing and looking for relevant pictures won't be useful. So it's wonderful if it is :)
Message me if you have any questions :) I'm happy when I can help.

[MakeupMornings]

I'm really glad I could help! :) I was worried that all my crazy long writing and looking for relevant pictures won't be useful. So it's wonderful if it is :)
Message me if you have any questions :) I'm happy when I can help.

Actually I do have soooo many questions! Haha! seeing your amazing hair growth journey made me so so, soooo curious on your routine!
Did you do any changes to your hair care routine after the big cut?
What's your favorite up-do for your hair on a everyday basis? (Or do you keep it down?) Any favorite oils? Haha! I want to know all of your secrets!! :stirpot:

[Henrietta]

I will post my whole routine and hair care story here :) Just give me some time :)

[Henrietta]

So, I discovered LHC in Mach 2010 and it gave me the knowledge I needed to start growing my hair for real. For a long time I was following LHC rules and ideas when it comes to hair care. Coconut oil, cassia, stretching washes, no silicones, using boar bristle brush. My hair looked most of the time, but I thought it's because it is damaged. Then, at the beginning of 2012 I discovered Polish hair care blogs. The haircare blogosphere is a wonderful space. The girls describe the theory between moisturisers, emollients and protein in hair care, and how to combing these three to get certain results on certain hair types. They describe porosity and divide oils into groups that suit each porosity (the division is based on the fatty acids in oils). So I finally learned that coconut oil is the worst evil for my high porosity hair. They read INCI lists, looking for emollients, moisturisers and protein, and know things like "if something is after 'Parfum', there's ridiculously small amount if it in the product."
Then I discovered that most of the things I took from the LHC was a bad choice for me. That my hair likes and needs silicones, that stretching washes kills my scalp and causes shedding, that BBB is bad for dry waves like mine, and so is cassia and 99% of other herbs. That my hair needs frequent DTs and oiling, using an oil once in two weeks is literally nothing.
(I'm far from saying that LHC is bad and Polish blogs are good. The advice here is perfectly good, but it just doesn't suit my hair. Polish bloggers, on the other hand, mostly go for quality above length so much, that if I didn't have LHC and its support and its attitude to imperfect ends, I'd never grow my hair this long. Oh, and most of them, of they're growing their hair at all, stops at waist. So, in terms of hair care theory I go to blogs, mostly. But in terms of growing hair and atmosphere, I go to LHC. :crush: )

Well that was a long introduction! :D

So, I followed LHC advice for about 2 years. Then blogs taught me that I have naturally dry, high porosity hair. And back then my ends were still damaged after years of heat treatment (blowdryer and flat iron every 2-3 days.) I thought it needs a heavy hair care. And I found examples and ideas on the blogs. I'd also have reviews of products that I can actually get in Poland, so my shopping and wish lists grew. At some point, I had enough deep treatments to last me... 2 years? Or even more, I think. And all of them were new things that I didn't know but wanted to test because so many people said they work great. Buying so much stuff was s big mistake because with time I learned the oil division, and anything that had coconut oil or shea butter in it was useless. (Even if they are low on the INCI list, like 9th position, they can still cause frizz for me. It's kind of good :D At least there is a proof that ingredients work, as long as they aren't really low on the lists.) I'd use a lot of products in general and a lot of products at once. I thought, looking at other people's stories, that heavy care would make my hair sleek and smooth. I did crazy stuff like: applying a moisturiser, then oil on top of that, that washing the oil off by emulsifying it with a deep treatment, then a rinse, then a leave-in.
And for years, my hair looked like this (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HPcngtX662k/VJBp7HjXoAI/AAAAAAAAGSE/Tqo7P-qADq8/s1600/4.%2B16%2Bgrudnia%2B2014%2Bpo%2Bpodci%25C4%2599ciu %2Bbez%2Blampy%2Bsigned.jpg)(this is december 2014, right before I switched my routine. You ask if I switched routine after the big cut: I did it independently. The big cut was a bit later, in April 2015.)

By that time I tried everything. Literally everything. Every treatment, every kind of products. The only thing left was Brazilian blowout, which I didn't really want for a few reasons. I thought I have to come to terms with the fact that my hair will just look like a haystack. (I won't even start talking about the amount of really nasty hate I got on the blog.)
When there was nothing else to try, I tried simplicity, with zero faith that it would work. How could a simple care work for dry, high porosity hair? Well, it worked. My hair changed in literally one wash, and started looking like this (https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5y1WNapdlEs/VszZ70f6iZI/AAAAAAAAJDc/xV_u0dGSZCo/s1600/68a.23%2Blutego%2B2016%253B%2B91%2Bcm%2Bsigned.jpg ) and this (https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8TlO5nZfJUg/WD2V4CLEM1I/AAAAAAAALtc/w2XVG38ZMf4Y0ekwIfWM6SabN055Q1ltwCK4B/s640/77a.%2B28%2Blistopada%2B2016%253B%2B101%2Bcm%2Bsig ned.jpg). It's not 1a silky surface of hair, and never will be, I know that. But in comparison to what it was for many years, I am not on cloud nine with it. :cloud9:
It turned out that by 2014, my hair was mostly healthy, and it didn't really need all that heavy care. I thought too heavy hair care gives lank, stringy hair, with remaining oils that couldn't be washed out left on the strands etc. My hair was frizzy, light and dry to touch. So I was giving it heavier and heavier care, trying to make it smoother. It turned out that the frizz was a reaction to too much care, too many products and too complicated treatments.

I changed the craziness to this:
wash a: oil applied on dry hair (or on a mix of water and glycerine if I need moisture) for an hour, washed off with a diluted, cheap conditioner with the simplest INCI possible, shampoo on my roots. Then a scalp treatment (I always use one, either for moisture or for growth enhancing.) then silicone serum for my ends.
wash b: shampoo on roots, DT/coonditioner from my ears down (pressed in with my 300 seconds method (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=67634), only now I use about 15 strokes per half, not 50), scalp treatment, silicone serum.
Then wash, a, then b...

So I basically use either an oil or a deep treatment. Never the two of them at once, no rinses, no leave-ins. If I keep an oil for too long, or a deep treatment, my hair is frizzy and looks dry.

I use natural shampoos without sulphates. Not crazy expensive organic ones, but a brand that's rather alternative, available online or in shops with natural stuff. It's a Russian brand called Eco Laboratorie. We've had a Russian beauty products trend in Poland now :) Before that, it was German (all the DM brands, Balea etc.), not it's Russian stuff and I'm really happy because many shops import the products and they are easily available. All the brands have awesome ingredients (Planeta Organica, Eco Laboratorie, Natura Siberica etc.) and the products are muuuuuch cheaper than stuff like John Masters Organic. I also use an urea get for my scalp every week, because I've got mild seborrheic dermatitis.

I always use a growth enhancer. Either something like a herbal tea, flax seed gel, yeats, multivitamin or, externally, a scalp treatment.

In terms of oils, I use ones that suit high and medium porosity hair. Jojoba, macadamia, walnut, hazelnut, avocado, cotton seed, sweet almond, sunflower. I buy them online, in a shop with supplies for people who make their own beauty products. For a long time, I had no idea such place exists and I was frustrated that people in the US can easily get all kinds of fancy oils, and I can only get those that are in grocery stores (sunflower and olive, basically). Then, with Polish blogs, I discovered the magic of online shops :)

My favourite DTs are the moisturising ones and the emollient ones. I stopped using protein on my hair, since it's too sensitive, and I don't really have the need for protein. My second favourite DT type is the silicone one :) I have healthy hair, it doesn't need a ton of extracts, oils and moisturisers all the time, I can use a silicone stuff which will make it look good :D Because, despite the health, sometimes it just doesn't look good. Hair moods! :D

A silicone serum on my ends is a must. If I could only take 1 product going to a desert island, I'd take a silicone serum. For a long time I was under the influence of the myth that silicones block the access of nutrients to hair, and then that it's cheating because they cover damage. Then I understood that if my hair is healthy, it's not cheating, I've got nothing to cover and pretend to myself (or others) that it's fine when it's not, because it really is fine. The second thing is protection. Silicone serum applied on the ends for protection is also something I learned on Polish blogs. I wasn't doing it for a long time. Then I tried natural oils (a drop or two) and it was better, visibly. My ends would stay smooth and soft for a longer time. But then I tried silicones, and oh my goodness. Even with damaged ends that theoretically should go bad quickly, I could still be fine for 3 months in between trims. Now, with healthy ends after the big cut, I can go a year without trims. Thank you, silicones. Thank you.

To be continued :) The whole text is too long for 1 post. (ooooops.)

[Henrietta]

Trims: I started with micro trims, trying to get rid of old damage. I trimmed the ends every 3 months, sometimes cutting just a bit, sometimes the whole growth, sometimes more. So there were years when, compared to the same month last year, my hair was 1 cm longer... or it was shorter. I did this for years and one day I took a picture. This one, it was in March 2015 (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-grn_Q5pugc8/VRKOCJchm5I/AAAAAAAAFzk/fCasmalDrW8/s1600/15.03.25%2Bstare%2Bkońce%2Bna%2Bjasnym%2Btle%2Bsig ned.jpg). I remembered this one, from November 2011 (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J_sLe_Yiyuk/UULhUnFWX-I/AAAAAAAAAf4/MQXBztw6mZg/s1600/17.%2B26%2Blistopad%2B2011-%2Bsigned.jpg). I calculated the time, my growth, the amount of hair I trimmed damage I had, and it turned out that my damage should have been gone, long ago. I understood that microtrims don't work for me, because the damage travels up and it's a vicious circle. I didn't want to go for a big trim for years, but then the decision took me a minute and I cut all the damage away, to more or less waist (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ygBMjBzAOlE/VR_tTZbEgmI/AAAAAAAAF1E/fFhqYO574wk/s1600/15.04.04%2B2%2Bsigned.jpg). Since then, I've only trimmed my hair twice, when the ends got dry. The ends aren't so thick any more, but they are thick enough to stay for now (I only need 3 cm to my goal) and I will work on thickening them up when I reach classic.

I wear my hair up. It's not crazy dense, I don't have amazingly much of it, but it's light, even at this length, and if I leave it down, it's everywhere. It won't stay tucked behind my ears, resting on my back, it will fly to the front. I wear buns, mostly, my favourite of all times is the Lazy Wrap Bun. I also love crown braids, and I wear the lace dutch one sometimes. I guess I'm lucky, because my hair isn't heavy in a bun, even with a Flexi8 in XL. I got used to wearing it up (I started doing this for the Wear your hair up... challenge thread here, I did 30 days, then a 1000, now it's been 6 years... :D) and I'm not bored, updos give me enough variation :)

Congratulations for reading. It's probably possible to put it all in a text that would be 1/3 of this, but I just have to say everything in detail, or not at all :D

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask :)

ETA: I think your hair is smoother (has lower porosity) than mine, so it should be much easier for you to keep it healthy and looking good :)

[MakeupMornings]

I will post my whole routine and hair care story here :) Just give me some time :)

Seriously Henrietta! I was in chock when I saw your reply! I was expecting some short note on a basic care routine and some simple tips!
When I saw your reply, aww! :heartbeat You are seriously the sweetest! Can't believe you've spent so much time to give me such detailed information!!

Reading all your background stories I do think our hair type seems even more similar now! I don't know my hair well enough yet to be 100% sure whether I like some products or not. I'm still in the beginning phase where I want to try out EVERYTHING.. BUT reading about your hair becoming frizzy and especially after seeing the "frizzy hair picture" I was like woooow! My hair reacts like that sometimes. Made me think, it might be the coconut oil that damages my hair also. I started using coconut oil after seeing everyone here recommend it. On some days it seem to sink into my hair just fine. Other days my hair absolutely hates it!
I thought that was the magic-oil EVERYONE used, and I was doing something wrong! Haha! Now I'm definitely reconsidering to skip it altogether.

About the heavy product obsession.. I totally agree! With my hair I also want to sleek it down and make it glossy/shiny/not so frizzy looking.
Some days I've brushed it over 100 times just to make it smooth and then.. stepping outside.. BOOOM! It turns out even worse!
I guess I was lucky with this picture that I uploaded on my hair you cannot even tell how frizzy it is, but in reality it gets seriously "huge" and poofy looking..
All the shine you are talking about I suspect is from a henna coloring I did a couple of months ago prior to that!

I'ts such a bummer I literally just ordered some products a couple of days ago to get started with the conditioner method. (See, such a newbie.. want to try everything)..
I just assumed the CO method could handle my frizz and maybe tame it a little bit (!??) .. Ironically I ordered a "coconut conditioner".. haha isn't that great..
(I now highly suspect my hair do not like coconut after your post..) and now you made me really want to try out the natural Russian products you were talking about!

You get so easily overwhelmed at this forum. You want to try out everyones routine and as soon as you see something work for someone you automatically want to start to use the same thing! I am so so very grateful. Not only because how much time you spent into writing all this (and including pictures).. I mean.. co'mon! Must have taken ages.. haha!! But also for having patience with us newbies and writing in such a beginner friendly way! Everything made so much sense!!
I've been re-reading this the entire evening taking notes!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!! :heartbeat

[Henrietta]

You're welcome :) I just got up today and felt like writing the post, all of it at once :)
I remember my frustration, and hopes, and doubts and tears too. And the ups and downs. At the beginning I thought that I'd have silky smooth 1a hair if I use the products that people with this hair type use. It took me a long time to discover mine is wavy and won't be silky smooth. That it's genes, not a matter of products. Then at some point I started to believe the opposite, that it would always look like a haystack. After that haystack phase, the way my hair looks and feels now is like a miracle, like 1000% of what I hoped for.
Progress happens. For some people, it's 6 months of oiling and boom, they have breathtaking hair. For others, it's years of discovering the good routine and then hair still is not like the ideal image of our dreams. But still, changes happen. In the flood of information, the best thing we can do it to determine out hair type and then find a person who's got a similar one. And we have to know what we want. Some people want volume above all, others want heavy, bouncy, smooth hair.

The coconut conditioner might still work for you :) I've used a few with coconut oil that cause no frizz at all, or just some, and it calms down after several hours. And CO washing might be the key to success! :) I wish I could do it, but my scalp screams "no, woman, no! Just give me shampoo!"

If you can't get the Russian brands, try looking for a similar local stuff. From what I've seen throughout the years, many countries have local brands that aren't exported and aren't known internationally, as opposed to Shea Moisture, Aubrey Organics etc., but they have the best INCI lists you can imagine, and are cheap :)

[EssentialJo]

MakeupMornings, Welcome! :)

And check out this video as inspiration for growing long fine hair to hip length. It's one of my favorites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5GGpYzJW_A

[MakeupMornings]

MakeupMornings, Welcome! :)

And check out this video as inspiration for growing long fine hair to hip length. It's one of my favorites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5GGpYzJW_A

That is such a great video! They have gorgeous hair!! Thanks for sharing!! :)