2021 Waist length and longer growth challenge

[snoop]

@snoop The scalp serum sounds YUMMY. Well all of it does tbh. hehe. What do you put in your shea butter? Or do you use it as is? Last question tho... Can I be adopted? I know I'm grown so I'll only show up for Sunday dinners and wash days. J/k, no but seriously, it's blessing to be able to learn early how to take care of your hair. They will thank you later!

You're jokes!

I checked my notes for the shea and they say 60% shea, 20% avacado, 20% macadamia nut oil. I remember macadamia nut but didn't remember avacado. I'll probably switch avacado for sweet almond and/or hazelnut in the next batch.

As for me you doing your hair, you are more than welcome but you got to bring the food cause I'm not a good cook.

On the real, I do enjoy coming up with new recipies and trying them out.

 

[snoop]

Not the neatest, but not bad for a first try. With my hair bound like this, I don't really have to worry about wearing my hair down (and my ends rubbing against my clothes).

 

[Nunavelli]

You're jokes!

I checked my notes for the shea and they say 60% shea, 20% avacado, 20% macadamia nut oil. I remember macadamia nut but didn't remember avacado. I'll probably switch avacado for sweet almond and/or hazelnut in the next batch.

As for me you doing your hair, you are more than welcome but you got to bring the food cause I'm not a good cook.

On the real, I do enjoy coming up with new recipies and trying them out.

@snoop That sounds sooo creamy! Hazelnut oil should definitely be our next shea butter mix since I'm living vicariously through your creations. My shea butter ratios be off but I'll think I'll try the 60/40 method. Thank you!

 

[snoop]

@snoop That sounds sooo creamy! Hazelnut oil should definitely be our next shea butter mix since I'm living vicariously through your creations. My shea butter ratios be off but I'll think I'll try the 60/40 method. Thank you!

I took a picture for you... it's not very whippy. It's a bit dense, but not overly so. If you look closely you can see it that it's starting to melt very easily in "our" hands.

 

[Nunavelli]

I took a picture for you... it's not very whippy. It's a bit dense, but not overly so. If you look closely you can see it that it's starting to melt very easily in "our" hands.

hehehehe @snoop no, I see it melting into our hands. It looks extremely creamy. (I'm over here rubbing it in my hands).


The last time I thought I bought "shea butter", but the world wide web told me that it was actually "african butter" so it looked NOTHING like that. I want to start using the "real shea butter", but I need to find a reputable seller.

Do you buy your's locally? Maybe that will be my mission this weekend— you've got me wanting some now!

 

[snoop]

hehehehe @snoop no, I see it melting into our hands. It looks extremely creamy. (I'm over here rubbing it in my hands).


The last time I thought I bought "shea butter", but the world wide web told me that it was actually "african butter" so it looked NOTHING like that. I want to start using the "real shea butter", but I need to find a reputable seller.

Do you buy your's locally? Maybe that will be my mission this weekend— you've got me wanting some now!

I use the seller that a lot of the Shea thread girls are using: https://www.3cayg.com/

If you are not following that thread, you need to head on over. They will have you soft and smooth from head to toe (hair and skin)!

 

[Nunavelli]

I use the seller that a lot of the Shea thread girls are using: https://www.3cayg.com/

If you are not following that thread, you need to head on over. They will have you soft and smooth from head to toe (hair and skin)!

You're the best, @snoop! Thank you! *entering the Shea Butter thread now*

 

[Nunavelli]

So I was walking through my local beauty supply store to get a leave-in and found this. The company is called Pretty Strands (I don't know if it's black owned). I bought the leave-in but they also had a hair butter that looked yummy.

The leave in is watery, I haven't fully tried it because I'm waiting until wash day but some of the ingredients looked intriguing.

Ingredients are:
Water (Aqua) *Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe) Juice, *Orbygnia Oleifera (Babassu) Oil, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Cetearyl Alcohol, *Olea Europaea (Extra Virgin Olive) Oil, *Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Kernel Oil, *Glycerin, Nigella Sativa (Black Cumin) Seed Oil, Schidigera (Yucca) Leaf Extract, Silk Amino Acids, Hydrolyzed Oat Protein, Anthemis Nobilis (Chamomile) Flower Extract, Glyceryl Stearate, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, DL Panthenol (Vitamin B5), Tocopherol Acetate (Vitamin E), Rosemary Seed Extract, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Niacinamide (Vitamin B3), Vitamin B6, Urtica Dioica (Nettle) Leaf Extract, Equisetum Arvensis (Horsetail) Leaf Extract, Propanediol (Naturally Derived Preservative), Ethylexylglycerin (Naturally Derived Preservative), Potassium Sorbate (Food Grade Preservative) Lavandula Officinalis (lavender) Flower Oil, Cananga Odorata (Ylang) Flower Oil, Citrus Sinensis (Sweet Orange) Peel Oil, **Limonene, **Benzyl Salicylate, **Benzyl Benzoate, **Farnesol, **Linalool
*) Denotes a certified organic ingredients
**) Natural components of Essential Oils

Has anyone heard of them? I couldn't find anything on the board.

Edited for ingredients and to verify that it is Black Owned!

 

[CheChe1881]

So I was walking through my local beauty supply store to get a leave-in and found this. The company is called Pretty Strands (I don't know if it's black owned). I bought the leave-in but they also had a hair butter that looked yummy.

The leave in is watery, I haven't fully tried it because I'm waiting until wash day but some of the ingredients looked intriguing.

Ingredients are:
Water (Aqua) *Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe) Juice, *Orbygnia Oleifera (Babassu) Oil, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Cetearyl Alcohol, *Olea Europaea (Extra Virgin Olive) Oil, *Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Kernel Oil, *Glycerin, Nigella Sativa (Black Cumin) Seed Oil, Schidigera (Yucca) Leaf Extract, Silk Amino Acids, Hydrolyzed Oat Protein, Anthemis Nobilis (Chamomile) Flower Extract, Glyceryl Stearate, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, DL Panthenol (Vitamin B5), Tocopherol Acetate (Vitamin E), Rosemary Seed Extract, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Niacinamide (Vitamin B3), Vitamin B6, Urtica Dioica (Nettle) Leaf Extract, Equisetum Arvensis (Horsetail) Leaf Extract, Propanediol (Naturally Derived Preservative), Ethylexylglycerin (Naturally Derived Preservative), Potassium Sorbate (Food Grade Preservative) Lavandula Officinalis (lavender) Flower Oil, Cananga Odorata (Ylang) Flower Oil, Citrus Sinensis (Sweet Orange) Peel Oil, **Limonene, **Benzyl Salicylate, **Benzyl Benzoate, **Farnesol, **Linalool
*) Denotes a certified organic ingredients
**) Natural components of Essential Oils

Has anyone heard of them? I couldn't find anything on the board.

Edited for ingredients and to verify that it is Black Owned!

Never heard of them, but I like the ingredients list. Will check them out. Thanks!

 

[nyeredzi]

Efficiently Natural made a video recently of tips for washing and caring for hair in twists. Everything she's saying rings true for me. The way her hair behaves is just like mine. The only thing she can do that I can't is go 6 weeks without washing. If I could even go 4 weeks it would be a game changer, but I have to take my 2 weeks, which I've worked up to from 1 week.

 

[Mapleoats]

Efficiently Natural made a video recently of tips for washing and caring for hair in twists. Everything she's saying rings true for me. The way her hair behaves is just like mine. The only thing she can do that I can't is go 6 weeks without washing. If I could even go 4 weeks it would be a game changer, but I have to take my 2 weeks, which I've worked up to from 1 week.

Ughhh. I love her hair!! As soon as my twists reach full shoulder length I’m just gonna live in twists lol. I LOVE keeping my hair twisted but don’t care for my chin length twists very much so I always unravel them when I wanna feel cute.

I haven’t done a proper set of twists in a minute, so now I’m inspired to do some next wash day to see how far from SL they are!

 

[nyeredzi]

Ughhh. I love her hair!! As soon as my twists reach full shoulder length I’m just gonna live in twists lol. I LOVE keeping my hair twisted but don’t care for my chin length twists very much so I always unravel them when I wanna feel cute.

I haven’t done a proper set of twists in a minute, so now I’m inspired to do some next wash day to see how far from SL they are!

Do you stretch your hair for twists? Like blow dry? They look skinnier, of course, but longer. She seems to mostly keep her hair blow dried, or even flat ironed. Did you see the way her hair was tangling at the roots and hairs from one twist got into others? That's exactly what happens to me if I wash my hair in twists and don't untwist right away, especially if I do it more than once. Just like she recommends undoing twists and removing shed hair and then retwisting, that's what I try to do (just like Indigenous Strandz does too). But I've been doing just a few at a time, like Indigenous Strandz, because it's more workable for my life not having to work on my hair for hours at a time. But I have to do all of them on my head before I have to wash again. So that means if I wash once every 2 weeks, within a two week period, I have to untwist and retwist all of them (just not all at once). I combined the smaller twists from when I had the passion twist extensions, where it was about 40 twists, to be now 20 twists. 20-25 twists are the ideal number for ease of maintenance for me.

I wear my hair in twists almost all the time. It's convenient! I almost never wear them down, though, because medium to big twists don't look cute to me on the back of the head. So I almost always wear them in a bun or ponytail.

 

[Mapleoats]

Do you stretch your hair for twists? Like blow dry? They look skinnier, of course, but longer. She seems to mostly keep her hair blow dried, or even flat ironed. Did you see the way her hair was tangling at the roots and hairs from one twist got into others? That's exactly what happens to me if I wash my hair in twists and don't untwist right away, especially if I do it more than once. Just like she recommends undoing twists and removing shed hair and then retwisting, that's what I try to do (just like Indigenous Strandz does too). But I've been doing just a few at a time, like Indigenous Strandz, because it's more workable for my life not having to work on my hair for hours at a time. But I have to do all of them on my head before I have to wash again. So that means if I wash once every 2 weeks, within a two week period, I have to untwist and retwist all of them (just not all at once). I combined the smaller twists from when I had the passion twist extensions, where it was about 40 twists, to be now 20 twists. 20-25 twists are the ideal number for ease of maintenance for me.

I wear my hair in twists almost all the time. It's convenient! I almost never wear them down, though, because medium to big twists don't look cute to me on the back of the head. So I almost always wear them in a bun or ponytail.

If I twist on blow dried hair or stretch my twists then they will reach full shoulder length, but if I try to refresh with water and product ( to extend the life span of the twist) they shrink right back up, landing at SL in the back and neck to chin length in the front.

I’ve never tried to actually wash my hair in twists for fear of tangling. If anything I will do an ACV rinse and scrub my scalp. But leave my actual hair alone. Does Indigenous Strandz wash in her twists as well?

but yeah twists are very convenient! The few occasions I’ve gone from one wash day to the next in twists it’s always been so easy! I just take down each twist, remove the shed hair, and reteint in bigger sections. I actually have my hair sectioned in 8 twists for wash day, but I take them down as I’m washing

 

[Kiaray8]

Just a quick check-in! I hit waist length at the beginning of March so I'm really happy the back of my hair is finally catching up to the front after my dodgy cut. I only checked as I thought that was the length check-in date lool. I really haven't been sticking to my routine tbh I wanted to protective style more but I honestly hate protective styles I just prefer wash and goes so I may need to find some type of happy medium. Although I am thinking now my hair getting longer whether that will have an effect on my ends I'm thinking more updos but after wearing my hair in a wash and go style for a few days. I've been using some of the tips/tricks from Naturally Quinn as I find our hair type behaviour is kind of similar:

 

[nyeredzi]

If I twist on blow dried hair or stretch my twists then they will reach full shoulder length, but if I try to refresh with water and product ( to extend the life span of the twist) they shrink right back up, landing at SL in the back and neck to chin length in the front.

I’ve never tried to actually wash my hair in twists for fear of tangling. If anything I will do an ACV rinse and scrub my scalp. But leave my actual hair alone. Does Indigenous Strandz wash in her twists as well?

but yeah twists are very convenient! The few occasions I’ve gone from one wash day to the next in twists it’s always been so easy! I just take down each twist, remove the shed hair, and reteint in bigger sections. I actually have my hair sectioned in 8 twists for wash day, but I take them down as I’m washing

I do believe Indigenous Strandz washes in twists as well. But she uses natural and gentle products, and I don't think she manipulates the twists very much while washing.

I've now redone all the twists on my head as of today, so that means I can wash again without too much tangling. I'm going to use my Rx dandruff shampoo I just got. This will be the second time I'm using it. The doc told me to do 2x/week for 2 weeks at least, but I just can't do it. I can't wash that often because of the amount of time detangling requires with each wash. I just got too much going on. But maybe I can do 1x/week for a few weeks.

 

[nyeredzi]

Just a quick check-in! I hit waist length at the beginning of March so I'm really happy the back of my hair is finally catching up to the front after my dodgy cut. I only checked as I thought that was the length check-in date lool. I really haven't been sticking to my routine tbh I wanted to protective style more but I honestly hate protective styles I just prefer wash and goes so I may need to find some type of happy medium. Although I am thinking now my hair getting longer whether that will have an effect on my ends I'm thinking more updos but after wearing my hair in a wash and go style for a few days. I've been using some of the tips/tricks from Naturally Quinn as I find our hair type behaviour is kind of similar:

Congrats on reaching WL! Since you already did your length check, I know you'll have pics for us when I starting pinging everybody for update pics at the end of the month. We can't wait to see!

 

[toaster]

Hi everyone! Here is my April check in a bit early. I’m still doing twice weekly wash and go’s and just wearing my hair out. I’ve definitely seen some growth over the last 3 months.

Here are all my pull tests. I try to pull just one curl, but who knows if I’m pulling the same curl every time.

 

[nyeredzi]

Okay ladies, it's about that time. Spring check in! @toaster thank you for starting us off right with all the great pics, and congrats on the growth! @Kiaray8 we know you made progress hitting WL at the beginning of the month. Congrats! We will be looking forward to the pics, too! Now time for roll call:

@snoop
@Mapleoats
@mzteaze
@Lita
@CheChe1881
@Chicoro
@Nunavelli
@JudithO
@MizzBFly
@unlvgirl77
@Leeda.the.Paladin
@Prettymetty

What's going on, ladies?

 

[nyeredzi]

Here's my update. Reminder of growth challenge journey over this and last year:

16" around the end of 2019 / beginning of 2020:

Current Length: MBL, ~16" root to tip

Starting Pic: This is right before a small trim I gave myself. But it's close enough to what it is now. I told myself I wasn't going to trim, but did it anyway. :/


View attachment 454221

17" around April 2020:
1st quarter check in is ~17". I'm not doing a comparable update pic, because my hair was flat ironed in the starting pic and it's not now. I'm not sure when the next time I flat iron will be. But I'll do a pic of a section of hair measured, which is actually how I track my progress (or lack of) anyway.

18" around July 2020:
Okay, my mid-year update. I'm around 17.5 - 18" .


View attachment 460807

18" around Sept 2020 (no progress):
I'm posting pics, but no progress this check in. ...


View attachment 464057

19" around end of 2020/ beginning of 2021:


View attachment 466549

Okay, and today's spring 2021 check in, just grazing 20"



I'm feeling like it's time for a trim. I can't remember exactly the last time I did one, maybe 9 months or so ago? Ends thinning and a few more knots than I care for. But this also means I need to blow dry and detangle thoroughly, probably blow drying with an attachment. Ugh, it sounds like so much work. Im aiming for 1" - 1.5" trim. I hope this still allows me to make 21" by the end of the year.

 

[Mapleoats]

I just measured my hair for the first time. I’m 10” in the back, 11” on the sides, 12.5” in the crown and 14” in the front. I’m hoping to get +3 inches all around by the end of the year. I posted a hair update pic in the APL/BSL/MBL thread but I guess I’ll post it here too.

I’m getting some box braids in a few weeks, I’ll keep those in maybe 6-8 weeks and then measure again. I’m curious about my growth rate but I think I’m a slow grower lol

edit— found this (white shirt) pic from March of last year, so I retook the picture with the same shirt... I guess my hair is growing indeed lol. Maybe I’m not a slow grower... maybe I’m just impatient lol.

 

[GettingKinky]

You’ve made a lot of progress on the last year @Mapleoats

 

[Mapleoats]

You’ve made a lot of progress on the last year @Mapleoats

Thank you! If I weren’t taking pictures I’d never even know. My hair always looks the same to me :/

 

[CheChe1881]

Okay ladies, it's about that time. Spring check in! @toaster thank you for starting us off right with all the great pics, and congrats on the growth! @Kiaray8 we know you made progress hitting WL at the beginning of the month. Congrats! We will be looking forward to the pics, too! Now time for roll call:

@snoop
@Mapleoats
@mzteaze
@Lita
@CheChe1881
@Chicoro
@Nunavelli
@JudithO
@MizzBFly
@unlvgirl77
@Leeda.the.Paladin
@Prettymetty

What's going on, ladies?

Checkin in, but I wont be able to measure hair until next week since in braids but I'll make sure not to forget.

 

[Kiaray8]

Hey everyone, hopefully the image comes through clearly - back at the flat with my partner so now I can get proper back photos taken Lool! Anyway so just a small update since I already did one I hit waist length & my current measurements are F: 19, M: 19.5, B:17.5. I’m looking forward to the end of year check in as I definitely think I will blow dry my hair and do a trim as I haven’t trimmed since the beginning of last years challenge. Looking forward to seeing everyone’s progress.

 

[GettingKinky]

@Kiaray8 I LOVE your hair. Every time I see a picture of your hair

 

[Kiaray8]

@Kiaray8 I LOVE your hair. Every time I see a picture of your hair

Thank you so much!

 

[nyeredzi]

Just a quick check-in! I hit waist length at the beginning of March so I'm really happy the back of my hair is finally catching up to the front after my dodgy cut. I only checked as I thought that was the length check-in date lool. I really haven't been sticking to my routine tbh I wanted to protective style more but I honestly hate protective styles I just prefer wash and goes so I may need to find some type of happy medium. Although I am thinking now my hair getting longer whether that will have an effect on my ends I'm thinking more updos but after wearing my hair in a wash and go style for a few days. I've been using some of the tips/tricks from Naturally Quinn as I find our hair type behaviour is kind of similar:

I know it's really expensive, but if you want to wear basically stretched wash and gos, have you thought about the Revair?

 

[nyeredzi]

I just measured my hair for the first time. I’m 10” in the back, 11” on the sides, 12.5” in the crown and 14” in the front. I’m hoping to get +3 inches all around by the end of the year. I posted a hair update pic in the APL/BSL/MBL thread but I guess I’ll post it here too.

I’m getting some box braids in a few weeks, I’ll keep those in maybe 6-8 weeks and then measure again. I’m curious about my growth rate but I think I’m a slow grower lol

edit— found this (white shirt) pic from March of last year, so I retook the picture with the same shirt... I guess my hair is growing indeed lol. Maybe I’m not a slow grower... maybe I’m just impatient lol.

Your hair looks great and I love how it's longer root to tip in the front than the back, which make for less extreme layers. Mine is about the same length all around which makes the layers more extreme than I want. I'm hoping I can grow it long enough that the next time I go to the salon, when I get it cut back to WL or or even BSL, I can get it cut more like yours. But the back more and the front less

 

[nyeredzi]

Before I trim tomorrow (if I wake up with the energy), I want to post this photographic evidence that I indeed did reach hip legth, just in case I never see it again, lol. I did it at least once! My aim tomorrow is to trim 1-1.5". The top of my belt is the top of my hips.

 

[Lita]

Hello! Checking in..My hair is doing ok,had a little shedding that was because both my parents had Covid & I was stressing out,but my parents are doing well and I’m back on track..

**I joined the Curly Proverbz hair challenge,to amp up my hair game...Applied some Neges hair growth oil on my scalp & I changed my MSM.

Happy Hair Growing!