12 Inches In 12 Months - 2017

NCHairDiva said:
Is everyone really gaining a full inch each month?
If so what are the secrets?
Im not gaining any of that but Im willing to learn....
Info please
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I do not get that rate because I am kinda lazy, but you want to do things to increase the bloodflow to your scalp and make sure your protein and nutrient levels are enough to where your body will have leftovers for the hair and nails. Also, stress can play a part in retarding growth, clogged follicles, and mechanical issues like extensions, tight caps, etc.
 
Alma Petra said:
How do you section/distribute the 8 braids on your head? Can we see a photo? How often do you redo the braids? And how do you keep them neat and non-frizzy in the interim?
Many thanks!
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I got photos for you, @Alma Petra!

Please see post #259 of this thread! I have four braids on each side. Two in the front, two in the middle. I pull one braid over to reveal a side part, at the front of my head. I part straight back down my head from my forehead to my nape, then from the crown of my head to behind my ears.

In Georgia/Alabama/Florida during my vacation, I enjoyed doing my braids everyday. But here in France, I was doing them 1x per week or 1x every 2 weeks. I think the happy medium, which I have yet to undertake, is to do my hair every couple of days in order for it to look visually neat.

I've noticed that if my ROOTS are laid and smooth, it gives the rest of the braid the illusion that it is nice and neat from root to tip.

How I keep them pretty is I wet the roots of the braid with warm water. Then I slather with S-Curl, then I put on Xtreme gel over the hair. I slick down the edges with a toothbrush then pull the braids back into a snug ponytail at my nape, using a nylon knee-hi. Then I make sure my edges are smooth and cute. Then I put a scarf on top of my hair and leave it on until I've done my make-up and gotten dressed.

I take off the scarf and my hair is laid beautifully. Then I have the choice to either leave my hair in the pony or remove it and have the 8 braids swinging.


I have better perfected my process. The hair in this picture looks better than the hair I referenced from post #259. The below picture was taken in Georgia. I had done my hair earlier that day and saturated it with my shea butter mixture.

IMG_7428.JPG

When I first braid my hair, my braids hang a little bit past my waist for about 30 seconds. They soon begin to draw and shrink and rest on my shoulders as seen in this picture. My hair is 'dry' as in not sopping wet, BUT the hair is moist. If I were to unbraid one braid, my hair would be moist to the touch but not greasy. No matter HOW LONG my hair grows, it NEVER hangs past my shoulders in its natural state [because I prefer to use glycerin-based SCURL in my natural styled hair.]

I think my hair looks much better in person than in this picture. And it looks better now than it did in June (pictures in post #259). That is because I learned I have to use SCURL for lubrication, before I put on the shea butter.
 
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Chicoro said:
No, I've not.

I have gained 3 or 4 inches maximum since December 2016, which is the average 1/2 per month.

I was in the South (Georgia, Alabama, Florida) for the month of August , on vacation. It was hot, humid and muggy everyday. I think the change in the weather may have impacted my hair growth for the month of August. In addition, instead of doing my braids weekly, while there I did my hair daily and packed on tons of my Shea butter mix (Shea butter, coconut oil, vit e).

Most of my growth has been slow over the last 5 years. It's picking up now but is nowhere near an inch per month.

What I've changed to improve my length retention:

- I do a no comb method. I no longer comb or brush my hair. With my hair braided in 8 braids I just work with one braid/section at a time.

- I started using Shea butter since most of my tailbone length hair idols with Afro hair use it. It works for me only if I work with it at room temperature and mix it down with a wire whisk that is electronic. Otherwise it's a gritty, greasy, dirty mess that coats and dulls my hair. It took me 10+ years to figure out how to use Shea butter for my hair. I've been using it for 8 months now.

I have been using XCEL ( new Surge) and doing inversions 7 days per month.

I think the most effective things are the no combing and the Shea butter application. I wet my braid with water before undoing it. I add scurl to my hair for lubrication. Then I apply some Xtreme gel on the roots of my braid to lay down and keep down the frizz and fuzzies. Then I slather on and coat the braid with a generous quantity of my Shea butter mix from root to tip. I rebraid my hair. Pull them back in one ponytail to stretch the hair while it dries, put on a scarf to set the hair in place and leave it while I get ready.

It is greasy, but by mid day it is no longer greasy. Shea butter has transformed my hair into magnificent, shiny rope- like braids. My hair has not looked like this since I was about 8 years old. I have fallen in love with my hair again.
Click to expand...

@Chicoro, because of what you wrote about your hair idols and Shea butter and what it took for you to have a good experience with Shea butter, I am now a Shea butter convert! Thank you for sharing!

I've been using a whipped Shea butter that contains ayurvedic ingredients, aloe Vera, castor oil, etc. It's fluffy and light and airy and scented divinely.

Its ingredients:
Raw Shea Butter, Ayurvedic Powders (Amla, Brahmi, Bringaraj, Fenugreek), Neem Oil, Aloe Vera, Calendula extract, Chamomile, Hemp Seed Oil, Castor Oil, Honey (Optional for vegans), Optiphen (Paraben Free Preservative includes Phenoxyethanol & Sorbic Acid).

I can't give up my seamless comb or KareCo Tangle buster brush just yet. I have so much fine, super coily hair on my head. I am concerned about the effect of these tools, though.
 
Chicoro said:
I got photos for you, @Alma Petra!

Please see post #259 of this thread! I have four braids on each side. Two in the front, two in the middle. I pull one braid over to reveal a side part, at the front of my head. I part straight back down my head from my forehead to my nape, then from the crown of my head to behind my ears.

In Georgia/Alabama/Florida during my vacation, I enjoyed doing my braids everyday. But here in France, I was doing them 1x per week or 1x every 2 weeks. I think the happy medium, which I have yet to undertake, is to do my hair every couple of days in order for it to look visually neat.

I've noticed that if my ROOTS are laid and smooth, it gives the rest of the braid the illusion that it is nice and neat from root to tip.

How I keep them pretty is I wet the roots of the braid with warm water. Then I slather with S-Curl, then I put on Xtreme gel over the hair. I slick down the edges with a toothbrush then pull the braids back into a snug ponytail at my nape, using a nylon knee-hi. Then I make sure my edges are smooth and cute. Then I put a scarf on top of my hair and leave it on until I've done my make-up and gotten dressed.

I take off the scarf and my hair is laid beautifully. Then I have the choice to either leave my hair in the pony or remove it and have the 8 braids swinging.


I have better perfected my process. The hair in this picture looks better than the hair I referenced from post #259. The below picture was taken in Georgia. I had done my hair earlier that day and saturated it with my shea butter mixture.

View attachment 410281

When I first braid my hair, my braids hang a little bit past my waist for about 30 seconds. They soon begin to draw and shrink and rest on my shoulders as seen in this picture. My hair is 'dry' as in not sopping wet, BUT the hair is moist. If I were to unbraid one braid, my hair would be moist to the touch but not greasy. No matter HOW LONG my hair grows, it NEVER hangs past my shoulders in its natural state.
Click to expand...
Oh thank you so much dear for the thorough response. Your braids are everything! I would do anything for my braids to look this beautiful. They look so moisturized and silky soft. I had a short stint with braids a couple of weeks ago but mine always looked frizzy starting day 2 lol. I will try to use your methods to keep them looking nice without having to rebraid. Even though if I do 8 braids only it might actually not be too bad to rebraid more often.

You've given me so many ideas! You are the best :kiss:
 
YvetteWithJoy said:
@Chicoro, because of what you wrote about your hair idols and Shea butter and what it took for you to have a good experience with Shea butter, I am now a Shea butter convert! Thank you for sharing!

I've been using a whipped Shea butter that contains ayurvedic ingredients, aloe Vera, castor oil, etc. It's fluffy and light and airy and scented divinely.

Its ingredients:
Raw Shea Butter, Ayurvedic Powders (Amla, Brahmi, Bringaraj, Fenugreek), Neem Oil, Aloe Vera, Calendula extract, Chamomile, Hemp Seed Oil, Castor Oil, Honey (Optional for vegans), Optiphen (Paraben Free Preservative includes Phenoxyethanol & Sorbic Acid).

I can't give up my seamless comb or KareCo Tangle buster brush just yet. I have so much fine, super coily hair on my head. I am concerned about the effect of these tools, though.
Click to expand...
How does the tangle buster compare to the comb dear?
 
YvetteWithJoy said:
@Chicoro, because of what you wrote about your hair idols and Shea butter and what it took for you to have a good experience with Shea butter, I am now a Shea butter convert! Thank you for sharing!

I've been using a whipped Shea butter that contains ayurvedic ingredients, aloe Vera, castor oil, etc. It's fluffy and light and airy and scented divinely.

Its ingredients:
Raw Shea Butter, Ayurvedic Powders (Amla, Brahmi, Bringaraj, Fenugreek), Neem Oil, Aloe Vera, Calendula extract, Chamomile, Hemp Seed Oil, Castor Oil, Honey (Optional for vegans), Optiphen (Paraben Free Preservative includes Phenoxyethanol & Sorbic Acid).

I can't give up my seamless comb or KareCo Tangle buster brush just yet. I have so much fine, super coily hair on my head. I am concerned about the effect of these tools, though.
Click to expand...



Hi YvetteWithJoy,

I'm glad you were able to find something helpful in the information I shared. I've noticed your hair has gained about two inches since you first joined the board. Your hair looks noticeably longer. That's great progress in a short period of time. It takes a lot of us years on this board before we are able to see our hair turn around and begin to thrive. It's great to see your hair flourish in health and length in short of a period of time.

I would never try to force anyone to give up a process that they find helpful. But, I will say that it took me YEARS to figure out how to employ a no comb process. I thought women were being dishonest when they stated that they hadn't combed their hair for months or years. And I finally figured it out for myself, incorporating in a way that works well for me and my hair.

I have monster tangles myself. My hair shrinks up to 3x it's real length. Or, another way to say is that my hair hangs longer than three times it's length in the natural state. Something quite common for afro-textured hair, right!

So, now I never wash my hair completely loose. I take out my braids and remove shed hairs and rebraid loosely. I learned the hard way to NEVER EVER go into a wash with old braids, or braids older than even 1 day. Then, I wash and condition my hair in braids. I may undo 1 braid and run my fingers through that one section with the conditioner still in it. Then I re-braid my hair and do that for each braid then rinse out conditioner on my entire head at the same time.

Then I slather on my S-CURL and shea butter and run my fingers through that one braid at a time. The braid starts to naturally fall apart and separate into sections that I can use to braid.

The ONE caveat to no combing is that I select 1 braid a month, during wash time and COMB it to verify that I have no matting. I've been combing my hair all my life, so I do this step to retain a semblance of peace of mind that I am not inadvertently creating dread locks. And, I'm not.

Thus, I'm on month #9 of no combing or brushing my hair. My hair seems to be thriving and growing. And it's easy for me to maintain!
 
Alma Petra said:
How does the tangle buster compare to the comb dear?
Click to expand...

The Tangle Buster busts through ANYTHING . . . but functions like a very wide-toothed comb.

The comb is finer on one half and MUCH, MUCH finer on the other half.

If I had to choose just one, I'd choose the brush because it can act as a de-webber type of detangler, then I could do very fine detangling (of knots and so forth) with my fingers. The comb removes a lot of tiny/small tangles, but my super tiny knots still require fingers--even with the comb.
 
Chicoro said:
Hi YvetteWithJoy,

I'm glad you were able to find something helpful in the information I shared. I've noticed your hair has gained about two inches since you first joined the board. Your hair looks noticeably longer. That's great progress in a short period of time. It takes a lot of us years on this board before we are able to see our hair turn around and begin to thrive. It's great to see your hair flourish in health and length in short of a period of time.

I would never try to force anyone to give up a process that they find helpful. But, I will say that it took me YEARS to figure out how to employ a no comb process. I thought women were being dishonest when they stated that they hadn't combed their hair for months or years. And I finally figured it out for myself, incorporating in a way that works well for me and my hair.

I have monster tangles myself. My hair shrinks up to 3x it's real length. Or, another way to say is that my hair hangs longer than three times it's length in the natural state. Something quite common for afro-textured hair, right!

So, now I never wash my hair completely loose. I take out my braids and remove shed hairs and rebraid loosely. I learned the hard way to NEVER EVER go into a wash with old braids, or braids older than even 1 day. Then, I wash and condition my hair in braids. I may undo 1 braid and run my fingers through that one section with the conditioner still in it. Then I re-braid my hair and do that for each braid then rinse out conditioner on my entire head at the same time.

Then I slather on my S-CURL and shea butter and run my fingers through that one braid at a time. The braid starts to naturally fall apart and separate into sections that I can use to braid.

The ONE caveat to no combing is that I select 1 braid a month, during wash time and COMB it to verify that I have no matting. I've been combing my hair all my life, so I do this step to retain a semblance of peace of mind that I am not inadvertently creating dread locks. And, I'm not.

Thus, I'm on month #9 of no combing or brushing my hair. My hair seems to be thriving and growing. And it's easy for me to maintain!
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for this, @Chicoro. Your willingness to take the time to share in detail is SO helpful. It inspires me to think I might get there (to using combs/brushes super rarely just to ensure my hair is not dreading).

I am really quite, quite "scared" (worried) that brushing and combing is destroying the few inches I've gained. I try not to live in fear, but I'll admit I'm a little afraid I'm just thinning my hair out as I aim to care for it (detangle it).

I feel like right now the solution is to stay in twists and brush/comb MUCH LESS frequently. One of the reasons I've failed to stay in twists is because I've allowed myself to FEEL LIKE I had no other option -- time-wise -- than to ponytail puff my hair. But if I were to wash in twists and never untwist, and then just slap on a wig or clip-ins, that problem would never arise.

This keeps dawning on me over and over. :lachen:

Eventually it will stick.

Because detangling and washing the hair after it has been in twists all week is a PIECE OF CAKE with VERY little hair loss. Detangling and washing after the hair has been worn in a ponytail puff? :nono: I cry at the amount of shed (broken?) hair.

I have the patience at this point, though, to just keep moving forward with my regimen. I'm going to get a trim, and if she says I need to lose 2 inches, then I will woman up, lose the inches, and then keep moving forward with trying to be (more) consistent with keeping my hair stretched (in twists).
 
@gforceroy and @YvetteWithJoy ,

The thumbnail for this video caught my eye.


After I watched the video, I raced back here.

She is on her way to if not already at tailbone length. Guess what? She doesn't comb her hair, only finger detangles and uses SHEA BUTTER! I see this pattern and process over and over again with tailbone length, afro-textured hair in the 3bc to 4abc+ range.

  • 8 year journeys on average (barring no major setbacks)
  • Shea butter used at critical points in hair journey or throughout journey
  • Minimum combing/brushing of hair
  • Protective styles with minimum manipulation
 
YvetteWithJoy said:
The Tangle Buster busts through ANYTHING . . . but functions like a very wide-toothed comb.

The comb is finer on one half and MUCH, MUCH finer on the other half.

If I had to choose just one, I'd choose the brush because it can act as a de-webber type of detangler, then I could do very fine detangling (of knots and so forth) with my fingers. The comb removes a lot of tiny/small tangles, but my super tiny knots still require fingers--even with the comb.
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Is the brush seamless as well? If not, does it snag on the hair?
 
Sharpened said:
Email the company and see if they are selling it where you are.
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Oh they seem to only ship to US and Canada. I do have a US shipping address but returning will be the real problem if I don't like it. So I would probably just keep it in all cases.
 
I've gone from a few strands of hair to two (2) actual whole, tendrils of hair that are 2 inches from my tail bone. 'Tendril' is a curl or ringlet of hair. I'm on the GROW!
Full tail bone for me may happen in the year 2020. That's about 2.5 years from now. We'll see.
 
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2007 Texture Change in 2007.jpg 9NineYearComparison2011.jpg TextureChange 2017.jpg 2017

Change in Hair Texture and Hair Growth

I've been rummaging through my old Fotki account. I see that my texture change is not visible at the roots of my hair, but on the ends, which is the entire braid itself. Also, although my braids look the same length, my hair has grown, broken off, been cut and grown again. It's mostly grown. Hence, I added the 9 year growing cycle in the middle. My hair was more coarse in 2007 than it is in 2017. I don't think it is a question of care or products, though. I still think my hair cycle swings from coarse to finer over a 7 year period. I know my hair is finer right now but I couldn't say where I'm at in the cycle-as in swinging back to coarse or continuing to get finer.

Washed, conditioned and rebraided hair.
 
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Forgot to say that this wash day was the first time since Dec 16th, 2016, that I detangled all 8 braids at once, using a comb. I left them in their sections, though and never combined them. Surprisingly, there were no major tangles and the comb glided through most of my hair. I will continue this for sure until May 31st, 2018. It is working quite well for me.
 
Sharpened said:
I am done with growth challenges. Keeping my follicles alive is priority #1.
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Are you doing anything for growth that can have a negative impact on your follicles? I sometimes wonder if cowashing might be a factor in my increased shedding. But I haven't yet found a shampoo that I can use frequently. I have just bought the Cantu Root Rinse. I pray that it can cleanse my scalp without stripping my hair.
 
Alma Petra said:
Are you doing anything for growth that can have a negative impact on your follicles? I sometimes wonder if cowashing might be a factor in my increased shedding. But I haven't yet found a shampoo that I can use frequently. I have just bought the Cantu Root Rinse. I pray that it can cleanse my scalp without stripping my hair.
Click to expand...
Yes, conditioner can clog follicles, which I believe is a factor in the Wen hair loss scandal. Styling gel can be a factor as well. I hope the Cantu Root Rinse works for you.

Have you looked into Aveda or John Masters for a shampoo?
 
Sharpened said:
Yes, conditioner can clog follicles, which I believe is a factor in the Wen hair loss scandal. Styling gel can be a factor as well. I hope the Cantu Root Rinse works for you.

Have you looked into Aveda or John Masters for a shampoo?
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No I haven't. Do they have particularly gentle shampoos?
 
Sharpened said:
They use more natural ingredients. Those are the two company I would deal with if I went back to commercial products.
Click to expand...

Oh I see. I don't know. My hair is very easy to strip because it is naturally dry. I don't think that using natural vs unnatural ingredients per se can make any difference. But maybe I should give oil rinsing alone another chance. Only thing is I cannot remove the excess oil with just water and if I use too little oil, it will feel like I did nothing. Moreover my hair doesn't seem to be easy to define with oil quickly enough. In fact oil sort of makes my hair frizzy if used alone. I may still try to give it more time to do its thing. I don't know.
 
Alma Petra said:
Oh I see. I don't know. My hair is very easy to strip because it is naturally dry. I don't think that using natural vs unnatural ingredients per se can make any difference. But maybe I should give oil rinsing alone another chance. Only thing is I cannot remove the excess oil with just water and if I use too little oil, it will feel like I did nothing. Moreover my hair doesn't seem to be easy to define with oil quickly enough. In fact oil sort of makes my hair frizzy if used alone. I may still try to give it more time to do its thing. I don't know.
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Sounds like you have low-porosity hair. Are you removing the excess oil with conditioner?
 
Sharpened said:
Sounds like you have low-porosity hair. Are you removing the excess oil with conditioner?
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Some parts are impossible to soften and moisturize yeah but otherwise it acts like Hi po and dries up very quickly. Water absorbs in and doesn't bead up on my hair. And often after moving from the shower to the sink, I have to use the spray bottle to rewet lol. These suspect lo po parts might actually just be inherently rough and dry, because they are rough even when they are thoroughly wet.
I need to remove the excess oil with conditioner, yes. And conditioner does a thorough job in that regard unfortunately so that I have to use oil again to seal later. At least I know how much to use to seal but I can't seem to be able to do an oil rinse without soaking my hair with oil for some reason.
 
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