Newbie Needs the Advice of Experienced Hair Growers!

[blondie9912]

Hi everyone! I'm a new member to the forum :) I've been lurking around for a while and can't believe how kind/helpful/supportive everyone here is!

So here's the deal with my hair: I had it between BSL and waist last winter (ah, what a glorious time that was) but the small splits at the end of my hair bothered me. I bought a gleaming pair of Dannyco shears, and bid farewell to 7 inches of treasured hair :uhh: Worst part is, I really only needed to lose 2 or at the most 3 inches. I'm trying not to look back in regret, because really, all I can do is move forward.

I've been getting my hair highlighted for a couple of years and absolutely LOVE it. My hairdresser does an awesome job at getting my colour to look incredibly natural, no one even knows I naturally have light brown hair :eyebrows:

Over the summer, I decided to dye over my highlights at home with a Garnier Nutrisse kit (colour didn't look half bad, actually) but was much too one-dimensional for me) Hated it, recoloured, messed up, went to the salon. Long story short, I got the colour I wanted with my trusted hairdresser but kind of messed up my hair in the process. Worst thing is, this wasn't the type of damage that came to be as a result of combing/heatstyling, so my hair was damaged all the way down the strand, not just at the ends. I made the (insane) decision to cut a 1-inch thick piece from the front of my hair SHORT (and I mean pixie length short), because the length was so frazzled, fried, and chemically mangled, that I wanted to scream every time I ran my fingers through it. Also, I figure it would have broken off eventually on its own, so I just sped up the process. Needless to say, when I sent my friends a picture of it via BlackBerry Messenger, they were convulsing in laughter and my new hairstyle has been dubbed 'the alfalfan tuft'.

So now, I have to part my hair on the opposite side in order to conceal the 'tuft', and I'm trying to grow my hair out to BSL (and eventually waist) from the measly APL its at now. Thankfully, my hair is silky and smooth again (it was just that one piece in the front that suffered from all the colouring) but it's SO short!

Any tips for how to grow it out? For reference, I have fine (but very fluffy and bouncy, so it doesn't look lank :D) light neutral brown hair that is currently a shade close to my natural, so I don't have to worry about roots for a while. I take 2000mcg biotin every day, prenatal vitamins, childrens multivitamins, and vitamin e oil, and follow a healthy lifestyle.

Thank you all SO much for reading this novel! Any advice/experience/feedback is greatly appreciated :love:

[FrozenBritannia]

re the piece you had to cut short, you could always say you are following the trend of having an undercut on one side :)

[spidermom]

I've been growing my hair for more than 10 years, so I definitely have experience, although no experience in the precise area of your question. However, while I was growing out my face-framing fringe, I'd often twist bits of it back and clamp them down with something pretty - crossed jeweled bobby pins or a barrette (but don't use the french kind). They make these cool little things now that are like a combination of a decorative hair comb and a barrette - you slide in and clamp. There's a thread by Manderly about them ... let me see ... Bendini Clips - I like them! (search the mane forum; my attempt to link failed)

[silverjen]

Can I ask why you take both children's vitamins and prenatal vitamins? That makes me a bit worried. For one, unless you have a specific deficiency, its unlikely that you need both. For two, it is possible to harm yourself with too many supplements. Please be cautious.

[Buggheart]

Can I ask why you take both children's vitamins and prenatal vitamins? That makes me a bit worried. For one, unless you have a specific deficiency, its unlikely that you need both. For two, it is possible to harm yourself with too many supplements. Please be cautious.

I have to agree with the above. If you compare the values of the vitamins in the store you'll find that they're likely the same. I've compared prenatal vitamins to a women's one a day type and they were nearly the same.

As for other growing tips, the thing that helped me most was stopping regular trims. I was going every 2 months for trims and they were cutting off all my new growth! So I started going only every 5-6 months and as I was babying my hair it grew a lot.

[racrane]

Unless you have a super deficiency, you don't need all those vitamins. One multivitamin should be enough. Also, pamper your hair and don't trim. My hair is fine to go a year without trimming.

[blondie9912]

Thanks for the advice ladies! I agree, Buggheart + racrane, regular trimming is unnecessary. LHCers treat their hair so well that they don't need to cut as often as those who bleach/straighten their hair regularly!

Silverjen, I have to admit I did feel like I was going a little overboard. I think I'll stick to the prenatals as they have iron, while the children's do not.

Have any of you found that taking vitamins actually made your hair grow any faster? :S

[celebriangel]

Oh my goodness that's waaaaaaaay too many vitamins!

You need take only 1 multi, and it's best if it's low-dose at that. vitamins A and D are fat soluble, so they build up in the body, and can cause horrendous side effects if you take even a little too much for long enough!

You're safer with water-soluble ones if you really want to take lots. So stick to one multi (low-dose multi) plus, if you really want, a vitB complex that includes biotin since the b-vitamins work in concert and you don't want loads of only one.

You don't really want prenatals, either. They're formulated to be used by pregnant women for short periods of time and thus aren't balanced properly for non-pregnant women. Also, they often contain too much of things. Just take a good multi without huge doses of anything.

Sorry to lecture. I just...taking more than 1 multi with fat soluble vitamins is actively dangerous. A good, safe supplement is MSM, if you really want, which I and some others have found reduces shed, and it appears to be non-toxic even at levels well above what you would sensibly take. Essential Fatty Acids are good too.

As for trims, it varies with everyone. You may find you do need regular trims, if you have damaged hair, however you can do just the teensiest, tiniest dusting regularly and you'll hardly notice the loss of length.

[archel]

Along with everything she said, there is no reason to take extra biotin unless you've been tested at the doctor and you are actually deficient. The vast majority of people get enough biotin in their diet. There is actually an LHC member who was taking biotin and ended up with stage 2 renal failure (she's an active member so maybe she'll chime in).

With vitamins, more is NEVER better and actually can be very dangerous.

[blondie9912]

Oh my goodness that's waaaaaaaay too many vitamins!

You need take only 1 multi, and it's best if it's low-dose at that. vitamins A and D are fat soluble, so they build up in the body, and can cause horrendous side effects if you take even a little too much for long enough!

You're safer with water-soluble ones if you really want to take lots. So stick to one multi (low-dose multi) plus, if you really want, a vitB complex that includes biotin since the b-vitamins work in concert and you don't want loads of only one.

You don't really want prenatals, either. They're formulated to be used by pregnant women for short periods of time and thus aren't balanced properly for non-pregnant women. Also, they often contain too much of things. Just take a good multi without huge doses of anything.

Sorry to lecture. I just...taking more than 1 multi with fat soluble vitamins is actively dangerous. A good, safe supplement is MSM, if you really want, which I and some others have found reduces shed, and it appears to be non-toxic even at levels well above what you would sensibly take. Essential Fatty Acids are good too.

As for trims, it varies with everyone. You may find you do need regular trims, if you have damaged hair, however you can do just the teensiest, tiniest dusting regularly and you'll hardly notice the loss of length.


Thank you for your feedback! I've heard of other people taking even more than that, hopefully they figure out that what they're doing isn't a great idea :undecided:

What should I eliminate? I think I'll keep going with the biotin just because it's water soluble, but maybe I'll go down to 1000mcg daily. Perhaps just the prenatals were overkill?

Archel, I agree, best not to overdo it! Never know what can happen

[Cainwen]

Hello blondie9912!

First of all, I agree with the other posters about the vitamins. There is such a thing as overkill :)

But that aside, one thing I can think of that you can do at APL to protect your hair is french braiding. At APL, I would do a single french braid all the way down to my nape, english braid a little bit more, then tuck the ends up underneath the french braided hair at the nape, holding it there with a pin or two. It looks very neat, protects the ends and of course prevents you from futzing with it.

Other than that, treat your hair nicely and ignore it. Watched pots never boil, you know ;)

[blondie9912]

Hello blondie9912!

First of all, I agree with the other posters about the vitamins. There is such a thing as overkill :)

But that aside, one thing I can think of that you can do at APL to protect your hair is french braiding. At APL, I would do a single french braid all the way down to my nape, english braid a little bit more, then tuck the ends up underneath the french braided hair at the nape, holding it there with a pin or two. It looks very neat, protects the ends and of course prevents you from futzing with it.

Other than that, treat your hair nicely and ignore it. Watched pots never boil, you know ;)

Haha, very true! Just as a watched phone never rings :lol:

Thank you for the tip! I french braid my hair quite often, but I feel like at this short length (when I was at BSL I would get nice braid waves) my hair looks incredibly awkward- random flips in areas as opposed to a nice, uniform S-wave throughout. Any ideas on how to remedy this?

[blondie9912]

edit: my hair looks very awkward when I take it OUT of the braid after having it braided overnight

[Cainwen]

Haha, very true! Just as a watched phone never rings :lol:

Thank you for the tip! I french braid my hair quite often, but I feel like at this short length (when I was at BSL I would get nice braid waves) my hair looks incredibly awkward- random flips in areas as opposed to a nice, uniform S-wave throughout. Any ideas on how to remedy this?


edit: my hair looks very awkward when I take it OUT of the braid after having it braided overnight

Ah. Well, my hair is naturally curly/wavy, so random flips are just a normal hair day for me at shorter lengths, lol. I hate having my hair loose, so I would just rebraid it for the day, to be honest. Otherwise, you might be able to brush the flips out, or if you get your hair a little damp (e.g., mist from a shower or a spritzer bottle) convince it to lie otherwise.

[blondie9912]

Ah. Well, my hair is naturally curly/wavy, so random flips are just a normal hair day for me at shorter lengths, lol. I hate having my hair loose, so I would just rebraid it for the day, to be honest. Otherwise, you might be able to brush the flips out, or if you get your hair a little damp (e.g., mist from a shower or a spritzer bottle) convince it to lie otherwise.

Sounds like a plan to me! Spraying and kind of 'forcing it' do lie otherwise should work for my fine, easy to tame hair. Thank you!

[Cainwen]

You're welcome!

[Yozhik]

Welcome to the forum! :flower:

Hm...as per your braid waves question, I'd try doing twin braids instead of a single braid -- that will help you get tighter waves that should wave a bit better with your shorter length. :)

I find tucked under single french braids to be very elegant at that length, too.

[blondie9912]

Welcome to the forum! :flower:

Hm...as per your braid waves question, I'd try doing twin braids instead of a single braid -- that will help you get tighter waves that should wave a bit better with your shorter length. :)

I find tucked under single french braids to be very elegant at that length, too.

Thank you Yozhik! I'm loving it so far..I should probably be studying, but hreading about hair is so much better :grin:

I'll try doing twin braids :) However, my hair is fine, hopefully it won't give me waves that are too tight. Thanks for the advice!