new thread
...Well, hello all, I have finally come to a point where I feel my hair is getting somewhere, and I feel like sharing it with your expertise. I have been browsing this site for roughly 1 year or so, but never began posting until now!
First of all, this is my first ever attempt at growing my hair out, that being said, I've never had really short hair since I was 11, but I always kept it just under the collar, longer at the fringe since about the age of 12. Anyway, last summer time, I decided against this, and pursued the long hair goal, having cut my hair that February, and disliking the length greatly.
My hair is extremely thick, and naturally wavy, with a bit of curl, I have been controlling it with a slouch beanie since August time, and I'm growing out damage from straightening it for over 2 years. The awkward stage is lasting quite a while with my hairstyle, I tend to blow-dry it more often than not, I know this can be damaging, my hair seems to be fine with it for the time being lol :P I suspect only a few more months until all of my hair has enough weight, as it is growing out from layers. I can place all of it in a medium ponytail, hooray! :P But this is not my preferred choice atm :P
Anyway, thanks for reading, comments are greatly welcome, I'm keeping it long! :)
Here is a comparison of my hair from 29th July 2010 and how it is as of the 29th March 2011.
Again comments are greatly appreciated :)
James K
First off, welcome to the board! Judging from the photos, you started from about the same place as I did at roughly the same time so I know very well what you've been going through. The back part of my hair has been tailable for months but the front has been taking forever to catch up. At least it's finally gotten long enough that I can sort of tuck some of the front hair under the longer top hair to keep it from flying out all the time. In my case rather than a beanie I generally wear a backwards baseball cap when I need to keep it down. While I like wearing mine loose when I can, the practicalities of work requires it be tailed. And then there's the windy days like yesterday. It was amusing having it loose in the wind, though if it would all tail it would have been a bit less hassle. :)
Good luck on your journey, I know exactly where you're coming from. It can be both a fun and frustrating experience. :-)
--Dale
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Thanks KansasDude! It's good to finally come out of lurking and post my own hair growth journey. The reply is much appreciated :)
James K
Looks great James. Tommie
Welcome James,
You have a great head of hair to work with and speaking from experience I have to agree with you that to have long-term healthy hair it is wise to stay away from hair straighteners.
I too have a very thick head of hair and I know that in the early stages thick curly wavy hair can sometimes suck, due to puffing up and harder to control but later on after 3 years of hair growth and 16 months away from straightening in my case, the longer thick curly wavy hair grows in general the better it looks and more manageable as the weight draws the hair down more.
As we get older our thick curly wavy hair will prove a blessing as hair thinning occurs naturally through age and hence having thick frizzy hair makes it easier to cover over the thinner spots on the scalp as hair gets less thicker as we age.
Think of having thicker hair then average as having hairs in reserve!
Good luck on your hair journey.
Duncan
The problem with blow-drying, is that it sucks the moisture out of the hair. If you have to use a blow-dryer, to minimize damage, you should use the lowest temperature setting, and/or use a diffuser. There are expensive products designed to protect hair from heat damage, but I'm going to give you the cheap method. 1) Aloe Vera gel. Cost a few dollars for a big bottle, buy it in the skin care aisle of your department store or chain pharmacy. Aloe is a natural humectant, this means it retains moisture. Aloe also makes the hair cuticle swell. Put a blob in towel-dried hair. Follow with a natural oil, or a leave-in conditioner. Then blow-dry. Don't completely dry, if you can. Leave hair still ever so slightly damp. It will finish air drying in 10 minutes or less. This way your hair will still have a fair amount of moisture after heat drying. As you can see, there is a difference between blow-drying, and blow-frying! :)
Looking great so far James!
Yes, blow drying can be very harsh - especially if you're aiming for long length.
Minimizing wear 'n tear becomes very important when going for long length. For example there are some good tips in the "Sleeping with hair..." thread above.
- Oren
Thank you everyone for the great replies, I'll read into some of those products Carol, I'm not sure whether they are available over here in the UK, but I'll look :)
James