So What Happens Now...

[DweamGoiL]

I know many here have spent or are spending a considerable amount of time to reach a hair growing goal, whether it's BSL, WL, an even hemline, growing out layers, etc. but what happens once you reach that goal?

I have reached my goal length several times over and have been maintaining somewhere between CL and WL. I used henna and indigo to blend into my natural hair and cover greys, but to be honest, I haven't used those products in well over 4-5 years. I started developing a mild allergy to henna and it made the treatments challenging to say the least. They also completely killed my natural wave so that never sat right with me as well, but it was better than damaging my fine hair with chemicals. Although I will definitely admit that over the years, the technology to manufacture these dyes have changed and you can find much less damaging formulations.

Over the past few weeks, I have become very restless and bored with my hair. I don't have any inclinations to lop it all off, but I definitely needed a change. I'll blame it on the oncoming Spring Season :) Even going to the bathroom had become annoying unless it was in a bun constantly. As my hair is increasingly greying (and I am lucky I only have a few strands on either side of my temples), I have been thinking about whether to give up and accept the process or cover it since I am still so early on in the game. Long story short, I ended up cutting back to Hip with some layering and I went 2 shades lighter than my virgin hair so the grey can blend in a bit better once it grows out. I'll post some pictures soon since I had to rush a bit last night in order to make it to work somewhat functional this morning.

So after all my babble, the question is what comes next after you reach your initial, second, whichever hair goal you are working on now?

[MusicalSpoons]

You know, I haven't thought about this. I plan to cut back to calf, either when I reach floor or I give up after a year, but beyond that … ???

I know growing out pre-LHC hair will be continuing, but I don't have a real demarcation line for that because I didn't treat it horrendously badly, I just didn't treat it *well*. The great thing about length goals is that I didn't really have to DO anything, just find a good routine and let it do its thing. Any quality improvements (other than growing of pre-LHC hair) would require extra effort and my routine is already kind of the maximum I can maintain anyway whilst keeping it happy. All other types of goals would require effort, e.g. learning new styles or maintaining a dyed streak.

I would like my ends to thicken up, but again alert from looking after my hair like I already do, that's up to my hair to do, not me.

So, I don't know :shrug: I have a slight apprehension that I might feel slightly lost not having a definite goal, and maybe I'll think of something after a while. But, for now, I have no idea.

Actually the times I've felt I needed a change, so far, have been dyeing a streak (with Manic Panic) so I guess I'll be satisfied with that or learning a new style every now and then, short-term easy goals to alleviate the temporary feelings rather than needlessly committing to anything longer term. We'll see!

[Joules]

When I came here my goal was tailbone. Then I changed it to Classic. Now that it's so close to Classic, I think I'll just go with the flow and see where it takes me. I don't want to set any new goals, because I find that they make me more frustrated than anything and I end up hating my hair (for not growing fast enough, or for being too damaged or thin) and chopping. So no goals for me, thank you very much. It's also very very close to terminal, so I don't think I have that much choice length-wise, it might stop a few inches shy of mid-thigh.

I defenetely get restless in Spring too! And in late Fall. That's when I might start to itch for a cut. Usually my subconscious intervenes and shows me horrible dreams where I chop my hair too short and uneven and panic. Sometimes it doesn't and I make some regrettable decisions and set myself back a couple of years. I hope this doesn't happen any time soon.

Also, last Fall when I reached tailbone length I found myself getting more and more frustrated with my hair. Like, at that point it was the longest it had ever been and it was just long and weird and putting it up into a cinnabun was awkward and I just didn't know what to do with it. Well, two things helped: first, that subconscious intervention I mentioned earlier; second - I bought a set of bigger pretty claw clips (my old claw clips were too small for that volume of cinnamon bun and that was why it felt strange). Now I'm in absolute love with my length of hair, even though my ends aren't as thick as I would like them to be. So yeah, next time a new length begins to feel overwhelming, I'll just get some new accessories, lol.

(I'm not using sticks or forks because they don't feel secure enough for me. I love my buns to be solid. Maybe later I'll experiment more, but not now.)

[knobbly]

I’m pretty close to my initial length goal but I’ve known for awhile that I’m gonna keep growing past Classic because LHC-itis is real. :lol:

Since my hair is as old as my kids (well the ends are a bit older than my eldest,) my secondary goals are to care for my hair through the hormonal changes at this stage of life. I’m an older mom, and a full-term nursing mom, so it’s very likely that I will have only a few years (if that) between stopping breastfeeding and peri menopause. My greys are in full force, and the texture is changing, too. So my care goals, you could call them, are just to keep learning how to care for my hair as my hormones keep me on my toes. I’m guessing I have another 15-ish years of that. No plans for what comes after, it’s too far away!

[bparnell75]

This is a very good question. I am also very close to classic again but my strands are getting very thin.
Keeping it long is the only way it can seem that I have hair. I really like the regal look of the faux Gibson
girl. At my age and with all my 80 years worth of wrinkles I need at least one thing that gives me a
look I can enjoy and get compliments on. Yeah I guess it is just partly vanity. When I am bored
I also find a renewed
interest with a new toy too.

[lapushka]

I first reached classic length September 2015, remember it well! Then November 2016 due to a messed up maintenance schedule, I ended up chopping it off back to hip (that was a major length difference for me). I am glad at the time that my mom convinced me not to take more off! Grew back to classic May 2018, no trims in between, it takes that long just from hip to classic!

Since then I've been good, thanks to regular trims, which I am very faithful to. I love my length, I guess, there's no other way around it. I don't get bored, or swayed any way to perhaps take length off (yikes). I am happy where I'm at. But, I do have to be very strict with regular trims. So every season, I compact cut (layers in signature), unicorn cut in other words, and that goes well for me.

I guess I am happy at my length. :D

[Abacus]

As someone with short hair, all I can offer is this: I sooth myself to sleep almost every night imagining all the things I will do when my hair is as long as yours is now (true story, this is really what I do to fall asleep). I imagine all the styles I will try, letting it fly loose and being easier on myself about protecting it all the time, shopping for new hair accessories, changing up my style in my clothes to suite different long hair aesthetics, and honestly I imagine going grey. I'm 34 now (not sure how old you are but you mentioned starting to go grey, which I have also just started), and my inspiration for growing long hair was a woman I saw walking down the street in L.A. who had a long silver braid slung over her shoulder, cool clothes, giant sunglasses, and in general just the coolest vibe I'd ever seen, and I was like "when I'm her age I need that". She was a good 20 years older than me I think, so I have time to achieve it.
Anyway, that's a perspective from someone on the opposite side of the spectrum length-wise, but I totally get being ready for a change after years and years!

[Kat]

As my hair is increasingly greying (and I am lucky I only have a few strands on either side of my temples), I have been thinking about whether to give up and accept the process or cover it since I am still so early on in the game.

I guess it'll depend on whether you like your grays? Like, I don't mind mine-- they seem to be a pretty silver with which I'm actually quite chuffed. But what I don't like is that I don't have that many, and I still mostly have that icky ashy-ish-brown that I hate and doesn't suit me (I'd be fine with my grays/silvers if they were the majority of my hair)-- and judging from how my mom's hair went gray (mostly around the face, with the back still mostly dark brown-almost-black), I might never go gray all over. So I keep up the henna (which I do because I want red hair and want to warm up the nasty ashy color, not because I'm trying to cover my grays). So for me, coloring is right, at least ATM. But for you, maybe you'll find you like the two-tone effect (I wouldn't mind mine if my natural color wasn't ashy), or maybe you'll get more gray in and decide you like that, and so you might decide to leave it.

The good thing is, if you decide to let the natural color and grays go to do their thing, you can always change your mind later and dye over them. (The dye, of course, is a bit more of a permanent prospect, but I guess you could always use a semi-permanent in case you weren't sure.)


IIRC, my initial goal was around waist/hip length. Then I think I changed to classic. Then I think I thought, "hell, let's see where terminal length is." I got there, or near to it, at knee, and after a while just decided "well, this is close enough to terminal length for me to call it, I think" and at that point was kind of bored with it and the novelty of having it really long, so I cut it shorter and haven't regretted it (and actually, found that when my hair is shorter than about classic length, then strangers don't want to talk to me about it as much, which is a bonus). And now... I don't really care. I've hit the goal, and I've found out how long it will get, and now I have no worries. If I cut it shorter again and regret it? I know it'll come back. Did I slam it in a car door or rip a tangle out or not condition it quite enough? I don't worry too much. I already know it grows and I already know where and how I like it. I can play around with different styles and accessories when I get bored, though I don't get bored that often, personally. I just... don't *think* about it that much anymore. I have arms, I have shoes, I have long hair, all pretty much the same to me, cool.

[Bri-Chan]

It will take several years for me to reach my goal. Something like... 4-5 years :) Well, it's a so consistent amount of time that I don't even know if I'll change my mind before being there.
Knowing myself, I'll probably keep it for a while and then I'll change something because I get bored quite easily.

[Labs*R*Us]

Last fall, I reached FTL. Hooray, sort of. I was also kind of in a slump and not taking care of it as I normally did. Couldn't ever leave it down, didn't want to put it up - aagh. At the weekly washings, I always ended up with near-matted hair, and I began to dread wash days. I was just sick of dealing with it. I was thinking of cutting for quite a while, and then one day I did - to around elbow length. I immediately felt relief and was so happy once more. I removed all the knots, recolored after a year, and was enjoying the ease of care and putting it up and feeling myself again. Then ... (you know where I'm going, LOL) a few days ago, as I'm between waist and TBL now, I am up for the challenge again. I really don't think I want to go beyond classic anymore, but we'll see once I'm there again. And this is like the fourth time in the past 14 years I've done this. LOL It's like I enjoy the journey more than the destination.

[Bat]

I'll never know this feeling with my track record lol

[Corvana]

My plan when I hit FTL is to henna, like immediately :laugh:. I'll also have made my decision about bangs by then, I hope! But once the henna's done, I'm just gonna chill at FTL until I've grown out some of my damage/shed and my hem is a bit thicker. I don't want to make my decision of if it's too long or I want to go longer until I've got a bit more there, so I'm just gonna maintain for a while. I don't know if I want to try to go for knee, or if I want to go back to TBL (my favorite so far), and I figure it'd be easier to just wait a while and make a decision later instead.

And after that, I don't know! It'll be a few months before I'm at FTL, and then probably a couple years before I notice much difference in thickness, so I've got time anyway.

[Pouncequick]

I dunno. I'm kind of growing my hair out to have it at a length I enjoy. I experiment with routines to find a manageable routine I like. I spent many years getting the exact same haircut every 6 month or so. When I reach my goal length I'll probably just stay there. Maybe I'll start learning some new styles or keep experimenting with wash routines, but I don't really see myself getting bored with my hair anytime soon.

[JasminxCat]

Once I reach my goal (WL or Hip, still undecided) it will be the longest I've had my hair without layers, so I'll decide whether it's something I like and to maintain it, or chop it back to something more manageable or comfortable whether that means length or adding in some layers again

[lapis_lazuli]

After reaching my length goal (Floor), I know exactly what I'm doing: maintaining so I can cut out the last of the bleached ends. I'm anxiously looking forward to those gradual improvements. If I reach that ultimate goal of all virgin Floor length...I can't say for sure how I'll feel, but it's not in my nature to get bored of my hair. I've always been very singleminded about it, with rarely having impulses to change it up and certainly never acting on them. Above all, I haven't liked any previous length more than I like my current, and that's been consistently true as I've grown. If I'm able, I might even try beyond Floor at some point. But even if I simply maintain at my goal indefinitely, my hair is a part of me, and I'm always finding new ways to enjoy it.

[Glitch]

Congrats on reaching your goals!

Originally, I wanted to reach waist length as I was never able to make it past even APL my whole life. However, once I did, I wanted to go for hip length. Now that I've partially hit that, I'm already considering ~TBL :p So, as another member said, "I think I'll just go with the flow and see where it takes me" because who knows what'll happen. Once I've reached a length that I don't wish to grow beyond, I can imagine myself just maintaining it I suppose. But until then, I can't know for sure. :laugh:

[lapushka]

I'll never know this feeling with my track record lol

And nevertheless... it's in your own hands, Bat. I'm sure we're all rooting for you, but you know, from my perspective it's kind of funny. Each time you drop another bombshell on us (split dye, bleach, black, blue), I'm secretly LOL because I recognize this flip-flopping between dyes so darn well. I got it out of my system. Sure you can too. Little persistence and you can get far!

[DweamGoiL]

And nevertheless... it's in your own hands, Bat. I'm sure we're all rooting for you, but you know, from my perspective it's kind of funny. Each time you drop another bombshell on us (split dye, bleach, black, blue), I'm secretly LOL because I recognize this flip-flopping between dyes so darn well. I got it out of my system. Sure you can too. Little persistence and you can get far!

Absolutely agree with lapushka.

[bparnell75]

Dream girl, I am just popping in here to say that I am glad to see and hear from you again. I miss so many of the members who used to be around.
When you were doing Wear all your hair toys once, I faithfully checked in every day to see your post.
One thing I think I notice is that when many of us reach our goals we do not post as often. Also glad to see you are doing the
toys for those with few in their collections.

[thatsideoflife]

It makes a lot of sense to me to just go for gold all at once, meaning go for terminal. Because if I got to classic, or knee or something and chopped it off, it will take a long time to get back there. Like starting all over. I kind of feel that way about my relationship lol. Like I might as well see what happens instead of starting over with somebody else hahaha.

But, back to the point, my current goal is to get to waist and maintain until the ends are nice-nice. At the same time I have a feeling I will want to keep growing. So my "goal" really is open ended. In fact, it's more like I have set my goal based on what will for sure happen if I don't do anything. So I'm guaranteed to succeed lol. Is that cheating?

[DweamGoiL]

Dream girl, I am just popping in here to say that I am glad to see and hear from you again. I miss so many of the members who used to be around.
When you were doing Wear all your hair toys once, I faithfully checked in every day to see your post.
One thing I think I notice is that when many of us reach our goals we do not post as often. Also glad to see you are doing the
toys for those with few in their collections.

Thanks bparnell75. It's nice to have a bit of extra time to post again and mail out RAOK packages.

[DweamGoiL]

It makes a lot of sense to me to just go for gold all at once, meaning go for terminal. Because if I got to classic, or knee or something and chopped it off, it will take a long time to get back there. Like starting all over. I kind of feel that way about my relationship lol. Like I might as well see what happens instead of starting over with somebody else hahaha.

But, back to the point, my current goal is to get to waist and maintain until the ends are nice-nice. At the same time I have a feeling I will want to keep growing. So my "goal" really is open ended. In fact, it's more like I have set my goal based on what will for sure happen if I don't do anything. So I'm guaranteed to succeed lol. Is that cheating?

If it works, it works :)

[bokeh]

It isn't that I don't "enjoy the journey" but I really like it when I reach my destination. Waiting to reach my goal leaves me feeling a little unsettled. "Are we there yet!" Soon, soon...

I am almost at tailbone heading for classic. When I arrive at classic I will trim to maintain and (in the perfect world that I imagine) the birds will sing and all will be good in my world as I step out wearing my hair in a coronet braid like this: https://youtu.be/oSqkgWs9pfI

[DweamGoiL]

bokeh that is a gorgeous style. Please post you updo when you achieve it :)

[bokeh]

bokeh that is a gorgeous style. Please post you updo when you achieve it :)I will for sure DweamGoil but it's going to take awhile to get the length I need. In the meantime I will enjoy the Jamie Leigh which was the last style milestone I was waiting for and finally met.