Greetings from San Diego

[Brandt]

I just joined and thought I'd say "hi"! I started growing my hair in Jan. 2020 (my last haircut--medium length for a male, right before a conference where I had several roles) and absolutely love having long hair now and hope to have long-or very long-hair forever! I plan to grow my hair to its longest length possible, hopefully at least waist length (I've read all about how the length of time of the anagen phase is based purely on genetics--and that is still a mystery, but I hope it's at least 5 years!).

I have grown my hair moderately long a couple times in college, but I think it actually looks better now (despite being Age 53!). I think part of the problem was I didn't quite allow it to grow quite long enough, and also I had the front hair trimmed one of those times in college, which effectively gave me a mullet, though that was somewhat popular back then. At Age 53, I have gotten questions about if that's my real hair color, and the answer is yes, other than moderate "solar photobleaching" of my hair (San Diego is sunny quite a lot of the time, even with the occasional coastal stratus, and I do like going outdoors). I only have a little bit of white/gray hair, even though my beard is almost entirely white (hence, to look younger, it's best to keep the hair on my head long but the hair on my face short!). The long hair actually helps hide the white/gray hair as a lot of that hair is around the ears (so it's more hidden by the rest of the hair) and with longer hair having more time in the sun, I'm more blonde now, which hides even the visible white hairs more by creating less color contrast. (Basically I consider myself "dirty blonde" which the way I define it effectively means I can look blonde, light brown or even a little red, depending on the light!)

I am very low-maintenance overall, and that might be the key to my success so far. I never use any heat--so no blow dryers, curlers, etc., and I made sure to never comb or brush my hair when it's wet. I go towards the natural side regarding shampoos/conditioners. I've had very little breakage, and I don't think I have split ends (though not really sure exactly what that would look like on my hair). I rarely tie it up, even when I go for a run (unless it's windy, my hair doesn't really cause me problems).

I do have a few questions--the hair type (which I put as 1A)--even though my hair is not currently 100% straight, I think that's more because it hits a target, like my shoulders--it's definitely straighter when it's short. I see the 1A vs. 1B is based more on hair texture (which I very definitely have fine hair), yet isn't the hair texture (fine vs. medium vs. coarse) redundantly defined in the next section (F/M/C)? Or is the A/B/C somehow nuanced from the F/M/C?

Also, regarding hair length--measuring it from my forehead to the tip of the hair in back, it's around 20-21", but that's not actually the length of individual strands (which is up to 15"--which makes sense since it was somewhere in the 3-5" 2 years ago, for an average annual growth of 5-6"). I'll have to search the forums more, but I'll be glad to read more comments about how to measure hair (which I only found out about when getting my account here!). Basically, my hair is close to being BSL (almost half way down my back)--though it does depend on if I tilt my neck up or down too!

Anyway, as you can tell, I'm really enjoying my journey towards having very long hair and feel excited for each new inch that my hair can add (every 2 months!). It's fun, and I love how I look with long hair!

[Brandt]

Quick question--I don't see my profile picture here, even though I uploaded it! Obviously, I'd like to show what my hair looks like! (Let me know if you can see it, otherwise, I'll put a pic on another website and post a link.)

[lapushka]

That's the right way to measure hair (over the head) because you have to have the same point of reference. And you can't get that precision with several different strands of hair.

I would wait to type the hair, for real real, until you are longer than shoulder, about APL (arm pit length) gives the best look at it.

Welcome!

[foreveryours]

Your profile picture is in your profile so it's there but because of the way the board's permissions are configured, you just aren't allowed to see it yet.

You don't appear to have uploaded an avatar (the thumbnail which displays in upper left corner of each user's post) when you first registered so I think you have to wait until you've made 25+ posts before you can do that as only then will you have access to "your" profile where it is kept.

And welcome!

[shelomit]

Howdy! Nice to meet you : )

[Brandt]

Thanks, all, for the advice! In case people can't view my profile (yet), here's my pic from just a couple weeks ago:



Later...
Brandt

[Brandt]

Argh...try again...



If that doesn't appear, you can just try http://www.geographylists.com/brandt_hair.jpg

Later...
Brandt

[Brandt]

Thanks, foreveryours! I was able to load an avatar!

Later...
Brandt

[foreveryours]

Great! Now you gotta post somewhere else as this thread doesn't count

[Brandt]

More great advice, foreveryours--no wonder my number of posts still says 0!