For those who have grown long hair from very short hair, how did you handle it>>

[EggLover]

emotionally? Like if you felt unattractive and frumpy with the short hair?

This is me. I feel the short hair ages me 10+ years (I'm only 48). I think the reason I keep cutting is to deal with the negative feelings I have now. I just don't like it, but keep cutting to "have a style!" Thing is the style comes at a cost....damaged hair and ultimately low self-esteem. My hair is currently layered, chin length in back, with bangs and shorter layered pieces in front. It's not a great look lol.

However I'm committed to growing out my hair and this group has bolstered my resolve. I'll grow it as long as I can while still looking thick/healthy. It may just be a little below shoulders, but with good care who knows, maybe I could reach BSL or longer!

How do I get through the next year though? I feel unattractive and frumpy. What helped you most if you were in my boat?



(oh wanted to mention that I did a 50/50 henna/cassia treatment yesterday and do feel very good about that! It gives me the hair color I had as a child. So that's something)

[EggLover]

I can't edit yet, but that should say I'm only 48 lol.

[DropStitches]

I absolutely felt unattractive and frumpy during the pixie grow out phase! I think it’s such a contrast from having a sharp, freshly cut, shorter style - and my particular texture and thickness grew into an unappealing blob. I had planned on getting a series of interim haircuts, trimming the back and sides while the top bit grew out, but that coincided with hairdressers being closed during the pandemic, so I was stuck with the lumpy mullet for what felt like a geological age.

A little over a year into the grow out, the front bits were long enough for me to get a short bob, and that was a huge turning point for me. It’s been largely smooth sailing ever since. Good luck! You’ll get there!

[qnlizbeth]

I grew from a pixie to TBL and those first few milestones are definitely rough! I did a lot of styles like braided bangs or using headbands to keep it interesting and feel like I had "put effort in." I also used hats and hoods to help me ignore my hair. I also looked at inspo pictures when I felt like cutting it to remind me of my long term goal.



A little over a year into the grow out, the front bits were long enough for me to get a short bob, and that was a huge turning point for me. It’s been largely smooth sailing ever since. Good luck! You’ll get there!

I definitely agree that as soon as it was mostly all one length around chin, I could actually see the growth and it felt like real hair!

[Bat]

I feel ugly with hair shorter than collarbone yet I keep cutting it cause I'm addicted to coloring

[Kelp]

The stage you're at is one of the hardest for many people. I got through it with pretty hair clips to keep the layers back, headbands, head scarves, and a whole lot of self-confidence. No matter what, you can find a way to rock it!

I grew out from a pixie and am in year five of growth. I went from being long hair obsessed, to feeling hopeless and remorseful, to a frumpy young adult with other things on my mind, to dyeing again, and back to long hair obsessed again. It feels like it was just yesterday, but it was half a decade ago. Now I regret nothing about the chop!

In year five, this year, I realized my hair had grown longer than it had ever been in my entire life at mid back. Even with dye, I had done away with blow dryers, heat styling, and heavy products years ago and the benefits were actually showing right when I had least expected it. This was the push that knocked me back on track and reminded me of the goal I had set years ago. I found LHC, I found routines that work for me, and now I'm at a length that non-LHCers regard as "long."

It was daunting at first, but time passes by and eventually, I think long hair will just be something on the back burner for you as well! Work on building healthy hair habits, and you'll continue to do those during the years when hair isn't at the forefront of your thoughts. I hope you have a fantastic journey :)

[pumpkinsage]

This was me since 2011 haha. I wanted to have a cute pixie cut when I was in high school. First time, it turned out like a long bowl cut, HATED it but also loved that it was short finally. Got it cut short again with high lights so I could be blonde a year later. I liked the short hair at first but when I grew my hair out, it was completely damaged from straightening it every day and bleaching it. I had hair splitting and falling off my head and it looked so horrible but I.... kept destroying my hair and cutting it short for a few years.

Last year, I buzzed my head for the 3rd time and the reasoning behind it was man I just don't think I'd look good with long hair. But I haven't had MBL since 2008, so I forgot what I looked like with long hair. I would see it on my friends and on people online with long luscious hair and now I wanna grow it out as long as possible. I have a curly mullet so it's a bit easier for me to hide the layers. If I feel frumpy one day, I'll whip out my favorite wig or a headscarf and protect my hair! It really helped me get through the "I MUST CUT" phase. Now, even though I still have a mullet, I feel a bit better about my hair.

You can do it though!! Maybe playing around with styling your hair could help? Like having cute accessories - clips, headbands, hair scarfs, hats!! All of these helped me feel a bit more stylish and hide the parts I didn't like about my hair. It might help you too? Another thing you could try are clip-in or tape-in extensions? You can do them at home or get them done at the salon (the salon is PRICEY though). But do look into that and see if your hair is healthy enough to have them in. I don't think you'd wanna put them in if you have hair strands that are snapping.

I wish you the best luck and hope to hear more about your hair journey over the next year!! We're in this together :D

[GoatLady]

My grow out phase was easy because we were in lockdown for the pandemic. I just stayed home and grew my hair. I started at a chin length bob when covid hit and now I'm at my waist. The first year I mainly wore my hair in a high pony. That kept it up and out of the way.

[Arcticfoxes]

I had a pixie once just to try it and I did feel very unlike myself. It didnt look terrible, but I didn't feel right in my own skin. As soon as it got to chin length I felt much better. Just hang in there until that point. Then it'll be a lot easier. :)

[foreveryours]

Yes, damn the torpedos

[embee]

For me, the answer was fancy earrings. As soon as I could I tied my hair back so it didn't look so wretchedly uneven and mullety. It's a long hard phase, and one simply has to live through it I guess. Good luck.

[Ada-banana]

I cut a edgy fringe and rocked the half up, it didn't feel grumpy for me at all. Sometimes I miss it, not having hair anxiety and having so little hair that it didn't bother when it was down. A half up bun on top my head, was my hairstyle in my student time.

[mochichichi]

I had an awful grow out phase, but I kept going to salons semi-regularly and getting "I'm trying to grow it out, so keep the length but make it look good" cuts. It slowed down how long it took my hair to grow but that was the solution teenage me + my image conscious mother had.

You can also keep it up with bandanas/scarves/halfups and do a growing sprint until its long enough to tie back.

[TwilightMermaid]

I really hated my hair when it was short, so I made up for it by changing up my hairstyles-- as much as I could without putting it up, that is. I would tryout different fringe braids such as waterfall braids, and doing half-updos.

But once my hair was long enough for a ponytail it was always in one!

[hanne jensen]

When my hair was at that horrible stage of too short to put up but long enough to irritate and look frumpy I wore snoods. My snoods protected my hair and kept the hair out of my face. Snoods were fashionable back then in the early 00s.

[angel-baby]

Really short, baby pigtails. I tied them off at about jaw level, and each "tail" was like an inch

[WednesdayAddams]

Put something cute in your hair. A couple of cute clips.

[spidermom]

I made a pact with my hair stylist that she'd help me go from pixie to long, beautiful hair. She had me come back every 6-8 weeks for a little shaping up, and I went from short and layered to long and layered, ultimately to growing out the layers, then having them added back in. I would curl it whenever I was feeling like my style/mood needed a lift, also used a variety of lovely hair accessories like jeweled bobby pins and clips to twist strands away from my face and pin down. It's a process that seems to take forever when you're going through it, but when you reach your goal and look back, it will seem to have passed quickly.

[Artemisa]

I support and understand you completely. That feeling is very SLOWLY fading away. 2 years ago I shaved my hair and today Im at BTL, CBL when dry and curly. The last 2 years were really hard on me mentally, was very difficult, I wouldn't do it again but I'm proud I did it, it's a bittersweet situation. Two things that helped to easy the weird feeling is that I focus a lot on improving other aspects of myself, I shaved when I was 30 so I told myself I will work on my FABULOUS FORTHY, so I am working on a long time project, I am gonna have a lovely long curly hair when I turn 40, I am improving my sence on fashion, my identity, nails, reading books, working on my spirituality, etc. Distraction is the KEY on my experience.

[stardust lady]

My pixie to bob phase was also really difficult, especially because my starting point was a skin fade. I felt really unattractive and almost embarrassed by my hair. Some people began treating me differently and not in a good way, and that was eye-opening.

What helped me was doing lots of styling - I used waxes to slick down the sides and keep my hair looking more stylish while it was a pixie, and sometimes volume powder + hairspray on top for a pompadour look. I also used makeup and wore flashy earrings and fun styles. It was much more high maintenance than long hair, contrary to what people often say.

The hardest phase was the transition from long, grown-out pixie to bob, not only because it was a stressful time and I had a major growth stall, but also because my hair has a ton of volume and it looked seriously bad for about 6 months. At that point I just accepted being frumpy and ugly and it was totally OK. It was actually a useful experience, since I had to re-learn how to be confident while not feeling attractive.

[rosmarinus]

For me, it was attitude. Yeah I looked horrible, but I told myself: ***** it, it's just a phase, it will pass! And also, I was busy with taking care of my baby so.. he really helped me to not pay much attention to my hair :D

[BVU]

For me, it was attitude. Yeah I looked horrible, but I told myself: ***** it, it's just a phase, it will pass! And also, I was busy with taking care of my baby so.. he really helped me to not pay much attention to my hair :D

Yeah, I feel like you wouldnt have much time for judging your hair with a baby/toddler lol



From pixie to hip I wore a headscarf even more than i do now. I didn't want comments from the extended family then, whereas now I'll let it down near them. I also never paid attention to it, and just let it grow. Best thing you can do :)

[janice2348]

I’ve grown my hair out many times from a short cut over the years. For me, just leaving it alone and letting it grow was key. No cutting and no trimming for at least a year. You just have to get through that awkward transition. I like the head scarf idea. Headbands and clips go a long way towards getting through it.

[ArtOfNoot]

When I was moving through my "frumpy" lengths (I only like my hair above my collarbones and below my ribs so there was a lot of frump for me haha) I focused more on the feel of my hair. I went crazy trying new masks and treatments and oils. I really enjoyed the process of growing my hair. Also, shorter hair *seems* to grow faster so there is more motivation to grow hair when at shorter lengths IMHO; an inch on hair above BSL is much more obvious than an inch on hair past the bum.