Losing my patience! growing out from pixie cut ..

[Demetrue]

I can hardly stand it any more. I've been growing my hair out from a pixie type boy cut since June 17th 2007. It got damaged along the way by different attempts at coloring and highlighting. It's been half gray since I was in my 20's and I have always colored it dark blonde, which was my original color, and then added some highlights around the face. Because of the damage, I have had to cut off half and inch here and there as it grew. So it has been one year and a half and - I still have short bangs, the side pieces are to my cheeks and the back part is a bit longer than chin length. Between being low thryoid (on medication), damage from coloring, and perimenopause, it is barely growing. I was sure it would all be shoulder length by this time. I have a long oval shaped face, so it just takes forever to get past chin length. It's just so hard to keep waiting and waiting and still not have the long hair I desire so much. When I was younger, it was classic length and seemed to grow so fast - of course I was not coloring it back then. I'm not sure what to do or not to do next. I was thinking of using Color oops to get all the color out and then just use a semi-permanant color for a while. I just don't feel ready to go gray right now - I had a child in my 40's and when I let the gray show, people mistake me for his grandmother. Anyway, I just feel so frustrated and I fear that I will never be able to grow my hair out.

[joyfulmom4]

:grouphug: Hugs.

Sorry you're experiencing such frustration. Hang in there. There are members here who've grown out from pixie length to very long. You can do it too. The time just seems to go so slowly when you're measuring hair growth.

Otoh, compare that to how quickly the time passes as your son grows. You'll have long hair before you know it when you think of it that way. :)

[Darkhorse1]

You may be getting more length than you think. When I was growing out the majority of my bangs, I always felt I was hitting a 'stale mate' and then I realized they were growing just fine, but got bulky first. You'll notice by the new year, you'll have more growth than you realize.

A few questions--does your hair grow fast? Does your families' hair grow fast(your parents). That will help you know how long it will take your hair to grow out. I am very fortunate that my parents both have fast growing hair. That was a huge help, as I LOVED long hair.

[spidermom]

It sounds like you want to keep coloring it, so I advise you skip the Color Oops and do the roots only with the most gentle hair color you can find. Or go to a hair stylist for color.

Sometimes hair growth will be very slow for awhile, then speeds up. Have patience and take the best care of your hair that you can. Odds are good that it will get long eventually.

I've been growing mine with lots of trims for 7-8 years now and am setting no speed records.

[serenitygal]

If you're thinking semipermanent, you might consider the Clairol Professionals Beautiful Collections line. I use that, as I like my hair a few shades darker than my natural medium brown. My hair will usually be a little dry after coloring, but if I add a little Whipped Pudding or shea butter or a light oil to an overnight braid, the dryness will be gone and the color and shine will remain. You could do much the same moisturizing idea, I would think, in two french braids rather than one until your hair grows out a bit.
Color Oops is, I understand, extremely drying. I wouldn't suggest using it unless you absolutely HAD to. Could you just color over your current color with a semipermanent color, or would there be to strong a demarcation (sp?) line?
I know how frustrating the growing process is. I grew from a really short (think 2-3" long all over) cut, and am now just about at BSL after almost 3 years at LHC. Try to avoid trims for as long as you can (I didn't trim for a year--hair looked, to be honest, awful, but it was longer), put it back in headbands or clips or what-have-you when you can, and try to forget about it for a while. It WILL grow.
:hugs: :flowers:

[ChloeDharma]

It's so frustrating growing out from very short. I grew mine out from a crop when i was 23, but luckily my hair was more curly back then and at times almost styled itself into something funky....though other times no matter what i did it was a complete mess.
I've also been growing out mechanical damage (from extensions) and chemical damage from colouring since a few months before i joined here and only this year chopped the last of it off.
I agree with the others to avoid something to strip out the colour you have if you can or you will just have more damage to grow out and possibly cause breakage slowing down your growth gains even more.
Ktani has found Catnip good for colouring her hair (and improving growth) so you might want to check out the "catnip for split ends" thread in the herbal/natural haircare board. Apparently cassia leaves a yellow stain on the hair too and has the benefit of being very conditioning.....there is an article on herbal hair colouring that might be helpfull to you in the articles section.
Have you tried oiling and scalp massage? I find these help my hair growth and hair condition enormously, and i think the ritual of scalp massage done with intent helps mentally with the growing process.
If you decide to stick with chemical colours then i'd try to not use anything stronger than a semi-permanent 8-10 washes.....a colour depositing only one....nothing with peroxide (even colours to go darker contain peroxide to allow the pigments to be deposited inside the hair if they are permanent).
The good thing is, once you get past this bit and can tie your hair back it becomes MUCH easier and you can largely just throw it up, forget about it and enjoy the new lengths as they come.

[Debra83]

I too have been learning patience in growing out my hair. It seems to take forever once you decide you are going to do it. Just remember to take hair vitamins, and msm. MSM helps to keep the "grow" phase of your hair "turned on" like when you are pregnant. Also, for colouring, have you considered henna? It conditions as it colours and there's a website where you can get particular colours...ie. blond, brunette, red, and the shades in between. I got my brunette colour there and it covered my gray hair amazingly well. People at work commented on it immediately and I noticed how it made my hair sooo soft and fuller right away. Hope this helps...:)

[Melisande]

I second and third the essential oil massages that have sped up my growth noticeably, the MSM that I try now for a month and hope will give me growth, and the plant dye. Chemically colored hair suffers from the process, naturally colored hair is strengthened by it.

Keep the stress on your hair to a minimum. Don't think style, think care. No trims, no damaging practices anymore. Accept that you are going to look a bit unusual during transition, and buy a stock of clippies and bobby pins to change your look a bit. Already a few months make a difference. Once you get to over-shoulder length, the rest of the journey is much much easier.

But to get there is not easy. The shortest I ever had my hair was an ear length bob .. which is easier to grow out because there are no layers.

Wishing you success! Don't lose patience, and don't cut.

[Katze]

When my hair was short (bob) I started playing with barettes, finger waves, headbands, stub ponytails, etc. to change the look.

It is really frustating to know you want long hair but have to wait. I've been here for over 2 years and my hair is still 'short' by LHC standards. The ends still look ratty and thin. But overall, my hair is in completely different condition than it was. Better care, including stopping bleaching and dyeing, has really dramatically improved my hair.

As a fellow (former) dye head, I can also say that while it is hard to stop dyeing your hair, it is worth it. You might want to consider herbal dyes instead (though you can't get blonde with herbs, sorry) - Nightshade has written a wonderful article, which you can find here:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=7

Your hair WILL grow, and if you take good care of it, it WILL be happier. It all depends on how much you are willing to do. If you aren't ready to stop dyeing, then you should find other ways to maximize your hair's health, such as extra moisture treatments, oiling, etc.

Good luck!

Katze

[Scrofula]

Hang on in there! I'm growing mine out from very short too and I understand how frustrating it is. Measuring growth for me is a bad idea because I start to obsess about progress or lack of it ;) so I'm on a seasonal measure and trim schedule.

I'm going to trim once every 4 months, if I want to..I'm approaching mt first trim date but am wavering because I can actually see growth and am loathe to chop it off!

I'm going to measure after each trim and not otherwise, that way I'll see definate progress at each trim and measure session.

Sorry you are struggling right now, but with patience and pampering I'm sure you'll reach your goal in time :hug:

[Curlsgirl]

I don't like gray on me either. I like a light to medium blonde. I decided I was going to have to spend a little more to keep my hair healthy and keep the haircolor like I want it. I started going to an Aveda salon about 8 months or so ago. I have quite a bit of gray (almost all of it on top of my head) and I get highlights/lowlights every few months to help it blend in. I also get something called a toner every month to help in between times. They never touch the length with any kind of color, just the roots. My hair is in very healthy condition once I trimmed off the old damage from where I tried to do it myself shudder:

[lora410]

I have no advice to offer, but I can tell you color opps will not remove any type of bleaching dye (such as blonde)

[joyfulmom4]

I too have been learning patience in growing out my hair. It seems to take forever once you decide you are going to do it. Just remember to take hair vitamins, and msm. MSM helps to keep the "grow" phase of your hair "turned on" like when you are pregnant.

May I ask, what is MSM? And what type of vitamins do you take? I take a number of supplements regularly anyway, but I don't know what's supposed to be good for hair. Thanks.

[Nightshade]

Demetrue- I'm sorry you're so frustrated with your hair! In addition to the herbal dye article that Katze linked, you may also want to check out the damaged hair article; it's linked along with the other articles in my siggy.

For your color, have you considered cassia? It imparts some golden blonde tones, and is a great herbal conditioner. You can read about cassia in both the herbal and the henna articles, and also there's a whole thread dedicated to it over here (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=406).

One of our members, lynnala, colors her gray hair with cassia. It rinses out eventually, but it's really good for your hair:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/image.php?u=14297&type=sigpic&dateline=1205917454


ETA: If you're interested in essential oils to help with hair growth, check out this thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=2001). It's got a lot of mixes and information. Oils can make hair color fade faster, though.

Best of luck :flowers:

[nicolezoie]

Granted I was a kid when I did it, but I grew my hair out from a pixie. It took 2 years to get it to one-length shoulder length, and another 4 to waist length. Just be patient, and other than general maintenance, ignore it. It will grow in spite of you. :)

[brok3nwings]

i dont know what to tell you exactly but i think that probably you are getting too ansious about it so it would seem its not growing. If you have been trimming reguraly is normal that it doesnt show longer... i think you should use only semi permanent colouring and stop highlighting or using high peroxide levels.

[Anje]

Hang in there. It will grow, but I agree with the others that you should probably stop using a permanent hair color. Most of those (particularly the blond ones) contain considerable amounts of peroxide to lighten any dark hair in the process of dying it. If you're going over the ends each time, it's probably causing considerable damage and preventing you from seeing results quicker.

Go to a no-peroxide (ideally deposit-only) hair color like a semipermanent (or cassia!), and I think you'll eventually see improvement, though the damaged hair will remain damaged.

Good luck!

[burns_erin]

I understand it is frustrating, just hang in there. As for the grey, you might check with your doctor to see if there might be anything missing in your diet that is excacerbating the grey. My mom found out she was deficient in b vitamins and once she got those in her diet the amount of her grey drastically decreased.

[Demetrue]

Thanks for all the ideas and support! I have not tried oiling in a very long time. I think I will start doing that every weekend. My mom's hair went gray very early and she always seemed to have trouble growing it long. It looked very pretty when she was young, though. My main goal will be not to trim any more for a while, no matter how much I want it to look "perfect". I think I will try to stop looking at it in the mirror so much and analyzing what I don't like! I think if I can get the side piece down to shoulder length (6-8 months) and can pull it all back, that will really be the turning point.

[Islandgrrl]

I'm growing also from pixie (ugh) for 3 years, and really because of all the layers you have to have extra patience. Everyone's given you great suggestions. It will grow. Honest. And one day you'll wake up and realize that you have long hair and the wait was worth it.

Oh yeah....I'm a little older than you, too.

[Demetrue]

I guess my new mantra will be "long hair by age 50"!

[~GypsyCurls~]

I eventually would like to have hair at least past my bum (like I used to)...it will take at least two years though! You just gotta do the best you can, I guess...and enjoy the process!

[kdm310911]

It's tough growing out a pixie cut more than most cuts like bobs and such because a pixie has soo many layers and different lengths that lead to it looking wispy, mullety, flippy, weird, etc.

My advice, and what tends to work for me, is keep trimming the bottom area often. Keep it relatively short (about chin or just below chin length) so that the top layers catch up, then let it all grow out. It will be a lot less nasty and mullety.

[wintersun99]

.................

[Demetrue]

Wow - I just found the catnip rinse thread - that sounds like something that might be extremely helpful in my hair growing journey. I think a trip to the pet store is in order!

[rapunzhell13]

I actually found that not trimming the back was the best way for me to grow, because the sooner I can put my hair up the more likely I am to push past the awkward stage. It's taken me less than a year to be able to put it up in a ponytail and it would be taking me a lot longer if I kept trimming the back. It didn't look like a mullet to me, but you can always wear accessories to cover up until you get to the ponytail stage. :twocents:

[DecafJane]

I actually found that not trimming the back was the best way for me to grow, because the sooner I can put my hair up the more likely I am to push past the awkward stage. It's taken me less than a year to be able to put it up in a ponytail and it would be taking me a lot longer if I kept trimming the back. It didn't look like a mullet to me, but you can always wear accessories to cover up until you get to the ponytail stage. :twocents:

That is exactly what I have been going through, too. If you are happy with your hair up until it gets to a longer length, not trimming will get you there faster - it kept me happy. :) Also, if you have thick and wavy hair then trimming to one length before APL or BSL will just result in a fine head of mushroom hair. ;)

[Debra83]

May I ask, what is MSM? And what type of vitamins do you take? I take a number of supplements regularly anyway, but I don't know what's supposed to be good for hair. Thanks.
I take a multivitamin that contains b50's in it as a base(there are 12 or 13 b vitamins that work together), I've added 3mg of folic acid (because they never include enough in the multi's), I've added separate vit e (natural source not lab made), vit a, vit c, calcium/magnesium supplement (because you need both for the c to work), omega 3-6-9 cuz they are healthy fats, - these I've been doing for about 17 years - daily - most recently I've added a silica (horsetail) supplement and Holista's hair, skin, and nails, and once again MSM (msm is the ash formed from veggies breaking down - and is found in all sorts of cells and body parts - especially good for hair too). You have to be careful not to take too much vit a, especially if you don't take a lot of vit e or c. (I'm at about 20,000 per day not including food sources). I'm turning 44 next month, and still have all my parts - teeth - organs - you name it. The only thing they haven't help with is my bank account!!!! I've also turned off any heat (blow dryer, straightener, etc), and started slathering a conditioner on my hair 3 - 4 times a week in the evenings that has oodles of oils, and is made by Botanical Therapeutic - with a money back guarantee guaranteed to help with 7 scalp ailments (I don't have any anyway). It's call Tree Essence Daily Moisturizing Conditioner - and no,I'm not a rep!!! The first time I grew my hair long really fast, 9 months, from chin/shoulder to waist while I was pregnant (still taking vitamins), cut it off after the baby to ears and grew it again in less than a year to same length. Hoping for same this time, but I'm working with no pregnancy! People at work have already commented 3 weeks from the decision to grow and no more trims or fooling with it or chem dyeing it. Also, after Henna treatment, good comments. Phew, hope this helps. Keep me posted!:rolleyes:

[peachy.pudding]

Don't worry we have all been there, the best thing is to leave it alone and just forget it, don't dye, cut etc etc. If you want six inches per year just leave it alone, once you can ut it in a ponytail you can forget it even more. I think sometimes growing long hair is not about patience but about not touching, changing it etc, just let it do its thing say to yourself i will not cut or dye until a certain date and when yo reach that date then make another decision. I have not cut my hair in years and it grows happily, i do have side swept bangs which i enjoy shaping trimming etc but as for the rest i just let it grow, if it has damage, dryness whatever i still wont trim, because as long as it is growing i am happier than if it got shorter.

[julya]

Growing from a pixie can be so frustrating! I did trim every couple months when I was growing out a pixie.

I wanted to recommend cassia to you also. I started using it a few months ago, and I really like what it does for my hair condition wise. And it does impart a bit of a golden tone to my dark blonde hair, especially if I leave it in for a few hours.

[paper]

I let mine grow to shoulder length. Then kept trimming the back while maintaining shoulder length. After 14 months, my back is one length. :cheese: I have about 1 inch of layers left on sides.

Good luck! I know it takes alot of patience!

[Demetrue]

Well, I'm really excited after my first catnip treatment! Somehow it made my hair feel more substantial - it had more texture and was not slippery like when I use conditioner, but when it dried, it had this strength and smoothness that it usually does not have. I think the catnip rinse/treatment may be one of my answers on this quest. I have never tried cassia, but that is the next thing I plan to look into.