3 Month Progress Pics - Am I A Slow Grower?

[Journey_to_Hangtime]

Great progress. Keep the progress pictures coming.

 

[aishae]

Very pretty face and pretty hair. You are right on the mark with speed of growth. I'd say average if not more.

Aw thank you lovely

 

[aishae]

Great progress. Keep the progress pictures coming.

Thanks BSL_Journey! I will deffo post more photos in September! I think if I continue retaining length, my length in September will be the longest my hair has ever been thanks for your support, ladies

 

[TLC1020]

Hair look so healthy and pretty.. Great progress

 

[Ella Bindula]

Hi everyone!

I wanted to share my length progress pictures over the last 3.5 months. It looks like I've retained length, but in your opinion, is this slow, average or fast progress? I'd like to be CBL by Christmas and am wondering if that's reasonable.

Thanks

I'm no expert, but I'd say that's some AMAZING growth!! I love how healthy and flowy your hair looks!

 

[aishae]

Hair look so healthy and pretty.. Great progress

I'm no expert, but I'd say that's some AMAZING growth!! I love how healthy and flowy your hair looks!

Ahh, thank you both! I've actually been slacking for the last 2 weeks, using heat on my hair and wearing it straight. Already I'm seeing more breakage, dry scalp, dry hair, etc. Today I washed, DC'd and juiced it up. I'm back to bunning ... can't stop now!

 

[aishae]

Hi ladies.

I’m checking in before my next 3-month length check is due because I’m dealing with some jacked up ends and have booked a hair appointment.

I’m just trying to figure out how much i should have cut off. You can see since I last posted, my ends are looking frayed.

So, how much would you cut? Thanks

 

[LushLox]

If your ends are jacked up then a lot of us are in trouble! If you really want to take some off, it would be for aesthetic reasons only and just to even it up, which I understand. Don’t let the them take off too much, no more than .25.

Gorgeous hair!

 

[Aggie]

Your ends looks pretty healthy to me @aishae. I agree with @LushLox, If your ends are jacked up, then I may need to shave off my whole head of hair and just be done with it

 

[Journey_to_Hangtime]

Thank you for the update! Do you mind posting a front view pic as well? Or at least side?

 

[aishae]

Thanks ladies. I feel like the pics don’t reflect the true story..

I’ve received some breakage around the top of my head due to bunning (sigh) and wonder if, because i know it’s there, it looks worse than it is?

Anyway here is a side view. I have thinning rouund the sides that u cant see

 

[sunflora]

@aishae girl you are so pretty.

Yeah, I ran into this too since I also bun. It doesn't look bad. I'd suggest switching up your style. A new friend I made with long hair PS by doing braids like this:

It's just two braids and pinned in the back. She said to switch up the part so that you don't get damage. She leaves them in for a week.

Hope you get through your damage, I love tracking your hair. It still looks thick and lovely!!

 

[lilikoi]

Thanks ladies. I feel like the pics don’t reflect the true story..
I’ve received some breakage around the top of my head due to bunning (sigh) and wonder if, because i know it’s there, it looks worse than it is?
...
Anyway here is a side view. I have thinning rouund the sides that u cant see

I can tell you've lost fullness but I don't think you should trim too much (less than 1/2 inch, if needed).

Your story breaks my heart because it's very similar to my past experience. I've eventually realized that buns are not always as protective as we think if there's a lot of tension and manipulation. I used to be the queen of sleek buns (with gel over "juice") but I experienced a lot of breakage on my crown and edges. I'm now hiding my hair until it receives but wonder how I'm going to style my natural hair once I reach my length goal.

I hope your hair recovers soon and continues to be an inspiration to so many of us!

 

[aishae]

@aishae girl you are so pretty.

Yeah, I ran into this too since I also bun. It doesn't look bad. I'd suggest switching up your style. A new friend I made with long hair PS by doing braids like this:

It's just two braids and pinned in the back. She said to switch up the part so that you don't get damage. She leaves them in for a week.

Hope you get through your damage, I love tracking your hair. It still looks thick and lovely!!

Aww thank you for the lovely compliment! The style you recommended is very cute! I’ve been trying out new styles to give
My hair a rest from bunning

 

[aishae]

I can tell you've lost fullness but I don't think you should trim too much (less than 1/2 inch, if needed).

Your story breaks my heart because it's very similar to my past experience. I've eventually realized that buns are not always as protective as we think if there's a lot of tension and manipulation. I used to be the queen of sleek buns (with gel over "juice") but I experienced a lot of breakage on my crown and edges. I'm now hiding my hair until it receives but wonder how I'm going to style my natural hair once I reach my length goal.

I hope your hair recovers soon and continues to be an inspiration to so many of us!

You are so right about the hidden risks of buns!! It’s so frustrating because I really thought I was doing ‘good’. I’m so tempted to cut back into a chin length bob and maintain the cut every three months. This hair growing stuff is so testing

Thank you for your support - I also wish you the best with growing back from your breakage

 

[WaistLengthDreams]

It's not impossible to grow your hair with buns, but it's not as easy as you'd think either. Like lilikoi said, it's the effort you put into making it sleek that ends up causing the breakage. I was able to grow my relaxed hair from sl to mbl in buns 95% of the time, but the front edges were always a little bit thinner than the rest. Even when I made attempts to wear my buns looser. Finding other styles, like the one that sunflora recommended, mixes it up and helps to give your edges a break. Sometimes throwing in low manipulation styles like twist outs and flexirod sets end up being better for your hair overall. I hope this helps. Your hair is beautiful and you're doing great things for it, so I know you'll figure out what works best for you. Good luck and thanks for the update.

 

[aishae]

It's not impossible to grow your hair with buns, but it's not as easy as you'd think either. Like lilikoi said, it's the effort you put into making it sleek that ends up causing the breakage. I was able to grow my relaxed hair from sl to mbl in buns 95% of the time, but the front edges were always a little bit thinner than the rest. Even when I made attempts to wear my buns looser. Finding other styles, like the one that sunflora recommended, mixes it up and helps to give your edges a break. Sometimes throwing in low manipulation styles like twist outs and flexirod sets end up being better for your hair overall. I hope this helps. Your hair is beautiful and you're doing great things for it, so I know you'll figure out what works best for you. Good luck and thanks for the update.

Thank you, WaistLengthDreams. Today my stylist trimmed 1/2 inch from the hemline and up to 1 inch in the layers. I spent ages trying to take a picture that would properly show the thinning on the side. The see-through sides are so disappointing I'm going to take all your advice and switch my styles up... Will update in three months.

 

[WaistLengthDreams]

The back is pretty much perfect so the breakage at the front is most likely from manual breakage. You'll be able to nurse that front section. Now that you know, you can be gentler with it to stop any additional breakage. Thanks for keeping us updated!

 

[sunflora]

I had pretty similar thinning in the past. Are you bunning your hair when wet? Or using a BHB to smooth the sides of your hair in? Or is the bun just very tight?

 

[aishae]

The back is pretty much perfect so the breakage at the front is most likely from manual breakage. You'll be able to nurse that front section. Now that you know, you can be gentler with it to stop any additional breakage. Thanks for keeping us updated!

Thank you WLD!

 

[aishae]

I had pretty similar thinning in the past. Are you bunning your hair when wet? Or using a BHB to smooth the sides of your hair in? Or is the bun just very tight?

I spray my hair with curl activator before bunning and I do use a boar bristle brush to smooth the sides. I've been doing this since April and my hair has only now started breaking from this routine... it happened very suddenly. Sigh.

Thanks for your reply