Help from Armpit and longer

[blazingthru]

No offense to anyone. I am so discouraged. I really want to know how you long hair lady's got to where you are now. I am shoulder length and its boring. I can't do anything I want to do to it. Yeah I am happy I got a ponytail and high pony puff but after a while who cares. I want to do more I want it to be longer and stronger. I really feel like my hair is stronger but the growth is terrible. I mean its been two years and almost three months since I went natural and my hair is still shoulder length. I was shoulder length over a year ago.
My regiment.
I deep condition twice a week overnight
I Cowash everyday
I detangle a couple of times a week, my hair gets very straight in water and so Its not a big deal to always detangle
I shampoo whenever I feel like it sometimes once a week sometimes once every two weeks.
I sleep with a satin bonnet and satin pillow case.
I use a bone comb
Denman but I rarely use this, depending on a style I want to achieve
I have silk amino acid in my conditioner
I use a leave in daily except today - just forgot but I have a afro today
I use Ovation therapy/MT
nothing really works for me.
I don't have issues with my ends as far as I know
I use butters from time to time
and oils, I have all the good stuff, olive oil. avocado oil, emu oil, coconut oils and all that jazz
NADA is happening. I am thinking about just braiding it up and leaving it alone. I just want to get pass this lenght and see all the things I can possiblly do to my hair or perhaps I am jumping the gun and really have to wait another year.
Thank you for your advice.
ps. this first picture was taken this weekend via my cell phone the second was taken when I was 15 months natural hardly any change.

 

[BrockStar]

Waiting for responses..to me it sounds like you're doing everything right...

 

[blazingthru]

brockstar your one of my hair idols

 

[robot.]

i'm relatively new to this forum and i know far less that some of the ladies here, but i do know that keeping faith is instrumental in hair growth! don't give up! you say your hair is already stronger - that's great progress right there. i'm sure length will follow.

maybe there's something in your diet that's obstructing your goal of length? perhaps it's something your eating. perhaps taking a supplement might help you along; there are plenty of them that encourage growth from the inside.

 

[locabouthair]

How's your diet?

 

[robot.]

you said that you may start braiding it up and leaving it alone, which means that you're not doing that now. how are you styling your hair now? shoulder length is when you're more prone to breakage because the ends are rubbing against fabric. maybe you should try out some protective styles for a few months and see how it helps!

 

[blazingthru]

Well I guess I can drink more water and eat more raw vegs but its pretty normal. more so now that the doctor told me I am heading for a stroke so I limit carbs and eat more fruit and vegs. I been eating fruit for dinner and lost almost five pounds this week. plus I been sleeping better at night because of it. I just eat watermelon and grapes or strawberries and I could increase my water intake. Off to get more water.

 

[blazingthru]

you said that you may start braiding it up and leaving it alone, which means that you're not doing that now. how are you styling your hair now? shoulder length is when you're more prone to breakage because the ends are rubbing against fabric. maybe you should try out some protective styles for a few months and see how it helps!

I wear my hair up 99% of the time-- today Its in an afro but its not rubbing againts anything. I am too nervous about wearing my hair down so I knew it wasn't that.

 

[MekyakaKinkerbelle]

Perhaps you are doing too much. I've seen people have issues with over-conditioning. Could that be a culprit?

Are you ONLY using butters and oils as your styler or are there other styling aids in the mix? Did you BC to get the natural going, or were there relaxed ends that may have just broken off over time?

On the TLC side, it seems like you're doing all the right things, so maybe it's somewhere else. What's your diet like? Are you taking vitamins or supplements?

I just reached armpit length after a year and 9 months, and my biggest growth spurts have come (besides the last 6 months) when I was simply keeping it simple and literally using 3, max 4 things - a shampoo (monthly), a conditioner, a leave-in, and occasionally one styling product.

 

[Candycane044]

Trudy, don't be discouraged! I have been natural for about 2 years and 6 months and I'm not apl yet either. My hair had been growin 1/4 an inch per month giving me about 3 inches per year. I'm about 2 inches or less (won't know til Sunday) away from APL. Recently I started working out and eating a lot better and for the last two months I've been getting .5 an inch a month. I really believe your diet and exercise have a lot to do with your hair growth. The good thing is that you have had progress (which I can tell from your pictures), so you know your hair IS growing which is the most important factor. Things will be fine it just takes patience.

ETA: Although i'm not one of the longhaired ladies you were seeking answers from, I figured it would be helpful if you knew someone else in the same boat.

 

[FAMUDva]

Perhaps you are doing too much. I've seen people have issues with over-conditioning. Could that be a culprit?

Are you ONLY using butters and oils as your styler or are there other styling aids in the mix? Did you BC to get the natural going, or were there relaxed ends that may have just broken off over time?

On the TLC side, it seems like you're doing all the right things, so maybe it's somewhere else. What's your diet like? Are you taking vitamins or supplements?

I just reached armpit length after a year and 9 months, and my biggest growth spurts have come (besides the last 6 months) when I was simply keeping it simple and literally using 3, max 4 things - a shampoo (monthly), a conditioner, a leave-in, and occasionally one styling product.

Re: the bolded, I was thinking the same thing. When I was "doing too much" it seem like I didn't get anywhere. As soon as I adopted a K.I.S. attitude, my hair thrived. I know it's different for everyone, but for me that's what worked. And once I reached APL, it wasn't a straggly, barely there APL, I was full APL and blunt cut in the back. But like I said that's what worked for me.

Personally, all I did was shampoo, DC, style once a week. For a stretch I did do protective styles or semi protective styles only. Those are the same things I do now during my transition and haven't had problems. For me, keeping my hair wet often (via CW and often shampooing) didn't work for me. It actually made my hair worse. But again, that was my own experience and others do well with wetting everyday.

I hope it works out for you

 

[blazingthru]

Perhaps you are doing too much. I've seen people have issues with over-conditioning. Could that be a culprit?

Are you ONLY using butters and oils as your styler or are there other styling aids in the mix? Did you BC to get the natural going, or were there relaxed ends that may have just broken off over time?

On the TLC side, it seems like you're doing all the right things, so maybe it's somewhere else. What's your diet like? Are you taking vitamins or supplements?

I just reached armpit length after a year and 9 months, and my biggest growth spurts have come (besides the last 6 months) when I was simply keeping it simple and literally using 3, max 4 things - a shampoo (monthly), a conditioner, a leave-in, and occasionally one styling product.

Perhaps. I dont' know my hair doesnt' feel to mushy, which I would expect if it was over conditioned.
interms of styling yeah I used butters if I want to acheive a certain look like a braid out ponypuff comes out much better if I put the red palm butter through my hair and concentrate on the ends and then braid it up and unbraid it in the morning not only do I love this style but it has a softeness to it and its shiny. no other styling stuff I use IC gel for the pull back effect but I wash that out the next day I never leave it in my hair long I dont' like the flaky look --never --so it never stays in.
I have never been good with popping pills - it so turns me off but I try to make myself do it I have plenty of vitamins and suppliments which I take but just not everyday and that could be the reason why its not growing as fast as it could. I am basically a healthy eater I prepare my meals for myself and family we have meat, starch and veggs most time its meat and vegs or fish and vegs and so on . Fruit and water and juices. We dont' eat out hardly at all and we dont' order much. I just needed to cut back on the meals and only have limited starches and I rarely have meat but I have increased my fish and vegs. I have one carb a day, although I found out that fruit have carbs in it too. So I now increased my meals but decreased what I eat. I have four meals a day small and less potions and without meats ( well red meats) I don't eat pork of seafood haven't in years. So I will try taken my vitamins more and try to limit the co wash but I love the cowashes really its so soothing to have the water run through your hair everyday thats a hard thing to give up. But I will stop it for a month and see what happens. I will post my picture back in here to see if I obtain any growth

 

[Everything Zen]

Trudy,

Stay encouraged! I see growth in comparison to those two pics. Your hair seems thicker and the sides look like they are catching up. It seems like it took me forever to get to APL which I had never been before and then I turned around a year later and it looks like I'll get to BSL by the end of this year. Also, how tall are you? I'm 5'11 with a long neck so for me to get to full BSL is going to take forever... remember those differences in body structure will determine how much hair you're gonna need to get to different levels. Also have you considered a growth aid? I was taking two Nioxin and a Biotin 5,000 mcg a day and I felt like my hair grew a lot during that time.

HTH Happy Growing!

 

[ronakajones]

Trudy. Sounds to me like maybe you need a change. Why don't you get a blow out or press and wear you hair out and enjoy it. Maybe once you see it straight and see how long it is, you'll appreciate your progress more. I'd take a picture with it straight and use it for progress since its harder to track curly hair cause of shrinkage. You have to enjoy every now and then.

 

[Lucky's Mom]

View attachment 14035

View attachment 14037No offense to anyone. I am so discouraged. I really want to know how you long hair lady's got to where you are now. I am shoulder length and its boring. I can't do anything I want to do to it. Yeah I am happy I got a ponytail and high pony puff but after a while who cares. I want to do more I want it to be longer and stronger. I really feel like my hair is stronger but the growth is terrible. I mean its been two years and almost three months since I went natural and my hair is still shoulder length. I was shoulder length over a year ago.
My regiment.
I deep condition twice a week overnight
I Cowash everyday
I detangle a couple of times a week, my hair gets very straight in water and so Its not a big deal to always detangle
I shampoo whenever I feel like it sometimes once a week sometimes once every two weeks.
I sleep with a satin bonnet and satin pillow case.
I use a bone comb
Denman but I rarely use this, depending on a style I want to achieve
I have silk amino acid in my conditioner
I use a leave in daily except today - just forgot but I have a afro today
I use Ovation therapy/MT
nothing really works for me.
I don't have issues with my ends as far as I know
I use butters from time to time
and oils, I have all the good stuff, olive oil. avocado oil, emu oil, coconut oils and all that jazz
NADA is happening. I am thinking about just braiding it up and leaving it alone. I just want to get pass this lenght and see all the things I can possiblly do to my hair or perhaps I am jumping the gun and really have to wait another year.
Thank you for your advice.
ps. this first picture was taken this weekend via my cell phone the second was taken when I was 15 months natural hardly any change.

How did I get here????? Well - I can attirbute it to 4 things

1. Vegetarian and healthier lifestyle
2. Braids - for years
3. Prayer
4. Patience.....

Only 2 years ago did I get on the organic and natural hiar products.... But I have been using healthy oils and condishes for many years now.
HTH

 

[blazingthru]

Trudy. Sounds to me like maybe you need a change. Why don't you get a blow out or press and wear you hair out and enjoy it. Maybe once you see it straight and see how long it is, you'll appreciate your progress more. I'd take a picture with it straight and use it for progress since its harder to track curly hair cause of shrinkage. You have to enjoy every now and then.

Sounds wonderful, I have consider it but haven't for one reason I got a blow out March 2007 and it only lasted a few hours. cost me 45 dollars. Not feeling that. Don't know how to do it myself and keep it straight funny part is I always could do my own hair when it was relaxed but now that its natural I can't do the straight styles I have all the equipment but can't work it

 

[anon123]

So, you are detangling in the shower, right? Might I suggest trying to detangle outside of the shower. The only reason I'm suggesting this is because the shower might be the place you are breaking your hair off and the broken pieces are getting washed down and you never even get to see or know that you are breaking your hair off. If you do it out of the shower with a paper towel and put all the hair there, you can see exactly what you are losing.

I can't remember everything you said you do in your first post (you do a lot!), but have you tried a protein treatment? Maybe your hair is very fragile and breaks easily and needs some strengthening.

 

[ImFree27]

hows your diet? what about vitamins? what about massaging the areas where it has not grown in awhile to start the growth process again.... Also doing cardio stimulates the blood so your hair can start growing, I know I get better growth when I do cardio

 

[prospurr4]

Be encouraged, Trudy.

I was glad to read that you are making dietary improvements. It may take a few months to see real results, but hang in there. For me, what I did to my hair topically did not matter nearly as much as what I did internally. My hair used to grow at a snail's pace. However, for the last year, I have been eating healthier (almost no fast food, lots of fruits/veggies, etc.), adding vitamins/supplements, exercising regularly (especially cardio as Shatarip mentioned), and drinking 80-90 ounces of water per day. As a result, the health, thickness and growth rate of my hair has really improved. My skin and nails have benefited as well.

 

[PatTodd]

What worked for me was structure.

I joined the LHCF 2007 Bootcamp and kept my hair in a braided bun for a year.

The difference in the condition of my hair before and after that challenge was amazing.

Taking periodic progress pictures for my fotki and documenting my methods and thoughts in my LHCF journal (oh, if I could only get it back!) helped tremendously too.

Now I am doing lo-mani (detangling with a comb no more than once a week) and still making progress.

Have patience and you will see results.

 

[chebaby]

i think you could be overconditioning. you deep condition 2x a week AND co wash daily? that seems like a lot to me.

 

[blazingthru]

Thanks every one for your responses. I am going to just leave my hair a lone for a while maybe I was doing to much. I don't know. I decided to get a ponytail and wear my hair up for awhile. I really like how my hair reacts to the palm butter so I will continue using it and low mant. I have increased my water and trying to increase take vits. I stopped the deep conditioning and decided to just do that once a month instead of every week. My hair does not like protein but I will try it once in while. Seems like every single time I use anything with protein in it it matts my hair . I don't have any relaxer left in my hair I did the big chop 2 years ago and I transition for 6 months before I did that and ended up doing the BC twice so I got all the relaxed ends off long ago. Braids would be nice but i am allergic to the dye in the hair so thats a small problem. I have to find the right hair and wash it out good before I can get it done and I have yet to find a stylist that can then use that hair they want to use their hair in their shop - oh well - I feel like that animal in the Pooh story - who only has nothing but bad luck

 

[winnettag]

Well, your routine seems good and you said you're eating healthier and trying to take supplements regularly. Aside from that I would agree with your original statement of leaving it in braids (C&G!) I left my hair in braids so much that I took them out one day and was like whoa, it grew! I leave them in for 6-8 weeks at a time, let it "rest" for a week or two, then braid it up again. I intentionally didn't look to see if it was getting longer because I didn't want to frustrate myself!
It just takes a LOT of patience. Good luck!

 

[BrockStar]

brockstar your one of my hair idols

Thanks Trudy!!!