Long hair---why?

[Darkhorse1]

So, have you ever been asked why you don't cut your hair or why you have long hair?

My family and friends know that long hair is the easiest style for me to manage---I'm lucky my hair grows very fast, but also, it's a low maintenance style.

What inspired you to grow your hair? For me? I was forced to have boy short hair as a child because my hair was so thick, I'd cry when my mother would brush it. I had my hair shorn at a barbershop with my brother!:rolleyes: I asked my mother if I could grow it, and she said when I was old enough to care for it, I could. I started growing it when I was in Gr 4, and it was 'accidentally' hacked (read, hair trim gone bad) two years later, so by the time I hit high school I could pretty much sit on it. Ahhh. Jane Seymour was my roll model! And Crystal Gale. :)

Also, I love how long hair feels--it makes me feel very femenine---I'm in a job where I don't dress up fancy (thankgod!), so it's my one vanity.

Why do you have long hair? I figured sharing these stories would be great! :)

[Siava]

I was married for almost 12 years to a control freak who always told me I was not allowed to cut my hair "too short". His version of too short was anything shorter than shoulder length which I found out once and he went balistic. Nothing violent, but he just wouldn't quit nagging and saying how ugly it was. Plus, he preferred me as a bleach blonde and it really destroyed my hair going back and forth between what I liked and what he liked.

Finally, when I got the nerve to leave his no-good-trash-butt, I whacked it off. ALL of it. I think the longest piece was 1". Maybe. I really did miss having long hair then. Go figure! :lol: So now I'm growing it back out because *I* choose to and because I think long hair is beautifully feminine.

[Ohio Sky]

I guess just because I like the way it looks. I find my hair easier to manage the longer it gets, but mostly I just think its beautiful and somewhat unique in todays world.

Also, it gives me something to obsess about since I quit smoking crack :D (j/k)

[freznow]

Why not? :D

I've just always had relatively long hair... I like it better than short hair.

[flapjack]

I've always had fairly long hair, too (usually always between shoulder and knee). Kind of like a fifth limb. I wouldn't "lose" a part of myself if it was cut or lost or anything dramatic like that... but I do think it suits me and my personality.

[Long_hair_guy]

To be more feminine. Even if I'm a male I want to be look more feminine.

Its hard for men to get away with dresses and such but I think that long hair make me more girly

[spidermom]

Growing my hair to classic has long been on my "to do" list. In another 2-3 years, I can check that one off, looks like.

[yogachic]

I cannot style short hair. I like the simplicity of having long hair, being able to just put it up if I don't like how it looks down.

[jojo]

Because I can and its what makes me, me! I love long hair and really couldnt give a hoot what others think. I too have been married (my first husband) to a control freak, and at long last im doing it for me!

[kwaniesiam]

Well, before my answer was "because I can". That's still my answer, and I just like it better. It suits me.

[xrosiex]

Because I love long hair.:)

[AJoifulNoise]

I've had long hair off and on throughout my life. I've also had short cuts. Which looked awful and felt fake.

Ultimately I stopped cutting for reasons of faith. I show my submission to my God by not cutting my hair. Well, when you don't cut your hair... it grows! And, I've loved it ever since it got past my shoulders. I love it more the longer it gets. Even if I didn't have the commitment, I would still keep growing because I love it and I think it suits me.

I also love the fact that not many people have hair my length and longer. So, I get to be a rebel. :D

[paradoxx]

My reasons are not as straightforward as many of those on the board. I suppose that my hair is long right now because I have come to love long hair, but that was not my reason when I started. My hair is naturally strawberry blonde. In my case this means that it is the color of an apricot Crayola. It is a lovely color. Sadly, it makes my translucent, blue-white skin look sickly green. Therefore, I started bleaching my hair to a silvery blue-white which matched my skin. This caused my hair to disintegrate just past my chin and so, I kept it in a pixie.

After DF and I got together, he admited that he loved long hair. I told him that my hair melted past my chin, so that was never going to happen, but that if I ever decided to give up the color, I would try growing it out. Flash forward a couple of years. I was at the salon getting my hair bleached when blood started running down my face. My long-suffering scalp had finally rejected the bleach. My scalp was blistered, bloody, and peeling and my hair was falling out in chunks. I looked like an extra from Night of the Living Dead. At this point, I had to give up bleaching.

After several months of my scalp healing and my hair growing out, I was once again confronted with my peach hair. I decided, after much thought, that since I was a redhead naturally, that I would go with a red that matched my skintone better. We chose a very gentle, deposit-only dye that turned my hair a cool-toned auburn. I spent a few months adapting to my new color and then DF mentioned my promise. We agreed that I would grow my hair out to collar-bone length and then, if I wanted to go back to a pixie, he would never bring it up again. DF is clever though. He knew that collar-bone length would put me past the horrid growing out phase and that I would be able to put it up and do things with it. Needless to say, by the point that our deal said that I could cut, I was hooked.

[Darkhorse1]

Wow! Great stories here! I didn't mean to rub anyone the wrong way. I'm just glad to find others who love long hair!

[wintersun99]

..................

[Starr]

Because I love the way long hair looks on me.

Because I love the way long hair feels.

Because short hair makes me look like a chia pet.

Because short hair is way too much maintenance.

[busnutmedic]

I've had long hair forever, I don't ever remember it short. There are a few baby pictures that I know picture me in "short" hair, but I don't really count those ;)

It's a part of me, I guess. I have considered cutting but I don't think I have the nerve to. I know I wouldn't like it afterwards. Possibly though, if I can't fix the thinning problem I've run into :|

Bonnie

[busnutmedic]

My reasons are not as straightforward as many of those on the board. I suppose that my hair is long right now because I have come to love long hair, but that was not my reason when I started. My hair is naturally strawberry blonde. In my case this means that it is the color of an apricot Crayola. It is a lovely color. Sadly, it makes my translucent, blue-white skin look sickly green. Therefore, I started bleaching my hair to a silvery blue-white which matched my skin. This caused my hair to disintegrate just past my chin and so, I kept it in a pixie.

After DF and I got together, he admited that he loved long hair. I told him that my hair melted past my chin, so that was never going to happen, but that if I ever decided to give up the color, I would try growing it out. Flash forward a couple of years. I was at the salon getting my hair bleached when blood started running down my face. My long-suffering scalp had finally rejected the bleach. My scalp was blistered, bloody, and peeling and my hair was falling out in chunks. I looked like an extra from Night of the Living Dead. At this point, I had to give up bleaching.

After several months of my scalp healing and my hair growing out, I was once again confronted with my peach hair. I decided, after much thought, that since I was a redhead naturally, that I would go with a red that matched my skintone better. We chose a very gentle, deposit-only dye that turned my hair a cool-toned auburn. I spent a few months adapting to my new color and then DF mentioned my promise. We agreed that I would grow my hair out to collar-bone length and then, if I wanted to go back to a pixie, he would never bring it up again. DF is clever though. He knew that collar-bone length would put me past the horrid growing out phase and that I would be able to put it up and do things with it. Needless to say, by the point that our deal said that I could cut, I was hooked.

That's terrible about your scalp, but that's an interesting story! Thanks for sharing :) Glad it's grown back out :D

Bonnie

[may1em]

Why not? I grow mine because I like it. I kept it short and abused for a long time, discovered online longhair sites, figured that I could actually make it work, and went for it.

I remember a conversation I had with a longhaired babysitter when I was a child. I loved her hair and was a longhaired kid. I said that I'd never have short hair and she said she'd also vowed not to cut hers. I guess it was time to go back to that.

Plus, I love it. I love how it feels on my back and arms. Six more inches to hip!

[Curlsgirl]

I have always adored long hair since I was a child but never thought mine could look good because I had this wurly/curly defiant head of it! When I found this site and the Curly Girl Book I realized it MIGHT be possible! I have been growing ever since. I love it and I cannot see ever going short again unless it was a necessity for some reason.

[hurricane_gia]

Oh, gosh, lots of reasons:

Because when I was four years old the little girl next door, who became my best friend, had tailbone-length, thick, glossy black hair that I just adored.

Because I saw Chrystal Gayle on TV for the first time when I was five.

Because when I was six, my Dad took me in to get a chin length bob, but the inexperienced hairdresser kept making mistakes and having to cut more off (to 'even it up') until I had a pixie. And everyone at Day Camp teased me about looking like a boy.

Because my mother had this mini-me obsession with my hair and kept telling her hairdresser to give me a (bad eighties layered) shag cut and a (poodle tight) perm. Which I hated.

Because when I was twelve I finally got my mother's hairdresser to listen to me and not her.

Because when I was going through those awkward pre-teen and early-teen years, people always complimented my hair. No matter how weird the rest of me looked, my hair was pretty!

Because I made it to hip-length by sixteen, and it was the longest hair in the county, and it made me feel special and pretty.

Because when I was eighteen, it all fell out after a bad reaction to medication. I was crushed. But it grew back in . . . .

Because my first college roommate had hair down to her knees!!

Because that corporate hair cut I got for that job interview may have looked cute for the first four weeks, but it was a pain in the butt to maintain!

Because when that corporate hair cut got long enough to ponytail, I put it up, got busy with my job, and forgot about my hair (and my social life and vacations and anything that wasn't work) until suddenly, one day, my hair was at BSL!

Because I couldn't decide what to do with this BSL hair I suddenly found attached to my head; grow it back like it was in high school or cut it again and maintain the corporate hair? And in the meantime I needed to an updo for a special event, so I googled buns and found an LHC-related page of Updos.

Because once I found LHC, I couldn't imagine not growing my hair long!!

[Darkhorse1]

Lovely stories!
I find it interesting that we all love the same feeling---of it against your elbows, or against your back if you are in a bathing suit, when it feels soft and silky.

I'll never forget my excitement when my hair first past my bra strap, when I first felt my hair against my elbows.....ahhh. To me, it was an accomplishment of my uniquness and individuality against all my friends, who had the dorothy hamil bob or those feathered styles of the late seventies, early eighties.

[aprilmay]

Long hair makes me feel attractive and young I love feeling it brush against my back. I like being able to pull all of it back out of my way or wear it down.

[paradoxx]

To wintersun99 and busnutmedic: Thanks for your kind words! :flower: It was a horrid experience, but it certainly taught me to stay away from bleach!

[nicolina]

I used to have long hair - it was around BSL when I was fifteen, and again a couple of years ago, but I didn't really know how to look after it, and I hadn't discovered updos, it was braid or ponytail, so I got bored and cut it. Which was fabulous, but in December the hairdresser cut it WAY shorter than I wanted it, so I decided to grow it out.

Also, because I have spent the last two years trying to fit into a group of friends, and I've finally decided to do what I want to do with my image. If they don't like it, it's not their body. (They're always saying I should do this with my hair or wear that or do my makeup like so....) It's kind of a way of telling myself that I should let myself grow.

[Nicole.Amina]

I had a bad experience at a salon and had to go to another salon to fix it and the only way to do so was to give me a boy cut. After that I went six years with only getting annual trims. And the only reason I got it trimmed once a year was because I like to straighten my hair at least once a year (just to switch it up now and then) and my ends looked horrible. Otherwise my ends looked fine when my hair was curly so I had no reason or desire to cut my hair.

The other reason is I just don't like how I look with short hair. I have a long face with a large forehead, sharp jawline, and high cheekbones. For me, long hair just suits my face better than short hair.

I cut my hair to around BSL (when wet or stretched) which is shoulder length on me and I consider THAT too short for me.

[Loreyanne_H]

Growing my hair to classic has long been on my "to do" list. In another 2-3 years, I can check that one off, looks like.

Couldn't say better than spidermom actually. I LOVE long hair, I really go crazy for my hair getting every month a little longer. My hair type is oly beautiful when it's long so...

[manderly]

The last time I got my hair cut I took in a pic of Reese Witherspoon shortly after "Sweet Home Alabama". I was in mourning because my regular girl left to raise her daughter (yay!) and was "on the search" for a new stylist.

I handed the photo to the new guy who promptly told me that it wasn't what I wanted, he could make it muuuuch cuter. What started as a cute choppy flippy shag was translated onto my head as a sloppy fluffy curled mess. I walked into my mom's front door after leaving the salon (you should have seen my face!) and she said "oh my god!!" HHAHAHAHA. I looked like a southern pageant competitor. I called the salon and had it fixed the next day, but of course it was never really right.

I kept it above my shoulders for several years, growing it to my shoulders then going and cutting it back.

Last May I had it chopped into a really cute bob and dyed it darker. It looked fantastic -- until I saw a photo. I had gained about 60 lbs in the last couple of years and I looked like a blimp in a silly wig. Yuck. It was also a pain in the arse to blow my hair out EVERY MORNING to make it presentable, otherwise my waves took over.

I have a portrait with my mom when my hair was almost BSL and I looked gorgeous (of course being about 50 lbs lighter had a lot to do with that too) and resolved not to cut my hair anymore until I grew it long. I was thinking BSL to waist.

There is nothing more feminine about long hair. I forgot how lovely it felt when it fell over your shoulder and hid part of your face. How it just softens you into a beautiful and mysterious creature. I love the feel of it brushing against my back -- that still startles me! And I've learned that it can be soooooo much easier to care for. In the past I would blowdry every day, and as my hair got longer, it got harder to deal with. When I stopped fighting it and learned to love it it loved me back.

My "long hair" photo in question: http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y50/astrauser/meprofessional.jpg
My "OMFG look how fat I got" comparison picture (this is probably about 2 months after I stopped cutting it: http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y50/astrauser/?action=view&current=differenceblackout.jpg

[MermaidGirl]

Manderly, you are so pretty, short hair or long, but I must say I like your natural color and the longer hair suits you nicely!

[Siava]

To be more feminine. Even if I'm a male I want to be look more feminine.

Its hard for men to get away with dresses and such but I think that long hair make me more girly

That is such a cute response. :)

[DaSwiss]

I always wanted long enough hair to cover my breasts. That way I can be a nudist, without really being a nudist. :p

[Darkhorse1]

manderly--you look great in all your photos! I should start another thread about 'when trims go bad..'....

[Anje]

Mine's never been shorter than shoulders, and I don't know that it would suit me much to go shorter than that. I require hair that I can get "back" much of the time, so it has to be at least ponytail-able, or too short to get in my face. I want low-maintenance hair, too, which means growing it is easier than getting monthly cuts. Finally, I like how feminine long hair is, and it brings out a feminine side of my personality that I might otherwise try to bury.

[nicolina]

I always wanted long enough hair to cover my breasts. That way I can be a nudist, without really being a nudist. :p

:D Fabulous idea! Another reason to look forward to MBL!

[ladystar]

My long-suffering scalp had finally rejected the bleach. My scalp was blistered, bloody, and peeling and my hair was falling out in chunks. I looked like an extra from Night of the Living Dead. At this point, I had to give up bleaching.


WOW!!! sorry to hear that

[Maravel]

I decided to grow my hair because I've always admired women with long, beautiful hair. I read a lot of science fiction/fantasy novels, and all the descriptions of the heroines included their long, cascading, silken tresses.

Most recently, I was at a bellydance expo here in town, and one of the dancers had this eye-popping waist-length, glossy, jet-black hair that just swayed with her to the music. I was mesmirized and decided not to cut my hair any more!

I think it makes me feel beautiful, kind of like I'm holding on to a piece of the past and the way things used to be. Does that make any sense?

[aprilmay]

I decided to grow my hair because I've always admired women with long, beautiful hair. I read a lot of science fiction/fantasy novels, and all the descriptions of the heroines included their long, cascading, silken tresses.

Most recently, I was at a bellydance expo here in town, and one of the dancers had this eye-popping waist-length, glossy, jet-black hair that just swayed with her to the music. I was mesmirized and decided not to cut my hair any more!

I think it makes me feel beautiful, kind of like I'm holding on to a piece of the past and the way things used to be. Does that make any sense?

Of course it makes sense, we all like the way long hair makes us feel about ourselves otherwise we would be cutting away!