I have the perfect plan

**Abacus** · October 19th, 2024, 04:34 PM

After a long time away, and after a few very short haircuts in 2023/2024, I'm back on the forum and ready to start again on my ultimate goal of knee length hair. And I feel like I'm armed with something I didn't have before, which is a plan of how I will wear my hair at each stage until I reach that length.

My main dilemma when I was trying to grow it out two years ago was that I do not like how my hair looks when it's up, but incorporating protective styles is absolutely crucial for length retention with my hair type. I didn't like how I looked when it was up because I have a pretty high forehead and I just couldn't do anything that felt right. My self esteem was taking a major hit.

But now, with that experience under my belt, I have a plan, and I'm writing it down here so I have a record of it on days when I feel like cutting it all off again.

From shoulder to APL (years 1-3): I plan to wear my hair mainly in Wash-N-Goes. For updos in year 3, I will do half-ups, ponytails or buns with bangs out.
Fom APL to Knee (year 3 and after): I plan to wear it in chunky twists with loose curly bangs. If I want, I can also tie the twists up in intricate updos.

This person is my inspiration for long twists:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C_Y0CwOSEl2/?hl=en

This person is my inspiration for long braids and twists with loose curly bangs as a daily style:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DAuVzblP...en&img_index=1

This person also has great bangs that she pairs with long double braids:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1wQHLShZKv/?img_index=1

So I don't have the bone structure, height, or youth of any of these people lol, and by the time I get super long hair I'll be in my late 40s. But this is my goal anyway, and I'm excited to see how it looks on me!

Did anyone else do this when they were starting their growth journey? Write out your plans?

**luxurioushair** · October 19th, 2024, 05:02 PM

Well it sounds like you normally don't have any problems actually growing your hair, but you get frustrated and cut it off because of styling options?

I had only one plan from the beginning when it came to styling.
I wanted a permanent asymmetrical part at the front, and I didn't want "triangle hair" like what many influencers have. (Where the hair is thick and wide, and then the ends are one flat line from being cut)

So to avoid the triangle hair, I just avoid "getting a haircut" (cutting all of my hair to the same length).
I cut different lengths off different sections instead. That results in a natural taper, and I don't mind if it's a bit uneven, as long as it's not a big triangle lol

**Abacus** · October 19th, 2024, 05:52 PM

Originally Posted by luxurioushair

Well it sounds like you normally don't have any problems actually growing your hair, but you get frustrated and cut it off because of styling options?

I had only one plan from the beginning when it came to styling.
I wanted a permanent asymmetrical part at the front, and I didn't want "triangle hair" like what many influencers have. (Where the hair is thick and wide, and then the ends are one flat line from being cut)

So to avoid the triangle hair, I just avoid "getting a haircut" (cutting all of my hair to the same length).
I cut different lengths off different sections instead. That results in a natural taper, and I don't mind if it's a bit uneven, as long as it's not a big triangle lol

Yeah I also have had an issue with triangle hair and like to cut some layers in, but sometimes I cut too much!

And yes, my issue is cutting my hair off and liking how short styles look on me, but still wanting long hair in the long-term.

**Lady Winchester** · October 19th, 2024, 06:03 PM

Absolutely not! I don't write anything down, I hardly even write a grocery list, since I can memorize it. I have no problems with growing my hair out after a bad decision to chop it all off, since I have many different interests to distract me from it. The last time wasn't my fault, since I lost it to chemo, which took three years to grow back to its former length (mid back length, which it's approaching now, since I had it trimmed to in between APL and MBL about four months ago). Every time I chop it off to shoulder length, I always end up regretting it, so never again! I won't go any shorter than APL or any longer than WL, since if I'm sitting on it, it's too long (or at least it is for me). I have no long hair inspiration, I just prefer it to short hair. Natural curly hair can look too much like a poodle dog if it's too short, which I'm not a fan of. I had one back when I was about 15, but I might have gotten a perm, since it was during my Dirty Dancing phase. I have the picture in a personalized frame on my computer desk. I never did it again.

I'm way too lazy to style it a different way every day, so I just put it in a low, loose ponytail secured with a either a big barrette, covered elastic or scrunchee. When it was shorter, I usually just kept a section back secured with a barrette. Sometimes I do this with a medium sized clip shaped like a butterfly (I'm down to my last two, since the other four broke, since they're only plastic).

**SandyBottom** · October 19th, 2024, 06:05 PM

You're way ahead of me! I didn't have any plan. I already had long hair but it was in terrible condition and zero styling know how other than a ponytail or braid (or metal barrettes, gasp!). I didn't start trying to look into anything until I was about 50 and finally joined here at 55! Having a plan is a great idea! So many times on here I've heard from people who've gotten to another milestone only to discover they're not sure how to deal with it. Good luck to you!

**Bat** · October 19th, 2024, 07:27 PM

I did somewhat have a plan mainly just hair cuts every 10-12 weeks and I actually managed to get to cbl with two set backs to chin so jan2020- to march 2022 ish i kept it mostly black during that time and a Keratin helped me since I don't like waves or curls

Then I got bleach happy, for a while got bored of the bleach dyed it black again tried to fix it with joico ph balancer and it destroyed it so cut it all off I haven't been able to get out of a long pixie ever since

So I don't really have plans now

**shayna** · October 19th, 2024, 07:50 PM

Jeez, my whole life would be really different if I had had the foresight to make any plans whatsoever, not just hair ones.
Good on you, Abacus, for making the effort

.

**Fethenwen** · October 20th, 2024, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by Abacus

After a long time away, and after a few very short haircuts in 2023/2024, I'm back on the forum and ready to start again on my ultimate goal of knee length hair. And I feel like I'm armed with something I didn't have before, which is a plan of how I will wear my hair at each stage until I reach that length.

My main dilemma when I was trying to grow it out two years ago was that I do not like how my hair looks when it's up, but incorporating protective styles is absolutely crucial for length retention with my hair type. I didn't like how I looked when it was up because I have a pretty high forehead and I just couldn't do anything that felt right. My self esteem was taking a major hit.

But now, with that experience under my belt, I have a plan, and I'm writing it down here so I have a record of it on days when I feel like cutting it all off again.

From shoulder to APL (years 1-3): I plan to wear my hair mainly in Wash-N-Goes. For updos in year 3, I will do half-ups, ponytails or buns with bangs out.
Fom APL to Knee (year 3 and after): I plan to wear it in chunky twists with loose curly bangs. If I want, I can also tie the twists up in intricate updos.

This person is my inspiration for long twists:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C_Y0CwOSEl2/?hl=en

This person is my inspiration for long braids and twists with loose curly bangs as a daily style:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DAuVzblP...en&img_index=1

This person also has great bangs that she pairs with long double braids:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1wQHLShZKv/?img_index=1

So I don't have the bone structure, height, or youth of any of these people lol, and by the time I get super long hair I'll be in my late 40s. But this is my goal anyway, and I'm excited to see how it looks on me!

Did anyone else do this when they were starting their growth journey? Write out your plans?

Sounds like a good plan! Those long twists looks great! Must be a great way to wear hair long while keeping it protected.

I also have bangs, and plan to keep it that way

I also have a fairly high forehead and look harsh without bangs. I have also found that I actually like having layers as well, before when I did not have layers I almost never wore my hair down because it just looked awkward.
Bangs and layers motivates me to grow it longer.

My plan sort of is to just continue taking good care of it, I stopped hennaing and enjoy my natural color. I hope to get grey hairs at some point and going natural will perhaps make that transition easier. I don't think I wrote it down at any point, because growing it long is just something that comes natural to me at this stage of life.

Cheering you on, on your journey towards long hair!

**angel-baby** · October 22nd, 2024, 11:55 PM

Planning out styles for different lengths is such a great idea, and those twists and braids are beautiful!

Most of the protective styles I've seen for people with my hairtype (fine, 2b) revolve around buns. I am not really a bun person. I went through a phase of always keeping it in single or double French or Dutch braids, but I ultimately prefer wearing my hair down so that didn't last too long. I did a wavy routine for almost a year, and recently got burnt out on it. Lately I've been doing overnight heatless curls with one of those weird satin heatless curling rods, or by putting my hair in two rope braids (added benefit: this is a super cute daytime style for my days off work). Hair down or in a claw clip French twist for work.

Other than that, my only plans are to continue taking good care of my hair, microtrim every 4-5 weeks until all my bleach damage is gone, then trim every 6 months.

**ETJ CURLS** · October 24th, 2024, 08:25 PM

I love your plan! I go by seasons, mostly. Chunky braids/braidouts/buns/updos in the fall/winter/spring with the occasional blowout or soft press, and lots of half-ups, box braids (my own hair, no extensions), twists, cornrows, and wash and gos in the summer (coincidentally, my hair always retains less length in the summer

)

I have discovered, that when I start hating how my face looks in an updo, that an easy fix is to pull out my bang section and just throw it in 4-8 minitwists which I can then style in a way that complements my look without bothering the rest of my length.