new thread
Hi, Guys!
My name is "Herb2992" (I thought of getting a new nickname like "Synquor", what do you think?) I never used it before, so I stayed to my old one (I only use the number when I'm not sure, if there's someone else with this nick)), I'm 18 years old and come from Germany. I know my English isn't very good, if there are any critical mistakes in my post (my English puntuation is a disaster, I know), just let me know (I'll write an English class-exercise on Tuesday). This is also my first real post in an English forum.
I've been lurking this site since June 2007 (quite often, sometimes daily), this is my first post though. It's a really nice community and I'm happy that a board like this exists. Anyway I have to try to get away from my computer and get more social contacts (I'm a quite lonely person), this post could be a beginning. So please don't be angry, if I'm not very often online in the future. My school becomes really busy either (I write my final exams in April). I just want to share this, because I'm quite happy to have reached my second goal.
I know this is a quite long post. You don't have to read all of it. I'm happy for any comment, also if they're only pic-related.
My Hair-History
(not really interesting/important, it's more or less a personal summary)
It's two years and a day ago since I got my last "hair-cut" (apart from a few minor "search and destroys"). Like you can see it was an extreme buzz-cut (#0), I did it on 2005/10/20. Until this time my dad always gave me normal short-cuts, but the last short-cut became a bit anoying for me (the sides/back were much shorter than the top and it began to grow out). Then my dad was in vacancies and I spent the time with my mum (my parents live divorced) and so I dicided to try something I never tried before: a #0 buzz-cut. It was an interesting experience (a really "cool feeling" to quote Jason) and I knew that I won't have to get any hair-cuts for a long time. But the decision to let it grow for a longer time came up a few months later. I decided to let it grow for 1 year. The time passed by and I was getting quite happy with my hair. When I reached my goal I thought why I shouldn't go on with my "work" and let my hair grow for another year or so. That's where I am now. My new goal is too reach my therminal length. To reach this goal would be quite satisfactory, but unfortunately/ironically I sometimes feel like cutting it off which wasn't the case before a few months. Don't take me wrong, at the moment I don't even think of getting a trim (although it looks quite messed up and uneven), but sometimes (not too often) I just feel like cutting it all off (usualy when depressions become too strong and/or my hair looks too messy). But then I start thinking, why I should give up what I worked on for two years? Long hair is something which - to some degree - I wanted to have ever since (anyway the only time I had longer hair before was during my childhood (when I was maybe 2 years old), but it was only half-long (the curls became already very visible). Until I grew it out I thought that these curls were only a childhood-phenomenon and always wondered why my hair had to be cut short every few months to make it looking "neat" again. This might sound dumb, but I didn't know it better. That was also the reason why I gave up any discussions with my dad about growing it out before: According to him I would have to use gels or hairspray to make it look neat, but I don't like these products and (almost) never used them (according to gel: never, hairspray once on carnival when I was 10 y/o). But the last time I got through the "wing-stage"/awkward-stage without too many problems, I just kept it growing and my dad's girlfriend (and a lot of other people) even supported the idea of the longer hair. Now I even identify with long hair and get a certain feeling when I see other long hairs on the streets, it's just a kind of "long hair spirit" which is going around, a sense of freedom (sounds very idealistic, I know). (But anyway there's nothing easier to handle than a buzz-cut. :P This was the reason why I often told my dad to cut it this way (not as extreme as in October 2005, my hair was always 2-3 cm long, with a short back (+ a shaved neck) and sides. To be honest, it even suited me rather well, although now I more ore less dislike buzzcuts), so I didn't have to get another cut for a longer time. But these cuts should be a thing of the past now.)
But as my hair becomes longer, it also becomes more difficult to handle. More diffiicult because I have to care more about it. I spend really much time with detangling my hair (with my fingers, there's no comb which works for my hair since it has a certain length) and have to wash my hair at least 2 times a week (otherwise it would look too messy, I can't comb my hair and detangling doesn't make it look much better, too (but at least it's a bit detangled). For me Detangling works best under the shower).
These knots in seperated hairs (which often result from the detangling-process), which you often can only remove by cutting them off (expect they are not too tight, then you can remove them with a needle, which I do quite often (unortunately they often break when I try this). Otherwise I keep them, rape them off with my fingernails just above the knot or cut them off with scissors), become really annoying (sorry for this "complex" sentence). So I sometimes wish to have straight hair, but I don't have the attempt to straighten it. I want to keep it natural. The way my hair looks and the way it behaves are just what I'm familiar with and I like it. I think any type of hair looks good when kept in it's natural shape.
Despite all those frustrations having long hair is 100% worth it! Every time my hair looks good (from my perspective, not from others' perspectives, although I'm open for any compliments (they can really make my day) or opinions) and every time I look into the mirror and can say: "That's me!" I feel a certain happyness and wonder about any thought of cutting it off. According to other people's opinion which aren't always that good, I often (not always, it depends on my form) think "I don't care! It's my hair". Anyway I cut off my "beard" on the last weekend (It didn't become more than a very thin moustache and a few hairs on my chin since I cut it off almost 2 years ago. It might take maybe a month to regrow. It looked much like in the second picture, maybe a bit thicker), although I liked it to some degree. :( But I have to keep it shaved for the next time until all my hopeless hopes are gone (I don't want to explain that, i hope you know what I mean).
But I'm goig to grow a kind of beard again later. A shaved face suits me also rather well, I think... (I got many positive comments, but who cares )At least I sweard not to cut/trim any hair.
Do you think a trim would be necessary? I don't have that many split-ends, but I alread recognized a few (maybe 3-5?). But I have tons of knots in seperated/single hairs. If I pick a streak of my hair (although it's not a big one) I can almost be sure to find a few of them. (I found two of them while i wrote this post, one broke and one was removeable (needle-technique), to make an example.)
Thank you for reading my post and thank you for any comment or suggestion! I'll see if I can respond. But there are really important things I have to do (3 class-exercises next week).
(Anyway I finally wanted to share this, I have been counting the weeks to finally make this post. Maybe I should've waited until the next weekend (I have a week of school vacations then))
And last but not least a small introduction of myself in a few words/names: Cryptopsy, Taake (...), Handel, Bach (...)(I play the paino, but not too often/regularily) and any kind of art (17th to 19th c. eg. (...)). I could've done/"created" more or at least anything, though [*damn computer/internet*<- but otherwise I never would've gotten into metal etc. *vicious circle*] ;)
Greetings, Herb2992
I wish you a wonderful week!
And sorry for all the mistakes and all the OT. (Next time it'll be shorter, promised)
Hello there, I'm new here as well. Just made my first post here last thursday. Your hair look's great! Really curly, that's awesome.
-Josh
Hi.
Your hair looks amazing, too and also very healthy which is not self-evident for such a length. According to your age you can be really proud of yourself, believe me. There are only very few guys in your age who wear their hair such long.
Hi Herb2992,
First of all, welcome to the hyperboard, I am delighted that you have found our community, and you will find lots of support here. I think you have done very well indeed for your first post to an English board, you should not be ashamed of your English at all! That is the wonderful thing about our community, we have people from all over the world, speaking different languages, and having different cultural backgrounds.
Of course, your hair looks wonderful, and what an amazing transformation from a shaved head! Your hair grows fast, and is thick and healthy. By all means, celebrate those curls that you have now, long, curly hair is a real blessing when you have those ringlets that you have. I see NO need for a trim at all.
Take care, and once again, welcome to the hyperboard!
David
Sweet hair man, like the last guy I'm new as well. Pretty soon I will have hair similar to yours. Cryptopsy & Taake are nice; you have good taste.
Hi Herb and welcome to our hair board! Your English is quite good I had no problem at all understanding you and you were certainly talking about all kinds of complex subjects. If you want a new nickname that is easy just let people know in a post that you are changing names and what you were before. It is only if people change alias names and don't tell us that it becomes a problem. Other users have changed in the past too.
Hey you don't need to post that often here to be a regular user, and I certainly understand that school work takes precedence. I wish you well in finding more friends and contacts in the real world, university is certainly a great place to meet all kinds of people once you make up your mind to do so. This place is also a great way to meet people even if you don't always get to meet face to face. I have developed friends here whom I really feel close to and I am sure that you will find that here too, everybody here is really cool that way :)
I certainly understand what you mean about sometimes wanting to just cut all your hair off when you are feeling depressed as I am in such a period right now. It makes it hard to grow out but I am going to keep growing out for now. You aren't the only one to feel that way!
I am glad you posted, I often wonder what people who don't post here must think of the soap opera stories that play out here among we regulars lol
Take care Herb!
Hi ChrisG.
I really consider to study after school, but until then there's much time left (first at all I have to finish school, then I have to do a military or civilian service, I already "chose" the civilian service which takes 9 months.) So I look forward for the university-information-day on 11/21. But I already know that I more tend to do something in humanities (like history or philosophy, maybe art) than in sciences (although they're also very interesting). But I know there are low job-chances (in Germany) for these sudy paths, so maybe I should get a normal job before studying.
I hope you get well through your depression, I know what this must feel like because I'm not that happy with my situation at the moment, too.
Good luck!
Herb2992
Welcome Herb2992, your hair looks great. You have very nice curls. So you are having problems with knots. Knots can often be separated one hair at a time without cutting them out. Sometimes a knot can be loosened by squeezing it hard between two fingernails. Conditioner will soften a knot too. Curly hair should be combed only when wet and with a wide tooth comb. I hope this information will be helpful for you.
Scott
Thanks for your reply.
I comb my hair only when it's wet, not with a comb but with my fingers, which makes it easier for me to stop when there are tangles. Once I really combed/brushed my hair when it was wet (almost every time I washed it) and this must have caused alot of hairbreakage (in early times I even started at the top), but I didn't know another solution. But I larned from my mistakes and didn't treat my hair this way for many months, at least half a year. Nothing against combing but for me personally combing doesn't work anymore since a long time (I would be really happy if I could comb my hair whenever I want). Indeed I "comb" my hair by letting flow water over my hair (while showering) and detanglingg/"combing" my hair with my other hand. But maybe I'm going to use the "wideteeth-comb-technique" again some time later.
The squeezing method (detangling) sounds very useful, I'm going to use it the next time such a knot appears.
BTW, I always wanted to tell you that I really admire your hair and your beard, it must have taken you a lot of patience. I think according to my therminal-length I would never be able to reach something like that (I wouldn't be able to manage it anyway). It looks amazing and very healthy.
What I meant by "knots in single hairs" is shown in the picture above. I don't believe they are removeable.lol So I remove them by raping/cutting. (Can I also just keep them?)
Hi and welcome to the "Great Longhair Hyperboard" as this should be your last stop in the world of hair! You've come to the right place my friend as this is where you'll get some of the best support with you longhair journey.You write quite long messages but hey... more is better! Also your hair timeline is quite amazing from no hair to where you are today.I know the tangling can get tiring to deal with but for me it seems to be worse at certain times of the year than others.Not sure why but thats the way its always been with me. Other than that you look amazing with all those curls and more of them would be even better.Hint,hint.LOL.So hopefully your hair is doing what you are hoping for and do post when you can.Welcome aboard Herb and looking forward to future updates.Mark
Hi Herb,
I'm glad you decided to finally post and don't worry about the length of it. I got through it all! Cool hair and fast growth too it seems. I think you'll like it here at the MLHH.
Also, about your English skills, -- there as good as most native speakers I know! Good luck on all the tests. I think you'll do fine. All that long post was good practice!
Bragi
Hi Herb2992
Your hair growth looks fantastic and I give you every credit in the world with going ahead and just growing it out. As for just a few split-ends, I would just snip above the splits on the hairs that have them. You are lucky that you only have several after two years.
A hearty welcome to you as well as wishing you superior luck in even more long hair length in the months to years ahead.
And lastly, your writing in english is superb! Even I couldn't do as well..........well, that is in the "typo" dept. LOL
My best to you in the coming week in school.
Justin~
Herb2992,
Quite the contrast over the past 2 years.
Wonderful curls, fantastic look.
peace, jonalbear
Your English is fine. There are kids graduating American schools unable to master English as well as you. Your hair looks awesome. I see no need to do any trimming, but you might want to just do S&D (search & destroy) with a pair of sharo scissors, as needed. Just go through and clip off the split ends when you see them.
Carol
Herb,
Do not think of apologizing for your English. You may wish to note that it is your second language, but there are almost no errors, and just a few stylistic variations to clue a native speaker that it is not your mutterspracht. I took two years of German in college, and the graduate grecords exam to demonstrate that I could read German for scientific purposes, but I could not express myself 1/10 as well in Deutsch, as you do in our strange language -- strange, because your Saxon ancestors invaded our British Islands and obliterated, transformed, distorted, improved our Celtic/Romano speech. So it is your German ancestors who are responsible for... I think I should say no more.
Welcome.
You do need to find some sort of "detangler," which I am sure you can find in the better salons in Germany, or in Beauty supply stores, and be sure to use this in the shower, with a wide tooth comb, so that you do not pull, i.e. stretch, or tear your hair.
Do not hesitate to ask other long haired men, especially with curly hair, how they manage.
Don't be so negative about experimenting with gels. Sometimes, after a shower, and making sure your hair is detangled, then combin your hair straight with a gel, comb straight to organize the curl in your hair, and when it is dry it will be more manageable, and the curl will come back.
Do not hesitate to backchannel me with other ideas for managing curly hair. I wish my hair were straight, thicker, etc. etc. etc., but I am just glad I have it and have it longer and longer. It gives me a sense of freedom from conventionality and personal self expression.
Sincerely,
Caledonian
Thank you for your reply.
As far as I know German is one of the most diffilult languages around so you can't really compare them both. I think English is much easier (which is also the reason why it's the world-language). Anyway I could have made much more progress for 8 years of learning English (I learn it since I'm in the 5th grade, now I'm in grade 13). So I think this board is a good opportunity for practicing.
This gel-suggestion sounds quite interesting. Maybe I'll try it out.
But for me personally I have to say that right after showering/washing my hair I have only minor problems with it. The curls stay how they are and don't get tangled again. So I just have to do minor detangling after showering, but I do a bit "head-banging" to seperate the strands from each other.
Most problems appear a few days later, shortly before I wash my hair again. Then my curls are really flat and become really tangled . It looks really messy and gresy either, although I try to manage this with my fingers/hands). That't the reason why I have to wash my hair (or at least make) it wet at least two times a week. Otherwise I would have to wear a ponytail for the other half of the week. (I normally only wear them in a tail when I have sports, do works where my hair could hang in my eyes or when it looks too messy...sometimes also just because)
But maybe gel would help to make it look neat for a longer time, so I'll see if I try it out. Thanks for your advice.
English is, from my experience an easy language. However, this is not the reason why it is the world language. You can thank the British Empire and the American Empire for that. Wait till the Chinese and Indian economies overtake the American and European ones.
Then we'll see if English sticks. I for one, am starting to learn Mandarin :D
Oops, I forgot about that for a minute. Of course I know about the British Empire, we dealt with this theme in our English lessons several times and to some degree it's even a theme in my tomorrow's exercise (Short Stories). I'm a bit ashame because normally I'm very interested in history related things. It just didn't come to my mind this time.lol
(sorry for my late response, but I havn't had much time. These two posts before were written in a small break which also explains all these mistakes.lol)
Here's another pic which I made just today half an hour after showering. It shows quite good what I described in my response to Caedonian).
The picture on the right looks SO much better than the other two.
In fact that picture looks like a good avatar pic, thinking of registering?
Anyway, welcome to the board, and no I don't think any trims will be necessary, your hair looks fine to me.
Hey Herb, thanks for posting such an interesting story, it never ceases to amaze me how long hair can transform a mans' appearance, it really works for you - congratulations.
Cheers Dave
Thank you for all the compliments! I didn't expect that. But it supports my opinion of this community: It's one of the best places for men to grow their hair out.
No I'm even more motivated to go on and reach what Gylfi just reached.
Unfortunately I have to go back to school in a few minutes (I have a little break at the moment)
Hi and Welcome;
Your English and punctuation are just fine. Very few of us in English speaking countries could do as well with the German language !!
You hair progress is phenomenal. Thanks for Sharing !
WWT
Herb 2992..
Welcome to mlhh! What a fabulous intro man. ... and your hair looks very nice indeed. The curls are defined and well managed in the pictures.. congrats on reaching these goals!
Hope you decide to stick around as this is a great place to visit and share things hair related and to a degree ..not hair related. - MLHH is just a great place..
Take care
Tristan
I have to say you look much better with the longer hair than a shaved head, keep it growing for sure!
Hey Herb, Welcome aboard! Your hair looks great. You shouldn't worry much about your English. Quite frankly, It seemed perfect to me and many others as well. I'm glad you found this great place. Just stick around and you'll learn a few things and meet really cool people. Take care.
Herb,
Welcome to the board it's nice to see proplr like youreslf find us
I enjoyed reading your post. Also I agree with the others you need not be concerned with your English it's fine.
My only comment on your tangles or rather a question. Do you or have you used any hair conditioners after shampooing. If my hair gets very tangled I'll wash and condition my hair the conditioner makes it very easy to get the tangles out without a lot of breakage
or hassle. I know your hair is different but that's just my thoughts on the subject.
Kevin
Hi, Kevin.
Thanks for your reply...
I don't use a conditoner, but maybe I'll start to use one soon.
But as far as I know conditioners are used to replace the hair's grease, aren't they? But when I wash my hair (2 times a week) it is that greasy that a conditioner isn't neccessary anymore. So I let the water flow over my head an detangle it with my fingers which works quite well. When my hair is wet and my sebum is evenly spread over my hair, detangling works quite well, although sometimes it could be even better which would be an argument to use a conditoner. So I shampoo my hair after detangling and do only minor detangling after having the wash. Only shortly before my next wash detangling becomes really annoying again, where a conditoner could help aswell. But I don't have that many frustrations with tangles at the moment (I could swear that I would have sayed the opposite yesterday afternoon shortly before my last wash). When this changes again, I'll see and maybe try out a conditioner.
Is there anything important about them? How about the chemicals? (the only products I use are a very simple shower gel for skin and hair, my sebum and water)
Greetings, Herb2992
P.S.: (OT) I hope you enjoyed Wacken (I read your post back then). Unfrotunately I wasn't there (apart from the fact that it would be too big for me and too expensive), but visited another festival (Party.San). That was an awsome time, maybe the climax of the year. And I met very nice people aswell (normally I'm a very shy person). Maybe I'll try out Wacken in 2008.