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Hey there!
I read in a post below that you are approaching your three year anniversary. I was just wondering how the length was coming along. Are you still going for waist length?
Jeffrey.
Hi Jeffrey,
Thanks for asking about the update! I plan to post one around the middle of April. I think it's still growing, slowly, on good hair days when my hair is straighter it appears longer, between 1/3 and mid back. I plan to grow as long as possible, naturally waist length, or even better, belt length, basically, the max. Again, it's whatever my genetics will allow. I'm maintaining my beard at about at what I achieved in two months, or about an inch, not really planning to grow it longer, although I could grow it a lot longer if I wanted as it is VERY thick.
I was wondering about YOU! Dio you still plan for waist length. I remember you saying you were planning to measure your hair and evaluate your possibilities. Hope you can get an update of your own posted soon, front and back pics would be great!
David
(PS, I'm on the hyperboard crew now, got the invite to be a moderater last week, I said yes!)
Awesome! Good for you, DavidN! you are ever-present and rarely a threadgoes by that you haven't had something meaningful to say. Thanks for volunteering your time for us.
Shawn (Mr.Crow)
(http://www.myspace.com/manlocks) - Mr.Crow's photo archive of growing hair
Thanks, Shawn for the kind words and the congrats! I was really flattered and honoured when I got the invite, of course I accepted immediately. I'm thrilled beyond words to be on the team.
David
Congratulations on your new position! You have certainly contributed a great deal to this community.
Well, I am nearing my goal. Mid-back, or just a little longer. However, 3/4-(between mid-back and butt)might be in the works, provided it will grow that long. The longer my hair gets the more careful I have to be around the truck engine. A big engine generates a lot of air movement and very long hair could easily get sucked into the fan, or belts, even if it is in a pony tail. Ususally, the engine is off when the hood is raised, but sometimes it must be running to check for various leaks, etc.
I feel that my badly frayed ends are starting to hurt my progress and I am considering a minor trim. I think that I would make better progress if I had better ends. I'll post a couple of progress pics before long.
Keep up the good work and let us see those pics when you can.
Jeffrey.
Hi Jeffrey,
Thanks for the kind words and the congratulations, I have to add that I was thrilled beyond words to get the invite to join the team, naturally I accepted without hesitation.
It's great to hear you are at mid back! (Or are you actually past that, you said your goal was mid back to just beyond and that you are near that) I'm looking forward to the pics, it would be great if you could include one showing your back length.) It would be great if you do decide to grow it longer.
My ends are not in the best of shape either. Possibly a trim might be in order, but I hate to lose any length whatsoever. On those days when my hair is wavier/curlier, it appears shorter, just barely below tops of shoulders, it's only right after washing when my hair seems straightest that it appears longest, around 1/3 to 1/2 down back. Part of the reason I fear trims is the difficulty finding stylists who specialize in long hair, I fear any trim would end up losing too much length. I have read too many horror stories both here and over on the LHC, where men (or women) have gone in for a trim and had 6 or more inches chopped off! I could ill afford to use that much length as my hair grows more slowly than 6 inches per year. I still wonder, though, if I could get the ends in good shape and only lose 1/2 inch to an inch, if it would be worthwhile, that might actually lead to less tangles and better growth as the tangles would not be there to cause damage and inhibit growth. Your thoughts?
All the best, looking forward to the pics,
David
hi David,
perhaps you should do a seek & destroy?that way,you won't lose any length,and your ends will be in better condition.I have to warn you though..it's very straining on the eyes,so you should do it with a magnifying glass.I read your post below saying you are hesitant..why is that?
-jacob
Hi Jacob,
I am rather hesitant about the full fledged trim, as I explained to Jeffrey why, if i did that I would have to make doubly sure the salon understands that I want LONG hair. I haven't tried the seek and destroy yet, it's not that I'm so mcuh hestitant but I find it hard to find the right light to see them. Perhaps a magnifying glass is in order. Also, I can't really pull the back hair around to the front yet to trim splits from the back, it's not really long enough. I think the worst splits are in the back, if indeed I do have them.
Have you tried the seek and destroy yet, and if so, how did it go?
Dave
oh,sorry for the confusion.I wasn't asking why you are hesitant in getting a trim.that's perfectly understandable.I'd hate to get a trim right now myself.I was asking why you were hesitant in doing a "seek & destroy" (new term?lol).you said you were hesitant in one of your replies to my "nail clippers?" thread.you answered my question in your post though,so thanks ^_^.
yes,my hair isn't long enough to pull the back hairs in front either.I'm suspecting I have some nasty splits in the back lol.for now,Im just searching through the front and side hairs.the back hairs are gonna have to wait for some months >_<.I just bought some razor sharp scissors yesterday.those things cut through hair like a sharp knife cuts through warm butter lol.so far the seek & destroy is going good!!
-Jacob
My hair was for a very long time like you described two levels upward in this thread. It seemed to take forever for it to grow past that, and it didn't ever get a long way past that.
First of all, if you REALLY have damage so close to your scalp, the solution is not trimming, it is changing your care routine. Your hair just shouldn't be going splitsville that soon. For now you need length to provide weight and control. The awkward stage is tough on your hair, so get through it as quickly as possible.
Second, we older guys joke when reading that our arms are getting shorter every year. (We don't see stuff up close anymore, and the distance at which we can see grows as time goes on. Eventually we can't read because we can't hold the text far enough away to see it.) Our arms really aren't getting shorter every year of course, but usually our manes are. At some time we're no longer able to see the ends of our manes in clear detail - they are just too close to our older eyes. I've seen younger guys do close work at six to eight inches. A guy my age - no way! There are few tasks one really needs to do at that distance, but one of them may be "cutting off split ends". I've found that reading glasses really don't work well for seeing the ends of your hair. It is just too three-dimensional a task - you need the flexibility of young maleable eyes.
What this means is that you have to count on friends to tell you if you have splits and to trim them out if you do and want them trimmed. Very few friends are going to spend that much time on you. (Even most hairdressers won't, and they are being paid and know what they are doing.) So you're going to just let the splits stay there.
But with a change in your care routine, you will quit getting splits and none of this will matter. My hair is similar to yours and I found the rough and very-much-split ends in time just broke off on their own and in the meantime they provided weight and protection to the strands higher up, enabling them to grow out. The splits did not "travel up the strands" as some fear they will do, at all. With proper hair care, in about a year they were gone.
Now my hair is a bit frizzy on the ends, but there are NO SPLITS. Hair that is curly or wavy just naturally will look a bit frizzy as it thins out near its ends. It will snag in your comb. It won't be as pretty as the hair higher up, but unlike younger guys with longer manes, you may just not have the luxury of cutting "that last eight inches" off, because to do so would put you in the awkward stage and just make your mane look messier.
With the right care routine, you may not even have splits now. You may just be getting that frizziness near the ends that you will always get. Let it grow out as much as possible, which of course means, "don't trim it!"
That's how it worked out for me, as a guy growing it out in my fifties, anyhow. As is always the case with hair, YMMV.
Bill
Hi Bill,
Thanks for the tips! Actually, I AM looking after my hair a lot better than I was 6 to 7 months ago, when I discovered the MLHH. I think the splits originated during that year and a half that I straightened, from early 2005 to early Sept., 2006. I have not touched an iron since, and am treating my hair VERY gently. I assume that if I continue to "baby" my hair, that eventually any splits I do have will eventually be replaced by good hairs, then tangles and slow growth should cease. In fact, my hair already seems in better condition than a few months back. I will probably follow your advice to just "let er grow", if you think that is the best approach. Again, I amd not 100% sure I have splits, it's just that my hair looks great after washing, comb glides through easily, it's the following morning that I find the tangles. (And my hair is curlier on the ends)
My eyesight is good. I have never worn glasses, either for distance or vision. I can focus in fairly close, (read a newspaper with ease at normal distance w/o glasses), but I can't focus in to 2 or 3 inches. With correct lighting, I can see my fine hairs, its finding the lighting that is tricky)
Thanks again, Bill, I really appreciate it!
David
I never got the chance to congratulate you guys personally. I responded a bit too late on the post that you made saying that you and jacob became moderators. Well, Congrats to you and jacob! It is really great to have you awesome dudes as moderators:-) I can't wait for your update David. I am really looking foward to it.
Thanks so much, Chris!
I have to add that it was awesome beyond words when I got the invite, I felt very honoured to be invited onto the team and accepted immediately, there was no way I was going to let this opportunity pass me by. I also really appreciate the support you have given me, Chris, you have been with me every step of the way.
And thanks for asking about my update! I wanted to add that I am REALLY looking forward to yours, your hair is so thick and healthy that I CAN'T WAIT!
Take care,
David
Hi there.
I feel the same way about loosing any length, however, I feel it would be for the best if I lost one, or even two inches. I met a lady at the grocery store the other day and we were talking about long hair. Her hair was absolutely beautiful and it reached well below her hips. She didn't appear to have any split ends. She told me that she trimmed the ends occasionally and that is how she kept her hair looking so good.
She said just don't cut it faster than you can grow it and eventually you will have beautiful hair without the split ends. Naturally, this method will take longer than just growing it out, but the quality of the hair would almost certainly be better and I guess that's the whole idea. Nevertheless, after all the effort that I have put into growing my hair I just hate to loose any of it, yet I know it would look better if I did. I know that I have to have it trimmed.
Jeffrey.
I'm going to have to get better lighting and a tripod in order to get my full hair length in the shot. I have just found that I take a much better picture with natural lighting, but if I get very far away the pic is too dark. At this point I don't ever want to take another pic with a flash bulb. I have always been curious as to why I didn't like most of my pictures and now I know why. It is the flash bulb. Oh well, here is one that kinda shows my length, however it isn't much different than from a while back. I may have "maxed" out.
Jeffrey.
Hi Jeffrey,
Your hair looks excellent in the picture! Your hair looks really straight and in excellent condition. I did not realize your hair was that straight, no wonder it grows fast.(straight hair grows fastest and shows it's length the most) Your hair colour is excellent as well, love the red undertones. The beard is looking ace as well. I see no sign of the thinning we discussed in earlier threads, the avodart is sure working well.
A tripod is an EXCELLENT investment. I always use a tripod, along with my camera's self timer function as well as the flash in my camera, for my updates, if the picture is taken indoors. As long as you set up the camera a decent distance from yourself (not too close in) when you take the picture, it works great to bring out your hair's natural colur and shine. Also, that is the only way to get full length shots as well as back and side shots. Why spend a lot of money on a good camera and not get the most out of it by not using a tripod? They are not expensive.
Take care, (looking forward to more pictures)
David
Congrats David, also well done on the Moderator position.!
Mike
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the kind words and the congrats!
All the best,
David
Congratulations on the moderator post David. You and Jacob will do a fine job!
Yes, we're eagerly your update David. And yours too Jeffery!
Keep on Growin'
Bruce
Thanks Bruce, for the congratulations and for asking about my 3 year update. It was awesome to get the invite to join the team, what a fantastic group of guys!
I am definitely looking forward to your next update, I hope you take LOTS of pictures next time. You have straight hair that grows fast, well above the usual 1/2 inch per month, imagine how long it will be a year from now.
Keep it growing,
David
Yes imagine.... he says looking skyward.
Hi Bruce!
I'm going to post a pic before too long. Hopefully it won't scare everyone too much :)
Jeffrey.
That will be great! Hey be care around those moving parts! You could try a segmented tail then double back up to prevent injury. Back in the 70's when more guys had long hair, I had an instructor in machine shop that was always preaching about long hair and the lathe. Not pretty!
Take care,
Bruce