Who here has successfully grown long from a buzzcut or pixie?

[Abacus]

I want to hear from the folks who have made the whole journey :) It's the journey I'm on, and probably a lot of people here are on.

What was your hair journey like? Why and when did you decide to go long? Did you have any major setbacks along the way? Were there any stages that felt hard? Were there stages that felt really fun or that you miss? How did you deal with wanting but not having long hair? When did it feel like you'd made it, and was it what you'd hoped it would be?

Tell me everything! I want enough stories to pass the time until I have long hair in 10 years.

[Bat]

Getting to chin is the hardest for me in 2020 I want from ear length to almost shoulder, then cut back to chin, in 2021 I grew from chin to cbl then shaved most off leaving the top but gradually dyed too much like usual and April 2022 I went completely bald end of May I shaved sides down I'm probably doomed to short hair hell.

Before my transition in 2016 I managed to get it brushing apl and for me that's when it felt long

I want long hair because it fits my aesthetic and I was always liked the long hair anime guys haha one-day I hope to get out of the rut I'm in

[olivetime]

I made a post like this at some point, I'm not sure how to find it but it will have more stories for you!

I've been lurking LHC since 2012, when I decided that one day, I would like to have long hair. Up until recently*, I just couldn't allow my hair to grow past a certain point. I shaved my hair off a handful of times, kept a pixie, made it to chin, would cut back to a pixie, which would lead to shaving it off again...I think anytime I took blades to my hair, it was in a time of wanting to feel more in control or needing less stimulation.

*December 2020, I shaved it off again with purpose (it felt different, emotionally) with the goal of not cutting it for a long time, understanding that it is a part of my healing journey, to just accept myself, no matter what my hair is up to. To try and respect my hair and it's growth as it's own entity. ALSO with the intention to take my healing seriously (Chronic anemia did a lot of damage physically and mentally) and watch my hair as a guide to my health.

Currently, 17 months of growing, not even a trim, I am just brushing APL for the first time in my adult life....after many many years of thinking "I'll just have short hair forever!"

It is a journey, after all! Everyone's story will be different and some people wont find it hard at all to grow and keep long hair and some of us will struggle until it's the right time with the right mindset ♡♡♡♡

I have an album showing my growth so far, feel free to sneak a peak!

[lapushka]

I have, but that was many moons ago. Before I came to this site, oh, even before the internet!

I let it grow out from a shave (few mm left) to a long bob and then onwards. Keeping the length short in back until the front sections all caught up. I did it this way several times, from a regular pixie about 3/4 times, and one more time from a shave (few mm left). I did it once without evening up the style, and that grew out super fast. Wish I had done it that way more times, it is more of an awkward stage in between, but then suddenly, it's long! You just gotta get past that hurdle.

[baanoo]

I have, twice - both times in the early-mid 2000s. The first time I kept growing out the front while keeping the back short and the second time took a bit more of a direct approach and let it go more or less all at once. I didn’t go straight into long hair either time, wandering my way along over a period of a few years. The hardest part for me wasn’t the growth to chin but from shoulder to apl. I always feel like shoulder is my least flattering length and I would get annoyed and cut back periodically which is….entirely counter-productive.

Edited to add: I actually did it one other time, in high school - I had completely forgotten about that one.

[illicitlizard]

Well, I'm not sure I'd say I've "made it" to long hair but here's my :twocents:

I buzzed at the start of 2018 at the start of a big life change, I've always preferred long hair but mine was so damaged from dark brown hair dye (over bleach, over purple dye, over pink dye) there was no way I could commit to growing it out. So I cut it off with the intent to grow it "long". Long was as long as it had ever been, about waist length or just past.

The journey was arduous for the first couple years, I'd never had short hair like that and I wasn't prepared for how much it didn't feel "like me". My only major setbacks were due to my preference for a blunt hemline, meant more trimming than strictly necesary for hair health. Super fun stages were everything past APL where every couple inches a new hairstyle became available - I was ecstatic when I could finally bun my hair again!

To deal with wanting long hair whilst not having it I spent a lot of time browsing this forum, and took to heart all the advice about patience, and tried my best to enjoy the journey (though at times I h a t e d it, I stuck it out). I've been really lucky in that I don't take out stress on my hair, and haven't had any health or hair related mishaps that have led to hair loss so it's been smooth sailing for the past couple years.

[Gwendolynn]

I have! I cut it into a pixie in 2017 and almost immediately decided to grow it back out again, missing my long hair. The hardest part for me was when it reached just beyond my shoulders, not being able to do anything with it (having bone straight, fine hair was most of the struggle) but it also not really doing anything on its own.

I cut off the grown out mullet part after quite a while (it was really nice having the extra length in the back for French braids) and since then I only have had a few trims (I think two?) to get rid of splits and unevenness partially caused by bleach but also layers growing out.

I absolutely loved the just above shoulder length, being able to move my head so freely and my hair moving around without really getting stuck anywhere was great. If not for the fact that I am really curious how long my hair is able to grow I might have kept it at that length.

Feeling like my hair was really short was most of my time, I could not wait until it was long enough for it to cover my whole back while leaning forward or feeling my plait hanging down my back. I mostly braided scarves in my hair from the moment I could. Having a few locs that are longer than my loose hair also helped. I often wore one long scarf like a single plait down my back just to enjoy watching my shadow when I would move around (I am a dancer and I really enjoy the look of plaits flying while turning).

I am now sort of at waist. Definitely not "done" yet but it finally feels somewhat long so I thought to reply here anyway!

I wish you a lovely hair growth journey, Abacus! and I hope you can find something enjoyable about every stage of length!

[Iyashikei]

Three and a half years ago I had that typical side part with undercut combo that was popular back then. I wanted to grow it out for a couple of years already, but I was unemployed and applying for jobs with awkward stage hair just didn't seem like a good idea. When I was finally sure I got a job I once forgot to go for a trim and when I noticed a month later I decided to grow it out. I was completely done with short hair anyway.

Fast forward to about half a year later I decided to go for a trim. I trimmed every three months, however this time my own hairdresser was on maternity leave so I had to go to a different one. I made the mistake to go to a barber and thanks to him my sides had to start from zero again! This was the only negative experience I have ever had when trimming. This postphoned the awkward length for me which, apart from some remarks from a co worker at the time, didn't bother me at all. It would have been different if covid didn't hit around that time because now we had a lockdown, and despite me working in an essential business I could just grow it out without much trouble so that when the first wave finally ended I could finally tie most of it up.

Right now I'm at APL and a bit bored with my hair. I grew it out in part because I wanted to experiment more with it, but I found myself just putting it in either a ponytail or a cinnamon bun. I grew a bit impatient about half a year ago too because shoulder to APL seemed like it took forever! I don't feel like my hair is long already but mid-back is my goal length for now. I realize that for mens standards my hair is actually on the longer side but still.

I wish you a fun time as you grow out your hair. Just remember to make it fun while growing it out because when you only focus on the end you'll regret it when you're finally there. Judging from your pics you got something nice going on already.

[neko_kawaii]

I’ve grown from buzzed once and pixie at least twice. Each time ending up at waist length before cutting a new style. The secret? Not thinking or caring about it while it grows. I had more interesting things to spend limited discretionary funds on, and maintaining a short style was never an option but getting it cut was a twice a decade indulgence which wasn’t something I had to consciously give up when I made the decision to grow past waist length.

The irritating stages are when it is long enough to get in your face but not long enough to put into a ponytail or braid (I didn’t learn to root braid my own hair until LHC). Small clips, headbands, scarves, etc all help keep hair out of the face. Once my hair was long enough to ponytail I stopped thinking about what to do with it and the rest of the time flew by without my noticing.

[Chromis]

My head was shaved for surgery. I really hated the whole growing out process! I trimmed up the back so the sides could catch up until it hit about shoulder and then let it grow out one length from there. I found I had to do some major trimming to get rid of splits and such a couple inches past BSL since I didn't want to cut it shorter than that since I could finally do things with it again! But in the very short stages, all I could do were little pony stubs and that made a lot of damage. This was before I found LHC so maybe with better styles I could have avoided it, but I always cringe a bit when people say that they want to cut to pixie to cut out all their damage! I had virgin hair though, never dyed or used heat, so I am sure that makes a difference. I did another large enough trim to be called a cut near tailbone to get the rest of the ponytail line out. I could actually see the line of damage from where I had last done them as it grew down. (And that was using soft ties with no hard bits and not "tightening" my ponies by yanking the two sides apart or anything like that)

[squirrrel]

I was pixied for almost two years: I got my first one in March of 2010 when I broke my upper arm. Summer 2012 my brother married and after a good few months of just not bothering to make an appointment it was cut to look reasonable for that. I think it grew out from there: that was my last professional cut. I have had trims that were supposed to be microtrims along the way but my next goal is mid thigh length now.

[Cg]

I've done it umpteen times over my lifetime, always cutting from knee-ish to pixie because the hair weight made headaches. Now that my hair is no longer the thick mane it used to be, the weight past knee isn't a problem, no headaches, so no more pixies planned ever.

The hardest part for me was accommodating the layers, until it was long enough to whack all one length. I probably own every style and color of mini claw clip ever made, trying to keep all those stray clumps out of my face.

I think you're right about the decade of growing. That seems to be about the average in this forum depending on your height and rate of hair growth.

[Corvana]

I want to hear from the folks who have made the whole journey :) It's the journey I'm on, and probably a lot of people here are on.

What was your hair journey like? Why and when did you decide to go long? Did you have any major setbacks along the way? Were there any stages that felt hard? Were there stages that felt really fun or that you miss? How did you deal with wanting but not having long hair? When did it feel like you'd made it, and was it what you'd hoped it would be?

Tell me everything! I want enough stories to pass the time until I have long hair in 10 years.

I cut my hair into a pixie myself in January of 2013. The shortest I'd ever had before that was chin length or so? But I'd been wanting it for a while, and finally went for it! It was also bleached and dyed pink and purple :laugh: I kept it either in a full pixie or in a "long pixie" or whatever for a year or so, then started to experiment with shaving the sides and back very short (shortest guard iirc?) and the top maybe 3 or so inches long? Then in 2016 I was like "I want a long mohawk!" and so I started to grow out the back of my hair, only shaving the sides. In like... March or so? Of 2016, the top of my hair was about jaw length!

But between then and March of 2017 I decided that no, I wanted all of my hair to be long, specifically like waist length I think. At the time my roommate had about waist length hair and I thought it looked so pretty, so that certainly influence me :laugh: I joined LHC in May of 2017 (my 5 year anniversary just passed, apparently!), with my hair shoulder length on the top and back and part of the sides. I basically had little layers because I'd stopped shaving them, and most were grown out to shoulder, where I was maintaining until it all caught up! It was fully caught up in October of 2017, so those few months were hard because I wanted to "really grow", but also needed to get those layers out.

And then I caught LHC-itis, and also found an old photo of me with nearly waist length hair which threw my "I want hair way long than it's ever been before!" idea right out the window. I think I first went to hip? For my next goal, but very quickly moved to TBL before settling on FTL.

It started feeling long at waist or so, I think? That was about when it was surprising me by being somewhere I didn't think it could be. It still does that now :laugh: But it didn't feel long enough for comfort until I think BCL? My scalp is sensitive a bit, so I'm very particular about how much my buns pull or tug, and I had to have them pulled tighter until about BCL or so than was truly comfortable for me for the long term. I actually even made a poll asking how long people wore their buns for, because I couldn't manage to for more than a few hours before getting a headache! But around BCL or so I could put it up and forget it existed at all.

I think that until I reached that point, after it was harder to keep my hair up with my claw clips and scrunchies in a comfortable way, it was quite difficult. I think that was probably the hardest stretch! I think it started at APL? Give or take. And I hit APL in April of 2018, and I hit BCL in like December-ish of 2019. But getting from shoulder to about BSL was I think the second most difficult because between it still didn't feel proper long to me and I was very impatient.

I technically hit my goal earlier this month, but I'm back at TBL now! During the pandemic my ability/desire to care about my hair (or anything tbh) went way down, so I was wearing it down a lot. And as you can imagine, that caused some damage! I also had a period of more shedding due to the stress and depression, so I lost quite a bit that way too, but only about a quarter inch of pony circ putting me back to what I had when in October of 2017 before I used different tools and techniques that didn't rip my hair out when I detangled. Getting that back will definitely take a very long time, probably 4 years before it's all back and the same length as the rest?

I think that was really my biggest set back! But trimming off those thin and abused ends has made a world of difference, even if my ends are still thinner than I'd prefer. Having to grow back to FTL (6.5" to go! lol) will take some time, and today I realized that I don't even know if I want to. At least not right at this second. Maybe later! Maybe never! I truly don't know. I'm just gonna chill, though, and care for my hair again and finally do that henna I've been dying (dyeing hehe) to do since I joined LHC. Then I'll reassess at some point and see what I want! I know that I can reach FTL, which takes this whole weight off my shoulders that I didn't realize was there.

I'm still surprised by how long it is, and lately of course I'm surprised by how short it is comparatively :rollin: I had a habit of running my hair down my arm and tugging it very gently in my fingertips to measure it, and now it only reaches to about my wrist! It's very jarring still, but in a nice way I suppose. When I go to bun, even though only my ends have really changed, it all feels just a tad thicker which is a very nice feeling. And TBL was my favorite stage the last time around, so it's nice to revisit it. Of course, with my waves and flippy ends it only looks BCL or so (a whopping five inches shorter), but still lol.

Whew, that's very long! But you did say to tell you everything ;)

[SelenVinland]

I had a fairly short pixie cut and decided to grow it out at the beginning of 2020 when all the hairdressers closed. The hard part for me was when it grew beyond the “weird bob” length but before it hit shoulder; it was long enough to get in my face, but too short to effectively pull back, and it was shapeless and just didn’t make me feel pretty, to say the least. I feel like there was this magic point once I got past shoulder where I stopped obsessing over my hair length because it was long enough to actually do things with it, and it was smooth sailing after that. Now it’s at MBL and I like it quite a lot, but I plan to let it keep growing :)

[TatsuOni]

I share my journey once a year. Here's the last thread :) https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=154291&highlight=growing+hair+years

[foreveryours]

Successfully from pixie? Nope :p

From buzz cut? That remains to be seen. I'm still working on it.

[KokoroDragon]

I cut my hair into a pixie at the beginning of 2017 and soon after started growing it back out. In December 2019 I chopped it back to barely longer than shoulder to cut out a bunch of damage, and haven't trimmed since. My hair is currently past hip, and still growing strong!

[SleeplessDreamr]

Hello there!
I kept my hair short (and dyed it every color of the rainbow) for years -- my hair grows very fast and can be a pain to manage, and truthfully I've always been a bit of a tomboy,
so when some kids stuck gum in my hair a little while just before middle school I decided to keep it short, usually in a layered bob. I rather liked it and it was practical since I was not only a sports kid,
but I also worked several part-time jobs through high school and college, and it made me feel more confident with who I was then.
I decided to grow my hair for charity in my junior year and just let it grow, cut it once at the start of nursing school, and let it start growing again about two years ago. :)
I plan to let it grow longer for fun and stopped dying it about three months back. :D
I tend to throw it up in a bun or braid it when I need it out of the way.
P.S: I've heard there is a running joke about cheese here - or there was- what is your favorite?
Mine's usually either goat cheese or Pepperjack. :toast:

[Beckstar]

Buzz to hip in less than 4 years. I just kept trimming split ends and wore it up. Took from 2008-2011/2012.

[momof3mary]

Hello there!
I kept my hair short (and dyed it every color of the rainbow) for years -- my hair grows very fast and can be a pain to manage, and truthfully I've always been a bit of a tomboy,
so when some kids stuck gum in my hair a little while just before middle school I decided to keep it short, usually in a layered bob. I rather liked it and it was practical since I was not only a sports kid,
but I also worked several part-time jobs through high school and college, and it made me feel more confident with who I was then.
I decided to grow my hair for charity in my junior year and just let it grow, cut it once at the start of nursing school, and let it start growing again about two years ago. :)
I plan to let it grow longer for fun and stopped dying it about three months back. :D
I tend to throw it up in a bun or braid it when I need it out of the way.
P.S: I've heard there is a running joke about cheese here - or there was- what is your favorite?
Mine's usually either goat cheese or Pepperjack. :toast:
Oh pepperjack for sure, but I'll take all the cheese.

[Kyamo]

I grew out from a buzz to waist the first time I was at LHC. (2005-2010)
2015 I cut to pixie.
I have now been growing from pixie since 2019. At APL now.
My least favourite stage is ear to shoulder. I hate long enough to get in my eyes but too short to put up. And the ends want to flip out.

[Reyn127]

I shaved my head about 11.5 years ago, and am now a little past mid-thigh. It wasn't until I was at about waist length (6-is years ago) that I decided to really focus on growing my hair longer than it had ever been before. I figured, if I had already been at the extreme on the short side, why not try to reach an extreme on the long side as well. And so my journey began

The hardest parts for me were:
1. Growing from pixie length to about shoulder length. As most people who have had short hair can attest, it's just an awkward length, every day is different, it never wants to obey, and it's hard to style. But that went by relatively fast.
2. After discovering the LHC, the first two-ish years I was here I tried soooooo many things, and experimented with things and made my routine so much different than it was before, and put so many restrictions on myself.... Although I learned a LOT about haircare, it was partly really stressful because I tried so many things and not everything worked even though I was determined for it to work. My advice here is just to try/change things slowly, and stick to what works. Try not to make drastic changes to your haircare just because it sounds cool or like it would be "ideal" in some way. Sticking to what already works for you, and kind of to the basics, probably won't hurt. Keeping your hair up/protected, doing S&D, avoiding large/often/unnecessary trims, and learning about the protein/moisture balance are probably the most important things to grow your hair long, IMO, and all the rest is just extra, IF you have the bandwidth for it. But most of all, don't stress yourself out with all the options.
3. Learning to handle hair past classic length has also been difficult-ish, but luckily it's a slow process and there's lots of support here.

For the FUN parts for me:
1. Learning new hair styles! There are sooo many cool things you can do with braids, and hair sticks, and the more length you have, the more you're able to wrap your hair all around your head in wacky patterns, and do impressive hairstyles without extensions/hairpieces.
2. Learning about ingredients in products - I know that above, I said it could be a little overwhelming, but I really enjoy being more knowledgeable about what certain ingredients are/what they do, and the ingredients that work for my hair. It helps me narrow down products that I think/know will actually work for me, when I go to buy something new with a certain goal in mind.
3. People are IMPRESSED by my hair, and they have been for a few years. A lot of us on this site have a skewed vision of what impressively long hair is, but in the real world, your average person can be really blown away by healthy hair of any length, or what we all see as "regular" long, or even of the different hairstyles that we can learn from others on here. I don't wear my hair down much but when I do, I get lots of compliments and that's one of my favorite things.

For me, one thing that really helped when I was feeling like I would never reach my goal length, is the hair length chart/spreadsheet that someone here made... There's a thread about it somewhere here, and although I heard that the chart isn't downloadable anymore/is broken, I'm pretty sure there are versions of it that someone still might be able to help you find. But basically its a chart that allows you to enter your milestone lengths, and you put in your current length and the date every so often, and it's built to be able to extrapolate how long it will take you to reach a certain length... It's super cool! Does anyone here have a link to the hair growth spreadsheet these days??

Anyway, I'm pretty sure that answers your questions and then some. The main thing is, just keep at it! If long hair is important enough to you, you'll get there eventually. It's a long term goal with slow progress, so the closer you get the more gratifying it can be, on a personal level. Good luck!!

[Abacus]

It's so awesome reading these stories! So many of you have gone through all the stages. Reyn127, that spreadsheet sounds amazing, I would love to find that if anyone knows where it is!

I think the longest my hair ever got was hip length, and this was in my childhood. I have memories of what it was like to brush it in the shower, and I just remember there was so much of it. But it's been bouncing between shaved and shoulder length for all of my adulthood. I always wanted super long hair again, especially now that I know how to take care of it. But that's the thing, I've always wanted extreme hair -- either extremely short or extremely long. These sort of everyday quotidian lengths just aren't exciting for me, and so having to go through years of having regular long hair before getting super long hair felt unbearable.

But now I'm going for it, and I'm really enjoying the process and it feels like it will be really gratifying one day to get to super long! And I think fun updos will really help me while away the time.

[Reyn127]

Abacus, I ended up just creating a newer link that should work, as all the old ones were no longer in use or needed permissions granted. It's near the bottom on page 17 of the original thread for the spreadsheet, linked right here: https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=36275&page=17

Let me know if it's not viewable for you, and I'll see what I can do.

[paulownia]

I had a pixie in 2016 and now I'm somewhere between APL and BSL;). Now, I don't consider my hair long - not by LHC standards :p - but its the longest I ever had so I think it's a success.
What helped? Reading this forum, putting the scissors down, learning updos and braids and just patience and perseverance.
The most difficult stage was getting past shoulder. My hair looked awful in this length like 80 % of the time :D

[hannabiss]

I've shaved to the scalp twice. 2013, and 2016. I grew to MBL in 3 years after my 2013 shave.
This time (since 2016) I've had many trims and solid hair cuts. I'm just now passing waist. Which still isn't too bad for 6 years of growth.

[Laurel Rose]

https://i.imgur.com/0zkwlUA.jpg?3

These were taken approximately 11 years apart. The left (my old ID photo lol) is with the black dye that urged me to buzz the sides/back but leave 1-2" on top. and the right is current

The most difficult stage was between the short length above and a chin length bob. I had the urge to buzz it ALL off a few times a week. My favorite moment of growing it out was a 6 or so months after the buzz when I went outside on a gusty day. I stood there for a while just enjoying the feeling of my hair actually moving with the wind. My least favorite was probably the ponytail nub with face framing pieces that simply refused to stay in the elastic.

I stayed between CBL and APL until 2016 when I decided to use a "semipermanent" red dye that was... permanent. I eventually cut that dye out too while using deposit dyes. When the semi dye was all cut off I decided to finally leave it alone. Around BSL I could easily bun it with a stick and just let it grow with minimal trims until I hit BCL. I experienced headaches so I cut 6 or so inches off last November and now I'm back to below BCL with no headaches, but post-COVID shedding reduced my thickness around 20% so I'm hoping to get to classic or beyond before I have to have a big trim again.

[Bat]

I'm working on it

[thatsideoflife]

Was just reflecting on how I used to have short hair for a long time. I buzzed in 2014, now I am waist length. Shoulder length was definitely the hardest, because my curly ends were always loose and unprotected.

[DropStitches]

I wouldn't say I'm 'long' yet (somewhere between APL and MBL currently), but I am growing out from a buzzcut - last buzzed September 2019, so three years ago. By far the worst stage for me was between pixie and being able to cut it into a chin-length bob - when shorter, my hair flips out every which way, leading to a time when I looked like a comma:

https://i.imgur.com/7amvlH9s.jpg

Between pixie and chin I was pretty unhappy, and obsessive about my hair - how quickly was it growing? When could I expect to be out of this frumpy purgatory?! Post chin-length bob, everything has been more or less plain sailing - I'm excited to see how long I can grow it, but I don't mind overly how long that journey takes.

In the past, I have grown out various short cuts multiple times, and a buzzcut once before - though never made it beyond MBL. Looking back, what helped for me in the early, awkward stages was being busy with other life stuff so that I didn't have time to stress about my unsightly hair - and getting the mullet trimmed (I know opinions on this vary, but on me, it looked awful!). Good luck!

[zhivago]

Yes, been there done that.

What was your hair journey like? I had a pixie in 2018-2019 and started growing my hair around 2019, before I did a blunt chin-length cut on January 01 2020 and decided to go from there.

Why and when did you decide to go long? I decided to go long on that day in 2020 because I just fancied it. There wasn't much deep introspective thought going on.

Did you have any major setbacks along the way? Nope.

Were there any stages that felt hard? Nope. It just kinda grew and grew and grew.

Were there stages that felt really fun or that you miss? Probably the bit around neck-shoulder length when I'd first started putting it into half-buns and such after having it too short to do any styles with for a long time.

How did you deal with wanting but not having long hair? Just had to yolo it, it isn't like I could make it grow by snapping my fingers.

When did it feel like you'd made it, and was it what you'd hoped it would be? It's starting to feel like I've made it now (am currently largely at waist length, which is a new length record for me and was my first major length goal) and it is better than I had hoped it would be. I never had hair past about mid-back at the very longest, and had had hair shroter than shoulder length for most of my life, so it's a fun journey and it's unexplored territory for me. Feeling my hair touching my elbows when I wear short sleeved tops is a new thrill.

[lapushka]

https://i.imgur.com/0zkwlUA.jpg?3

These were taken approximately 11 years apart. The left (my old ID photo lol) is with the black dye that urged me to buzz the sides/back but leave 1-2" on top. and the right is current

The most difficult stage was between the short length above and a chin length bob. I had the urge to buzz it ALL off a few times a week. My favorite moment of growing it out was a 6 or so months after the buzz when I went outside on a gusty day. I stood there for a while just enjoying the feeling of my hair actually moving with the wind. My least favorite was probably the ponytail nub with face framing pieces that simply refused to stay in the elastic.

I stayed between CBL and APL until 2016 when I decided to use a "semipermanent" red dye that was... permanent. I eventually cut that dye out too while using deposit dyes. When the semi dye was all cut off I decided to finally leave it alone. Around BSL I could easily bun it with a stick and just let it grow with minimal trims until I hit BCL. I experienced headaches so I cut 6 or so inches off last November and now I'm back to below BCL with no headaches, but post-COVID shedding reduced my thickness around 20% so I'm hoping to get to classic or beyond before I have to have a big trim again.

That's amazing, and IMO it looks great now! Such smooth pretty hair! :)
You can't quite see that when it's so short.

[SandyBottom]

I just read through this entire thread and really enjoyed hearing everyone's stories! I've never had a buzz/pixie/shave so this was en eyeopener. Good idea, Abacus