I want my hair to grow to the middle of my back..?

[itsjackie]

How many more inches do you think it'll have to grow to reach the middle of my back?

And two really random questions:
1. Does my hair looked damaged? (B/c I straighten it alot.)
2. Does it look greasy/oily? (It's second-day hair so I was j/w.)
Thanks (:

http://i31.tinypic.com/rhodvc.jpg

[Phalaenopsis]

If you want to know how many inches you'll have to grow, I think it is best you measure it yourself. I did it this way: I wrapped a little cord around my waist so I could see exactly where it is and then just measure it. :flower:

[Periwinkle]

It is easiest to measure it yourself.

Damaged? Hard to tell. Since your hair is relatively short, a lot of damage that might be there probably doesn't show so much. I think it's fair to say, though, that if you keep straightening it, then it will be damaged and it will show badly when it gets longer.

Greasy? Nah. Doesn't look greasy in that picture.

[April1]

I think measure yourself too. And again, as for damage it is hard to tell from a photo at a distance. And one more thing...throw that straightening iron away (if that is what you use), they are :evil:, and hard to give up too when you get so used to relying on them. I really destroyed my hair with only occational use. Your hair looks stick straight to me in that photo anyway...........is that after you have straightened it?

[Meli]

You have already got good answers on your questions, so I'm just going to say that your hair looks good in the picture. :flower: If you want some suggestions about how to straighten your hair without heat, check this thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=4313).

[camillacamilla]

I think measure yourself too. And again, as for damage it is hard to tell from a photo at a distance. And one more thing...throw that straightening iron away (if that is what you use), they are :evil:, and hard to give up too when you get so used to relying on them. I really destroyed my hair with only occational use. Your hair looks stick straight to me in that photo anyway...........is that after you have straightened it?


I agree with tossing the straightening iron...your hair may not be showing damage from it now, but it will start splitting and breaking at some point. A ceramic iron (straightening or curling) gets super hot and destroys your hair.

[spidermom]

I can't tell from where I'm sitting whether or not it's damaged, but my guess would be yes; straightening is hard on hair. It looks like you need about 5 inches more growth to get to mid back.

[HairColoredHair]

Another reason it can be hard to tell damage is that if you're using certain products (heavy silicones or similar) they may be masking the damage that's actually in the hair. :)

And greasy... oily... they often just show up as shine unless it's really bad. (A touch of oil isn't really bad anyway...)

I would also say measure yourself... what I consider 'mid-back' may not be what YOU consider mid-back.

[kwaniesiam]

Many members here wash only once a week, some never (check the NW aka no water thread for more info!) Your hair doesn't look greasy at all, hair doesn't need to be washed every day. Some might, but that's just what they have found to work best for them. Try to stretch it out and see how long you can go, maybe over a weekend where appearance isn't as vital as say, during the school week. Summer is also coming so you'll have plenty of time to adjust and find a routine that works well for you :)

If you want long, HEALTHY hair, you do need to stop straightening it and embrace your natural curl. Straightening and blowdrying does damage your hair an awful lot with consistent use. There are tons of threads on here for curly hair, just surf through the Main Forum and you'll probably find what you're looking for. HTH and welcome to LHC :flowers:

[itsjackie]

Soo.. is it damaging to straighten my hair 3x a week ?

[Angellen]

Straightening 3x a week isn't as damaging as straightening it everyday, but straightening your hair will damage it no matter what you do. It's a matter of how much damage you're causing.

[AshleyP]

Soo.. is it damaging to straighten my hair 3x a week ?

Yup. I, too, am a hair straightening obsessed person here. Straightening even once a week is damaging. If you are going to straighten anyway (like I am :o) be sure to use heat protecting stuff on your hair. Your hair will STILL get damaged, but ahh - anything to help reduce I suppose. Straightening your hair any amount will always damage it. :shrug:

[itsjackie]

Will a hair reconstructor help with the damage?

[Mrs_Zombie]

i don't think a hair reconstructor will help. from what i remember from hair school you're damaging the cuticle of the hair, and once that's messed up, you can make it better by doing conditioning treatments on your hair and the such, but it will never go back to being how it was in its virgin state.

i think you should try looking into alternative methods of straightening your hair because if you want to grow it long, then damaged hair is not the way to go.

Also, you do have medium to coarse hair like i do, and while i blow dry my hair about once a month and it does nothing to the integrity of my hair, it probably would take some damage from ironing it 3x a week. Maybe you can wrap your hair around your head at night and sleep with a silk scarf on, that should help keep your hair straight.

Another thing, how many times do you wash your hair a week?

[itsjackie]

i don't think a hair reconstructor will help. from what i remember from hair school you're damaging the cuticle of the hair, and once that's messed up, you can make it better by doing conditioning treatments on your hair and the such, but it will never go back to being how it was in its virgin state.

i think you should try looking into alternative methods of straightening your hair because if you want to grow it long, then damaged hair is not the way to go.

Also, you do have medium to coarse hair like i do, and while i blow dry my hair about once a month and it does nothing to the integrity of my hair, it probably would take some damage from ironing it 3x a week. Maybe you can wrap your hair around your head at night and sleep with a silk scarf on, that should help keep your hair straight.

Another thing, how many times do you wash your hair a week?

I wash my hair 3x a week .
And , will wrapping my hair straighten it ? Or will it just keep my hair straight from when I straightened it .

[Mrs_Zombie]

Both, you can wrap your hair to make it pin straight, (there are videos on youtube.com. look up doobie) and you can wrap it to keep it straight.

And if your hair isn't getting greasy, maybe cutting down to washing 2x a week (if you're still ironing) will keep it from getting too damaged. The natural sebum in your hair is one of the best things for it.

Hope that helps :flower:

[GlennaGirl]

Yup, definitely try wrapping. Your hair looks very, very pretty to me. It has a nice amount of fullness to it and the cut is very even and straight. It's already long by "industry standards". With gentle care, it will only get longer from here. Please do consider cutting down, or cutting out, the straightening. I know that's a big step but if you want a good amount more growth--say about a year's growth, maybe a bit less--you will need your hair to be as strong as possible.

Good luck and welcome to LHC!

[spidermom]

When you straighten your hair, use a heat protective spray/serum, and pass the iron down each section quickly and only once per section. That's the best way to prevent damage.

[itsjackie]

thaanks everyone ;D

[Jae6]

one more thing on heat styling and damage: once upon a time i used to blowout my once color-treated hair about as often as you did. i was able to prolong split end formation for at least 5 months when i was VERY DILIGENT about doing weekly protein & moisture treatments, and doing a hardcore protein treatment (i.e. aphogee from sally beauty) once a month. so it is possible to grow out to and maintain waist-length hair, BUT be prepared to invest a LOT of time and money to keep it relatively healthy.

but i agree that your hair will not be in as great condition as it would be if you let it airdry.

[itsjackie]

well , i tried wrapping my hair last night and it didn't turn out too well . it made my hair straighter , but it was poofy and frizzy .
i'm thinking of trying really big magnetic rollers in my hair to just give me loose waves . think that would work on 3A curls ?

[itsjackie]

......... ?

[Isilme]

try the rollers, my hair can get straight when I want it to so I haven't tried it. But I just wanted to tell you that hair that has beeen damaged can't be healed and I'm going to show some scary pictures: http://www.pg.com/science/haircare/hair_twh_69.htm

Good luck on wrapping a rollers, a much better way to get straight hair. I think you have to do the wrapping some times to make it work. Try making a ponytail and putting elastics down the length (oh, and avoid the elastics with metal bits, they are only going to slize and rip your hair) dampen the whole thing and wait for it to dry.

[itsjackie]

soo the only way to fix damaged hair is cut it off ? cause i think my hair is really damaged . i was in school and kept looking through all my hair and there was some pretty bad split ends D:

[KajiKodomo]

Yeah, the only way to permanently fix damaged hair is to cut it off.

You could do a S&D (Search & Destroy) where you find and cut the splits off (with a nice, sharp pair of scissors), and leave the rest of the hair. That way, you could get rid of the splits without losing any length.

If you want to grow it out, the best bet is to stop doing any damaging things to your hair (flat-ironing and blowdrying, if you do that), and try to be as gentle as possible and trim the damaged hair off slowly. That way, you could still have longer hair (as opposed to chopping it all off and having shorter hair), and get rid of the damage as well.

Although, if you want to do one big chop to get rid of the damage, that's your choice. I've done it myself, so I won't say it's a bad thing, it's just a matter of preference.

[Anje]

You can protect damaged hair to prevent it from getting any worse, and you can definitely do treatments to keep it as good as possible, but damaged hair cannot be made into undamaged hair by any treatment I've ever heard discussed around here. The person who comes up with something to truly reverse damage instead of simply mask it should become very rich.

Your hair may be damaged, but it doesn't mean you have to shave your head to be rid of it. You can S&D (search and destroy = cut out all the splits you find with hair scissors), and you can do deep conditioning treatments to improve the moisture content and strength of your damaged hair. Many people with damaged hair swear by putting in coconut oil, and other oils are great too. Alternatively, some people with damage get better results with Fox's Shea Butter Conditioning Cream (look in the recipes section) -- I'm new to SBCC, but I'm enjoying it. Trims can also get rid of many splits, if they're at your ends.

[itsjackie]

ohh thanks . i'll try the s&d .
but do you think the rollers will work ? i'm kinda scared to try them b/c i think they might make my hair frizzy .