Newbie Desperately Needs Advice

[shortgoinglong]

Hi all :)

I am new here and in really need of advice. I had long hair my entire life as my family was ultra conservative and would not allow me to ever cut it. Of course, as soon as I left home, I had to rebel and chop it off into a super short pixie cut full of layers. :(Well, it was kind of refreshing for a few years not to have to deal with super long, super thick hair all the time. Now, however, I am begining to miss being able to put my hair back and do fun things with it. Plus, it just made me feel feminine somehow. The problem is that my hair is FULL of layers because I liked to gel the layers up. So, if I just let it grow, won't the top be a lot shorter than the bottom layers? I am not striving for super long hair just perhaps below the shoulders. My hair grows super fast and as it grows out, the layers start sticking out all over like a mad scientist! lol :silly: Has anyone else grown out from a layered pixie and any tips? Thank you.

[Shorty89]

I personally didn't start from very short, but there are many members who did. There is somewhere - I cannot for the life of me find it right now - a good article for those starting from short. I'll keep looking for it.

[Tabitha]

Hi and welcome!

I grew out from a boy-short pixie that had loads of layers. I went for regular trims to keep it looking reasonably OK, with the collaboration of my wonderful hairdresser who took off the minimum each time to make it into some kind of shape. There is a stage where it's a bit difficult to deal with but once the shortest layer reached the nape of my neck, it was fine from there.

[Spike]

Welcome to the boards!

Yup, growing out from a short cut (with or without layers) will mean some time with an Albert Einstein 'do. The top has longer to grow to get even with the bottom.

Here are your choices:

1. Trim regularly to lessen the bushies and get the layers out. This will mean it takes more time to get to goal length, of course.

2. Bobby pins are my friends--pin the layers out of the way, use barettes and other clippy toys to gain some semblance of control while you wait for the short parts to get to goal length--then whack it off blunt at goal.

Hang in there! Ear to shoulder is the PITS, but it will end.

[Silver & Gold]

I've grown my hair from that length several times actually. The main thing (as Tabitha said) is just to get trims to shape it as you go along. Once you get to the place where you can put it up you can ignore the shape for a while if you wear it up a lot.

[CindyLea1]

Welcome!

I grew out a very nasty layered cut years ago. My cut was more of a very short boys "bowl cut". The one that looked like the barber put a bowl upside down on the head and shaved everything that stuck out from under it. To "fix" this cut my mother layered the top, and shaved the bottom! I still have trauma from this 'do.

Anyway, when I finally got to growing this monster out, I used lots of gel, and mousse to keep the shorter pieces down. I also tied bandanna around it, either as wide headbands, or as 'do rags covering the whole head.

Between those two I made it to the point that I could finally ponytail it with a few bobby pins to hold the front pieces in.

I did do a few very small trims here and there, to keep it in some sort of shape, untill the top parts reached about my ears. One final trim to even it all out into a bob, and I swore off scissors, for years.

I would also suggest you keep an eye on the protein and moisture levels in your hair. I use a moisturizing shampoo and condistioner, and I apply Queen Helene's placenta packs to my hair once a week. But, you may or may not need all this.
You can check out this link in the articles.
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=44

It helped me figure out what I needed.

Given, that you say your hair grows fast, you ought to be past this awkwards growing out stage quickly. Best of luck to you!

[LutraLutra]

There's plenty of people here who have grown, or are currently growing from a pixie or even buzzcuts. Some people like to leave their hair to grow, I prefered to keep having the hair at the back and sides shaped every 6-8 weeks, otherwise I grew an instant mullett. Ouch. If you really, really hate layers then you could grow your hair into a super short 1920s bob, once you've reached that stage you can just let it grow. HTH.

[redhead_rachel]

When I started growing out my layered pixie, I learnt to french braid (it was also an insomnia occupation).
The top section grew quicker than at the back (and it was longer to start with) For ages I kept the top double french braided, and as my hair grew, my braids got further down the back of my head. I was soooooo proud the first time I managed to braid all the way down the back of my head! (even if it was tied in 2 little stubs at the bottom at my nape!)

French braiding helped keep all my wild ends relitively tidy and respectable looking and stopped me using heat on my hair so much during the mophead stage!! It really helped my hair health and growth during that first stage- in my 6 week summer holiday, I went from pixie- chin length :)

[jojo]

I have grown out from a pixie/bob which was heavily layered. I refused to have mine trimmed until i could put it up. Therefore I went 2 years without a trim.

I am now bsl 3 years later and although I had messy hair for 2 years, Im glad I stuck to my guns and didnt get it cut.

[smilinjenn71]

I'm currently growing out a pixie cut.

To keep my sanity, I get a trim (dusting of ends) every 8 weeks. Last time I had 1/2" cut off the back because I was getting the mullet look and I just couldn't deal with that. I will most likely get the back trimmed up again in a few weeks, again, to avoid the mullet. For me, if my hair looks unkept or off balance, the temptation would be too great just to whack it off again. So this plan is working for me.

Good luck! Feel free to look at my album. I started growing in July.

Jenn

[Lisa Marie]

I would just echo the comments here and say regular trim. I think to a certain extent there's no avoiding a little awkwardness here and there.

[viking_quest]

I grew out a Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby haircut. I just let it grow (mainly because I hadn't decided what I was going to do with it) until the mullet looked too bad, then I cut the bottommost layer and haven't cut it since.

[spidermom]

I've grown out very short cuts a number of times and got regular small trims to keep my hair shaped up in a semblance of style. A curling iron was my friend back in those days - OUCH! My poor hair. Hopefully all those burned ends have been cut off by now.