new thread
Fourth message in a row. I'm a bad boy!
I always tried to grow long hair. It would only get so long before mom would make me cut it. She said it looked bad. Of course when I was young I didn't know how to take good care of it.
Finally, in June 2002 at the age of 17, I made my mom sign a contract stating that she would never make me cut my hair again. She was pissed, but she complied. My hair was like 1-1/2 inches in the back and sides and about 3 at the top. I'll try to get pictures. After about 10 months, my hair was growing along good. I could even tie the back and sides in a tail when it was wet. At that time I didn't even pay attention to my hairline on my neck.
But some people told me that hair grows better if you trim it. So stupid me, I take a pair of scissors and cut off like 2 inches from my bangs and I don't even know what I did to the very back. Next thing you know, my bangs are nose-length and the sides are longer than the back! Oh No!
I hated it! But I let it grow and evened it out myself, using better application of mirrors. It was now looking better, but much shorter than it could have been. I wanted to kill above stated people!
Then I get the wack idea that shaving my neck hair will help make my acne on my neck better. So I lather it up and take my Mach 3 to it. STUPID!!! Next thing you know, my hairline stops in the middle of my EARS!!! Kind of like a half-undercut.
AAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
It was a nighmare! Then my hair got a lot longer and it was cool again. Awfully top-heavy feeling, but cool. Then I cut 3-1/2 inches off the back, sides, and bangs because my little neice was forced into a waist-up-to-mid back-haircut!
It wasn't all bad though. I figured that would give the lower layers of hair time to catch up with the higher layers, which were much longer, and that's just not the way nature intended it to be! And it got to where it looked about where my hair is in my corner picture up there. But then I buzzed my neck hair again because it just felt too damn fuzzy.
Now I have signed my own contract to just LEAVE IT THE HELL ALONE for a year. After that I'll see how my lower layers are doing. I realize that some of the neck hair will never get really long, but most of it will. You have to consider how much hair I cut off!
Now my hair is about 10-12 inches long to a little further than halfway down my head. The rest of the way down and on the neck, the hairs are anywhere from 3/4 inch to 4 inches. So, thanks for hearing me and I'll try to get pictures!
Ivix
nt
Before Nominating you for the Darwin Award's hair care division, I'd like to comment (and possibly help you) with your past dilemmas.
1) There will always be the dreadful "awkward stage". Do not panic; as previously advised: back away from the scissors. Think about where you want to go with your growth. If on section is looking out of control or just isn't shaping well with the rest at this point: GO TO A PROFESSIONAL! (This cannot be emphasized enough.)Describe what you are going for and what you need to have done. If you are nervous about letting someone else doing this, remember: you are paying them to do what you want and if they want you to return to give them more money, they will do a good job. Also be sure to tell them what you *don't* want.
In the meantime, learn how to wear and style you hair to lessen the in-between look. Behind the ears, tied back, gel or mousse [sp?] are good ways to tame it. One trick is to use 'hat-hair' in reverse. Comb or brush your hair to an acceptable style when damp (not wet) and put a hat/stocking cap to hold it there. This is usually do best done over night or when you aren't often seen. :-)
2) Here is how the whole trim for better/faster growth thing goes. Cutting the ends of your hair (which are shafts of dead cells) has no effect on the speed at which cell division(and hence growth)at the root of the hair. Hair cells are 'alive' for about the first half inch out of the scalp. At this point they have been to long without being 'fed' by the the bloodstream. Check out a picture of a hair's root. You'll see red, then blue, blood vessel at the bottom of the root, its only feeding the cells that are right there. Hair shafts and cells have no system to transfer nutrients to other cells further out
Trimming the ends, and by trim I mean a small amount of the length grown since the last trim/cut, reduces or gets rid of split ends. Split ends are the fraying of the end of the hair shaft. Trimming also rids you of the ends that could have been damaged by basic wear-n-tear. So trim it a quarter inch every two months (which is an average of an inch of growth) Trimming just gives the illusion of faster growth by looking neat.
3) That whole shaving the neck fuzz. Watch carefully as the *PROFESSIONALS* do it, even ask what and how they are do it so they can help you see. (They love customers who try at home because they come back to have you correct it. ;-p)
Good luck and long growth,
Eric
And I think it is a good idea to review all the 'problems' you
have encountered while growing out your hair.
You have learned all about the things you should avoid, so
now you can concentrate on growing it out the 'right' way!
Thanks for sharing your 'hair history' with this board
because it may help others to avoid some of the mistakes you had to deal with.
Good luck on your Journey!
