My hair journey - 4 years on LHC and 10 years since I SHAVED my head!

[Reyn127]

Hello everyone!

I emerge from the shadows with some realizations; that my 4-year anniversary of joining the LHC is coming up at the end of this month! Also, that it's actually been TEN full years since I buzzed my head, which has gone by a bit faster than I expected! With those two things in mind, I figured I may as well make some sort of commemorative post about it all, so here I am. I'll be talking a bit about both my length and my care routine over time, but I'll also try to make this original post somewhat concise, if possible. Here we go!

Let's start at the very beginning. In September 2010, I made the decision to shave all my hair off, because I had been dyeing it and no longer wanted to, but didn't want to wait for the color to grow out either. This wasn't a super extreme decision for me, as I had cut my hair quite short a few times before. This first picture is from May 2010, so a few months before shaving my head but basically the same length and color I had before chopping all my hair off.


Come September 2010, I decided I was entirely done with my hair and buzzed it off. This was maybe a week after the initial buzz cut:


I kept it maintained for a month or two before starting to let it grow back out. Having never shaved my head before, I didn't realize how dang COLD my head would be, going into winter! Also, at first I was confused if I needed to use shampoo on my head or not (turns out yes, it was helpful still!) By January 2011, my hair was an inch and a half long and stood straight up, which I called "hedgehog hair":


I spent most of 2011 just growing it out, and in December 2011 I got my hair cut into a bob which I really enjoyed.


From here, there are a few years without many pictures since I didn't really care about haircare much at that point and nothing too exciting was happening with the length or style. By end of 2012 I was at collarbone length, and by end of 2013 I was at BSL or so.

Speaking of my haircare routine during this time, it was pretty basic. I used whatever drugstore shampoo and conditioner combination was cheap, or that smelled good. The occasional serum. I'm pretty sure I had bad product buildup because my hair alllllways felt like straw! I used a paddle brush and had a bunch of breakage at the back of my head from brushing too roughly. I almost never wore my hair up and it got super tangled while I slept! And I regularly, and somewhat compulsively, trimmed off and inch or two or three, once or twice a year.

All in all, believe it or not... Since I have shaved my head, I have cut off AT LEAST 28 inches of hair. If I hadn't trimmed it, I still doubt that all of that length would have held on, but looking back I'm sure some of it was still unnecessary. It's interesting to think how long my hair would be if I had started on my LHC journey a little earlier!

Joining the LHC in October 2016 I was just past waist, according to my handy hair growth excel chart. This is around the time that I first started experimenting with my haircare routine - ditching my brush for a comb and being more gentle, going no-poo and experimenting with using tea rinses, egg, rye, oils, and other alternatives to shampoos and conditioners. If anyone's interested in information surrounding all that and how it went, let me know and I can point you in the right direction. (Spoiler alert though, I got suuuuper close to finding and all natural routine that really worked, but.... close, but no cigar. I am back to using conventional products and overall happy with the choice.)

Anyway, 2017 was the year that I also began to take regular length photos! And the year that I stopped, since I suck at consistency. Here's January-June 2017 length shots:


By the end of 2017, I had just reached tailbone length! By this time, I had pretty much figured out my rye flour "shampoo" washing routine, and figured out how much my hair likes oils, and was starting to figure out what worked well in place of conditioner. There's a bunch of notes on all that stuff from that time on my LHC blog here! Tailbone length shot:


2017 and 2018, I took part in the No-Trim challenges, and didn't cut my hair AT ALL for 2 years, not even in between the challenges. In 2018, I reached classic length! But I failed to take many photos during this time, I literally only took them maybe twice a year by this point. The ends of my hair weren't in the best condition, but I did make it to classic length with those no-trim challenges. No picture because there aren't any good ones worth showing.

Right in between 2018 and 2019 is when I made the transition BACK to shampoo/conditioner and away from my limited-ingredient homemade haircare. Although my routine was very close to working perfectly, it did have some drawbacks and complications, such as taking so long and being messy. Also, for the life of me, I could. Not. Find anything that truly gave my hair the slip it needed to comb out the tangles! On top of some personal life things going on, I switched back to commercial shampoo/conditioner for the ease of use, avoiding products with sulfates, silicones, parabens, synthetic fragrances, or "excessive" preservatives. I tried a lot of things and found a bunch of stuff that works great, which I'm super glad about! I was worried that switching back to "chemicals" still wouldn't have the desired effect on my hair, but that has not been the case, it's been fully worth it for my routine and sanity to be using products again, to be completely honest. Also, rather fun to try new things from time to time! My favorite products are mostly from the brands Shea Moisture, Acure, and Andalou Naturals. I'd be happy to give any recommendations/answer questions fi anyone has any.

Here is a photo from Spring/Summer 2019, creeping past classic. Again, I didn't take many photos during this time so this is really all I have of that milestone:


And now finally, we've made it to 2020! In the past year I have trimmed off quite a bit actually, and I believe it's really helped my hair "look" longer as the ends are now more blunt/resilient and less wispy/breakage prone. I started off the year, awaiting fingertip length!


And then BAM, out of nowhere all of a sudden I am a good deal past fingertip length, and solidly onto mid-thigh and getting ever closer to... knee!
A wet hair photo from mid-2020 so you can really see the length:


Sometime this year, I made the decision to start using silicones again, as well. I was very hesitant to do so, because in the past I'm pretty sure that I had bad product buildup that made my hair feel horrible, AND I have very dry skin so I haven't wanted to have to use harsh sulfates, as well. But after looking through the lovely and much recommended http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/ I discovered that the two shampoos I already used, in combination should definitely be able to remove silicones. So I've been expanding my "allowed" hair ingredients slowly, and glad that I have. As my hair has gotten longer, to be frank, it's just necessary sometimes to be using as much "help" as possible with keeping it maintained. I have honestly been considering lately going to get maybe a serum to try, or even.... a clarifying shampoo! From everything that I've learned with all the help here I'm thinking that I may be getting silicone buildup from the past few months that it might not hurt to just... cleanse out for good so I can start from scratch with my conditioning treatments. I think it may be time..... to change my signature!

Anyway, final picture is from earlier this month. I'm trying to take more regular photos now, as I realize I missed a lot of it for a couple of years.


My hair length at the moment is 48.5 inches measured from my front hairline. Including a couple trims over the years, I have gained 16 inches in length since joining the LHC 4 years ago! That seems pretty good to me! And, according to my hair growth excel chart, I have exactly one year from now until I reach knee length. I am debating if I should just no-trim right through to my final goal length of knee/upper calf, or if I should begin microtrimming soon to help maintain the health, but take more time. Would any of you have recommendations either way??

Well, thanks everyone for scrolling so far, if you did! Hopefully this was fun for you to look over, and if anyone has questions.... you all should know that I love talking about hair!

[lapushka]

Such an awesome journey. I loved your hedgehog hair. I had a iii version of it years ago. OMG you couldn't tame that no matter what.

Gorgeous hair!

Congratulations on 4 years!

[Begemot]

Beautiful hair! Congrats and wishing you a speedy journey to knee

[knobbly]

What a fun post to read! Congrats!

I feel like we are similar in a few ways— I buzzed my head in college and definitely had a hedgehog phase as well lol. I’ve never done egg or rye, but I am very wary of silicones mostly because of how they make my back and tub feel when I use them.

I’d love to know what products you are using these days and how often you wash!

[mariakatija]

Congratulations!! What dedication!

This is such an inspiration because I'm doing a decade hair growth challenge. Your hair is beautiful and it looks like we have the same hair texture.

Regarding if you should trim or continue growing, I think it would be more satisfying if you grow to your goal and then start maintaining from there. Trimming really eats up length and can make the process annoying in my experience, hence why I'm not cutting my hair until I'm ready to maintain.

[Estrid]

Congrats! Your hair is beautiful

I don't really have any recommendations for the trimming bit, but do what feels best!

[cat11]

Your hair is really pretty!! Congratulations on growing it so long. I would defintly recommend microtrimming on your way to knee. If you've waited 6 years, why not be patient now? I think it always produces the best results but it does depend on if you want a blunt hem or fairytale ends.

[aerolith]

This is so amazing! I strive to grow as much length as you. I'm just past the hedgehog phase, and this gives me hope for what's to come.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Such an interesting growth journey, and beautiful hair! Thanks for sharing it with us!

[sipnsun]

What an interesting read! I loved all of the pics and your hair is beautiful. I wish I had kept a spreadsheet of my hair length journey, what I great idea! I guess it's never too late to start...