Any difference?

[daae]

Do you guys see any difference 'cause i sure don't

First pic is from March '13
Second is from today.

I just want some growth man.... *sigh*

 

[faithVA]

I think you do have some growth. The first picture I don't think you were APL. If you drew a line from the left to right I think you were 1" short of APL. The current picture you have reached APL. That is about 1/2" a month. It looks like you are retaining.

 

[daae]

Thanks for the feedback.

Just a bit disheartened, I'm a month away from 3 years on my HJ and i've lost a year of growth. There not much i can do with hair now. Im going to have to wait a year and a half (if my hair behaves) to start wearing it out.

 

[faithVA]

Thanks for the feedback.

Just a bit disheartened, I'm a month away from 3 years on my HJ and i've lost a year of growth. There not much i can do with hair now. Im going to have to wait a year and a half (if my hair behaves) to start wearing it out.

Your hair is definitely long enough to wear out. You can do plenty with your hair at APL. You may just need to experiment with it and try different styles. My hair is only EL and I can wear out styles.

Be patient but try to enjoy your hair in the mean time. Keep it protected and then try some nice out styles on the weekend.

 

[melahnee]

i can see some growth! Not to point out the obvious but it's hard to notice your own growth sometimes. one day at a time girl don't get discouraged, we are all rooting for you.

 

[Poohbear]

I do not see a difference either (don't worry...I've been feeling this way about my hair for the pass few years!) Have you suffered any noticeable breakage over the past 3 months?

 

[growth2come]

I don't see a much of a difference. Try to do length checks in different spots. I find that my left nape grows the fastest on my head. Even when I cut my hear this part of my head seems to have a growth speed of its own. So just length on different spots on your head. Also dont just look at your length(hand I know ). Is your hair feeling and looking healthier?

 

[daae]

growthtocome Poohbear

Its feels ok and breakage is minimal..i think my hair is not growing...i guess the best way to see true growth was if i straightened it but my hair is very prone to heat damage

I want to get to MBL and call it a day.

 

[daae]

Thanks for the responses ladies, i would do that komaza hair analysis service but i live in the UK. I think my hair really needs it because i'm doing the most to it.

 

[daae]

I think a hiatus is needed.

 

[Prudent1]

Don't forget sometimes our hair grows "out" so to speak and then down. Meaning it thickens up first then gravity helps with the down part if that makes any sense. Hang in there. Hopefully your hair is in overall better condition and you have a routine down. The rest is a waiting game.

 

[ckisland]

I don't see a difference either, but these may just be slow months for your hair. I noticed that my growth seems to stop from March to June and end of August to November. But between November to February and end of June to August, my growth seems accelerated. It was really frustrating before I realized that there seemed to be a pattern, but now that I expect it, I can get hyped up for my "growing" months .

 

[BraunSugar]

Have you tried using a tape measure when doing length checks? Maybe the nape area grows more slowly than other areas? Does you hair grow less than the average half inch a month? If it does, then sometimes it can seem like your hair is doing nothing especially when you do a length check every 3 months. Maybe you can do your length checks twice a year?

Just trying to throw out some suggestions. You have a good amount of hair to work with at your current length.

 

[Nonie]

Don't forget sometimes our hair grows "out" so to speak and then down. Meaning it thickens up first then gravity helps with the down part if that makes any sense. Hang in there. Hopefully your hair is in overall better condition and you have a routine down. The rest is a waiting game.

Prudent1, that theory would not apply if one is pulling the hair down with fingers. Gravity isn't at play here...so whether the hair was growing out (which I believe means puffing out rather than hanging) then if you stretch it out, you're basically doing what gravity would do--in fact more. So both hair that grows out and that grows down when pulled down with fingers is put on an even playground.

daae, I don't know how often you dust or what your protective styling is, but when hair is longer than SL, it is hard to retain if you aren't taking measures to keep ends from breaking off due to age and wear.

The difference in length you have gained is probably half an inch if I assume your nailbed is as long as mine. The thin black line below shows your before length and you can see you've passed it by a tiny amount.

I honestly think checking growth is really a depressing hobby. I never do. I usually let the hair surprise me. My hair grows very slowly so I just forget about it till one day it surprises me.

As you know, we usually use the nape length to gauge where we are in growth. So when my hair at the nape reached my collarbone, I was elated to be a CBL. But now imagine not paying attention to my hair for many months then one day discovering that the area ABOVE my ear was at CBL! I was so excited I coulda peed on myself! I had never in my life had hair that long. I wasn't fussing with it. I wore twists and just dusted the ends every 8 weeks w/o fail. And then about 14 months later, again while redoing my CBL area above the ear, I thought my arms was lower than I remember as I fingercombed. So I went to look in the mirror and to my surprise that same area was at APL. Now 14 months is a long time so to many that was such a minor accomplishment, but do you think I was aware of how much time had passed nor did I care? All I knew was my hair was longer than I'd ever seen it in all my life and I was thrilled to bits.

In short, hair will grow regardless and if you're staying on top of your ends, then you will slow down breakage that costs us retention. So quit fussing and checking the pot every blinking month! A watched pot never boils.

 

[BostonMaria]

Do you ever straighten your hair? Because its hard for us curlies to see length just by pulling our hair. When I pull my wet hair I think it stretches out to bra strap length. If I straighten it my hair is past my waist. Now only straighten if you know you're not going to get heat damage.

Your hair definitely grows so the problem is probably retention. What's your night time routine? How do you normally wear your hair? Perhaps you may be doing the same style and its causing breakage. Maybe you're not stretching it out (for me this causes breakage). I find that not wearing a satin cap at night can cause breakage too.

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[Prudent1]

@Prudent1, that theory would not apply if one is pulling the hair down with fingers. Gravity isn't at play here...so whether the hair was growing out (which I believe means puffing out rather than hanging) then if you stretch it out, you're basically doing what gravity would do--in fact more. So both hair that grows out and that grows down when pulled down with fingers is put on an even playground.

In short, hair will grow regardless and if you're staying on top of your ends, then you will slow down breakage that costs us retention. So quit fussing and checking the pot every blinking month! A watched pot never boils.

Nonie,
I should have worded that differently. Your last paragraph summerizes what I was trying to say. I just wanted to OP to know that while she waits on length, there are other indicators such as overall health and fullness, thickness, etc that are encouraging milestones. My hair did each of the above in stages. It thickened at one point, got noticeably stronger at another, and finally started to grow more than the 1/4" during the first 18 months of my HHJ. Her growth stages/ phases may/will be different than that of others. I gained 5-6 inches in my first year then stabilized after that to a normal growth rate.

 

[Amarilles]

Thanks for the responses ladies, i would do that komaza hair analysis service but i live in the UK. I think my hair really needs it because i'm doing the most to it.

You can still do Komaza from abroad. You'll have to mail them the hair in your own envelope (they send prepaid ones to those in the states) but that's the only difference. The results are emailed/uploaded to their website and you still get the phone consultation. They called my Canadian number without a hitch.

I see a little difference, by the way.

 

[daae]

Do you ever straighten your hair? Because its hard for us curlies to see length just by pulling our hair. When I pull my wet hair I think it stretches out to bra strap length. If I straighten it my hair is past my waist. Now only straighten if you know you're not going to get heat damage.

Your hair definitely grows so the problem is probably retention. What's your night time routine? How do you normally wear your hair? Perhaps you may be doing the same style and its causing breakage. Maybe you're not stretching it out (for me this causes breakage). I find that not wearing a satin cap at night can cause breakage too.

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

BostonMaria
No. I did so last year and my hair got damaged very easily. I never touch my hair apart from moisturising. My hair is in celies under a wig. That's what frustrates me the most. I don't use damaging elements on my hair yet my hair still refuses to grow.

I use a satin cap to go sleep

 

[daae]

Nonie

i find dusting quite difficult at this length. i think i need to blow it out to dust it properly.

 

[Nonie]

Nonie

i find dusting quite difficult at this length. i think i need to blow it out to dust it properly.

It shouldn't be difficult and you don't need to blowdry. I have dusted my hair every 8 weeks from when it was under 3 inches long. I simply put my hair in mini braids or twists and snip off the same amount from ends. I don't do it in front of a mirror. I don't have to see. I feel. I slide my fingers down the length of the twists till I am holding just the tip and I snip it off. I took this photo to show about how much I cut off from each twists--actually I usually cut off a little less:

I loosely cornrow my twists forward and starting from the back, pull out a twist and snip off the end. This way I can tell those I haven't got to yet. Plus the ends feel different. You could use a scrunchy instead of cornrow to keep the un-dusted twists/braids up and pull one out at a time. I have NEVER straightened my hair to dust. I dusted my hair about 2 weeks ago and I realized I do cut off more than 1/4 inch but look at how little I lose: http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showpost.php?p=18501399&postcount=17073

 

[geejay]

I just want to second what Prudent1 said. My hair seems to grow longer...then grow thicker (like hair is filling in). Or the hair at the nape growing...then the hair at the crown. I noticed this because I wear my hair out a lot. And one month it would have a funky shape that would tempt me to have it cut. Then the next month it falls PERFECTLY. One month lopsided, then the next balanced again. It's weird.

All to say, that you may be experiencing hair growth even if that one piece at the nape is stalled for a bit.

 

[My Friend]

Did you start your HHJ from a twa? I mean, like from a short short fro?

 

[daae]

No, My hair was just on neck length. My Friend

 

[My Friend]

So the hair that was there prior to the start of your HHJ may have so damaged/ unhealthy that it was impossible to retain. Your HHJ really may have started 2 years ago

 

[daae]

So the hair that was there prior to the start of your HHJ may have so damaged/ unhealthy that it was impossible to retain. Your HHJ really may have started 2 years ago

I did chop off my hair in 2008 due to excessive breakage, but didn't actively take care of it till 2010. My Friend