new to the community :) advice please

[Pburgh56]

Hi there I am new the community here. I am a guy who has always had short hair. However I have decided to go on the journey to grow long hair. I would love to get my hair to lower back or even butt length :) what do u think of this goal for a guy and what advice do u have for growing it long? thanks

[purplebubba]

Well I thought about it and I did it.
And there are guys on this site with longer hair than me.

If you have access to the blogs or some sort of journal that's probably where to start. Either writing online or on paper what you have done, are doing, and would like to do.

The easiest way to grow it is to not cut it more than trims. Its been 15 years since I was starting. At this point I'm way beyond letting someone tell me I can't have long hair. You just need to get to that point for you.

[aada]

I'm new too, but I thought I'd give you some direct links to useful stuff!

Newbie info:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=39

Abbreviations and such:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=10

Hair typing (cuz it's fun!):
http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=8954
http://homepage.mac.com/annsofie.henriksson/hairtyping/PhotoAlbum17.html

And I would like to say...PLEASE grow your hair! ;) Then again, I try to convince most of my male friends that don't have long hair to at least try it!

[purplebubba]

Continuing on,

Not sure where you are with your growing but if you're still above neck the first step is to get past the awkward stage. The stage when hair will blow in your face and might be growing in different lengths.

When I grew out I started from about 3.5 inches all over. But since the hair near the neck gets past the neck first and the hair up top and on the sides has further to travel it results in a V shape if you wait too long to get an even up trim of some sort.

So my advice is to at some point in your first year get a small trim on just the longest parts to kinda slow that down a bit.
I waited a few years to get that first trim and I ended up needing like 6 inches removed just to even it up.

Edit: Here's a chart I did of how I progressed. If you click it you get a larger one. Its only an estimate by memory. I didn't start journaling until 2004.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/purplebubba/PB3/th_ProgressChart.gif (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v158/purplebubba/PB3/?action=view&current=ProgressChart.gif)

[kdaniels8811]

We have plenty of guys here, with drop dead incredible long hair. This is the place to grow it long and get plenty of encouragement. I love long hair on guys and girls. Welcome to the LHC!

[bte]

Welcome - from one of the many guys here.

Purplebubba is right - best way is not to cut (sounds obvious, but in the first untidy stages it is tempting to keep your hair looking neat). Trimming is a controversial subject - some advocate doing quite a lot, others none at all. Safest to say that the less you trim the faster you'll grow.

Good luck!

[Pburgh56]

thanks everyone for your help :) what do u think of my goal or waist to butt lenght? and could anyone help me photoshop my hair?

[redwoman]

I think your goal is awesome!! Photoshop I can't help you with but do grow out your locks. Look up shadowwalker onLHC he is HOT!! For what its worth...also beatnick guy...there are a lot of manly long hairs....:)















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[purplebubba]

Your goal is fine.
There are many guys including myself here who have this goal, have reached it, or are past it.
If you want it try for it. You can always go shorter or longer from there.

I reached it and am staying in the hip to tailbone range.

Edit: I for one cannot tell you that you can't or shouldn't have it. Unless I'm prepared to take my own senseless advice.

[windinherhair]

It looks like you have already gotten some great advice. I just wanted to add that I think long hair looks great on a guy this length if it is taken care of well. My biggest mistake with growing out my hair was cutting it too often. It won't grow if you are cutting and trimming all the time, even months in between.... so if you are going to be a trimmer then figure out how fast your hair grows and make sure you aren't cutting off all your growth or you won't be seeing results.

[spidermom]

I think your goal is awesome, but one of the things you will need to get over is caring what other people think about your hair. You will probably get plenty of negative feedback about it; most of the guys do (but not all). In fact, a lot of the gals do, too. Pay close attention to your health. Living on a diet of cigarettes, burger, coffee, and beer isn't going to do your hair or your body any favors. Whatever you do to benefit your health in general will benefit your hair.

Cultivate patience. It takes years to get from short hair to long - years and years.

Don't be afraid to trim a little from time to time. It gets rid of dried-out splitting ends and maintains a nice shape. Of course some people prefer no trimming and letting their hair do whatever it's going to do, and that's all right, too.

[Fractalsofhair]

Welcome. Your goal sounds perfectly fine. Just to warn you, guys do get insulted about long hair more than women, because there are some guys with horrid looking long hair. Wash your hair if it looks oily(every day to once a week seems to be the standard, washing less is better for the hair, but oily hair looks gross. Some people don't wash their hair at all, but that's hard to do on short hair), and if you want to wash it daily, use a mild shampoo. Use a conditioner that works for you, to keep your hair shiny. Oiling your hair occasionally can be a good idea. Putting your hair back in a ponytail helps with the comments, and updos and braiding it can be a good idea.

Shadowwalker does have great hair though! That's an example of good long hair on a guy!

[Pburgh56]

Thanks everyone for all their support and advice. Im really looking forward to going on my long hair journey and letting it get down to my waist :) I tot agree with all of u its sad that some people dont accept guys with long hair. many professional guys have long hair and i personally think it looks nice. i cant wait to wear it in a ponytail and a bun and updos and braids and everything. what are some good styles that i should try?

[JamieLeigh]

You should feel right at home here, with a length goal like that. There are many men here with LONG :thud:-worthy hair. I think long-haired men look amazing. :crush: