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kallarina
May 19th, 2012, 02:29 AM
My little sister, who is 14, has finally told me her deep desire to grow her hair. She has never told anyone, and has never attempted to grow it for fear of people making fun or criticizing her. And that is because she wants ankle length hair!
I've tried to get her to get on here, but she just isn't interested (darn those 14 year olds and their avoidance of forums and informative Internet!), so I've been doing my best to help her.
So here's my problem. We have pretty different hair. Hers is fine, mine is not. She is a ii, and I would guess a 1b although we have really never done hair typing, I'm making a guess off the fact that I'm always the one doing her hair for her. Any suggestions as to what I might do with her hair to make it healthier would be appreciated!
Also, she's a redhead. All her hair is virgin, and she's a true redhead, freckles and all. The only thing that bothers me about this is the fact that I read somewhere that redheads have fewer hairs on their head overall, and this combined with shed rate could mean a shorter terminal. Thoughts on this?
Thanks for all the help in advance!

BlazingHeart
May 19th, 2012, 03:30 AM
Well, I'll tell you this much: redheads do not necessarily have short terminal lengths. My mother (who is a true, vivid, bright red) and myself (chestnut hair, which means brown shading towards red) have both had thick, full hemlines at BCL. When I say thick, full hemlines, I mean at least 1/2 of the circumference that we had at ponytail. I can't speak for certain to how thick my mother's hemline was, as her long hair was before I was born, but I still had about 70%-75% of my circumference at BCL. Also, I'd like to point out that we've got a number of people here who have thin hair that attain great lengths, despite the fact that thinner hair means they may have fewer hairs.

No reason so far that your sister can't attain great lengths! At that age, I certainly didn't handle my hair gently, so that might be a thing to point out - how to minimize mechanical damage.

~Blaze

pepperminttea
May 19th, 2012, 03:37 AM
If she won't join the forum, would she read a few articles? :) If I remember rightly you can do that without having an account, and there's a lot of helpful info hidden away there. These three make a great start:

Ursula's Standard Newbie Advice (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=39)
Keeping Split Ends At Bay: Secrets of Gently Handling Your Hair (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=8)
Damaged Hair: Understanding, Preventing & Rehabilitating (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=79) (even if her hair isn't damaged, that one's great for understanding how damage happens, and avoiding it)

kallarina
May 19th, 2012, 07:48 AM
Thanks so much for the info!
I'll try to get her to read them, but I don't know if she has the patience for that, even.
She used to straighten, which was the cause of most of her damage, but she has gotten away from that. I started slowly, several months ago started giving her little things here and there to gradually get her to the point of taking care of her hair like many of us do here. She's finally at the point that many LHC'ers are at, and I'm very proud of her for that!
The thing is still mechanical damage for sure, though. 14 year olds just don't seem to know what "antique lace" is, or how to treat it. :p
This must have been asked a million times, but is there any way to estimate terminal length? Our mother has BSL, and it has been that length for about four years, with very few trims to nip the hairs that create a v-shape because she hates them. Since their hair is so similar, does this mean my sister will have a shorter terminal or anything like that?

Honeyfall
May 19th, 2012, 08:19 AM
Your sister is a rock star, imagine if she actually did it? Floor-length, bright red hair? Could we all handle that much hair envy here at the LHC? I know I, for one, could not.

As someone with fine hair, who took a decade to get it through her head that fine hair damages easily and then has to be cut off, I'd say her greatest challenge will be just learning to let it be and not mess with it. It's hard when you're young though, and you tend to beleive that the bad stuff you hear about just won't happen to you.

ETA: This isn't a bad method for estimating terminal length:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=75

I think with the redhead thing though, it often says they have fewer hairs because their hair tends to be more coarse. If she has fine hair then she probably has more follicles (like in the blonde category maybe?).

Madora
May 19th, 2012, 08:32 AM
I don't mean this unkindly, but I doubt your sister has the patience to deal with long hair.

If she were truly "into" the idea of very long hair, one would think she'd be interested in reading how to achieve her goal via LHC. Ankle length hair is quite an impressive goal...but you really have to work to attain that length (assuming the genetics for that length are present).

Amber_Maiden
May 19th, 2012, 08:47 AM
aRed head here- though on the auburn side of the spectrum. I have a TON of hair, and as for terminal length, I bet I could grow it pretty long if I wanted, though I probably won't try past class (or at the most fingertip).

kallarina
May 19th, 2012, 08:58 AM
Honeyfall, thanks for that link, that was extremely helpful.
Do you think a fine hair would be capable of achieving lengths such as ankle if she will have to be removing damage frequently?
Madora, thanks for your input, I have most definitely wondered the same thing. However, I think that's why she wanted my help, because it will be a couple years before she is mature enough to care for it properly herself. I think that I want to help so much because I wish that someone would have helped me care for my hair at 14, because my hair journey would have been much less painful. She hasn't got any chemical damage, some heat damage. I'm okay giving her hair the needed attention for now, to teach her what she needs to do. Perhaps I should sit down with her and have a real talk about what this will take, though.
Amber Maiden, that's wonderful to hear! She doesn't have a ton, like you, but she is on the thicker end of ii, with fine hair. I guess that means she has quite a bit?

Madora
May 19th, 2012, 09:04 AM
Kallarina, I think it is wonderful that you want to help your little sister grow healthy, lovely hair! Perhaps she might grow it very long in a few years...if she feels comfortable about being "different"..i.e. a long hair..when everyone else is doing what is "trendy". Just keep dropping hints on what to do and perhaps she'll become truly "caught up" in the idea of having long, healthy, beautiful red hair! Red hair is rare..and I envy her that color!

Honeyfall
May 19th, 2012, 09:09 AM
Do you think a fine hair would be capable of achieving lengths such as ankle if she will have to be removing damage frequently?


I think it's possible, there are quite a few around here with long, fine hair. It just requires a bit more care and work than hair that is more sturdy. I know my fine hair is doing a lot better since I started using LHC methods, I hardly ever see splits anymore and rarely trim so I have faith that I can get to some good lengths if I want.
I would say that protecting the ends in updos is probably the most important thing for fine hair, but I know I would have balked at that when I was 14.

kallarina
May 20th, 2012, 01:31 PM
Thanks for all the help. I'm doing what I can to help her have healthy hair. She's already past the point of wanting to do what is "trendy", so I think that at least she has that going for her. I guess we take it one day at a time from here, huh?

julierockhead
May 22nd, 2012, 11:38 AM
If she won't join the forum, would she read a few articles? :) If I remember rightly you can do that without having an account, and there's a lot of helpful info hidden away there. These three make a great start:

Ursula's Standard Newbie Advice (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=39)
Keeping Split Ends At Bay: Secrets of Gently Handling Your Hair (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=8)
Damaged Hair: Understanding, Preventing & Rehabilitating (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=79) (even if her hair isn't damaged, that one's great for understanding how damage happens, and avoiding it)

How about printing these articles and handing her the hard copy?

Let her know about this thread and how eager we all are to help her :)

heidi w.
May 22nd, 2012, 11:48 AM
Also, she's a redhead. All her hair is virgin, and she's a true redhead, freckles and all. The only thing that bothers me about this is the fact that I read somewhere that redheads have fewer hairs on their head overall, and this combined with shed rate could mean a shorter terminal. Thoughts on this?
Thanks for all the help in advance!

Actually redheads have, I believe, the most hair per square inch, about the head, than any other hair color. Don't fret. Everything will be fine, I'm rather certain of that.....

I read about this in my George Michael long hair care book. I'll have to look that up and pull it for you.

You're a nice sister to do her hair for her. No wonder she doesn't have to learn stuff on her own. But she is a teenager. One day she'll come to understand you don't get if you don't put in. Long hair doesn't magically appear. Some day, I hope she thanks you.

heidi w.

kallarina
May 22nd, 2012, 01:03 PM
I have actually convinced her to join LHC! We had a nice talk about how she would need to care for her own hair because I can't do it all for her, so whenever she gets her approval, she will be on here!
She is very grateful for me taking care of her hair. I have taught her several easy ways to put her hair up, which she does herself, but I always S&D for her, and trim her hair for her. She's finally gotten around to oiling herself, but she doesn't do it consistently. I'm excited for her to get on here and start learning on her own!

Slug Yoga
May 22nd, 2012, 01:04 PM
I have no idea what her routine is like now, but maybe you could get her a small "present" that would help her take care of her hair more gently? Like a wood or horn wide-toothed comb or BBB or tangle teezer or something.