Shorties, talk about your progress!

[AutumnLeaves]

I went completely short to cut out all the hair dye. One of my pics shows some horrendous roots coming in:





So because of how awful that looked and how I wanted virgin hair again, I chopped to the root line and ended up with this:







I'm now getting close to the length in the first picture. It has been 10 months since the cut. I have refrained from the dying and am so liking the color now. I cannot wait for length!!!

[rapunzhell13]

mine's only 2 1/2 ! *pokes tongue out* :P

it took 5 months to grow 2 1/2 inches... so about 1cm (we have metric here after all) per month

You look gorgeous though!! You remind me of when I shaved my head and how awesome it was. Sometimes I think 6 inches, SIGH , but then I remind myself that it is a year's worth of growth and then I feel proud.

[vidgrl007]

I'm at shoulder length.This is the hardest stage for me.I made a thread about being frustrated and got so much encouragement.I have started doing scalp massages and it seems to help.Sometimes I feel like doing this because my hair doesn't seem to grow fast enough.

[FrannyG]

On May 1st, I had my second major cut to remove old damage and old layers from my hair, so I was literally back to where I started when I first joined LHC.

When I first joined here, I was really obsessed with length. Now, I'm more interested in my hair's overall healthiness. I know that as the days pass it will grow, and I'm okay with that.

I think we sometimes get caught up in comparing ourselves to those with amazing extreme lengths. The reality is that they are a very small percentage of the members at LHC.

We'll all get to our goals, whatever they may be, in time. In the meantime, we can delight in our smallest accomplishments, whether it be that we treat our hair more lovingly, that it looks shinier than it used to, that we've learned a new hairstyle, or that we feel it tickling a part of our body that it didn't just a month ago.

[Silver & Gold]

Greetings fellow shorties. How nice to have a thread.

My hair is at that lovely stage (and has been for quite some time) where it's hard to find a good hair day unless I go to a lot of bother to roll my hair. The funny thing is, when I complain about it, nobody seems to know what I'm talking about. I'm told that my hair always looks great. The reason? I've become very skilled with the updos.

I can't wear my hair down very often, it just doesn't look right or flattering at this length. So I do half-updos, peacock twists and a sort of swirly bun that I do using one hairstick. Honestly, if I hadn't figured out nice ways to put my hair up I would have chopped it a long time ago due to frustration.

I'm longing for BSL and hoping that with that particular length that I might find some days when I could let my locks loose.

My husband gave me a micro-trim last night. That helped a bit. I still have many layers and bangs growing out which is part of the problem with getting my hair to look nice. I've been the family barber since before my husband and I married. I used to cut his mother's hair when we lived close enough for me to do that. I've cut my own hair for most of my adult life because the beauticians always ended up betraying me in one way or another. But at my current length I can no longer cut my own hair very easily. So, I section it and as I drop each layer I carefully explain to my husband what I need done and the proper technique to cut. He's getting quite good at it. He's done several microtrims on me since I've been growing my hair. Each one he takes about 1/4 inch. So this is a plus.

Anyway, that's all I got for now. It's nice to have a little group of frustrated shorties in this land of luscious long-hairs.

[paper]

I love this thread

The last time I cut my hair short was in Sept 07. It was chin length and layered all over. I've been taking a pic every month and I can see quite a change. My first goal was to get to shoulder length, then keep cutting off layers. My next trim will be next week. I'm so excited, I'll be getting all my layers cut off the back. I will still have the side layers, but I don't think those will be as bad. I will probably let my hair grow longer between trims after that.

I mostly wear my hair with a headband. And, just recently, I can wear my hair in pony or half pony and no layers fall out of sides.

[Silver & Gold]

I went completely short to cut out all the hair dye. One of my pics shows some horrendous roots coming in:

So because of how awful that looked and how I wanted virgin hair again, I chopped to the root line and ended up with this:

I'm now getting close to the length in the first picture. It has been 10 months since the cut. I have refrained from the dying and am so liking the color now. I cannot wait for length!!!

I don't know which is braver - to muscle through the awful roots or to chop it all back so short. I'm also wanting to let go of coloring. It's been a bit easier for me because my root line isn't so obvious for a couple of reasons. One is that I only ever used a semi-permanent color (more permanent than one might think though) and I've always used a color that was a bit lighter than my own so the grays never really got colored as much as lightly blended in. People always think it's just highlights.

Still, I had a root line from the color that was pulled from my natural color and the slightly whiter greys. In December I tried to blend that root line by having a beautician give me some subtle highlights. BIG mistake! The highlights were anything BUT subtle. And it caused a great deal of damage.

So I've spent the past few months really babying my hair. In an attempt to do some natural conditioning I tried cassia. I'm one of the people who gets very golden with cassia. It's a lovely color but . . . I want to go with my natural gray. So I'm waiting to see if the cassia will wash out eventually. It's slow going.

So I'm trying to find a way to get past the root stage without cutting. When I see what you did to solve the issue I just know I can't face growing past certain awkward phases again . . . and yet . . . that LINE! ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!

[AutumnLeaves]

Silver & Gold, that line is awful, isn't it? It got to be just too embarassing for me! I don't know how Xandergrammy did it, though I suspect her demarcation line wasn't quite as obvious as that I was sporting. Sheesh! I'm with you on the awkward growing out stages though. I'm finally coming past that point, but it has taken 10 months to get there. Ah well...live and learn.

[HaiirPEACE]

im still at that stage where it feels like my hair hasn't grown in months its really hard to see progress

[Eurydice]

I have been hovering at 22" for months and months.......

That's exactly where mine was stuck for the entire latter half of 2007, and it was the most frustrating thing. It wouldn't grow and the ends just kept getting thinner and thinner, so finally at the end of February I cut about six inches off to get rid of old dye damage. I've been getting an inch a month since. I don't know if it's just the time of year for my hair to grow, or if my hair is like Spidermom's and has to be trimmed or it stops growing, but I'm not going to argue with an inch a month either way.