My "1 year 1 month"-verssary! :D *VERY pic heavy*

[PurpleAshes]

ETA: Hi everyone, just wanted to let you know that this thread is from 2 years ago, some people are confusing it. My latest anniversary thread is this one: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?p=1828145#post1828145

Before I found the LHC, this was my hair:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c38/PurpleAshesLP/01.jpg

But what the blow dryer, flat iron and cones were hiding was this:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c38/PurpleAshesLP/02.jpg
Hideous eh?

The thing is, I had always wanted ridiculously long curly hair, and always wondered why I couldn't reach my goal. It never occurred to me that as long as I kept going to the salon and get my hair heat straightened twice a week, I would never reach it. (where's the *slaps forehead* smilie??) So, after realization hit me, I decided to make the big chop and almost immediately after it, I found TLHC:cheese:

When I cut my hair, there was still a big chunk of the damage. This big chunk wouldn't curl no matter what I tried.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c38/PurpleAshesLP/03.jpg
Front and dry, October 08

Now, you can barely see it!
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c38/PurpleAshesLP/04.jpg
Front and dry, November 09.


Also, because of all the damage in my canopy and front, my hair look a lot less curly than it really was:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c38/PurpleAshesLP/07.jpg
Side and damp, October 09 Dumb straight spots!

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c38/PurpleAshesLP/08.jpg
Side and damp, November 09

Obviously, once I found the LHC, my routine changed a LOT. I quit cones and sulfates. Now I only CO. I use oils once in a while, and all kinds of things that can be found in my kitchen, instead of having to buy expensive products out of my country. I even wore my hair up for 100 days :D

Also, the day of the big chop was the last time I straightened my hair:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c38/PurpleAshesLP/09.jpg
Stretched, October 08

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c38/PurpleAshesLP/10.jpg
Stretched, November 09

...It continues in the next post...

[PurpleAshes]

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c38/PurpleAshesLP/11.jpg
Back, October 08

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c38/PurpleAshesLP/12.jpg
Back, November 09 This is not my best looking hair ever... But I you can see the length. You can see my signature pic too... My dry length doesn't change much in a month

Bonus pics!:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c38/PurpleAshesLP/14.jpg
It's ALMOST BSL when stretched. Only 1-2 inches to go!

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c38/PurpleAshesLP/13.jpg
What little damage is still visible



Thanks to everyone who post in this forum, because I've learned a bit from every one of you :blossom: All of you have helped me, and will keep on helping me achieve the hair I've wanted since I was little :)

[Luckysock]

your hair is beautiful! It is so shiny and the curls are incredible! I think you made a great choice to stop straightening!

[skay]

Very nice spiral-curls.

Lookin' great!

[peachrose]

Wow, what a transformation. You have gorgeous curls!

[smilinjenn71]

That is AWESOME progress! Good for you, stopping the dryer/flat iron. I love your curls!!! (jealousy setting in) LOL

[JaneinMarch]

Beautiful progress! Your hair is friggin gorgeous in all the pics!!

[BlndeInDisguise]

So jealous! Your curls are gorgeous! Great progress, too. :)

[Tovah]

Yay!
You look like you! What beautiful healthy hair and it is so becoming. This is a LHC inspiration.

[pepperminttea]

You have such beautiful curls! Congrats on your thirteen month-verssary. :)

[vindo]

Great progress, truely inspiring! I love how you documented everything too!

[Keildra]

that's a lot of progress and you have beautiful curls

[MsBubbles]

Your curls are so beautiful! Your hair is looking like it's in great shape, now. I enjoyed the pics and brief history!

[melrose1985]

WOOT!!! looks great! you are so pretty!

[PurpleAshes]

Wow, thanks SO MUCH for all the lovely comments! You guys are making me blush! (even though my latin skin won't let me xD)

It's amazing to have compliments from some of my hair idols :)

[duckish]

Those are absolutely gorgeous curls! You look like you spend hundreds of dollars on your hair every week!

[camirra555]

Your hair is so gorgeous! Congrats!

[kmangus]

Incredible!!! TLHC is the best place to reconstruct your hair :) Congrats!

[Short2Long2009]

I really love your hair!

[jeno]

Such beautiful curls! WOW!

[RancheroTheBee]

Uhm, can we trade growth rates? Pleaaase?

[teela1978]

Your curls look fantastic!!!! Can't wait to see how far they grow by next year :)

[little_acorn]

Beautiful curls and great progress :)

[Aditi]

You have awesome curls :agape: Happy Anniversary.

[above_rubies]

Beeautiful!! Love the curls! You're a very pretty girl, BTW. :blossom:

[Elenna]

Beautiful curls!

[Isa-belle]

What a change in a year! Your hair is soooo much more beautiful with its healthy curls. Way to go!

[Gypsygirl]

Way to g(r)ow! Your hair is absolutely beautiful! What an amazing journey- good job! Definitely keep up the good work. :)

[Vivien']

What a change ! You made a great decision quitting your previous routine, and cutting your damaged hair. Gook luck for the future growth :)

[hmmm]

:thudpile:
Don't ever straighten it!

[maskedrose]

WOW!! Congratulations, your curls are stunning, as are you :)

[Tangerine]

Beautiful! You've made so much progress. Well done, you look stunning :blossom:

[DavidN]

Thank you, PurpleAshes, for sharing these outstanding photos, and congratulations on your LHC anniversary! Your curls are so healthy, shiny, and bouncy!

[redneckprincess]

beautiful progress!! ☺

[Lamb]

Wow, I'm eaten up by curl-envy. :bigeyes: Great progress and transformation!

[linda g]

Your curls are AMAZING! So glad you decided to stop the chemical treatments, your hair is obviously appreciating it!

[cindy58]

You and your hair are very pretty! Keep those curls growing!

[kimannabella]

Your hair is so beautiful, it's came very far in a year. Such a difference. It's so shiny and your curls are nice and tight.

[Dreamernz]

Brilliant progress, beautiful curls :D

[Roseate]

Wow, I don't think I'd ever seen your "before" pics before- it's impressive that you were able to grow out your damage so quickly! It's completely gone now, your hair looks so healthy and gorgeous!

[KarpatiiSiv]

Gorgeous curls and great progress.:thumbsup:

[Pixna]

WOW!!! What an amazing difference healthy hair (and curls) makes for you!!! Your natural curls are gorgeous, and your hair actually LOOKS so much healthier, too. I bet if feels as fantastic as it looks. Kudos to you for all your success (plus, your curls are framing a really pretty face -- lucky you!).

[melikai]

Wow, your hair is looking great - the difference from where you started is incredible! Congratulations!

[Addy]

I just have to say, what an amazing transformation! Your hair is beautiful and don't worry about those straight pieces! Soon enough, you can have them trimmed right off! :D

Congratulations on your anniversary and embracing your natural curls! :eyebrows:

[Kiraela]

You have gorgeous curls! I've definately got curl envy going on, now!

[EvaSimone]

Wow those are some inspiring progress pictures! Your hair and curls are lovely!!

[saskia_madding]

Double wow. It is incredible to see to clearly the difference caring for your hair can make. Your curls are so, so gorgeous!

[maegquare]

Wow! Fantastic progress! It looks so shiny and healthy now and your curls are so pretty! Congratulations! :flowers:

[spidermom]

Your hair is coming along so beautifully. Soon all that damage will be a distant memory.

[sally_neuf]

wow!!! Your front dried pics are lovely!!! I really like your curls, they look like they were taken out from a hair commercial!

Impressive, congratulations!

[OleanderTime]

VERY inspiring progress. I'm a newbie, and I'm excited to see how close I can get my hair toward what I always wanted when I was little. Thank you for sharing! : )

[Ven]

You have beautiful beautiful curls! Thank you for sharing!

~Ven

[GoddesJourney]

Wow! You are gorgeous! You look even better with your healthier, natural hair. Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

[Yozhik]

You are so pretty! And your curly hair is gorgeous. I can't believe it stretches out to be so long :)

[fawn]

God, you are gorgeous, and I LOVE your naturally curly shiny hair!

[Tressie]

I have to join the thud pile :thud:Your curls are awesome!!! Great progress and beautiful hair!!! Congratulations!!

[little_acorn]

wow you have the most amazing curls, they are super glossy :D

[pdy2kn6]

Beautiful curls...What a transformation!!!! Keep up your great work :)

[jessie58]

Happy one year, one month anniversary here at LHC and your hair does look so very healthy and pretty. I love your curls.

[Sylvanas]

Beautiful curls. They really suit you :flower:

[GlassEyes]

HAIR TWIN! :D I HAVE FOUND YOU. xD;

Your hair seems to grow REALLY fast. o-o I've been on LHC longer than you, and my hair is barely APL stretched. It looks great!

[Chrissy]

HAIR TWIN! :D I HAVE FOUND YOU. xD;

Your hair seems to grow REALLY fast. o-o I've been on LHC longer than you, and my hair is barely APL stretched. It looks great!

GlassEyes I was thinking the same thing when I saw her pics. Your hair is beautiful and so are you. You're doing a great job! I can see it's paying off.

[rach]

wow those curls are beautiful . you don't need to straighten it when you've got curls as stunning as that :crush:

[PurpleAshes]

Thanks SO MUCH for all the beautiful compliments :) I didn't expect to get so many of them. All of you are so sweet :blossom:

Oh, and in the original post I forgot to mention, this is my first year EVER without a single split! :cheese:
Every hair in my head used to have a split.. Sometimes I would stop paying attention to class and grab a scissor to cut those ugly splits... Yes! I did S&D mission before finding the LHC. DBF thought I was crazy xD And I got to prove him wrong when I found this community.


Your curls look fantastic!!!! Can't wait to see how far they grow by next year :)

I can't wait either! I'm hoping to have APL while dried and maybe Waist while stretched by next year:)

:thudpile:
Don't ever straighten it!

All the don't straighten comments are actually encouraging me not to. I've been missing straight hair lately... (Though, my conscience and DBF won't let me straighten... We've already seen what THAT can do and I won't let straight hair stop me from achieving my goals again)


beautiful progress!! ☺

How can you do that little smilie?? =O


Your curls are AMAZING! So glad you decided to stop the chemical treatments, your hair is obviously appreciating it!

Actually, I've never chemically straightened. All those straight hairs were damage from heat straightening.

Ever since I have memory, hair stylists tried to convince me to chemically straighten my hair but I ALWAYS refused.


You are so pretty! And your curly hair is gorgeous. I can't believe it stretches out to be so long :)

Heh, I can't believe it either! I do wish my dried hair at least looked closer to what it really is when stretched.


HAIR TWIN! :D I HAVE FOUND YOU. xD;

Your hair seems to grow REALLY fast. o-o I've been on LHC longer than you, and my hair is barely APL stretched. It looks great!

GlassEyes, I haven't seen much pictures of your hair down, but I do think our hairs look a lot alike! It's fun finding a hair twin, I have none in real life.

I've always had a good growth rate. I used to cut to shoulder and have it by BSL next year. Now it's a bit hard because since I stopped straightening completely, the hair growth doesn't show as much as I'm used to.

[JamieLeigh]

Congrats on your 1 year-1 month anniversary! :flowers: Your curls are fantastic, and I can just imagine what they'll look like at a super-long length. We all have our fun, and then we all learn to take better care of what we've got. It's a learning process for us all, and luckily the journey is a lot of fun too. :D

I liked the second pic of you - your expression is really funny, very glum about the damage. But I bet you don't make that face about it now, it's gorgeous! :flower:

[einna]

Wooow, your hair is amazing! I wish you the best of luck on your journey to even cooler hair :D

[longhairedwolf]

Your hair is gorgeous! I was blown away by all the length hidden in the curl - your hair is twice as long when you pull it straight!:shocked:

[LisaMonster]

Wow! It looks fantastic! Lovely!

[lindaton]

I would love to have your curls. They are lovely.

[arith]

Wow your curls are have gorgeous!

[arith]

Ups wrote it wrong, I meant your curls are gorgeous

[supercupcakexx]

Wow, that transformation is awesome! :D

[Grillz]

Wow wow wow! A lot of the time us straight-hairs wish we could be curlies (and vice versa I'm sure) and pics like yours are the reason why! It's too bad there isn't a green-eyed monster smiley because this totally sums up my feelings for your hair!

Gorgeous! :bowtome:

[Safira]

Awesome curls! :thud:

[zirena]

Wow, what progress! You suit your curls so nicely :)

[hipiji]

I love your beautiful curls.

[freckles]

beautiful curls! congratulations on one year :)

[arielágua]

You look so much better with curls, in my opinion!
Gives you life and shine in your face!

I used to straight my waves because I didn't accept them. I wanted straight, but when I made 18, realized I was being so cruel to my hair.
I was born a wavy, I have to love it. Now I know how to manage them and I'm in looove! xD

[Nae]

:toast:Your hair is so lovely! The curls are perfect and the color is so beautiful. You have come a long way!! Here's to many more years here.

[milk]

Wow, your curls looks exactly like my bigsisters, i have envied her hair during my entire life. So supershiney, and what an amazing growth in one year! You will have loooong curly hair within no time at all!

[JuliaDancer]

How long do you want to grow your hair? I LOVE your tight spirals! It's going to look even more awesome the longer it gets! In another year, your unstretched hair might be at BSL!

[PurpleAshes]

Hey guys, thanks a LOT for all the compliments, but I think you guys confused threads! I'm already at my 3rd year, you can see my anniv thread here: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?p=1828145#post1828145

[marioma]

I am passing by the same journey , your pics are really encouraging , i hope i won't give up and reuse flat iron :S

[newbeginning]

You have amazing curls. Your hair looks so much healthier.

[blondie9912]

Gosh, what a transformation! Your hair is so much more beautiful now, in it's natural state :)

[girlcat36]

Your hair is gorgeous now! What a transformation!

[mom2fourgirls]

love your curls :)

[andreamuse]

I hope this doesn't embarrass you but you are fricking gorgeous!

[Helix]

Lovely curls. Keep it up!

[jesis]

Your hair grew really fast!