How long ago did your hair growth journey start?

[dreamingofcurls]

hi dreamingofcurls! new here too. me? over 7 years. among many things i've learned along the way, don't wear it down on windy days!

Hi! Welcome to the forum too, then! Cute profile picture. And this is SOLID, thank you! It's sad, but my days of sticking my head out the window and pretending to be a dog are over.
(This is serious by the way, used to love doing this as a kid, and still adore the freedom of it as an adult. Goodbye, wind! )

[dreamingofcurls]

On and Off all my life I started getting serious Jan 2020 but screwed up in July by bleaching it a few times so by September, I had to cut off hair that was almost shoulder length back to above chin.
By that stage I was back into the ruining my hair. It's taken a while to get back into growing mode but I'm back on track so I guess you can say my journey is re starting as of jan 2021

Congrats on the restart! At least you made a good bit of progress, learned some things, and now you're beginning again. This time, you're in a better place than you were before though and armed with more hair-knowledge than ever I'm sure you'll do great. Keep going, and good luck! I'll be working at it, too!

[dreamingofcurls]

Welcome. My journey is as long as the date I joined here. Big hiccups along the way (dye, bleach, perms, henna/indigo) and so had quite some setbacks, but since 2015, September I hit classic length (my hair is layered heavily). Chopped to hip November 2016, and then grew it back out to classic, for real this time, March 2018. It's been wonderful ever since, since I have found a good way to maintain that length without me getting overwhelmed by the new (longer) growth.

It takes patience.

But... welcome!

Also, if you can't wash as little as once a week, wash more, it's about your hair and you have to do what's right for you. There are people on here who wash daily, or rather have to, and there is nothing wrong with that, whatsoever.

Thank you!

Wow, that's awesome! Honestly, reading and responding to all these posts has made a big bit of difference. It's still intimidating seeing so many things that I'm unfamiliar with, but there are tons of resources around and people here to help who have all had their own setbacks, so it feels a lot less lonesome. Thank you for sharing yours as well! 6 years since 2015...that's incredible. And the time thereafter only took two years! I'm so happy for you. I'm glad you found success in fostering a good routine that works especially for you

Thanks for the welcome! Again

I'll try my best to work with patience. There's so many things to try and do that I'll need to hold back from getting too ahead of myself, but this was really enlightening. I'm not sure how my hair will be after doing the big chop a few months ago, but prior to that, I was always really overwhelmed by the thickness and length. I'll have to make a sidenote about learning to deal with growth, too.

To be honest, I'm not even sure how often I should wash. I've been doing once a week for most of my life, but since joining a few days ago, I just realized I need to learn how to tell what's oily and what's not. I'll try my best to figure it out though Thank you for the reassurance and sharing your story!

Also, gorgeous hair. In love with the condition!

[dreamingofcurls]

Welcome! I’ve had chin to shoulder to armpit length hair since the early 90s. Never grew past APL because that was the length it would more or less start living in a boring ponytail and I’d always cut it. Thanks to the pandemic I hit APL this spring, couldn’t get a haircut, got tired of ponytails and started looking for ideas on how to use hairsticks to make proper buns. Found LHC, learned how to take care of my APL+ hair, can do some fun styles and am now almost at waist.

Cool username! And oh my gosh, I relate to this so hard. I used to hate my long hair because I could do nothing with it (at the time)! It was around WL for me, but this is a huge inspiration and reminder. Congrats on your progress!! I'll have to poke around myself once I get past chin length.

[dreamingofcurls]

A year and a half ago here on LHC.

I lost my first six months of progress but thankfully I seem to be reaching my goal (TBL) pretty fast now (a year and a half), and should be in there right for my two year anniversary here.

I might let it grow to classic after that during the second half of the no cut challenge, then probably cut back to TBL to get a new fresh hemline.

Wow, congrats!! Your hair is getting so long. Keep it up! Especially if you hit classic -- I wasn't familiar with the no cut challenge until now, but that seems like a cool idea. Does doing that have an impact on your growth cycle or its condition? I know nothing

[dreamingofcurls]

I started in 2014, chopped, dyed to a more natural color, grew out my actual natural color and chopped again to start fresh in 2015. From there it's been more or less steady, with intermittent henna since 2019. Pixie to tailbone in that time.

Wow, that's so fast! Your hair looks fantastic, too I love the color, and it looks super full. Congratulations on the transition and fresh start

[dreamingofcurls]

Welcome!

Mine sort of started when I was about 13, and decided I would finally have long hair now that I was willing to take care of it myself (mum didn't like brushing my super tangly hair so it was in a lob until that point), I grew haphazardly without paying too much attention until it reached ~waist. Then the hair dying and chopping began.
Finally my fresh start was Jan 2018, and since then I've been truly commited to caring for and growing my hair

Thank you!

Hahaha, I definitely get that. My grandma took care of me and my hair a lot growing up, but after a certain point you've gotta learn to do it yourself. And then there's the experimental period It sounds like you've made bounds and leaps of progress throughout it all. I'm sure your hair is thanking you, too. Congratulations, and keep it up! It looks great!

[ioanaxena]

Well I've had long hair most of my life, with 3 haircuts from waist+ to chin - 2 of them of which I've wanted because 'all the cool kids had short hair'. But I've always cut it short and then immediately let it grow so in about 1 year my hair was considered long for the majority of people.

The last haircut from waist to chin was the only one that I didn't want. I had to cut it because of chemical & heat styling damage. This last major haircut was the only one I maintained for over 1 year even if I didn't particularly like it. I've always wanted to grow my hair long again, but realistically speaking, I've only actively growing my hair for just one year. So since february 2020.

[lapushka]

Thank you!

Wow, that's awesome! Honestly, reading and responding to all these posts has made a big bit of difference. It's still intimidating seeing so many things that I'm unfamiliar with, but there are tons of resources around and people here to help who have all had their own setbacks, so it feels a lot less lonesome. Thank you for sharing yours as well! 6 years since 2015...that's incredible. And the time thereafter only took two years! I'm so happy for you. I'm glad you found success in fostering a good routine that works especially for you

Thanks for the welcome! Again

I'll try my best to work with patience. There's so many things to try and do that I'll need to hold back from getting too ahead of myself, but this was really enlightening. I'm not sure how my hair will be after doing the big chop a few months ago, but prior to that, I was always really overwhelmed by the thickness and length. I'll have to make a sidenote about learning to deal with growth, too.

To be honest, I'm not even sure how often I should wash. I've been doing once a week for most of my life, but since joining a few days ago, I just realized I need to learn how to tell what's oily and what's not. I'll try my best to figure it out though Thank you for the reassurance and sharing your story!

Also, gorgeous hair. In love with the condition!

You are so welcome! You are so sweet responding.

Thank you so much for the compliment. I love it.

You can measure your thickness as soon as you can make a ponytail. And don't let it overwhelm you. Take it one step at a time. Oily, for me, is about half an inch to an inch at the roots, and then it has got to be washed. I also have seborrheic dermatitis (think: heavy dandruff) and can't keep it oily for too too long or else my scalp doesn't like it.

We all have our struggles, right?

[lapis_lazuli]

Forgot to quote-reply :
But that's so cool! Definitely something to be proud of. I feel a lot more encouraged about my own journey reading this, as well as everyone else's posts. I guess it's never too late to start. Also, love the pics! I'm getting very pretty faerie/elvish vibes mixed with something painterly.

Aw thank you I am an artist, so you're spot-on!