How it all started...

[Kherome]

I wasn't sure if this should go here or in the Mane forum so I'll put it here and mods can move it if needed.

My hair growing journey started over ten years ago. My hair was TBL and I got this wild yen to cut it short. Sooo, I did.:mad: For about 2 days I liked it. Then I wasn't happy and got completely overwhelmed by the thought of how long it would take for it to grow back out, and all the awkward stages I would face in the process. So for a couple of years I kept it in various short styles. Then in 1995, (I was...like 12 or 13 at the time?) the TV show Xena:Warrior Princess started airing. I was really into the show:o (I feel like a nerd even admitting that) I was really impressed with all the lovely hair in that show, Xena herself, Callisto (Hudson Leick, who continues to have some of the most beautiful hair I've ever seen), and the Amazons! So thus began my hair growing with purpose. All over a silly tv show.

So now that I've sufficiently embarrassed myself, was there a catalyst to your hair journey?

[Madora]

I'd say it was Judy Garland's beautiful "Dorothy" braids in The Wizard of Oz. I loved their thickness and color.

[nucleardelusion]

I love Xena! I was a little younger than you were when it aired, and I gave in to watching it again on Netflix recently hahaha.

Anyway, I just always wanted very long hair. My family always would have it cut to about shoulder length. I got to waist with very much protesting etc around 8th grade, but it wasn't in pretty condition. A year or so later, I cut it short for various reasons. I was thrilled with my cut! None of the other girls had cut short hair like me... but I guess it became trendy and I lost interest. I wanted my hair much longer than my previous waist length and in better condition.

Long hair reminds me of fairies, Medieval princesses, vampires, mermaids, warriors and elves- same things that made little girl me want very long hair instead of bobs and shoulder length hair. :)(That's not to say there aren't any cute pixies with pixies ;) ) I want to be something supernatural- or... at least do something I couldn't do before.

Plus, I was tired of trying to match hair pieces to my hair for up-dos for tribal belly dance shows. :p

[Kherome]

I love Xena! I was a little younger than you were when it aired, and I gave in to watching it again on Netflix recently hahaha.

Yeah, I own all 6 seasons plus the 10th anniversary edition on DVD.:o I'm THAT nerd. LOL

[BrightEyes7]

Got a really bad cut and swore off stylists.

Thus my hair grew long.

[et--cetera]

I told my mom back in girl scouts that I wanted to have hair like Repunzle when I grew up. Just took me a while to get around to it.

[AspenSong]

I used to have long hair...cut it, went through a lot of hairstyles and my Dad for years would mention how beautiful my hair was when it was long....I always intended to grow it back out.
Then my Dad passed away. And one of the only things he ever wanted me to try to do, was let my hair be natural and healthy and long again because he just wanted me to realize how pretty it was and not be pressured by others to do what was in "style" and such. When he was gone, it was suddenly finally the right time. I can't explain it really. I'd let so many people influence me into keeping it short and continuing to keep it blonde and dyed....and suddenly, I didn't care. So I started growing it back out then.
I've honestly been happier (outside my monsterous shedding! lol) with my hair than ever. :)

[wvgemini]

I've never had really long hair but I've always admired it in that "so pretty but I could never pull it off" kind of way. I was growing pretty good about letting it get long a couple of years ago but I got mad at my ex at lopped it all off to about chin.

Anyway, DF finally admitted he liked longer hair after I mentioned growing it out. So there you have it.

[Kherome]

Got a really bad cut and swore off stylists.

Thus my hair grew long.

I think a lot of people have this type of story. Why must the "stylists" be so oblivious?

[dowhatchalike]

i just always loved long hair...it used to be really long when i was little and i want to grow it long again :p
Melanie and Stevie Nicks are my inspirations!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/B1ZU3t79gkS._SL600_.jpg


http://www.hipsterama.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/rock-hair-stevie-nicks.jpg

[GeoJ]

I think my original inspiration was Princess Leia.

Xena was the reason I once cut bangs in my waist length hair. When I could not get mine to lay nicely like Xena's, I grew them back out.

[Kherome]

I think my original inspiration was Princess Leia.

Xena was the reason I once cut bangs in my waist length hair. When I could not get mine to lay nicely like Xena's, I grew them back out.

Thankfully, she never tempted me that way. I often wish for bangs, but I'm too afraid to commit. I think I'd hate them in short order.

[Roscata]

First of all I LOVE Xena! :heartbeat

Second of all Callisto rules! :crush:

And third of all I had short hair for 10 years and loved it for 8 of those 10. For the past 2 years I kept wanting to grow it out but I couldn't swear off hair dye at first because I love red hair. So summer 2009 I decided to grow it out virgin and I did. Around September 2010 I discovered henna and now I am loving growing out my hair (minus the layers). I did see a lot of women with long hair in movies and tv shows and I just missed it honestly. I'm just sad I discovered this site so late, if I found it back in 2008 my hair would be waist or hip length by now. :shrug: Better late than never! :D

[Zefyra]

I loved Xena when I was little... So awesome...

My dad always wanted me to have long hair, but I always wanted it short. Actually Id want it short till we went to the hair salon, and then a week later Id say I was growing it out... There was a period of about a year that he just refused to let me cut it and it grew from chin to about bsl when I was 11...

Anyway, I always promised him that I grow it out when I grew up and well... I grew up. I started actively growing it in May when I turned 18... Now its officially the longest its been since I was 11 and about 18.5 inches...

Aside from that, I just have more appreciation for long hair now... And theres so much gorgeous hair and I wanna have some of my very own!!

[Kherome]

I wouldn't have guessed there'd be so many Xena fans here :D

[ScarlettAdelle]

I've always had this odd fascination with hair. I had hair to my waist as a kid and loved it, except I always wanted it straight (like the rest of my family) so.... I begged and begged until my mother straightened it chemically. Unfortunately, she didn't buy the neutralizer, and decided to just leave it in until it ran out of "juice or whatever" and sent me to my grandmothers house (she watched me after school) who didn't know what it was and decided to wash it out with vinegar and hot soapy water (her answer for everything) I had chemical burns all over my scalp, my hair was falling out and over processed for years. Part of my scalp still hasn't fully healed, the hair on it grows slower, finer, lighter and straightish.

Then a few years later, my mother decided she was going to cut my hair off (I had to be about 12) so she grabbed the scissors and told me she was going to take an inch off. She took an inch at a time (so I wouldn't notice) and cut about 20 inches off. I went from tailbone to almost shoulder. I cried for about 3 weeks straight and still haven't fully forgiven her for the COMPLETE violation of trust / string of lies that she's still not apologized for and most likely never will.

So then, that brings us to about 3-4 years ago. I went to hair school... decided on a whim to put fire engine red streaks in my hair, so that meant bleach. And I didn't ask my teacher to help me formulate. Grabbed the Blondor and the 40 volume.... 4 patches of chemical haircut later, I learned my lesson and cut back to 5 volume and black only.

After school, I've realized that my ultra fine hair doesn't take coloring well and that I don't want to be coloring my hair all that time and that I actually like my grays, so why slowly damage my hair over a series of years?

It was then that I decided "let's go virgin" much to the exasperation of the thirty some odd people I went to hair school with who swear up and down the two levels make a difference and that gray is "unbecoming" of a young lady.

It's been 7 months since I've had color (I feel like I'm in Haircolor Anonymous sometimes when I say how long it's been XD) and I have 5.5" of virgin growth and I'm slowly trimming the color off by maintaining at tailbone.

[gthlvrmx]

5th grade in a sort of rebellion, i decided to not be like any of the other boys and refuse anymore hair cuts my parents pressured me into. A long fight, they didn't stop until middle school and even then it was never past shoulder. I didn't want to get made fun of or anything for having super long hair, so i never let it get past shoulder until high school came and would get lazy and forget to trim. Once i even refused again :P But they usually took 3 inches off. No wonder 8 years and its still not down my butt!
But i do have to say, i saw thse hula dancers and each single one had the matching lengths and it looked beautiful! Hip length and just cut straight, so stunning to see all 15 ladies with hair like that! Inspired me to go all the way since then last summer.
Plus Pocahontas always was that little nudge, her hair was magic i swear. Wanting to feel more connection to whatever native american i have :P

[bunzfan]

It started for me when a new neighbour moved into the area with lovely waist length hair that she wore in a braid it wasn't very thick hair mind you, well i was 12 at the time:p

I grow it nearly to waist length as a teenager but once i started hair dressing i was ordered by my boss to cut it into a short trendy style which i did and regretted, for me having long hair is easier to style than shorter wavy hair!

As i have a toddler in the house its actually easier to have long hair as i can just put it up if it was shorter no doubt i would be straightening it every day.

[pepperminttea]

Lots of little things for me; a couple of bad/too short haircuts, a friend with beautiful hip length hair in high school, movies (LOTR, I'm looking at you :p ), the elegance of Victorian styles, and a general love for long hair. :) It was always something I wanted, but I didn't know how to look after my hair enough to get it.

[Lippytoes]

Ooh yes, there was lots of fabulous hair in Xena! (And ohgosh Callisto. I used to have a massive crush on her. :crush:)

I had long hair as a kid, and only cut it short (bob) when I was 20 or so, because I wanted to get rid of my "longhair self-image" and not just be about the hair. Well, soon enough I realised that no, long hair actually was my thing, and not just something I'd always had. :) So I've been growing ever since!

It does help that I've always been a total fantasy nerd. Lots of pretty, pretty hair in fantasy movies/books. :D

[Vorvolaka]

I just got fed up of having APL layered hair just like everybody else in this area. So I decided to grow it as I hate looking like everyone else.

[lunache]

Having very thick, dense, curly hair, I grew up with very short hair as it was considered by stylists to be "easier"...so I was rocking the poodle until I was in my early 20's. The few times I was allowed to grow it out, it involved chemical straighteners and weekly trips to the salon for drying - not a kid's way to live, so I would eventually volunteer to have it cut off so it would be "easier."

The thing is, though... it isn't easier at all!!! The upkeep of super-short involves monthly trips to the salon or risk looking awkward; the upkeep of straightener is painful (hello, chemical burns!) and involves mind-numbing periods of time at the salon.

So, once I got over the short-is-easier mindset, I still didn't dare go super-long... until the Long Hair Community :) Now I'm aiming for Classic - nary a scissor in sight. I realize for my type of hair and lifestyle, long is waaay easier (and prettier).

Xena wasn't my hair inspiration but for sure I envied the hair. Hair envy was a common feeling growing up because I didn't identify with all the princessy media role models for girls - none of them had short, curly hair. Well, actually there was Little Orphan Annie, but she didn't inspire much at the time!

[Yozhik]

When I was about 12, I decided I wanted to wear my hair in a crown braid. My parents' friend told me I had to have really long hair to do it, so I grew it out. Unfortunately, it wasn't in very good condition, as I had no idea about good brushing techniques and used little conditioner. When I was in my mid-teens, I cut to a trendy-layered style, which was basically how my hair stayed until about 2 years ago, when I decided to research more natural hair products, found LHC, and decided that I wanted my hair long! :)

So I guess for my current hair growth, I can thank you lovely hair inspirations on LHC. :flowers:

[Kherome]

So then, that brings us to about 3-4 years ago. I went to hair school... decided on a whim to put fire engine red streaks in my hair, so that meant bleach. And I didn't ask my teacher to help me formulate. Grabbed the Blondor and the 40 volume.... 4 patches of chemical haircut later, I learned my lesson and cut back to 5 volume and black only.


Ouch! I went to cosmotology school too, only because I got a free ride. I didn't like it much because the salons force you to keep your hair "trendy" therefore short, layered, and colored.

[Intransigentia]

For quite a few years I was in a cycle of growing to somewhere between shoulder and APL, then chopping it all off - yoyo hair! There were two catalysts for deciding to go ahead and grow it long:
1. A period of severe depression where I totally neglected my hair, including cutting, and suddenly it was longer than it had been since high school, and wonder of wonders, it's thicker than it used to be
2. LHC - I started lurking, looking for ways to style my longer-than-ever (zomg past APL) hair, and then I got hooked and joined and now my goalposts seem to be moving downward at about twice the rate of my hair growth

[BabyRay33]

I guess mine really started with my mother's hair. She had long, TB length undyed ashy dark blonde hair. It is just like mine is naturally, but when my parents divorced, I really just stopped seeing her and haven't seen her for years. But I always had that beautiful hair she had in the back of my mind, while I was dying mine and cutting it into a milion pieces.

But now that I am 25, I'm thinking about contacting her again...and I think it might be cool to have her hair, since she gave it to me.

I know this must seem weird, but there feels like there is something right about growing it back out....

[Pyvsi]

For quite a few years I was in a cycle of growing to somewhere between shoulder and APL, then chopping it all off - yoyo hair!

Great description! I had the yoyo-fro for years.

I just love playing with hair, especially my texture. Random people aren't going to just let me experiment with different braids and things in their hair, so I guess I gotta grow my own.

(I am considering becoming a licensed braider, though.)

[nucleardelusion]

Yeah, I own all 6 seasons plus the 10th anniversary edition on DVD. I'm THAT nerd. LOL
I have various merchandise and won a costume contest at a convention when I was in 8th grade- you're in good company. :D *end hijack* I did get Xena bangs often! They're also great for pretending to be Bettie Page. I have strawberry blonde/light red hair though so no one ever really made the connection. I never kept them long because I get a horrible cowlick that causes them to curl weird on one side. Definitely an inspiration for wanting long thick hair though.

[spidermom]

That girl with the classic-length hair in grade school. I can still see it when I close my eyes. It took me 40 years to acquire the patience to leave my hair alone and let it grow, but I DID IT! Yay me!

Cher too; her hair was so pretty back when she and Sonny had that variety show in the 70s.

[PrincessTieflin]

I was sporting a short A line, and got extentions.. that 's what started it all for me!! I loved having hair that was brushing my back!!! Hope I can reach that lenght with my real hair... was hip length or so... you would think that my hair would be on its way there.. But I am still stuck at APL.

[Intransigentia]

Great description! I had the yoyo-fro for years.

I just love playing with hair, especially my texture. Random people aren't going to just let me experiment with different braids and things in their hair, so I guess I gotta grow my own.

(I am considering becoming a licensed braider, though.)

A lot of my motivation to grow longer is because the more there is, the more ways you can play with it, so I totally hear you.

I love fancy/multiple braids, but so far I just don't have the arm endurance, or ability to do precision work behind my head, to do my own. Being a pro braider and getting paid to play with other people's hair would be so cool!