My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Inside)

[TaraDyan]

Hey, everyone:

So I decided to straighten my hair on Sunday just to check my length. I swear I am having the worst time with my hair growing in at different rates. It happens EVERY.SINGLE.TIME ... my ends are always thin no matter how many times I cut them during the year. And it's only in the back ... never in the front.

I even tried to be proactive about it. Last year, I dusted my hair every 2 months and did 3 separate mini cuts back to APL (~2"-4" each time) trying to even it out, only to have it grow back unevenly each time. Maaaaan, I officially give up.

Here is my latest length check from Sunday. I'm almost BSL, but my ends are thin AGAIN!! It's a conspiracy I tell ya.

Day Before Straightening:

After Flatironing on Sunday

Holy shrinkage, Batman!!

Grrrrrrrrrr ... I REFUSE to cut those thin ends back to APL again. I will dust my ends for splits, but I will not try to even it out any more.

<Whew> I feel better. Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[mostamaziing]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

but.. yur shrinkage is beautiful.! those shiny perfectly defined curls

 

[alive]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

but.. yur shrinkage is beautiful.! those shiny perfectly defined curls

what she said

on a more serious note though. is ALL of your hair on the thin side or is it just the ends? if it's all your hair, then maybe that's just how your hair is but if it's just the ends, I would recommend waiting it out for a year so that when you finally even it out, you'll be cutting back to maybe MBL not APL

HTH

 

[Priss Pot]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

Wow, that's a lot of shrinkage! Your hair is pretty, BTW!

 

[Aireen]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

Your hair is pretty though. I wouldn't worry about any of it if I had your hair.

 

[Legally Natural]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

It is possible that you may have lead hairs. I would suggest not trimming for a while to see if the shorter hairs catch up to the longer ones. On another note, your hair is beautiful natural and I think you are already BSL.

 

[Miss*Tress]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

I'm in love with your hair - the shrinkage is beautiful.

If the unevenness is not due to breakage, try not cutting your hair at all for at least 6 months. Protect your ends and then assess your progress. Also check out Chicoro's posts and Fotki for tips on dealing with lead hairs and uneven growth. Good luck!

 

[CuteMeeka]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

I have shrinkage like that... No matter how long my hair grows, the shrinkage seems to stay the same length... Sometimes I can't even tell how much my hair has grown until I undo my twists and run my fingers through it and stretch it and see the length and fullness. Then I'm like dayum! I think I will be WL with SL shrunken hair .

If it's just your ends that are thin, then maybe you should take extra good care of your ends. Create a special regi for just your ends. Maybe add a leave in protein (and a leave in moisturizer) to just your ends to keep them strong so they won't break off as fast (if at all)...

Sometimes you have to have a slightly different regi for your ends apart from the one you use on the rest of your hair.

Try something like ORS Carrot Oil or EP Mango Butter or something like that or maybe someone in here can recommend something else.

Your growth is on point... Now you can just focus more on retaining your ends.

 

[Beverly Ann Properties]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

Your hair is beautiful and I love your shrinkage. I suggest you keep up your regimen because your hair is growing and looks very healthy. I would only S&D for the rest of the year and then see how much your hair has grown and examine your ends before doing another major trim. I agree with Alive's comment.

 

[Ese88]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

Yeah that is alot of shrinkage, but you have lovely hair!

 

[Curlykale]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

Lovely, lovely curls!

For elongation, I like gels and puddings with carbomer aka acrylates and sealing with avocado butter aka hydrogenated oil or stuff like that. As together I find they elongate, seal and repel the humidity... I wear braidouts all the time though, but seeing all those Eco Styler videos makes me think that it gives some elongation to wash and go's too.

For the ends. I once watched a video by a youtuber that has superlong hair (Leobodyc5) and she said that her hair grows like that and the ends fill up by themselves after some months everytime. So they are not thin because of breakage but because they grow in different stages. She adds an egg yolk to her deep conditioning sessions and I find egg yolks in conditioner sort of give me thicker ends as well. You could wear it out curling the end of your braid with a big roller overnight when it is straightened. or a bantu knot out...

...I would not trim for a while and see if your hair grows in stages... As trimming only makes sense when it is brerakage

 

[Etherealsmile]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

your shrinkage is something else! Beautiful curls!

 

[Miss*Tress]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

I saw in another thread that you said the back of your hair is coarser than the rest and seems to grow more slowly. I have that issue too and try to nurture that section and always double the amount of conditioner and moisturizer. It's better but the issue still isn't resolved. The only time it doesn't pose a problem is when my hair is professionally flat-ironed. Then the back/crown behaves just like the rest of my hair. Go figure...

 

[TaraDyan]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

Thanks for all of the nice comments, everyone. I created this post around midnight last night, and was obviously cranky and tired. But I feel much better about the situation today. I've definitely decided to leave it alone and not worry about it. I'm just too quick to grab scissors and I need to cut it out (pun intended).

but.. yur shrinkage is beautiful.! those shiny perfectly defined curls

Thank you. It's the coconut oil and Eco Styler Olive oil gel combo that is responsible for the blingin' curlies.

what she said

on a more serious note though. is ALL of your hair on the thin side or is it just the ends? if it's all your hair, then maybe that's just how your hair is but if it's just the ends, I would recommend waiting it out for a year so that when you finally even it out, you'll be cutting back to maybe MBL not APL

HTH

Actually, all of my hair is thin in density, but the ends are always thinner than the rest, but only in the back. I think sections of the back of my hair grow at a slower rate than the front, hence the thin ends.

I thought it was breakage at one point, but I always baby my ends (especially in the back) and I wear my hair in a protective style 95% of the time. So I really don't think it's breakage (but you never know). I think it may just be the way my hair grows.

It is possible that you may have lead hairs. I would suggest not trimming for a while to see if the shorter hairs catch up to the longer ones. On another note, your hair is beautiful natural and I think you are already BSL.

Yes, it's definitely possible that I have a bunch of hooligan lead hairs. I'm going to test the theory out by not cutting for a year. I will still search and destroy splits though.

I'm in love with your hair - the shrinkage is beautiful.

If the unevenness is not due to breakage, try not cutting your hair at all for at least 6 months. Protect your ends and then assess your progress. Also check out Chicoro's posts and Fotki for tips on dealing with lead hairs and uneven growth. Good luck!

Yes, Chicoro is definitey a hair idol of mine and I've read up about her lead hairs theory. That's why I think I'm having a lead hairs issue.

Your hair is beautiful and I love your shrinkage. I suggest you keep up your regimen because your hair is growing and looks very healthy. I would only S&D for the rest of the year and then see how much your hair has grown and examine your ends before doing another major trim. I agree with Alive's comment.

Yep, this is what I'm planning to do ... just S&D only. No major cutting for me for a while.

Lovely, lovely curls!

For elongation, I like gels and puddings with carbomer aka acrylates and sealing with avocado butter aka hydrogenated oil or stuff like that. As together I find they elongate, seal and repel the humidity... I wear braidouts all the time though, but seeing all those Eco Styler videos makes me think that it gives some elongation to wash and go's too.

For the ends. I once watched a video by a youtuber that has superlong hair (Leobodyc5) and she said that her hair grows like that and the ends fill up by themselves after some months everytime. So they are not thin because of breakage but because they grow in different stages. She adds an egg yolk to her deep conditioning sessions and I find egg yolks in conditioner sort of give me thicker ends as well. You could wear it out curling the end of your braid with a big roller overnight when it is straightened. or a bantu knot out...

...I would not trim for a while and see if your hair grows in stages... As trimming only makes sense when it is brerakage

It's official ... I'm definitely not going to cut anymore. I'll just wait it out and wait for the hairs to catch up.

 

[TaraDyan]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

I saw in another thread that you said the back of your hair is coarser than the rest and seems to grow more slowly. I have that issue too and try to nurture that section and always double the amount of conditioner and moisturizer. It's better but the issue still isn't resolved. The only time it doesn't pose a problem is when my hair is professionally flat-ironed. Then the back/crown behaves just like the rest of my hair. Go figure...

Yes it is more coarse in the back and the curls are tighter (4a), which is why it gets most of my attention. The front of my hair probably feels neglected by comparison. I can get away with minimal effort in the front, but not the back. That's why I give extra attention to the back as far as conditioners, butters, gels, etc. Believe me, it demands it.

But I won't be cutting it anymore. If it still looks uneven and sad around May 2012, then I'll know it's breakage. If the ends "catch up", then I'll know it's just the way my hair grows.

 

[nurseN98]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

I feel your pain.... My hair still just hits my shoulders even though i almost wsl. I think it's a pain but oh well. You have beautiful hair btw! It looks pretty healthy so i agree with leaving it alone.

 

[MA2010]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

Your hair straightens out nice!

 

[Vintagecoilylocks]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

Love your curls.

If there are no slpits then why cut. I learned to love my hair as it was. Fluffy shinkage that would never be even and since I only braid it and the occasional braid out the curls at the bottom create their own hem line.
As you can see in my siggy I am tail bone with a bunch of layers growing in and 3 different type hair that shinks to above waist. Even if I flat ironed and cut it would'n t last even for two minutes. My different textures would take over and start drawing up and converting at willl in their own way.

I just don't try to fight my natural hair any more. Thats why I went natural. Oh and I grow in a natural Vish U shape.

 

[SUPER SWEET]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

Your hair is simply beautiful. I want that kind a shrinkage. You should see mine

 

[wavezncurlz]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

Get used to it - hair twin. I'm wl and my hair never looks long until it's straightened and unless it's trimmed, it looks uneven. Your hair is fine/thin so it's going to be fragile. I leave mine alone and straighten it like 2x a year when I get minor trims to keep it even.

 

[Allandra]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

Look at those cute curls.

 

[Makenzie]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

Your shrinkage is crazy! But the curls are so beautiful.

 

[Lita]

Re: My Hair Just Looooves to Grow Unevenly ... and My Shrinkage Is Insane (Pics Insid

I understand...My hair grows the same way..I can get a blunt straight across cut right now/maintain the ends,still grows back the same way..the back center leads first by a land slid...lol

*Love the curls so pretty & define..Don't worry about it/Just let it grow....


Happy Hair Growing!