Share your hair journey stories!

[0xalis]

So there was a similar thread, "Share your hair journey in pictures" https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=112974
But I figure not everyone wants to post pictures, especially not on the public boards. :p
So this one is for your stories, pictures are completely optional! :blossom:

[Zesty]

I consider the beginning to be my one run-in with dye. I had the front of my SL-ish hair bleached and dyed red at 14 and hated it so much that I got a pixie so that I could grow it out ASAP. (The texture was so awful compared to my virgin hair, and I could feel them side by side!) I got together with my first boyfriend as I approached chin length and he said he liked long hair so I figured I'd grow it out and "see how long it would get" (that is a slippery slope, past-me :p ). Fast forward and I was almost at waist and couldn't do anything but a ponytail, which wasn't cutting it anymore, so I was googling around and found the LHC. I learned to French braid and use hair sticks to start, and got sucked in. Suddenly "super-long" hair didn't seem out of reach so I set my goal to TBL. (By the way, the boyfriend thought anything past BSL was too long. Too late!)

I got to TBL-ish and had a crisis. I felt frumpy and thought a hair cut would solve it, so I chopped to just below SL. Liked it for a year, then missed my long hair and decided to get it evened out and one length and then grow to classic. And here I am five years later. :p I'm glad I did the chop, in the end, because I virtually never have the urge to cut anymore. Been there, done that.

It's funny that a boy started the journey that would end up being pretty defining for me. Also, for the record, my husband loves my hair and even supports knee+ length. :crush:

[0xalis]

Mine starts around age 4, when I got hold of a pair of scissors and decided it was time for a haircut! My mom was so upset, she couldn't make eye contact for a few days! :p
So I went from around APL+ to a cute little bob. Then I started growing again, since that's what hair does when you leave it alone.
Since I do have pictures I'm willing to share:
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/502951766799941633/651600099088138252/me_baby_compilation.JPG

Unfortunately for my parents, I did the same thing again some time during kindergarten. But my hair grew fast and I was tiny, so it didn't take long to get longer.
By the time school photos came around for 1st grade, I was back at APL+.

In 2nd grade I didn't do any major chops, but I got severely annoyed at a cowlick, which resulted in me looking like this:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/502951766799941633/651601237732622346/2_Second_Grade_2003-2004_-_Copy.PNG

By 3rd grade, I was about waist length. I stayed hovering around there, as my body grew along with my hair.
By this point, long hair was part of my identity. I was one of the girls known for her hair. I wore it down a lot, because I was lazy and didn't like how it looked up or braided.
I know I had been somewhat actively growing it, because my mom was so excited when my hair was long enough to cover my chest, and I was too.
This picture is from 4th grade, I just love the colour. Sunbleached to red after a nice long summer spend almost entirely outside!
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=39266&d=1575272992

Might have gotten as long as hip-length before I did a big chop to a bob in the summer between 5th and 6th grade.

In 6th grade my hair grew back to shoulder, and I did another bob at some point. I really loved that bob, short hair was fun for a while.
There were definitely a lot of times I missed my hair though.

Then we enter the Scene Kid Phase™!
In 7th grade I started experimenting with makeup and hair teasing.
I got a really nice emo pixie (with the flippy long bangs) but on a random whim near the end of the year I cut straight bangs, and I absolutely hated myself for it!
So I look Very silly in my 8th grade yearbook picture.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/502951766799941633/651602525060857856/8_Eighth_Grade_2009-2010_-_Copy.PNG

I maintained short hair until Freshman year, when it grew through benign neglect. I really love my hair at CBL in my Sophomore yearbook picture.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/502951766799941633/651604206045888512/10_Sophomore_Year_2011-2012_-_Copy.PNG

I'll have to continue in another post, a bit later, my partner needs the computer!

[0xalis]

*snip* ...I got together with my first boyfriend as I approached chin length and he said he liked long hair... (By the way, the boyfriend thought anything past BSL was too long. Too late!)


That's so funny!!! If only he could see you now!

Also, for the record, my husband loves my hair and even supports knee+ length. :crush:

I'm so glad to hear that!! I hope my partner will love my hair long too, she got with me when it was shoulder, but I chopped about a month later.
She's seen me with a buzz cut and still thought I was cute, though, I think she'll like it. She's growing hers as well, and buzzed with me too, so I already know I think she's gorgeous no matter what too! :cool:

[Elodea]

Let's see. Nothing particularly shocking here in my hair journey. It gradually grew as I was a child: APL by third grade, shoulder or above before that, by middle school it had reached waist length and between that time to about a year ago, I maintained somewhere in the region of around waist/hip and intermittently got trims although not too frequently. Waist/hip was a comfortable maintenance length. I really don't remember much about what the experience of having shorter hair than waist length is (obviously as a child I wasn't thinking that much about my hair), so if I were to cut back to a much shorter length, I think it'd be quite a drastic change.

In 2014 (I think it was) I played around with hair dye and dip dyed the ends of my hair purple at home. After I got sick of that, I cut off the dyed ends (about 8 inches?) and dyed a few new pink streaks in the underlayer of my hair so they wouldn't be too obvious, but those are gone by now. I don't consider those dye experiments to have been particularly ill-advised or mistaken; they were fun at the time although I don't think I'd repeat them now.

About a year ago I decided to join LHC and learned to do hairstick buns; earlier this year I decided I'd stop trimming (and only do S&D) and just leave my hair to grow and see what happens. My current goal is classic length which I'm getting very close to. After that, I figure I'll keep growing my hair until I find it becomes too long and inconvenient in some way or other, or if I reach terminal length, whenever that might be.

FTL or even knee length seem within reach now, so those are tentative future goals. So I don't really have plans to stop growing at a specific length at this time. It's possible that I might end up cutting back to waist or hip length sometime in the future, but at the moment I don't think I'd want to have hair shorter than waist length because I'm so used to it being at least that long. Plus, if I did a really big chop and regretted it, it'd definitely take some time to grow back!

[Dark40]

I begin my journey in 2010 with a chin length bob with dyed hair. It has been a long 9 year journey but as my hair is growing nicely long I am loving it! Yes, I am still dyeing my hair. I just love color. I don't like showing off my grays just yet. Someday soon I'm hoping to reach mid-thigh length.

[Arciela]

Well..I had knee length hair growing up my whole life but I didn't really take care of it. In 2011 I had shoulder length, bleach damaged, flat ironed to death horrible hair. Yet I did not understand why it was not growing. I think I was looking online how to grow long hair and I found this forum :flower:

Since then my hair has transformed thanks to everything I learned from here on LHC! I remember following some members advice carefully, it was a huge change. No more straightener?? No more bleach? It was so hard..haha my hair looked *horrible* for a long time. Eventually I learned I didn't have "poofy" hair..but for the first time in my life I found waves/curls..it was awesome!

This is how it was when I joined

https://i.imgur.com/pX6ydO0.jpg

Then about 2 years later I cut off *all* the damage, it was all virgin now

https://i.imgur.com/Rn5oq8t.jpg

Then it just grew and grew

https://i.imgur.com/Axj66Y8.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/kJ2k3GL.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Hl3gm9e.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KPSp61O.jpg

[0xalis]

Thanks everyone for sharing, I love this thread!


I'll have to continue in another post, a bit later, my partner needs the computer!

She's done, so I'm back! Let's see... where was I.... ah yes. The bleach massacre.

In Sophomore year I was really enjoy having my hair longer. I got it to nearly APL and then in January decided I'd bleach my hair!
For no apparent reason, just to try it. I'd dyed to a dark red and black before, but never tried going lighter.
This was the result. It's hard to see in the school photo in my previous post, but I was growing out black dye from Freshman year.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/502951766799941633/651661754878787584/2012-1-2_3_-_Copy.JPG
My ash-brown virgin hair turned quite blond, but the ends were still quite dark. So I ended up bleaching more than once. I completely FRIED my ends.

I learned my lesson, swore off bleach for good, and then decided to chop for a fresh start. Did a bob in March, followed by a pixie in early April.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/502951766799941633/651662692729487360/2012-4-3_1.JPG

Because of the shock of losing my hair to my own stupidity, I decided to actively grow it out again.
And that brings me to my first round here on TLHC!

I joined as "emilylightning" in August 2013, the summer between 11th and 12th grade.
(Still haven't deactivated that account... not exactly sure how to go about that when I don't remember my login and the email I used has since been deleted...)
EDIT 2020 Dec 23: Got my old account merged together with this one!
I was about CBL when I joined. Learned all about protective styles and all the other basics, was immediately obsessed with having the healthiest hair possible.
My hair when I started:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/502951766799941633/651664609597456384/2013-7-18_3_-_Copy.JPG
My hair at it's longest: (Sorry I look absolutely miserable in this picture, but I was, actually! Quite miserable! Haha...)
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/502951766799941633/651666713645154315/2014-3-29_21.JPG

I grew to APL+, but I caught lice from my god sisters! I tried everything I possibly could to get rid of the damn things. In absolute desperation I started cutting my hair.
First back to just past CBL, then to a bob, then to a pixie, and then buzzed it all off right after graduation because NOTHING else worked. I pray this never happens to anyone else here.
Thankfully, they have not been back since!!! I would not hesitate to buzz it all off again, I hate those stupid bugs more than anything. BLECH!!!!

But that was around the time I started to seriously question my gender identity anyway, so I decided to keep it short.
I ended up living as a trans man for a few years. I still wanted long hair, but I didn't want to start growing until I could transition.
Being misgendered was torturous enough, long hair would only make it more frequent.
Tried hairstyles I never would have imagined, like a crew cut! I'd shave my hairline to be higher too, to pass better.

I eventually came to the conclusion that I was not, in fact, a man (and that I rather disliked the majority of men, actually)
Since then I have shuffled through many labels in an attempt to pin down my gender identity. I have arrived at... ":shrug:"!

I maintained short hair until I failed to maintain it for a few months (oh boy that's a long story :/ and a rather sad one)
and decided to get a very cute mouth-length bob with the extra length in March 2017.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/502951766799941633/651669502374838281/unknown.png

Then I just grew through benign neglect again. All the way to collarbone. Dyed it blue with vegetable dye. That was fun while it lasted.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/502951766799941633/651670732815728640/20171129_195138_-_Copy.jpg
Chopped to another pixie in December 2017 because I felt "too disabled" to deal with it.
(I was masking my symptoms with mind-altering substances that made me incredibly sluggish and demotivated actually.)

Maintained short hair again until quite recently. Lots of different pixies, many buzzcuts.
My last buzz was in May of this year.
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/502951766799941633/651671500172034058/IMG_20190506_124105_2.jpg

On November 4th, I convinced my partner (who was also growing out a buzzcut) to let me give her a cute bob. I'm pretty good at cutting hair.
Then I decided to go ahead and give myself the same haircut! And now we've arrived at basically present-day!
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/502951766799941633/651672169075572746/unknown.png
And that's actually the day I decided to actively grow out my hair again. I rejoined TLHC on November 18th.
Used this account I made when I was a trans guy since I still remembered the login!
(which is the only reason I even made a new account, my original having a very feminine name, and I didn't want anyone to remember who I was at that point)

I can't wait to see what the future holds! My hair has already grown a solid centimetre from that picture on November 4th.
This time I'm not incredibly inpatient and unhappy, I'm just along for the journey :)

[YvetteVarie]

Growing up, my mum would decide what length to have my hair at. So from babyhood until I was 10, my hair went through a cycle of growing out and cutting it all off. At age 10, I went to a boarding school. School rules were we had to keep short hair. So my hair was cut short for the next 3 years. The longest my hair was at this point was an inch maximum.

When I started high school (age 13), I went to a school were we were allowed to grow out our hair. So I grew out my hair. My hair was stuck at neck length/shoulder length because I did not take care of my hair at all. All I would do during term time was have my hair braided and that was all. This was normal among my peers, we really didn't know better :couch::couch:

This went on for a while until my senior year in university. I had my hair bleached and dyed an awesome shade of copper. The stylist advised me to wash and condition my hair regularly, and for the first time, my hair grew to collar bone length. Then I went home for the christmas break, and barely had time for hair care. My hair broke off and I was left with a mess at the back off my headhttps://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YOM1dUkaQyM/UUr0ae72oXI/AAAAAAAAAMI/JZvkgNq1RII/s320/damage+jan+2012.jpg

So when I cut my hair on 1 May 2012, and that's when my hair journey really started. I think I joined LHC just before I cut my hair, so I could do research on how to look after my hair better. I followed a lot of hair bloggers, and had a hair regimen. My hair really rewarded me and grew. I have had a lot of hair detours, which is why I am currently around BSL, but this is still the longest my hair has ever been

[Laurab]

Love this thread!
I love reading regular stories, but it also got me looking at a bunch of old pictures.
A few highlights (Many of my pictures are Disney pictures, i'm unlikely to take pictures otherwise lol, I'm the one with her hair down in all of them)
The hairstyle I had from like sixth grade through most of high school: https://66.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4abdnAJVZ1qddnzvo1_500.jpg
How long it was before I cut it into a pixie: https://66.media.tumblr.com/adfd754c3eab2f927579ca30b7e9dcd9/tumblr_mkat8g1clt1qddnzvo1_640.jpg
My pixie! This is my senior picture: https://66.media.tumblr.com/1782b2e6a9f604bbcf68b90d44a20d44/tumblr_mvwxs7p1IY1qddnzvo1_400.png
The struggles of growing things out https://66.media.tumblr.com/30ca5c67a4f1ca74eca8b430a604599d/tumblr_nsn89rBPOl1qddnzvo2_500.jpg
Finally something that looks cute: https://66.media.tumblr.com/21cd4684603f0184db44d8df1f111a09/tumblr_ntta553lv61qddnzvo1_500.jpg
And from there the past three years have just been different bobs, some with bangs, some without. I've got a million pictures but I don't want to overload the page with different variations of a chin length haircut lol.
Here's a picture from October: https://66.media.tumblr.com/1c3698789c51dfc1da13ba5d321225aa/ffb47653c647addb-a5/s640x960/e53cce032f58d11a0a724aff79fcb6438d2f89c8.jpg
And how it looked after my most recent haircut: https://66.media.tumblr.com/ce71144b8350f9d4e5ea85cf1293f1ee/ffb47653c647addb-8d/s640x960/a1bfa7a98d4c330508bdc863bf8d58c7f71e5fca.jpg
I told my stylist I was growing it out, so she made it all one length (It was in a swing cut before, longer in front) and then curled it because I thinks he would've been bored otherwise lol.
My profile pic is still really close to my current length, I don't have any more recent pictures.

I've mentioned on other forums before, but I'll also say here that I've never really taken the time to care for my hair. It's typically messy, down, pushed behind my ear. It's why I gravitated to short hair, less to maintain. This time around I'm trying to learn different styles and have fun with it.
I can always chop it off if I get bored, might as well try something new.

[xxjlgxx]

Well..I had knee length hair growing up my whole life but I didn't really take care of it. In 2011 I had shoulder length, bleach damaged, flat ironed to death horrible hair. Yet I did not understand why it was not growing. I think I was looking online how to grow long hair and I found this forum :flower:

Since then my hair has transformed thanks to everything I learned from here on LHC! I remember following some members advice carefully, it was a huge change. No more straightener?? No more bleach? It was so hard..haha my hair looked *horrible* for a long time. Eventually I learned I didn't have "poofy" hair..but for the first time in my life I found waves/curls..it was awesome!

This is how it was when I joined

https://i.imgur.com/pX6ydO0.jpg

Then about 2 years later I cut off *all* the damage, it was all virgin now

https://i.imgur.com/Rn5oq8t.jpg

Then it just grew and grew

https://i.imgur.com/Axj66Y8.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/kJ2k3GL.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Hl3gm9e.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KPSp61O.jpg

Love your story and pictures thanks for sharing so inspiring to keep going!!

[amiraaah]

When i was a baby i had kinky curly hair that wouldn’t grow. Since My mom is moroccan (long hair is a dominant feature in morocco) she tried many things to make my hair grow. At the age of 5 or 6(i can’t remember exactly)my hair grew very long it was classic length.
I hated it because my mom Would never let me have it loose. She would always put some coconut oil in it every morning and braid it. When i was a 12-13 i started using heat everyday on my hair when it’s still wet. One day my hair got stuck to the flat iron and it became extremely damaged. I told my mom to cut it to shoulder+(The shortest it has ever been) and i was very happy with my short hair. My hair has been waist to hip for almost all of my life. Even when i chop it to BSL or APL it grows back to waist in no time (6 months). I started straightening my hair again In high-school.
Here is a picture of my hair back then
https://i.postimg.cc/zfVJBMbm/5-DACA0-F1-12-E5-4-CCE-BC18-AF71-B688-FEDE.png (https://postimg.cc/DW3VpxP5)upload a picture to the internet (https://postimages.org/)

Eventually it became more damaged but still growing

https://i.postimg.cc/JnxK2Txn/6-C6-DF962-A680-4261-8454-5-A3303-AE0-B79.png (https://postimg.cc/YG414zJK)

https://i.postimg.cc/j5TtXj3T/31645-D82-16-B8-4-E8-D-8-E59-6-E9-BD4-D92927.png (https://postimg.cc/DWx9f7Kp)

In the first year of college my hair got even worse but i didn’t pay attention to it. I used to wash it once a week and then go to the salon to get it straightened. I think 2017 is when i found this forum which is my second year in college . My hair was terrible at that time.
The first picture that i shared on LHC

https://i.postimg.cc/jqXPyw3s/089-E35-C9-C137-4877-B948-59-B752-AE7-CC7.jpg (https://postimg.cc/3WkkTRH6)
I didn’t cut the damage and i started taking care of my hair but it grew really thin at the ends,

https://i.postimg.cc/qqzJt5Z6/BC56-BD97-D757-453-D-B4-DF-4-E36-AC368-F79.jpg (https://postimg.cc/K3hSwJbm)

I will continue in another post.

[amiraaah]

I cut it to BSL in the end of 2017 but still my hair was damaged.

https://i.postimg.cc/pdrRc7RG/DD3-ACB82-35-F1-4378-989-E-6-DBF1645-D571.jpg (https://postimg.cc/0zTTbV6D)
My hair grew but was very thin again.
https://i.postimg.cc/7YZszyVW/83-A67-E0-B-0748-40-B6-A2-DB-EFCF26399450.jpg (https://postimg.cc/4njQCqj6)

I chopped it again in 30/9/2018

https://i.postimg.cc/pT7Q4y49/5-A09-B9-C1-1-D5-D-4-CD9-B855-B9-F9-E2134-BE5.jpg (https://postimg.cc/MM7jjZWx)anonymous photo sharing (https://postimages.org/)

I microtrim my hair very often about (once every 3 or 4 months) and finally here’s My hair now

https://i.postimg.cc/CKrbnzFv/78-AE7393-B359-4-BE6-A40-E-2196880-C5-FD0.jpg (https://postimg.cc/06mzL5Km)upload pictures (https://postimages.org/)

[Laurab]

I cut it to BSL in the end of 2017 but still my hair was damaged.

https://i.postimg.cc/pdrRc7RG/DD3-ACB82-35-F1-4378-989-E-6-DBF1645-D571.jpg (https://postimg.cc/0zTTbV6D)
My hair grew but was very thin again.
https://i.postimg.cc/7YZszyVW/83-A67-E0-B-0748-40-B6-A2-DB-EFCF26399450.jpg (https://postimg.cc/4njQCqj6)

I chopped it again in 30/9/2018

https://i.postimg.cc/pT7Q4y49/5-A09-B9-C1-1-D5-D-4-CD9-B855-B9-F9-E2134-BE5.jpg (https://postimg.cc/MM7jjZWx)anonymous photo sharing (https://postimages.org/)

I microtrim my hair very often about (once every 3 or 4 months) and finally here’s My hair now

https://i.postimg.cc/CKrbnzFv/78-AE7393-B359-4-BE6-A40-E-2196880-C5-FD0.jpg (https://postimg.cc/06mzL5Km)upload pictures (https://postimages.org/)

I loooove your hair texture! I've always been jealous of curls. Pretty color too! you can tell it's healthier now than in the first pic

[itskate]

I'm loving this thread, I love reading people's hair journeys and thoughts!! Some very impressive growth here, and it's fun to get insight into everyone's history with their hair.

I myself always hated everything to do with my hair-- my parents kept it short from an early age (and it sure was cute), then as it grew and I got older I didn't know how to take care of it. I had it like APL when I was in early elementary school, then a shaggy layered bob (I have been a repeat sufferer of layers which are supposed to enhance waves and curls...that I didn't know how to take care of so it was just multi leveled frizz), this horrible TIGHT ponytail in middle school because I just didn't know what else to do...and I never wore it down after middle school because I was so self conscious that it didn't look smooth and shiny. Had a flat iron phase, had a 'highlighted chunks' phase, none of it really fixed the fact that I just hated having any amount of longer hair.
So, cut to late high school, I found myself really jealous of girls with short hair ('pixie cut') and decided I want to chop mine. Contrary to my face in this photo, I loved it and felt it suited me much better!

https://66.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4fukqJgqU1qd5aa9o1_640.jpg

I had this cut for two years, then in my first year of college I just sort of gave up maintenance:

https://66.media.tumblr.com/3dafff275ac896b0e5713e6e0638bea6/tumblr_mgh7glPgRJ1qd5aa9o1_640.jpg

...and halfway through my second year it looked like this!

https://66.media.tumblr.com/cadb1b83e0ee688b7659b858c5a06b48/tumblr_mztv3rUkE41qd5aa9o1_500.jpg

And, despite how beautiful it looks to me in retrospect, I hated it! Haha. I went right back to the pixie like a week after I took that photo, which I have no regrets about or anything. It truly made me happy for a long time, and it's what felt right to me for years. I still am fond of those cuts, and I think I looked very Me with short hair for the time. Especially once I really got used to what I wanted from the style:

https://66.media.tumblr.com/9ba29a4cb7c96dd5511c51d92a3a6412/tumblr_ndvs25prU21qd5aa9o1_500.jpg

I also had.....my dye phase, which lasted two years-- I had to check! I could've sworn it was more like four! I dyed my bangs specifically that whole time, and also occasionally bleached and dyed my whole head. It was sometimes a hot mess, sometimes good art student fun, this was my personal favorite weird look I've done:

https://66.media.tumblr.com/6709a45f95ebcdd5e4acc3f48f41b253/tumblr_nwk0o8Mp2R1qd5aa9o1_250.jpg

I also buzzed it a couple times during Dye Phase, not for any real reason, I just thought it would be cool, and I enjoyed those times for what it was worth! Again, I don't regret any of my hair decisions, because they were right for me at the time. It was really badly done though, I buzzed it myself and I don't want to share pictures of it, hahaha.
Ultimately I decided to grow it out because I got tired of the bleaching and dying and how fried my hair was, so I got it dyed back to brown over the bleach damage, when it was past chin length I think, but layered, and have been growing it since. I did one big chop this past June, cutting off 90% of that damage at last, so now my hair is finally almost entirely virgin except some little light chunks that somehow???? have hung on all this time. And honestly, the reason I was inspired to grow it was because I bought a pair of hair sticks on etsy in 2017 that I happened to stumble upon, and I was fascinated by the thought that they alone could hold up hair. I love buns, they're the one thing I did when my hair was briefly longer that I enjoyed, but I was so bad at them and always struggled to get them to stay with hair elastics. I got the sticks as incentive to grow my hair out, and have acquired several hair toys since with that incentive. I really, really love buns with hair sticks and forks. I am excited to see how long my hair gets, because it's really only been at BSL at the longest (right before my chop) and this time around I'm already able to do so much more with it even at collarbone length due to it being all one length and undamaged. I think I like extremes, I love short hair and long hair but it's this in between phase I really struggle with! Here's to growing it longer and healthier than ever in the upcoming years though.

[hannabiss]

Lol I dont have a lot of pictures...and dont feel like posting the ones I have out of sheer laziness.

High school- TBL then chopped to Chin

Back and forth between chin and shoulder until 2013...

2013- shaved bald
Grew to waist

2016 shaved again

2017 cut in a side shave

2018 cut from shoulder length to chin so that my side shave wasnt so uneven.

Today it's a little past shoulder. I've made it through the No Trim 2019 (lol basically) planning to trim one Years and do the No Trim 2020

[amiraaah]

I loooove your hair texture! I've always been jealous of curls. Pretty color too! you can tell it's healthier now than in the first pic

Thank you so much! :love:

[leafygreens18]

I was born basically hairless, but my parents thought I had red hair because they could see I had little orange eyelashes. As I got a bit older my hair grew into little orange on my head type curls. When I was threeish I gave myself a bit of a hair cut and took off a chunk right above my forehead. After that my hair just grew from benign neglect until I got into about second grade. In the Summer of 2012 my family was going to take a vacation to Disney world and my eldest sister who was about 17 at the time was convinced a pixie cut was what I needed. I was young and wanted to please her so off we went! The hair dresser didn't want to cut off all of my red hair. But my hair had never gotten past arm pit length. My hair was kept short through about fourth grade which is when I started to grow it. I just let it grow, still brushing, still using sulfates and cones, washing every day. Throughout this whole time I couldn't stand wearing my hair up. Sixth grade came and went: benign neglect. Then my iconic seventh grade year. I dyed my hair black. I never touched up my roots, just let it grow for about six months. A few inches worth of red roots. What a look. Then in March 2017, I got a pixie that was so short I basically shaved my head. Since then I've been working to grow my hair and have discovered the LHC and I'm working on growing my hair long and healthy. Currently I'm half way through my sophomore year of high school and working to grow to a true BSL. From then on I'm hoping someday I'll make it to waist length!

[plonter]

Thanks everyone for sharing, I love this thread!



She's done, so I'm back! Let's see... where was I.... ah yes. The bleach massacre.

In Sophomore year I was really enjoy having my hair longer. I got it to nearly APL and then in January decided I'd bleach my hair!
For no apparent reason, just to try it. I'd dyed to a dark red and black before, but never tried going lighter.
This was the result. It's hard to see in the school photo in my previous post, but I was growing out black dye
My ash-brown virgin hair turned quite blond, but the ends were still quite dark. So I ended up bleaching more than once. I completely FRIED my ends.

I learned my lesson, swore off bleach for good, and then decided to chop for a fresh start. Did a bob in March, followed by a pixie in early April.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/502951766799941633/651662692729487360/2012-4-3_1.JPG

Because of the shock of losing my hair to my own stupidity, I decided to actively grow it out again.
And that brings me to my first round here on TLHC!

I joined as "emilylightning" in August 2013, the summer between 11th and 12th grade.
(Still haven't deactivated that account... not exactly sure how to go about that when I don't remember my login and the email I used has since been deleted...)
I was about CBL when I joined. Learned all about protective styles and all the other basics, was immediately obsessed with having the healthiest hair possible.
My hair when I started:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/502951766799941633/651664609597456384/2013-7-18_3_-_Copy.JPG
My hair at it's longest: (Sorry I look absolutely miserable in this picture, but I was, actually! Quite miserable! Haha...)
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/502951766799941633/651666713645154315/2014-3-29_21.JPG

I grew to APL+, but I caught lice from my god sisters! I tried everything I possibly could to get rid of the damn things. In absolute desperation I started cutting my hair.
First back to just past CBL, then to a bob, then to a pixie, and then buzzed it all off right after graduation because NOTHING else worked. I pray this never happens to anyone else here.
Baruch Hashem they have not been back since!!! I would not hesitate to buzz it all off again, I hate those stupid bugs more than anything. BLECH!!!!

But that was around the time I started to seriously question my gender identity anyway, so I decided to keep it short.
I ended up living as a trans man for a few years. I still wanted long hair, but I didn't want to start growing until I could transition.
Being misgendered was torturous enough, long hair would only make it more frequent.
Tried hairstyles I never would have imagined, like a crew cut! I'd shave my hairline to be higher too, to pass better.

I eventually came to the conclusion that I was not, in fact, a man (and that I rather disliked the majority of men, actually)
Since then I have shuffled through many labels in an attempt to pin down my gender identity. I have arrived at... ":shrug:"!

I maintained short hair until I failed to maintain it for a few months (oh boy that's a long story :/ and a rather sad one)
and decided to get a very cute mouth-length bob with the extra length in March 2017.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/502951766799941633/651669502374838281/unknown.png

Then I just grew through benign neglect again. All the way to collarbone. Dyed it blue with vegetable dye. That was fun while it lasted.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/502951766799941633/651670732815728640/20171129_195138_-_Copy.jpg
Chopped to another pixie in December 2017 because I felt "too disabled" to deal with it.
(I was masking my symptoms with mind-altering substances that made me incredibly sluggish and demotivated actually.)

Maintained short hair again until quite recently. Lots of different pixies, many buzzcuts.
My last buzz was in May of this year.
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/502951766799941633/651671500172034058/IMG_20190506_124105_2.jpg

On November 4th, I convinced my partner (who was also growing out a buzzcut) to let me give her a cute bob. I'm pretty good at cutting hair.
Then I decided to go ahead and give myself the same haircut! And now we've arrived at basically present-day!
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/502951766799941633/651672169075572746/unknown.png
And that's actually the day I decided to actively grow out my hair again. I rejoined TLHC on November 18th.
Used this account I made when I was a trans guy since I still remembered the login!
(which is the only reason I even made a new account, my original having a very feminine name, and I didn't want anyone to remember who I was at that point)

I can't wait to see what the future holds! My hair has already grown a solid centimetre from that picture on November 4th.
This time I'm not incredibly inpatient and unhappy, I'm just along for the journey :)

Thanks for sharing! I'm too shy to post pictures but I might put them in my profile soon (yay!) I used to have super short hair (never buzzed, which I regret) and identify as genderqueer. Now I identify as female but still have some occasional gender dysphoria. My hair is now down to almost APL. One thing is that with short hair my body was more prominent, and with long hair I hide it a bit better when i want to. Longer hair has not significantly changed how I present myself. It's pretty cool to have a supportive partner to grow with, curious to hear how your journey goes! :)

[plonter]

I'm loving this thread, I love reading people's hair journeys and thoughts!! Some very impressive growth here, and it's fun to get insight into everyone's history with their hair.

I myself always hated everything to do with my hair-- my parents kept it short from an early age (and it sure was cute), then as it grew and I got older I didn't know how to take care of it. I had it like APL when I was in early elementary school, then a shaggy layered bob (I have been a repeat sufferer of layers which are supposed to enhance waves and curls...that I didn't know how to take care of so it was just multi leveled frizz), this horrible TIGHT ponytail in middle school because I just didn't know what else to do...and I never wore it down after middle school because I was so self conscious that it didn't look smooth and shiny. Had a flat iron phase, had a 'highlighted chunks' phase, none of it really fixed the fact that I just hated having any amount of longer hair.
So, cut to late high school, I found myself really jealous of girls with short hair ('pixie cut') and decided I want to chop mine. Contrary to my face in this photo, I loved it and felt it suited me much better!

https://66.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4fukqJgqU1qd5aa9o1_640.jpg

I had this cut for two years, then in my first year of college I just sort of gave up maintenance:

https://66.media.tumblr.com/3dafff275ac896b0e5713e6e0638bea6/tumblr_mgh7glPgRJ1qd5aa9o1_640.jpg

...and halfway through my second year it looked like this!

https://66.media.tumblr.com/cadb1b83e0ee688b7659b858c5a06b48/tumblr_mztv3rUkE41qd5aa9o1_500.jpg

And, despite how beautiful it looks to me in retrospect, I hated it! Haha. I went right back to the pixie like a week after I took that photo, which I have no regrets about or anything. It truly made me happy for a long time, and it's what felt right to me for years. I still am fond of those cuts, and I think I looked very Me with short hair for the time. Especially once I really got used to what I wanted from the style:

https://66.media.tumblr.com/9ba29a4cb7c96dd5511c51d92a3a6412/tumblr_ndvs25prU21qd5aa9o1_500.jpg

I also had.....my dye phase, which lasted two years-- I had to check! I could've sworn it was more like four! I dyed my bangs specifically that whole time, and also occasionally bleached and dyed my whole head. It was sometimes a hot mess, sometimes good art student fun, this was my personal favorite weird look I've done:

https://66.media.tumblr.com/6709a45f95ebcdd5e4acc3f48f41b253/tumblr_nwk0o8Mp2R1qd5aa9o1_250.jpg

I also buzzed it a couple times during Dye Phase, not for any real reason, I just thought it would be cool, and I enjoyed those times for what it was worth! Again, I don't regret any of my hair decisions, because they were right for me at the time. It was really badly done though, I buzzed it myself and I don't want to share pictures of it, hahaha.
Ultimately I decided to grow it out because I got tired of the bleaching and dying and how fried my hair was, so I got it dyed back to brown over the bleach damage, when it was past chin length I think, but layered, and have been growing it since. I did one big chop this past June, cutting off 90% of that damage at last, so now my hair is finally almost entirely virgin except some little light chunks that somehow???? have hung on all this time. And honestly, the reason I was inspired to grow it was because I bought a pair of hair sticks on etsy in 2017 that I happened to stumble upon, and I was fascinated by the thought that they alone could hold up hair. I love buns, they're the one thing I did when my hair was briefly longer that I enjoyed, but I was so bad at them and always struggled to get them to stay with hair elastics. I got the sticks as incentive to grow my hair out, and have acquired several hair toys since with that incentive. I really, really love buns with hair sticks and forks. I am excited to see how long my hair gets, because it's really only been at BSL at the longest (right before my chop) and this time around I'm already able to do so much more with it even at collarbone length due to it being all one length and undamaged. I think I like extremes, I love short hair and long hair but it's this in between phase I really struggle with! Here's to growing it longer and healthier than ever in the upcoming years though.

I feel you on the in-between, I could deal when it was short and now that it's long but the past couple years it's been so hard pushing through the in between! Super tempting to cut it but I resisted. By the way the green skeleton hand hair clip is so awesome, do you remember where you got it? In any case short hair suits you, long hair suits you, you'll find your way to good hair whatever you choose to do! :)