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Well, did that get your attention?! Just wanted to drop you a line to thank you for all your advice re: me growing my short hair long - you are a wealth of information and I really appreciate it! :) Well so far, so good, as I seem to have a different mind set about letting my hair grow out this time than from all the other times when I get fed up and went screaming back to Fred the barber to give me my usual low and tight! At this point in my life, I have decided to go for it! With you (along with all the other long-haired bros and sisters)out there to give me support, well, all I can say is thanks for being there! Okay, okay, you knew there had to be a catch, so......
1) I put gel and hairspray in my hair to keep it somewhat "close" to my head, so it doesn't do the "puffy thing", is there any other way to control it without blowdrying, or should you just call me "helmet head"?!
2) When my hair gets to a certain point, it starts to bunch-up in the back of the coller of my shirts - is there anything that can be done for this (it drives me nuts), or is this just the beginning of the dreaded "bad hair stage"?
3) It also starts to do flips and curls on the sides when it grows out a little bit, is there anyway to control this? (Wear a hat, right?!)
4) I have always thought that my hair was the type that couldn't be grown long, is there such a thing?
5) I recall reading that you are in California - me too! What part are you at?
Miaka, thanks again - I hope I haven't taken up too much of your time! Take care and I'll look forward to reading your reply :)
Thanks!!!!!! For all the nice things you said!!!! So sweet! You know, thanks to you guys, I look at long hair on men a whole other way. I used to think it was just as easy for them to grow their hair and oh why dear god why, can't the entire male population be long haired just for my viewing pleasure. Buwhahhahahaahha!!!!!! Now, because of all the hard work and worry I read about here, I think: "whoa! look at that man's hair! He must have been growing it for about 6 years and it looks healthy and he's done great work with it!" I'm more appreciative of the efforts. ^_^
Your questions:
I would at least try to use gel OR hairpray, not both. And because you probably use it everyway but shouldn't wash your hair every day, I would use a clarifying shampoo to remove all that deposit AND use a gel that leaves a minimum amount of deposit, such as anything by TIGI (in hair salons). About the blow drying: how thick is your hair? I mean each individual hair? Because I have ver thick hair (not normal, since most swedish people have fine hair...) and my mother (a hairstylist) says that it can take a lot more abuse without damage for that very reason.
Yep, bad hair stage! It's go everywhere and in any direction! When the hair becomes long enough, its own weight will pull it down a bit.
Same there. Most likely, your hair is the wavy type. Again, it can be straightened or withstood until the bad hair stage is over.
Each person's hair life is different. It takes an average of 6 years to grow hair to one's waist. When the hair starts thinning and the middle of it is longer than the sides, it has reached as far as it'll go. Life cannot be prolonged. It will fall off past that point and a new hair will grow in its place. Cutting it AT THAT POINT won't make it grow faster because its life has ended. Cutting only works BEFORE that point, a common missunderstanding. The only thing to do is to create more growth DURING that life, vitamins being the only thing, pretty much. I don't know what your hair life is. Mine seems to be 6 years, it won't go past my waist. Some people (a lot of South Pacific natives and Asians particularly), have unusually long hair lives, such as 12 or 13 years (mid-calf). Most caucasians will never be able to grow thei hair past their mid-backs (about 4 years). I know women whose hair won't grow last their shoulders! It's something you'll find out with time. And you know what? I had a bf who had very long black hair and I found out it was extentions! Oh well, better that than short hair!!!! LOL
I'm in L.A., Burbank specifically.
Thanks again!!!!!
Miaka.