1 year of LHC!

[neko_kawaii]

Shortly after I joined last year, 32 inches:
http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg632/neko_kawaii_hair/DSC04374small.jpg


After trimming it back to 28 to remove three years of dried split ends:
http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg632/neko_kawaii_hair/_DSC4681small.jpg


And now at 33 inches:
http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg632/neko_kawaii_hair/DSC05875small.jpg

The color difference is just different lighting.

Oh, and the garden has grown too.

[pepperminttea]

Wow, with the hefty trim that's a lot of growth! And I love that your garden's grown, too. :D Happy LHCiversary!

[Alexblue]

Great progress! Your hair looks amazing

[BrightEyes]

Wow, you've had a lot of growth! Your hair is beautiful:)

[Zesty]

Looks good, great growth. :) And I like the garden in the background too.

[jacqueline101]

Wow your hair has grown a lot.

[Ticky]

So much growth, both hair and garden related :) Looks lovely!

[lapushka]

It grew pretty amazingly after your last trim! Nice! :)

[Littlewing13]

Beautiful :)

[Kayla Nyx]

whoo hoo! way to go :) that's some nice growth

[ladylowtide]

Wow your hair is beautiful. Congrats

[Nae]

I love that color! Your hair is quite lovely.

[neko_kawaii]

Thank you for the kind words! It will be interesting to see what it looks like a year from now.

[auroraclio]

So beautiful and you have quite similar hair type to me, very inspiring!!!

[Loreley]

Happy anniversary! :)

[brownpaperbag]

Happy anniversary!!

[onlyforhim]

amazing growth congrats

[Lucky_Lucy]

Congrats on the great growth! Both for your hair and your garden! :flower:

[FrannyG]

Your hair is beautiful, and it looks so much healthier! :crush: Sometimes it really is worth cutting off a few inches, especially when you know that it will grow back better than before. I look forward to your continued progress. Happy anniversary! :blossom:

[CurlyMopTop]

Very pretty hair! :D

[Wildcat Diva]

Congratulations on a year with fabulous results!

[RileyJane]

oh my gosh, your hair looks so good! i hope mine will look like that when it is as long as yours :) is there any specific care you take to it now that it is so long?

[Lostsoule77]

I love that in 1 year you were able to trim your damage off and still gain length so that it looks better than what you started with! Congratulations! :D Your hair is lovely and you picked the perfect setting to take your pics in. :)

[hafattack]

Lovely growth, improved ends, happy one year, Congrats!

[neko_kawaii]

oh my gosh, your hair looks so good! i hope mine will look like that when it is as long as yours :) is there any specific care you take to it now that it is so long?

After the damage was trimmed off I was able to observe that almost all of my new split ends were about three inches up from the tips; right where I put the rubberband (goody ouchless) to secure the braids I wore most days and every night.

Someone on the forums had recommended wrapping with a ribbon and then a band to avoid this kind of damage and before the trim I had tried that but it was too fussy for me and they were always sliding off.

Another recommendation I'd seen was using small claw clips to secure the end of the braid but I kept ending up with the clips between me and a hard place and found that irritating.

For the past few months I've been keeping it bunned, even at night. Spin pins are probably the best thing I heard about on LHC! The first night I bunned it for bed I thought, "This is going to keep me up all night tossing and trying to get comfortable," but really I fell right asleep and it has never been a problem. The bun is usually quite loose in the morning or partially falling out but it isn't tangled and it stays off my neck and out of my face.

The biggest problem I've had with keeping it bunned is tossing on a hat to go out in the sun. My solution is a bun that is very high up and very flat. To make it lay flat I don't twist much and I make big loose coils. The result is a fairly satisfying head eating bun, even though my hair is not long enough or thick enough to otherwise make a head eating bun. And I can then slip it under my sun hat.

[owlathena]

Beautiful! I love the garden progress too :D