Hair chopped at a young age.

[Juliannaissance]

I grew up with long hair, at knee length and I look back at those days now and wonder why I even cut my hair. I am so disappointed in myself, even my dad was pretty sad about it, because he loved my long hair. I was around the age of 5 or 6 and the reason why I wanted my hair cut was because girls at my school were getting theirs cut way short. And throughout the years I have grown it down to hip, cut, grown back again, and then cut....But now I'm trying to grow it back to classic or beyond without cutting again, and I'm currently at waist length. Seems like it's taking forever! :(

Anyone have long childhood or teenage hair, and regretting the fact that it was cut? What length was it?

[Dreams_in_Pink]

it was waist length, though not exactly at an early age (i was 18, that can be considered early actually)

i went from waist to Pob (angled short bob, pixie in the back) The most saddening part of it was that i chopped my ponytail myself.

I still cannot believe i did that!! Now it seems like murder!

[long.again]

I had waste length hair as a girl and my mom decided to trim it out on the deck the summer before 4th grade. I vividly remember the "oopps" over and over again. Finally I went to a hairdresser to straighten it out. It went to chin length (with the awesome 80's bangs). I remember people doing double takes on the first day of school with not so great reactions.

My hair grows super slow and by 7th grade it was probably BSLish. But my friend got one of those trendy crops with the flipped wispy's at the nape. Everyone made fun of her and she hated it. So, I got my hair cut like hers so she wouldn't feel so alone.

I've always been a little wild with my hair so I generally chopped it all off once a year. I think, once it was off, I felt like it took too long to grow so it took me until I was 18 to decide to never cut it again (but I did when I was 23).

[Honestwitness]

My hair was about APL at its longest as a child. When I was about 9 or 10, my mother saw a picture in a magazine that she liked. It was a little girl's style that was about shoulder length. She convinced me how fun it would be to have my first visit to a beauty shop (that's what we called them in 1960) and have my hair done by a real "beauty operator."

I love my mother and trusted her, so I agreed to it. I don't recall being particularly traumatized by having shorter hair, but I did let it grow longer again to about APL. I think I kept it there until about 1962, and ever after that (until now) it went from pixie to SL to APL and back again alternatively until 2008, when I started back to long hair in earnest.

Today it's just barely BSL, and I'm finally able to wear it in buns. I intend to let grow to terminal length, with microtrims whenever the ends get too scraggly. I just trimmed about 1/4 inch yesterday and I feel like a new woman!!!!

[Pumpkin]

I had long hair until my mother chopped it when I was five. Into a 'bob'. When I was 18, I decided to grow it long. I did. I wore it long for years after that. Then I hit 31. I have posted the story before. But, I received comments like...you would go further in your career if you cut your hair, you are too old to have long hair...etc. Unfortunately, I listened...I so regret it now. So, I am growing. I am to the point in my life where I do what I want. Cutting my hair did not make me 'more money', 'advance my career', etc. I am to the point in my life, thank heavens, that I please myself. Long hair on me makes me happy.

[Hana]

My mum loves the arabic culture, and as a result my sister and I never ever had our hair cut as children. My hair was classic length (at its longest it was mid-thigh), it was permanently in a plait and I was consistently teased because of it. As a result I hated having long hair because my mother wanted it.
So I nagged and nagged and nagged and nagged her some more to get it cut, and so at the age of 10 was the first time I ever went to the hairdressers.

It was cut to a bob just below the ears, and I have never ever regretted it. I will always remember the following day at school I couldnt stop smiling because nobody said anything to me - which was such an improvement to the things they'd been saying before. My sisters cut was even more drastic - she went from classic to pixie in one go, and she loved it too.

My mum still has the plait in a drawer in her room. It was good to know what short hair felt like! My hair has varied in length since then, between shoulder length and BSL. And now, I am more comfortable with my hair, not my mother. And I do want to grow it, and I know it will grow that long again. So I'm going to.

[Juliannaissance]

I've always been a little wild with my hair so I generally chopped it all off once a year. I think, once it was off, I felt like it took too long to grow so it took me until I was 18 to decide to never cut it again (but I did when I was 23).
Yeah, after my big chop I maintained it at chin length for about 4 years and then I started letting it grow again.:cheese:

I received comments like...you would go further in your career if you cut your hair, you are too old to have long hair...etc. Unfortunately, I listened...I so regret it now. So, I am growing. I am to the point in my life where I do what I want. Cutting my hair did not make me 'more money', 'advance my career', etc. I am to the point in my life, thank heavens, that I please myself. Long hair on me makes me happy.Good for you! I don't think anyone is ever too old to have long hair! If you love long hair than you should keep it that way. Don't let others stop you from growing! :)


My mum still has the plait in a drawer in her room.My mom did the exact same thing, I think she has about 2 or 3 plaits of my hair in a box in the attic.:bounce:

[Syaoransbear]

I had classic(I think? I just remember I could sit on it) length hair when I was younger. My friend really hated long hair for some reason and always nagged at me to get it cut. One day she was pretending to only brush my hair, and she cut it off to just above my shoulders with kitchen shears she was hiding. I've been having trouble growing it ever since. It was pretty traumatic since I had always dreamed of growing it to my feet.

[ukuleleclaire]

I always wanted really long hair as a young girl, and my mom always wanted me to have short hair because it was easier to take care of. I'll probably never forget being in the 4th grade, and my hair had gotten to about apl. My mother told me to go next door to get my haircut by our neighbor. She cut it into a bob, and I cried and cried when I finally saw it in the mirror!
I grew it out again after that, and it was about bsl in high school. Then I chopped it off over and over again. Thankfully it's never too late to grow your hair long. :)

[mellie89]

My hair was past waist in about 4th grade. I didn't intend for it to get that long, I just ignored it for a year or two. I was shocked when I saw a picture that showed me from the back and promptly chopped it to chin length. I still have the picture; my hair was really shiny and pretty! If I hadn't cut it... who knows. Oh well. :)


One day she was pretending to only brush my hair, and she cut it off to just above my shoulders with kitchen shears she was hiding. I've been having trouble growing it ever since. It was pretty traumatic since I had always dreamed of growing it to my feet.

:agape: What a terrible, terrible thing to do. I'm so sorry that this happened to you. What kind of kid does something like that?!?!

[Aevra]

Mom cut my hair from TB to ear lobe length (-cough- boy length -cough-) When I was 8 because she didn't think that I could take care of it properly.

[misspriss]

My mom kept mine around shoulder length with bangs when I was younger, easier to maintain I guess. I didn't really do too much with it. I decided to grow my bangs out when I was around 10, which was my first big decision. Maybe a little before that. When the bangs got to chin length I had the rest of the hair cut to that length so it would match. Then when I was 12 I did the horrible...I saw a cute cut (short, but not quite pixie) in a magazine and I wanted it. My hair had not been particularly curly before that, but it was after! I had a poufball on my head after that, and all I could do was wait for it grow out. After that, I had curly hair. I started growing then and I never really stopped. I joined LHC three years later, when I was 15. I reached my first goal, of waist, senior year. I maintained for a while, and then I had it cut to shoulder length for graduation. I kept it shorter for a few years, and then I came back December 2008, at shoulder length, 15 months later I'm back at waist, although the layers mean it doesn't look nearly as fabulous as it did last time. With time...

[VenusHalley]

When I was in kindergarden my grandmother cut my hair (which was about BSL lenght) into a job. she said it will make the hair more wavy. It did. It looked like I never brushed the hair. Minute after it was brushed... it looked a like a mess.

I grew my hair out, but in about sixth grade or so I was got it cut above the shoulder, because everybody did it...

Last time I really cut my hair was when I was 15 and had it cut chinlenght. Looked awesome when styled, at least I think it did...looked like a mess most of the time. I ancesorated the messiness crazy styling.

[Juliannaissance]

My friend really hated long hair for some reason and always nagged at me to get it cut. One day she was pretending to only brush my hair, and she cut it off to just above my shoulders with kitchen shears she was hiding. I've been having trouble growing it ever since. It was pretty traumatic since I had always dreamed of growing it to my feet.Wow! What a fool of your friend to do that to you. I hope you two are still in good terms though. And I hope you made it a point for her NEVER to touch your long hair. :)

ETA:
Oh man!! I wish I had pictures of my long hair as a kid...I only have one from the back and it's in a braid, I'll post it sometime. The rest of my childhood pictures were either taken from the front, or my hair was just up...None with my long flowing hair. :(

[Twil]

My Mother didn't know how to take care of curly hair, nor did she want to learn. She used to say "I learned one hair style in the early 80's and I'm sticking to it". She was a complete tomboy.

As a result my was always broken off and never got past shoulder length. It wasn't until I took my hair into my own hands that it started to grow.

[beez1717]

It breaks my heart when OTHERS cut their hair like this!!! I even get sad when anime characters cut their hair. In Jeanne d arc I cried when Jeanne cut her hair with her sword!!!

[Johanna]

I feel so bad for everyone that hair their hair cut against their will.
I had my mother force me into a cut at the age of 10. I hated it so much! I had apl-bsl hair that I loved. I looked after it myself but my mother decided that it needed to be cut off to chin length.
For the first 20 mins after the cut i was ok with it, untill I tried to tie it up and it wouldn't go. I was miserable.

[Ksenia]

I had classic(I think? I just remember I could sit on it) length hair when I was younger. My friend really hated long hair for some reason and always nagged at me to get it cut. One day she was pretending to only brush my hair, and she cut it off to just above my shoulders with kitchen shears she was hiding. I've been having trouble growing it ever since. It was pretty traumatic since I had always dreamed of growing it to my feet.

That is the most tragic hair story I have ever heard, and so upsetting to even think about! I'm so sorry that happened to you! I'm scared of people doing that to me.

I had waist-length hair at one point (with awful '80s bangs that started halfway to the crown which my mother made me keep because she said my forehead was ugly, which was silly because I don't have a particularly high forehead), but then was attacked by a girl in my grade 3 class, she grabbed my ponytail (also required by my mother) and tried to pull out my hair. So I got it chopped to a really short pixie cut, cried for about a week, and spent the next three years getting mistaken for a boy until I finally started telling my hairdresser to leave it a little longer each time, but with the requisite bangs again until I finally started growing them out (along with the rest of my hair) towards the end of high school. And I've been growing ever since.

[ninelifewriter5]

I had classic(I think? I just remember I could sit on it) length hair when I was younger. My friend really hated long hair for some reason and always nagged at me to get it cut. One day she was pretending to only brush my hair, and she cut it off to just above my shoulders with kitchen shears she was hiding. I've been having trouble growing it ever since. It was pretty traumatic since I had always dreamed of growing it to my feet.

That's horrible! I couldn't imagine someone doing that to my hair.

I had BSL hair when I was younger, because my hair never grew further. My mum had only ever had it trimmed, and just let it grow. I had a fringe too, which I kept because it wasn't too bad.

The first time I cut it I was about 9, purely because I wanted a change. I had it cut to shoulder length, and I loved it at the time. It lasted a couple of years, but then I regrew it (BSL again). Then, when I was about 14, I cut it into a bob. I loved it for the first few weeks, and then hated it. I've been growing it back ever since. Now BSL again (recurring theme?). :P

[Purdy Bear]

My mother chopped my hair when I was 11 years old from TB to a bowl cut. She tricked me into it, she had persuaded me that I could go to the hairdresser for the first time, and have a really good cut. I went to the salon, arranged the appointment and got the best price.

Then on the day, she reneighed on the deal, got a pudding basin on my head and cut round it.

Heres the resulting hair cut:
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q15/PurdyAngelicBear/11yearoldbowlcut.jpg


It was terrible at my new school, I not only looked too young to attend but also a boy. No one knew (even the teachers) wether I was a boy or girl and I got regularly bullied for wearing a skirt until it grew out.

Needless to say my relationship with my mother was never good.

[-j-]

When I was 6, my older sister cut my hair. My hair was something between BSL and waist and I thought she would just trim the ends but she cut it really short! My mum was furious and she had to take me to hairdresser´s to be fixed - and my hair turned about pixie length.

[FrannyG]

My hair varied in length from quite long to very short. And I've done so as an adult as well. I don't regret any of my haircuts. They were what I wanted to do at the time. Having said that, I do regret causing damage about 2 years ago that ended up requiring 2 big chops.

I'm just enjoying the ride now though. I know that one day I'll get to my goal. :) It's not a race.

[Syaoransbear]

Wow! What a fool of your friend to do that to you. I hope you two are still in good terms though. And I hope you made it a point for her NEVER to touch your long hair. :)


We continued to be friends for about 4 more years until I cut it off with her. She was an awful, awful person.

[jera]

I had classic(I think? I just remember I could sit on it) length hair when I was younger. My friend really hated long hair for some reason and always nagged at me to get it cut. One day she was pretending to only brush my hair, and she cut it off to just above my shoulders with kitchen shears she was hiding. I've been having trouble growing it ever since. It was pretty traumatic since I had always dreamed of growing it to my feet.

This brings back memories. My mother dragged me kicking and screaming to her hair dresser's where she told him to chop my mid back length hair into a pixie. :(

I cried for months and didn't smile in pictures for a long time after. I think this is why I'm a long hair fiend now. I see having long hair as a form of control over my life. ;)

[rachelily]

Yes :( I had BSL length hair in sixth grade, but I wore it up every day and didn't even take advantage of my hair. That is the longest it has ever been, til the day before moving in to college and it was a few inches shy of BSL and I cut it all off to my chin! I was so upset. I always get those spur of the moment desires to chop, I think that's how that works with everybody. But the LHC will hopefully keep me motivated with growing since every day I log in and see all this beautiful hair!

[lindenblossom]

I was just thinking about this!

When I was 12, my hair had reached about mid-back (that was long for me, as my mother was pretty scissor-happy). I loved it and wanted to grow it out, until one hot day in late spring made me change my mind and I went on my own to get a cut to shoulder-length. I was proud to walk to the haircutter's on my own and pay for it myself with babysitting money. I liked it for a few days, then regretted it! I should have just taught myself some updos for hot days instead.

I sometimes think about how long my hair would be if I had never cut again at age 12.

[laurathexplora]

I remember being called "Lady Godiva" when I was little (5 years old maybe) because my hair was long enough to cover me and I would run around the back yard without clothes on. :) But, I was never taught how to brush or wash my hair so it was always dirty and snarly. I got picked on for it all the time so my mom cut it off to a bob. I remember liking it because I got picked on less. In high school I got my BSL hair cut to a pixie. It was awful. The girl that did it was right out of beauty school. After that my hair was always past SL. I sometimes day dream of having a cute pixie but I know I would regret it.

[MandyBeth]

I ALWAYS have had short hair. Even what it is now is the longest it has ever been for me. My mom routinely shaved my "undercoat" as I called it when I was 6, and kept the top layers to just past chin because it was the only way there was any hope of managing my hair with what I'd get into. With that section gone, my mom could get all my hair untangled easily, and I was happy with it. Unless I flipped my hair up, no one could tell I was missing any really - I remember being told so many times in public "Poor kid, too bad your mom makes you keep all that hair" or my mom being told she should thin my hair out because it wasn't fair to a kid to have all that hair.

I grew the under section out at 10 or so, I'd started on my RA treatment and had a shed of about 1/3rd of my hair that's never grown back. At that point, I didn't like going to anyone to do my hair besides my mom because she was the only one who didn't yank my hair, so she kept trimming my hair and I kept it chin length for another 4 years.

At 14, I was in HS and had discovered the joys of Manic Panic and the like. Mom didn't care if I put that in, a few months later, the ends were turning odd (bad) colors, so I cut it all off on my own into a messy pixie-shag thing that looking back now, it was a wreck, but I loved it.

Somewhere in that, I'd taken to black hair dye, and at 22 had a reaction to PPD that burned all the hair off my scalp - and had a blistering chemical burn on my scalp. Spent a good almost 2 years with no hair or just a fuzz of hair (1/16 - 1/8" long) and actually got to liking it. Started to look into getting a "real" job, which meant I had to grow my hair out at least long enough to hide my tattoo on my scalp, so went to a 1 - 2" long pixie that my scalp still was pretty cranky with and I cut more than not.

So near enough to 5 years later and I'm at chin or so. Part of it is I know how to deal with my hair now, part is I've lost probably half my hair from medications/chemical damage so it's now a managable density, and part is I just want to see what my hair will do. My dad's family gets towards classic length pretty well, my mom's family gets well past that, so it's just a curiosity. If I hate it, I hate it, and I'll cut it off. Figure it's not the worst thing to give a try to since it's easily changed if I don't like it.

[BeatlesFanGirl]

I had "Beatles haircut" as a child. Then at 10, I started to grow, because my sister persuaded me that a girl should have long hair. :D +I saw 'Hair' the movie and became a 'hippie'. ;D I grew to my waist/TB, and everyone adored my thick brown hair. They worshiped braiding it, and I didn't mind. :) And at 13, I wanted a bob cut, so I went to a hairdresser and had it. I liked it for a while, but it was hard to maintain. I had short haircut after that, then I grew my hair by ny age 18 and have had APL-BSL hair since. Thank god I could always decide what I wanted to do to my hair, I'm so sorry for those who were forced to have a haircut... :(

[kc]

Yes, I had beautiful long hair until the age of 6. My mother went to beauty school and guess who she "chopped" on - yes, me. It was horrible. I could never grow my hair long again until I left home and moved out. I have my own daughter now, she is 13 with the most gorgeous long hair I have ever seen - and it will stay that way (as long as that is what she wants)!

[starlights]

i remember when i was around 4, i had long hair... upto tailbone... and i remember i loved it... sadly mum & nan decided they couldnt cope (???) and cut my hair to a BOY CUT
and i had a boy cut until i was around 8... it was horrible horrible horrible
my bestfriend in school had long tailbone hair, (still has the lucky madam!) & i remember playing with it then (and still do) wishing... I WANT MY HAIR TO BE LONG TOO...
ah well... we all gotta start somewhere...

[Juliannaissance]

We continued to be friends for about 4 more years until I cut it off with her. She was an awful, awful person.Hahaha! So she tried cutting your hair again?


I was proud to walk to the haircutter's on my own and pay for it myself with babysitting money. I liked it for a few days, then regretted it! I should have just taught myself some updos for hot days instead.This is exactly how I felt! I was glad to cut my hair and liked if for a few days, but then I punished myself for doing it in the first place...


I have my own daughter now, she is 13 with the most gorgeous long hair I have ever seen - and it will stay that way (as long as that is what she wants)!That's a good thing too. If I ever have a daughter I won't cut her hair unless she wants me too, but I will tell her how much I cherish long beautiful hair. :p

[spidermom]

Mine is the longest it has ever been, which is fun.

[IcarusBride]

I've had strait unlayered BSL hair pretty much my whole life, but from childhood until 7th grade my mom always cut bangs in my hair and I had always HATED it. I remember in 7th grade being really happy that my bangs had grown out to ear-length and I could clip them back and then on school picture day my mom cut them and I cried and cried and told her "I don't want to look like YOU!" haha it was probably really cruel to day that, but I couldn't forgive her for forcing her preferences on my hair. Since then I grew out my bangs and I haven't had them since and never will, and neither will my kids unless they decide they want them.

[Juliannaissance]

I've had strait unlayered BSL hair pretty much my whole life, but from childhood until 7th grade my mom always cut bangs in my hair and I had always HATED it. I remember in 7th grade being really happy that my bangs had grown out to ear-length and I could clip them back and then on school picture day my mom cut them and I cried and cried and told her "I don't want to look like YOU!" haha it was probably really cruel to day that, but I couldn't forgive her for forcing her preferences on my hair. Since then I grew out my bangs and I haven't had them since and never will, and neither will my kids unless they decide they want them.Hahaha. Yeah, I hate when my mom tells me what to look like or how to dress. She says I don't know fashion. It bugs me so much. I don't want to look like everyone else. :p I used to cut bangs on myself but I don't really like them anymore since they get annoying in my face too much, plus my face is too small and round for them.

[Theobroma]

I had classic length hair until I was about twelve, when I got tired of my braids (tightly braided, they still came down to below my waist). Because it was thick and springy and tangled like mad if I didn't braid it, I decided to get it cut to about APL. I didn't really like the result much as there was so much of it that the ends spread out into an A-line, so some time later I had it chopped to a pixie cut.

I really hated that. It looked perfectly OK but just wasn't me, and I started growing it out again immediately. Never did regain the length, though, because I always wore it down and wasn't taking care of it. Sigh.

ETA: I still have the braid that was cut off. It's 60cm long and unbelievably silky.

[Kathie]

When I was young my hair was blond, reaching waist-length, and would fall into ringlets.... then my mum started cutting it- shorter and shorter- until a bowl-cut was standard. It was horrible! :mad:The other girls at school would have long pretty braids pony-tails etc.

Cuts inflicted upon myself have often been the result of chemical damage.... I’m often sad but these cuts often come out of necessity.

[Sammich]

I had butt length hair when I was younger. I never had short hair before and was curious, so I asked mummy to cut it; she was reluctant at first but then cut it to waist, I wanted it shorter. She cut it to BSL, I wanted it shorter so she cut it to shoulders...
However I wanted it even shorter and she cut it to chin.
*Sigh*
Those days. T__T! I really really regret! My mother was really great with long hair. D:

[annamarieg]

Hi Everyone, I'm new here!

When I was a little girl I had long blond hair with little curls at the ends. The night before the first day of 1st grade (I was 5) my mom told me she was going to cut my hair like "Princess Diana". I didn't know who princess Diana was, but I assumed she had long blond hair like all the other princesses I'd seen.

I was really excited until I saw all the hair on the floor.... I decided to trust my mom because I was so young and figured she knew what she was doing. When she was done I ran to the mirror and burst into tears. She'd given me a sloppy boycut, and admitted herself it didn't look very good.

The first day of school all of the girls thought I was a boy... and being a chubby kid it was pretty miserable. :( About 2 months later, my hair turned dark brown. I had a good long year of bad hair days..

Luckily I had the sense to never let my mom touch my hair again. My hair was back to my waist in about 3 years, and it stayed there for a good long time. :D I have had many beautiful hair days since.

I've learned that when I have daughters I need to make it really really clear what their hair is going to look like when it is cut, and if they don't want to cut it that's totally ok!

[ericthegreat]

Up until the age of 13, I had very short hair. I'm talking a military crew cut, practically my head felt like a million tiny pin pricks it was that short. My mother simply didn't want to deal with combing my hair ever, so she figured that the moment it grew even half an inch long that it was time to go to the barbershop to razor it off again.

By the time I turned 14, I decided that I really wanted to start growing out my hair. I had always adored long hair even when I was very little and had very short hair myself, I remember admiring the waist length locks of all the girls in my kindergarten class. So at 14, I began my growing out journey. By then, I was old enough to assert my own decision making and my mother eventually allowed and even accepted that I was going to keep growing my hair long and keeping it long. The rest is all history, I haven't gone back to a short haircut since! :cheer:

[Fairlight63]

When I was 12 I had BSL hair that I would wear in a pony tail or braids. My sister was 7 yrs. older than me & had BSL hair also. She went to the beauty salon & got her hair cut in a "bubble cut" (it was really short & about 3" long all over) It looked really cute & she talked me into getting my hair cut like hers. Later on my Mom told me that she cried when I got it cut because my hair was so pretty long with pretty curls. It was a drk. brown color with redish highlights in the sun. Makes me sad to think back to when I was young & what I used to do to my hair, cutting it short & dying it black. It would have looked so much prettier if I had just left it alone.
I remember growing my hair out to about shoulder length ever once in a while but then would cut it short again because I basicily didn't know how to take care of it. Now since the internet there is LHC & You Tube to find out how to take care of my hair & try different hairstyles.
I have been growing it out long since 2007 & decided to grow it long.

[Yozhik]

I had WL hair when I was 12, but then decided to get my hair cut to about SL.

I had always gotten compliments from strangers on my long hair, but it was horribly tangly underneath and fried at the ends because I didn't know how to take care of it :( My mother was sad when I cut it, though -- she said I had looked like a princess with it . . .

As soon as I got it to SL, though, I kept on cutting it shorter and shorter. As soon as it hit around APL, I'd get it cut again to a layered bob. Ah, well, live and learn :shrug:

At least now I'm growing it long again :)

[JamieLeigh]

My mom kept mine to about mid-back length (BSL, if I'd worn a bra :p) until I was about ten, and with straight-across bangs. :shake: And then she gave me the quintessential French-poodle-esque 80's home perm. Which made a HUGE knot in my hair, that ate up about a third of my thickness and length together. It had to be cut out, which left me with shoulder length hair. After that, she washed her hands of my hair's maintenance and just let me do as I pleased with it.

Which was no trimming at all, and growing those d****d bangs out!!! :happydance: So I got to almost-knee by age 17, and my bangs were about BSL-ish.

Then I cut back to between BSL and can-i-call-this waist? length, right before college. I regretted it heavily then, but looking back, I did the right thing, because I'd have had to trim every bit of hair on my head, shave it to the scalp, to get new healthy regrowth. I had dyed, bleached, teased, blow-fried, crimped, heat-curled, straightened....you name it, my hair got it. :doh:

Now I have ALL-VIRGIN hair, to just past my fingertips/midthigh, and I'm adoring it. :crush: If I'd never cut, God only knows how bad it would look right now, and if I'd even bother to post photos on this site. :eek:

[Loreley]

When I was 4 I had WL hair. I wanted to cut it SL and my mum took me to the hairdresser and she did it. I was happy with it, but two weeks later I fell asleep with a chewing gum in my mouth. When I woke up the next day, it was in my hair. We had to cut it to very short. I remember I was crying when we went to the hairdresser. :(
I decided then that I'll grow it very long.

[Flynn]

I've been everywhere from classic to pixie. When I was in kindergarten, mum kept my hair in a cute bob, because it was far more manageable for her, and it wouldn't get caught in things. From ages 4-12, I'd grow it a bit, chop it off, grow it a lot, chop it a bit, and so on. Sure, I also had the confounding factor that if mum needed me to put my head back to do a ponytail, my tonsils were so oversized that I choked, but we didn't know that was what was going on at the time... Anyway. Let it grow from 12-ish to 15-ish, then went pixie. Kept it between chin and pixie until 18, when the salon put prices up MASSIVELY, so I just stopped cutting it. Am now oscillating between BSL and hip, because the barbers I go to are very good at managing it at those lengths.

Traumatised? Regretful? You joking? It's hair, for goodness' sake...

[Night_Kitten]

When I was about 8 - 8 1/2 I had upper-thigh length hair. My mom took care of it and we both liked it long, but when she started a new job she had to leave early in the morning and couldn't comb and braid it for me anymore. After a month or so we agreed that a shorter cut will be better (I couldn't comb it properly or braid it by myself), and I ended up with chin length hair. I loved it at the time and kept it untill I was 12 or so, then desided to go longer.
I grew to about waist or slightly longer, but always had it in the same boring ponytail. At 16 I desided I wanted a really short cut, and went to ear, and then even shorter to pixie. Kept it short for a couple of years, then it grew to about chin because I was too lazy to go to the hairdresser regularly, and at about 20 I desided I wanted it longer again...
I don't regret any of the cuts, but I sometimes think of how long my hair would be if I hadn't cut it...
My mom still keeps my braid from the first chop :)

[LoveMyMutt]

My hair didn't usually get beyond shoulder length as a child; I remember being very stubborn about washing/combing it so my mother always made me cut it to keep the tangles to a minimum.

As a teenager I had super short punk haircuts. But I grew it out during senior year in high school. By the time I started my first "real" job at 21, it was almost to my waist. It was blond and I was fond of wearing black velvet headbands...

On my first day at my first "grownup" office job, I overheard a couple guys in the break room talking about me. "Did you see the new girl that started today?" "Oh, yeah...the one who looks like Alice in Wonderland?"

I was mortified...I wanted people to take me SERIOUSLY, dammit! I was an ADULT, twenty-one years old, not a childrens' book character! So during my lunch break, I walked over to the mall, went to one of those chain haircut places, and told them to give me a "professional" hairdo. I walked out with a chin-length bob, blown dry sleek and straight.

Now I'm 41 and I would be quite happy to be mistaken for Alice in Wonderland! lol.

[adiapalic]

The only big chop I've ever had in my whole life was when I was 7 years old and my sister was 9. My hair reached my lower back, as well as my hers. She decided she was going to have her hair cut to her shoulder, and I refused to have mine done. After mama cut hers for her, my sister begged me to do the same. I was steadfast in my decision for a few hours, and then I finally gave in. It was exhilarating right after I did it--the only memory I have of light, bouncy tresses that quickly flip side to side when I toss my head back and forth.

That night I cried my eyes out in my pillow and begged for my hair back in the morning. I promised I'd never cut my hair like that again. I haven't. :flower:

[BattahZ]

Haha funny thing is, I have the opposite experience with mom pressure! My mom always insisted I keep my hair long, since it was so thick and poofy without the extra weight to keep it down, but I always wanted short, cute cuts like my girlfriends (and bangs, which SO don't work for me). I eventually convinced her when I was 10 to let me get bangs, though I didn't realize what a mistake they were til much later. Then when I was maybe 13, I convinced her to cut my hair just above my shoulders. WOW was that a bad cut for me - that short, and with no layers. My hair was enormous, and not in a good way.

[Siava]

The longest my hair has ever been was waist length in high school. When I turned 17 I started getting questioned about when I was going to re-do my roots when I hadn't dyed in the first place. That last kick of puberty made my follicles cease blonde production. I took the plunge and bleached for the first time at home. *sigh* Big mistake. I ended up having to cut my hair because the ends were fried. Since I was getting a cut I asked the beautician to give me layers. From there I dyed and cut for years, but no more! I'm done with it.

[Squeak toy]

I had the same mom problem as battahz. My mother regretted her short curly perm that she since before I was born so she never let me cut my hair. I think it only got down to waist. When I left Home I cut it to BSL and highlighted it. It did not look much different just shorter and so expensive. Now after a few more cuts I live my long hair because I want it and no one is forcing it on me.

[Miss Misha]

My hair was long for the first five years of my life and then came.....Twiggy! Ok, so I'm dating myself, but that was my first experience with short hair FAIL. For the next 40 or so years I endured mothers, hairdressers, boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, sisters, *perfect strangers* telling me that fine straight hair "doesn't look good long". My hair has been as long as waist and as short as pixie in search of everyone else's perfect hair cut. I think the last above SL cut I had and *liked* was in 1993. Yep, in the last millenium, boys and girls.

In the past few years, as a busy mom and stepmom, my haircut appointments became harder and harder to schedule regularly, so my hair started to grow past SL by default more than design. Occasionally, I'd try a long layer styling, to add life to my baby fine hair, but it was just more haircut disaster.

After my last cut, in February of this year, I found Franny's long hair blog and started lurking here. I decided to grow out the bangs that really do look contrived and over-styled in pictures and start towards BSL, from APL. The longest parts have made it to BSL and I'm just waiting for the bangs and layers to catch up. ;)

The best part? I get many more compliments on my hair up and how that compliments my face structure than I ever got with short/layered/permed/whatevered hair.

[Nymphie]

I had looong hair as a kid. When I first started to bike, my hair got stuck in the wheels. And in chewing gum. And bees always managed to get stuck in there.
My mother wanted to cut it and my dad refused because he thought that it was too beautiful to cut. I finally cut it short when I was about 13, and loved it (imagine constantly getting bees in your hair because you don't know how to braid you hair properly and didn't like braids), even though now when I look back at pictures, I think those haircuts were awful.
I also discovered by that age my scalp problems with psoriasis, so I've never reached longer than BSL since then. Knowing more about healthy hair now, maybe it'll become better.