Grow it Long 2022 Challenge!

[snoop]

My hair continues to make progress. I'm noticing that my twists are starting to hang over my shoulders again. The top pictures were from last week right after washing my hair.

The bottom pictures are from last summer. The two June pictures are about two weeks apart. The first picture may have been pre-washed twists, but by the second picture, you can see what that after washing it shrank a lot. The third pic is a month after the second, most likely pre-washed hair. The sides of my hair were where I noticed the most hair loss through breakage, but it seems to be catching up to the other lengths.




That said, I'm noticing that my density is a lot lower. I've got no idea if it's age or if it's the loss of iron and whatever hormonal imbalances that I'm trying to fix. Keeping my fingers crossed that it's the second and that I can increase the volume of my hair over the next year or two.

 

[Chicoro]

I've reached another break point. Before the points where my hair broke were shoulder length (high school), bra-strap length (adult), waist length a>nd tailbone length.

My hair is breaking at tailbone length. In fact, it has broken off a bit right above tailbone length. So, for me, the next challenge is to understand what my hair needs and wants to gain health and thickness beyond tailbone length.

By August 2023, in about ten (10) months, I hope to have some solid observations as to why it breaks.

One thing is that my nape stays the same length. I was telling @caribeandiva about a technique to nurture certain areas of her hair that are prone to breakage. It turns out, I need to apply my own advice. Thus, I have started braiding my nape into three sections and sweeping those three braids up into my bun.

To be honest, I have not been consistent with my processes most of 2022. I've made a decision to focus on my hair from now until August 2023.

 

[caribeandiva]

I've reached another break point. Before the points where my hair broke were shoulder length (high school), bra-strap length (adult), waist length a>nd tailbone length.

My hair is breaking at tailbone length. In fact, it has broken off a bit right above tailbone length. So, for me, the next challenge is to understand what my hair needs and wants to gain health and thickness beyond tailbone length.

By August 2023, in about ten (10) months, I hope to have some solid observations as to why it breaks.

One thing is that my nape stays the same length. I was telling @caribeandiva about a technique to nurture certain areas of her hair that are prone to breakage. It turns out, I need to apply my own advice. Thus, I have started braiding my nape into three sections and sweeping those three braids up into my bun.

To be honest, I have not been consistent with my processes most of 2022. I've made a decision to focus on my hair from now until August 2023.

Crazy about the break points. Mine seems to be shoulder length and full APL/BSL. Thanks to the nape advice you gave me I do 3 braids too: horizontally stacked on top of each other. That way I got the whole middle back of my head covered from the back of my crown down to my nape. Then it put it all in a bun or ponytail.

 

[PagingSunshine]

It’s that time of year where I throw in a kinky curly sew in. Anyone have tips for hair maintenance under sew in?

 

[apple_natural]

last week
Tuesday: put coconut oil on; decided to put it in french braids w/extensions

this week
sunday: took those braids out
tuesday: put on coconut oil. ordered braiding hair.
wednesday (today): deep conditioner on. sat under the dryer. I forgot to make rice water. i'll just use an acv rinse instead. then just a bun i guess. I want to braid it, but I don't think I'll get around to braiding it until next week Tuesday.

 

[apple_natural]

Sunday: didn't dermaroll. I'll do it today. I did work on preparing my braiding hair
Tuesday: didn't coconut oil. I'll do it today. finished preparing braiding hair
Wednesday: (today). I'll sit under the dryer with my coconut oil to make it easier to part my hair. I'm going to start braiding it today or soon enough

 

[Mapleoats]

Lovely check ins, ladies! I've been in box braids the past 4 weeks and it has been a well needed break. I think I will keep this in another week max and try to get another set in early December.

here's my hair before I put the braids in. I don't think I've necessary experienced any excessive breakage or thinning but it does feel like my length is stagnating. I hope the braids help me get over this hump

 

[Sanity]

Hair length pic is coming this weekend!, it took me awhile to detangle, straighten and trim my ends. I still have 1.5" to to go before my splits are completely gone. I reached Apl length, after my trim yesterday. I am back at past shoulder length, My motto is health over length.

 

[Sanity]

Here's my update!
In between planning a wedding and working overtime, I've retained maybe 2" and more fullness so far (thinning set back over the spring). I had to cut at least 3" off, due to the color that is currently growing out. My hair started to revert tonight, so I quickly took a few pictures. I plan to grow my hair length back to 13"(FULL APL) hopefully by February 2023 . The pictures posted are 1 year apart. I am pleased with my results so far.

 

[long.hair.dont.care]

It’s that time of year where I throw in a kinky curly sew in. Anyone have tips for hair maintenance under sew in?

I recommend water, and literally a drop or two of ACV - spray that in the parting, and you use oil in a can (I use olive oil cooking oil) and spray in the parting, it's way less messy. That's how I use keep my scalp and hair happy, and retain the most length.

 

[long.hair.dont.care]

I took out my long term protective style finally!!!!!!

I need to comb out some build up, but I got church tomorrow and I need my cutie sleep.

So for now, I've lightly sprayed my hair with water and then saturated with avocado oil, my hair is in two flat twists until I can deal with it on Sunday or Monday. I will need to do a trim, and I am looking forward to seeing what I retained, definitely not WL like I had ambitiously desired LOL, but I am getting closer.

I will be back with photos.

 

[Chicoro]

I recommend water, and literally a drop or two of ACV - spray that in the parting, and you use oil in a can (I use olive oil cooking oil) and spray in the parting, it's way less messy. That's how I use keep my scalp and hair happy, and retain the most length.

Definitely some hair gems in this post!

 

[long.hair.dont.care]

Definitely some hair gems in this post!

The 1-2 drops of ACV had my scalp build up free, and made peppermint oil massages feel amazing every time; the olive oil was doing what olive oil does and kept my hair from drying out. Challenging myself to be consistent with these 3 steps until the end of the year.

 

[Chicoro]

The 1-2 drops of ACV had my scalp build up free, and made peppermint oil massages feel amazing every time; the olive oil was doing what olive oil does and kept my hair from drying out. Challenging myself to be consistent with these 3 steps until the end of the year.

Thanks for the detail. I love this process! It makes so much sense.

 

[long.hair.dont.care]

Today I shampooed, deep conditioned and applied a BKT.

With trim, my hair reaches BSL.

I have the faith that I will get an inch or just enough to reach MBL by the end of December.





And yes, I am smiling in the second photo... getting back to these lengths means a lot to me because I lost a lot of it due emotional exhaustion coming out of a bad situation back in 2019 (I had reached MBL for the 1st time). I had no energy and no desire to be involved with my hair - no shampoo - no oiling - no nothing for about 3 months, and the only reason I did eventually take care of my hair again was because I didn't want to have to one day say "I didn't touch my hair for *four* months".

Anyway, I am at a healthy BSL and I am really grateful.

 

[Chicoro]

Today I shampooed, deep conditioned and applied a BKT.

With trim, my hair reaches BSL.

I have the faith that I will get an inch or just enough to reach MBL by the end of December.


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And yes, I am smiling in the second photo... getting back to these lengths means a lot to me because I lost a lot of it due emotional exhaustion coming out of a bad situation back in 2019 (I had reached MBL for the 1st time). I had no energy and no desire to be involved with my hair - no shampoo - no oiling - no nothing for about 3 months, and the only reason I did eventually take care of my hair again was because I didn't want to have to one day say "I didn't touch my hair for *four* months".

Anyway, I am at a healthy BSL and I am really grateful.

Congratulations on your wonderful success!

 

[snoop]

@snoop did you cut your hair since your set back? I think your hair looks great but it might be confusing as to why you haven’t retained length in the back. What have you changed in your detangling routine? You will probably surpass your old length by the end of the year imo

No. I've not had a proper hair cut since my big chop (when I started with half an inch of hair) and only one professional trim when I had my hair blown out. I have no idea why that back area isn't getting longer. Or rather, lengthens then breaks, then lengthens again. I dust my ends every 3 months.

As for detangling, I finger detangle only. I used to do it out of the shower with conditioner, then wash/cleanse my hair, then style it. I would keep my hair in two strand twists for two weeks then start again. This is basically what I did until I had my first setback. I carried on through with this, but I was also dealing with stress and health issues which may have contributed to the overall health... that and neglect because I didn't know what was affecting my hair to cause the breakage in the first place.
be an issue? I'm not sure. My hair doesn't feel dry, but maybe it wants more? Or more in those sections?

I was looking through this thread and may have a better answer for you: In April, I went to the doctor to have an issue checked out. Blood work was done and it came back that my iron was "low". The doctor didn't give me any numbers so I didn't know how "low" low was. I'd been "low" before -- again, with no definite numbers -- but nothing was said about follow up. Just basic maintenance. The doctor said to follow up in 6 months to see where my iron was at. Ok, cool.

In September, I finally got to see the specialist and didn't like her solution to my issue and decided to see a naturopath. She asked me for a copy of my results. So I got them for her and took a look at the numbers and my iron was a lot lower than the minimum for the range! I'd been dealing with said issue that I went to the doctor for 3 years, so my iron was most likely low for most of that time, if not all of that time.

In October, she asked me to do my follow up blood work for iron along with checking for other deficiencies. So, I recently got my results back and my iron is back within range (though I have to confirm if they're ok, or if I need to continue taking iron.) I hope that over the next year+ I can see a difference in my hair as a result of increasing my iron.

 

[apple_natural]

thank you for that answer @long.hair.dont.care !! That was brilliant

Yesterday: coconut oil under dryer, macademia dc under dryer, blow out and TRIM!

Trim: My ends did not feel crispy and knotted before the trim. Yay! It doesn't look as choppy as it was earlier this year. It's fine. The only thing that it is only about 8 inches long.

TO DO: I think I'll baggy twice a week at least while the central heat is on. I need to be better at oiling my scalp. I want to increase MSM. I'll keep up my weekly dc and dermarolling.

Next year: I want to shoot for APL. I will need about 5 inches of hair... I think that's reasonable One year I got a ton of hair between November and March. That was almost like 4 inches of hair. I wasn't doing anything special. I don't even remember what I was doing. I think I was just not skipping meals to be honest and taking my multivitamin.

 

[long.hair.dont.care]

Congratulations on your wonderful success!

Many thanks!!

 

[long.hair.dont.care]

thank you for that answer @long.hair.dont.care !! That was brilliant

Yesterday: coconut oil under dryer, macademia dc under dryer, blow out and TRIM!

Trim: My ends did not feel crispy and knotted before the trim. Yay! It doesn't look as choppy as it was earlier this year. It's fine. The only thing that it is only about 8 inches long.

TO DO: I think I'll baggy twice a week at least while the central heat is on. I need to be better at oiling my scalp. I want to increase MSM. I'll keep up my weekly dc and dermarolling.

Next year: I want to shoot for APL. I will need about 5 inches of hair... I think that's reasonable One year I got a ton of hair between November and March. That was almost like 4 inches of hair. I wasn't doing anything special. I don't even remember what I was doing. I think I was just not skipping meals to be honest and taking my multivitamin.

My pleasure @apple_natural also, I am so glad that your ends are doing super well!

 

[apple_natural]

My pleasure @apple_natural also, I am so glad that your ends are doing super well!

Aww thank you!

x

I'm concerned about damaging my hair by putting in flat twists while it's damp. I had partial splits before I cut it and I think that doing things to it while it was wet caused it. I'm not sure though. Maybe it didn't. I sprayed in leave in and put on shea butter mix today. I put it in about 8 flat twists. with little bantu knots at the end. I'm only going to take it down and put in kenakalon hair and put it in a bun. I guess I was hoping that the bun would be fresh looking.

I washed it last week... Wednesday. I clarified it and deep conditioned. the week before, I did not wash it, but I did a few moisture and seal days and I may have deep conditioned and just rinsed that out.

 

[nyeredzi]

Well, I was WL+, but I cut my hair a couple of weeks ago. I was tired of the layers and neede a cut anyway. So I just divided my twists in half, left side and right side, pulled them down over my chest, and cut a little bit above armpit length. The cut took less than 1 minute. Needless to say, it was not even I intended to straighten and trim at some point to try to get it more even, but haven’t yet. It’s too short now to wear as my favorite type of bun, but still long enough to twist and clip up with a Ficcare

 

[apple_natural]

I finally started getting headaches from MSM at 1tbs. I took it back down to 1 tsp, but added a little and now I take it twice a day. It seems to work. I'm not sure if it is growing my hair, but I'm definitely going to keep it up until I get my goal.

My hair is in a bun. I still want to braid it, but its doing okay in its bun.

 

[Meritamen]

Going to go ahead and post my end of the year photo since my hair is now in twists. This picture was taken last week before I had two-strand twists done this past weekend. Didn't make it to BSL but my hair is at full APL and is in good shape. my hair has never been this long before so I'm happy with my results from long-term protective styling.
Updated the photo I wanted to share.

 

[Mapleoats]

Well, I was WL+, but I cut my hair a couple of weeks ago. I was tired of the layers and neede a cut anyway. So I just divided my twists in half, left side and right side, pulled them down over my chest, and cut a little bit above armpit length. The cut took less than 1 minute. Needless to say, it was not even I intended to straighten and trim at some point to try to get it more even, but haven’t yet. It’s too short now to wear as my favorite type of bun, but still long enough to twist and clip up with a Ficcare

Aw I love your hair so I'm sad to hear you cut it lol but looking forward to all the growth to come for you

 

[Mapleoats]

Going to go ahead and post my end of the year photo since my hair is now in twists. This picture was taken last week before I had two-strand twists done this past weekend. Didn't make it to BSL but my hair is at full APL and is in good shape. my hair has never been this long before so I'm happy with my results from long-term protective styling.

Yay!!! Healthy hair is the best you will be at BSL in a few months I'm sure

 

[long.hair.dont.care]

I dont have any photos for my end of year update, sorry yall.

To explain, I went to a hairdresser for cornrows in mid november (when i shared my last photo update here) and i plan on wearing wigs and eventually doing crochet over them. I'm keeping these cornrows in until around early February. I have a lot of hair but my hair strands are thin (so I retain best with the least amount of manipulation) and long term protective styling (cornrows for 3 months), water and oil has been the basis of what helped me retain and overcome the SL/APL plateau.

I am happy with the even the slightest progress I've made in terms of retaining and on the journey back MBL after a setback in 2019. I made it from BSB to BSL this year, I know I can do much better to retain length in 2023 if I can be consistent this upcoming year.

 

[faithVA]

I had a goal for SL but that was unrealistic when I look at my starting point. I did go from EL to NL and that is good for me. I will set SL as my goal for next year.

 

[DVAntDany]

Here are my end of the year photos. It finally dawned on me in the picture before the trim that redken hot sets 22 and me are not friends. I’m also not a fan of how the Dyson with the comb attachment leaves my ends frizzy. My ends looked beat up and kept tangling. This happened the last time I used hot sets 22 for my trim in late June.

I went in for the trim with my tangly yet flat ironed hair. I wish I didn’t because my ends really weren’t that bad. I say that because the stylist was acting like more than 3 inches of my hair needed to be cut off, but we settled on an amount.

Even after the trim, my hair was super tangly and kept bunching up. When I made it home, it looked like I had giant chunks missing because of the bunching. That is what prompted me to
wash the gunk out and pray my hair wasn’t hacked off.

I rewashed my hair and used Design Essentials Agave & Lavender Thermal Protection Creme for my flatiron heat protectant. I even dropped the heat from 410 down to 370 for the flat iron. My hair and ends look and feel so much better. Going forward, I will use products and tools for coarse dense hair to achieve better straightened results.

 

[Chicoro]

Here are my end of the year photos. It finally dawned on me in the picture before the trim that redken hot sets 22 and me are not friends. I’m also not a fan of how the Dyson with the comb attachment leaves my ends frizzy. My ends looked beat up and kept tangling. This happened the last time I used hot sets 22 for my trim in late June.

I went in for the trim with my tangly yet flat ironed hair. I wish I didn’t because my ends really weren’t that bad. I say that because the stylist was acting like more than 3 inches of my hair needed to be cut off, but we settled on an amount.

Even after the trim, my hair was super tangly and kept bunching up. When I made it home, it looked like I had giant chunks missing because of the bunching. That is what prompted me to
wash the gunk out and pray my hair wasn’t hacked off.

I rewashed my hair and used Design Essentials Agave & Lavender Thermal Protection Creme for my flatiron heat protectant. I even dropped the heat from 410 down to 370 for the flat iron. My hair and ends look and feel so much better. Going forward, I will use products and tools for coarse dense hair to achieve better straightened results.



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You've retained about six (6) inches of length. That is some amazing progress! Congratulations on your success! Could you share or point me to your hair care regimen, please? I see that you did flat ironed hair to wash and go's . But I didn't see your products. Your length retention is phenomenal.