200th post! What should I do now? *pics*

[Monkey962]

...and this February will be my three year anniversary!

Anyway, at the moment I'm a bit unsure as to what I should do about my hair. I'm not even certain about my goal. At the
moment, my hair is about 38" long, as seen here:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=3296&pictureid=118203http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=3296&pictureid=118203

As you can see, there's some thinning on the right side, and the ends are looking a bit thin as well. This actually started back in March: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=3296&pictureid=118194 http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=3296&pictureid=118194

That picture doesn't look too bad, apart from the uneven ends, but you can see that the right side is just a little bit thinner. Well, an entire summer of benign neglect while being very active and not using updos has taken it's toll it seems. I've been S&Ding every chance I get, oiling, using sleep braids, trying to finally learn how to use hairsticks properly, and just generally paying a lot more attention to my mane. As a result, my hair is now actually pretty damage-free. A couple splits will still show up, but I usually attend to them pretty quickly.

So at this point I'm not sure what to do. I suppose I could do a small trim to even up my ends, but anything more is somewhat counter-productive since my ends are pretty much damage-free; most of the damage is in my length, around where I tie the elastic for braids. I could also do a big trim to try to remove all the damage from the elastic, but I'm constantly making progress in removing the damage, and I'd probably have to lose at least 5", which would be incredibly discouraging this close to my goal. What would people recommend? I'm partial to maintaining at some point soon until all my ends thicken up, but if anyone has a better idea I'd like to hear it.:)

Also, I've been pondering this for some time, but how cool would it be to grow my hair to 42" as a Hitchhiker's Guide reference? I know it's silly to think that far ahead when my hair's health is more important, but a guy can dream, can't he?

[Avital88]

i would just microtrim every 2 months 0.5inch.. we are the same length by the way :) i have the same issues with my ends but i will let them be for now and i will see next year :)

[Cowgirl16]

I would suggest microtrimming and maintaining a while to thicken the ends up.
You have great hair so it may not take too long at all. :D
I think your hair would look great st 42"! :drama:

[jojo]

I was going to suggest micro trimming but was going to say trim half your monthly growth and save half. It doesn't look too bad to be honest a few longer hairs are all thats making it look uneven. My hairs thinner on my right hand side too and a U shaped hemline is perfect in disguising it!

[Amber_Maiden]

Definitely micro trimming.. :)

[MrsGuther]

I agree with the others that said microtrimming. My hair seems to be a little thinner on the left side of my hemline. I'm not sure why it does that. I totally understand how you feel though!!

[Sundial]

I agree with microtrimming. Your ends look quite healthy and split-free, so it doesn't really make sense to cut off too much. As you said, you're already doing S&D so that should take care of any pesky damaged strands higher up. I'm also microtrimming at present for a better hemline. I was trimming more aggressively previously but realized that I'm trimming away good growth when I didn't really need to (my shortest layer is at my chin so it occurred to me that this will be a marathon and not a race, so it isn't necessary to be so aggressive with my trimming).

As to how you can improve things, you can probably try using a scrunchie to tie off your sleep braid (if no one's looking then I guess the switch won't have that much of an impact). You can switch it up with buns too.

If you feel awkward walking around with a scrunchie during the day, you can switch to pantyhose elastics or use spidermom's method of wrapping a moistened piece of ribbon around the end of the braid before tying it off with a metal-free elastic. You can probably pick a colored ribbon that is close to your hair color or a thin neutral colored ribbon if the idea of wearing ribbons bother you. This acts as a buffer between your hair and the hair elastic.

[SpinDance]

I'll weigh in with another micro-trimming vote. The S&D will take care of the damage, the micro trims will keep the hemline neat. I'm sort of in the same situation as you, dealing with damage in the lengths but not so much at the ends, and I've continued to gain length even though I've been microtrimming regularly for over a year now. I attribute a lot of my damage to wearing braids for years. My hemline is getting better since I learned to use sticks and forks and stopped the braids with the ties in the same place. Even gentle ties need more physical manipulation than tucking the ends inside a bun held with a stick or fork!

Cool idea about 42 inches!

If you are looking for an alternative to braids for sleeping, may I suggest this (http://www.flexi8.com/0409.html?id=aEPp4nNQ). Celtic stuff is good for men and women, although there are lots of other things that can be pulled off by a confident man. ;) The medium is a bit smaller than the large I will use during the day, but it is easier to sleep with it in. I do a Nautilus with the middle held with the Flexi for sleeping. It sort of unwinds a bit, which makes the Flexi sit at an angle instead of sideways, which is more comfortable for me as a side sleeper.

For a nice day time alternative metal chopsticks (http://www.garrettwade.com/product.asp?pn=39C04.01)s holding Spidermom's bun work great. I keep a pair of the small ones with me all the time, as well as a set of lacquered children's chopsticks. I find Spidermom's bun to hold best with either a fork or 2 sticks.

Since you're already able to braid, learning more updos will probably be really easy for you!

[BlazingHeart]

I think trimming half your monthly growth makes a lot of sense. It'd let you continue progressing towards the answer to everything while you take care of the thin patch.

[Slinks]

I don't tie off my sleep braids .. I spitz my hair with condish/water mix and braid - it seems to hold BUT I sleep on my back and hardly move :-) I do sometimes roll over - my braids seem to stay put tho .. I agree with the micro trimming, I'm actually doing this myself too :-) on the 1st of every month I trim off the teeniest "can't find it on the floor to sweep it up amount" it seems to work ..

[Monkey962]

As to how you can improve things, you can probably try using a scrunchie to tie off your sleep braid (if no one's looking then I guess the switch won't have that much of an impact). You can switch it up with buns too.

If you feel awkward walking around with a scrunchie during the day, you can switch to pantyhose elastics or use spidermom's method of wrapping a moistened piece of ribbon around the end of the braid before tying it off with a metal-free elastic. You can probably pick a colored ribbon that is close to your hair color or a thin neutral colored ribbon if the idea of wearing ribbons bother you. This acts as a buffer between your hair and the hair elastic.

I actually have a pantyhose elastic, but it's all stretched out. I was told that throwing it in the laundry will shrink it back down a bit.


If you are looking for an alternative to braids for sleeping, may I suggest this (http://www.flexi8.com/0409.html?id=aEPp4nNQ). Celtic stuff is good for men and women, although there are lots of other things that can be pulled off by a confident man. ;) The medium is a bit smaller than the large I will use during the day, but it is easier to sleep with it in. I do a Nautilus with the middle held with the Flexi for sleeping. It sort of unwinds a bit, which makes the Flexi sit at an angle instead of sideways, which is more comfortable for me as a side sleeper.

For a nice day time alternative metal chopsticks (http://www.garrettwade.com/product.asp?pn=39C04.01)s holding Spidermom's bun work great. I keep a pair of the small ones with me all the time, as well as a set of lacquered children's chopsticks. I find Spidermom's bun to hold best with either a fork or 2 sticks.

Since you're already able to braid, learning more updos will probably be really easy for you!

I have been pointed to Flexi-8s before, but found them all too feminine. I hadn't noticed that one though, and I quite like the look of it. Those chopsticks look cool! It's also one reason why I love the LHC - because it manages to find ways for food products to be used for haircare. :D


I don't tie off my sleep braids .. I spitz my hair with condish/water mix and braid - it seems to hold BUT I sleep on my back and hardly move :-) I do sometimes roll over - my braids seem to stay put tho .. I agree with the micro trimming, I'm actually doing this myself too :-) on the 1st of every month I trim off the teeniest "can't find it on the floor to sweep it up amount" it seems to work ..

Trimming a bit the first of every month is a really great idea to me. I'll have to use it as though it were my own.:)

And it looks like I'll have to do some microtrimming the next time my hair's straight. Unless trimming with braid waves don't affect the hemline. By the by, how much should I take off? Half an inch or less?

[SpinDance]

You are so right about food products becoming hair stuff! :D Gotta love it.

As for flexi's and such being too feminine, I think part of it is we are used to seeing them on women. Seeing the same thing on a man suddenly it becomes a different thing altogether somehow. Like a simple, elegant wooden stick or fork goes both ways quite well, too. It's like a t-shirt, they work well for both men and women, but they sure look different depending on who's wearing it!

Using Fey's method I don't see how braid waves would affect a micro trim. I only take off about 5 mm, say 1/4 inch per micro trim. That's barely enough to notice, even though it often ends up being about half of a months growth. I find it ironic that regular trimming of the ends is helping me gain length and overall improvement in my hair condition much better than not trimming very often did, due to breakage. It wasn't much of an issue until about hip, but from then on, well, it was.

Best of luck with your decisions and let us know how it goes!