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View Full Version : Am I *ever* going to get past this length?



Periwinkle
May 28th, 2009, 04:15 AM
I've been stuck at BSL for months now :(

Back in November, I decided to start trimming monthly to remove layers. Most of the layers are gone, but that meant sticking at BSL or just past until January.

March, I had my mother trim the ends of my hair because self-trims had left it very uneven. Stuck at BSL still.

Recently, I've had some serious problems with my ends - they were so bad that I couldn't even get a comb through, no matter how much I oiled/clarified/deep treated/etc. My fringe needed a trim too, so yesterday I went to supercuts and asked for 3/4" taken off. That's pretty much what I got, I think, but it feels like a lot more.

I know it'll only take a month or two to grow that back, but it feels like I'm always taking a month or two to grow back from trims and I'm never going to get past this length. What's worse is that I still have a teeny bit of layering left, and since I didn't have that trimmed, the ends still feel a fraction dry and I'm sure I'll end up having to get another trim eventually to be rid of that. And that's not even touching the layers in the front...

My hair is almost unmanageable at this length - I have a 5" circumference which means that BSL is far, far too short for most styles. I can do braids and a weird bun thing with an elastic which I wear most days and a cinnabun, and that's it. I can't wear hairsticks to school, so I'm left with two styles for 5 days of the week and one spare. That's it.

I'm just getting so hopeless about ever being able to get past BSL :( I've been a member of this site for more than a year and yet I've only gained something like 3" at the most...

didrash
May 28th, 2009, 04:24 AM
You shouldn't feel like you are getting nowhere. Your growth hasnt stalled, you are just trimming to improve the health of your hair and that is where all the growth goes. Healthy hair is IMHO even more important than long hair, so its just a phase you have to go through. I am sure some time from now it will actually make your hair grow faster, because being healthy and all in one length it will not break. Its a good thing.

Aditi
May 28th, 2009, 04:54 AM
With all that trimming done you should be glad that you hair are still at BSL. If i would have done so many trimming i would have reached APL right now shudder:.

marialena
May 28th, 2009, 05:07 AM
By the time that you trim your hair so often is quite normal to have stick in this length. But the point is to have healthy hair not only long hair. And as I see from your avatar your hair are thick and shiny and look fantastic with all these trimmings.
I'm sure that when you will stop trimming your hair, and your ends will be strong enough you will catch waist length in very short time. :)
So don't get disappointed ( you have to see mine to see what the term "thin hair" means :eyebrows:)

Neen
May 28th, 2009, 05:10 AM
I feel the same way, I joined here a bit under a year ago and my length is actually less than it was then because I've been trimming dye damage. Didrash (ETA: and marialena) is right though, it's important to get your hair healthy before really going for length, and I suppose it will take years until all the pre-LHC hair grows out. I keep myself motivated by keeping progress pictures that show the improvement in condition over time.

Do you S&D? That's helped me keep my ends more managable and may even help you thin out your ends a bit so you can do other styles. I'm not sure if it'll help with that because I'll never have a 5" circumference, but it has thinned my ends.

chotee
May 28th, 2009, 05:12 AM
Your hair looks so thick and nice....I have been doing the same like you, trim, trim and trim to remove all the layers...so it looks as if your hair is never growing but i keep telling myself that thickness and health of the hair is equally important and not just length. So, keep up the good work...once your hair is of same length, you can start reducing the trimming...

chelssix
May 28th, 2009, 05:15 AM
Your hair is lovely. It may not be at your goal length, but it will be, and it will be healthy too!

lora410
May 28th, 2009, 05:28 AM
Don't worry. I have been between BSL and waist for a year now :rolleyes: It takes a long time with trimming but worth it :D

Anlbe
May 28th, 2009, 05:29 AM
Your hair looks gorgeous.
I've never been able to get past BSL partially because I colour it, partially because my hair is very brittle. You however look to have healthy shiny hair which definitely looks like it will move beyond BSL soon.

aisling
May 28th, 2009, 05:39 AM
You will get past that length but for you BSL might be the length where you have to start paying some extra attention to your ends or perhaps tweak your routine to be able to grow further. I was stuck at just about BSL for years, my ends always felt trashed at that length and I kept trimming a little every 2-3 months, never getting any longer hair. My leave in routine changed when I found LHC, I started using coconut oil as leave in for example and also paying a little extra attention to how different conditioners worked and then, finally, my hair grew past BSL and even longer.

marialena
May 28th, 2009, 06:02 AM
I feel the same way, I joined here a bit under a year ago and my length is actually less than it was then because I've been trimming dye damage. Didrash (ETA: and marialena) is right though, it's important to get your hair healthy before really going for length, and I suppose it will take years until all the pre-LHC hair grows out. I keep myself motivated by keeping progress pictures that show the improvement in condition over time.

Do you S&D? That's helped me keep my ends more managable and may even help you thin out your ends a bit so you can do other styles. I'm not sure if it'll help with that because I'll never have a 5" circumference, but it has thinned my ends.

I just checked your album and your hair have become thicker ( from your 2008 picture. ) It seems that the trimmings that you are doing are very good for your hair, even if you don't gain so much in length. I was doing the same some years ago in order to get my hair stronger and then I started trying to make them longer. ( and when I managed to make my hair longer then I had this health problem and I had to start trying to make it thicker for one more time.. :( ) I'm trying to bring my hair to classic length for 7 years now..and my length is still a little longer than waist.. So don't get disappointed girls.. Patience .. patience.. is all that we need.. :)

Periwinkle
May 28th, 2009, 06:07 AM
Thanks everyone :)

I have tried S&D but I can very rarely find any splits so it hasn't proved very profitable for me.

I take care of my hair as well as I can within my budget. I can't afford to splash out on satin pillowcases and the like, but I never use heat (except on my fringe, and that doesn't matter), only wash twice a week, detangle gently with a wooden comb, use metal-free elastics, oil and wear my hair up 100% of the time :( I can't think of anything more that I could be doing apart from changing styles more often, but as I said, that's just not possible for me at this length.

embee
May 28th, 2009, 07:36 AM
If your signature pic is fairly current, I think you're beyond BSL. Benign neglect may be your answer: no trims, no fussing, just put it up for the summer, it'll be cooler that way and protected from the sun.

I was stalled at BSL all through my teens and 20s; I trimmed. Then I went short for years. At the time of my divorce there was no extra money for trims so I went through that horrible stage of "not short but can't yet make an updo" and finally put it up. Some years later I discovered it was at *waist*!!! So much for BSL being term. :)

jel
May 28th, 2009, 07:59 AM
I have tried S&D but I can very rarely find any splits so it hasn't proved very profitable for me.



I'm not sure I understand: you don't have any splits but your ends feel bad and that's why you trim? In my experience clarifying should help, but I see that you've already tried that - have you followed it with plenty of moisture? Also, how about protein buildup, that sometimes makes my ends feel rough. And coconut oil can aggravate that for me as it's protein-sparing, that's why I use EV olive oil most of the time.

It might be a good idea to institute a trimming schedule, rather than just reaching for the scissors (or hairdressers) at any time. I seem to remember Nightshade trimming half of her growth every month - that way she was getting rid of the damage she had, thickening up the ends, and at the same time gaining length. Which is what we all here want! :D

On the other hand, you can always decide to stop trimming for a while - the summer, 6 months, a year - and see what happens with your ends as they grow longer.

spidermom
May 28th, 2009, 08:01 AM
Don't give up. Your hair looks so good. BSL is a nice length, so try to enjoy it because sooner or later you will grow to new lengths and BSL will be a memory.

P.S. - my ends like some conditioner left on them, topped by a bit of coney serum. Seriously. The serum seals in the moisture better than anything else, and I use shampoo, so no buildup problems.

Periwinkle
May 28th, 2009, 08:35 AM
jel - no, it doesn't make any sense to me either. I have experienced problems with coconut oil making my ends dry but only oiling on wet hair fixed that and I had the same problem when I skipped oiling to find out if that was causing the problem, so I'm positive that wasn't the cause. I don't do any protein treatments, so I don't think it could have been that. I was trying to trim half my growth every month when I started monthly trimming, but either I had a winter stall or I was cutting more than I thought and I ended up with my hair just staying the same length. I planned not to cut again until solid waist length and that was still the plan right up until this problem with my ends started - I didn't want to trim but being unable to get a wide-tooth comb through even in hair that's soaked in conditioner was unbearable.

redneckprincess
May 28th, 2009, 08:57 AM
I feel the same way, I mean I know its growing but I feel like I will never get past my shoulders. ahhh ♥

kmoc123
May 28th, 2009, 09:30 AM
stay away from scissors and conditon!!!

Anje
May 28th, 2009, 10:17 AM
Hang in there. Hair gets stuck sometimes.

What concerns me is the tangly ends. That they stayed like that despite trims, clarifying, and oiling suggests to me that you're dealing with protein issues. I suggest you look at all your products ingredient labels, and stop using anything that lists any proteins... This includes anything that says words like hydrolyzed, amino acids, isolates, silk, keratin, and collagen. Things listing soy and wheat also tend to have proteins in them, but you'd have to look at exactly what they're adding. You might even need to be shy of various extracts, which have potential to contain proteins (but just be aware of them at this point, because they're probably not the problem).

While you're at it, try cutting out anything listing panthenol/pantothenic acid/Vitamin B5. (Basically all the same thing.) I've heard of people having troubles with it, too, and it can be a tricky one to dodge.

ETA: This is what I could dig up on the old boards regarding Panthenol, though I'm sure there's more somewhere. Ursula, Speedbump, and Flaxen have had issues with it, and they probably all could tell you way more than I can about whether your symptoms line up.
http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=61700
http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=71922

Another ETA, shamelessly lifted from Speedbump's 11/11/2005 blog entry:

PSA: Known Symptoms of Panthenol Overdose:

1. Dry-rustly sounding, yet strangely limp and coated-feeling strands
2. Increasingly straight locks, with uneven, strange and yicky curl formation
3. Knots, knots, KNOTS, especially near the ends
4. Very limp crown hair, but frizz and bushy effect on length
5. A "sticky" effect (see knots above) but no surface stickiness apparent when rubbed with fingers

PSA: Known Treatments for Panthenol Overdose:

1. Chelating shampoo. Strongest treatment, and should only be reserved for particularly terrible cases that resist other treatments.
2. Diluted shampoo, double strength. (This is 1:3.5 dilution instead of 1:7 dilution.) May have to wait for two separate washes to see results.

If you or someone you love has OD'd on panthenol, please seek treatment immediately. This has been a public service announcement.

Nightshade
May 28th, 2009, 12:43 PM
Ah, sweets, they don't call it the MidBack Abyss for nothing! :flowers:

You've gotten lots of good advice, so I'll just add a style suggestion, someone had posted a "cheater's bun" for short hair. While your hair isn't short, the thickness eats up the length. Perhaps that would work, or a Chinese Bun?

BajanGal
May 28th, 2009, 02:25 PM
WOW but periwinkle your hair is sooo long...I cant find anything to do with my hair but its shoulder length! I would do anything for your length!!! *back to growing*

natt i nord
May 28th, 2009, 02:32 PM
I feel with you. But with me it's not the thing I always have/do (to) trim - my hair just doesn't grow anymore. Slowly I get the feeling, BSL is my terminal :(

Hey, but your siggiepic seems to me as you were at waist at least.

Anje
May 28th, 2009, 04:31 PM
Just a few things...

1) For me, protein buildup (particularly from silk) makes the ends feel kinda rough and stif and strange. Compare to the panthenol, where ends don't feel particularly coated, despite acting like they're sticky.

2) Any reason why you can't wear sticks to school? Rules/safety, teasing, immature boys stealing them? Might be worth getting a Flexi-8, or something of the sort, to offer you a few more styles. Hairpins and Wavelength pins are useful around stick-stealers, but I suppose they might not work if you're avoiding pokey items because of gym class.

3) Satin pillowcases may or may not be in your budget (though if you have a sewing machine handy, you can make your own from cheap store satin for a few dollars). A satin nightcap probably is, though. They tend to be very inexpensive here, and are often found with the products marketed to people of African descent. I can't imagine you'd spend more than £2-3 on one.

4) Natt i nord, I have a hard time believing that you're at terminal at BSL. First, your ends look quite blunt and thick, which is not normal for terminal length. Second, you're 15, which means your terminal is longer now than it's likely to be later in life, so I expect you have more length potential than I probably do at 26 (note that we're practically hairtwins). Hang in there. Stalls of several months to a year or so (without any trimming, and wearing hair in a protective style constantly) are not uncommon.

Deborah
May 28th, 2009, 04:42 PM
"What's worse is that I still have a teeny bit of layering left, and since I didn't have that trimmed, the ends still feel a fraction dry and I'm sure I'll end up having to get another trim eventually to be rid of that. And that's not even touching the layers in the front..."


It is obvious that the DRY, LAYERED ENDS BUG YOU a lot. Here's a different suggestion for you: CUT THE BAD ENDS OFF, then you can grow on and on without further worry about those remaining bad parts. It sounds as though you are only talking about a couple of inches.

If this just sounds NUTTY to you, then I guess you should just proceed as you have been doing. I just wonder if you would FEEL BETTER if you got rid of the part that annoys you, then you could focus on growing, having the bad hair removal part all taken care of. It's really a matter of which works best for your particular psyche.

Whatever you decide, I hope you can find a way to be happy with your (beautiful) hair. :)