I have never had long hair per se. My hair was slightly longer than shoulder length when I was a little girl, but never APL. Once I came here and learned to keep my hair moisturized, my hair growth took off, and now I can say I hope to be APL by December =)
My regimen b4 LHCF wasnt HORRIBLE...but the little tweaks I learned on this board have really helped my hair to grow even longer
before lhcf, I have never been sl. In fact I was happy with just getting ear length. After lurking and joining lhcf I has got close to sl then had a major setback. I was allergic to mn and had to shave my head (pretty much). In the last 8mos I went from a very short boy cut to neck length using a routine similar to bootcamp. Thanks to the lades of lhcf to full sl and beyond.
I've never been past APL, I would love to get to MBL however I will settle for BSL.
The most important things I've learned
1. Using natural/organic hair products
2. No grease, natural oils/butters instead
3. Minimize the heat
4. Eat healthy/drink water/exercise
5. Moisturize my hair
6. Deep conditioning/ reconstructuring treatments. I love protein despite the fact it makes my hair alittle hard.
7. Braidouts
I was grazing APL stretched when I got here, I'm now 1cm from BSL stretched(sounds like I'm scurred to claim it!). That's saying something! My hair would always shed out when I'd get 1/2 inch from APL and then get shorter. Relaxers literally ate my hair.
The most important thing I learned here was CO washing and then reading about the water only method. I know I scream about water only all of the time, but it's so true...at least for my hair.
OH MY! I would be way pressed to figure that one out. The information I have received here (especially ayurvedic hair care) is priceless. I guess if I HAD to choose I'd say everything I am learning about ayurvedic hair care; yes, that would be it.