Shoulder | Armpit

[jaine]

Jaine, this may be a stupid question, but does your gel have alcohol in it? That makes my hair tangly as heck! Whatever the case, with your lovely waves, wispies look fabulous - glad you found that out before you got the trim!

No alcohol ...it's one of those obsessively natural brands (max green alchemy)...but it's a really old bottle of it. I think it might have gone bad because it never used to make my hair feel tangly until the past few month or two.

[InTheCity]

Well, I salute everyone who waits to call a length until more than 3 hairs are touching the finish line.

My longest layer is touching the APL line when stretched but I barely consider myself shoulder length. This *&@!& stupid zillion-layered haircut is so awful, I have a mind to chop it off to match, but it's so hard when the shortest layer is not even collarbone.
It's been 4.5 months since I got it cut, I think I can wait another month or two before cutting. Maybe I'll land at a comfy shoulder length.

The hardest part of this whole ordeal is knowing I had scraggly, thin BSL hair and could have had thick APL hair (which I want!) in one second with a cut. But that &!$%*# decided to cut half my hair to my ears.

[akilina]

i think that im closer to APL than i thought. maybe by january ill be there.

but anyway...

how do you all find inspiration to keep going and stay positive?! alot of times i cant.
i cant style my hair in any way shape or form that even looks good and im trying to avoid all styling tools at all cost which is hard.
its not like id want to cut my hair shorter but i just feel like ill never ever get my hair past BSL

[akilina]

The hardest part of this whole ordeal is knowing I had scraggly, thin BSL hair and could have had thick APL hair (which I want!) in one second with a cut. But that &!$%*# decided to cut half my hair to my ears.

ME TOO! im beating myself up over it. in june i cut it all a few inches past my nape and i could have just maybe cut off 3 inches instead of 6. at the same time its a great new start but i want long hair!

[Lissandria]

i think that im closer to APL than i thought. maybe by january ill be there.

but anyway...

how do you all find inspiration to keep going and stay positive?! alot of times i cant.
i cant style my hair in any way shape or form that even looks good and im trying to avoid all styling tools at all cost which is hard.
its not like id want to cut my hair shorter but i just feel like ill never ever get my hair past BSL

I notice you have a fringe/bangs. Maybe still style your fringe?
I still heat style my fringe (doesn't count IMO as I won't be growing them long anytime soon) and if the rest of my hair isn't behaving (which it usually isn't because it's curly and I don't use heat at all) I put it in a bun. My hair isn't long enough to do all the fancy buns on here, but I can do a few. If my bangs are perfect it helps me feel "polished" and it doesn't matter as much that I can't use heat/styling tools on the rest of my hair.
I have also learned to embrace my hair's natural texture- Something I couldn't do the last time I attempted long hair hence why I failed- I only heat styled once a week/fortnight/month but it was enough to do a considerable amount of damage.

I do get discouraged by how far I have to go sometimes and it doesn't help that BSL is the longest my hair has ever been, I wonder if I can even make it to waist?? So you're definitely not alone Good luck!

[akilina]

I notice you have a fringe/bangs. Maybe still style your fringe?
I still heat style my fringe (doesn't count IMO as I won't be growing them long anytime soon) and if the rest of my hair isn't behaving (which it usually isn't because it's curly and I don't use heat at all) I put it in a bun. My hair isn't long enough to do all the fancy buns on here, but I can do a few. If my bangs are perfect it helps me feel "polished" and it doesn't matter as much that I can't use heat/styling tools on the rest of my hair.
I have also learned to embrace my hair's natural texture- Something I couldn't do the last time I attempted long hair hence why I failed- I only heat styled once a week/fortnight/month but it was enough to do a considerable amount of damage.

I do get discouraged by how far I have to go sometimes and it doesn't help that BSL is the longest my hair has ever been, I wonder if I can even make it to waist?? So you're definitely not alone Good luck!

ahaha i totally see it the same way, the front doesnt count!
but i try not to do anything to the right side of it because i have such a lack of hair there (part shaved head) but luckily its pretty straight as is
i can kinda do this crappy little twisty bun thing that sticks out all over and i have to use 3 bobby pins just to get it down :P
and thankyou, good luck to you too!

[CrisDee]

No alcohol ...it's one of those obsessively natural brands (max green alchemy)...but it's a really old bottle of it. I think it might have gone bad because it never used to make my hair feel tangly until the past few month or two.

Ugh, that's the one downside of those uber-natural products, they do have a shorter shelf life. Still, glad you figured that out before you cut!

My longest layer is touching the APL line when stretched but I barely consider myself shoulder length. This *&@!& stupid zillion-layered haircut is so awful, I have a mind to chop it off to match, but it's so hard when the shortest layer is not even collarbone. ...

ITC, I know what you mean! I'm a little ahead of you, I have a pretty good patch in back that's APL, and my shorter layers are touching collarbone - but still, the zillion layers drive me NUTS! But then someone (possibly Jaine!) reminded me how much easier updos are with layered hair - oh the quandary!

...how do you all find inspiration to keep going and stay positive?! alot of times i cant.

The thing that keeps me going is updos. I can only do a couple, a cinnabun, French twist and pencil bun - but the whole "put it up and forget it" thing is working very well for me!

Actually, I just now tried the pencil bun for the millionth time, and found out I CAN DO IT NOW!! It feels like it's just barely long enough, and it has to be at exactly a certain place on my head, but it feels as though it would hold all day! And I really like the way it looks - with a stick! I was never a big fan of hair sticks, but I do like the way this looks with a stick - oh my, I certainly don't need to be enabled to buy any more hair toys...:

[bratz81]

ITC, I know what you mean! I'm a little ahead of you, I have a pretty good patch in back that's APL, and my shorter layers are touching collarbone - but still, the zillion layers drive me NUTS! But then someone (possibly Jaine!) reminded me how much easier updos are with layered hair - oh the quandary!

Odd how some things are totally different for different people - I have layers in my hair and it's far harder for me to do updos than if it was all one length. A lot of my layers are too short right now to stay in.
Mind you, my shortest layers are chin length whereas yours are longer so maybe once mine get down a bit it'll be easier.

[CrisDee]

...Mind you, my shortest layers are chin length whereas yours are longer so maybe once mine get down a bit it'll be easier.

That's it exactly. Mine wouldn't stay in either at that length, they had to be midway between chin and collarbone (I think a little closer to collarbone) before I could get an updo to hold. Before that, I'd try an updo and some of the chin-length layers would fall out, which would undermine the stability of the entire 'do, then the whole thing would fall out! The only 'do I could do at that length was a wet cinnabun gooped with gel, held by a scrunchee - for that terribly attractive slicked back librarian look...

[bratz81]

That's it exactly. Mine wouldn't stay in either at that length, they had to be midway between chin and collarbone (I think a little closer to collarbone) before I could get an updo to hold. Before that, I'd try an updo and some of the chin-length layers would fall out, which would undermine the stability of the entire 'do, then the whole thing would fall out! The only 'do I could do at that length was a wet cinnabun gooped with gel, held by a scrunchee - for that terribly attractive slicked back librarian look...

Oh yes that sexy librarian look I can just get my layers in a ponytail, so anything based on a ponytail is fine, but anything else is a disaster.