new thread
Well, it's been 6 months now, and 1 month since my "Maintenance cut." Next week is Thanksgiving, and I can see my mom armed with brush and hairdryer, ready to attack my hair. As you can see, this is sort of an exaggeration of my hair - It's not all droopy over my forehead like that, but it wants to be. It is long, but yet it doesn't *appear* long, because my hair strands are in the shape of some kind of odd 3-D question marks. But I have so much trouble keeping it from frizzing all over and sticking up. It's so bad that I have to wear my hat AT work now sometimes. Also, my one side likes to curl out because that's the side I sleep on, and it always gets bent it seems. None of it is worth tying yet, which sucks. But I know I want to continue - I just need to know how to survive the upcoming holiday gatherings, without my mom giving me funny irritated looks. I bought that Garnier Fructis Sleek and Shine stuff, but I have to use a LOT of it to keep my hair in check. Also, it seems like the more I wash my hair, the more frizzy and wispy it gets. I've heard that some of you with long hair only wash it 1-2 times per week, but when I tell my friends that, they all think that's sick and disgusting. Soooooo.... what should I do?
hey Shonrune83 what your going through is the akward phase where the hair isnt short anymore but not really long yet and this phase usually lasts till your at 2 years of growth depending on how fast your hair grows and heres a picture of me at what i looked at 6 months of growth and now im at 20 months and my hair is so much better looking than this time! dont worry what your friends say only washing it twice a week is good for your hair so it can retain some natural oils on your scalp without the oil y our hair will be dry and wont grow so good so dont mind them and just do your thing,once you get to the one year aka 12 months mark it will be so much easiar to grow trust me i was thinking the same thing at 6 months whys my hair look like shit?! but i stook it out and now am loving my hair more than ever so hang in there bro its nothing bad just natural of what your hairs doing!!!
Well, my hair has always grown like a weed. So I thought I was a good candidate for long hair. My hair was always very greasy when it was short, but now it's so dry.
MarkS, when were you first able to tie your hair up? I could tie mine up now, but I'd be in pigtails... XD
And did you use any hairspray or gel to hold your hair in place?
By the way, here's a more accurate depiction of what I look like now.
i started doing a good tail at about 17 months of growth and the hairs that wouldnt go in i just tucked behind my ears to keep out of the way
Here's a picture from my ponytail over the months, I started wearing one very early I didn't care what other people thought.
Trade in your mum, and ditch your friends ;-)
Hehe... Well, and it's not jsut friends - it's many of the people I work with daily. :-/ - including the one control freak (very Lurch-like) who gives me crap about it all the time as he giggles away.
Just ignore them shonrune, they are probably just jealous of you free spirit and confidence.
Stay strong mate.
~ Dave
Hi Shonrune83,
As some other people have already stated your are entering the awkward phase that everyone has too go through if they want long hair. You can tell your friends who i imagine all have short styles that overwashing is very bad for hair. Before i started growing my hair i had a number 2 on top and a number 1 on the back and sides i would wash my hair everyday and i had some minor dandruff problems. Once i had started growing my hair out and changed to 2-3 washes a week the dandruff has gone this is because overwashing strips the hair of its natural oils and in your case makes the hair dry and frizzy. My suggestions would be to change your washing routine and when your have a spare day try experimenting with some product ie. gels, mousses and pomades. Try to get alcohol free products as alcohol also dries out your hair. If after your experiments you still are not able to tame your hair feel free to post again. As i said before this is something everyone here has gone through and so this board has a wealth of knowledge on this subject. Hang in there and i am sure you will be happy you did.
All the Best
Mat
Also i would avoid the so called maintanance cuts as most trims remove more hair then the client desires and it also extends the time you spend in the awkward phase!! I would wait until your is a little longer than your desired length until you get a trim
When my mom forced me to get a haircut back on Labor Day, the stylist I went to said it's a good idea to get one because hair grows at different rates in different areas (i.e. hair on the sides might grow faster than on the top). Comments anyone?
People will always try to trick you into getting cuts to even things up. Hair can even out itself and no matter what you do it will look like crap in the akward stage.
When you walk out of the dresser it might look good, but there will be a point your hair will be as long as before.
Look for Justin's video about this subject.
Vincent's right.
I was convinced I HAD to get maintenance cuts every 4 months while growing hair. Not only did it really slow down my hair from growing, but with each cut the hairdresser started shaping my hair how she wanted it, and I didn't. I ended up not getting them anymore because of the hairdressers, way before finding out that they're not necessary for the first 2 years or so at all, if you take care of your hair.
So that's definitely changed! Don't waste your money!
Shawn
Welcome to the board, your well on you're way to becoming a longhair. It's important to hang in there and don't get any maintenence cuts. As for the advise from people with short hair, don't listen to it what could they know about longhair.
Washing your hair 2 times in a week is perfectly normal, else you will destroy your hair.
If your hair's becoming flyaway and getting out of control, you could maybe try washing it with conditioner only on some, if not all washes. That will keep it clean without stripping out all of the natural oils. Try not to use a hairdryer as that will really dry it out and not do its condition any good. If you do have to use one, have it on the lowest setting to minimise damage and dryness.
It may be worth experimenting with different leave-in conditioners, gels, waxes and mousses to help control your hair too. You're well into the awkward phase and the next six months or so will probably be the most frustrating you've ever experienced. Resist the urge to trim during this time. While your hair may look better when you walk out of the salon, the next morning it'll be back to how it was before only shorter and all you've achieved is dragging out the process (and the pain) even longer. Bear with it. It'll be worth it in the end.