3rd anniversary of making my curls happy :)

[PurpleAshes]

Well it's time for my third anniversary thread. Today, 3 years ago, I did a big chop, never went back to a salon, never straightened my hair again and decided I would embrace my beautiful curls. I'm still on the journey of becoming "exotic" (to me that means classic lenght curly hair).

Last year I didn't make a thread because I was very dissapointed with my lenght gain. As you already know, curly hair shrinks a LOT, which means that even if my hair is the longest it has ever been when stretched, it still hasn't reached a desirable lenght when dry. What I definitely am is happy with it's health. I got rid of ALL the damage, which makes me extremely happy.

For comparison purposes, this is my first year anniv thread:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=37160

Now, on to what everyone wants to see, the pics!


Wet lenght
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=2343&pictureid=116481

Pretty curlies
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=2343&pictureid=116482

Dry lenght + stretched lenght. See how long it actually is? :(
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=2343&pictureid=116483

Front. See how ALL the straight pieces are gone? I'm very proud about that. Also, you can see all the weight I've gained. Please don't put much attention into that :o
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=2343&pictureid=116484


Extras: My two purple streaks.
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=2343&pictureid=116486

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=2343&pictureid=116485


I know the lenght shot kind of sucks, so don't worry, when DBF gets home, I'll force him to take a nice shot of my hair and I'll post it here :)

Thanks for reading :)

[jojo]

Oh my what a difference, your curls are so beautiful and I love the purple bits very pretty.

[jujube]

I love the curls! They are so well-defined and just beautiful. Congrats on 3 years.

[kitschy]

I love your curls! Your hair is so shiny.

One of these days you'll reach "critical length" where your length will pull your curls out somewhat - It'll seem like you grew four inches overnight.

[jaine]

Very pretty!! Did you cut away the last of the damage or did it just re-curl on its own?

[Aqua Gal]

Your curls are unreal...absolutely gorgeous. That is some beautiful length. We've got some 3cs in the family, so I can really appreciate how long your curls are.

[chelseamichelle]

Beautiful!

[auroraclio]

Your hair is absolutely gorgeous!

[Slinks]

wow the stretched bit is long, boing .. lol .. you do have very pretty and gorgeous healthy hair now :-)

[Juicematic]

Your curls are so pretty!

[PurpleAshes]

jujube, chelseamichelle, auroraclio, thanks so much for your beautiful compliments!


Oh my what a difference, your curls are so beautiful and I love the purple bits very pretty.

Thanks! I love the purple bits too :D Before I retouched the purple, I ended up having tri-color streaks: green, blond and purple. I liked it a lot, but I'm not very fond of blond on my skin color.





One of these days you'll reach "critical length" where your length will pull your curls out somewhat - It'll seem like you grew four inches overnight.

Ahhh, I definitely know what you mean. I don't know if it's noticeable, but the hair around my purple bits are actually 3a, so every once in a while they reach that critical point, while the rest of my head is 3b AND 3c in the back. So go ahead and picture that downside V hemline I end up with :/. Every few months I trim only the sides to even it up. I'm still waiting for the back to catch up :)


Very pretty!! Did you cut away the last of the damage or did it just re-curl on its own?

Ever since my hair reached the "pony tail lenght" I've cut little damage pieces here and there. The only part of my hair that didn't get as much trimming was the front, so some of the front has reformed and some it was cut :)


Your curls are unreal...absolutely gorgeous. That is some beautiful length. We've got some 3cs in the family, so I can really appreciate how long your curls are.

Wow, thank you for such a lovely comment! I really like it when people actually know how much of a long curly hair it takes to reach my actual lenght. Most people don't believe it. Some actually mock me because DBF's hair looks longer than mine, while they don't know mine is actually longer (not that I mind who has longer hair, it's the mockery that bothers me). BTW, his anniv thread is coming soon too :cheese:

[pepperminttea]

Your curls are gorgeous! That is a lot of shrinkage, but when it means you have curls like that... wow. :thud:

[dementedkitten]

Booooiiiiiiinnnnnnggg!! Wonderful!

[JaneinMarch]

OOhh! I love the pretty curlies!! Thank you for the update!

[Lissandria]

I love love love the purple streak and your curls are just so gorgeous. Hope it grows quickly for you this year :)

[spidermom]

Wowwowwow! Those are some gorgeous curlies. I'm glad you decided to embrace them.

[McFearless]

You look beautiful! I love your hair. I went through the exact same transition. its so good to be free from the straight ends:D

[JamieLeigh]

What beautiful curls! I'm always so happy to see curls being embraced, rather than straightened away! :crush: And Happy 3rd Anniversary!!

[Roscata]

You have beautiful curls! :)

[luluj]

STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL!!:thud:

[BrightEyes]

Wow, your hair is gorgeous!!! Your curls are so pretty and shiny. I really like the purple streak too.

Here's to another year of great progress:cheese:

[PurpleAshes]

Slinks, Juicematic, pepperminttea, dementedkitten, JaneinMarch, Roscata, luluj, you are all so sweet! Gosh I love the LHC. Always so supportive!

To those who mentioned Boing, I do that a lot actually, hahahah, pretty much all the time!:D


I love love love the purple streak and your curls are just so gorgeous. Hope it grows quickly for you this year :)

I hope so too! Thanks for the nice wishes!


Wowwowwow! Those are some gorgeous curlies. I'm glad you decided to embrace them.

Oooh I'm glad too! Straightening my hair wasn't only preventing me from achieving a life long goal (the "exoticism" :p), but also was a pain in the bum!


You look beautiful! I love your hair. I went through the exact same transition. its so good to be free from the straight ends:D

Ahh tell me about it! It's a hard process and requires lots of patience, but it's so worth it. I'd love to see sdome pics of your progress too :D


What beautiful curls! I'm always so happy to see curls being embraced, rather than straightened away! :crush: And Happy 3rd Anniversary!!

Thank you! I say variety brings beauty to the world. Why would curlies want to smash down theirs?!

Anyway, I remembered something my dad said while drunk a few weeks ago "Oooh, your hair! Just like ramen soup!" xD

[jasper]

I really have curl envy now. I am another who is glad you embraced curliness! It seems like straightening curls like that would be fighting against the beauty of your hair.

[PurpleAshes]

DBF's home now, so here's the promised pic :)

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=2343&pictureid=116499

BTW, my hemline is really unpredicatble. Sometimes it's straight, sometimes some bits get curlier than others and end up all crazy Xd And when the sides get heavier, I have an inverted V.

[blondie9912]

Your curls are so defined and not frizzy AT ALL! Wonderful that you don't have any frizz, because I know that's something those with curly hair struggle with. Congrats! :D

[NotInPortland]

Wow I just LOVE your curls!! Your hair is beautiful PurpleAshes :)

[lacefrost]

Your hair so beautiful! Looks touchably soft. I always love looking at pictures of your hair. You look gorgeous!

[Lostsoule77]

I love your curls and the purple streaks! Your hair is amazing and you've seemed to have gained quite a bit of growth while your curls were repairing themselves. Sounds good all around. :) Congratulations on your third anniversary. :)

[torrilin]

So pretty, and such a good illustration of why I think curlies should measure stretched. Stretched, you're well past waist. Unstretched? Still shoulder. But that curly spring doesn't mean your hair handles like it is shoulder length. The length is there, and needs careful management.

And you're clearly managing it well! The condition looks to be incredible.

[freckles]

congratulations! (in the right thread this time ;)) the close up of your curls is an amazing photo!

[Debra83]

WOW :thud::bottomsup::thudpile::bigeyes::thumbsup:

[Yozhik]

Stunning photos and wonderful progress!

I love your curls and am in awe of the length that they are! :agape:

Congratulations on your 3rd anniversary. :flowers:

[infinity_girl]

Your hair is beautiful! What it lacks in length it makes up for in being such a lovely curly texture! Enjoy it.

[gibsongirl71]

Gorgeous curls! I love way curly hair. It is very exotic and so pretty. It looks very healthy too. Good for you on your progress. :-)

[CurlyMopTop]

Wow! Those curls are to die for! I can see a huge difference in health and length! :D I think that your shrinkage is amazing too! Like, hidden treasure. Your hair is truely beautiful. :)

[racrane]

Your hair is beautiful. :)

[SpinDance]

Oh Wow! PurpleAshes, your hair is amazing! I bet it is really fun playing with those springy coils. :) Congratulations on such beautiful progress and on your 3rd anniversary.

[PurpleAshes]

jasper, NotInPortland, freckles, Debra83, Yozhik, infinity_girl, gibsongirl71, racrane, thank you all soo much!


Your curls are so defined and not frizzy AT ALL! Wonderful that you don't have any frizz, because I know that's something those with curly hair struggle with. Congrats! :D

I do have frizz when I don't follow the right technique or apply the wrong leave in. Took a while figuring it out, and I'm always improving it. Sadly, my megaperfect leave-in cond changed it's formula and the new one isn't so good, so I'll embark in the process of finding the perfect leave-in ponce again. Thank you for the comment!


Your hair so beautiful! Looks touchably soft. I always love looking at pictures of your hair. You look gorgeous!

Aw, I had no idea you liked seeing pics of my hair, yours is wonderful too!


I love your curls and the purple streaks! Your hair is amazing and you've seemed to have gained quite a bit of growth while your curls were repairing themselves. Sounds good all around. :) Congratulations on your third anniversary. :)

Sort of wish I had more lenght, but thinking about what you said makes me realize it's not bad at all. I gained lenght and health at the same time, that rocks :D


So pretty, and such a good illustration of why I think curlies should measure stretched. Stretched, you're well past waist. Unstretched? Still shoulder. But that curly spring doesn't mean your hair handles like it is shoulder length. The length is there, and needs careful management.

And you're clearly managing it well! The condition looks to be incredible.

Yup, if it's not treated like the strtched lenght, that lenght will go away by splitting/damage/etc :)


Wow! Those curls are to die for! I can see a huge difference in health and length! :D I think that your shrinkage is amazing too! Like, hidden treasure. Your hair is truely beautiful. :)

Oooh, I had never seen it from that perspective. I always admired those people who have very long hair but keep it in buns, as a mystery. Now I have a mystery of my own :cheese:


Oh Wow! PurpleAshes, your hair is amazing! I bet it is really fun playing with those springy coils. :) Congratulations on such beautiful progress and on your 3rd anniversary.

Yup, I do it all the time. Thanks!

[thelittlestdoc]

Your hair looks so glossy and healthy, now! Love your curl definition :)

[longhairedwolf]

Thanks for letting me know that I posted in an old thread by mistake. Good to see that your hair is even more beautiful 2 years later!

[arielágua]

wha sorry for posting in the wrong thread!
Now, i'm in the right one, I DO think your hair is beautiful, though it shrinks a lot!!
Sometimes i wish I had curls, I have a passion for them. I love to see the curlies around LHC, it inspires me so much.
So congratulation on your work!! You're doing wonderfully!
I know I'm a wavy, but on special occasions I love to put some mousse and dry with a diffuser (I know that's all bad, but it's once or two in a year that I do it). I can actually get soft curls like Katie Melua. xD I only do this because I'm curly envy!! :(

[zirena]

Thanks for leading me here! Your hair looks fantastic :) Great progress, keep it up!

[ktani]

Your progress is wonderful and your curls are absolutely gorgeous!

I do not understand why there are people who think that curls cannot rock.

You are an inspiration to anyone who wants to try and achieve what you have done!

[Khiwanean]

Gorgeous curls! Those purple streaks are lovely too.

[lapushka]

Amazing curls! Congrats!

[Fufu]

extremely pretty curls :)

[krissykins]

Your hair looks AMAZING :thud:

Congrats on reaching your anniversary! Here's to many more happy years of growing! :cheer:

[Rocket22]

You must have the most perfect curls ever!

[Annibelle]

Beautiful! :)

[supercupcakexx]

Wow, your hair looks so gorgeous now!

[girlcat36]

WOW! Your curls are so pretty, and NO FRIZZ! I am envious; I struggle with frizz. Nice work taking such good care of your hair.