How did you grow it??

[hazelnut]

I'm new to the boards and as I look at all of your guys' pictures I'm both in awe and envy. Your hair is so long! I'm a girl that's wanted waist length hair since I was 10. I really want to know what you guys do to retain length and make your hair healthy enough to grow. My hair is 3c (with 3b and 4a mixed in), it's pretty thick, and to my shoulders right now. Any advice would be great. (I still straighten my hair, but I'm experimenting with my God-given curls this weekend. And I'm planning on going natural from here on out.) Any advice would be great. Please help.

[CindyLea1]

NEVER CUT IT! Trim it here and there yes, but never a "cut"

Be careful with it. Keep it from snagging on shoulder straps, brush softly..ect.

No heat, no hairspray, actually I only use shampoo and conditioner.

Most importantly--Have patience!

Read around the board. Check out the articles section for some good places to start.

[angelthadiva]

Hi! :waving: Welcome!!

I wear it up and forget about it...That's what worked best for me!

[LHGypsyRose]

Welcome!:)
Like Cindy Lea said..don't cut it. Do your best not to be tempted by the latest hair trends. If you get bored with your hair, instead of cutting it maybe try something new like a hair toy. Treat your hair like it is another body part, you want to take care of it, keep it safe and definately don't want to cut it off!:D Oh and oiling can help too.

[darkwaves]

Hair grows.

Patience helps.

[mira-chan]

Just about the same as above. Put it up and forget about it. I'm also allergic scissors. :p No heat, or chemicals way too lazy to bother.

[shaybabe8604]

Cool, we have similar hair types! My hair was bsl about two years ago but I was relaxing, dying, flat ironing, etc., and it broke horribly up to just below my shoulders. When it was at its longest, I was wrapping and tying it with a silk scarf and wearing it up most of the time... I decided to stop relaxing and just did the big chop a week ago...(now its only 3 inches... :( ). Hopefully this time now that I will be taking much better care and being more gentle it will grow longer and healthier...

[LHGypsyRose]

I'm new to the boards and as I look at all of your guys' pictures I'm both in awe and envy. Your hair is so long! I'm a girl that's wanted waist length hair since I was 10. I really want to know what you guys do to retain length and make your hair healthy enough to grow. My hair is 3c (with 3b and 4a mixed in), it's pretty thick, and to my shoulders right now. Any advice would be great. (I still straighten my hair, but I'm experimenting with my God-given curls this weekend. And I'm planning on going natural from here on out.) Any advice would be great. Please help.

By the way, whats the longest your hair has been?
Don't be envious..your hair will grow, and I'm sure it is already beautiful the way it is.

[spidermom]

Figure out a quick updo that you can do without even looking in the mirror. Sometimes you will be frustrated with your growth. It is best not to even look at the length during those times.

[Unnamed]

Patience. No giving into impulses. If you want to cut think of something else you can do (hair or otherwise--new clothes, a day to pamper you, etc.).

No heat, hairspray/harsh products, dye will all help hair stay healthier as it grows. Basically just being gentle.

More patience. (More or less ignoring it/putting it up and forgetting about it most of the time works pretty good.)

And the big one: Don't cut it. Either do a ban on cutting for a year, say, or cut way back on trims -- less often and much less trimmed off. AKA don't trim unless it's necessary to either rid damage or change the shape or thickness of the hemline.

[hazelnut]

By the way, whats the longest your hair has been?
Don't be envious..your hair will grow, and I'm sure it is already beautiful the way it is.
Thank you. :) My hair was to my breasts before, but I was going to this hairdresser at the time (I also didn't know she had no idea what she was doing at the time either. :() So after going to her for about a year I started to notice a lot of my hair was coming out. Before I knew it, my hair was almost to my shoulders. I don't go to a salon at all anymore. I do my own hair now. My main goal, however, Is for it to be waist length.

[Nyghtingale]

Welcome aboard!

[Paliele]

You mentioned you have curly hair, so it may take a while to notice an increase in length due to "shrinkage". But it can still be done with time and patience--good luck!

[patience]

Lots of patience:D

Good luck on your journey to long hair. Just relax. Don't mess with it too much and let it do it's thing.

[nicolezoie]

Seek out and purchase a copy of "Curly Girl." It gives all kinds of advice that emphasizes the key point of healthy curly hair, MOISTURE. :D

Growing curly hair is a much different monster than growing wavy or straight hair, and if your hair is ethnic, you might even have luck with having cornrows put in to get your hair past a certain length and keep it protected.

Good luck!

[pdy2kn6]

hey, welcome, you will learn so much from just being here. I would just echo what the others are saying, patience is the biggest thing needed, and the hardest thing to deal with...

[janeytilllie]

Welcome to TLHC :flower:

I think what helped me to grow my hair was

: Good healthy diet
: No heat,chemicals or harsh hair products
: Wearing my hair up to avoid hair damage
: No cuts. Only trims every two months and S+D (search and destroy)

And patience :)

[enfys]

I think a big thing to learn is what split ends actually are. They are the thing you most need to cut off, so if you feel you *need* a trim you may find when you look your ends all they need is oil, or deep conditioning treatments.

And don't touch it!

[lora410]

It took me 1.5 yrs so far to get from armpit length to where I am now (2" from waist) it takes alot of patience; oil has become my best friend;scalp massaged with oil and essentail oils mixed; and just taking care of it like the rest of your body will help it grow to its potential.

[JamieLeigh]

The biggest secret I've ever found to growing hair long is patience. Everything is so trial-and-error in hair care, and there are so many different types of hair out there which makes it impossible for one way of doing things to work for everyone.

Anything new you try, give it awhile to see if it's working because the results might not be obvious at first.

Read the site, there are amazing articles on everything you can think of, written by people who've experienced it firsthand.

Don't be afraid to try new things. I never thought I'd use things like honey or mayo or olive oil in my hair - but they're great! :D

Welcome to LHC and happy growing!! :flower:

[kirky]

Welcome! So many great points so far that are very important.

One point that I'll add is from my own experience and that is to not let anyone else tell you what YOU should do with YOUR hair! Many times in the last two years that I've been growing my hair, I've heard comments from friends and family directed in a negative way about my hair and why I would want it so long (and mine is not even that long yet!). Those were hard to take at first, but you will get many positive compliments as well. The compliments and your dedication to beautiful, healthy hair make it all worth the effort!!

[Anje]

I agree with the others -- don't give up and cut. You can trim your hair if you want, but I would suggest measuring your hair regularly and recording it, so you know what your growth rate is. You can trim your own hair (better than scissor-happy stylists), and make sure you cut off considerably less than the length that it grew since the last trim.

With hair as curly as yours, you definitely want to be careful to get sufficient moisture, so that it doesn't dry and break. I'll second the recommendation on the Curly Girl book, since it seems to make a big difference for folks with curls.

[LHGypsyRose]

Thank you. :) My hair was to my breasts before, but I was going to this hairdresser at the time (I also didn't know she had no idea what she was doing at the time either. :() So after going to her for about a year I started to notice a lot of my hair was coming out. Before I knew it, my hair was almost to my shoulders. I don't go to a salon at all anymore. I do my own hair now. My main goal, however, Is for it to be waist length.

Your very welcome, thats what LHC friends are for:D
I hear ya! Those hair dressers seem to think that they really know what they are doing... and then you find out the hard way that they don't know squat about the proper care of hair! Grrr!:mad: That really sucks when you think you are doing whats best for your hair by entrusting it to these so called proffessionals!
A few years ago I went to a salon for a trim (I was a few inches past classic length at the time) the woman didn't know a thing about caring for, or even COMBING long hair! I even asked her if she had experience with long hair and her response was someting like "well...we've had a couple long haired people in here before but not as long as yours":run: That right there should have made me run!!lol But I was affraid to do my own because I was going to get it cut to mid-back length. Luckily she refused to cut that much of my hair and I only went back to tailbone length. She did how ever rip numerous handfulls of my hair out!!

[wintersun99]

*hijack

Generalizing all stylists as "not knowing squat" and "so called professionals" is rather rude. Perhaps your experience has taught you this about a particular stylist or 2 or 3, but the generalization to all stylists cannot be made or supported. There are a great number of very good stylists who will do as the client asks/wishes and who treat the client's hair gently.

*end hijack/stylist bashing rant

[Nes]

I would say the best thing you can do is embrace your natural texture, aside from very cuirly hair being stunningly beautiful, you hair will be so much healthier.

I struggled to get to waist length for 4 years and could never make it. I ditched my flat irons and pantene shampoo, and whaddya know - i'm almost tailbone length now.

There is so much information here about moisturising hair, I would trawl the forum as much as possible and learn about smt's, oiling, deep treatments etc as this will really help out your hair.

Good luck on your journey!

Nes x

[jera]

Hi hazelnut. Welcome to LHC. :)

Being stubborn and a creature of habit, change came hard to me. But all the healthy things the members here advise you to do will yield results. It sounds like you're already on the right track. It took me 10 months to surrender my blow dryer. But my ends have thickened up so much since I did, that I haven't had to trim my hair at all. :D

[rach]

Don't be afraid to try new things. I never thought I'd use things like honey or mayo or olive oil in my hair - but they're great!
olive oil i've tried recently and my hair response "yum, yum" :p

have a good nosey through here, some fantastic hair help ideas on here.
:D

[SimplyLonghair]

Welcome to the boards! As others here have said, learn what Your Hair likes. Everyone is different. What my hair loves, yours may hate. So try things out. Not too much at a time. Read Ursula's
(http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=39) newbie post. This will help you through the growing pains, LOL no pun intended!:D

[squiggyflop]

benign neglect?
i sort of forget about it most of the time.. the only really huge changes ive made since joining lhc is to use wood bristled brushes and use cone conditioners.. before lhc i didnt know about cones and was conefree.. after switching to cones my hair is easier to detangle and it doesnt break as easily (which i think is because it doesnt tangle as much as it used to)

before lhc i didnt use conditioner on my short hair.. i didnt actually need conditioner because my natural oils were enough for such a short length..

so um
use conditioner
perhaps you could try combing in the shower/bath.. its helped me with my waves so maybe it will be good for your curls

[OR Cowgirl]

Welcome to the boards!!

I have to agree that benign neglect worked best for me. Fortunately I'm too cheap to spend much time in the salon (even though I have a great stylist who always does what I ask!) so it was really easy for me to stop making hair appointments. Throw the blowdryer away and put the brushes in the drawer. Find a seamless comb, that made a world of difference for me! And only change one thing at a time, that way you'll know exactly what is working for you.

I'll second reading Ursula's newbie advice, excellent!!

[LHGypsyRose]

*hijack

Generalizing all stylists as "not knowing squat" and "so called professionals" is rather rude. Perhaps your experience has taught you this about a particular stylist or 2 or 3, but the generalization to all stylists cannot be made or supported. There are a great number of very good stylists who will do as the client asks/wishes and who treat the client's hair gently.

*end hijack/stylist bashing rant

Oh excuse me, I guess I left out the "IMO". You are right though, there probably are some good ones.. but I don't suppose that THOSE are the ones that I was reffering too! Sorry that I made a MISTAKE and apparently offended you.

[Speckla]

Eat healthy, drink water, keep your scalp clean/massaged, and don't cut if it's not necessary. It'll grow!

[royalscorpio]

Take care of it. Wear it up sometimes, don't use products. Only trim it, don't cut it. (Unless you need to cut out damage).

And the most important:

have patience!

[hazelnut]

Thank you guys for your advice. :). The only thing I will say, though, is that my hair is very oily. After a few days, my hair just goes on an oil overload and it gets limp and a bit disgusting. ( but at least it's soft. :)) So oiling my hair may not work. I'll try it, but maybe just on my ends.

[Melisande]

Love your hair the way it is. Enjoy it. Be attentive to its needs but don't let it take over your life. Start listening to your senses and intuition and educate yourself about ingredients. Stop listening to commercials, bottle blurb and magazine prose. Write down your experiences and let us participate ;-) (i.e., write here!). And take pictures! You won't see a change in the mirror but you'll see one in photos.

[Juneii]

Thank you guys for your advice. :). The only thing I will say, though, is that my hair is very oily. After a few days, my hair just goes on an oil overload and it gets limp and a bit disgusting. ( but at least it's soft. :)) So oiling my hair may not work. I'll try it, but maybe just on my ends.

if your hair is oily then don't worry about oiling it, my hair is oily too. I wash it every day to keep it that way. I did try to skip to every other day but it just didn't work for me. as long as you stay healthy and take care of your hair everything should be okay :] welcome to LHC!

[Debra83]

Welcome to the site!!! :D

You'll find a variety, from East to West, and North to South, of advice on these pages.

No vitamins, to yes vitamins...no trims, to yes trims, no silicone products, to only silicone products, and so on and so on!!! ;) What we all have in common, so far, is that we love long hair and would like to own some for ourselves!!! What works for me, won't necessarily work for you - even with similar hairtypes!!! But, what you can do is to try some of the things that are working for us, and see if they work for you...if YES...ON TO THE NEXT!!! if NO...then shelve that one for 6 months down the road. Be happy where you are, but remember your goal! AND QUESTIONS ARE WELCOMED!!! :D

[Teacherbear]

How did I grow my hair?

1) stopped "messing" with it a lot. I brush/comb it in the morning and before I go to bed.
2) I wear it up unless it is a special occasion. Otherwise my hair is in a bun or braid.
3) I learned to appreciate my hair's natural characteristics (wavy, VERY fine, pretty thin)
4) I started CWCCing (condition the ends, wash the scalp, condition and rinse out, leave in conditioner).
5) use very high quality tools (brush and clips)
6) pay attention to what products make my hair and scalp feel good.
7) promise myself that if I want to cut my hair that I can't cut it for 2 weeks. If, after 2 weeks I still want the cut, then I do it.
8 ) smaller cuts/trims are easier to handle (emotionally) than bigger cuts.
9) tiny trims (less than 5mm) can make a HUGE difference in how my hair feels
10) avoid oils and proteins. My hair doesn't like either one.

Good luck!

[earthdancer]

My nape-length hair was breaking off an inch at a time no matter what I used on my hair; I'd lean over a book I was reading and broken hairs would fall on the pages! Out of sheer desperation, I tried Garnier Fructis Length and Strength Shampoo and Conditioner, as well as their Split-End Mender. My hair stopped breaking and I now have waist-length hair. It took 3 years, which includes a few tiny trims.

I never thought it would work, since it's inexpensive and I was always told that inexpensive=bad. This stuff is awesome.

By the way, I also have oily hair and shampoo every 2 to 3 days. The split-end mender is my friend.

[hazelnut]

I think I will just start putting my hair up and forgetting about it. Is it okay for me to put my hair up in a scrunchie for about a year until it grows out a little more before I use hair sticks because I don't think my hair is long enough, now, to use hair sticks.

[Queen Mab]

There were times when I thought my hair would never grow! I would take the advice of the others, just wear it up and don't think about it. Dedicate yourself, and stop at nothing! It also helps to really spoil your hair every so often with some heavy conditioning; that always made me feel as though I was really doing something to help my hair along. Good luck in your journey!

[LHGypsyRose]

I think I will just start putting my hair up and forgetting about it. Is it okay for me to put my hair up in a scrunchie for about a year until it grows out a little more before I use hair sticks because I don't think my hair is long enough, now, to use hair sticks.

You mean "up in a scrunchie" as in a pony tail? I used to always wear my hair up in a fairly high pony, and wrapped in a cinna bun held by a scrunchie. I would dampen the scrunchie in the winter to prevent static also.

[Flynn]

Step one: never straighten.
Step two: avoid blowdrying.
Step three: LITHA*.
Step four: trim when the ends get desperately "crunchy".
Step five: rinse and repeat.



(*LITHA: leave it the he-- er, heck alone.)

[Saraesa]

Hey welcome to LHC
I'm multiracial and still have relaed hair. Here's my advice.
Step 1 deep condition.
Step 2 put down the heat appliances.
Step 3 deep condition again
Step 4 stretch any chemicla services as far apart as possible
Step 5 deep condition so more
step 6 protective up dos
step 7 lots of patience
step 8 deep condition again
step 9 enjoy your gorgeous hair

[pdy2kn6]

welcome, i would just say put it up and don't think about it and get on with your daily life, then it will come in no time, when you meet you goal :)

[Elyce]

Great replies here! Good question.

[dancingbarefoot]

I just don't cut it, that's all. :shrug: I try to be careful with it, but I fall short of treating it like antique lace as some suggest. Very far short, actually. ;)

[shayly-fyanna]

Hello and welcome. i've always believed in the old saying " treat your hair like ancient lace" I do, brush it very gently and with a Natural Boar Bristle Brush, Comb wet to detangle, let it air dry, shampoo only twice a week, condition heavily and either keep it braided or bunned most of the time (about 98%) only leave it down after washing to air dry, them either bun it to sleep or leave it loose until it dries. i also believe in that saying " bun it and forget it." very good advise shared here. take extreme care of your hair, don't cut it much unless damaged and use alot of extra moisture on your hair.
the best advice has been given. so enjoy the boards and keep growing.