Accepting all opinions

[*closer*2*my*dreams*]

Ok, so I'm kind of discouraged because I realized my hair only grew about two inches since I've joined, 1 inch shy of what would be considered "normal" growth rate. I was using MN as a growth aid (not faithfully, but quite often) but apparently I'm not getting the results I had longed for.

Now I'm interested in either MegaTek or MTG; I did a search for megatek and got tons pf threads and all the users seem satisfied with the product; however, when I tried to do a search for mtg, i got nothing.

I want the best value for my money, with the best growth rate that could help me get to "normal".

Oh, I co-wash maybe once a week (i was doing daily co-washes, but it was taking too much time to do my hair everyday with school, work & internship). I usually alternate weeks; week one co-wash; week two shampoo. I also dc every time i wash, then I use giovanni direct leave-in. as a daily moisturizer, i alternate with carefree gold or kids organics and i use coconut oil to combat the dryness.

I take flax seed oil, grape seed extract, whole foods hair vitamin, and biotin. i prefer the vitamins more for health purposes than for growth.

does anyone have any ideas to help get me to where I "need" to be. my goal was to be sl by this month (which obviously aint happening), but I would like to be past sl in december bc i'm graduating from college and i have a few haters that think i can't have long healthy hair and i want to be able to first, wave my degree in their hand, and two, shake my hair (that they swear i would never have) in their face as i walk away...

again...any suggestions? thanks in advance!

 

[nodisrespect]

I feel like you. I'm graduating in May and I want to be full or at least almost full APL when I get there. Right now I'm somewhere between shoulder length and full shoulder length (boo).Since you say you are accepting all opinions I will tell you the truth, which is that I'm beginning to think all this time consuming and carefully planed hair care is a waste of time, for my hair at least. I know my hair is the longest right now that it's been in my adult life, but I don't see any huge differences about my hair. It has grown but not at any noticeable rate, which makes me feel like everything I'm doing is a waste of time that I could have accomplished just by cutting out all the heat I was using. I used mn for about six weeks and I think I got maybe a half an inch. I've been using MT for a month so far and I really don't see any difference in the length of my hair, although I do concede that I think MT is a good product for health reasons, for the hair. I'm basically beginning to feel that none of these "new" things I've been doing to my hair are accelerating the growth and I can't even say with 100% certainty I'm retaining more length either.

I feel like, all this hair stuff is suppose to give you twice the progress, or twice the health and length you would normally have being ignorant of healthy hair pracitices. But in my case, my hair doesn't look like a "whole new head of hair." My hair doesn't look "so much healthier." My hair doesn't look like "dang your hair grew!" It just looks slightly longer and constantly nappy.

I'm going back to sew ins and wearing my hair straight when I take them out. I wore sew ins for maybe six months... possibly seven or eight... and I went from ear length to shoulder length. That's the biggest and most obvious progress I've had since being on this hair journey (and actually, I didn't start learning about hair care until I took out my last sew in, so I wasn't doing anything to my hair at all, other than sweating from working out all the time). I would have expected to have gone from SL to APL in the damn near year I've been on this journey, but I still have so much more to get there. I don't know what else to say about it other than I'm disappointed with the results I've had from "healthy hair practices."

 

[nodisrespect]

Jesus, excuse all those errors.

 

[*closer*2*my*dreams*]

Thanks....bumping for more responses...

 

[likewtr4chklit]

Hey don't get discouraged. My hair grows pretty slow too. But the two things I realized about my hair is 1. K.I.S.S. (keep it simple sista, they have a few post about that on here), and 2. Health first, growth later. My main thing right now is keeping my slow growing hair healthy, and my scalp clean. So don't cloud ur mind with what's on your head (it's beautiful by the way).

 

[Mandy4610]

OP, I don't mean to discourage you, but I am quite done with growth aids (I know, I know...I have a growth aids challenge going). but frankly, I have not seen any major changes in the rate at which my hair grows. I am finding all this applying growth aids business quite time consuming and half the time, I end up with a very oily mess of a head.
I am honestly considering sticking to just good hair care practices with out all these growth aids. That said, the only growth aid I may try in the future is MT, I thought about OCT, but that is way too expensive even though it sounds good from the reviews.

 

[Vshanell]

I honestly think you should focus more on retaining rather than growth because your hair is growing. Try cutting down on your manipulation. Co-washing daily is too much manipulation for some.

 

[BrooklynSouth]

Ok, so I'm kind of discouraged because I realized my hair only grew about two inches since I've joined, 1 inch shy of what would be considered "normal" growth rate. I was using MN as a growth aid (not faithfully, but quite often) but apparently I'm not getting the results I had longed for.

Now I'm interested in either MegaTek or MTG; I did a search for megatek and got tons pf threads and all the users seem satisfied with the product; however, when I tried to do a search for mtg, i got nothing.

I want the best value for my money, with the best growth rate that could help me get to "normal".

Oh, I co-wash maybe once a week (i was doing daily co-washes, but it was taking too much time to do my hair everyday with school, work & internship). I usually alternate weeks; week one co-wash; week two shampoo. I also dc every time i wash, then I use giovanni direct leave-in. as a daily moisturizer, i alternate with carefree gold or kids organics and i use coconut oil to combat the dryness.

I take flax seed oil, grape seed extract, whole foods hair vitamin, and biotin. i prefer the vitamins more for health purposes than for growth.

does anyone have any ideas to help get me to where I "need" to be. my goal was to be sl by this month (which obviously aint happening), but I would like to be past sl in december bc i'm graduating from college and i have a few haters that think i can't have long healthy hair and i want to be able to first, wave my degree in their hand, and two, shake my hair (that they swear i would never have) in their face as i walk away...

again...any suggestions? thanks in advance!

Closer2, why not braid it or bun it, leave your hair alone for a while? I had the best growth when I was bunned for about a year, shampooed every three days, deep conditioned every week. I also let the shower do the combing during the bun phase-I cannot 'no comb' anymore-too much webbing results. I now braid underneath week day wigs. Check out Babygurl's fotki for bunning results.

 

[BirdieGray]

Trust me when I say I know how you feel! I just bought some MT today and will apply it for the first time tonight. I've tried MTG - hated it. It's oily and it smells, therefore I did not use it long enough to see results. Plus, I think I may have been allergic to the sulfur. IMHO, if you do want to try a new growth aide, try the MT first.

 

[LongiLox]

Ok, so I'm kind of discouraged because I realized my hair only grew about two inches since I've joined, 1 inch shy of what would be considered "normal" growth rate. I was using MN as a growth aid (not faithfully, but quite often) but apparently I'm not getting the results I had longed for.

Now I'm interested in either MegaTek or MTG; I did a search for megatek and got tons pf threads and all the users seem satisfied with the product; however, when I tried to do a search for mtg, i got nothing.

I want the best value for my money, with the best growth rate that could help me get to "normal".

Oh, I co-wash maybe once a week (i was doing daily co-washes, but it was taking too much time to do my hair everyday with school, work & internship). I usually alternate weeks; week one co-wash; week two shampoo. I also dc every time i wash, then I use giovanni direct leave-in. as a daily moisturizer, i alternate with carefree gold or kids organics and i use coconut oil to combat the dryness.

I take flax seed oil, grape seed extract, whole foods hair vitamin, and biotin. i prefer the vitamins more for health purposes than for growth.

does anyone have any ideas to help get me to where I "need" to be. my goal was to be sl by this month (which obviously aint happening), but I would like to be past sl in december bc i'm graduating from college and i have a few haters that think i can't have long healthy hair and i want to be able to first, wave my degree in their hand, and two, shake my hair (that they swear i would never have) in their face as i walk away...

again...any suggestions? thanks in advance!

I don't know much about growth aids, but I wanted to that I also have a slower growth rate than "normal"; my hair grows about 1/3 per month and my hair is steadily getting to my growth length. I recently showed my length to someone who doubted (I wouldn't say hater) me about 7 months ago and they were impressed. Come December, I have no doubt those haters will be looking at you in awe.

 

[dyamonds10]

Even though I am a newbie.....

I believe that with health your length will come. I would try to DC once a week, sealing my ends before I air dry or sit under the dryer, protein treatment once a month, and low manipulation. Have you considered braids or a sew in??? Maybe braid/twist outs??? Hopefully this will help...also are you natural or relaxed?

 

[Paradox]

Ok, so I'm kind of discouraged because I realized my hair only grew about two inches since I've joined, 1 inch shy of what would be considered "normal" growth rate. I was using MN as a growth aid (not faithfully, but quite often) but apparently I'm not getting the results I had longed for.

Now I'm interested in either MegaTek or MTG; I did a search for megatek and got tons pf threads and all the users seem satisfied with the product; however, when I tried to do a search for mtg, i got nothing.

I want the best value for my money, with the best growth rate that could help me get to "normal".

Oh, I co-wash maybe once a week (i was doing daily co-washes, but it was taking too much time to do my hair everyday with school, work & internship). I usually alternate weeks; week one co-wash; week two shampoo. I also dc every time i wash, then I use giovanni direct leave-in. as a daily moisturizer, i alternate with carefree gold or kids organics and i use coconut oil to combat the dryness.

I take flax seed oil, grape seed extract, whole foods hair vitamin, and biotin. i prefer the vitamins more for health purposes than for growth.

does anyone have any ideas to help get me to where I "need" to be. my goal was to be sl by this month (which obviously aint happening), but I would like to be past sl in december bc i'm graduating from college and i have a few haters that think i can't have long healthy hair and i want to be able to first, wave my degree in their hand, and two, shake my hair (that they swear i would never have) in their face as i walk away...

again...any suggestions? thanks in advance!

Scalp massages should help( a carrier oil mixed with drops of rosemary oil or other essential oil to stimulate the scalp). I read somewhere that if the blood is not providing nutrients to the follicles on the scalp, then the follicles just sorta stays dead. exercising also stimulates the scalp.
Make sure to eat healthy, get your protein, and always drink enough water. Look at your diet and see what types of junk food, sweets, etc could be hindering your growth.
..with all that being said I feel the exact same way as you.
I will give it one more year and see how it goes.

 

[*closer*2*my*dreams*]

Hey don't get discouraged. My hair grows pretty slow too. But the two things I realized about my hair is 1. K.I.S.S. (keep it simple sista, they have a few post about that on here), and 2. Health first, growth later. My main thing right now is keeping my slow growing hair healthy, and my scalp clean. So don't cloud ur mind with what's on your head (it's beautiful by the way).

Thank you. I call myself "keeping it simple". Pretty much after I co-wash or shampoo, I pretty much use a phony pony for the week. I wore my hair down and out last week for the first time since february. Usually if i wear my hair down, it's for a few hours, then I get scared and put it back up, i actually went an entire week and it killed me. I only did it bc my SO told me too; i swear i felt my hair screaming "put me up, please lawd put me up"

OP, I don't mean to discourage you, but I am quite done with growth aids (I know, I know...I have a growth aids challenge going). but frankly, I have not seen any major changes in the rate at which my hair grows. I am finding all this applying growth aids business quite time consuming and half the time, I end up with a very oily mess of a head.
I am honestly considering sticking to just good hair care practices with out all these growth aids. That said, the only growth aid I may try in the future is MT, I thought about OCT, but that is way too expensive even though it sounds good from the reviews.

Yeah I did MN and it was time consuming, which is why i did not do it daily. If i do another growth aid it would probably be megatek, i heard it's best not to use it daily anyway.

I honestly think you should focus more on retaining rather than growth because your hair is growing. Try cutting down on your manipulation. Co-washing daily is too much manipulation for some.

Yeah I went from daily co=washing to maybe twice a week (if that much) then alternating with shampoo. I can honestly say that this is the healthiest my hair has ever been; i guess i was being too optimistic and greedy with my hair results and expecting a bigger change.

Closer2, why not braid it or bun it, leave your hair alone for a while? I had the best growth when I was bunned for about a year, shampooed every three days, deep conditioned every week. I also let the shower do the combing during the bun phase-I cannot 'no comb' anymore-too much webbing results. I now braid underneath week day wigs. Check out Babygurl's fotki for bunning results.

I do phony pony tails (the drawstring kind) all week until i wash again. I can't use the fake buns bc it always feel as if it's going to fall off (and that would be TOO embarrasing for me). I tried a few unsuccessful braidouts; i tried a twist out but that was a disaster. myabe if i had the right tools and some patience, i could become better at those. it would be easier especially since I'm transitioning.

Trust me when I say I know how you feel! I just bought some MT today and will apply it for the first time tonight. I've tried MTG - hated it. It's oily and it smells, therefore I did not use it long enough to see results. Plus, I think I may have been allergic to the sulfur. IMHO, if you do want to try a new growth aide, try the MT first.

Definitelly looking at MegaTek; it's one of my few "must haves" right now...i enjoy my hair and I think it is the healthiest it has ever been, i was just expecting the growth to come with it. pokahontas made a great point "health first, growth secondly" there's no point in growing unhealthy hair...

I don't know much about growth aids, but I wanted to that I also have a slower growth rate than "normal"; my hair grows about 1/3 per month and my hair is steadily getting to my growth length. I recently showed my length to someone who doubted (I wouldn't say hater) me about 7 months ago and they were impressed. Come December, I have no doubt those haters will be looking at you in awe.

Girl, my best friend turned out to be my favorite hater!!! I even had a thread about it bc she reduced me to tears about my hair!!! But moving on...have you seen your growth rate increase as your hair becomes healthier or does it maintain at it's normal rate?

 

[*closer*2*my*dreams*]

Thanks oneya! I don't have the best diet (being in college and on the go; I'm th vp for my sorority, president for NPHC, internship, full-time student, full-time job, and a full-time boyfriend) so i'm lucky to even eat dinner on any given day. I have increased my water intake though and I said I would start excirsing more when school started back up. hopefully getting a better diet and exercise would help as well. i was interested in doing scalp massages, just have not really found the time to sit and do it and actually enjoy it...

 

[Paradox]

Thanks oneya! I don't have the best diet (being in college and on the go; I'm th vp for my sorority, president for NPHC, internship, full-time student, full-time job, and a full-time boyfriend) so i'm lucky to even eat dinner on any given day. I have increased my water intake though and I said I would start excirsing more when school started back up. hopefully getting a better diet and exercise would help as well. i was interested in doing scalp massages, just have not really found the time to sit and do it and actually enjoy it...

It will definitely help, most of the women on here with nice, long, thick hair have AMAZING eating habits. Your hair reflects what is going on inside the body. So being healthy on the inside is the most important component to healthy hair ...realizing this I will start doing alot less externally and more internally.
Make plans to eat well, carry around a salad, or yogurt.

 

[jamaraa]

Hair is kind of a funny thing. When you're desperate for it to grow, it won't budge, when you forget about it...it flows. My great-grandmother and other old people always used to tell me "a watched pot never boils". LOL....it's not literally true, but there's alot of truth to it. I think it's an issue of stress. When you're stressing, not only is your body chemistry acting against your hair (nails, skin, etc....the body "cheats" those 1st), but it also leads you to do too much and damage what you have. If your hair is X length when you graduation, fine...if it isn't, also fine. It'll get there in it's own good time, just like everything else worth having in life.

Before you change anything...regimes, diets, products, etc....change how you THINK. (That has the added benefit of being completely free!) Think of your hair as a relaxing point. The thing that you devote time to pampering about yourself. Since you're in school and stressed w/ all that pressure, you "hair time" can be your relaxation time. Massaging your scalp w/ a nice oil and styling however you do can be YOUR time.

 

[Paradox]

Hair is kind of a funny thing. When you're desperate for it to grow, it won't budge, when you forget about it...it flows. My great-grandmother and other old people always used to tell me "a watched pot never boils". LOL....it's not literally true, but there's alot of truth to it. I think it's an issue of stress. When you're stressing, not only is your body chemistry acting against your hair (nails, skin, etc....the body "cheats" those 1st), but it also leads you to do too much and damage what you have. If your hair is X length when you graduation, fine...if it isn't, also fine. It'll get there in it's own good time, just like everything else worth having in life.

Before you change anything...regimes, diets, products, etc....change how you THINK. (That has the added benefit of being completely free!) Think of your hair as a relaxing point. The thing that you devote time to pampering about yourself. Since you're in school and stressed w/ all that pressure, you "hair time" can be your relaxation time. Massaging your scalp w/ a nice oil and styling however you do can be YOUR time.

This is what I had to do. At first hair was a nice interest, and then I made it too serious. I just will do what is good for my hair, and allow it to be a comfort hobby and not something to stress over.

 

[*closer*2*my*dreams*]

That's very true! When I first joined, it was fun and relaxing to do my hair, now I'm so obsessed with getting it to grow that maybe i'm doing more harm than good. I guess i'm so anxious to just have the hair of my dreams. I'll go back to doing what's best for me.

I can remeber when I first joined, I was packing lunch everyday for class (sandwiches, yogurt, fruits, veggies, cheese, etc.) and drinking a lot more water.

I need to go back to doing those things and stop being sooooo lazy. Thanks again ladies.