How the needs of your hair changed with different lengths?

[paulownia]

I thought it might be a good idea to share the experiences ;)
My own hair is only somewhere between collarbone and APL but I started to experience some changes as my hair got a little bit longer. More dryness and more tangles for exemple. But no split ends yet!;)
How did your hair change when reaching new milestones? Did it get easier or harder to handle? In which ways you needed to charge your routine, what kind of products and ingredients were working for you?
Feel free to discuss and exchange your experiences!;)

[ZoeZ]

My hair really hasn't changed much with a longer length - the ends are slightly drier so I do have to give them a bit more moisture, but they seem to weather fairly well. I have very fine hair, 1b (I think - fairly straight with a slight wave). One thing I have found as I get near waist, is that it's sooo much easier to style - wash, throw up in a claw clip or stick, done! I finally graduated to a stick bun just recently after trying to bun for so long! Care is minimal, I get very few splits and it doesn't tangle much since I keep it up all the time.

I think I'm quite lucky in my hair care, it doesn't take much. I do wish had a nicer color though - I'm salt & pepper, no interesting streaks, and I'd love to go totally grey or white but I'm 65 so I don't think that will happen.

[Cg]

I didn't notice any appreciable differences until past fingertip. Length to great extent dictated which buns to use and which hairtoys would work. I also needed a sleep bonnet specifically for long hair at some point, but I can't recall which milestone that happened at.

I've always used whatever shampoo and conditioner are cheap, once a week, no other products. My hair doesn't notice any wondrous benefits from expensive glop. The only factor that seems to affect its quality is hard v soft water.

When I was relatively new to this forum I paid a lot more attention to stuff like splits, products, and whatnot, but long ago I stopped focusing on what are for me irrelevances. Honestly, the only real change in all this time is length. Usually you adapt so quickly when you need to that you don't really mark the changes. Anyway I haven't.

It was a fun question to think about, though, and I'll bet you'll get some interesting replies.

[Zesty]

I started needing regular trims around classic. Before that not trimming was pretty easy. Now I get fed up with my ends looking too thin or scraggly for my tastes and feel like I *need* to trim.

When I got to fingertip I unconsciously adapted my brushing and oiling methods so that I could reach the ends of my hair.

Now that I'm closing in on knee I think I've discovered that silicones are my friends. I finally got a silicone oil to try recently and it's been a huge difference.

The accessories and styles that work for me have also changed a lot. LWB with a hair stick or fork was my go-to for a long time, but these days my "lazy" hairstyle is a cinnamon bun with two claw clips. I can still use hair sticks but they're not as secure as I want in every style I know.

[Bri-Chan]

Mh since I started my journey (late 2018 ) I think I can say my hair tangle more at the roots, and I also have more firzz in that area. Oh and my last 10 inches are less wavy.

[foreveryours]

Early on my hair didn't really need much until I passed MBL. It was then I began to experience tangling. I thought the ends were just "sticky" but in reality the length was just longer. Not sticky, just math. Longer lengths gave strands more ways the strands could wind round one another.

At TBL I began to have serious issues with separating sections when braiding more complex patterns than a simple 3-stranded braid. Again an issue of length and limitations inherent in using just one human arm.

And certainly throughout this time, as it grows you begin to notice hair everywhere you've been and are. So your housekeeping practices definitely change. When washing, as my hair has grown longer, my sheds have actually become less of an issue for me in the shower. I find very little caught by the drain screen. Apparently, they aren't as easily freed from longer lengths when rinsing. After drying though, all my usual amount comes out in the comb but over a limited well controlled area.

About six months ago, I also switched to dry detangling rather than wet with conditioner in the shower and applying conditioner only to my length and not scalp. I find less hair collected that way afterwards.

[leafygreens18]

The longer it gets the less washing it needs for me, I want to wash it two times a week just because I enjoy it and clean hair so much but my hair truly only needs it once a week, I've had phases. At like ear length growing out my pixie my hair only needed it once a week and I just got out of bed and never had to style it or anything. My hair definitely probably needs a protective style for sleeping but I'm awful at keeping up with it.

[Natalia_A00]

Ohh yeah I get that. My hair is almost classic length right now, and it tangles like crazy (maybe because I have fine hair)? It didn't happen before that much... The amount of knots and tangles is honestly tiring, it's the worst thing about this length. It's also see more dryness, but nothing very noticeable

[purple_omelette]

At shorter lengths: more frequent washing, more trims, less protective styling, more styling products

At longer lengths: more frequent and thorough detangling to prevent damage, more protective styling, less washing, fewer products

[Jools69]

Before BSL, I wasn’t caring too much how I handled or cared for my hair; I would use hot tools religiously every day and wear it down most days. Then from BSL onwards when I seriously decided to grow longer, I took better care when choosing any products used, greatly reduced using hot tools, handling my hair much more gently, began using oils and hair masks, and wearing it up most of the time in protective styles during the day and night.

[paulownia]

Whoa, guys, I didn't expect this much response!;) That's just awesome. I'm getting lots of information on what to expect in the future :cool:

[Neorago]

Mine is oily but dry no matter the length :o but I'd say the longer it gets the less I need to do with it. The oil doesn't look too bad when I have length to distract from it and with length I can actually use product to calm it down. When it's short, any product (even a drop) weighs it down but no product makes it dry. It's definitely more behaved and less maintenance at APL +. What length are you at paulownia?

[paulownia]

Mine is oily but dry no matter the length :o but I'd say the longer it gets the less I need to do with it. The oil doesn't look too bad when I have length to distract from it and with length I can actually use product to calm it down. When it's short, any product (even a drop) weighs it down but no product makes it dry. It's definitely more behaved and less maintenance at APL +. What length are you at paulownia?
Somewhere between collarbone and APL;)
Definitely APL on stretched hair but my waves shrink a lot ... I guess I will reach APL on dry hair by the end of this year.

[lapushka]

I thought it might be a good idea to share the experiences ;)
My own hair is only somewhere between collarbone and APL but I started to experience some changes as my hair got a little bit longer. More dryness and more tangles for exemple. But no split ends yet!;)
How did your hair change when reaching new milestones? Did it get easier or harder to handle? In which ways you needed to charge your routine, what kind of products and ingredients were working for you?
Feel free to discuss and exchange your experiences!;)

I definitely got that! I noticed that I could very well use just about *any* lightweight conditioner until about BSL, meh maybe not quite, but close enough, and then I needed the big guns, silicones, or heavy masks, either or both. I have oilier roots (normalized a bit over the years as well) and super dry lengths, and so... up until about chin/shoulder I don't need any conditioner, and that still is that way, but from then down? Oh boy, super heavy stuff, the heavier the better, which is why I condition twice, and also because my shampoo dries me out quite a bit (but my scalp needs it).

More tangles, yep, but nothing that a wet brush (dupe) can't fix. ;)
I would be lost without that thing!

[JasminxCat]

It's healthier now than it was at APL, because of excessive heat damage. And easier to put up neatly in a bun with no weird fly aways from layers. I have to use more conditioner, and have incorporated other products into my routine to keep the ends conditioned and healthy because of more dryness to the ends now. I don't like my weird uneven hemline. It's a U but kind of goes sideways so I'll be cutting it back to BSL by 3 inches whenever my 6 month challenge is up, in a week. And it will be 1 length or at least very close

[knobbly]

I began to care seriously for my hair around WL which for me just meant being more careful about mechanical damage, since I never used heat or dyed my hair very much (I mean, I dyed my hair periodically but single process no bleach infrequent dying didn’t equal much damage for me at least.)

The biggest change I made was around HL. I stopped flipping my head over in the shower and detangling while wet. This drastically reduced my shower hair fall, and though it’s been almost a year of that it still feels unnatural to just leave my hair looking a mess until it’s dry. Works though! Even though I can’t get my fingers through my hair when it’s wet, once it’s dry the snarls just fall out if I’ve done my conditioning job right.

I don’t love how silicones feel in in-shower products so I never used them when my hair was shorter. I still don’t these days but I do use a silicone oil/serum on dry or damp hair after washing and throughout the week if needed and it does help reduce tangles quite a lot. This started around HL as well.

I’ve worn my hair up at night this whole time, so that’s not changed, but in my case that’s because my dog sleeps above my head :rolleyes: and if I didn’t my hair would get tangled in her paws at any length.

[foreveryours]

The biggest change I made was around HL. I stopped flipping my head over in the shower and detangling while wet. This drastically reduced my shower hair fall, and though it’s been almost a year of that it still feels unnatural to just leave my hair looking a mess until it’s dry. Works though! Even though I can’t get my fingers through my hair when it’s wet, once it’s dry the snarls just fall out if I’ve done my conditioning job right. .

It's great isn't it? I've been doing this for about six months now. At first I thought it was crazy, what let it dry first? But it does work VERY well at longer lengths yet. Wish I'd known then what I know now. Still so much yet to be discovered though, especially the first time thru :p

ETA: hair strands are thicker when wet, and more flexible so they can tangle more easily (like thread). They are also weaker making them more susceptible to breakage from grooming forces